Williamsburg

Ryan and I had a blast on Saturday. We met up with family and our friend Kyra over at Colonial Williamsburg. It was so much fun! In celebration of Veterans Day we got in for free due to the military connection alla Mr. Warlick. I had only been once with my Daddieo back in middle school and it was super fun being able to visit again!


The Bagno entrance.


In front of the Governor's Palace. They have a room lined with leather walls.


Cade and Ryan being punished...not made for comfort!


Me trying to be artsy in the vegetable garden


The marching parade!


The Blacksmiths demonstrated how to make nails. We learned that Thomas Jefferson had a nail shop where he had all the slave children make nails for quick cash. An inexperienced, young child would knock out 500 in one day! Crazy!

It Has Potential...

So it all started when Ryan came home one day after work and I informed him that I found a painting that I loved.
It was perfect.
An oil painting of a flower still life by a local artist.
When I told him the price he just laughed.
$192
But it was perfect!
Ryan was not open for negotiation.
He suggested I make it myself.
I reminded him that I had one year of HIGH SCHOOL art.
Still no budging.
Then I made a painting for Chelsie.
Hope returned.
Maybe I could do it after all.
Well not an imitation of the piece I truly wanted.
I'm still holding out for a "surprise gift from the hubs."
I decided to create an original.
Well...
A mistake led to a cover up
Which led to an alteration
Which led to a new idea
which led to despair
which led to a new day
which led to a new idea
which led to some improv
which resulted in the following...


There quite a few personal touches in the piece. The receipt from our Honeymoon hotel, a note in Italian from one of my host families, a picture that hung in my childhood bathroom, used stamps from a Ryan love letter, and some fabric leftovers from a quilt I made for Chelsie several years back.


Any suggestions for improvement? I'm still not LOVING it...

Nightly Festivities

I completely agree that Halloween is most fun when either you are a kid, or you have kids, but since neither applies to us(our children equivalents were under house arrest for swine flu all weekend) Ryan and I decided to still make the most of our day.
11:00-We woke up...due the fact we could...so we did
12:30-I went running at the gym to justify later Halloween festivities
2:30-Had a fajita steak lunch/dinner with homemade tortilla chips
3:30- fulfill tradition and make caramel apples...yum!
4:00-I head off to work in my awesome costume(it being awesome because I spent zero money on it!) while Ryan stays home to watch all the football games
12:00-I get home and we are watching the Phillies/Yankee game.


I was a soccer ref, using Ryan's old uniform. It was fun not wearing the traditional outback shirt for once. Even though I was one of three servers that actually dressed up, I'm glad I did!

HAppy Halloween!

Hoping everyone has a super safe Halloween!

Tall Tapers

How fun are these tall taper candles? I know I would love to have some present at my holiday parties this year. I never knew that they made them 2 and 3 feet high. How elegant!

Pumpkin Time

When the weather drops overnight from 75 to 50 degrees...it only means one thing. You are officially allowed to purchase your fall pumpkins! At first I thought we would carve them...but having Halloween still two weeks away, we decided to not make any cuts that would result in moldy gourds. So I decided to borrow an idea from the Eddie Ross website and paint my pumpkin and accent it with ribbon!

The in laws came down and we all journeyed to the farmer's market. Do note that Suffolks farmer's market consists of exactly ONE table of produce! Having said that, I think that they had an exceptional supply of pumpkins on hand...and only $4 each!


The Natural colors of the pumpkins were all beautiful, but there is no fun in leaving them as is.


Ryan feel asleep during painting time...hence the fact that his pumpkin turned out purple! I hijacked it!


This is as festive as we get! I hope they last a long time!


Now I am craving a Soy Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks...maybe after the gym tomorrow!

Creative Compulsion

I randomly had three days off in a row so I decided to spend it with Chelsie and the babies. While there, chelsie ocnvinced me to start a painting for her new home...and I'm glad that she did! It was so much fun painting again! I love buying art(in fact I have my eye on a flower painting by a local artist right now) buy Ryan is always encouraging me to just bite the bullet and do it myself. After remembering how fun it is...I think I may have to tackle a project for my own home soon!