a wedding craft.

I wanted to make a little something decorative for the brunch I'm hosting during Hillary & Calvin's wedding weekend. I had lots of cardboard and a box of hem tape & ric-rac that I picked up at yard sale for $2. The letters came out pretty cool but I want to make some bunting to go with them!

the shiny parts of my week.

still loving our lake view..

fresh cut flowers from a farm up the street

we surprised mom with a kitten!

hurricane irene preparations

 oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

vintage ship painting for our living room bought at a yard sale.

inspiration.

pinterest..a new way to spend endless hours on the internet.. but i have to say, it's also really inspiring...

Source: sterlingstyle.net via Gwendolyn on Pinterest

Source: missmoss.co.za via Gwendolyn on Pinterest

Source: thesartorialist.com via Gwendolyn on Pinterest

Source: missmoss.co.za via Gwendolyn on Pinterest

Source: lavenhamjackets.com via Gwendolyn on Pinterest

Source: thebeautyfile.com via Gwendolyn on Pinterest

the shiny parts of my week.

A lot of bloggers do an end of the week re-cap post with snippets of their week documented in photos. I think I may try to give that a go and make it a regular thing. Especially because as I was thinking about what a crappy week I had (car breaking down, car accident, iPhone dropped in toilet, etc.) I realized that despite it all, my life is so full of blessings and good things that I have absolutely zero right to complain or feel sorry for myself.

tea roses in my living room.

Mom framed our wedding cake toppers with a piece of our wedding quilt as an anniversary present!

Gorgeous rainbow chard and greens from Dale's garden.

garden tomatoes, fresh mango + black bean salsa

home-cooked anniversary dinner


Have a wonderful weekend friends!

block island!

The last day of our trip we took the ferry to Block Island. 

Lots more biking, boats and beaches...

 Mohegan Bluffs are the thing to see on the island and one of the best views. If you climb down the 1,982,380,952,011 stairs you find yourself in a pretty little secluded beach.

 I have finally reached the end of my vacation photos and I hope you enjoyed seeing bits from our trip!

simple thrift's men's fall collection.

i am busy filling my men's section of the shop with new vintage clothing for fall. here is a preview..

Newport, RI part II

We did a lot of biking during the week, and this ride down Ocean Ave. through Brenton State Park was one of the prettiest! Later we went for lunch at The Pier..another place I would highly recommend! 

We thought that these lemon cloths were really cool..no pits in your food!

Lemon poppy-seed gelato is awesome P.S.

We toured a few mansions including The Breakers, which is the largest and most extravagant with 70 rooms. 

Later we ran into our friends, the Cameron's who were also vacationing in Newport that week!! We met them at "Second Beach" which was one of the nicest in Newport.

We had dinner with the Camerons here one night in the harbor and sat right under those red umbrellas at the Black Pearl...the view of the sunset here is awesome!

Oh yes...we wear the bibs.