RAINY DAYS and RUMMAGE SALES

Today is the kind of gray, rainy day that usually makes me want to curl up under the covers and never get out of bed. That is unless the church around the corner is having a rummage sale. Then I'm up and out the door by 9.

I got a few things we have been looking for: fireplace tools, a log holder, and a magazine rack.

And wouldn't you know it, they had a vintage raincoat for each of us! Justin's has tiny yellow and white stripes and mine is red with a plaid interior. Cute, practical, and perfect for the walk home. Now all we need are duck boots.

BOOK VILLAGE and BIBLIOBARN

Last Sunday, Justin and I drove up to Hobart, NY...the self-proclaimed "book village" of the Catskills. It's a sleepy little town that has several used and antiquarian bookstores on its main street...and not much else. Our favorite stop was Bibliobarn...which is a few miles up the road in South Kortright. It's a treasure trove of old books housed in a converted barn and run by a couple of adorable old hippies. It's a magical place full of good vibes. And guess what. It's for sale! The whole kit and kaboodle -- the barn, the books, and the five sprawling acres of loveliness.

HELLO FALL

We've been DYING to use the fireplace ever since we moved in back in April...but the weather didn't really call for it. Finally, the evenings are getting cold enough to deem it appropriate...and last night we gave it a whirl.

Justin is quite the little fire builder (thank you Camp La Junta). He had it up and going in no time. We had our fingers crossed, and thank goodness, the smoke was indeed going up and out the chimney and the whole thing seems to work like a charm.

The cats were mesmerized by the whole process. Steve kept a safe distance from the actual fire...but Julian, in his usual fashion, wanted to be as close as possible. You'd think he would have learned his lesson after singeing off half of his whiskers from a too-close encounter with a candle a few weeks ago...but, no.

It's looking like fall is gonna be as dreamy as I'd hoped.

CONCORD GRAPE PICKING

On Monday Justin and I drove down to DuBois Farms in Highland to pick our own Concord grapes.

In case you don't already know, I'm a HUGE fan of Concord grapes. I basically have a countdown every year until the season starts in September...and proceed to eat as many as humanly possible right through October.

We ended up getting about 12 pounds worth. I plan on taking half of them and attempting to make some sort of grape jelly. I've never done it before...but how hard can it be? Anyone have any tips?

PRETTY PAPER

Justin and I decided it would be a nice tradition to buy ourselves a joint present each year that follows Emily Post's old-school list of wedding anniversary gifts. First year--paper, second year--cotton; third year--wood...and so on.

For "paper" we decided to splurge and get this lovely tassel garland from Confetti System.

12 feet of bright, cheery, sparkly goodness. It think it's a perfect celebration of our first year together.

ONE YEAR

Today is our one year anniversary!

Yup...last September 12th we were at a summer camp in Hueguenot, NY having the time of our lives. Lakeside ceremony, dining hall dance party, all night campfire rage-a-thon. It was EPIC.

The whole thing was a real DIY family affair. I handmade all of the invitations, table numbers, seating cards, maps of the campgrounds, and boutonnieres for the boys. My dad made all of the signs and hand-built the chuppah out of branches from the backyard. My mom sewed the tablecloths and a zillion feet of pennant flag bunting. Both of our families got together to decorate the dining hall with all kinds of lights and lanterns and more tissue paper decorations than imaginable. My wedding dress (a stunning 1920's beaded beauty) was from my mom's best friend Susie. Our friends and bandmates played the ceremony music (Chapel of Love, Sea of Love, and Then he kissed me -- on marimba, ukulele, glockenspiel, guitar, drums, alto horn, and kazoos. SO BEST.) My friend Frankie (aka Kid America) deejayed. And Justin's friend Ryan took all the photos. Even the priest was a friend of Justin's family.

We have about a zillion photos from our wedding day (far too many to attempt to upload)...but we did put some on flickr. Here's a link to the slideshow.

And this was our wedding song:

"This Will Be Our Year" by The Zombies

And if I do say so myself...I think it HAS been our year.

VOYAGE OF THE EAGLET

A couple weeks ago, Justin made the trip from New York City to Kingston BY SAILBOAT!

He sailed with our friend Randy on Randy's boat, the Eaglet. She's a 31-foot wooden boat from 1925.

The 100 mile journey took about 15 hours. They passed under 6 bridges (George Washington, Tappan Zee, Bear Mountain, Newburgh/Beacon, Mid-Hudson, and Walkway Over the Hudson), and went by West Point, the Indian Point nuclear power plant, and Bannerman's Island.

They got here at 1:00 am and docked the boat at the Rondout Creek in Kingston...just a couple blocks from our house. Then a day and a half later they turned around and sailed back to NYC.

Here are some photos from the trip...

Leaving New York City, early morning.



First Mate Nami (which means wave in Japanese).



The boys on their way back to NYC.

The Kingston lighthouse...where the Rondout Creek meets the Hudson River.

See that cabin? That was Randy's "apartment" for 4 years. Renting a slip in NYC is a lot cheaper than renting a studio. And I think living on a boat is pretty darn romantic.







Bright lights. Big city. The end.

BIRD’S ROOM DETAILS

So, here is a little bit more about the bird's room.

Above: Budge and his best friend. (Budgie doesn't seem to mind that he is made of plastic.)

This bird cage was supposed to be Budge's temporary home...until I found him a lovely and affordable antique cage. But he really seems to like it...and at this point I would feel bad switching it. So until I find something antique that is FAR superior I'm just going to live with this one. At least it's on a pretty vintage stand. ($25 from The Water Street Market in New Paltz.)

The window seats are storage boxes from Ikea that we had in our old apartment. They are a great place to stash all of my shoes that don't fit in the closet.

I covered the cushions with this vintage fabric I picked up at a garage sale years ago. I mean...a traditional toile hunting scene in a crazy pink and mustard color pallette?! What's not to love?

We picked up the folding screen at auction for $15. I hung some dainty lady things on it so that we could use it to cover up the tv. (Note: Our tv is NOT one of those flat-screen plasma jams. It's a big old BOXY jam. MAJOR eyesore).

And I found the antique wooden hangers at Boulevard Attic in Kingston. $1 each.

We got the big antique wardrobe for $90 from The Wayside Shop in NJ. It's perfect for hanging our nicer stuff and it has a great big mirror...which is great for getting dressed AND it makes the room look bigger.

AND you can lock the door with this skeleton key! (So if you were planning on stealing any of our evening wear...think again.)

The bed was a craigslist find. I think we paid $100 for the whole set -- frame and mattress.

The bedding came from the Saugerties Antique Center. It's hand embroidered silk and I don't think it was ever even used. The set came with a coverlet, 2 pillowcases (a large one and a small decorative one), and a slew of matching dresser scarves.

I love this lamp shade! I'm crazy about the pattern and colors and the way it's perfectly faded. I got a set of 5 for $25 at the Water Street Market in New Paltz. (The rest of them are on the sconces in the dining room.)

I also got this wall lamp there. It's some crazy homemade looking metal thing. I think it was intended for two small candelabra bulbs and no shades...but I wanted our guests to be able to use it as a reading lamp, which requires much brighter bulbs, so I threw these shades on. I'm not crazy about them. I think they are a little too white...and maybe I want a slightly different shape? I'm not sure.

The last bit of lighting I have to contend with is the ceiling fixture. I picked this chandelier up at garage sale in NJ years ago ($25!) and have been storing it in my parents' basement ever since. (See dad! I told you my junk collecting would come in handy at some point). I think it will look lovely the bird's room. Right?

THE BIRD’S ROOM

Finally. Photos from the other guest room in all its girly glory.

This room was a little bit more challenging than the other guest room because I had to accomodate the majority of our clothing. There is a SERIOUS lack of closet space in our house. (And by "lack of" I mean basically NO closet space.) We have one tiny coat closet downstairs...and two dressers and an armoire in our bedroom...but that's about it. So I had to devote one whole wall to clothing storage...which takes up a significant portion of the room.

We installed one of those heavy-duty adjustable closet systems from home depot because we wanted something sturdy and affordable. (The hanging racks the previous owners installed were NOT sturdy...and when we started hanging our stuff on them they fell on us and took half the wall with them. NOT FUN) For shoes and foldables we used some of the wooden ikea shelving from our old apartment.

Originally I planned on hanging a curtain in front of the closet. I pictured something floor length that stretched from the armoire to the wall to cover up all of the craziness...but then I realized that the clothes on the hanging racks stick out further than the armoire. Rats! So now I have to come up with something else. Or maybe just leave it open?