These days, I’m a lucky girl. I snoop in interesting homes and beautiful shops filled with surprises, and I meet fascinating people, folks blessed with right-brain abundance and a knack for living the interesting life.
Sharing the discoveries from my snooping excursions is the other half of the fun. Which is why the Snoopster Hunt in Hubbard Woods earlier this fall was such fun.
“‘Twas a blast,” says Joanie, a Glenview mom and writer. “I got to visit places I’d only driven by, intending to come back to ‘some other time.’ Each shop owner was gracious and welcoming and the shops were full of eclectic finds.”
Joanie strolled a three-block strip of Green Bay Road in northern Winnetka with a couple dozen other Snoopster Hunters, discovering chrysanthemum stones (at Pagoda Red), a little bluebird clock (at Seagrass), vintage stained-glass windows (at Prufrock Floral & Botanical Design) and more, while bopping into some of the best home furnishing stores in the Chicago area.
Yup, all neatly packaged in a little strip in our own backyard. You can find all sorts of treasures here—from interior design help at Susan Kroeger for the Home to hand-painted Italian ceramics at Artistica Italian Gallery, to statues of lions that will guard your garden at Trellis & Trugs.
Simon Pearce’s store and studio in Vermont is a treat, I’m told. But we’ve got the goods—minus the travel—at Sawbridge Studios, where you’ll find Pearce’s glistening glass work and plenty of handmade beauties by other artisans.
And should all the shopping make you hungry, there is a handful of little eateries along the way, too. (And, just for fun, a beautiful akita, a green wing macaw and a cockatoo to visit at the Gentlemen’s Shop just west of Green Bay on Gage Street.)
When it comes to treasures and surprises, sometimes it just takes a little hunting. And a little help from friends.
