We had already been to Seaside a couple of nights earlier where we ate at Great Southern Cafe, located right on the central square. I had the Crab Cakes and Fried Green Tomatoes, and several at our table had the Grits à Ya Ya. Now I confess, I don't much care for grits, but I have to admit these were good. But then again, how can you go wrong with anything made with smoked Gouda cheese... yum.
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| Here's the whole gang. |
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| This was the table across from us... I really like the composition of black and white photos. |
Interestingly enough, one special little treat could be found in the restroom of Great Southern. Sounds odd, I know, but they had this wonderful coconut scrub. I didn't ask where I could get it, but I did end up finding something very similar at Pish Posh Patchouli's in Rosemary Beach. This is an apothecary boutique filled with wonderful smelling products. When I told the salesperson that I had been at a restaurant in Seaside that had something similar in the bathroom, she knew exactly which restaurant I was talking about. I bought the Coconut Shea Butter Scrub which is locally made. It leaves your hands feeling oh so soft and smelling delicious.
So back to the shopping in Seaside.
There were some really cool stores in Ruskin Place filled with art, antiques, clothing & accessories, and of course, beachy paraphernalia. I will share the ones that really stood out to me, but you will just have to go discover the rest for yourselves. :)
The Art of Simple is a fun little shop filled with seashells and artifacts as well as original art made by local artists, including the owners. I love the way they merchandised all of their products on big tables. It made you want to start a collection of something. I bought some really pretty starfish that I'm planning to display with the seashells I picked up on the beach.
Another place I really enjoyed perusing through was Fusion, an art glass gallery. There were some very unique and gorgeous pieces of glass in there. See.....
But what I ended up getting at Fusion was a little treat for myself. I bought a Swarovski Crystal ring made by Kelly Colleen. What I love about this particular ring and her whole collection really, is that the band is stretchy so one size fits all. The designer came up with the design when she was pregnant and her fingers were swollen (oh yes, I remember those days). The beauty of it is that you can buy it as a gift and not worry about sizing. It's also great for the retailer because they don't have to stock a bunch of different sizes..... I am always thinking about the retailer's perspective!
Check out her website to see all the styles, but here is a picture of the one I got.
We stopped in Albert F's home, garden and gift store and found another little gem - this one being the artist type. Her name is Brittany Fuson and she designs very fashionable paper products, like note cards, note pads, and prints. The prints are all the store carried, but it definitely made me want to see more of her work, so I had to check out her website Brittany Fuson Paper. Her fashion design background is the inspiration of her designs as all of her subjects have these gorgeously tall silhouettes with a signature single long eyelash. All of her work is fun and whimsical and every girl needs a little bit of that in life, so check out her website and pick something out for yourself and a friend! I just LOVE this!
The last little shop is Duckies Shop of Fun. Both my friend Amy and I have girls so we stopped in just to see what they might have for them. Well, I can't tell you how many times we stopped each other as we walked around to say, "oh, how cute, look at this" and "come over here, I want to show you something". The hair accessories, dresses, and bags they carry use the cutest fabrics. They also had nice whimsical art work to decorate a kids room, toys, games, t-shirts and hats. Oh yeah, and they also had a big display of rubber duckies. :) Very cute store, so glad our girls weren't with us when we went so they wouldn't distract us!
But what I ended up getting at Fusion was a little treat for myself. I bought a Swarovski Crystal ring made by Kelly Colleen. What I love about this particular ring and her whole collection really, is that the band is stretchy so one size fits all. The designer came up with the design when she was pregnant and her fingers were swollen (oh yes, I remember those days). The beauty of it is that you can buy it as a gift and not worry about sizing. It's also great for the retailer because they don't have to stock a bunch of different sizes..... I am always thinking about the retailer's perspective!
Check out her website to see all the styles, but here is a picture of the one I got.
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| Mine is the Tanzanite, which is the slate bluish one on the upper left side. Photo courtesy of kellycolleen.com |
We stopped in Albert F's home, garden and gift store and found another little gem - this one being the artist type. Her name is Brittany Fuson and she designs very fashionable paper products, like note cards, note pads, and prints. The prints are all the store carried, but it definitely made me want to see more of her work, so I had to check out her website Brittany Fuson Paper. Her fashion design background is the inspiration of her designs as all of her subjects have these gorgeously tall silhouettes with a signature single long eyelash. All of her work is fun and whimsical and every girl needs a little bit of that in life, so check out her website and pick something out for yourself and a friend! I just LOVE this!
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| courtesy of BrittnayFusion.com |
The last little shop is Duckies Shop of Fun. Both my friend Amy and I have girls so we stopped in just to see what they might have for them. Well, I can't tell you how many times we stopped each other as we walked around to say, "oh, how cute, look at this" and "come over here, I want to show you something". The hair accessories, dresses, and bags they carry use the cutest fabrics. They also had nice whimsical art work to decorate a kids room, toys, games, t-shirts and hats. Oh yeah, and they also had a big display of rubber duckies. :) Very cute store, so glad our girls weren't with us when we went so they wouldn't distract us!
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| courtesy of shopduckies.blogspot.com |
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