Antiques... Trash To Treasure... Made Into Art!

The North Shore, MA has some fantastic places to shop if you love antiques! You can head up the back roads to Newburyport - hitting Rowley, Ipswich and Rt. 133 into Essex on your way. Salem even has a few shops that are fun to poke around in. I love to pick up random pieces to mosaic or just refinish for my house. Sometimes you come across something you can't even imagine changing.

One shop in particular is Olde Naumkeag Antiques in downtown Salem, MA. To me, the outside just draws you in.

Originally, Salem was called Naumkeag when it was founded in 1626... as it resides at the mouth of the Naumkeag River. Three years later Roger Conant, a fisherman from Cape Ann, renamed Naumkeag... Salem. He then built the first house in Salem on Essex Street. However, there are still many places that carry the old name this city was once called. You can find out more if the history here.

If you are ever in town - you should check out Olde Naumkeag Antiques! Maybe you can find something to upcycled for your own home!

Photos of upcycled furniture from Knack Studios

Mother's Day Out - Gloucester, MA

The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day to live by the coast... a nice meandering ride up through picturesque New England towns, dinner at a well liked spot downtown and sweet goodness for the ride home - what could have been better!



My mother, two daughters and myself went out for Mother's Day this year. We left on our adventure up the New England North Shore Coast to Cape Ann... Gloucester. Known as a fishing port, Gloucester is a diamond in the ruff... and there is a lot to see and do without spending money!

We first went to visit Rocky Neck - the Artist Colony... it was a beautiful day to meander through the galleries... the ones that were at least open. After that we took a ride through the town along the coast to the breakwater - we parked and walked out on the slabs of granite watching the waves crash against them until we reached the end. Then turned around and hurried back as the waves were now crashing and coming over the breakwater because it was nearing high tide.

We took a nice ride out and along the coast yet again to Rockport and then back into Gloucester stopping at Halibut Point for an early dinner. An ice cream at Captain Dusty's in Manchester by the Sea was a perfect finish to a wonderful day as we headed home!