NumberNineteen

New England Vacation

We've arrived back from our travels to New England.  A week of cool breezes, water, Bostonian sites and shopping, and family.  If you been around here for even a little while, you know that I love Boston and New England.  Visiting is one of my favorite traditions of the year.  We started out in Boston with my sister and her family.  We spent the first day in Harvard Square, checking out numerous book stores.  

The next day, I left the family in Massachusetts and drove up to New Hampshire to see one of my oldest and dearest friends.  We've known each other since we were 14 and spent our single years being great girlfriends. We went out on the weekends, discussed clothes, men and decorating and pulled each other through some rough patches.  How I wish that we still lived close together! I didn't get any good pictures of the two of us (I'm not counting the incredibly goofy selfies that won't be published here!), unfortunately.

The next day we spent in downtown Boston, starting with Mommy shopping in Beacon Hill.  My dears, if you are ever in Boston, please make a point to go to Charles Street and specifically, Holiday.  

Holiday is the prettiest little gem of a store.  Step in and you just feel pretty!  

The loveliest clothing, the most precious decor and changing rooms.  I found a beautiful pale rose dress with cutwork all over the bodice and hem which I couldn't resist.  

Of course we went to the Public Gardens for the annual duck photo.

Then onto the gorgeous Boston Public Library and Italian dinner in the North End.  With a stop for Italian cookies at Modern Pastry, of course. And, a second stop at Modern Pastry because I wasn't sure that we bought enough the first time.  True story.

The next day, onward to meet up with Nana & Grandpa in Maine.  After a stop at one of my all-time favorite antique stores (Cabot Mill in Brunswick), we met up for lunch in Bath.  What a cute town!  We found an amazing used book store called The Open Door (their website) and got coffee in an adorable old store turned coffee house.  I'd love to stop in Bath again when we are up there next time.

 After enjoying Bath, we headed further north to the cottage in Boothbay Harbor for a few days of relaxing.  There was a lot of reading, hanging out on the rocky shore and searching for sea glass.  We became well acquainted with the timing of the tides.  

We spent plenty of time in the village of Boothbay as well, where we caught their annual Windjammer Days parade, complete with Shriners in little cars, clowns, a bagpipe group, colonial militia re-enactors and lots of kid's groups.

As you can see, it was a jam-packed trip.  We are already missing New England!

 

September With The Family in PA

This post is super, super outdated but I really want to share the wonderful weekend that we had with my family in Pennsylvania the second weekend of September.  Work may have gotten in the way of my posting about it, but the glow of happiness from the trip remains with me.

There were so many good times over the weekend that we were there.  One highlight was seeing my gorgeous cousin who just turned one.  Lilly, you are just so adorable!  Her personality is just as bright as her hair (that hair!!!  I'm in love!!!).

 

We timed the weekend so that we could go to a massive antique machinery show/flea market.  Glenn & my uncle headed for the machinery, Hope & I went for the flea.  Of course :)  I only got one thing there, which is sort of a mystery piece.

 

Anyone recognize that mark on the underside?  I think that it may be ironstone, but I can't find anything about the mark anywhere online.  We looked at it with my uncle's jeweler's loop and found a very faint WM in addition to the Princess mark.  I got a very, very good deal on it and I'd love to know how old it is and where it was made.  I should take it to Antiques Roadshow ;)

Later in the day, Glenn & I went to a large antique mall, where I found wonderful things. 

I've been in love with everything tartan this past year & this tin is so perfect for fall and the holidays. As a weird bonus, it was filled with hundreds of little black buttons.  Not cool vintage buttons, just plain little buttons. Hmm.

I'll tell the truth, I would have probably paid just about anything for this cookie tin.  Usually you see cake tins, but never cookie.  And cookies are my THING.  I need to start baking soon so that I can fill it up.

A wonderful wicker wrapped bottle, found in a dusty corner, and a beautiful English transferware platter, which will eventually make it's way to my re-vamped Etsy store. 

My aunts (who live next door to each other -- I keep telling my mom to buy a house on their street so that we could visit everyone at once) had a Saturday night get together so that we could see all of the cousins.  There was so much good catching up and so much good Lilly time!  And, the food!  There is nothing like a Central PA family party for food -- 5 or 6 desserts, ring bologna, dips, more!

 

That would certainly have been enough wonderfulness, but on Sunday, there was a birthday party for Lilly!  A big tea party at their church thrown by her mom and grandmother.

I was kicking myself for leaving my good camera at home.  I had to make do with my phone, but I'm glad that I was able to capture some memories of a a great time.  Love you, PA family!

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Beautiful Maine

To finish the story of our wonderful month of June, I will bring you to Maine.  For years, my parents have been vacationing in Maine and telling us how wonderful it is.  My mother always says, "It's not like any other place.  You just have to go there."  In the past few years, they have rented a house and invited us to stay with them.  Timing hasn't worked for us until this year.  When they said that they would be there the week after school ended, we made plans to join them.

Glenn couldn't come due to a work project :(  so Hope and I took the train to Boston, where my sister and nephew met us at the station.  The Wise/Fleming sisters and their kiddos headed straight up the coast to Boothbay Harbor. 

I'm going to pause and say that this was the first time that I've taken a long train trip in over 20 years.  It was so pleasant!  There is so much more seat and leg room than in a plane, you can easily walk around, get lunch in the club car, and use the free wifi.  Even though it was an 8 hour trip, it flew by as we read, napped, and played on the computer. 

When we arrived, I went straight to the back of the house & this is what I saw:

That view!  The windows stretch along the entire back of the house, with a deck right in front, also along the expanse of the house. It is very cool in Maine in June, so the windows are open, letting you hear the water, the boats, the birds. You feel as if the peaceful world of the bay has enveloped you. 

Walking down an stone path to the back and side of the house, there is a small rocky beach and dock for residents to use. 

Every day, I went down to the rocks several times, to search for sea glass, to journal, to sit and breathe the salty air and listen to the waves.

On the other side of the house, the owners planted a gorgeous garden.

The quiet and solitude of Maine were just what I needed to start summer. More photos taken around the house & property:

We spent a bit of time exploring Maine....

Boothbay Harbor

The kids waiting for their ice cream downtown

Hope and I in front of the giant boot at LL Bean in Freeport

We antiqued, book shopped, read, ate ice cream, made fairy houses, went to an aquarium and cuddled.  At the end of the week, we turned the house back to the owners (tears were shed by one member of the family who shall remain un-named...) and returned to Boston for a day with Terri & Ezra.

My summary of our trip? 

You were right Mom, you do just have to be there.

 

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Memorial Day Weekend 2016

Only 2 more weeks left of school!  But, that is 3 weeks past Memorial Day -- school should be over at Memorial Day, right???  It is especially hard to go back after having a fabulous Memorial Day weekend as we did this year.  We were visiting --- wait for it -- New York.  I know, it seems like we are there all of the time, but when one of the most amazing places in the world is 4.5 hours from your home, it's hard NOT to go when you can. 

This year, we were up to visit good friends who moved to Long Island a few years ago. They have an annual Memorial Day weekend barbeque, so it was the perfect time to visit. It was so great to see them again and catch up.  They recently moved into the most gorgeous 1924 colonial in one of the prettiest towns that you can imagine.  And, my friend has such amazing style so I was practically drooling in every room. 

We spent Saturday and Sunday morning with them and then headed into Manhattan.  This time we stayed on the Upper West Side, which we really liked.  It's less chaotic, un-touristy, and more neighborhoody than when we've stayed in mid-town.  I feel like when I'm in NYC, I prefer to sort of explore and enjoy the city's vibe which is easier in the residential areas.  Bonus: we were just a few blocks from the park, where we spent a lot of time walking.

Everyone was out because it was such a beautiful day on a holiday weekend, after a really yicky spring.  It was so amazing to finally be out and be in such a gorgeous place.

While in the city, we did a lot of clothes shopping for this girl.  She is growing so fast -- I think faster than she has since she was a baby!  When I told my dad, he was laughing that we went to Manhattan and ended up shopping at The Gap.  But, the selection is so much better at the NY location than ours!  And, who has time to shop during regular life?

On Monday, we went to visit this lady and Ellis Island.  Neither Glenn nor Hope had been to the Statue and none of us had been to Ellis Island.  I've wanted to go to the Island since I was in elementary school and did a project on it and my ancestry.  There is so much to see at both places that I felt like we could have spent more time in all of the exhibits.  But, we did get a good feel for all of it. 

Looking back on these photos, it strikes me how much detail was put into the design of even the most utilitarian buildings back then.  Ellis Island was certainly not intended to be a showplace -- it was a processing center essentially -- but look at the tilework!  I'm going to be an old lady before my time and say, those were the days. 

The Statue of Liberty was far more impressive than I'd remembered.  When I was previously there in the mid 80s, it was under restoration and I was 11 or 12. As an adult, it was very inspiring.  And, interesting!  It may be because I was visiting with an engineer this time, but I learned a lot about how innovative the design was when it was built.  In fact, Glenn mentioned to a guide inside of the Statue that he is an engineer and is really interested in the construction.  The man said, "Well, follow me!" and took him up into the structure, to see it up close.  So amazing. 

It was such a great weekend and got me in the mindset of vacation.  Only 10 more school days to push through!!!

Surprise Valentine's Weekend In NYC

Happy day-after-President's Day-Valentine's Day-weekend!  I hope that you all had a wonderful time with the ones that you love, from spouses/significant others to friends to fur babies.  Valentine's Day is normally a very low key time around here between Glenn and I (because every day is Valentine's Day, doncha know :)).  I love to do it up for Hope but I prefer to avoid undue pressure on Glenn or myself for what is essentially a Hallmark holiday.  One that focuses on good things, but Hallmark.

This year, I got a very special Valentine's Day surprise, however -- Glenn took me to New York for the weekend!  I knew that I was supposed to have a trip to an unknown location over MLK weekend for my birthday, but he had to go out of town for a family obligation unexpectedly, so it was postponed.  He told me on Friday night where we were going and my parents arrived to take care of Hope.

I didn't take too many pictures because it was COLD there.  Not "you just aren't used to it because you've been living in Virginia cold" but COLD.  Walking from one place to another involved layers and preparation and ducking into any place that looked interesting because, well, they had central heating. Stopping to take pictures would have involved being in the cold longer. However, I do have an ongoing list of places that I want to visit the next time that we are in NYC, so we hit many of those. 

 

One of our first stops was at John Derian.  I've been wanting to go there for years after seeing his work in high end shops and the store on blogs.

There are actually 3 John Derian shops right beside one another.  Each has its own focus -- decoupage/accessories, furniture and soft goods such as bedding.  They are quite small but packed with eye candy at every turn. 

Please excuse the quality of the photos, I was taking them quickly with my phone in very dark areas. My favorite of the 3 stores was the one with the decoupage.  Oh my goodness, I could have taken any and all of the trays home -- just gorgeous.  They are very pricey (coaster size items start around $40 and go up from there) so I took them home only in my mind.

Moving on, we stopped in a wonderful vintage salvage store called Olde Good Things. 

The items in there are stunning.  I thought that I recognized some of their repurposed tin ceiling tile items and it turns out that I was right -- they not only have several locations in NYC and LA but also come to DC area flea markets on a weekly basis.  The shops in NYC are definitely worth a stop if you are near one when you visit.

We stopped by The Strand, which I've mentioned a million times, but only stayed a short time because it was insanely crowded.  Glenn went next door to Forbidden Planet, a mecca for comic book lovers.  After that, we walked over to Paper Presentation, a mecca for paper obsessed people like me.  How have I never been there before??  It was heaven!

(photo from their website)

I literally wanted one of everything!  I held myself back but did buy a notebook for my ever expanding collection and a few sheets of scrapbook paper.

After all of this shopping, we stopped for a snack at Bouchon Bakery in Rockefeller Center, near our hotel.  Then, we got ready for the piece de resistance in Glenn's surprise for me -- cocktails at Peacock Alley at the Waldorf Astoria.

Glenn knows that my all time favorite books are the Betsy-Tacy books.  In the final book, Betsy's Wedding, the main character and her long time love become engaged in NYC.  I mentioned this to Glenn a long time ago and he read the first few chapters of the book, to find out the locations mentioned so that he could re-create it for me. The characters had a meal at Peacock Alley in the Waldorf, so made arrangements for us to go there that evening. Swoon!  He is the bestest.  The bestest, I tell you.

After brunch the next day, which was even colder than Saturday (wind chills were well below zero), we decided to head home.  We are planning on going back for a family trip for a few days in May, so that made it easier to leave.

We are so lucky to have opportunities to get away like this once in awhile and to have parents that will stay with Hopie.  It was wonderful to go to New York but even more wonderful that Glenn would take the time to be so thoughtful.  Now, we are back to the reality of laundry and work!

Cape Cod Gardens

 

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Ever since we returned from Cape Cod, I cannot stop thinking about the gardens.  The flowers were just stunning and were everywhere -- in front of houses, growing along the road, in the middle of town, planted in window boxes.  The air smelled sweeter there, I swear!

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First, let's talk about the hydrangeas.  I read somewhere that they are the unofficial flower of Cape Cod. 

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They are everywhere and they are huge!  You have never seen such hydrangeas -- some of them were as tall as me. 

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There is a Cape Cod Hydrangea Society and a Cape Cod Hydrangea FestivalThese people take their hydrangeas seriously.

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While the hydrangeas are gorgeous, it wouldn't be fair to the other beautiful flowers to not visit them as well....

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The gardens tend to have what I think of as an English Cottage feel.

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Lots of purples

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Roses climbing everywhere.  Apparently, traditional roses don't do well by the sea but climbers flourish there.

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When looking for photos of gardens on the Cape, I came across so many gorgeous gardens in Nantucket.  I'm not sure if Nantucket is technically the Cape, but the gardens in these photos are so beautiful and remind me so much of Chatham.

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The layers and layers of color are stunning

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It looks like something out of a English fairy tale

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I'll move in tomorrow, thank you very much.

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I'm already planning Cape Cod inspired additions to my garden next year.  Some lavender, salvia and definitely, more hydrangeas.

Trip to Massachusetts - Boston

Our trip to Cape Cod made for a very nice two-for-one, seeing that my sister & her family live just 2 hours from the Cape. After our week's rental was over, we headed northwest to Somerville/Boston for a family visit.

Of course, the cousins were thrilled to see one another and played the entire time.  They get along so well, with only the occasional spat (I tell Hope that is what life would be like if she had a sibling!). 

(bottom photo by my brother in law, stolen from his FB account :) )

There was a fun arts festival in Somerville while we were there, Art Beat.  We checked out the artists and Hope and Rainer went through a very cool chalk maze.

(another photo stolen from the B-I-L, Ezra Ball)

It wouldn't be a trip to Boston without a visit to the Ducks in the Public Garden.  It was our 10th annual Duck photo session.  I hope to take photos every year until Hope is about to go off to college and create a collage with all of the images. Here she is at 9 years, almost 10....

For fun, here is what she looked like in her first Duck picture:

One of my favorite pictures, ever.

We stopped by some of our favorite places in Harvard Square - The Curious George Store and The Harvard Book Store and Glenn checked out comics at Comicazi.  We also had dinner at a new-to-us restaurant in Harvard Square that was so good - Toscano

(photo from Toscano's website)

The food was perfect, from the bread to the entrees. I had the Tagliatell Gamberi, which was amazing.  I need to find out how to make it.

(photo from yelp)

After a few days in Boston, we wrapped up our trip and headed home.  Until next year, Massachusetts!

 

Trip to Cape Cod - Chatham Massachusetts

I'm back after a long absence, for which there is really no particular reason.  I've thought of many good posts and had all kinds of experiences that I've thought about sharing, but for whatever reason, I've not had the "push" to actually post.  My inspiration came back last week, when I was in one of the most beautiful places that I've been to in America -- Cape Cod, particularly Chatham.  Our week there was so special that it was the push that I needed to post.

We stayed in a little carriage house apartment across from Oyster Pond.  This is the view that we woke up to every morning.

The flowers in Chatham are just amazing.  Everywhere you look, there are stunning hydrangeas and wild roses. 

The houses in Chatham couldn't be more adorable.

We stayed steps from downtown Chatham, which is just the most adorable town that you can think of.  I found a post online in which a woman wrote that when she went to Chatham, she finally found Stars Hollow. Main street is lined with ice cream shops, an old school hardware store, a variety store, a renovated movie theater and lots of boutiques.  There is a gorgeous old public library that is available for use by everyone -- even visitors can get a card & check out books! 

On Friday nights, a band plays at the town park bandstand and local churches serve lobster roll dinners. One night, we wandered over to a playground and found that the local minor league baseball team was playing a game.  People of all ages were out in lawn chairs & on blankets, watching the game. Stars Hollow, I tell you!

We slept with the windows open almost every night.  I cannot tell you what a revelation this was.  In Virginia, it is bearable to open your windows maybe 3 nights a year.  We woke up to cool breezes and the chirping of birds.  My morning walks were greeted with the scents of salt air, flowers and cookies baking at the local market. 

The beaches in Chatham are stunning.  Lighthouse Beach & Harding Beach were our favorites.

Lighthouse Beach

Harding Beach

It was a precious time, for us to be together as a family.  There were many hours on the beach relaxing and kite flying.  We went out almost every night for ice cream and caught a movie at the theater. 

It was the best, most relaxing time. It was like living in a movie set in New England.  We will be back one day, most definitely.

Bags for Book Lovers -- The Strand Tote Bags

When I wrote about NYC this summer, I mentioned that purchases were made at the famous NY book store, The Strand. Over 18 miles of books, they say.  It felt like a little bit of heaven to me.  I wanted to bring something home from The Strand that would remind me on an every day basis of our trip.  One of their tote bags was the perfect thing.

This is the one that I chose, amusing to my quirky sense of humor. However, it was hard to choose!  

There is this Gorey-esque one called "Nine Lives".

This one is the perfect reminder of your time in the city.

Anyone need some pulp fiction in their lives? 

How about some literary (super)heroes?

There is this pretty one, in the style of William Morris.

Even Kate Spade designed a bag for them.  I was very tempted....

Whenever I see my bag (every day, all of the time since I carry it everywhere), I think happily of the place in New York where they understand book lovers.

 

Our Trip to New York Part 2 - Shopping

Back to NYC....there was a lot of shopping on our trip, many pilgrimages to the must-see stores that we've heard about for years.  Most shopping was more of an "inspirational" nature than actual "purchasing", but I don't really think that taking something home is always necessary to fully enjoy a shop.

FAO Schwartz...I actually loved this store.  I thought that it might be "just another toy store" but it was really so much more special. Everything was sort of a more wonderful version of what you usually see -- bigger, prettier, more creative.

ABC Home...the design store that is mentioned in every beautiful shelter magazine, has appeared on Sex & the City....

Bed linens packaged in brown paper tied with ribbon.

John Derian decoupage mosaics -- absolutely stunning.

Fishs Eddy...love this place...so vintagey & kitschy.




Tiffany & Co and Dolce & Gabbana...definitely in the "just looking category"...

Finally, the Strand...I walked in & felt "they know me"...18 miles of books...this place, there were purchases...