Musical Monday

My little guys go back to school today, so in their honor, I made a playlist of their most requested songs.  They have pretty decent tastes for six and seven year olds.  Now if you'll excuse me, I will be in a corner crying over how quickly the summer went by and how my babies are growing up too fast!

Cooling Off

We have had some scorching hot days this summer and feel so lucky to have a shady little park nearby with a refreshingly cool stream running right through the middle.  There's nothing better than splashing in the creek to make me feel like a kid again and my own kids couldn't love it more!

Hope you're all staying cool this summer, too!

Carlisle, PA

The birthday adventure I mentioned yesterday also included a stop at some spots in Carlisle on our way back home.  Despite it being pretty close to home, I've never really explored Carlisle.  We found some great antique places, a good place to get coffee and macarons, a neat little European food market, and the cutest candy store around.  You can check out some links and more photos from the entire day at Heidi's post, here.

 I am a sucker for vintage metal toys and this drink stand was no exception, but it was sadly out of my price range.  This find is from Serendipity Antique Gallery which also had a great selection of old military items and some really cool old Skee-Ball machines.

 This set of dolls at Northgate Antique Mall is one of many on my dolly wishlist.  I really liked this antique mall and found a couple super reasonably priced treasures.  The European market I mentioned earlier is right next door.

 We went to Helenas Chocolate Cafe & Creperie specifically for macarons and they didn't disappoint!

The macarons were delicious, but the cake at Helena's was to die for!  I had black forest cake, my very favorite, and I think Heidi's was a combination of lemon, blueberry, and lavender.  The downtown area, where Helena's is located, is so charming.  I think it definitely merits some more exploring!

Harrisburg Doll Museum

No one really makes a fuss of your birthday once you become an adult, but I think birthday adventures are a must, no matter your age.  This year, Heidi and I headed to Harrisburg to visit what I'm thinking is my future, a museum full of dolls!  The Harrisburg Doll Museum was something I just stumbled upon online while searching for fun things to do and I am so glad I did.  The museum is run by the sweetest lady.  There's a small shop in the front and then the museum itself is split into rooms of a house, each housing different styles of dolls.  There's also an ice cream parlor that can be rented for parties.  If you are ever in the area, this place is so worth a visit!

 This is the first "room" of the museum and houses the oldest dolls in the collection.  You can see two seriously adorable dolls in the mirror.  Hehe!  These dolls aren't typically my style, but I can certainly appreciate their beauty. 

 The collection of mascot dolls was just amazing!  I am so on the hunt for a Seltzer's Bologna doll for Heidi, after seeing it in this display.

 A lot of the fun for me was spotting dolls that I own and making mental notes of dolls to add to my collection.  See the Nancy and Sluggo dolls towards the center?  My grandma has the Nancy and I'm always on the lookout for the matching Sluggo.

 This is the ice cream parlor and it was filled with my very first doll love, Barbie.  This room is filled with so many dolls I remember from my childhood.

 The bathroom was full of so many cuties!

 These are currently my holy grail of dolls, wooden Girl Scouts!  I managed to find one old eBay listing online, but no luck finding any actually for sale yet.

As if this place was meant for us, there was a whole display of Scouting dolls, you know I love all things vintage Girl Scouts, right next to a display of nun dolls, something Heidi collects and loves!

The Prettiest Little Church

Don and I celebrated our anniversary, way back in June, with a little day trip to the beach.  I've always loved the drive there, lots of farms and little fruit stands and so many different ways to actually reach the destination.  The GPS took us a new way this time and, when we passed the most lovely little brick church, I made Donnie turn around and go back.  

 Isn't it beautiful?  This is the Bridgetown Methodist Church.  You can read about some of its history  on this form from the Maryland Historical Trust and see a few older photos of the building.

 Many of the graves were too worn to be read.  There were even some headstones in plant growing in  the background.

 How's this for a final resting place?!  It was so peaceful on the day we stopped and there was a  wonderful slight breeze.  

 The two headstones above belong to a married couple.  From what I've found online, the weeping willow symbolizes mourning and grief.  I'm always fascinated by the meanings of symbols used on headstones.  This site has a pretty extensive list of symbols and their meanings.

This sign in front of the church shows just how old this lovely spot really is!

Let's Try This Again, Part II

I'm spending this evening looking through old photos and listening to the playlist below, in hopes I can get myself into blogging.  I really do miss it, but sometimes laziness wins.  Fine, laziness almost always wins.  I should probably cut myself a little slack, though.  I work full time and I have two kiddos I like to hang out with and I have friends with whom I occasionally make plans.  I do have time for other things I love, like blogging and creating, but most evenings naps and silly games on my phone win over those other things.  So I just need to try a little harder and get a little better at distributing my time and, actually, this playlist is kind of doing its job.  Spotify made this one for me and they did a good job of mixing new to me stuff with bands I already love, so have a listen and get some work done yourself!

Musical Monday

Sometimes I get so hooked on a band that I don't listen to anything but their music, until I know all the words and hand claps and breakdowns.  Then I listen some more and you can bet I sing along loudly and full of emotion, taking in every feeling the singer and instruments convey.  The Front Bottoms is one of those bands.  I can't get enough.  Even after months and months of listening to almost nothing else, I'm not tired of their songs.  Music gets me through things and I feel like their music is perfect for that.

Mother's Day Adventure

For Mother's Day, we took a trip to Baltimore to visit the American Visionary Art Museum.  This was our first time and I think everyone had so much fun taking it all in.  There is so much there to look at and even the spaces outside the building are covered in art.  If you're local or ever passing through the area, this needs to be a definite stop!  My favorite was an exhibit all about food, entitled Yummm! There's an entire room of art that's made from bread, a hall full of lunch boxes and food-related Post Secrets, and the neatest moving mandala constructed from items such as paper plates.  You can see that colorful piece in the photos below, along with an example of one of the pieces from the room full of bread.  

Let's Try This Again

Just as I was trying to get back into the habit of blogging, life happened and either I got sick or a kid got sick, possibly both.  Then there was a vacation and some holidays and probably a lot of downtime where I could have been productive, but I chose to nap or read a comic book.  Anyway, the blog fell by the wayside yet again.  I was talking with my friend, Heidi, about how difficult it is for both of us get back into the habit of posting regularly.  We both have things to post and I always feel like there's something to ramble about or share.  So here I am making another attempt.  Maybe this one will stick!  If anyone has any tips to share in regards to being a more consistent blogger, feel free to shoot them my way!

Don't Get Pinched!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!  Click the links below to get yourself prepared for next year with some cute green goodies!

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Snow Day

It's been a really odd winter, with temperatures in the 70s one day and below freezing the next, and we haven't really had any decent snow.  There have been some flurries and a few dustings, until this week when my two little snow bunnies' winter wishes finally came true.  They had such a blast playing in the snow and stayed outside until their cheeks were bright pink and their noses were as cold as icicles.  I'm glad they got their one good snow, but now I'm ready for spring!

Where Did You Go?

It's been a long time since I've taken the time to do a blog post.  I've thought about it a lot and I've taken photos with the intention to use them in a blog post, but the longer I went without posting, the more difficult it got to actually sit down and do any updates.  I find myself opening my laptop less and less these days and I spend less time on all forms of social media.  I'm happy and I think that I worry less about documenting that and more about just enjoying life.  A friend and I had a good chat about this little blog and how it was started as a bit of therapy, an outlet when my depression was pretty bad. He asked if maybe it had served its purpose.  I suppose it has served that purpose, but I feel like there's more to it.  I like writing, I like sharing things I love and bits of my life, and, practically speaking, it's a nice way to promote my handmade business.  Who knows if anyone is still around to read and enjoy those things, but I'm going to do my best to whip this blog back into shape!