Vintage Wednesday: Opera Glasses

My collection of opera glasses - and I use the term "collection" loosely - began with a gift. My best friend presented me a stunning pair as a birthday gift with the instruction that I was to put it in my will that she receive them back upon my death. Yeah, they're THAT beautiful. And I do have a clause in my will with that bequest just because of her.

My opera glasses are silver, inlaid with mother of pearl, are from Paris at around the turn of the 19th Century and have a telescoping handle for optimal elegance. I've proudly carried them to the ballet, the symphony, the theater - pretty much anywhere I can get away with using them. And last year on a ~ahem~ "landmark" birthday, I returned the favor by giving her a pair from the same maker with a removable handle, inlaid in mother of pearl and in gold. Her first response? "She's just trying to get out of returning hers in her will!" She might be right.

I have a certain fascination with opera glasses. They evoke an opulence, an elegance that's not a part of my everyday life. I feel as if I should put on a long gown and gloves - not forgetting my opera length pearls - when using them. A carriage should arrive to take me to the theater where I preside over society from the comfort of my box... in my dreams of course.

Having started with such an elegant pair, I've not often felt the need to expand my collection. My only addition as of now is one with little birds on the side and that's really only because I got a good price and loved the birds. If you're looking to start a collection, you can expect to pay anywhere from ten to many thousands of dollars. I just peeked to see what's currently on ebay and there's a gold nouveau pair with diamond, sapphire and ruby bees on them for over $23,000. That's a tad bit out of my budget, but they're gorgeous!

When looking make sure the mechanism that allows them to focus is in working order. Also make sure the lenses aren't cloudy as I understand sometimes can happen with older pairs. If they're inlaid with mother of pearl, look for cracks that could lead to further damage.

I've very much enjoyed owning a little piece of history. Might you?

Foodie Friday: A Good Cup of Tea

You've stuffed yourself with stuffing and have eaten half a turkey by yourself. You could have floated down a river of gravy. You've had visions of cranberry sauce dancing in your head. But Thanksgiving is over. It's time to sit down with a good cup of tea.

Sometimes when I travel for work, I end up in the Holiday Inn, which often has a lovely breakfast - a Holiday Inn can be lovely. But sometimes when I travel, I end up at a lovely local Inn. One such place is the Centennial Inn in Concord, NH. It's a lovely Victorian building that's been transformed into a hotel - with lovely, soft beds and semi-contemporary furnishings and artwork inside. It was there I came across this tea from Harney & Sons. The Centennial usually has a selection at the front desk to send you on your way... often in the snow in my experience.

I choose my tea carefully. I don't like green teas. I'll take a good Earl Grey any day, but my favorite is a good vanilla tea. When I chose my teabag from their selection, I chose it based on the name: Paris. I mean, who can resist a periwinkle blue and gold sachet labeled Paris?? I was delighted to find a pyramid shaped teabag inside that smelled glorious. And when I brewed my cup, I found the perfect vanilla notes. It's just a smooth, delicious cup of tea.

I pushed the opened sachet into my pocket so that when I got home from my meetings I could look up the company and order some of my own. It's easily ordered online directly from the company, but I've also found it on Amazon. The gorgeous tin is just a bonus!

Vintage Wednesday: From Paris. I love.

In the first week of October 2001, my mother and I flew to Heathrow, took a bus through Canterbury to the white cliffs of Dover and boarded a ferry to cross the Channel to Calais. We then took a train across the French countryside and arrived in Paris. We were some of the first Americans in Paris after the 9/11 attacks and all the stories we'd heard about Parisians rebuffing Americans proved untrue. They welcomed us. And so began our time in Paris.

We did the obligatory touristy things: saw the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, crossed the guards with the huge machine guns to see the Eiffel Tower, walked across the gardens and over a bridge to see Musee D'Orsay and saw the stunning Rose Window in Notre Dame. These were "must see" attractions if you're in Paris for the first time. But we also took some time off the beaten track, finding a needlework shop, exploring a pharmacy full of wondrous scented waters and soaps and found one of the flea markets of Paris.

It was a huge, sprawling mess of booths - some covered with tin roofing, some in multistory building-like structures with an open air feel. And the things we saw in abundance in Paris, we'd search a year to find in an antique store here. You see, in Paris, vintage is what we call antique. And what we call vintage is - or was - cheap and abundant.

We found one shop that was full of linens and millinery supplies - there was a wall of shelves full of silk flowers and ribbons from the 20s and 30s. Another shop was full of vintage buttons circa 1900 - jar after jar of jet and glass and wooden buttons in a rainbow of colors. Mama's treasure was a stole, embroidered in gold and silk with liturgical objects. But my favorite find was this little purse. This purse stole my heart. At the time, the price was very dear, but THIS was to be my souvenir of Paris - the romance, the beauty, the style.

I've done a bit of research and I believe it was from around the late 1800s or early 1900s. Although a company named Whiting and Davis perfected the art of metallic mesh bags similar in style to this in the 1920s, this is a little different from those styles I've seen. The blue is a fiber instead of metal with bits of silver that look as if they've been crocheted into the mesh. The top looks like punched silver, so I don't think it was meant to be a compact purse (complete with mirror and powder puff). It's origin is still a mystery to me, but I treasure this little reminder of our trip to Paris and the wondrous things we were able to see. To this day, it hangs by my door as a reminder to seek out the treasures in life - because they're often waiting unexpectedly just around the corner.