Nicki's Central West End Guide

More holiday traditions to share

Photos courtesy of Kelly Reding

Kelly Reding, who works magic refashioning vintage clothing (see post about Kelly here) brings the same sensibility to decorating her home in the CWE for the holidays. Kelly is another generous neighbor who was willing to be part of the blog's holiday house tour by sharing photos of her young family's Christmas traditions with you.

This clever designer loves decorations with glitter, and is usually drawn to things that are not in the traditional red and green Christmas palate. When she sent the photos, Kelly emailed: "I am obsessed with snow babies (above). I have several ornaments and figurines---I think they are magically adorable and kitschy. The little houses (above), which are new for me this year, are from Ken Meisner at Plaza Frontenac. I'm using them in a diorama in our antique wedding armoire, which I plan to add to in the years to come."

Kelly continued: "I always display white ostrich feathers in the pink parlor room so I thought some marabou feathers on the mantle, around the Santas, would be a nice addition--it kind of looks like snow."

Each of the years that Kelly and her husband, Nick, have been in St Louis, she's collected one new Santa,

and one new Mark Robert's Santa Fairy, above and below.

Kelly added: "The fairies watch over our stockings and can be hung in all sorts of silly places. I like to move them around---climbing the tree, opening gifts---so our son, Will, thinks they are real."

Thanks again Kelly! After the holidays are over, be sure to check out Kelly's shop, Dauphine, located on the first floor at 449 N. Euclid. Dauphine is open on Saturdays or by appointment.

Wild turkeys spotted on Pershing Place!

Photos courtesy of Martin Schweig

Martin Schweig sent an email a short time ago that included these amazing photos. Martin said, "Here is a FIRST! Five wild turkeys walking around Pershing Place in front of 4505."

Thanks for sending the photos Martin. I would love to know how the turkeys may have found their way this far into populated territory.

Later this evening from Martin: Nicki, While turkeys would rather walk than fly, one would hope that they took wing over Kingshighway. Someone who just moved onto the street said that the turkeys had spent the morning in her backyard.  I am sure that these birds are the same ones that have been seen on Westmoreland so it seeems like they like private places!!!"

Holiday shop windows, Part II

By the time Jim and I figured out how to get in the car with my injured foot, the crutches, and my camera on Sunday evening, some of the shop owners had already turned off the lights for the night. So apologies to The Cup and Audi-K's whose windows are both imaginative and fun, but difficult to photograph in the dark.

The Polar Express is one of my favorite Christmas stories, so I'm a little partial to the clever transformation of Herbie's Vintage 72 into a train, above. Look closely to see the silhouettes of  children sitting in the windows. The orange lights on the topiary trees in the photo below represent the tail lights of the caboose--though I bet you figured that out.

The beautiful traditional window at Shelton Davis Antiques, 4724 McPherson, above.
Creative holiday banners made of corks hang in the windows at The Vino Gallery, 4701 McPherson.

Centro's handsome contemporary holiday window, 4727 McPherson.

Winter white and silver at Mary Jane's, 387 N. Euclid.

The giant snowflakes in the window at the World Chess Hall of Fame, 4652 Maryland.

The quirkly blue Christmas vignette at Big Sleep Books, 239 N. Euclid, above.

Oops, there's a big screen t.v. in the background of the photo above that distracts from Sub-Zero's (308 N. Euclid) lovely lighted tree constructed of miniature vodka bottles.

The winners of this year's window contest will be announced on the CWEScene website. Be sure to sign up on the website to receive neighborhood merchant news. I just read that there were over 1500 votes cast for the people's choice awards. Winners will be announced tomorrow.

Holiday traditions in the neighborhood, Part II

Holiday photos courtesy of Denise King

I don't recall when I started using the term "borrowed view," but living in an urban neighborhood certainly affords lots of opportunity for just that. We live next door to Denise King and Mike Mullen, and while there lots of reasons why they are fabulous neighbors, Denise's window boxes belong somewhere high on that list (see last photo). Not only does Denise have a wonderful sense of color and a touch for gardening, the couple's condo looks like it stepped out of a home and lifestyle magazine, especially during the holidays. 

Because of allergies, Denise is an artificial tree-hugger. "The key to making an artificial tree look alive (see above)," Denise said, "is to really, really fluff it."  An interior designer once gave Denise tips on decorating a tree: Divide the ornaments (which she has been collecting for twenty years) into piles and place the big ornaments on the tree first. Finish with very small ornaments and/or fillers.  Always make sure your star makes a dramatic statement. You want equal balance from top to bottom. And don't be afraid to load the inner branches with ornaments, so the tree looks two-dimensional.

Denise and Mike's kitchen fireplace mantel gets special treatment for the Christmas holidays, above and below.

Denise saw the felt stockings, above, in the window at Rothschild's (Euclid and McPherson), and couldn't resist.

In early October I took pictures of Denise's window boxes, above, which are what make our "borrowed view" so very special.

Thank you so much Denise and Mike for taking part in this holiday's virtual house tour. This mini-series is proving to be quite popular, with lots of viewers in the past few days. Stay tuned for more!

CWE Beer Barons & Seasonal Ale

The CWE is home to at least two "beer barons" these days--Tom Schlafly of The Saint Louis Brewery, and Rob Holton, a partner in Six Row Brewery Company. Sometime soon I'll focus on Rob's operation at 3690 Forest Park Boulevard, but today I want to mention the Schlafly Christmas Ale, a holiday favorite of ours. This year's  "Special Release" Christmas Ale is infused with orange peel, cloves, and seasoned hops....a perfect brew for this merriest of holidays.

Last evening I enlisted Jim's help styling the shot for this delicious seasonal ale. We borrowed a pair of handmade European glasses, shown above and available at A. J. Brewington's shop on the second floor at 4814 Washington ($45 for four), shared a bottle and raised a toast to the season.

Schlafly Christmas Ale sells out quickly. Look for it at Straub's on Kingshighway or at your favorite Schnucks. For info on the glasses: Brewington's, 4814 Washington, Tues. to Sat. 10:30-6, Xmas Eve until 4 p.m., (314) 361-5373.

 

Sunday, December 18

Neighbors share their holiday traditions

All photos courtesy of Suzanne Miller Farrell

I have incredibly generous friends who are more than willing to share photos of their holiday traditions with you. If you live in this historic neighborhood, you know how beautiful the houses are, and presumably have been inside one or two. But if you only visit the CWE occasionally, or have seen glimpses of the exteriors on this blog, you now have the opportunity to peek inside and enjoy a virtual holiday house tour.

Suzanne Miller and Paraig Farrell and their two adorable toddlers live in one of my favorite houses in the CWE. Suzanne said that it was love at first sight when an agent showed her the house during a 24-hour trip she made to St. Louis from their home in Dublin. When she got back to Ireland, Suzanne said it didn't take much to convince Paraig to buy the house from afar. Suzanne said that the layout---living room/dining room combination across the front of the house---is very reminiscent of the floor plan in Dublin houses.

Suzanne is an entrepreneur and a photographer (no surprise there!) who gave up professional portraiture when her daughter was born. When asked how she managed to put up their holiday decorations with a toddler crawling underfoot, she replied that her children take long naps and she was able to get it all done over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Enjoy the inspirational and beautiful tour that follows!

The silver service on the sideboard belonged to Suzanne's grandmother. The silver candles in the background were purchased at Cassie's on Euclid.

 

The greens on the mantle include magnolia leaves from a tree in the Farrell's backyard garden.

Suzanne found the stocking holder, above, in the south of France.

And the last shot that Suzanne sent is of their really cute Westie, Georgina, or "Georgie," posing in front of the fireplace.

I hope you have enjoyed this post as much as I have enjoyed putting it together. Thank you Suzanne and Paraig for sending these gorgeous photos and sharing a bit about yourselves with the readers of this blog. I am honored by your generosity.

 

The lobby at Christmastime

Today's post offers a glance at the holiday decorations in the lobbies of two prominent CWE buildings, the Lindell Terrace and The Chase Park-Plaza.  At the Lindell Terrace, on the northwest corner of Lindell and Taylor, above and below, a traditional train set rings a tree covered with sparkly silver, red and blue ornaments. There's a lot to love about the decorations in the lobby of this condo building, to say nothing of the amazing view east to the Cathedral Basilica.  

The huge wreath, above, adorns a wall in the lobby of the Lindell Terrace.

While Jim was out snapping photos of shop windows for me, he took some of the lighted trees in front of the Chase Park-Plaza, above, and inside the lobbies of the Chase Hotel and the Residences at the Park-Plaza.

Walter Knoll Florist gets credit for the dramatic arrangements in the Chase Hotel lobby, above. The displays change frequently and are bold and eye-catching---whatever the season.

Jim Espy of The James Trogolo Companies is responsible for the dramatic tree that occupies the center of the elegant lobby of The Residences at the Chase Park-Plaza, above.

Someday soon I would love to share with you why walking through the lobby of the Chase gives me such pleasure, and how it reminds me of my childhood and of my late grandfather, Charles Heiss, who was the proud proprietor of the Mayfair & Lennox Hotels, which he built in downtown St. Louis in the 1920's. 

Friends & neighbors share their holiday traditions

When I realized I was going to be an armchair blogger this holiday season, I asked friends if they would share their holiday traditions with you. The response has been overwhelmingly generous. Over the next week I'll be sharing their photographs and accompanying comments starting with neighbors Dana and Jim Romeis's Moravian Star, above.

In Dana's words, "The star hanging over our door is a traditional Moravian holiday decoration accompanied by a simple door wreath and window candles (not pictured). Historically the star was paper and the window candles were beeswax. Those materials have given way to plastic and electricity. Though we might miss the fragrance of beeswax on Christmas Eve we won't have to worry about the fire department coming for dinner! The star is displayed from the first Sunday in Advent through the Epiphany."

Thank you Dana and Jim for sharing your holiday tradition and getting this project off to a stellar beginning!

A recipe for a Holiday Food/Craft Swap

The  successful recipe for last Sunday's memorable food/craft swap (the second one) started with something borrowed, i.e. the decorations that were in place for a Holiday Gift Sale Friday & Saturday at 449 N. Euclid, and for L Photographie's grand opening tomorrow (more on this dynamic trio of photographers, who recently moved their business to the CWE, after the holidays).

The lighted "Cheer" sign, above, was created by L Photographie's Liz Reiff Sloan, and the paper-garland tree was decorated by Kelly Reding of Dauphine.

 

Liz also fashioned a garland for the bannister out of strips of burlap strung with Christmas lights, right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And beside the entry door there were white-yarn globes, left, made by Jeweler Jennifer Walker and Kelly Reding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The ingredients:

Two cups of warm mulled wine brewed by Cabanne & Jim Howard, right,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snippets of fragrant rosemary harvested from Jennifer Walker's garden, left,

 

 

 

 

 

 

A spoonful of Paula Abboud's rum-soaked cherries, right, and

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a slice of Paula's delicious cinnamon bread, left,

 

 

 

Add Jeweler Christiane Danna's delicious lentil soup spiked with bits of fresh ginger, and spoonfuls of Lisa's assortment of handmade jams & jellies (I swapped sun-dried tomato pesto for her red wine/sage jelly). Throw in Anna kitschy handmade potholders, upper right (will I ever get over that she and Paul moved Mezzanine from our neighborhood to theirs---Maplewood?). 

Stir all the ingredients together and pepper them with conversation about food, recipes, scoring some of Nick Reding's smoked duck breast, the holidays, etc. etc., and an hour and 1/2 later it's time to pack up and head home with your basketful of goodies.

When Jim and I got home I realized I better hurry and snap a photo of what I hadn't photographed at the swap before it was too late. Graphic designer Anna's sugar cookies, Jennifer's fabulously-rich and gooey candy turtles, Kate's salted caramels, and Katherine's "Gambee's Lace Cookies" were disappearing fast. Kelly Reding's handmade holiday wrapping paper and bag of gift tags (cards left, paper top), and eggs from the Rickards' Olivette "farm" are going to be put to good use very soon.

Join us at the next Great River Food Swappers meeting in a few months. I'll keep you posted.