Christmas Shopping in the Heights

This scalloped sweater is oh-so cozy and goes with everything in my closet! It’s currently sold out in the cream color, but the red one is on sale from Anthropologie for half the price! And today only, get yourself an extra 20%!

I must mention, I’m also absolutely loving this new Kate Spade Scalloped Purse. I’m thinking I have a thing for scallops all of a sudden? Patrick had bought this purse for me a few months ago and he decided to put it away to be saved as a Christmas present. Christmas came just a few days early, and I haven’t been able to put this purse down ever since he gave it to me. 

I’ve always switched between a number of purses in my closet, never truly sticking to just one.  Which has been a problem…especially when I’d go out and my wallet still happened to be in another purse in my closet! This cute bag is just large enough to hold everything I need and the neutral colors should go with whatever I plan to pair with it. 

My husband has fabulous taste! 🙂 

But on Sunday, it was time to head out and find several last minute gifts for the other ones that we love.

We hit the shops of 19th Street on a mission, but we also couldn’t help squeezing in a bit of exploring too!

With the many antique stores, vintage shops, clothing boutiques, and unique houseware shops, there is something for any particular taste on this historic row of shops.

I always love passing by these life size Barbie and Ken mannequins in front of Jubilee, a cute clothing and gift boutique. These two are always dressed up in something fun and different for each season.

Today, they were donned in their holiday best. Looking much more dapper than my Barbie and Ken dolls had certainly ever looked.

Part of our shopping mission, was to check out Manready Mercantile, aka THE ultimate man store.  From unique vintage finds (like old-school cameras, hand crafted wooden & leather goods, and vintage jackets and coats), to high-end “apothecary items” such as shave kits, cologne and men’s skin care products, Manready gets your man, well, “ready” for the world, in the truest of hipster fashion. 

Patrick caught me sitting on the couch taking a quick shopping break. But at Manready that is completely normal, if not encouraged! I was even offered a whisky cocktail to sip on while I sat back and relaxed, watching shoppers frantically track down last minute Christmas gifts. 

Patrick found more than a few goodies too.

If only our fancy women boutiques were as nice to the husbands as Manready is to the wives!

After knocking a few things off of our list, we stepped out to continue our stroll along 19th Street. 

On the weekends, this little “junkyard” shop is open to the public.

I really have no idea what is going on here. 

But I absolutely love it.

It’s fun to head back into the junkyard and dig for treasures. Last year we found an iron Lone Star that we hung on the fence by our backyard patio.

This time around, we ran into our neighbors who had just managed to find a two story wooden ladder to lean against the shelves in their new library.  (You can kind of see it in the back of the photo!)

You never know what you’ll stumble upon in here, which is why I can’t miss popping in for a look!

Further down the street, believe it or not, there are even more one-of-a-kind shops to check out.

Vinyl Edge sells records ranging form 99 cents to highly collectible finds upwards of $300.  We stuck to the bargain bins and managed to leave with a few jazz compilations, a Christmas album, a $2.99 Willie Nelson album, and last but not least (and perhaps our greatest find), the Urban Cowboy Soundtrack.  

I am definitely looking forward to shaking off all the dust on our record player and playing these bad boys!  

Next door is Casa Ramierez, a fun cultural shop that is “must see” when I have out of town guests visit.

With so many colorful and traditional Texan and Mexican pieces of art and tchotchkes, it’s like visiting a little museum in addition to a boutique.

Upon leaving the store, I snapped this photo of a rack of embroidered dresses. Little did I know that the creepy man in the piece of art behind the rack was spying on me at that very same moment! 

I’m not going to lie, I’m still just a tad bit unnerved by this discovery.

And now I must go back to the shop to try to find out his story, and to just double check whether or not he was, in fact, spying on me. 

With all of our Christmas gifts purchased and crossed off our list, we have a whole lot of wrapping to do! As much as I would love to artistically wrap each present this year, I feel like I’m getting down to the wire and may just resort to cute (and easy) gift bags. How do you like to wrap presents for family and friends each year? I’d love to start a fun wrapping tradition in the future, so any tips would be appreciated!

Have you crossed everything off your list yet? Only three more days to shop before Christmas!