Hey Look, It's June! A recap of the last few months.

Well, looks like my sabbatical from blogging went into full effect... for a little longer than anticipated. Whoopsie!

As usual, when I take a long break, lot so of things happen in my real life, so I needed some time to get those things in order before I started writing again.

Let's see, where shall I start? I'm thinking a quick summary of things that have happened would be a good starting point.

I got hired full time at the ad agency I'd been freelancing for since September. This was HUGE for me. While I've loved every company I've worked for during my career for different reasons, this company is everything I've dreamed of. An amazing workspace, inspiring co-workers and projects that make me strive to always learn more and more, it truly is perfect for me. I have never been so happy and felt so accomplished at the same time. It's the most supportive experience I've ever had. Getting hired full time also took a lot of strain off of me mentally since I was always having to be prepared that things could change at a moments notice. Not that life ever guarantees things to be stable, but being freelance when I've never been comfortable as a freelancer was very taxing on me. That being said, it leads me to the second point of my summary...

Once I was hired on full time and had a stable salary, Jesse and I decided to take the plunge and start looking into buying a house. As of two weeks ago, we are under contract on an adorable mid-century atomic ranch in East Atlanta. Obviously, we're aware that anything can still happen since we're still under contract, but things are moving along swimmingly and our fingers are crossed that everything works out. Our closing date is slated for June 25th. We're absolutely elated that this opportunity came about at such a perfect time.

Those are the two biggest things that have happened recently aside from a trip we took to Palm Springs, California at the end of March to see my sister-in-law get married. That was an absolutely fantastic trip, which was filled with SO MUCH AMAZING ARCHITECTURE. Jesse and I fell in love the moment we drove into the city limits. I'll be doing a blog post sometime soon recapping that whole adventure. Such an amazing town with so many lovely people.

That pretty much summarizes everything for the moment. I'm excited to be back blogging, especially now since we're buying a house, there will be lots of home blogging to come.

Happy June, everyone! I think it's going to be a great summer, filled with new experiences, baseball games and lots of friends and family!

Resolutions for 2012

I typically don't make resolutions. The concept of making a laundry list of things that, most of the time, I won't actually accomplish (ie. I have a tendency to go a bit overboard with delusions of grandeur) is counter-productive to me.

That being said, I do have a list of goals I'd like to accomplish or at least make a good deal of headway with. I'm not going to pressure myself in saying any are final resolutions that MUST be accomplished, but instead, call my resolution list more of a personal improvement project.

• Take time for myself. I have the most trouble with this, which is why it's first on my list. I have to really focus in order to not let time completely slip by without taking a moment for myself on occasion.
• When taking time for myself, make it quality time. Instead of just taking a moment or doing something for myself, I want to make it count - I want to enjoy it and make it worthwhile.
• Learn more, read more, & write more. First order of business, which will help with the next item on my list, is to re-learn French. (Also on this note, anyone have any book suggestions?)
• Travel. I need to actively set out to travel more. We started out the new year travelling for a short weekend to Jekyll Island, GA and I'm hoping to make a trip to the mountains sometime soon. We also have our first international trip planned in June to visit Lille & Paris, France.
• Slow down and enjoy life.
• Take more photos.
• Simplify. 
• Redesign Musings and Nonsense.
• Learn to play a new musical instrument.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and rang in the new year with enjoyment. Here is a little Instagram photo-recap of our New Year's beach trip.

Goodbye, 2011.

Today is New Year's Eve Eve. Tomorrow we leave for four work-free days in Jekyll Island, GA - a much needed respite from the daily grind.

2011 was a very "full" year. Full of extremes - both good and bad. It's been a year of change for Jesse and I to say the least, some of which I've shared here, a lot of which is too personal to share outside of my closest friends and family. I must admit, I get a little choked up when I think back on a lot of what has occurred.

I'm so thankful that we get to spend the end of the year with two of our dearest friends in a serene environment. It's a calming way to end a very tumultuous year.

Here's to 2012 bringing lots of good things - love, luck and happiness. I have an immense amount of hope that it will.

I leave you with a Gaelic New Year's toast and a playlist of my favorite songs from 2011:

Athbhliain faoi mhaise duit, go mbeire muid beo ar an am seo arís!
(A prosperous New Year and may we be alive at this time next year.)

Driftwood Beach in Jekyll Island, GA (Image courtesy of http://theycallmesausage.blogspot.com.)

The Shady Dell

I think I've found a vacation destination for Jesse and I in Bisbee, Arizona.

Welcome to The Shady Dell.

Image courtesy of Fine Art America.

Courtesy of The Shady Dell website:

Experience the 50's in Full Technicolor!

Nine lovely, fully restored vintage aluminum travel trailers  await you at the Shady Dell in Bisbee, Arizona. Whether it is the 33 foot Royal Mansion built in 1951 and restored with leopard carpet, martini glasses, Diner-style breakfast booth and phonograph with a collection of 78rpm records, or the 1947 Tiki Bus Polynesian Palace, complete with hand-carved outrigger bar and your own Tiki God, the Shady Dell’s individual trailers will surely send you back to a time when freedom was just another word for jumping in your aluminum house on wheels, finding the Rat Pack on the radio and navigating the open road in search of your own slice of the American Dream.

Our sleek collection of vintage travel trailers are all perfectly restored to combine mid-century Americana kitsch with the comforts of home in a way that only the 1950s were capable of.  Each trailer, such as the 1949 Airstream, or the 1950 Spartan Manor, are  available for overnight or weekly rental. For once, experience the 1950s in full Technicolor.

Interiors are the rich blonde woods or highly polished aluminum of the original and authentic décor. Outside each trailer is a grassy yard with lounge chairs so you can enjoy the beautiful evening weather of southern Arizona. In the various trailers, vintage radios play era-appropriate radio programs, televisions only broadcast in two colors, period books and magazines allow for even more mental time travel and big band, early rhythm and blues and original rock and roll are available for your listening entertainment. The trailers are also equipped with original working kitchens, refrigerators and vintage electric percolators. Dishes and linens are also furnished.

Image courtesy of  Arizona Highways.

Nestled perfectly among the aluminum trailers and within walking distance from each front door, is Dot’s Diner. Built in the 1950s by the pride of Wichita Kansas, The Valentine Manufacturing Company, this authentic diner was originally purchased by John Hart in 1957 and delivered to the corner of Ventura and Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Los Angeles. It was run by Dot Bozeman, chief cook and bottle washer until 1999.

Image courtesy of whflood on Flickr.

The Shady Dell’s long and epic journey began in 1927 as a place to provide trailer and camping spaces to weary travelers along the famous Highway 80, which stretched from Savannah, Georgia to San Diego, California.  Like its more famous brother Route 66, Highway 80 was a center of travel, exploration and family getaways in the early portions of the 20th century.  Today, the park is a nice mix of practicality and vintage fun-seeking.  Part of the park is equipped with full RV hookups while the other part is a unique step back to the heyday of travel trailering in America.
Step off the premises and experience the beauty and charm of Bisbee, Arizona, a mile-high historic copper mining town nestled in the Mule Mountains and a stone’s throw from the Mexican border. Founded in 1880, Bisbee was a true hot spot around the turn of the century, known as one of the West’s most roaring towns on the route between St. Louis and San Francisco.

Today, Bisbee is captivating and full of historic buildings, museums, art galleries, antique shops, hidden walkways and plenty of ghosts. Its close proximity to the Chiricahua National Forest, Cochise Stronghold, and the Ramsey Canyon Nature Conservancy provides numerous opportunities for bird watching, rock hunting, biking, hiking or just leisurely explorations of the wonders of southern Arizona’s  high desert area.

Which is your favorite? Mine is the Tiki Bus.

Image courtesy of whflood on Flickr.

Hello 1950, I think I'll stay a while.

Labor Day Weekend Recap

What did you, my dear readers, do this past weekend?

Saturday morning, sweet hubs and I set out to spend the Labor Day weekend in Turtletown, Tennessee. I'm sure most of you have never heard of it - I hadn't till I met Jesse. It's a small town outside of Murphy, North Carolina. Turtletown happens to be where all of Jesse's family is from. In fact, not only was his great grandfather the local doctor, which was a very important role among small towns in that time, but his family has been there for generations upon generations.

Our purpose for heading up there this weekend was for a memorial service. Sweet hubs' great uncle had passed away early this summer and this past weekend would have been his 100th birthday, so it was only appropriate to say goodbye to him on the family homestead on the land that he loved, as well as celebrate what would have been a very important landmark birthday.

It was a very relaxing and sentimental weekend and I was thrilled to get the chance to meet a lot of the family I had not had the opportunity to meet before. The weekend was filled with music, laughter, some tears, lots of amazing food and dancing. We visited both of the family homes that his grandmother and grandfather grew up in - talk about postcard beautiful. Jesse and I also spent an extra day exploring the area since we intend to spend a lot of time up there now that we are in close driving distance.

I snapped a few photos, most of them are of his grandfather's property, since the weather was pretty awful, but I hope to take some good ones once we make a trip up there when the leaves start turning.

I love that I am now part of a large family - something I really never have experienced because my family is so small and spread out. I can't express the joy I have that I was able to meet so many cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. I think that my husband may have the sweetest family I've ever had the chance to meet. They're so filled with love, laughter and warmth. The only way to describe it is beautiful. I know, I know, look at me getting all sentimental and emotional - it really was amazing though.

Here are some photos. They don't do the places justice, but figured I'd share them anyhow.

Cherokee Lake

Jesse's grandfather's family property.

Jesse's grandfather's family property.

The view from Jesse's grandfather's family property.

Jesse's grandfather's family property.

Jesse's grandfather's family property.

Jesse's grandmother's family property.

Jesse's grandmother's family property - "In Memory of Dr. G.M. Young" (Jesse's great grandfather).

I got a John Deere tractor chocolate lollipop!

We also visited "Fields of the Woods", also known as the world's largest 10 commandments.
(We're trying to see as many sights from Roadside America as possible and this one
is about 10 minutes from Jesse's family property.)

Sweet hubs relaxing at the Nifty 50's Cafe in McCaysville, GA.

Unknown to us, we drove home through a tornado.

A Visit to The Philip Johnson Glass House

A few years back, I discovered the work of architect Philip Johnson and instantly fell in love. I find that his simple yet thought provoking designs that integrate so beautifully into their surroundings inspire me in so many ways. While delving deeper into researching his work and style, I discovered that he had resided for a good portion of his life in a little town an hour and a half north of New York City called New Canaan, CT. I also discovered that his property, The Glass House, which is now a part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, is open for daily tours.

As soon as I read that it was open to the public to experience, I decided I needed to experience it as soon as possible. Unfortunately, as soon as possible didn't really happen until almost three years later. Sweet hubs and I had attempted to buy tickets a few times in the three years before, but the dates sold out almost immediately that we were able to make the trip up. When this past March rolled around and the 2011 ticket sales opened, I was probably one of the first to buy tickets.

Fast forward to yesterday and I finally was able to experience The Glass House in person. I was in heaven. From all of the photos I've seen, it truly wouldn't matter what time of year you were to visit - I can only imagine that it is a spectacular experience regardless of weather or season. We were lucky to have an absolutely perfect July day - sunny and warm, but not hot, and with a few beautiful, puffy clouds in the sky.

Our tour guide was phenomenal - unfortunately, I didn't catch his name, but he was so incredibly interesting to listen to. He told us details on the property that I'm sure he'd acquired from his five years of giving the tour, but also was able to give us a local's perspective, being as he'd lived in New Canaan most of his life. He made it interesting, personal and fun, which are all of the things that make a tour more interesting.

The property itself covers 47 acres of land and contains several bulidings. The Glass House, which was Philip Johnson's home, The Brick House, which was his guest house, The Lake Pavilion, which was his outdoor dining room, The Painting Gallery, which houses his personal collection of paintings, The Sculpture Gallery, which houses his personal sculpture collection, The Study, which was his library and workroom, Da Monsta, which is a building that was designed and constructed on the inspiration of Frank Stella, Frank Gehry and Peter Eisenman, The Ghost House, which was inspired by Frank Gehry, and The Kirstein Tower, which was a sculpture that Johnson created in honor of friend and poet, Lincoln Kirstein.

Below are my personal photos from The Glass House. To view the rest of the gallery, click here.

The coolest driveway gate ever.

Da Monsta

The Study and The Ghost House

The Glass House

The Glass House

The Glass House Interior (Kitchen / Living Room / Dining Room)

The Fireplace

The Bedroom

The Kitchen

The Bathroom (Located on the back half of the fireplace)

Back of The Glass House

The Back View from The Glass House

The Kirstein Tower and The Lake Pavilion

The Glass House Property (The Brick House - Left, The Glass House - Right) - Interesting fact: The pool doesn't have a flat bottom, it's cone shaped and the only way you can get out is by pulling yourself out on the cement slab.

The Painting Gallery

An Andy Warhol original of Philip Johnson

Interior of The Painting Gallery - the walls rotate to display different works of art.

The Sculpture Gallery

Interior of The Sculpture Gallery

Interior of The Sculpture Gallery