Hearts & History: Our Anniversary Trip!

You may have noticed that I didn't post on Monday (I'm seriously considering if posting twice a week is for me; perhaps once a week or maybe even once or twice a month is more my speed), anyways,  it was all for good reason. My husband and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary with a Pure Michigan beach town trip. I LOVE MICHIGAN; so much natural beauty resides in these parts, a three hour ride is like being a world away. There are very few places with sugary beaches and miles of beautiful coastline where you don't have to worry about scary sea creatures; fortunately, my state is one of those great places!

So let's dive right into my long weekend; true to our love of old homes we chose to stay in the Valentine Lodge located in Douglass/Saugatuck MI. The Bed and Breakfast was built at the turn of the century by the well-to-do Campbell family. The Campbell's were early settlers to Douglass and farmed a fairly large territory. Captain John Campbell also commanded a ship that sailed both passengers and cargo between Chicago and Saugatuck. At some point the home was converted into a B&B and still operates as one today. The three-story Victorian sits on two acres of shady gardens and it is absolutely stunning. A huge plus is that the Lodge is also within walking distance to Lake Michigan--and by walking distance I mean that Lake Michigan is at the end of the block; you can hear the waves from the porch :-)

Here's a pic of the B&B:

We stayed in the Francesca room. The bright colored décor with a old timey flair was well received. It felt just like a night at grandma's. Although we've already established that old fashioned décor isn't necessarily my style, it set just the right tone to remind me that we were away from home and to have fun.

 

 

Also, the lady of the house, Ms. Margret, is an amazing artist--one of a kind artwork literally covered every wall--it was a very nice touch indeed. Here's a look at one of her creations that hung in our bedroom:

Pretty right? So vibrant! Most of her paintings are of the serenity of nature.

 

 

Despite our accommodations, because we were in a beach town, we didn't want to spend too much time in the room; we wanted to get out and see what we could see. Our sightseeing spirit literally led us to 4 different beaches--perhaps more. Unfortunately, the first adventure at the State Dunes Park left me shoeless on a two mile hike through tick infested woods. I suppose that is what happens when you wear $.98 Walmart flip flops to climb a sand dune. In my defense, I was unaware of the long trek. I'll be better prepared upon my return--Timbs would have served me well. At least I have a story to tell, aye? No regrets!

 

Being in Saugatuck for the warm weather was really a nice change. Although the hubby and I had stayed in the area before it was in the winter--and well, there wasn't too much exploring we could do in this:

 

Snow was almost up to our knees

At least our room was bomb!

 

 To my surprise it was much better this time around (although I do believe that there is a time and place for everything, the winter was really nice and cozy)--and to think the first go round we had no clue all of this adventure even existed:

 

 Pathway leading to the beautiful sand dunes and Lake Michigan

Gorgeous day, picture perfect!

After leaving the beach we headed to Fenn Valley Vineyards and took in this delightful scene as we sipped on Mascato. Doesn't get much better than this!

 I was all the way in my element 

 African Warrior Princess? Nope it's just me ;-)

 

 

The Coast is breathtaking...

Thinking of submitting this one to Pure Michigan, it looks like something right out of their ads!

 

This is the type of place that you travel to often in your mind...

 

 

 

 

We soon realized that Saugatuck is also famous for their art (I never seen so many artist concentrated in one spot)--so of course we headed downtown and did a little sightseeing and shopping. Shout out to the hubby for the gorgeous new addition to my jewelry box *Swoon times ten*. The downtown experience is unique and reminiscent of days gone by. There's no chain retail stores, only new places to explore.

Shopping downtown, of course I had to hit up the toy store for the little one

The food was amazing each night and we didn't have to worry about breakfast because we had it at the B&B every morning. Quick Cute Story: When we realized that we would be the only guest in the house come Monday morning we told Ms. Margret that she didn't have to cook for just us, but she was having none of it. We got up super early attempting to check out before she had the chance to cook, but she surprised us by getting up even earlier and having a full breakfast hot and ready--I thought that was really sweet--it was really good too.

On Sunday we decided to drive to Grand Haven (about 45 mins. away) to get a look at their lighthouse. Unfortunately, it rained cats and dogs someone flung open the gates of hell and it stormed like Mother Nature was out for blood. We had no choice but to sit in the car for awhile, but when we saw our chance we jumped out with our flimsy little ponchos and hauled butt in the direction of the Lighthouse. We weren't going to let a little bad weather ruin our good time. However, all the warning signs, memorials to the lost lives, and posters with pictures of the unfortunate let us know that looking at the lighthouse from the beach was good enough for us. No need to become another statistic! Regardless of the thrill seekers dead-set on getting the perfect photo it was obvious that the lighthouse was not meant for public access. After the 4th warning sign and seeing that the walkway had absolutely no rails I was good with our decision to stay behind at a safe distance.

Pier Cove...Loving it!

Before the storm rolled in

The lighthouse on a stormy morning

Had to sit that one out! I respect life and really want to continue living it.

Instead we decided that a historic tour on the trolley was much more our speed-- and I'm glad because we enjoyed it. My favorite part was getting a chance to see some actual Sears and Roebucks catalog homes. I've always heard about the catalog homes, but I assumed that you'd browse the pages to select your ready made home. NO! You browsed the pages alright, but once you selected your home they'd send you the materials and directions to build it yourself (kind of like paint by number--only instead it was building)...how freaky is that?! It must have worked out though, because the homes are still standing today...and the going price was right around $4,500 back then. I wish!

Excuse the photo quality, these pics were taken from inside the trolley. Captured here is the oldest house in Grand Haven!

And here is one of those Sears & Roebucks homes :-)

Eventually the sun came out and we were once again able to enjoy our vacay the way we intended--nice and sunny :-) Overall, we had an amazing stay and it was wonderful to get a little quiet time to reconnect with the hubby...things like that keeps marriages moving along, much needed fuel if you will ;-) It's always nice when your only responsibility is  to have a good time, those opportunities are seriously too few and far between.

Anyways, for those of you that have inquired why I never post videos (& I've responded that I hate the way my voice records), here's our anniversary trip home movie--I know, it isn't a DIY tutorial, but at least it's something...right? :-P Until the next time...take care. Xo

 

12 Old Things I Love--That Aren't Houses

So, by now it's pretty safe to say that you know that I LOVE historic homes; but my love for classic items doesn't just stop there. Oh no...if it's old, then I'll probably go all googly eyes over it. *shrugs* For the record, I like new things too--but, of course, this isn't about that ;-) Just for a moment, I'd like to take a minute to address some of the other timeless things that I love...

1.Pearls

I don't consider myself a girly girl...not at all, but a nice set of pearls gives my heart the flutters. Over the years I have actually acquired a pretty impressive collection--colors, classics, fresh water, salt water, real, fake--I love them all. This isn't a new obsession of mine either; I can clearly recall proudly wearing my salt water pearl bracelet as a tot (about 4 years old)--and ever since then I have been totally sold. I'd like to think that I am a classy lady somewhere deep down, I can even look like one with a little effort ;-)

2. Cities

 

My interest in old cities has been brewing for a long time now. Of course, I love the architecture, but even the natural beauty is intriguing! I mean, does it get much more beautiful than the above picture? That's Savannah by the way. With all the "must see" sites in U.S, I'll probably save a lot of money before I feel the need to jet set across the world (that and I can't really go anywhere too far with a 3 year old) *shrugs*.

3.Broaches

This is a newer love of mine, new as in the last year. My workplace is always super cold causing me to wear sweaters inside year-round. There's nothing better than a nice broach to close my cardigan; it adds a little sparkle to even the plainest of outfits, and what's better is I haven't witnessed anybody wearing broaches quite the same way as I! ;-)

4. Candy

Lord Jesus! Do you remember these Coconut Stacks? Grandma's always had these along with little peppermint candies. While mints were normally revered as "church candy", these got me through the weekdays. I can destroy a bag of coconut candy till this day. I do my best to practice restraint because these little things are super high in calories...but I seem forget about that every time they're around. The best way for me to avoid these is to not buy them...at least not that often ;-)

5. Movies

Leave Her To Heaven, The Bad Seed, The Maltase Falcon...there's nothing like a good, old film! Back in the day storylines had to be on point because of limited special effects and raunchy material to fall back on. I can happily spend an entire day watching back to back old movies, it's time well spent in my opinion! *Thanks Ma for turning me on*

6. Cars

I'll just sit this right here, I don't even have to explain!

7. Books

I mentioned my love for historical romances before in another post, and Beverly Jenkins is the QUEEN of this genre. I have every historical romance she's written to date. Her books transport you to another time and place, a time and place that one can only long for. Admittedly, I have fallen in love with more than one of her male characters but all for good reason. *blushes*

8. Clothing

The rare times that I find myself in a dress its usually vintage or vintage inspired. I love the timeless look and every time you put on one of theclassics  life becomes an instant dress up party :-D

9. Ghost Stories

Rather you believe in ghost or not, there are few things more intriguing than a good ol' ghost story. Back in the day, my mother and I wouldn't miss an episode of Hunted History. *Add bonus points if the ghost story is also somehow a love story.

10. Furniture

Ok, so while I'm not sold on the whole historic décor look, I am paying attention to an emerging trend of homes that mix the traditional with the modern. This space is sooo traditional...and then it's not--sort of  like a tease to the brain. There's something about this that I kind of appreciate...somewhat.

11. Music

I love music. I mean LOVE music. Breathe it. Speak it. Live it. And while I can appreciate even the newest of tunes, there is something about the oldies that resonate deep within my soul. How old? It all depends on my mood. There's nothing quite like the sultry yet somehow melancholy notes of Coltrane's 'In A Sentimental Mood', likewise nothing moves me like the Motown classics. Still, there is the rare occasion when I crave truly old tunes, like drums from the Motherlands or Native American flutes.

12. Baby Names

For those of you that know me personally, you know that my son's name is the furthest thing from traditional. However, I LOVE the reemergence of old-fashioned monikers. Jasper, Nora, Silas, Augusta, Sawyer--are those names not hot? What about Ezra, Wyatt, Fern, and Abigail? You really can't go wrong with these classics. What's better than a brand new bouncing baby with a name reminiscent of yesteryear? Not much in my opinion.


So there you have it, twelve old things that I love that aren't houses. What about you, what sort of old things do you love?

Old School Upgrade--Old Spirit. Young Heart.

I love to reimagine things--I think its all a part of being a writer. As writers, we constantly reimagine situations, people, and places. We turn the 'what-ifs' of life into entirely new worlds of our own. Sometimes my imagination produces stellar results, and other times my creations fall flat. So as I'm 'reimagining' I'm constantly aware of cost--and by that I mean my ideas need to be executed on a very tight budget. Luckily, that isn't hard for me. About a week or two ago I hit up an estate sale and I could barely believe my eyes when they landed on this gorgeous piece:

Love, love, & more love!

You know, sometimes I believe that the universe lines up just to make me smile. I had just come to the conclusion that I wanted a vintage coffee table, and like magic there it was...now if that could happen with the mega millions I would be all set!  I knew that the piece needed to be short for the space that I had in mind and it is. I've also considered possibly converting the table into a bench (perhaps still an option...playing with that thought currently--but moving right along).
I fell in love with the table instantly thanks to the carvings on the doors. I swear, I am a sucker for details! But the very best part of all was that the table was marked as $35 and everything was an additional half-off. That's right, I walked away with a vintage, solid wood table for less than eighteen dollars! Well..I really didn't walk away--getting that bad boy to my house was a story within itself . I never realized that a table could be so HEAVY.

Anyways, the table sat in my garage for a couple of weeks as I decided exactly what I wanted to do with it. From the beginning I knew that I would paint it. The tabletop had a funky type of inflection that I didn't care too much for and a shinny varnish that had to go as soon as possible. So I headed to the store to see what I could see. Eventually I settled on a purplish tone to match one of the colors in my settee. And so the real work began! Unfortunately, I can't recall the name of the color--it had some really fancy Bollywood type of name, but it's basically eggplant.

I got up early Saturday morning to get down to business.  Here's what I used:

• A paint roller, brush, & pan
• Artist paint brush
• Painting tape
• Sand Paper
• Drill (to remove the doors)
• Cardboard (to catch any spills--no purple driveway for me)
• Primer
• Mineral Spirits (to clean the piece)
• Polyurethane (clear gloss)

Yup, I'm still rocking with the sample paint (2 bottles did the job) ;-)

These weren't in my stash, but my neighbor totally came to the rescue with these!

Thank God my neighbor happened to see what I was doing and came over with  Primer and Mineral Spirits; I had no idea I needed those. Because I opted to get BEHR (paint and primer) I assumed that it would be sufficient. However, my neighbor informed me that for this type of project (furniture) it would be ideal for me to use and actual primer--and even gave me a can to use. I was very appreciative, there's nothing like a good neighbor. Little did I know, just that one change  (priming) made my project a lot longer than I originally imagined. However, I suppose it was worth it to have it done right!

So let's start from the beginning. The first thing that I had to do was sand the table. If you have an electric sander I recommend that you use it if/when trying a similar project. I didn't have the luxury of having a electric sander. But honestly, going at it by hand wasn't too bad--you do what you have to. When sanding, be certain that you go in one direction in order not to mess up your project.

The second (and most tedious) step was to tape off everything that I didn't want painted.

Taping off the table. I had about three different ideas of what parts of the table I wanted to paint-- so deciding and then re-deciding made this already annoying process that much more worse!

 I absolutely HATED this step,  but  if done correctly, it really does make for an easier process in the long run. Once everything was taped off I was ready to prime. Because of the painter's tape I was able to freely paint without the worry of any color getting on the parts of the table that I didn't want it to. Once I was done priming I let it sit for two hours--the time that I originally thought it would have taken me to complete the whole project. :-(

Primed. Getting an idea of the vision--watch out now!

After exactly two hours I began to paint--3 coats in all. After the table was semi-dry I removed the tape (be sure not to let your paint dry all the way while your tape is still on--if you do you run the risk of removing some of your paint with the tape). After removing the tape I reattached the doors and admired my work ;-) By the way, I chose not to swap out the handles which is also something you can do to change the look of the piece. I actually thought that the handles were gorg, so no use to meddle with perfection. I was done for the day--refusing to let another hour of my weekend go by consumed with this project. It was time to get away!

& painted :)

The next morning I was back at it. I woke up early once again and applied the 4th coat as well as cut in and touched up a few spots with a small artist paint brush. Then again, I waited to apply the polyurethane :-( Can you tell how much I love to wait? To apply, I simply took a clean towel, dipped it into the glaze and wiped it evenly across the table. FINALLY I was done. ;-D

And here's a pic of the final look:

 

Attempting to make sure everything matched...completely after the fact

My table in its new home! Xo. Decorating this monster is going to be a whole other beast-- you may can't tell from the picture, but the table is huge. What do you think I should put on it???

So there you have it, my old school upgrade. It's not for some, but I really enjoy mixing the old with the new. Just because something looks like it could have belonged to grandma doesn't mean you can't put your own stamp on it. I really like the way that this piece turned out, and I can't wait to put some pretty décor pieces on it--maybe even a plant or two. But for now, that's it. Until the next time guys....take care. Xo

My Vintage Closet

So let's cut to the chase--I'm nobody's girlie girl, nevertheless; there are certain times that call for something other than just my standard jeans (or leggings) and a t-shirt. Luckily for me I can really tap into my vintage-style-side with dresses. Suddenly, an otherwise irritating situation (wearing a dress--yea, I never grew out of that phase) becomes an opportunity to play dress up and pretend that I'm from another era ;-) Allow me to introduce you to what I like to call my vintage closet...

Okayeee...

 

Before we go any further, I have to admit that I did NOT think this post through :-( My plan was to pull out a few outfits from my closet, tell you how I wear it (or how I'm going to wear it), and then that would be that. Unfortunately, I didn't plan on the outfits looking completely drab on the hangers. Seeing that my pictures were none too impressive, I quickly decided to scratch that idea. Just so you can get an idea of what I mean, here's a super boring pic of a otherwise charming dress:

Talk about no justice! I purchased this dress last week thinking that I could wear it to church. Its super cute on, but looks rather 'Plain Jane' in the photograph. Anywho (sticking to the original idea of the post), I plan to pair this dress with my "diamond" bracelet and big oversized sparkle earrings. Because of the beading around the neckline this dress doesn't need a necklace. Ladies, can we agree to stop over-accessorizing? Thanks ;-)

 

After realizing that my plan for my post had pretty much just been shot to hell, I sat for a moment contemplating how I could make this work (I had already finished the first paragraph and I had no plans of scrapping it). Then it dawned on me--I have plenty of pics with vintage inspired fashion...sort of. Granted, a lot of these said photos are selfies focused on my hair, but it's better than nothing, right....right?). Well, here goes:

 

Vintage inspired shirt with one of my favorite vintage necklaces as my "crown"...it was my birthday ;-)

 

This blouse is one of my favorites and it's the real deal--it actually belonged to my grandmother :-)

If you haven't noticed already I have a real thing for wearing jewelry in my hair :-) Anyways, I couldn't pass on this thrift store blouse--it's super comfy and the colors are a great combo!

 

 

 Clearly the star of this shot was my Pompadour (I love old school hairstyles on natural hair), nevertheless, the shirt is an actual classic scored from thrifting. 
***

I guess that just goes to prove that my throwback style isn't exclusive to dresses (in each of  those pictures I had on pants).

This was my Facebook profile pic for I don't know how long--I think it captures who I am perfectly--or at least who I think I am in my mind *smiles*. My hubby snapped this picture of me one time as we prepared for date night *good times*

Wishing that I was on my way to the Cotton Club...

 

SMH, looking like I was about to bust out of that outfit--but I had my county vintage going on no less!

 

Vintage school girl? Perhaps...

 

I'll admit, these aren't the best pics--especially when trying to highlight my vintage closet, but keep in mind I never imagined that I would be doing THIS post--especially not this way. Perhaps if I had a mannequin this whole fiasco could have been avoided. My husband says that I have enough junk that I don't need but who wouldn't want one of these hanging around--used or unused?

 

I think that it's undeniably dope! Something for the future???

 At this point I think the best thing to do (if I can manage to remember) is to snap pics whenever I have on my vintage wears and label (hash tag) it as #MyVintageCloset (quick post style). If anyone else is interested in sharing their vintage style I am more than happy to gawk! Until the next time...find your happiness or create it! XO