This Is Framingham

Tonight my friend Miah and I went out for sushi at Samba. I’ve gone here for hibachi and Ethan and I love their Pad Thai, but I’ve never gone here for a sushi evening so that’s what Miah and I did.
We sat in the lounge (also a first) and started off with some drinks, I got a chocolate martini and and Miah got something fruity that the waiter suggested.

We got some edamame and a sushi/maki combo for 2. This was really enough for 3, maybe even 4 and hasd a nice variety of nigiri and maki which was delicious.

I think the best roll was was the spicy tuna maki, which Miah agreed was particularly good.

We had such a great meal here and now have three reasons to go here. Whether it’s for hibachi, Pad Thai or sushi, I’d be happy to go here anytime and it’s good to see that so far Samba hasn’t succumbed to the failed restaurant curse that had plagued this location for previous businesses. Good job Samba!

I was looking to get my awesome Jordan Marsh print framed and I didn’t really want to go to AC Moore or Michael’s because there is something weird to me about always offering 50% off framing, they don’t do their work in-house and I like to use local businesses. I’ve never had anything framed before and some people recommended Framed in Time in Saxonville so I thought I’d check them out.
When you walk in, you can see there are a ton of options for frames.

Right from the start, the girl behind the counter was so incredibly nice and helpful when I explained what I was looking for and the budget I was working with. She picked out a few suggestions based on the colors of the print and the thickness of the frame that would be needed due to the larger amount of glass that would be need as this was a larger poster rather than a small desk top item I was looking to frame.

I picked a light wood frame even though the interior of our house has dark wood trim, I thought the light wood went well with the print. I went to pick it up today and when I saw the finished product I realized I made a mistake and I just knew Ethan wasn’t going to like it in the house.

As much as I hated to do it, I asked the guy “So….what if I needed this re-framed? How much would that cost?” and instead of rolling his eyes or sighing, which I was afraid he would do, he said “Oh, if you pick a frame that’s in the same price range, there’s no charge at all”.  I told him I was so sorry but now that I’m looking at it I just know my husband won’t like this and I guess I’m not crazy about it either.
The guy said no problem at all and that it’s big enough that he can cut it up to use for something else and that infact he just got a new frame in this price range that is the same thing but in a walnut color. He brought out the frame sample and it was perfect.

It was so nice of him to not only to be so accommodating to me changing my mind after the frame was done, but he didn’t try to up-sell me on a more expensive frame and he was really nice!
I know we’ll be happy with the new frame and I’m so glad I went here. Such a nice small business in town, they get to be filed in the “yay” category of the blog!

Check out their site for more info: http://www.framedintime.com

Sometimes I walk to work and when I do, I like to add on another few minutes and get a yogurt or piece of fruit at Whole Foods because they open at 8am.  I’d always like to go to Trader Joe’s but they aren’t open until 9am (which is when I have to be at work)- until now.  The other day I went to Whole Foods and as I was walking through the Trader Joe’s parking lot to go to work, I saw someone walking out with groceries- but it was only 8:30am!
I went in and an employee said hi and we started talking about the new hours (8am-9pm) and she said they just started the new hours this week.  It seems like a minor thing but it’s a nice convenience to have them open at 8 now since I’m a morning grocery shopper on the weekends and would sometimes plan my grocery shopping around TJ’s opening at 9am.
Anyway, I just thought any fellow morning shoppers would be interested to know this.

I was going through some old pictures on my camera and came across this beauty of chocolate rugelach I got at Kugel’s(located in Trolley Square) about a month ago and forgot to post about it.  Usually when I find rugelach, it’s too dry, lacking flavor or just a different style altogether but this is just like the kind my aunt used to serve at her house when I was a kid. 
I don’t know where else in Framingham they have rugelach like this so I just wanted to give a shout out to Kugel’s for selling such a fine product (as well has serving great breakfasts and sandwiches).

A thoughtful reader wrote to me about an artist she follows Flickr who created some designs based on our sorely missed Shoppers World.
Brandon Schaefer makes insanely creative images that are mostly retro-inspired re-designs of movie posters, book covers and miscellaneous subjects, like Shoppers World and made these fantastic designs:

Of course I had to write to Brandon and ask him how he got to making these, what inspires him when designing images and what his background is.   Being the nice guy that he is, he answered all my questions and told me about his work.  Brandon is a 25 year freelance graphic designer who has been designing since high school.  While various subjects inspire him, he has an appreciation for American Modernism during the 40’s and 50’s which clearly comes through in his style.  He has a special place in a his heart (like most of us do) for the old Shoppers World, which I think is great for someone so young.  If you like what you see, you can buy it by clicking here. And if you like these, be sure to check out the rest of his work at http://www.seekandspeak.com, it’s just fantastic stuff- enjoy!

Today I went to get the mail at the Trolley Square plaza like I do everyday and was expecting to peek into the window of the soon-to-be-open produce market, like I do every day, except today it was open for business!
It was great to see the store I had watched progress all summer, fully functioning. They did a nice job inside:

The produce, as expected, looked fresh and crisp:

They have a variety of breads including their own that they bake fresh every day:

In addition to lots of imported jarred and canned goods, they offer plenty of cheese, cured meats and smoked fish, whole, cut and sliced:

Just walking through this place is fun, you could make a project out of trying something new every week. I spoke with the owner for a little bit and when I asked him why he chose Framingham to open this store he said “because you needed it”. He has been in the specialty food business for many years and most of them were in New York, where he imports a lot of his items from.
Like the cakes, which looked fantastic:
This place is everything I hoped for and I think it will do well because of the unique items that can’t be found at the bigger markets. Their site isn’t quite up and running but they’re at 855 Worcester Rd. and the phone is (508) 872-7272.

Ethan and I were taking a walk one night and noticed a sign in a window for Celtic dress designs.  I was really curious and wanted to learn more about this business and why they picked downtown to open their shop so I emailed the owner and she was nice enough to invite me into the shop and show me around.
Julia Ebel, the director, designer and owner, started the business almost 2 years ago and has been at this street-viewable location on Union Ave. since this past summer.  She’s from Natick but chose this location for it’s affordability and space.  As she showed me around and talked about the work involved in these dresses, I was amazed at the attention to detail that goes into these dresses and the quality of fabric she chooses.
With the help of her mom and some Framingham State College interns, she makes beautiful Celtic dance competition dresses as well as any kind of non-Celtic  special orders and can reproduce dresses from drawings/photos and even wedding dresses.
Here are some of the dresses both finished and in-progress:

Some children’s dresses:

One of my favorites was a colonial dress, perfect for a costume party:

Another thing I like about Julia’s shop is that she loves working with her clients on the design.  She said sometimes people will come in with a family crest and ask her how to work it into a dress design, while others will leave it up to her to design and she sends them her designs to choose from.  For anyone interested, she always welcomes people to come to the shop, take a look around and see the workspace in back.  I highly recommend checking the shop out if you can, Julia is very informative and great to talk to.  I went there thinking I’d visit for 15 minutes and we ended up talking for almost three hours.

Celtic Dragon Dress Design is  located at 118 Union Ave, 2nd Floor, right across from the Danforth Museum. (phone: (508) 820 7745)    
For more information you can check our their website: http://celticdragondressdesigns.com