relaxing back porch

Since we've been in the middle of kitchen construction almost all spring and summer, our screened pack porch has become a storage area....until now! I am reclaiming my relaxing space. Soon it will be cooling off (at least at night), the bugs will be going away and girls wine night can be had again on the porch!

We got these two wicker chairs for 15 dollars this weekend at a yard sale and the table at an antique store a few weeks ago (I've been preparing for this!)

In my efforts to learn how to sew, porch pillows became very important to me! So I whipped these up in the car ride home to Jersey.

I think I want to spray paint the chairs, just not sure what color yet?

And the view of the other city yards is beautiful and enhanced with the old lanterns I scored from my dad's garage and a lovely windchime my mom gave us!

stuff

Here is some stuff from my saturday adventures....we went to the South of the James Farmer's Market, Caravatti's for a radiator cover and historic scupper, then I went over to the Forest HIll Antique store and my favorite Diversity Thrift! good day of window shopping and lusting after furniture....until I found the perfect dining room cabinet and got a great deal on it!

But.....here is what I bought. It was so heavy, but once we got in into the house, I was so excited! And it's alrady full!

sewing 101

I am slowly but surely teaching myself how to sew. I picked up a great 70's Singer machine, but I have no idea how to thread it for now....so hand stiching it is. Luckily I can't sit still without having a project at night, so it's been keeping me busy. I scored a lot of Amy Butler scraps on ebay and have been making little purses. I also got this great berry pattern material from Tonic Living and made a huge new pillow for our bedroom! And my latest endeavor is making the cushions for our wicker outdoor set for our screened in back porch. So far I only have two pillows made for that.....one of which is currently living on this fabulous chair (one of a pair that Christina and I got from a curbside goldmine!)

I'm running out of rooms to make pillows for!

home sweet home

Kris and I took an extra long weekend trip home to visit my family in Jersey this week. It was a great trip, lots of family time, delicious food and fun.

One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to my mom's new rowhouse in her town of Lambertville, NJ. It's a wonderful, eclectic little village on the Delaware River and once again my mom has turned yet another space into a masterpiece. Here are some pictures from her urban garden that she put together. She had a tiny space, but with the potted plants, sculpted bonsais and raised vegatable beds (she practices biodynamic gardening) she has really out done herself! She does a really great job of mixing the flowers, veggies and herbs all together and layering them so there is a little bit of everything in each bed. And we even got to enjoy a delicious lunch of salad and pesto from her garden and Jersey corn!

etsy shop

On friday our new etsy shop, Flamingo Artifacts, was choosen for the Friday Vintage Finds! It was an article about Danish Modern housewares, which happen to be my favorite kind which made it very exciting to get choosen! The bad thing about etsy for me is it just makes me see even more stuff that I want, there were some great other things choosen as well.

http://www.etsy.com/storque/section/spotlight/article/etsy-finds-vintage-danish-modern/2350/

So with this new exposure, we needed to update the shop! We'll be adding these guys in tonight

i wasn't feeling terribly ambitious on saturday. L and i were just hanging out around the house, i was trying to lay out in the back yard but the sun wasn't really being cooperative. we were checking out my exciting new basement configuration, when L started to examine the collection of odd ceramic vases and figurines that were left from the previous owner. Looking at one of them, L said, "this would be fun to spray paint" - and this is the result.

the wire basket is something i had picked up at a thrift store with the intention of painting. i had seen one in yellow in Dwell and i wanted one. I didn't have yellow spray paint on hand though. Maybe next weekend.

Weekend getaway!

In between refinishing hardwood floors and stressing over which new appliances to buy, Kris and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary. We got married at beautiful Tuckahoe Plantation in Richmond in June 2006. So, as a surprise getaway, Kris planned a night away. We had been wanting to explore the Eastern Shore, so we left Richmond really early on sat morning and headed east!

Our first stop was Cape Charles.....very quaint little town, nice downtown shops and water views. We stopped for an ice coffee and looked around for a bit....but had to get on the road and head to our first stop, Chatham Vineyards.

The vineyard was off the main road a few miles, but it was a beautiful drive to Franktown. We had a tasting, bought a bottle and headed to our next destination....Onancock. Kris got us the "Maine" room since he knows I miss the north! The Inn was great, nice old house, the people were wonderful, and I was very pleased with his choice. We settled in and took a walk around the town, it has a really nice little downtown core, even a little stop at a thrift store to get some shopping in.

After we explored Onancock we decided to take a drive to Chincoteague Island and see if we could see the wild ponies that inhabit the island. This was a really fun looking vacation spot and a beautiful drive through the island to the Assateague State Park and beaches. We will definitely come back here one day! The beaches looked nice, and there seemed to be lots to do, antique shops, restaurants, an old theatre, cafes and of course a vacation staple....putt putt!

Then we headed to our final destination for the tour of the Eastern Shore, a wine festival at Bloxom Winery.

The festival was a great idea for our evening. There was a fun band playing, we tried a few wines, we packed a picnic and enjoyed our favorite anniversary treat, strawberries and blue cheese while relaxing in our new camping chairs!