little messes

my prints made their way out to my swapping co-horts last weekend and i’ve been so excited to see what’s been popping into my mailbox in return. i was mostly happy with my first gocco attempt. i can’t wait to start experimenting more.

on friday jeff and i got out of town for the day and made an impromptu trip to meet dear friends from another coast who we wish we lived just down the street from. everytime i see these two i spend nearly every minute laughing. and even thought the antiques were crazily overpriced it was nice to take a day’s road trip. we avoided late friday afternoon commuter traffic by taking the long way home. which if you’ve ever tried to drive through dc on any weekday afternoon, is probably not as long as sitting in traffic on the beltway.

and now today we’ll add another trip to our list. we’re off to tucson for a short week in the desert with friends and family. when next you see me i’ll most likely have enchilada sauce dried to my chin and a round happy belly to boot.

sometimes what passes by each day is worth another look.

and sometimes it’s nice just to keep busy as i head for home.

spent the week of thanksgiving up in lovely new hampshire with my sister and her fiance and my folks and oodles of cousins… including a new addition. mr. max.

he and henry sure liked each other. sweet sweet sweet.

hope everyone had a lovely holiday.

we’re back from a much needed road trip to seattle and portland and although it’s nice to be home… the west is the best.

we spent one week in seattle, a few days on the coast and nearly a week in portland. i can hardly explain how amazing this trip was. we spent the first week with dear friends (and their newest addition) who we haven’t seen in far too long. we had incredible home-cooked meals and long conversations, we made visited the sound and dug our dinner from the sand, we made art and drank sake and watched oh so many happy kiddos prancing about. it was just what we needed and i hope to go back very soon.

and after a quiet few days along the coast we made it to portland for a few nights at the ace and a few more at the home of my favorite jewelry designer and her husband barry. i don’t think i’ve laughed that hard for that many days consecutive in i don’ t know how long. susan, my sides hurt and my belly is still full after all those good eats… so in six months… he he.

i also got to finally meet another of my virtual friends, miss amy ruppel. and coming this friday if you haven’t already heard, amy and her husband’s restaurant Cava Tavern opens up. I got to taste some nibbles on saturday and oh geez people, get you there pronto. thinking about it makes me want to drive to bwi and hop a plane tonight.

so now we’re home, which always does feel nice no matter how much you enjoy a trip. back to the pup and back to work, but with just a hint of the west in our lungs to keep us smiling.

the 19th annual model-t jamboree brought us out to ohio this past weekend for our second year of road-trips with jeff’s grandfolks! it was oh so fun driving around in the bright sunshine through all them miles of corn and soybean fields. just beautiful. i couldn’t stop taking photos. i think i might have sprained my trigger finger.

not only was my trip to austin filled with professional inspiration of the geek variety, it was also just a ton of fun. i was so excited to explore the most democratic city in the nation (i had no idea!) and even fit some biking in the mix. and the hotel… holy moly, the san jose hotel is seriously the most amazing place i’ve ever stayed. so serene, so relaxing… so drop dead gorgeous i could hardly stand it. i really had no intention of coming home, but you know how it is.

most wonderful of all was getting to meet kim. she is as lovely as can be and so much fun. she gave me the austin overview and introduced me to puffy tacos. have you had them??? yum. kim even gifted me with a stack of fabrics!! thank you so much kim!!

besides all the exploration there was the food. there was so much good food in austin. i’m finding it hard to acclimate back to the lack of good mexican food in baltimore. i seriously ate enchiladas every day. every day people! and now… well, i did have a breakfast burrito yesterday, and although tasty, just not the same.

so maybe i’ll just set my sights on march, when i’m hoping to head back down for the sxsw interactive conference. until then, i have my memories.

or is it wired… well i forget but i’m here in austin, tx working on both. it’s my first time in austin, (although i’ve been to a few other texas cities) and i’m enjoying it immensely. i’ve already eaten enchiladas three times and i see no plausible end in sight. i’m an enchilada junkie afterall.

i’m here for a conference for work… flash forward. aka web animation geekfest. i love it. i am celebrating my inner geek this week in style. we arrived early afternoon sunday too, so i had some time to shop and explore (although not enough by far) and on wednesday i’ll be meeting my favorite catalog enthusiast see here if you don’t know what i’m talking about… love her. it’s the first time i’ll be meeting a blogging friend in the flesh and i’m so very excited.

so until then i’ll leave you with some pictures of my trip thus far…

our trip last weekend was so great. equal parts hilarious and inspiring. it’s quite an incredible thing to drive through these tiny little towns in both ohio and west virginia… nevermind driving through in a 1920s model t. we made stops along each of the routes, first stop, a private collectors vintage hearse collection. um, huh?? actually it was pretty impressive, albeit bizarre. then we hit a doll factory where jeff and i almost lost our gourds. more about that later… first i want to show off some of the thrifty finds we picked up on our travels (you have to leave room for antiqueing no?)

::feedsacks::

::20 dresden quilt circles all made from vintage fabric/feedsacks::

::some hand-printed linens and some homeade pie::

some fabric i picked up in a quilt shop in marietta, ohio. the top fabric was sent to me by the lovely and ridiculously talented stephanie! thanks so much steph! i can’t wait to make something with it.

Labor day plans? Heck yes!! Jeff and i are heading up to ohio to meet his grandparents for a long weekend model t tour. and i am so flipping excited i can barely contain myself. jeff’s granddad was a machinist back in the day, and now he bides his time rebuilding model t’s. he has a big ol’ horse barn filled with the most amazing collection of items from the golden design days of yore. i could spend all day wandering around exploring in that barn. jeff’s entire family are ravenous collectors. the first few times i met them, i was grilled on my own collections… it was hard for me to admit i wasn’t much of a collector. i mean, i collect things. i guess. but i guess i would say it’s more like gathering. i just don’t like things to all be the same. i never want to wake up one day to an entire wall of figurines looking down at me from the top of my dresser. i get on kicks sure, but i’m all over the place. anyway.. blah blah, where was i… oh right, model t jamboree! (i could sing that phrase all night).

so we are leaving town later tomorrow and heading up to ohio to meet the grandparents at their rv. yep, we get to stay in an rv all weekend. i am silly with excitement. silly i tell you. my family never had an rv or any kind of camper/trailer/what-have-you and i have always been fascinated by them. so here we go.

the best thing i think about the tour is that it’s a real “tour” of many places that i’m super excited about.

check it:

Tour the Metro area of the Mid Ohio Valley. Our journey will take us through scenic Washington and Wood Counties and local historic districts. Stops will include antique shops, The Middleton Doll Factory, and the Fenton Art Glass. The day will conclude with shopping and eating in the historic downtown Marietta, OH.

Saturday’s tour will lead us through the country side of Washington County and will cross over to Wild & Wonderful West Virginia using the Sistersville Ferry. After visiting historical Sistersville, WV the afternoon excursion will lead us down river to Marietta. Here the day will conclude with an ice cream social and auction. Please bring an item for the auction. Proceeds will be used for the 2007 Jamboree. Please don’t forget to bring your own bag chairs.

Sunday’s Tour will begin with a stop in Lowell on Buell Island with a break. Then onto the Stockport Mill Inn. To enjoy the beautiful sites and sounds of the raging river dam. This only begins your trip through beautiful Morgan County. Your next stop will be at the Miner’s Memorial (Big Muskie Bucket). Be sure to bring your cameras along for this trip. 100 miles.

The closing banquet will be held at 6:30pm in the banquet room at the Comfort Inn. Door prizes will be presented at this time.

ok.. Doll Museum!! Ice Cream Social!! Big Muskie Bucket!! Door Prizes!!

It seems too good to be true. Don’t worry the camera is packed and ready.

the view from above. on our way out to tucson and i wasn’t sure i ever wanted to come down.

only things just got better. happy new year to all.