merrifield

One of the places we almost always go when we visit Steve's family is the Merrifield Garden Center.  No matter what season it is, there is always something great to see there. 

 This time, we saw the largest turkey I have ever seen in person.  It was amazing. 

The turkey was hanging out with some chickens, two goats, and a guinea fowl.  The other animals were cool and all, but the turkey was the real deal.  Those feathers!  Those blue eye sockets!  That neck that looks like intestines! 

 

I'll be honest- the plants just paled in comparison after seeing this turkey. 

But there were lots of great plants and I did enjoy seeing them, it's just that I've seen plants before. 

Merrifield is so big that in addition to the outdoor spaces and greenhouse, there is also a lovely indoor shop and a café.  I wandered around taking pictures of beautiful spots indoors while Steve and his mom split a sandwich in the café. 

I love to explore shops like this, even though I almost never buy anything.  The fun part, for me, is to be inspired by new ways to group items, new color schemes, new project ideas. 

 

I came home with tons of ideas that I need to record immediately or I'll never remember them by next week.  And I sure don't have time to start any of them this week. 

Steve claims it's warming up this weekend, but I'll believe it when I see it.  We've got an ambitious task list to work through, but also plan to squeeze in some fun with friends.  Hope your weekend is sunny!

whole foods

We finished up our Christmas shopping last weekend at Whole Foods.  It was at least 20 times more fun than going to the mall. 

 

Steve and I had never been to Whole Foods before, but after we found out that they carry chestnuts, we decided a trip was in order. 

 

I would call Whole Foods the largest fancy grocery store, based on other fancy grocery stores in our area.  I was especially intrigued by all the beautiful produce.  They had vegetables that I've seen in cookbooks, but never been able to find in a store.  They had mandarins with the leaves still on them!

 

We walked the whole store twice, to make sure we didn't miss anything.  By the time we were done, our cart was filled with tea and coffee and soaps and sparkly beverages- all the Christmas necessities. 

 

After all that walking around, we took a break in the cafe with some orange and fig gelato.  Amazing.  All in all, it was a delightful place to shop. 

 

Last night, we went on a date to celebrate the eight year anniversary of the night Steve asked me to be his.  Today, I've been thinking about how I'd say yes to him a thousand times over. 

vintage inspiration

A few weeks ago when we were in Virginia, we had the chance to visit the Old Lucketts Store again.  What an inspiring place.  When we're there, I find myself wishing that I could move into a house next door and keep a constant eye on the merchandise to score the perfect deal! 

Since I've had leather on my mind lately, I had Steve snap pictures of some great bags we found in the store. 

Next on my list of skills to master: metal rivets. 

Although thrift stores make me want to compulsively wash my hands, they also remind me that a collection of mismatched objects looks way more cozy than a matching set.  I've been dreaming up some holiday vignettes for our house and can't wait to try some of them out. 

Speaking of holidays- who knew that Thanksgiving is two weeks away?  Certainly not me, until I checked the calendar this morning.  Between now and then, we've got a car full of house guests and a holiday open house to think about, so I'm putting all thoughts of Thanksgiving on the back burner until I mark a few more items off my list!

King's Drive Farmer's Market

Recently, we visited the King's Drive Farmer's Market for the first time.  It is not the closest farmer's market to our house, but we were in the area and thought we'd stop in. 

 

The mums there were amazing and I had to restrain myself from buying them all. 

 

I thought that the produce selection was pretty great.  Lots of variety, however it was difficult to tell how local some items are.  But the prices were good, and often that is my main motivation for buying from a market versus the grocery store. 

 

As an exciting added bonus, they had about a million pumpkins!  We had already gotten pumpkins for the front porch, but were really interested in some of the gourds. 

 

We brought home one of these cute pear-shaped gourds.  I love that they all still have their stems attached. 

 

The farmer's market is right across the street from the Little Sugar Creek Greenway, so we were able to take a walk when we were done browsing. 

 

Today I'm cutting leather and flannel and dreaming of a fire in the fireplace- it won't be long now!

airport overlook

Did you know that one of the things we love about Charlotte is the airport?  I'm not even joking- Charlotte has a fantastic airport.  It is big enough to have tons of flights, but somehow never seems overwhelming.  AND there is a short term parking deck where you can park for under 30 minutes for free!  It's perfect for running inside to surprise someone at baggage claim. 

 

 

As many times as we've been to the airport here, last week was the first time we had been to the airport overlook.  We went around 6pm, which is a really busy time for flights, and watched tons of planes take off and a few land.  I always find myself holding my breath during the landing- even if I'm not on the plane!

 

One thing we were surprised by was the number of people there.  The parking lot was pretty full and there were lots of families- some with picnics- hanging out to watch the planes. 

 

I couldn't believe that they used the same runway for take offs and landings.  I counted 40 seconds between one plane leaving and another one touching down in the exact same spot.  It made me nervous just watching how close they were!

 

Speaking of the airport, I'm on my way there right now to pick up my sister.  We're always so excited to have her here and I can't wait to get started on our weekend.  Hope yours is lovely!

Davidson adventure

This week has been crazy already, and it's only Tuesday morning!  Yesterday, I had the car and ran around almost non-stop to get everything done in one day. 

Thankfully, at least some of my running around was of the fun variety.  My friend, Star, and I went up to Davidson to drop off some more items at The Sanctuary.  It was so much fun to see things that I've made displayed right there in a store for everyone to see! 

Before we dropped them off, I wanted to get a few pictures of the totes that I finished last week.  Here's one of the great things about Star: if I hand her a bag and say "Here, pose with this," she really poses.  What a good sport. 

The bags I was dropping off are part of the big fabric design project that Steve and I have been working on this month.  I'll be sharing more about this later, once I have a few more samples sewn up. 

 After finishing the business portion of the trip, we walked around the Davidson College campus for a bit and ended up back downtown for lunch.  Going out to lunch is a rare treat for me and it was a great reprieve in the middle of a busy day. 

Although I've been to Davidson numerous times, I always find something new there.  And it's fun to show off a favorite place to someone else- Star had never been before!  There are lots of cool art installations around town and the campus is just beautiful. 

Today, I am thankful to be at home, plowing through my list of things to finish by the end of the month.  I just ordered some fabric for a project I need to deliver by the 30th.  Ambitious?  Yes.  Impossible?  Perhaps.  I like to give myself a little challenge every now and then. 

oh the places we go

Believe it or not, we had time for something other than strawberry picking and eating last weekend.  We also did a little exploring!  Our first stop was The Boulevard- a little boutique that carries locally made goods.  The prices are surprisingly low for handmade items and they had a great selection of stuff ranging from jewelry and bags to clothing and furniture.  Seems like a great spot to pick up a gift!

Our next stop was Modern Fabrics, which we had never heard of, but passed on the way in.  They sell designer textiles at a significant discount and had tons of fabric!  Steve and I were most excited about the basket of leather remnants we found in the back.  We have secret leather-working dreams over here.  We chose a remnant to take home and play around with and they were kind enough to give it to us for free! 

After all the shopping, we headed to the Little Sugar Creek Greenway.  Charlotte has an amazing system of greenways and is constantly working on more.  There are 37 miles of developed greenway so far and 150 miles yet to be finished!  The greenways are paved paths that usually cut through scenic areas and connect parts of the city. 

The Little Sugar Creek Greenway was recently expanded and they were having a festival to celebrate.  Arts, crafts, and food vendors were set up along both sides and there were also concerts going on throughout the day. 

We ended up doing a TON of walking, but it was so much fun!  The greenway runs along a creek and there are lots of birds and wildflowers, but still all within sight of the city.  Amazing. 

Thanks for all the kind comments about the new blog design!  I love to hear what you think!

Love the Place You Live: Mount Pleasant

Saturday morning, we woke up to sunshine instead of the expected rain, and decided to take a field trip.  I had read about Cline’s Antiques in Mount Pleasant, North Carolina, in the latest issue of Country Living and was itching to go.  It’s about an hour from our house, so we packed bottles of water and put on our tennis shoes and set out early. 

The drive was lovely and the company was my favorite. When we got to Cline’s, we were surprised by how many people were there. I think we were also surprised by the amount of… stuff, we’ll call it. Stuff everywhere.

Their website said, “this isn’t a fancy place” and they weren’t kidding.  Items were strewn about on the ground, in old barns, and tucked away inside 18 wheeler trailers.  To get into the trailers, there were several adventurous options- either a ladder or rickety stairs or maybe just a stack of trash to walk up. 

I was specifically hunting for chairs and, while there were plenty of chairs, we didn’t take any home.  There was lots of beautiful old furniture that just needs a little love to make it right and we were especially enamored with the cast iron animals.  We brought home a ram as a souvenir. 

I think that we’ll go back to Cline’s again, more prepared next time.  We saw people with gloves and boots who were really getting serious about finding the good stuff.  It’s like a treasure hunt there. 

After Cline’s, we drove into downtown Mount Pleasant to explore and eat. We lunched at Buddy’s Place, which was Mount Pleasant’s version of Jumbo’s. Loved it. Then we walked around and admired the lovely architecture and small town ambiance.Total steps taken: 9566.  And that was all before 3pm.

We walked by the Farmer's Market, which was three people sitting on a tailgate selling buckets of strawberries.   I felt so bad for them (and I love strawberries) that I resolved to buy some when we walked back, but they had packed up and left by then.

Steve and I kept finding similarities between Mount Pleasant and other small towns that we've visited and loved- Bridgton and Weaverville, to name a couple.
 

Exploring Mount Pleasant was such a fun way to spend a Saturday!  On the drive back, we talked about how far from home we felt, when we'd only driven 40 miles.



Did your weekend include any fun exploring?  Today I am sticking close to home again and taking care of the usual- laundry and sewing.  There are currently ten bags in various states of completion draped on all of our dining room chairs.  I'm hoping to make some progress on those so that we don't have to eat in the kitchen all week!

ps- Would you be a pal and vote for me in the Handmade Olympics today?  My summer tote is a finalist in Event 1 and I'd just love to win!

Davidson

We spent a good part of last Saturday in Davidson, a cute little college town about 30 miles north of here.  Steve and I love small towns and Davidson does not disappoint: it's got a main street with shops and restaurants, a farmer's market, and plenty of trees and parks.  While we usually wander around campus, one of our favorite places to stage shop photos, this time we checked out a little park with a lake. 

The cherry trees were just starting to bloom and it was beautiful.  I may love blooming trees even more than flowers because they're so big.  The weather was that kind of perfect where you can't even feel the breeze against your skin because it is the exact same temperature. 

We took hundreds of pictures of my new spring collection.  Eventually the geese climbed up out of the water to investigate.  Here is a picture of me turning around just in time to surprise the goose that was sneaking up behind me.  I think he was probably after the yellow bag.  Who can blame him? 

The fun and the blooming trees did not stop at the park though.  We headed downtown for more pictures and brunch outside. 

I have a major weakness for breakfast foods.  And I love them even more if I'm not eating them early in the morning.  Poached eggs at 12:30pm?  Yes, please. 

Steve was completely enamored with the trees and kept propping things in them to photograph.  These trees were in a courtyard directly adjacent to the patio we'd been eating on.  There was an older man on the patio, still eating, who could not take his eyes off the photographer putting stuff in the trees.  I giggled a bit when I realized that Steve was also wearing two of the purses I made and that could be the reason for all the staring. 

This week, I am editing photos and writing descriptions and getting ready for the big spring product launch on Friday!  Can't wait to show off more of what I've been working on!