Fishes & Chips

Our Road Trip to Austin, TX Installment: 3

Tue, 01 Jan 2013 12:12:34 -0500

And, of course, after arriving in Memphis and checking into our lovely hotel, we got back in our cars to find the Memphis Whole Foods!

We were pretty sure that this Whole Foods must have been a KFC at one point…

And after checking out the local Whole Foods for some grub we went straight back to our hotel to get some rest.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have much time to see Memphis, and by 5am the next day we were back on the road crossing over the Mississippi and into Arkansas in the dark.

Because we were both so excited to get to Austin this leg of our trip seemed to take forever.

But eventually we crossed over our last state boarder and into Texas!

And hours later we found ourselves finally in Austin,TX! One of the first things we both noticed was all the food trucks. This particular food truck served “Philadelphia Cheese Steaks” and even imported their rolls from Amoroso’s Bakery!

As we drove into the South Congress neighborhood we were in aw of the giant cacti and beautiful flowers in everyone’s front yards. And soon enough we arrived at our destination. We had booked our week long stay using Air BnB (which we highly recommend.) The price and location were amazing and our hosts were very friendly and accommodating. We booked a great little guest house with an eat in kitchen right in the heart of the hip South Congress neighborhood.

Welcome to Austin!

Keep checking for our 4th installment: All Austin has to offer…

Our Road Trip to Austin, TX Installment: 2

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 14:13:39 -0500

*We arrived in Nashville, TN twelve hours after starting our trip; tired and hungry. So what did we do? Why of course we found the closest Whole Foods! ^_^

And after filling our bellies we headed back to our hotel and got some much needed rest.

Because our next stop was only a three hour drive to Memphis, we took most of the next day to enjoy Nashville. We stopped in at Antique Archaeology, which I’m sure many of you know from the TV show, American Pickers.

American Pickers happens to be one of our favorite TV shows and we had a great time looking at all the kitschy, odd, and industrial antiques. We even recognized a few of the picks from the different episodes that we’d watched.

We spent the rest of the day exploring the main strip in Nashville, sitting outside of the honky tonks, listening to the country singers. And finally we found a great little cafe to get some lunch and coffee before we set off for Memphis, TN.

As we started our drive we saw a heart in the sky, which you can clearly see in the photo.

We got to Memphis in no time and found that our hotel was the best one yet! Nick can be seen above enjoying our king size bed ^_^.

Keep checking for our 3rd installment: From Memphis to Austin…

Our Road Trip to Austin, TX Installment: 1

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 22:24:00 -0500

*For those of you who don’t know, back in October Nick and I went on a road trip from Philadelphia, PA to Austin, TX, stopping in Shenandoah National Park, Nashville and Memphis along the way. It was one of our best trips to date and now that I have some time off for the holidays, I’d like to share some of our adventure with you.

Please enjoy our First Installment of: Philadelphia, PA to Nashville, TN

We got an early start: 5:00am. We watched the sun rise as the fog burned off and we left Philadelphia in our rear view mirrors, on our way to Nashville, TN. It would be a twelve hour drive…

Our first rest stop welcomed us with some weird fungus that I thought looked like sea coral and a random carnival ride…this was going to be an interesting trip for sure!

We quickly passed into Maryland and then over the Mason Dixon line.

West Virgina mountain Momma…

All of the fresh air and open space may have started to get to our heads.

We quickly learned the hard way that Nick’s speedometer stops working past 50 mph as I got a speeding ticket for going 89mph in a 70mph zone. The police officer was very kind and knocked the speed down a bit so that I wouldn’t get any points. We then downloaded a speedometer App and continued this way for the rest of our trip.

We saw lots of strange things on our way, amongst them giant crosses on the side of the road about ever couple miles or so and this robotic deep sea diving submarine…

Welcome to Tennessee and the beautiful smokey mountains.

We were happy to see lower gas prices down there.

Not even a quarter of the way through our trip and Nick’s bumper already looked like a blood bath…

Keep checking for our next installment: From Nashville to Memphis…

OMG I died over your bag!!! Would you commission one maybe? It's so unique and adorable and perfect for fall!

Sun, 26 Aug 2012 19:00:32 -0400

Yeah for sure. I have to figure out a price with the materials and all and I’ll get back to you ^_^ thanks for checking it out and letting me know that you’d be interested in buying one.

*leanne

The Betty Jane Bag

Sun, 26 Aug 2012 12:21:00 -0400

*After coveting all kinds of adorable bags this summer, but not really feeling comfortable enough to commit to buying one. I thought I’d try my hand at making one.

I actually had Jury Duty last Monday and thought I’d do a bit of hand sewing on the bag for something to do while I waited, for what seemed like forever. Luckily I was not picked for a jury.

I also used my bleach pen technique (that I blogged about in a previous post) to create the polka-dot pattern on the top linen panel.

I found these copper rivets at Stanley’s Hardware Store in Roxboro. After a whole lot of hammering I got them in and secured.

I decided to name the bag after both of my grandmothers, Betty, my Mom’s Mom and Jane, my Dad’s Mom. I used a Leather Alphabet Stamp Set from Tandy that I found at my local Michaels Arts and Crafts store to create the tag.

The directions that came with the stamp set didn’t really work. So I decided to improvise; I held the letter stamp that I wanted to use in a candle flame for a few seconds, this warmed up the metal, and the stamp built up soot on it. I then stamped the soot covered letter into the leather using a hammer. After it cooled I sprayed it with crystal clear to seal in the soot so that it wouldn’t smudge.

Then I just had to figure out the right place for the label and rivet it on.

Even though the bag wasn’t quite done I just had to try it on ^_^.

Next I had to work out the strap issue. I had bought these strips of suede to use as the handles. The only problem was that they came wrapped around a piece of cardboard and when I unraveled them they were crimped and wouldn’t flatten out. But after a great suggestion from my friend Julia, I put a piece of paper on top of them and carefully steam ironed the straps and they flattened right out! Thanks Julia!

I then added little stud feet to the bottom to help keep the leather off the ground when putting the bag down.

Riveted on the tag.

Completely lined the inside of the bag with pillow ticking. (This may have been the trickiest part)

And my Betty Jane tote bag was complete. And I am completely in love with it! ^_^

I have to be honest and say that I don’t have as many pictures of my process as I would like because I wasn’t quite sure that I’d be able to do it. But after creating a beautiful bag that I’m just in love with, and getting tons of great feed back from family and friends, I’ve decided that I will be making more. And with that said I will make sure to take some better in progress pictures…

DIY Outdoor Storage Bench

Sun, 26 Aug 2012 11:04:00 -0400

*Trying to beautify our front porch/stoop, got me thinking of a new DIY project. An outdoor storage bench, providing both storage and a nice place to sit and read a book.

After a quick trip to Lowes Home Improvement Store I had all the things I needed to get started.

After creating a pretty simple box, I just needed to build a hinged lid and start staining.

I found this really great stain at Lowes called “Sunbleached” by Rustoleum.

It turned out a great color, looking worn and sun-baked.

A couple of outdoor throw pillows from the Crate and Barrel Outlet and a bench seat cushion I found on Hayneedle and we’ve made the perfect little place to sit in the shade and read a book or watch the neighborhood go by. ^_^

DIY Palette Wood Planter Boxes

Sun, 26 Aug 2012 10:18:00 -0400

Grabbed these palettes that someone was throwing away with a project in mind.

It took quite a bit of work to figure out the best way to take them apart, but once that was done I was ready to go.

These smaller pieces, that I cut down with my chop saw, were the only material that I had to buy for this project. Total cost: $2.00

A bunch of screws later and …Tada! Palette wood flower box, now just time to put them out front and load them up with beautiful plants.

*A special thanks to Becky and Scott for dropping the palettes off for me ^_^.

Alyssa's New Hampshire Wedding Wrap Up

Sun, 26 Aug 2012 08:43:00 -0400

*A couple of weekends ago Nick and I headed north for his step sister, Alyssa’s, wedding. Of course things never go as planned but it most certainly a day to remember, and in the end a great trip and a beautiful wedding.

I always love finding those fake tree cell phone towers, they really crack me up… a nice effort but really, who do they think they’re fooling?

I took this picture in the carriage house while Alyssa and her bridesmaids ran around getting ready. Nick and I decided that this will be his album cover one day ^_^.

…did Nick grow or the chair shrink?

I love finding these little tree frogs. I used to spend hours searching for them in my aunts yard up in Maine. So cute.

Just as the wedding was about to get underway we watched and documented as a crazy storm rolled in and forced the wedding inside.

This sequins of pictures cracks me up. Of course we all got soaking wet, and my curly hair was ruined. But all that really matters is the bride and groom stayed dry and we all laughed it off and had a great time.

Robby and Nick getting ready at Alyssa’s wedding.

Sat, 11 Aug 2012 14:08:57 -0400

Robby and Nick getting ready at Alyssa’s wedding.

Photo

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 13:12:44 -0400

Best truck ever!

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 13:11:53 -0400

Best truck ever!

Photo

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 11:37:28 -0400

On our way to New Hampshire for Alyssa’s wedding.

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 11:34:38 -0400

On our way to New Hampshire for Alyssa’s wedding.

*For those of you who haven’t already heard, last week we...

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 09:05:47 -0400

*For those of you who haven’t already heard, last week we lost our dog, Andy Boy, to a brain tumor. Putting Andy down was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make. Andy had a tough start to life, and all I can hope is that we made it a little better for him.

I rescued Andy from an abusive owner who neglected and hit him. A month after welcoming Andy into my life, he was diagnosed with epilepsy and had to be put on an intense medication regiment for the rest of his life.

For those of you who meet Andy, you know that he was an aggressive dog, but after hearing the little bit of what we know of his story, I hope that you might better understand why. Andy got me through some of the hardest times in my life. He just wanted to protect me and though Andy wasn’t the best dog in the world he was my dog and I will love him and miss him forever.

Rest in peace Andy Boy.
11/7/2004 - 8/3/2012

Catching Up From Curacao

Sat, 14 Jul 2012 11:06:00 -0400

*So we are still playing catch up and I’m hoping you will understand at the shear length of this post. Back in May, just after Nick’s birthday, I headed down to Curacao (a small island off the coast of Venezuela) with a bunch of fun loving girls for Christi’s (Nick’s sister) bachelorette party. It was four days of total tropical fun in the sun, and we all had a blast. Thank you to all the girls especially Christi, Trish (the maid of honor) and Jess for putting this whole trip together! Hope you enjoy the view…

It took us a little bit to get used to our giant mom van. Luckily the one mom was driving and she did an awesome job, thanks Jess!

This is the villa we stayed in… I mean come on…how awesome is that!

Our pool looking over the cliff…

Beautiful plant life around the front of the villa.

I loved the itty bitty lizard that hid under our table.

Jess made all of us girls dinner after a long day in the sun, what a woman!

We took a day trip to the local floating market, where ships docked and sold their fresh fruit and goods.

The down town was filled with these beautiful Dutch buildings.

So this adorable dachshund, who we named Peter, randomly strolled up to the house one evening and kept us company, got a few hand outs, and some belly rubs and then was on his way. We were all missing our dogs so much it was such a nice treat!

What a beautiful bride to be.

We headed out into spanish waters for some snorkeling, by far my favorite part of the trip! But unfortunately our bride to be swallowed some sea water and got a bit sick. She was quite a trooper though and just a half hour back on land and she was ready to go ^_^

Clearly I am ready to go with my snorkel down and everything. It really was amazing, we even saw flying fish! I wish I had an underwater camera, hopefully next time.

Ready for a fun night out on the town.

The locals really seemed to love my hat for some reason and kept stealing it!

Christi and I got mistaken for being Brazilian because of our sweet dance moves ^_^

All in all it was an amazing trip that I will never forget. And thank you again to Christi (the bride) Trish (maid of honor) Jess, Kate, Louise, and Jenna (brides maids) for an amazing time! See you all in September at the wedding ^_^.

This my fist lil video post using my iPhone. Hope you enjoy :)

Sun, 24 Jun 2012 19:54:00 -0400

This my fist lil video post using my iPhone. Hope you enjoy :)

DIY Rope Light Fixture

Sun, 24 Jun 2012 12:50:00 -0400

*Though we still have some catching up to do, I wanted to add this post in since I just finished the project this morning.

I picked up this old wire lampshade at a Philly Flea Market the other weekend, for just a couple of bucks, and I had the perfect project in mind for it. To create a new, unique, light fixture for our bedroom. The one we had was just an old round frosted piece of glass that had yellowed with age and didn’t provide the prettiest light.

I picked up a 1/4in. x 50ft ball of twisted sisal, multi-purpose rope, from our local hardware store, Stanley’s Hardwear. I grabbed one ball that was a light color and another that was a darker brown color so that I could create a stripe at the bottom of my shade.

After stitching the rope around the top of my shade I simply began to wrap it around the shade, using a clothes pin to hold it from time to time as I untangled knots that gathered in my ball of rope.

After I got about three quarters of the way down my shade, I took my darker rope and stitched it to the end of my lighter rope with a thread and needle. And I continued wrapping the darker rope down the rest of my shade to create a contrasting stripe.

Once my shade was completely wrapped in rope I stitched the end of the rope around the bottom of my metal shade with a needle and thread. I then took a scissor to my shade, to trim off the longer fibers that were sticking out. Then it was time to attach my shade to my light fixture. I made sure to turn off the power to the light from the light switch as well as turned the power off to the entire room from the fuse box, to be extra careful and safe from being electrocuted.

It took some doing but I took the wing nut off of my light fixture, put my shade up and secured it back on with the same wing nut, which held up my shade perfectly ^_^.

Our new DIY rope light fixture throws much more light then our old one did and looks rustic and cool too! ^_^

Nick's 25th Birthday Beach Bash

Sat, 23 Jun 2012 11:56:00 -0400

*Still playing a bit of catch up with our blog… We celebrated Nick’s 25th birthday down in Avalon with the whole Bella Vista Crew.

Hexter brought his adorable/ridiculous dog Owen with him, making our trip that much more entertaining ^_^.

Note the sign. I’m pretty sure we broke a lot of laws while we were down there, or at least disrespected some signage.

We did a little fishing off of a pier, we caught a lot… none of it was fish…

We caught quite a few horseshoe crabs…The Horseshoe Crab is one of Earth’s oldest creatures, appearing over 100 million years before the dinosaurs!

We pulled this little guy up in the crab cage! It was so cool to see a seahorse up close. Don’t worry we threw him back ^_^

Note…I did not catch this flounder, a very nice local fisherman next to us did. It was so nice of him to let me pretend that I knew what I was doing.

This has to be one of my favorite pictures from the trip ^_^. Owen giving Ben a hug before we left to head back to Philly.

DIY Wrapping Paper

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 19:18:00 -0400

*So here I am playing catch up, and I wanted to show you how you can customize your own wrapping paper to make each gift extra special and different. Below is what I got Nick for his birthday and how I wrapped it, creating my own wrapping paper with nothing but craft paper, some good ol’ sharpy markers, and a cute idea.

I found him this gorgeous duffel bag from Svpply.com .

Perfect sized bag for a weekend get away!

Super cute and simple but a great way to make your gifts extra special and show how much you care ^_^.

Poor Little Guy

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 21:40:24 -0400

*So as some of you may have heard, Andy, our little boston terrier, suffered a pretty awful eye injury about three weeks back. We aren’t completely sure what happened, if it was self inflicted or if he managed to run, eye first, into something sharp. But I took him out of his crate the morning after traveling back from Curacao, for a bachelorette party, to find him in a lot of pain and refusing to open his right eye. After realizing something was terribly wrong we rushed him to our vet and then over to the UPenn Veterinary Ophthalmology Center, where they told us that if not treated thoroughly and with the right medications, Andy could loose his eye.

So we have been working tirelessly so that the doctors wouldn’t have to remove it. Waking up every hour on the hour, for the first two weeks, to give him medications was exhausting and stressful, but our hard work and determination to save Andy from loosing his eye has paid off, and he is now on the road to recovery. Below is a pretty graphic image of Andy’s eye currently, so you may want to escort small children out of the room. Or if you are squimish, you may not want to scroll any further…

This is actually after much healing, but you can see a small divot in Andy’s cornea which was the point of impact, it’s called a cornea ulcer. We are extremely lucky that he didn’t rupture it. It was much, much deeper when he first did it, again this is after three weeks of healing that we are finally seeing progress.

We are so glad to see that Andy is finally feeling better and is now working on his depth perception skills, trying not to run into things, as he plays with his ball.

Needless to say this little traumatic experience took us away from our blogging and we have lots to catch up on, so stay tuned for more DIY projects, before and afters, Nick’s birthday celebration and more!