Fall Fun

Hi there. Just thought I'd share some pictures from the past few weeks. We have been really enjoying some Texas fall weather. I love this time of year. If I can't be in the Northeast for colorful leaves, at least I am some place where the sun is always shining and the temperature is rather perfect, low 80s and chilly at night and in the mornings.

Last weekend we took a trip to Sweetberry Farms in Marble Falls, TX with our friends Brandon and Jenna for some pumpkin patch fun. I swear, when we were kids there was one type of pumpkin. Now it seems like the options are endless!





This truck was on the farm with pumpkins in the back of it. The colors and textures in it were SO cool. I couldn't resist.




We attempted the Texas shaped corn maze. There were 8 cities hidden inside that you had to try and find. After about 4 cities Jenna (a fellow pregnant person) and I decided there was no shame in giving up. So we sat outside of the maze and waited for our fearless husbands to finish it up.

Well that's all for now. We have two weeks of company coming up. I'll try to be back in the mean time with some actual creative stuff that I am working on! Take care and enjoy the time of year!

Lancaster, PA

I love Lancaster, PA. Have I ever told you that? It's no Austin. But it has it's own wonderful, unique charm to it that is just different. I mean, where else can you go where your local Walmart or grocery store have horse tie ups out front? (for the Amish) There were a lot of charms I really enjoyed about that area of Pennsylvania. When I went back a few weeks ago my goal was to get to experience as many of my favorite things there as possible.

Downtown Lancaster is really growing into itself. There is a WONDERFUL variety of small, local restaurants to pick from. As well as some really great shops and art galleries. But one of my all time favorite things to do in downtown is go to "market". Central market. In Austin that is the name of a really nice, high end grocery store. In Lancaster, it is a real farmers market where you buy your meat from the butcher, your jelly from the Amish people and you take your pick of vegetable and fruit vendors. It is the oldest farmers market in the country, dating back to around 1757. You can learn more about the history here. When we lived there I would go down there really early most Saturday mornings and do the majority of our shopping. I loved every minute of it. My girls and I took a visit there while I was home, just long enough for me to remember the wonderful smells and buy myself some homemade jelly and jam.

Another new treasure that I visited on my trip was a store called Building Character. Be still my beating heart. My good friend Heidi took me there during our visit. I wish it were there when I lived there. It is an architectural salvage store. They have pieces of old houses - everything from windows, to doorknobs to keys. Everything in the store reminded me of my grandmother's house (you never know, some of it could have come from there!). It is the type of store that I always wished existed and who knew, it does! It was so cool, anyone reading this from up there - it is worth the visit.



Heidi and I also took a trip to one of my FAVORITE places to eat - Rachel's Cafe and Creperie. They are a small cafe where the wait can be really long if you go during peak times, the food takes a while to make but the crepes are to DIE for! Our plan was to have lunch there. But there as a 45 minute wait and then another estimated 45 minutes until you got your food and...well... baby couldn't wait that long. So we enjoyed lunch at another local spot and hit Rachel's on the way back for dessert...the best part. We shared a nutella and ice cream crepe. Sinful, absolutely sinful and totally worth it.



Well, I am hoping sleep will find me soon. Our dog Winston and I had one of our 2 am cereal eating sessions tonight (it is close to 3am as I write this). I got in bed and my mind just wouldn't stop whirling. Finally my stomach also started growling so I decided if I got up, ate and maybe wrote this entry that my brain would settle down long enough to go to sleep. We'll see how many more bowls of cereal I eat before that happens. Good night y'all.

Out of the loop

Hi. I've been gone for awhile. My apologies to anyone out there who may check back here often. I know the feeling of clicking on the link and it coming back to the same post that was there last week and the week before. I did some traveling last week and then came home and had some wonderful company a few days later.
All excuses, I know. But at least they are good ones.

I was fortunate to be able to go home to Pennsylvania for a long weekend two weeks ago. I needed to go home. It wasn't quite fall yet up there, but close enough for me. I love Austin, but the northeast will always be "home". I needed to feel some sort of change in the season and to see some familiar faces who I have been missing.

While I was there, I visited the company that I used to work for - York Wallcoverings. It was so good to go back and see all the people that I used to see on an everyday basis. I miss them. Like any job, the people you work with are the ones to help make the every day craziness worth it. What has happened to the wallpaper industry makes me sad. I worked in it for 7 years and unfortunately all throughout that time the industry struggled to keep it's head afloat. I feel like if people could see wallpaper being made, they would realize how awesome it could really be. They would also realize that it's not just all old flowery patterns anymore, that there is some really great, sophisticated design out there. Cost, well...that's another thing.

When I left almost two years ago I didn't think enough to take some pictures of the machines that are used in printing wallpaper. Being away from them now, I realize how cool they are. I feel like I look at things differently now. The following photos are some shots I took on my visit of the Surface printing presses. Surface printing is the oldest printing that is done. These presses are well over 100 years old and are still used today in the same way as when they were originally made. All of the colors that are used on these are mixed by hand in big barrels - there is nothing electronic about this particular process. I find that inspiring.


This is my friend Luke, he's one of the pressmen who actually runs the press. There is a science to getting patterns to print just right. When I was learning about printing and "trialing" on the presses I learned alot from Luke and the other guys who have been doing this for years.


This is a pattern as it is running through the press.



Don't you just love pictures of HUGE gears....I do.

Well, that's all for now. I have lot of things to share with you. I'll be back soon!