Determining the Age of Antique Furniture

It's been a busy couple of weeks, hence, my limited number of blogs....SORRY! I hope everyone is continuing to enjoy the holidays! It really is a fun time of the year. It's alomost 2011, now that's amazing. It's going to be another good year, I can feel it.

I came across this great article that you might find helpful as you are visiting antique shops and trying to determine the age of certain pieces. Take a few minutes and read through it and maybe even print it off. Feel free to use this article when you are in an antique shop.

Here is the link that you can copy and paste: http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/home/how-to-identify-antique-wooden-furniture-for-refinishing.htm

Christmas is Next Weekend!

Can you believe how quickly Christmas has arrived! It's only a week away! Is your shopping done? If not, don't stress over it. Make the holidays about spending time with family and friends and not so much about the material things. However, a little something is nice to exchange for Christmas : ) ......just no need to go overboard with the gifts.

Then, it's New Years and we are in 2011, that fast! 2011 is going to great!

Well, I better get back to work as it's a busy day here. ENJOY!

Oh yeah, Happy 50th Birthday to my brother Gary! He's awesome!

COLD in VA!

Wow! It is COLD today! There was even some snow on the ground this morning. Further North, the schools were 2 hours delayed. Hmmmm...is this any indication of a snowy and cold winter? I don't mind because I am a big kid and love the snow!

Today was yet another productive day. I remind myself that when there is something that you really want, no matter how hard the work is involved to get there, it's worth it. Stay positive, stay focused and everything will come together. If it's meant to be, then it's meant to be. I was told that again today and I agree!

Tomorrow is an auction and I am so tempted to go. I will take a look through the pictures again and see if this one is worthwhile. Perhaps I will wait until Friday's auction. So, if there is something you are looking for, just let me know!

Oh yeah, the antique shops in NY, AWESOME! Can't wait to go back and peruse.

Skipped the 2:30!

So I had my coffee, many hours ago now and we walked around the city and popped into this great restaurant where the food and service (Mike) was amazing. To be honest, we met quite a few Mike's in NY and they were all so nice...must be the name!

It was so nice in NY that we decided to move our trip from the 2:30 to the 5:30 bus and it was well worth it. Something about walking the streets of NY while it's snowing with a cup of coffee. We are on the bus now just outside of Baltimore and should be arriving at Union Station within the hour.

See you in January NY! Hello VA!

Monday, Monday!

Well, waking up on a Monday in New York sure is cool! This is no typical Monday for us. After all we are in NY! We've had such a nice time and accomplished a lot as well. I can't thank Mishi enough for getting us around the city. She is awesome!

The NY subway system has been great. It's so convenient. We also did a tremendous amount of walking as well. There is so much to see in NY that we did not realize how much walking we actually did until we got home. It's a good workout : )

By the way, the food in NY has been delicious! So many great little restaurants.
It's a little chilly today but it feels great! I am looking out the window at Vesuvio and can't wait to get a cup of coffee. We leave today at 2:30 but will be back in January. Mishi will be back in a couple of weeks to spend Christmas with her Mom and sister.

I know you are probably wondering when will I reveal our concept. The mission of this trip was to do research to get different ideas and make sure that our concept will work. Like I said in my previous post, yes it will. I don't want to spoil the surprise just yet since we have a lot of work to do before we can reveal it. As soon as everything comes together, we will definitely announce our project! OK, I need that cup of coffee.....off I go!

The Excitement Continues!

Hey! Sorry, but I did not get a chance to give you an update yesterday afternoon but it was a great day. We have done so much walking and continue to enjoy our stay along with getting lots of work done. Based on our research, yes, our concept will definitely work and we are thrilled about it! Sorry, I can't tell you what it is but I know you are going to love it!

After a lot of walking around, we went to a restaurant called Shelly's. One of the owner's came over to us a gave us a nice little treat. We had a great conversation and it turns out his company also owns a couple of restaurants in the National Harbor.

Today, we continued our research and then took a break and went to a fantastic art show!

OK, so I have to run for now. The family owned place that we are visiting right now is so nice! They are closing so I better sign off for now. Updates coming soon....

Another Research Kind of Day!

Good morning to you! Hopefully you're weekend is off to a great start. Saturday in Soho is off to an interesting start but I will leave that to the news media.

Where did I leave off last night? Oh yeah, that's right we were taking a break before heading back out for more research. This is such an awesome city. I learned what "UWS" and "LWS" meant. Before you know it all of our words are going to be decreased to just one letter.

We were fortunate enough to be able to stop by a couple of great places last night. I was impressed with this one location we visited. A young guy just opened his location and was doing a fantastic job. Young entrepreneurs ROCK!

Guess where we ended up after walking around the city, Arturo's again! Tony the bartender is awesome and the music us just perfect! I enjoyed linguini with marinara and of course a Guiness. Mishi, arugula salad. Oh yeah, when walking there we passed by Cipriani's, which is 2 blocks from where are staying, there was a 2011 Rolls Royce parked in front of the restaurant with, of course, a driver waiting. I have to admit, I was impressed. I even came home and Googled the cost of the car.....don't pass out but it was $245,000. Hmmmm should I order one? hahaha...yeah right!

We are heading out now to continue our venture. The research here has been tremendously helpful so far and I am confident it will continue....CURIOUS? First off, a late morning cup of coffee. I wounder what is in store for us today? Stay tuned and I will let you know!

Spotted: Jim Carey in Central Park!

As I was getting ready to go out for the day, there was someone playing Jingle Bells with their car horn, pretty cool until NYPD yelled through their microphone for them to stop.

Then we headed out and had a great cup of coffee at Vesuvio in Soho, you have to go there! Oh yeah, the chocolate chip cookies are addicting! We then went to an art gallery and appreciated some beautiful paintings. From there we hopped on the subway and headed to Central Park area. Thanks Mishi for getting us around on the subway! Got a little hungry so we stopped at Jalepeno and had a couple burritos with a Stella.

Then, we did some research, for the concept : ) At one point we were looking up directions in front of a movie trailer. All of a sudden, Jim Carey walks out of the trailer. He was 2 feet away from us! He was walking to a movie set. That, of course, was an awesome experience!

We walked around the city as snow flurries were falling and just an overall great experience admiring the city. We are back at our place now taking a break and are heading out in a bit to do a little more research while walking around the city. It's Friday night, so the city should be interesting. I will let you know what happens a little later....Continue to stay tuned!

Friday morning in Soho

We arrived in Soho last night around 10:00, dropped off our bags at the very cool spot where we are staying (Thanks Gisi for the accommodations, your place is awesome!) We enjoyed a great meal at Arturo's. Thankfully, we were able to walk there since it is only 2 blocks or so away. I was torn between a pizza or the sausage, I went for the sausage with a Guiness to go along with it and will go back for the pizza since it is delicious! Mishi had an arugula salad and a Merlot and it was fantastic! The locals were all hanging out and there was live jazz music playing. In fact, one of the songs was the Charlie Brown Christmas song! So fun! Today, we are about to walk right across the street to Vesuvio for a coffee. Then our research continues in NY as we explore our concept. Yikes! I almost revealed it! So stay tuned.....the adventure continues!

On the BOLT bus!

So as I mentioned yesterday, I would do a little blogging while in New York. We are an hour and a half into our trip on the BOLT bus and it's awesome. I highly recommend them. We should arrive in Soho around 09:45 and then off to Arturo's for dinner. Perhaps we will see Bill Murray there again as it appears to be one of his favorite local hang outs. Or, perhaps we will run into Brook Shields again at one of the great local restaurants again (forgot the name)! Stay tuned...I will keep you posted! Be back soon...

New York Bound!

Tomorrow I am heading to New York to do a little research on a new concept that I am working on. I am so excited about the concept but I can't reveal what it is just yet as there is a lot of work to do before I can talk about. It's a busy, yet, very exciting time for JP's!

I've heard so much about the antique markets in New York so as you can imagine I am looking forward to visiting and hopefully checking out a few of them.

We have added quite a bit of new merchandise in our shop so be sure to check out our items on the link to the right. As always, if you are shopping around for anything in particular, please let me know!

I will hopefully do a little blogging from New York so stay tuned!