mb palaver

ShoppingPalaver: Cheers!

If you want to class up your small New Year's celebration "Mad Men" style, check out The Hour in Old Town, Alexandria.  Most -- approximately 70% -- of the store's stock is vintage glassware.  For those of us of a certain age, a walk through the store is like a walk through one's childhood.  I could swear we had that chip 'n' dip behind the red and white clutch, above left.  (It's a glass bowl with an inset bowl for dip and an attached toothpick holder.)  It's the perfect thing to serve when Pete and Trudy drop by.

I say "small" New Year's celebration because the vintage items don't come cheap.  The Hour closes tomorrow at 3, so if your celebration is tomorrow night this is awfully late notice.  But it's good to know about anyway.  Unlike a typical second-hand store, everything here is pristine and shiny and beckons to be taken home.  Check out the collection in more detail here.  And happy New Year!

The Hour
1015 King Street
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
703-224-4687

MusicPalaver: A Newish Take on Christmas Tunes

There's no shortage of Christmas songs to be heard on the radio this week, but if you're sick of Paul McCartney simply having a wonderful Christmas time and you like dreamy and slightly melancholic women's vocals (who doesn't?!), I recommend Winter Songs, a compilation by the Hotel Cafe.  Released last year, it's a mix of classics, such as KT Tunstall singing "Sleigh "Ride" and Fiona Apple's tremulous version of "Frosty the Snowman," and new songs by female singer-songwriters.

You can find an animated video version of the title track by Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson here (I warned you about the melancholy part).  They're not all sad, though.  You can listen to samples of the tracks (or buy from iTunes) here -- the third song, Lenka's "All My Bells Are Ringing," is downright cheerful.  And did I mention Fiona Apple singing "Frosty the Snowman"?