Sugar, Spice, and Everything NIce!!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

This afternoon, I was feelin' it, people. Feeling that Christmas magic. And all it took was a little stroll downtown with some of my favorite gal pals: Julie and I took Bethany, Lizzy, and Sarah downtown to the 12th Annual Parade of Gingerbread Homes today!

It all sounds so magical, doesn't it? And it was. It was magical like a Christmas holiday special on the Hallmark channel . . .although a Hallmark special probably wouldn't have had a script of two four-year-olds saying, "I'm firsty!" and "I'm SO SO cold!" and "Let's go ho-ome" every five minutes. Hallmark would have been all dimples and smiles set to the background of an upbeat holiday tune. But whining and a little chaos notwithstanding (and any outing involving small children and a temperature of around 20 degrees is bound to create some whining and/or chaos) we had a wonderful time! At least I did. :)

First stop was The Diamond Gallery to see this little beauty:



This one was made out of sugar cubes, which begs the question: Does it qualify as a gingerbread house if it's not made of gingerbread? Hmmmmmmm. Oh well, we thought it was cool anyway. I mean, how often does one see a house of sugar cubes? Then we stepped over to Coppin's Hallmark to see the amazing Up! house:



I was very impressed with that one. I loved the Blackjack gum shingles and the gumball "balloon" bouquet coming out of the chimney! (And as I'm friends with Nicole Coppin, I was very happy that their gingerbread house was a credit to their store.)

Next, we saw this little number (although I sort of forgot which store it was at . . .hmmmmm. Maybe The Book Table? Anyway, I loved this little schoolhouse, especially the "sandbox" made of brown sugar in the lower right-hand corner:



A sugarbox! Just imagine the possibilities of playing in a sugarbox instead of a sandbox. (Although come to think of it, I remember what cats would DO in our family sandbox and you know, cat doo and sugar just aren't a palatable mix. So never mind--the sandbox it is.)Then we stopped by Andersen Seed & Feed to see their gingerbread house, but couldn't find it anywhere! So I asked the employee and he said (in a very mysterious manner), "Psst . . .I'll take you in the back to see it. Follow me." Intriguing. (Okay, so he may or may not have actually said, "Psst." But I claim the right to a little creative license!) Anyway, we followed him through the "Employees Only" doors (curiouser and curiouser!)to see this little number:



Yeah, this gingerbread house had met with an unfortunate accident. Total cave-in on the right. But I love the pluck and creativity of the Andersen employees, who actually created some yellow "caution" tape and roped off the area. A condemned gingerbread house is actually quite dangerous, you know.

The next stop was the candy store on the corner. I always forget the name of that store, but it's a really fun place! Their gingerbread house was a replica of the "Candyland" board game (which I thought apropos for a candy shop).



And we also went to Stork Landing (they deliver everything but the baby . . .honestly, radio jingles stay with me for life). They had a fun gingerbread holiday display:



But the best part of Stork Landing was that they had gingerbread men cookies, which we were all too happy to sample! Here are Bethany and Lizzy, enjoying a gingerbread man toast:



And by that time, all of those "I'm firsty!" and "I'm SO SO cold!" comments from the younger set motivated us to action. So we stepped into the historic Bluebird cafe for some much-needed hot chocolate at the lunch counter:



(I may or may not have told a grumpy Bethany, "You earn your hot chocolate by smiling for the camera!") And here we are, enjoying that magic drink that cures both the "firsty" and the "cold."



Mmmmmmmmmmm. Hot cocoa. Mmmmmmmmmmmm.



After our stop at the Bluebird, we felt much refreshed and continued our hunt for gingerbread houses. Check out this windmill, complete with marshmallow sheep!



I think that one was at The Sportsman. I was totally impressed. And then we stopped into Needham's (middle of the block, at the sign of the clock--radio jingles GET OUT OF MY HEAD). Needham's is such a classy store. I think the employees were a little alarmed to see my sister and I waltz in with two four-year-olds, a baby, and a stroller in tow, wandering among all of their very breakable and very expensive things! But I'm glad we risked it to see this miniature replica of the Needham mansion!



Wow! And incidentally, I'd love to tour the real Needham mansion on Center Street in person someday. How does one do that? Anyway, the last house (house?) we saw was this one at U&I Furniture:



We also tried to see the display at The Indian Oven restaurant, but apparently they don't have one after all. All I got when I walked in there was a big whiff of curry, which is a far cry from gingerbread. (Pretty sure "curry" won't be a new holiday Scentsy flavor.) And after that, well, it was time to go home. Funny how the afternoon really got to my holiday spirit . . .if I were to just see gingerbread houses, that wouldn't have done it. If I had simply been downtown, that wouldn't have done it. If I had just eaten a gingerbread man and sipped some hot cocoa, that wouldn't have done it. But the combination of all of the above--along with being with my daughter, sister, and nieces--was truly a magical combination!

The Hallmark channel couldn't have done any better. :)