Waukesha Wandering and Burlap & Lace

I spent some time with my mom a few weekends back and we decided to do some shopping in Waukesha. She knows that I always can find us something to do so we didn’t really have a plan and just decided to start downtown and wander.

We started with The Steaming Cup for a quick breakfast before some “power shopping.” I hadn’t had their breakfast yet and though the menu is small, it is very diverse. I chose the Brazilian Breakfast and my mom picked the Cranberry Bolo. Neither of us was 100% sure what we were getting but we sat down with our coffee and chai and waited for the result.

Had to sit at the Carroll College table 🙂

We were both extremely pleasantly surprised with our breakfasts. Mine was a yogurt cup with acai puree, granola and mango. The puree was sweet but the yogurt helped to mellow it. I would definitely order it again. The granola is super yummy.

Brazilian Breakfast and Iced Chai

My mom’s Bolo was a light, airy bread that was lightly toasted and served with the cranberry cream cheese. (It’s the same that is used in the Cranberry Bog sandwich that I love so so much!)

Cranberry Bolo and Iced Tea

I only had a cup of the yogurt, so I helped my mom finish her bolo, we chatted a bit and I noticed the rack of games. I forgot they had these. What a fun concept to meet up with a friend in the evening and while having a cup of joe and catching up, you can play a game!

Games at The Steaming Cup

After cleaning our plates up, we headed off to the Waukesha Farmers’ Market. We wandered without planning to buy anything and of course left with peppers, green beans, kale, tomatoes and oatmeal. We can’t resist the fresh, local goods. I actually just blanched the remainder of my beans and kale and froze it to have it in the future. It’s amazing how much longer fresh produce lasts than the stuff that you buy in a chain market grocer!

We stopped by the Plowshare booth at the Farmer’s Market and found out a bit more on the fundraiser and fashion show later this month. My mom was very interested and because half of the cost to attend is a donation, we decided we are going to go and see what this is really all about.

Then of course we had to stop into the actual Plowshare store in downtown, because my mom can’t go to downtown without stopping in. My teenage cousin’s birthday was coming up and we picked up a cool recycled rubber bracelet for her and a flexible fabric frisbee for her brother in the shop. And for ourselves, we picked up some dehydrated mango that we had sampled in their booth at the market. It was delicious and the bag is very generous for $6.

We then wandered a bit more through downtown and saw that a new shop had opened called Burlap & Lace Marketplace was open on Grand. It’s painted a very bright teal-blue on the outside with cute decorations to really make your eye catch it because it’s not on the main drag of downtown Waukesha.

Burlap & Lace Marketplace

Burlap & Lace Marketplace

We went in and it truly is a lot of burlap and lace items, but so cutely set up. The shop is comprised of local artisans that rent booth space and display their handmade goods. There is coffee, knitted goods, soaps, wine cork art, burlap wrapped decor, handmade stationary, key chains, wall hangings, chalkboard art, antiques and more.

Does it get any cuter than these baseball, football and Wisconsin hats for little ones? 

Burlap & Lace Marketplace

Soon they will have a salon open in the back of the shop and offer classes for DIY projects. I am very interested in those. I signed up for their mailing list so I would be in-the-know when those classes start up.

Burlap & Lace Marketplace

Burlap & Lace Marketplace

I think this is an excellent addition to downtown. I love to buy from local artisans and this shop will definitely top my list when I need to buy gifts for friends. I just read on their Facebook page they currently have 29 vendors with a few spots still available and hope to expand into the basement in Spring.

They are open Tuesday – Saturday 10 – 6 and on Fridays they will be open until 9 pm through October.

(I even got an idea for my annual Christmas gift for my friends based off of one of the items that caught my eye in the store.)