
This past week, we traveled to DC to witness Obama’s Inauguration! We had such a great time!
While we were there, we were interviewed by some folks with Jim Lehrer’s Online News Hour.
Also check out Rob’s Coverage of the inauguration here!
August 22, 2008
Finally! A weekend down the shore.
We went down late Thursday night through Sunday and stayed at one of our favorite places.
They include breakfast and dinner. It’s amazing. The biscuits are transcendent.
It’s old school and authentic. No air conditioning, phones in the room, or cable.
Tall ceilings, shutter doors and ceiling fans keep the cool ocean breeze circulating.
We always stay in the same room on the 3rd floor, room 72. This year though we had two other ones for the parents, room 71 & 95 (kids got 72).
While down the shore, we always do the same things.
Walk around.
See the sights we’ve seen a million different times.
Go to the beach.
Shop.





Visit our favorite stores.




Dad ‘L’, Mike, Rob, Dad ‘A’, Mom ‘A’, Allison, Diggie, Mom ‘L’
(This is the only group shot I took of everyone. Oops!)

Swain’s is more than just stain & paint. Their housewares section is amazing! But I was pretty fascinated by the fake food scattered everywhere.

The moms & I had way to much fun in the antique / tea shop.


The deer head did not come home with us.

The Dad’s held these chairs down while the girls exercised the plastic.

A significant amount of time was spent sitting on the porch.





The Chalfonte has the best porch. ever.




All the awnings are from Friants in Mt. Holly, NJ.

Rob read.

Dad organized bills.

Diggie found an open node.

I took pictures.




The Chalfonte also has the biggest urinal ever.

Showed the A’s the cupola. (see very 1st pic. the little room at the top)



Saturday night,

we went on a ghost tour.

This is not something we usually do.

It was very cool.

Rob wasn’t a fan of the people with the McCain buttons.


Afterward, Mike was hungry for pizza.




We watched a little of the Olympics while waiting for our pie.

Before racing back to the hotel, to catch Michael Phelps win his 8th gold medal.

After breakfast on Sunday…



we stopped at Fralingers and Mom got ridiculous amounts of taffy.

The End.
ps – Thank you to Mr. Bill for letting me borrow your super-sweet camera!
July 30, 2008

May 29, 2008
My quest for housing options outside the realm of normal suburbia has led me to many places. I look at old factories and industrial buildings the way most women drool over Manolo Blahniks. reZONED is one of my favorite shows and think the most creative application of a product isn’t what the creators intended. I LOVE my dining area wallpapered in acrylic gas station numbers and chandelier made out of Christmas lights.
Today, while reading Apartment Therapy, I came across what might be the coolest idea yet – container houses. While I’m usually anti-ticky-tacky, I LOVE this idea! Check out some of the concept houses here (also watch the cool video).
Check out Adam Kalkin‘s 12 Container House:






The 12 Container House may be a little out of our price point but isn’t is fantastic?! I LOVE the gigantic high ceilings. And orange is even one of the standard colors.
More realistically, we’re (hypothetically) looking at something like the Quik House. The Quik House is a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 2,000 sqft prefab house made out of shipping containers. You can check out the PDF booklet here (MUCH easier to read than the website with the awful red background). They also have 3,000 and 5,000 sqft options as well.
Now we just need help finding an affordable piece of land….
May 20, 2008
While I didn’t get to work much with Kamila 1-on-1 this time, I’ve worked with her once before, on a little present for Rob
. It was SO great to see and work with her again. I totally love her style and personality. She’s incredibly approachable and normal; not pretentious or full of herself at all. Just the type of person you want to hang out with.
Also, she’ll do anything to get the shot - including hopping into a freezing cold fountain (see below). There were times I didn’t know she was even there but the pictures prove otherwise.

(photo courtesy of Paul Roebuck)
Without further adieu, here are some pics from Kamila Harris:






She’s freaking awesome. It’s a fact.
(PS – This is my 100th post!!
May 16, 2008
I also got to work with Cindy Patick last Sunday!! OMG she was so fun! She had such fun ideas and didn’t mind me being wacky. She even welcomed my penchant for climbing on stuff! We played off each other so well. Her sister assisted and also had some really great ideas. She natural eye for what was working or what wasn’t. I stole borrowed these from Cindy’s blog but she’s got a lot more great stuff over there. If you’re looking for a photographer, definitely check her out!!













Aren’t these FABULOUS?! Cindy Patrick is awesome! Check out her website or blog. Lots of love to her!
May 15, 2008
The pro pics from Sunday are starting to hit the blogs. It’s SO exciting to see what everyone saw and captured from behind their view finders.
I worked a lot with John Arcara and Cindy Patrick, so I think the 2 of them will have the most pics of me. But Kamila Harris, Sarah Schulte, Stephanie Voch Sherwood and Paul Roebuck will probably have some too. And of course, can’t wait to see what Ken Stillman and his team caught!
John was a blast to work with! So chill and laid-back, he put me totally at ease. You could tell he knew exactly what he was doing and was darn good at it too. He was SO much fun and not afraid to get down and dirty – even joining me to lie on the sidewalk. His work totally speaks for itself. Here are some teaser’s from John’s blog -










Also check out the wicked cool slideshow on his blog. Amazing.
John Arcara ROCKS!
May 9, 2008
You may have noticed the Faves & Friends links over in my right hand navigation bar. And you may have noticed one of them was the Philly Trash Bash blog. But what’s this? you ask. This my friends is what I’m doing with my Mother’s Day.
“Trash the Dress” was a term originally coined by John Michael Cooper, a photographer in Nevada. Mark Eric, a photographer in Louisiana, started a blog to feature some of his work in mid ’07. The blog isn’t used anymore, as they’ve moved on to a website. Trash the Dress sounds a lot worse that what it really is. The whole movement is really about creation, not destruction. You can read their “why” reasons here. But to me, it’s really about the art. I love the idea of juxtaposingthe typical image of a bride, all white and pristine, with a gritty, industrial, urban space.
On Sunday, May 11th, 6 brides, 6 photographers, 1 videographer and perhaps some husbands will be gathering at the Clinton St. Bed & Breakfast for the Philly Trash Bash. It’s going to be SO much fun!! (And free for the brides!) The photogs are Kamila Harris, Cindy Patrick, John Arcara, Paul Roebuck, Sarah Schulte, & Stephanie Sherwood-Voch. Kenneth Stillmanis the videographer- you may remember him from our wedding!
We will be shooting all around Philly. So if you’re in the area, come say hi! I think we’ll be hitting up South St. Penns Landing, the Ben Franklin Bridge and I don’t know what else. If you’re friends with or part of the media, let them know! I know they’d love the publicity, so the email is media@phillyttd.com.
I’ve bought some cool accessories and wanted to post pics but my camera battery died and I think the charger is in SJ. Maybe tomorrow.
April 28, 2008
I was surfing around Etsy the other day and came across these super fabulous bags by seller DavidShockDesigns. You know my penchant for all things industrial and quirky, so it isn’t any wonder I dig them.

They’re made out of discarded orange fencing (like they put up to catch leaves and trash). Making trash useful and fashionable; how green is that?!

I love that it’s using unique and different materials. Like how I wallpapered our “dining room” with giant acrylic gas station numbers. Not their original purpose but look super cool!

You can check out his Etsy Shop here.
April 20, 2008
Every year, Rob goes to the NY Comic Con. It’s a giant comic convention at the Javits Center. Tons of vendors, artists and people in costumes (guests, not vendors). I’ve never been, so it was a first for me. We got a few really cool things, signed comics and art, commissioned a Hellboy sketch. Another day of LOTS of walking but, all in all, a very fun time.