Book signing by Lydia Harris on Oct 15! "Preparing My Heart for Grandparenting"

Local author Lydia Harris will be at The Living Room on Friday morning, 10-noon, October 15, 2010, with her new book "Preparing My Heart for Grandparenting".

Lydia is known affectionately as "Grandma Tea" because one of her favorite ways of enjoying life is to share a cup of tea with her friends, including, of course, her grandchildren.

Lydia will be signing her new book and sharing a pot of tea with everyone who is able to come by next Friday morning. Hope to see you there!

You can also look for Lydia's syndicated column "A Cup of Tea with Lydia".

Our 1-Year Anniversary is coming up! July 31!

How shall we celebrate our 1-year anniversary at The Living Room?



How about an open house? With cupcakes? And tea, of course. And a sale!

Yep, that should do it.

Do come!
Saturday, July 31, 2010
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
6524 NE 181st, Suite 10, Kenmore, WA 98028
in Kenmore Plaza by the new US Post Office

Spotlight on New Treasures

Here are a handful of goodies that deserve your attention. They're on our flickr site, but in case you haven't been there lately, or missed these in the wealth stored there, here they are in the blog spotlight:


A child's baby buggy for a favorite doll. This is a faithful reproduction, not antique. Without my tape measure here, I recall it's about 30 inches long, maybe 18" high at the basket edge.


A rustic pine shelf, made in Mexico. In our shop, this not-new but like-new bookcase is less than half the price of new.


Margo got this set up and oiled today, so we know it can sew. Again, a faithful reproduction, not an antique.


Anne Marie's Treats are so cute and so cleverly packaged, more than one customer has asked if they are real cupcakes. Yes, they are real! We're keeping our cupcake price low to reward our hard-working shoppers...after 3 strolls around the store they are still discovering new treasures to exclaim over.

Farewell, Kittyhugs Baking Company!

Jacky and Roger delivered our cupcakes today along with the wistful news that they will be closing Kittyhugs Baking Company in the next week. So, it's sad for us, but hopefully the opening of a new chapter for them. Whatever comes, here's praying God's best for them, and that it will be as rich and sweet and fun as Jacky's creative treats have been:

Jacky and Roger, thanks for your helpfulness with our startup, for the great baking, and the sweet memories. And, Roger, do go on the trip to New York! Looking back 5 years from now, you'll be gladder you did than not, don't you think :^)

Hometown Values coupon magazine is out!

It always amazes me how shoppers come in a steady stream the very day the Hometown Values coupon magazine arrives by mail in our community. For most, it is their first notice of our store, tucked away behind the old bank that became the city hall and is now being remodeled for the Kenmore Post Office.

In case you didn't get your own HTV coupon book in the mail, or perhaps you recycled it before you knew the treasure it contained, use this link to get to a printable coupon:
http://www.myhometownvalues.com/website/view_coupon.php?coupon=25751


Enjoy!

Shoppers need lemony sustenance. We have it!

Kittyhugs Baking Company in Shoreline has been our source for treats to go with our Davidson's organic tea, to rave reviews. Today, I'm trying their lemon poppyseed minibread, and I can gladly give it the same A+ as their cupcakes and ginger cookies: it's just perfect. A lemony fragrance is the first wave of sensation that greets you, followed by a delightful balance of sweet and tart flavors in a moist, come-back-for-more texture. As I'm scraping the baking paper with my teeth to get every last morsel, I wonder if there's just the slightest touch of ginger?

Well, that was nice. I hope you'll have an opportunity to come by for your own lemon poppyseed experience soon. Or try the banana walnut minibread. Or come with a friend and share one of each while you enjoy a pleasant cup of tea or coffee and feast your eyes on the new art from Donna Reed, Tom Traeger, and Linda Jacobus.

Hmm, let's try an experiment. Say The Living Room blog sent you, and get 30% off a Kittyhugs Baking Company cupcake or minibread. One discount per customer; good through Valentine's Day, 2010.

A busy day, even though we're closed Mondays

It was fun to be in the shop today, puttering around on Monday when we are closed. Shared a late breakfast of peach pie (not on our TLR menu, sadly) with one of our watercolor artists, Liz Marshall, and her dad, Bob Marshall, back from the Mukilteo Lighthouse Festival. As the day moved along, had a string of people drop by for coffee, tea, cupcakes, and a look around. Glad I was here for them!

When you are up in the Bothell/Kenmore area looking for good quality secondhand furniture, original art and gifts, along with coffee, tea, and a cupcake or such, here's what our sign looks like:

We're a hidden treasure worth seeking, to the west of Grocery Outlet at 67th and 181st in Kenmore, behind the old city hall. In addition to the market items on our sign, our book selection is small but growing. If you come by when we are closed, check to see if we're in here working; you'll be welcome to come on in. Check our google listing for coupons!


We've tweaked our open hours:
Tuesday through Friday: 10 a.m. to 6 pm
Saturdays: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sundays and Mondays: Closed.
Also, our lovely shop is available for special events by appointment after or before hours.

Exploring north of the Cupcake Belt

Do a Google search on "cupcakes 98028" and you'll see a string of cupcake vendors forming a belt across Seattle/Bellevue at 47.64 degrees latitude. But what's available for cupcake lovers searching for "a little something", as Winnie-the-Pooh would say, in the far north? Say, at latitude 47.76 in Kenmore?*

Look closer on that google map and you'll find us. Currently we are the dot (reminiscent of a cupcake sprinkle) at the top of Lake Washington. Help us turn our dot into a "letter A" listing by using our "$3.50 cupcake + coffee" coupon on google maps: www.tinyurl.com/tlr-map.

I don't think you can find a better cupcake than Kittyhugs' lemon. But then, again, there's the chocolate...
Pair either with our fresh-brewed coffee and dig in.

It's a win-win :^)

Especially if you bike. [We are so thankful for our new bike rack!] Take a "north" off the Burke Gilman Trail at 68th Ave NE in Kenmore, and head for The Living Room just across Bothell Way NE in Kenmore Plaza off NE 181st and 67th Ave NE.

*I was determined to find actual latitudes for this important Cupcake Report, and finally found a great interactive map at http://forecast.weather.gov/ If you know of a better option, please let me know. My fascination with these technical details has been stirred. Guess that makes me a piqued geek.

-KTR