Schreibman's Live!

Stores that I Adore: The Cleveland Orchestra Store at Severance Hall!

Many people don't realize it, but some of the best gifts to be found in Cleveland live at the The Cleveland Orchestra Store, a chic little boutique that makes its home in the stunning Lerner Lobby of Severance Hall! Open 4 days a week and always before , during and after the concerts the store is staffed almost entirely by dedicated Cleveland Orchestra volunteers. Manager Larry Fox travels extensively to the best markets throughout the year and the gift selection at the store reflects his extremely good taste as well as his understanding of his patrons. Says Fox, " People may think of us as simply the Orchestra's gift store, but truthfully we service a much larger audience than that. I have customers from the Cleveland Clinic, students and professors from Case Western  as well as the entire University Circle Arts area. Of course we have the largest collection of Cleveland Orchestra videos and Cd's to be found anywhere. But we've become a bit of a destination for people who are simply looking for something just a bit more elegant or a little bit unusual! We pride ourselves on offering a selection of gifts at all price points that you just won't see anywhere else. "

I agree! Just last week I found a fabulous cheese plate for a dear friend and a lovely porcelain children's tea service for the daughter of one of my dearest friends. When I needed a presentation gift over a week ago I found the perfect gift in a remarkable black and white photograph of Severance Hall. I've discovered over the years that no matter what I'm looking for I can always find it in this exquisite gem of a store!

 Every year the Christmas stockings that I fill for my family are loaded with gifts from this lovely store including the latest classical music cd's, soft socks, beautiful jewelry and definitely a musical themed Christmas ornament or two! there is the most fabulous children's section filled with stuffed toys, books, clothes and wonderful music chosen especially for them! The Orchestra Store generously sells The Women's Committee of the Cleveland Orchestra's Reed and Barton silver plate Silver Bells, a holiday tradition that has been beloved in Cleveland for over 40 years whose proceeds benefit Education and Community Programming at Severance Hall. 

In the summer, the store is open its usual hours and visitors to Blossom Music Center can enjoy  "The Bandwagon" where many of the same beautiful things plus wonderful picnic accessories and more are available. I have never been so grateful in my life as last year when I realized that we'd gone off to sit on the lawn and completely forgotten our blankets! Running frantically into the Bandwagon store I greeted Larry and his lovely staff who found me two perfect picnic blankets that I now keep in my husbands trunk! From "Soup to nuts", both stores always seem to have everything that I need and always so much more! Volunteers are ALWAYS needed and appreciated and to me the fun of volunteering at either of the stores is the best kept secret in town! Come for the evening, volunteer in the store before and after the concert and you get your parking paid for and a chance to hear the concert! It's so much fun to spend the evening selling lovely things and know that they benefit such a great institution. For more information about volunteering please call Larry Fox at 216.231.7478. To read more about the Cleveland Orchestra Store please visit their Website ! 

 

Photographs by Beth Schreibman Gehring/All rights reserved

Stores that I adore: Peter Danford Inc. - Shaker Heights , Ohio

Peter Danford Inc. is a wonderful store that has been in the same location in Shaker Heights Ohio, for as long as I can remember. They are the last of the truly beautiful gifts and accessories stores still standing in Cleveland and last week I stopped by to pay my dear friend and kindred spirit Cheri Ulrich a visit so that I could see what was new and exciting in her part of the world of fine giftware and tabletop! Cheri  is the general manager and buyer for the Peter Danford Inc. and she is always on the lookout for wonderful new merchandise to tempt her very stylish and loyal customers!

Times may have changed  but not what constitutes good taste! Thankfully Peter Danford Inc. still sells the loveliest of  gift and tableware lines, old classics like Royal Crown Derby, Gien  and Baccarat to name a few as well as gorgeous French silverplate by Ercuis and stainless steel by Jean Couzon. You'll find Haviland and Bernardaud on their shelves as well as old favorites by Wedgwood, Raynaud and Orrefors, just to name a few! A full listing of available product lines can be found on their website

 Cheri has a keen eye for what's fresh , new and unique so the store has become a destination for any bride looking for sophisticated new pieces to accent her table! Gorgeous stainless flatware and table items by designer Michael Aram and colorful accent pieces by Mustardseed and Moonshine are among the truly unique lines that they carry and fabulously gilded glassware by Red Pomegranate are used throughout the more traditional displays of fine china in a fabulous mix that truly makes shopping at Peter Danford's a sophisticated and satisfying  retail experience.

They offer a full service Bridal Registry with knowledgable consultants always on staff (Yes, they even hand deliver locally and the gift wrapping is still free!) and the ability to special order almost anything that you might desire, even ONE teacup, a service which is practically unheard of these days!  They are also a full service jewelry store with a beautiful selection of pieces for every occasion , baby gifts  and clocks.  

Peter Danford Inc. 

at Fairmount Circle - 20609 fairmount blvd
shaker hts., ohio 44118 - 216/371-4200
toll free 1-877-371-4260

Hours
Mon - Thurs 10am - 5:30pm
Friday 10am - 5pm
Saturday 9:30am - 3pm

A Cup of Christmas Tea at The Village Herb Shop in Chagrin Falls!

One of my favorite memories of my mother were all of the times that we enjoyed tea together.My mother was big on tea and almost any occasion was a good enough excuse for her to sit down with a fancy platter of little scones ,tea sandwiches and the gorgeous jasmine tea which was her mothers favorite tea as well!  We gave huge tea parties at Schreibmans, and I know that my staff thought we'd gone mad. Royal Worcester - Spode and sometimes Tiffany and Company brought in all of the gorgeous dishes and we'd spend days making tea sandwiches and cookies by the hundreds. We always had lots of candied violets and rose petals sprinkled all over the tops of the yummy cakes that we made and there were always lots of chicken salad sandwiches and fancy mushroom toasts!  

We'd set little tables all over the store with fancy cloths and then we'd invite all of our customers children to tea! Those were wonderful tea parties enjoyed with the most beautifully dressed young ladies and their mothers and now some of them have grown up with children of their own will still stop me, introduce themselves and reminisce with me about those fun days!

I love the ritual of afternoon tea with its quiet sort of elegance. A well done afternoon tea is relaxing and contemplative and as my friend Kathleen Gipps puts it "a moment in time where you turn off the technology and talk to one another, not at each other". Kathleen is the owner of a wonderful herb shop in Chagrin Falls called simply and perfectly,  The Village Herb Shop.

I've spent many an hour there just wandering through the amazing selection of yummy botanicals and gorgeous gifts that she carries. The Village Herb Shop is my "go to" place to be restored through the sights and smells that I encounter there. The service is perfect and the shop itself is beautiful, housed in a gorgeous old Victorian located at 17 Orange Street in downtown Chagrin Falls.The herb gardens in the front are lovingly tended not just by Kathleen herself, but by customers that she invites every month in the summer to work alongside of her in the gardens.  

One of the most delightful things about The Village Herb Shop is that the moment you walk in they offer you a steaming cup of tea. I take my cup and wander around,inhaling the fragrance and perusing the beautiful selection of candles, seasonal gifts (Nobody does Halloween like Kathleen!) and of course the overwhelmingly fabulous selection of teas and teapots! In fact, the whole front room is filled with all of the things that you need for a proper sort of tea, all the way down to the shortbread, candied ginger (good for your digestion when you're eating all of those fancy cakes and sandwiches!) and Kathleen's own peppermint infused sugar....a fun and fanciful thing to have in your silver sugar bowl come the holidays!

All this being said, you can only imagine that I jumped at the opportunity to enjoy a wonderful holiday tea with Kathleen and her staff last week!  Every year the lovely ladies of the Village Herb Shop invite their customers in to join them for a Holiday High Tea and what a tea that was! From the moment I walked in I was filled with a wonderful spirit of Christmas. Every shelf and every mantle was decorated for the holidays and the table was laden with platters of beautiful sandwiches, fancy breads and a beautiful tea service which Kathleen served from. The scents of rosemary bread and lemon filled the air and the little ham sandwiches were superb.

The punch bowl was a beauty in itself filled with a chilled blend of cranberry juice and what I believe may have been a delicious hibiscus tea. There was a beautiful ice ring made simply from water and fresh cranberries set in to chill it and the bowl itself was surrounded by a fabulous ring of holly. Everything had been thought of..every effort made to make us all feel warm and welcome. I spent the next hour and a half  enjoying the company of women and children that I'd never met before but felt like I knew through our shared experience of the afternoon.  You can find The Village herb Shop online at  http://www.villageherbshop.com/ but please take a moment to stop in and enjoy the ambience and gorgeous selection of holiday gifts!

And while I'm at it, here's my recipe for those candied violets. All of this talk of tea is making me ravenous.......

All you need are violets, beaten egg white thats not frothy, superfine sugar and a soft sable paint brush. This is the time of year to make them because you can find fresh violets everywhere you roam. Just make sure to harvest them from areas that you know haven't been touched with pesticides because you will not be rinsing them. Paths along the woods are usually the best!

Dip the brush into the egg and gently apply the egg white very lightly to the violet, covering the whole flower or petal. Don't use too much , only enough to allow the sugar to stick. Then turn the violet upside down and while holding it  over a plate , sprinkle with the superfine sugar to coat it evenly. Place them on a tray that you've line with parchment and allow them to completely dry. You can hasten the process a bit by putting the tray into a 150 degree oven with the door left ajar . They won't be around this long, but once they are completely dry you can store them for up to a year in an airtight jar. I've also done this with lavender buds and rose petals and this year I'm thinking about candying fresh nasturtium blossoms! Almost any small edible flower will do. Whichever you choose, you'll find them to be addictive and delicious! The other night I was at a wonderful tree trimming party and one of the hostesses sprinkled these lovelies all over a Buche de Noel that was covered with whipped cream...It was gorgeous!

Now why don't you go pour yourself a steaming cup of tea and enjoy the wonderful  warm voice of Lou Rawls....