Windsor Wonderland this Saturday!

Is it really the last day of November? Before we know it, 2011 will be knocking on our doors! This next month is going to be chock-a-block with festivities and celebrations. Our little New England town is celebrating the season this Saturday December 4th from 1-5PM with Windsor Wonderland. The highly anticipated visit from Santa on the fire engine will start at 2PM, followed by carolers from one of the local congregations and the tree lighting on the corner of State and Main streets at 3:45PM. There will also be crafts at the Nuance Gallery as well as a Wreath Sell and a Student Art Show going from 1-5PM to benefit project graduation. Sounds like the perfect community celebration. Does the town you live in have some sort of celebration? What do you do?

Weekend snow

Lights and snow on the Snapdragon fence

Local Christmas tree Farm

Paradise Park: Perfect walk for a wintry day

What did you get up to this weekend? Did you pick out a tree? We have some wonderful places nearby where you can scout for your perfect tree, cut it down, and take it home. This place seems to have a big selection but there are also places here and there as you drive the back roads. Makes for a fabulous activity. While our friends were doing just that on Saturday afternoon across the river in Cornish, we had quite a little snow burst and within 10 minutes the earth was covered in a blanket of white which made the tree hunting that much more exciting. I think the first snow brings a bit of a thrill to everyone, young and old. It really got the holiday season off to a fun start. Of course, it is all gone now, and there is no forecast for anymore this week but it whet the appetite for future sledding, snow shoeing, and skiing!

Tis' the season to decorate

How was your Thanksgiving? Ours was wonderful and full of good food, good friends, and some good football watching. Big Red put the last touches on the holiday decorations, completing K80's decorating plan right on time. Are you getting out your Christmas gear? Here are a few more pictures of the Inn filling with holiday cheer. Looks like we have a bit of snow forecasted for the weekend and it feels like now snow is appropriate and even necessary to ensure a white Christmas. Enjoy this weekend and the beginning of this wonderful time of the year.

We are thankful...

Today we'd like to give thanks to our family, dear friends, loyal followers, and wonderful guests. If you ask any of us, this year has been a total blur (especially June thru October) but we have been humbled by the friends who spent humid summer days & nights working inside and out to help us make opening and those memories are not a blur. You all know who you are and we are very thankful for your remarkable support. We are also thankful for the fantastic guests that we have welcomed into the Inn since opening in September and the way their presence has filled this beautiful home once again. We feel the virtual support of our online followers and appreciate your excitement as well as the amazing community support. Finally, we are thankful for our Innkeepers, Big Red & Chaz who attend to and nurture this beautiful space everyday. It is no small task, as we have learned, and are grateful for their efforts.

Enjoy this wonderful holiday!

The Snapdragons

a very colorful experience

No doubt this has been buzzing the web for months now but we spotted it on the always inspiring, Dwell last week and sorta kinda think it's amazing! It's the Pantone Hotel in Brussels, Belgium. Designed by Belgian interior designer Michel Penneman and architect Olivier Hannaert and it is a color feast.

In case you aren't familiar with Pantone, it is an innovative system for matching and communicating accurate colors across industries and countries for graphic arts, fashion, interiors, paints, plastics, anything with color. It is most recognizable as one their fan decks but they also have an incredible assortment of extremely useful products if you work with or are passionate about color (here here on both accounts!)

That's why it is thrilling to see a Pantone fan deck visualized into this hotel in Belgium. We love how they used a white palette and popped the colors in each room in the details because that is a technique we used in the Inn just not as funky. Each of the hotel's seven floors are dedicated to a different color palette: 2718 c (blue); 7487 c (green); 7441 c (violet); 106 c (yellow); 1795 c (red); 4705 c (brown); and 1375 c (orange). They also have a lounge, a store with innovative color products, and even color consultants on hand the likes of which have influenced color choices in some of the biggest companies in the world (Tiffany, Nike, Barbie...) They say it best on their site,

The PANTONE HOTEL combines the strong emotions evoked by color with exceptional, vivid design and unyielding comfort. Guests enjoy state-of-the-art accommodations, distinctively chosen at reception to compliment their mood. Luxurious beds, inviting pillows, LCD TVs, and central A/C with individual controls are standard at The PANTONE HOTEL^TM; many rooms are illuminated with unparalleled views of Brussels.

Brussels showcases the color of emotion with a distinctive hue on each colorous guest floor. From vivid to subdued, for business or leisure, our unique boutique hotel perfectly suits your savvy palette and colorful imagination.

From a design perspective, The PANTONE HOTEL^TM, Brussels is built on an exceptional use of contrast; a white canvas provides clean space for saturated colors to pop. Guest rooms feature unique photography by esteemed Belgian photographer Victor Levy.

Welcome to the center of the color universe.

This hotel combines to passions, color and well designed interiors. It is so so so cool. Usually when we travel it is hostels and guesthouses but next time we are anywhere near Brussels, this has rocketed to the top of our must stay list. What color room would you stay in?

48 hours and counting

image by Norman Rockwell

In a mere 48 hours the countury will be carving Turkeys, whipping up mashed potatoes, and slicing crisp apple pies. The most traveled day in the US and a day where it is socially appropriate to EAT, EAT and EAT! If you are like many, you promise that next year you won't eat as much or you'll eat slower but we never do and there is something comforting about that tradition. We are excited to welcome our holiday guests and help them enjoy their holiday away from home in our relaxing and quite nook of New England. You don't want to miss the good eats on Thursday? You can walk a few minutes down the road to Windsor Station Pub for a yummy Thanksgiving meal. Need a last minute getaway? Click here for an exclusive web deal.

What is a Thanksgiving delight you can't wait to indulge in?

Gingerbread Fun

How was your weekend? The Christmas decorations are almost finished for our Thanksgiving guests this week. On Saturday, there was a gingerbread party and lots of little snappers were around to help make cookies for the tree in the dining room but I think most of those ended up in their tummies. More were made and that tree is looking wonderful. There is something to be said about the simplicity of a gingerbread man, woman, and child in making a tree festive and smelling delicious! They are hanging with some fun fruit and red berries that k80 and Chaz scored at a craft score.

I think this might have to be a Snapdragon tradition and from the sounds of it, gingerbread has been around a long time! This is an interesting article called a "Gingerbread Tradition" that gives a lot of detail and insight into the spicy delight. Along similar lines, this article gives facts of interest about lots of Christmas foods. Have a great Monday!

Hat Weather

Do you have your winter hats out?

This morning we woke up to snow flurries! It is officially hat, mitten, and coat weather. There is something exciting about the first little bits of white ice that fall to the ground and we like to enjoy the excitement because it wears off come February and March. It is also very fitting since we stayed up late last night getting the Inn all Christmasified. Here are a couple sneak peeks of what we have in store. Enjoy your weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Wood burning our logo into birch rings

"You can never put too much glitter on a bird"

Make this (by our wreath expert K80)

Last minute Thanksgiving deal!

Do you want to escape the congestion of the city? Were you going to be alone for Thanksgiving? Do you feel like some peace and quiet for the holiday weekend? Do we have a deal for you! Enjoy two nights stay at the Snapdragon and all of its modern amenities set in a beautifully renovated historic home AND enjoy dinner for two at the Windsor Station Pub, train station turned restaurant, just minutes walk from the Inn. In fact, if you don't feel like fighting the holiday traffic you can take the Amtrak right to Windsor (code WNM) and get off at the Pub and mosey your way down Main street to the Inn. Does it get any more perfect? Oh it does. The Innkeeper bakes fresh cookies!

Includes two nights stay plus tax and a prefix menu at Windsor Station Pub (a smaller menu with choice of appetizer, choice of entree, choice of dessert, glass of wine) for two people

Gearing up for holiday decorating!

K80 and Chaz have been working on the holiday decorating plan for the Inn and collecting bits and pieces. They have some wonderful DIY decorations planned and we'll make sure to document as we make them this next week. Trees, garlands, ornaments, nutcrackers, gingerbread people to boot! As this is our first Christmas at the Inn, we are starting from scratch but will add to our collection each year. So exciting! It's been fun perusing the internet looking at decor ideas.

Felt balls are wonderful!

These stockings for the mantels!

The simplicity of these would be lovely on a side table.

oh and these, these, and this!

What are some of your favorite decoration ideas?

Room 2 is a gem

Before

Room 2 is a gem. The lovely clear light pours into its east facing windows and the calming color scheme create a relaxing space to be in. It is spacious, but still welcoming and has one of the larger bathrooms with a shower and an antique claw foot tub (that we refinished of course) to soak away the evening or morning or day. A recent guest of Room 2 left this wonderful review on trip advisor. Continue to read about some of the room details.

Just returned from a wonderful stay at the Snapdragon Inn. After many long work weeks in Boston, I needed some time away from the city to relax and refresh, this place was the perfect find.

My room was pristine and came equipped with a flat screen which streamed Netflix and Blockbuster movies (along with full service cable) so I was able to catch a few movies that I had missed in the theaters. Not only that, but the bed was THE MOST COMFORTABLE bed I have ever slept on. I woke feeling amazing and I didn't want to leave it!

The property was right along a beautiful lake, in a town that borders the Connecticut river, so the views were awesome. I especially loved the warm hospitality of the innkeepers. Their care made me feel at home- right down to the fresh cookies and milk before bed.

Before: Chair on the left that we scored on our virgin trip to Brimfield

After: K80 and Velda worked their magic

First we stripped the floors and the walls(these were painted wallpaper walls) to lighten the room (no small task, right?). A few of the details in this room include a chair from Brimfield that K80 and her mom gave a second life to when they meticulously recovered it (in the highest humidity you could imagine) and now sits elegantly in the corner with a gorgeous tropical print that gives a zing of color to the mostly pale room but also ties together all of our room details. The lamps were another Brimfield score this last May and were so excited the way they bring in the turquoise of the tropical and work with the coral velvet that we placed behind the headboard to give it more elegance and depth. The blue Snapdragon Pillow pulls right into the Sevres Blue of the bathroom and the deeper blue swirl (also purchased in India at Fab India if you know the place and if you do, isn't it out of this world!) pulls from the tropical blues as well but also adds a contrast to the white of the bed. We can't forget the gorgeous photos by Leilani Bascom that perfectly compliment each room.

It is fun looking back on each detail of these rooms and the real thought and time that went into every single one and so happy we can now share them with you. Room 2 could just be the one for you.

Halloween hi lites 2010

Our very own Princess Leia

Halloween Snappers in Oregon

Windsor Snappers

Illinois Snappers

Halloween seemed to come and go in a flash this year and now we are 2 weeks from Thanksgiving! Just wanted to share some the Snapdragon team's holiday fun.

An Innkeeper's touch: Holiday scents

We have the best innkeepers an Inn could ask for. Chaz sure knows how to nurture a home and make it warm and inviting. I recently returned from a trip away and the Inn smelled delicious. Cinnamon scented pinecones. Simple but adds the perfect touch to the entry and library as we get ready for the holiday season. It's amazing the way a simple scent can make such a difference. What are your favorite holiday scents?

Where have all the leaves gone?

"I'm the sheriff in this town", he told me.

It is amazing how quickly our world has become leafless. Last week, Big Red, had massive piles sucked up in a big leaf vacuum but the back hill is covered. I caught some of our little snappers looking for "the treasure" on the hill today. Lucky, the sheriff was around to help out!

Mid-week Web Special!

It's November and time to take advantage of this month's special rate in our

perfectly relaxing Inn! Cuddle up on our feather beds that one guest called "delicious" or relax in the Maxwell Perkins library by the crackling fire with a cup of hot chocolate. We can't wait to see you! Email innkeeper@snapdragoninn.com or call the innkeeper at 802-227-0008

to book your nights today!