New Old Things

Chelsea and I decided to go antiquing on one of her last days in the US. As usual I managed to find things that I don't technically need but WILL use and also as usual spent too much. Chelsea knew of The Emporium of Olde Towne in Gaithersburg, MD from going there with her parents as a kid.

I was really really surprised and impressed with how reasonable the prices are and Grace, the owner, was so happy to have us young kids in her store buying up some history. She told us that she wishes her grandchildren would appreciate her things and the importance of keeping antiques and vintage items in the family. They don't seem to agree with her. In any case we chatted about our travels (I bought several postcards of places I visited in Italy) and presented our cases for why the Italians are worse than the French and visa versa.

In any case here is a look at my treasures.


Blue vintage tin with yellow flowers - $6. This will make a nice cookie tin.


Vintage red and tan pint sized thermos - $12. Are these safe to use? Does anyone know?


Hazel Atlas glass jars with compass lids - $8 each. I LOVE these for storing beans, nuts and dried fruits.


Israeli made trivet- $8



Family postcards - $1 each


Black and white postcard of Italy - $2 each



Colored travel postcards - $2 each

That's it, just wanted to share!

Reuse: Recipe Books and Doodle Pads from Used Menus

So at the moment I work at a restaurant in old town Alexandria. It's a ten minute walk, it's not my dream job but it's flexible, they have their own farm and the people are nice. One thing that erks me a lot though is that we don't recycle. Not only that but we use heavy card-stock for our menus and then after one use for a banquet they get tossed. So - little pack rat that I am - I've been saving them and making something useful and pretty.


I cut the menus in half. Hole punch them twice and then tie them with ribbon that I have squirreled away from past projects. This book I made for Rachel before her Africa trip. I used a vintage postcard as the cover and glued the plastic sheet on so she could take the postcard out and read the back still.



They're rather simple and I may jazz up the design some. Make hardback covers maybe and sew them into it. But I also kinda like how simple they are. The other side of the paper of course is printed with menu items so only one side can be used for writing but you could certainly draw or paste clippings to the menu side. I figure, even if they get used for grovery store lists its better that then just throwing them away. BUT I do hope some will be used a long time. Like the one above that I plan to write all the Thanksgiving recipes in and give to my mom so she can remake our vegan feast in the future :)

Cherry Lemonade

Hello Blog Readers!

I know I have been MIA for a while but the works are demanding a lot of my time these days. Don't fret though, I have lots of fun stuff to share! This post features a recipe AND two of my newly acquired old treasures.

I may have mentioned before that Katie and I order a weekly produce box from Argancia. We get a bounty of fresh, local goodies every Sunday (except this Sunday because they shipped our box to someone else, grrrrr) which means lots of yummy food to be made! Last week we got these local Virginia cherries in the box and, unlike their slightly larger, plumper cousins the Bing, these cherries were a little less sweet than I had hoped.

Never to be daunted, I decided to make them into lemonade! If you've made lemonade from scratch before there really isn't much to it and adding the cherries is just one extra step. Make the lemonade the day before you go to the beach or have a cookout so it has lots of time to chill in the fridge.



Cherry Lemonade

3/4 cups sugar
1 cup fresh lemon juice (about 6 lemons)
1 full cup cherries
4 cups cold water

1. Put the sugar and a cup of water in a saucepan over low or medium heat. Stir it often. While you're doing this take your freshly washed cherries and pluck the stems out and then slit them in half. No need to pull them apart or pit them.
2. Plop your cherries in the pot with your dissolving sugar and stir the mixture until the sugar is dissolved and you have a simple syrup.
3. Strain the cherries out but reserve your syrup of course!
4. Combine the cold water, syrup and lemon juice in a pretty little pitcher and mix. Refrigerate until it's time to serve it.



The tea cup in the pictures was part of a house warming present from Pang, isn't it cute?! The small turquoise table cloth is something I bought yesterday at On a Whim in Leesburg. If you haven't been there you really really have to go. They have amazing stuff and I will be posting about some of the other goodies we saw there soon!

Philadelphia

The other weekend a few of my girlfriends and I went to Philadelphia to do some neighborhood scouting and just to get out of Shepherdstown! We decided to ditch the Liberty Bell and other tourist attractions and really just explore different parts of the city and eat tons of great food.

I'm a big dummy and instead of documenting said food so I could write a blog about what Philly has to offer it's vegan patrons, I just stuffed my face instead. I can give you a short - sans photo - rundown of what was good though.
Blackbird Pizzeria had a pretty kick ass cheesesteak, loads of tasty pizza options (though I found the Yukon Pizza to be a bit heavy on the rosemary for my taste) and delicious desserts!
Memphis Taproom was next. We waited a good hour (after a ridiculous cab ride in which the cabbie pulled over and asked US to look up directions on our iphone to direct HIM to our destination) but found it to be well worth it! This place isn't all veggie but they do have some cool stuff like the Old Bay Jackfruit Cakes (which we forgot to order! but then we were too stuffed later to try them) and the Smoked Coconut Club (which we did try, and it was great!).
Sketch was the last place we went. We heard about their awesome burgers and shakes and yes, they were awesome. I was craving some avocado and asked for some on my burger and they gave me a whole half of an avocado!

Aside from eating we also did a ton of walking around and general exploring of shopping areas and possible future hang-outs. Here are a few pictures I did manage to take while I wasnt busy eating. The top two are from an antique store we spent a good half hour in taking pictures. The bottom picture is Pee Pang - my once and hopefully future room-mate. We went the wrong way on the train and had to get off, walk over the pretty turquoise overpass, and then wait for the next train to take us in the right direction. We are so dumb.







This Sunday I'm going to DC with the same bunch of girls to check out possible neighborhoods, restaurants and hang-outs there! Stay tooned - and hopefully I will take a few pictures before I chow down.

MB de Monvel

I have a little obsession with antique books. People hate to help me move. But it goes perfectly with one of my favorite places to hang out - book stores. Wonderbook in particular is awesome for their mix of antique as well as new books. Over the summer I bought this book - Nos Enfants (our children) because I just fell in love with the illustrations by MB de Monvel. If I were brave enough to devote large swatches of my skin to it, I would get a whole page of this tattooed somewhere. As it is, I'm considering one of the little girls and some birds. Maybe.







Love the back cover too.

Coast to Cote Week 30

Pang: I promise no more pottery/firing talk from this point on, but i couldn't help but choose this photo. I went back to the firing on the second night to try to get more shots and check out the pot luck (we all know I love food!). While stoking the fire on the first night, we didn't have to use too many precautions, but on the second night, on top of wearing gloves, when the fire reached it's highest temperature, we had to wear goggles (to protect our retinas), a face mask, and made sure our shirt/jackets were 100% cotton (if not, we risked catching on fire even if a little spark were to fly out). I got to help feed the fire and had to put on a cotton flannel shirt and felt an immense difference in the temperature of the fire. I felt like my face was going to melt off if I stood in front of the open kiln door any longer. When the fire is at this stage, the potteries in the kiln are almost at a liquid state (although they retain the shape). Joy's husband mentioned that if we were to poke a pot with a rod, it would go right through. They put out the fire around 1 am, but even with that, it takes four days for the pots to cure and become solid again. Tomorrow is the big unveiling where the kiln doors will be disassembled (they had to build it shut for the firing) and the pieces will be ready.

Lacey: This week on a lazy Saturday we went to Wonderbook in Frederick to rent some movies and peruse the books. I came across the children's book Nos Enfants by Anantole France. The book is sadly falling apart and was wrapped up in plastic but in fact, this is actually perfect because I have been looking for a falling apart book with awesome illustrations (this one was illustrated by MB de Monvel - who may just inspire another tattoo in the future because his little girl drawings are just my taste) because I would really loved to have framed storybook pages decorating my (future) apartment. These are especially perfect because they are in French and they are already literally detached from the spine. I have a really hard time bringing myself to rip or destroy a book - but if it's already falling apart its ok right? In any case I spent more than I usually would, but I'm super excited to see the finished product one day.

Les Bougeoirs

So recently I stumbled upon a new clothing/bric a brac shop in Limoges called J&M. The guy that owns the shop is Polish and speak great English and when Mariella and I came in and started gushing about the stuff he had he quickly struck up a conversation with us. A few days later I brought Alex and Anais back and fell upon these little candle holder and just had to have them.



The thing thats interesting is that in France there are not considered antiques. They really are just bric-a-brac and they cant be sold for much. I told the owner straight off that he should be doing business in America because he could get a lot more for this kind of stuff! I have my eye on a old fashioned French clock that you wind up with a key! Birthday present to myself?


And only 6 euros, what a steal!


Im bound to like anything in this color! I already have video ideas for when I get back of dark alleys and playing hide and seek by candle light! Cant wait to get home and film it!


This one was the second to catch my eye. I really couldnt decide between the two but since this one I felt was a little more masculine? (however masculine a candle holder can be), I decided to get this one for Ryan. That way I could buy both! I am absolutely prepared for him to tell me its not cool enough for him and then I can keep both :)

Ingerland Ingerland Part 2: The Shopping

After the Bourough Market we decided to check out some shopping. Window shopping...certainly not things we could afford. We walked by the area where men get their fancy tailored suits made. We walked by Alexander McQueens store which was piled high with white flowers inside since it was only a few days after his death.
My favorite shopping area we went to on this day was Carnaby Street because its a bit more affordable and also has a lot of charachter. They even have an Irregular Choices!. If you aren't familiar - familiarize yourself. Adam talked me out of getting a pair of shoes. Too weird he thought. I was foolish enough to consider whether or not Ryan would like them and sought out the opinion of the only man around. Shoulda just bought em! We also went to a little place nearby called Kingly Court I think that had lots of vintage shops and boutiques and I was able to find myself a little blue vintage belt.


I can't remember what this corridor was called but it was shockingly lavish


!!!


Is this the look for this summer?


I made some friends. I forgot their names.


Adam is already fast friends with these guys apparently.


Also dropped in on the queen. She was home. We had tea and wore funny hats. She should consider painting that place. Looks a little drab with all that London rain falling on it all the time.


We also strolled by the Clink which is the oldest men's prison in London but is now a museum. That's where the phrase "to be in the clink" comes from!

January Flea Market - Creepy Doll of the Month

Somehow I never got around to posting flea market pictures this month! The ground was freshly powdered and iced on this particular day, which made for a sad turnout both in prospective junk buyers and in vendors. Regardless I bundled up and went out for my churro and browsing.




Far fewer creepy babydolls this time - but there is always at least one!


I wanted this brooch like you can't imagine. Pretty much anything with a face on it I'm bound to love. Old man face? Even better.


My self portrait for the day.




Some friends dropped by.

Creepy Poupees and Churro

Every second Sunday of the month there is a huge flea market in town here. Despite the freezing cold I decided to go out because...well what else is there to do on a Sunday? I noticed last time I went that there were an awful lot of creepy dolls being sold so this time I decided to snap a few portraits to share. Didn't get many - my hands were too cold!










They love dolls here! They even have a little doll hospital!


The one thing I saw here that I would have bought if I lived here was this giant seed container. I would have used it as a jewelry box and learned all the different veggies in French at the same time! The guy tried to convince me that it's possible to ship stuff to the US. Yeah I know...the presents I sent home cost more in shipping than it did to buy the stuff! No fanks!


Of course I wasn't too cold to take off my mittens for some Churro!

Didn't get any stranger pics this week...failure. Had planned on doing that at the flea market but I was too cold. Seriously, I couldn't feel my feet or fingers.