Downtown Waukesha Holiday Shopping Success

Sorry for my absence lately folks. Life has gotten busy and it’s not even the holidays yet.

I have a few things to tell you, but I’ll keep it brief in hopes of getting more posts up soon.

I have been baking like crazy. I am participating in The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap again this year and got my packages out in the mail this week. I have received two so far and their treats are just divine. Not to mention, I love finding new blogs to read! And then I’m also baking for the MKEFoodies Bake Sale this Saturday that benefits the Cookies For Kids Cancer Foundation. The Bake Sale is this Saturday from 1 – 4 pm at the Hudson Business Lounge in the Historic Third Ward of downtown Milwaukee. (I’ll share my recipes soon – I was hoping to create some videos, but I had a little issue with the videos being sideways and couldn’t get them edited and up soon enough.)

I did a little Black Friday shopping at the Big Box stores with my mom. It was until about the third store that we finally bought something for someone else besides ourselves, but that’s how my mom and I do Black Friday. It’s a nice day for the two of us to shop together and treat ourselves.

People’s Park all decked out for Christmas

Small Business Saturday was an even bigger success for my parents and I. We met up in downtown Waukesha and by the time I met them, they already went to Poppin’ on Broadway and stocked up. I’m sure I’ll be hitting up the store before Christmas for a few more treats. They also found some nice things at Burlap & Lace. We grabbed a bite at People’s Park and received a coupon for showing our sales receipt that will get a Buy One Get One offer for January – March because we shopped local.

GreenBee display

We wandered downtown in and out of shops and took advantage of great sales and offerings. Of course we went into Plowshare at it is my mom’s favorite shop. Then down to the other end of Main Street for Restyle Studio and GreenBee (more on this new store soon). Then back to the other end of Main Street to Metropolitan Antiques and I fell in love with a table. I wasn’t sure if I really wanted it, so we left and I said I would come back and if it was still there, I would get it. My dad wanted to find The Doors CD and I remembered we had a CD shop downtown called Music Records and Collectibles, so we went there and found a Greatest Hits album.

My new gateleg table

I headed back to Metropolitan Antiques and the table was still there. And because my parents had their truck, I was able to get it home right away. It needs some TLC and because I’m unsure of the age, I have to be careful with the paint removal – could be lead based paints. But I’m hoping to strip the top and just stain it lightly and then paint the bottom a brown espresso color to go with my couch and table.

Gateleg table behind my couch – will need some work but love it already!

This was a very successful trip and I love our downtown and it’s local flare. I have already given suggestions of gift baskets from Waukesha to give to out of town friends. Some popcorn, chocolate, oatmeal, tea, coffee and you have a great foodie basket. Or some soaps, lotions, scarves and you have a great basket for a lady in your life. I didn’t venture into the Picky Picky or the Mantiques stores on Grand, but I’m sure a great basket for men could be created with sports or beer memorabilia.

I plan to head to downtown Waukesha for the Art Crawl this Saturday. It starts at 4 pm and stores are open until 10 pm. There will be carriage rides as well around town. Hopefully I can find a few more unique gifts that are local as I really hope to spend more locally than big box this year!