Friday Funny....

I have dedicated

Friday

in the past to my Instagram photos

I've decided to mix it up a bit

after seeing my ever growing collection of

"Funny"

from across the internet....

and 
what better day to share some than on Friday?

A great laugh to kick off the weekend right?

So here goes....

Crafty friends I know you just laughed!
For some reason these Ryan Gosling things 
aren't old to me yet!
Visit this Tumblr
it is full of them!
handmaderyangosling.tumblr.com

Happy Friday Everyone!

Food Italia style ....

A few days ago
I was going back through my photos
and through my blog posts and I realized
I never finished sharing some of my posts
about Italy!
I think the magnitude and overwhelming
amount of photos and information
got the best of me....
I had shown the bulk of photos to so many people and on Facebook
that I sort of forgot I had not finished posting them here!
So
 for some fun
 I'm going to finish what I started...
plus I have been scheming ways to get back to Italy soon
and it has been on my mind quite a bit!
So here is where I left off...

I have so much more to share about Italy

but

enough architecture and statues a friend joked

What did you eat?......
(she wanted to know about the men too- but that is for another day!)

 These lemons grew right outside my door...

Lemon ice..

Limoncello...

marinated lemon rind..

you name it they can make it with a lemon...

 Pizza of course...

We visited the famous

Pizzeria De Michele' in Naples'

this was a
 small?!

 they have been open since the 1870's I believe...

and of course 

it was featured in Eat, Pray, Love...

 Wood fired oven

and maybe the St. Of Pizza above it on the left?

 "You want Cheese? No Cheese? Double Cheese?"
that's it!
"Coke, water, or Arrancita?"
(Arrancita=orange drink) 
That is it, 
simple easy menu that doesn't need a lot of fluff
when your product is done right!

The Pizzeria was well loved before the movie
now all us foreigners have invaded!

 Mozzarella and Salami appetizers were routine...

I must say the salami was so much better

than what I have had at home.

Ours seems greasy to me

and this was not that way at all.

It had a woodsy, smoky sort of taste to it.

You only have to eat one or two pieces..

fabulous!

 Amazing Artichokes...

we had them while visiting the Jewish quarter ..

Fried!

not like a State Fair breaded kind..

but dropped in the fryer until it was crispy

and then pulled out and sprinkled with salt and pepper...

 Fantastico!

 Bombolini ...
You say donut in any language and I will try it!
They had lots of these everywhere for little snacks...
filled with a tiny bit of hazelnut chocolate
or cream...

(via)
That photo above is not mine I have linked to the site
I got it from.
We had a few of these flaky bites of heaven
and they never got photographed because we were too
busy inhaling them!
Usually they have filling as well...

This is Italian fast food...
walk up pick out what you want they package it up for you....

Bruschetta of course....

Pasta by Bruno....

more pasta w/ meat sauce by Bruno...

Bruno working away at teaching me how to make
Ravioli...
"You don't need fancy gadgets"
You hands, a table, a bowl, your ingredients, and a cup!

look at all those beauties!

Rooftop dining at its finest....

My new favorite candy bar....

Duplo by Ferrero

the company who makes Roche'.

A few girls sitting next to me on the boat home from Capri

were eating these
 and going on about how amazing they were.

On our way back to Rome we stopped at a station 
that had them in a box of 6.

I bought them with the tintention of bringing them home to share.

Once they were opened...

they quickly became like gold!

I had to hide 2 so my hubby wouldn't finish them off!

I said to him a few weeks ago I wanted some for  

Christmas...

he replied

"to share?"

NO WAY...

ask Santa for your own!

Hope you enjoyed this and maybe saw something you would

like to try!

Always a reason.....

Just thought

I'd give you a little update...

I mentioned the other day I wasn't quite feeling

my usual creative spark...

I also haven't been feeling too well physically...

This morning on CNN I happened to see a piece about

a recall on peanut butter from Trader Joe's

due to Salmonella contamination...

This so far is the specific one

The Valencia Creamy Peanut Butter

with Sea Salt.

My husband had also not been feeling well and I was beginning to think

he had an ulcer or something.

His symptoms were different because he was eating it more often.

My symptoms were mild but enough

to have headaches every day for almost 2 weeks

and upset stomach and just an uck tired feeling...

I started feeling much better last Friday and then ate it for lunch and within

a few hours started feeling crummy again.

Today I feel better but still pretty tired.

Salmonella poisoning can vary greatly based

on your immune system and exposure.

I think I was lucky this time.

I have had Salmonella poisoning one other time and it

was not as mild

actually was pretty much instant and was HORRIBLE.

I thought I had the flu but a year

later when I took Microbiology I instantly recognized the symptoms.

MY point being

if you have any of this 

THROW IT OUT!

I almost would say i would avoid any peanut butter

from Trader Joe's until they figure out exactly

where the contaminant came from.

At least I feel a bit better that I wasn't 

crazy and there really was something bringing me down.

Hope the next few days will be better

and doing better physically will help

me with my creative needs.

 

It is finally upon us.....

I have been waiting for you...

and

you finally showed up today...

Hello Fall!

Hope you all have a great weekend...

working on getting my mojo back.

I have been in a bit of a creative slump lately

so I decided to work on some much needed organization of my

studio space again.

I went at it quite fiercely a few months ago

and then of course ended up with a lot of outside work 

on my plate that got me off track.

I'm also hoping this will help me...

 Participating for the 2nd time in 

The Fall in Love with Buttons swap at Button Floozies.

We alter an Altoids tin and then fill with lots of new and vintage buttons.

I had a lot of fun with it last year...

Here is the one I sent off for that swap

(just in case you didn't see it)

It was very inspiring and ever since I have been

snatching up buttons when they are reasonable 

and my best friend even let me have a look through a jar of buttons that

belonged to her grandmother.

She let me have quite a few-

but I won't part with those....definitely will be used for some special projects.

Do you have something that helps when

you seem to lose direction or feel uninspired?

I'd love to hear about it for a jumpstart.

Happy First weekend of Fall!

Ahoy Matey!

I have spoken before of my

love of old pirate movies ....

Just in case you did not know it 

today is 

National talk like a pirate Day!

I heard of this for the first time last year....

HOW did I miss out on this before?!

So just for fun today

we joined in the fun at our local

Krispy Kreme

They are giving you a free donut if you come in 

and talk like a pirate....

A free dozen if you dress like one!

 we made a few new friends.....

 The employees were having a great time 

and so were all the pirates who showed up!

I had a lot more photos of others but just wanted to keep it simple today !

Some Pirate humor

                                                          Why do old pirates need hooks?

                                                     Because they get ARRRRRRR-thritis!  

                                                   Why did the pirate go to the Apple store?

                                                                    To buy an iPatch!

 

So hope Yer' havin' a jolly good day!

Tell some wench or bilge-rat ye' love em' today!

 All in good fun everyone.

Hello old friend.....

I'm cleaning out my 

"studio" space....

HA...because it is really just my corner 

of the spare room.....

While organizing I un-boxed this

coffee mug that holds some fantastic memories....

So 

"Hello again old friend"

My how time is passed.

We really need to get re-acquainted..

Certain friends who see it will know all about

the History involved in Prince Georges cafe......

One of those wonderful small operations

where the workers knew us by name....

we'd stop in after work at 9 or 10 p.m. after working

our various college jobs...

drink espresso, have a DOG Street Chill, and then pool our quarters to see how many

chocolate covered coffee beans we could get out of the scoop jar...

head out to walk and haunt old Williamsburg ,

literally "haunt" 

staking out the old homes that were said to be haunted

to watch for anything other worldly going on...

gaze at the stars and watch meteor showers

talk about anything and everything into the wee hours.

Such great memories....

(view of DOG street in the daytime)

Prince Georges was swallowed up by

a larger local chain in later years.

They haven't matched what was so charming about

Prince Georges....

You can buy the space but not the atmosphere

if you know what I mean.

Our memories are great though....

The day after I took this photo my best friend sent me a text

with a picture of her brothers mug

She was visiting him in Boston

and was surprised to see he still had it ...

I think we all bought one eventually.

How cosmic is it that she sent me that the day after I found 

mine?

I think we need to have a Prince Georges reunion?

What do you say guys?

Do you have a kitchen item that brings back memories?

A dish from your grandmother?

A baby spoon?

If not maybe you can start your own

tradition with something of your own.

A casserole dish to be used every Sunday.

A special hot chocolate mug just for grandkids or nieces and nephews?

I'd love to hear about it !

I fully expect to hear from my DOG street gang as well !

Happy Thursday everyone! 

So ready.....

 

This photo says it all...

So ready for Fall.

How about you?

That Day......

Today was

THAT DAY

that will date things for the rest of my life....

I don't think I will ever forget it.

May peace surround you today.

Hey, What happened?

I feel like

I have been neglecting the ol' blog here a bit....

I always used to wonder why fellow creative ladies

would seem to disappear from their blogs

during the summertime...

It only takes a few minutes

right?

Well,

now I know! 

Somehow this summer I was just consumed with all the 

other things to try and get

done with a child in the house

and 

try and enjoy Summer as well.

Now

I have joined 

the mommies who run to the bus stop

in 

their Yoga pants, sweatshirts and hair pulled up quick

to at least try and look 
like I put a tiny bit of effort
 into not just rolling out of bed

and
 out the door!

Hopefully now 
I can get back on track with my creative side....

I thought I'd share a few things I have made recently

but 
had not been able to post yet.....

 Made this hammered copper charm at "Art Camp"

Torches , hammers and a mob of women....

you would have thought we were out to hunt down a monster 
with all of those ingredients right?

Was very fun and we had a wonderful teacher....

Dawn

at

flipflopsandpoptarts

Super talented 
and 
beautiful to boot!

This was my first time doing any tiny amount of metal working

and I would love to invest in some tools

to explore it further at some point.

This was a real treat....

I'll make this into a necklace or a book cover eventually....

Acid, metal, stamps, tape, sandpaper, baking soda and water....

This was made with the same process....

can you guess what it is?

It is an empty bullet casing!

Etched by the same chemical process 
to be used as is

or
 as a charm to hide things in,

sort of  a do what you will with it piece!

Hopefully something like this.....

 Which was created by

Verni

who is 
(as she would say)

"My new best friend"....

She is an absolutely fabulous, fun, crack you up person!

She made this process totally un-intimidating....

SO

what have you been up to this summer?

I'd love to hear about it,

really!

I feel like it just flew by...

However,
 I am glad to see it go.

This girl has lived in humidity her whole life

but this year 
the 100 plus degree temperatures for weeks on end were just too much!

Today is actually the first day that really feels like Fall...

going to head out to the porch with a cup

and
 sit for a bit....

Have a Happy Monday!

Thriftshare!

Happy Labor Day!

Saturday we went back to school shopping

and a few of our stops were

at one or two of my favorite local Thrift Stores...

I frequently find clothing from

stores like

Old Navy

The Gap

The Childrens Place

and

Target

with the tags still on!

I found quite a few things for my son

like that this weekend...

 best buy was a LL Bean down jacket

with the tags on for $2.99!

Now on to my few finds!

 This Homer Laughlin platter

has been well loved...

it was only $3.00!

I have been picking up things like this to use in the kitchen

or to place candles, etc. on like a tray...

I figure if they break it is o.k.

it didn't cost me much and I would rather it be used than sit on a shelf!

 These two hankies I spied in the bottom of a basket

and snatched them up for their bright colors and pretty designs..

$.75 cents each!

This little apothecary jar matches a few I already have

great for seed beads or glitter!

.25 cents!

This was my favorite find....

this tiny little case holds a plastic rain bonnet...

My grandma always had one of these in her purse when I was a kid...

Especially on the way to church you did not want your "Do'" to get messed up!

I was always fascinated with tiny or little things

I probably made off with a few of her bonnet cases...

so when I saw this on a shelf

a flood of memories came to me and my heart jumped with

a bit of joy...

turned it over and it was only $.25 cents!

how awesome was that?!

I'm just going to keep it on my jewelry tray in my room to look at...

Did you find anything great this weekend?

11 years.....

Before the IPhone

taking pics of yourself 

took great concentration and coordination...

sticking your tongue out helps too!

I just had to share this

photo of us

I think it is from our anniversary in  2006....

a few months before we found out I was pregnant

at one of our favorite places on earth,

Ocracoke Island, N.C.

Today is our 11th anniversary...

can't believe it!

Next year we'll make it back to the beach....

Hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend!