With Your Coffee

A couple of beautifully maintained Queen Anne houses in Burlington, VT.

Good morning! How are you recovering from Thanksgiving Day? Has it been a relaxing week? Thanksgiving has long been one of my favorite holidays because it can be nice and relaxed or full of family. Aside from this Black Friday nonsense, Thanksgiving itself is not a commercial holiday (meaning, you might buy food, but it’s not a mandated present-gifting holiday). Know what I mean? But, today, Saturday November 28 is Small Business Saturday! Shop local!

Here are a few links for your reading list, if you’re interested.

• Doing some Christmas shopping in New York City? Macy’s still has its wooden escalators.

• Who doesn’t love (or secretly want) an Airstream?

• Rockefeller Center lights the big Christmas tree this week!

• The negative effects of the interstate are hard to undo.

• Digital preservation, online. Ironic? 

• What people say at zoning board meetings, as portrayed by cats.

• Once in a while a shipping container looks pretty awesome.

• You might have heard this by now, but a telephone booth in Prairie Grove, Arkansas is officially listed in the National Register. 

• And, for fun: need some resilient house plants that also require low light? I vote for snake plants.

Have a great weekend. Hug your loved ones, be safe!

Shop Small on Small Business Saturday!

Happy Thanksgiving

To one and all. Click for original to print. 

To those traveling: drive safely. To all staying home: enjoy the coziness of your abode. To all: hug your loved ones, enjoy some delicious meals, take stock in what you have. Count your blessings. Are you watching the Macy’s Day Parade? Running a turkey trot race? Listening to Alice’s Restaurant? Baking pies? Sleeping? Watching movies? Vacationing? Big plans, quiet plans, or no plans, may you  have a lovely holiday.

I’m thankful for family, friends, flamingos, cats, coffee, fresh air, a cozy home, for all of you and for preservation. Cheers!

 

 

Thanksgiving and Home

It’s Thanksgiving morning, and in the O’Shea household we’re busy watching the parade, drinking coffee, baking, talking, and hanging out, enjoying one of the few times per year when all of us are together. Morning sunshine in this small 1957 suburban ranch house – my childhood home – is always a loving place to be, no matter how old I am. No matter where you are – your own home or the home of friends and family, I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. Take time today to give thanks and count your blessings.

Last week we began talking about home (here and here), and many readers left comments discussing how they think about home. Everyone’s thoughts were interesting to read, and collectively they show the importance of home and similarities between us all. Check tomorrow for more.

Happy Thanksgiving. Thank you, all, for being a part of the Preservation in Pink world and a part of my life. I’m grateful to live in such a wonderful time and to know, whether in “real life” or social media life, all of you.

Previous Thanksgiving Day posts:

• Thanksgiving Flamingo-grams (2012)
• Thanksgiving Thankfulness (2011)
• Happy Thanksgiving (2009)
• Happy Thanksgiving (2008)

Preservation Photos #209

Classic railroad station brackets underneath large overhanging, flared eaves. Chester Depot, VT.

I’d love to be traveling home by train this Thanksgiving, but the Vermont to New York trains only run south in the morning. While I love to drive, the train is a great way to travel, too. How are you traveling home, if you are?

Thankfulness

Though we all have much to be thankful for throughout the year, there is something special and comforting about paying extra attention and dutifully remembering to count our blessings each year about this time. Wouldn’t you agree? For what are you thankful, big or small, person, place, or thing, memory or faith or hope?

Fresh air and pretty views.

I am thankful for optimistic people and communities, for those that believe in themselves each other, for the vibrant main streets that get involved in the holidays and all seasons. Success stories of preservationists and non-preservationists, all working to improve quality of life and sense of place, can all have a positive influence. I am thankful to live in a country and an age when almost anything is possible.

Montpelier, VT: a good place to be.

I am thankful for my family and friends and our collective strength and love, and to be able to see them for the holidays, a rare time of year when we are all together under one roof. I am thankful for our home, good memories, and for our Point Lookout house that survived the storm and will recover. I am thankful for good communities, personal and professional to know and to work with as we all make our way in the world. I am thankful for my health. I am thankful for little things like a good cup of a coffee, a cuddly cat, sunny days, snowy days, sitting by the fireplace, baking for the holidays, my grandmother’s necklace, and frivolous things like pink nail polish (of course).

Cookies for the holidays.

And of course, I am thankful for readers of Preservation in Pink and the growing community around this blog. Thank you everyone. I wish you all the best holiday, safe travels and time to reflect on what is good in your life.

Izzy, my cuddly cat.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Friday Thankfulness + Shop Small Business Saturday

It’s the week of Thanksgiving, and here at Preservation in Pink, each day of the week will be dedicated to a different subject of preservation thankfulness.

Monday Thankfulness. Tuesday Thankfulness. Wednesday Thankfulness. Thanksgiving Thankfulness.

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Today, among the craziness of Black Friday, I am thankful for the small business owners and the people who understand the value and importance of shopping at locally owned business (whether in a downtown, village center or even those in a strip mall). Small businesses keep the money in their local economy and provide good jobs and a better connection to the places we live. Shopping small businesses makes a big difference.

This year, Saturday November 26, is Small Business Saturday, the second annual such day sponsored by American Express.

The 2nd annual Small Business Saturday® is a day dedicated to supporting small businesseson one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year.

On November 26, we’re asking millions of people to Shop Small^sm at their favorite local stores and help fuel the economy. When we all shop small, it will be huge.

Just one purchase – will you make that pledge? Big or small, it will be a huge difference. Check it out on Facebook, too.

Happy Shopping!

Thanksgiving Thankfulness

It’s the week of Thanksgiving, and here at Preservation in Pink, each day of the week will be dedicated to a different subject of preservation thankfulness.

Monday Thankfulness. Tuesday Thankfulness. Wednesday Thankfulness.

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Thanksgiving makes me even more thankful for home. No matter where your home is or what you think of as home, I hope you had a lovely day celebrating family + friends + the feeling of home. Home gives us a foundation and a sense of belonging and history.

The real Miracle on 34th Street house in Port Washington, NY. The addition since the movie is the dormer on the roof. Click for source.

The Miracle on 34th Street movie features Susie, a young Natalie Wood, who dreams of the house above and she asks Kris Kringle for it for Christmas. It’s one of my favorite movies; my family watches it every year in our cozy living room. It’s a good tradition at home.

A scene from the movie. Click for source.

Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you are grateful and thankful for everything you have, all year long.

Wednesday Thankfulness

It’s the week of Thanksgiving, and here at Preservation in Pink, each day of the week will be dedicated to a different subject of preservation thankfulness.

Monday Thankfulness. Tuesday Thankfulness.

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Today I am thankful for memories. Memories forge connections with places and those places become important to us. Good memories, nostalgic memories, make our hearts swell and give us a sense of peace. They give us a fond story to tell over and over and images to recall when passing through. Memories keep us grounded, remind us who we are and where we came from; they provide hope and comfort and guidance. Without our individual and collective memories, we would not know what was important to our ancestors or what might be important to our descendants.

Long Island, NY beaches hold some of my favorite memories.

The long leaf pines of the Sandhills Region in North Carolina.

Memories should always include a cute kitten. Here's a baby Izzy.

Take time to wax poetic on your memories and be grateful for them. They’ve made you who you are.

Tuesday Thankfulness

It’s the week of Thanksgiving, and here at Preservation in Pink, each day of the week will be dedicated to a different subject of preservation thankfulness.

Monday Thankfulness.

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Today I am thankful for beautiful places and beautiful views that make us proud to live where we do and make us believe in all places.  Some of the places I love:

Route 17 in Addison, VT.

Scott's Bluff, NE.

Overhills, North Carolina.

Route 66, drive-ins, roadside America.

The Big Duck.

Concrete streets in Point Lookout, NY.

Carl's Ice Cream, Fredericksburg, VA.

Thousand Island Park, NY. Good flamingo memories.

Truss bridge in Bethel, VT. I love truss bridges.

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Roads, landscapes, historic sites, buildings, roadside architecture, bridges – I love it all. I love the built environment.

Monday Thankfulness

It’s the week of Thanksgiving, and here at Preservation in Pink, each day of the week will be dedicated to a different subject of preservation thankfulness.

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I am thankful for everyone who recognizes the value of historic buildings (or even regular old buildings). To those who love their old buildings and the hardwood floors, wood clapboard, slate roofs, wood windows, leaded glass, original hardware and their long, intertwined histories. To those who trust and believe in the strength and potential of these old buildings: you are the reason that our communities live on with connections to the past.

The Village of Jamaica, VT has a beautiful historic district along Main Street.

I am thankful for moments that I spend with friends and family and can catch them speaking preservation, if you will. They do not necessarily recognize it as preservation, but it certainly is. My sister Sarah was visiting and we walked around town commenting on the beautiful houses, talking about the ages and what we liked best about each building. A friend visited this weekend and he talked about how much he liked Montpelier for its openness and welcome feeling, as well as the fact that you could shop in the entire city for things you need without patronizing chain stores (give or take a few small ones).

A covered bridge on its side, in the process of being rehabilitated.

I am thankful for people across the state who are taking care of their homes and buildings and bridges in the aftermath of the August flooding. (And thankful that they are able to rebuild their lives in their homes.) These people show the strength of the communities and the attachment people feel to the buildings that shelter them and play important roles in their lives.

Windows on a church in Fairfax, VT.

People are the reason preservation works. Thank you.