Happy Weekend

 

Just about twelve hours and counting until it is, officially, the weekend.

Woot.

Mine promises to be busy,

selling all of those carefully crafted pretties to the masses.

At least those that chose to remain in the city on a hot July weekend.

There is a general exodus out of here come Friday evening,

what with the close proximity to the shore.

If you have the choice, you'd be a fool not to trade hot concrete for sand between your toes.

I should know,.

I made just that trade earlier in the week,

playing hooky from all that is important for the day.

I ate an orange creamsicle for lunch.

I got sunburn.

It was divine.

But back to the here and now.

Should you find that you are one of those who chose not to leave the city this weekend,

well, count yourself among the lucky.

For The City of Philadelphia has options,

good options,

and won't let you down if it's a great day out that you crave.

I've packed up the travelling show and me and the pretties are hitting the road, starting today.

I'll be at the 30th Street Craft Market today, Friday the 11th, from 11-4.

Come hang out on The Porch at 30th Street Station with me and my super talented friends.

There will be food. And mini golf. And trains.

Tomorrow, I'm pretty psyched to check out the brand new Spruce Street Harbor Park.

Hammocks. Food. A river view (and a river breeze!).

The fine folks at Art Star are curating a weekly

pop up marketplace.

Me and the pretties will be hanging there, under a tree, from 11-3 tomorrow.

So, like I said, Philadelphia will not let you down this weekend.

There are plenty of opportunities to peruse handmade goodness, nap in a hammock, or take in the final game of the World Cup.

Go Argentina.

Have a Happy Weekend, you guys.

xo



Hey, Baby, It's The Fourth Of July

{image}

Happy haapy.

Be safe.

xo

MIA

Hey there, friends. It's been a looong, looong time. I've missed you (really, I have!).

But the radio silence is not for naught, for I've been a very busy Bee of late.

The end of winter saw me throwing caution and a whole bunch of craft fair applications to the wind.

And the chorus of yeses that came back have kept me happily locked away, creating, making, branding, and dreaming up some clever new displays.

(I even made my own business cards. Which I may never, ever, do again.)

Days have been spent on a wooden stool, hunched over an ancient work table with pliers and vintage pins, removing, rearranging, and rebuilding them into the perfect collection of flowery statements.

Hours spent digging through an ever-diminishing pile of supplies, fearing one moment that there was nothing left to work with, and brainstorming and a-ha-ing over a dozen new combinations the next.

There have been late nights spent in front of bad tv, printing, cutting, and adding the tags to about a zillion new lovelies. There have been hours of hand-writing prices and inventory lists to the point of cramping. 

This little juggernaut has been criss-crossing its way across Philadelphia; neighborhoods to the west and to the south, to the north and back again.

And while I've been so busy with the hands-on part, I've been terribly neglectful to the technical part.

Which has given my brain a nice rest. And that's a good thing.

{all images heather breyer/bee vintage redux}

So with the lovelies restocked and packed and waiting for the next big show, and a game plan that has been finely tuned over the last few weeks ready to carry me on through a few more, I'm relaxed and ready to ease myself ever so gently back into cyberspace.

I have so much that I can't wait to share with you.

It's good to be back.

Have yourselves a wonderful weekend, and I'll see you all on Monday.

xo

(If you're in the Philadelphia area, or up for a road trip, check out my Facebook page for an up-to-date show schedule. I'd love to meet you!)

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

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It's that time of year...

A very Happy December to you, my Dear Readers! I love December. The air is filled with magic and the scent of pine. People are hustling and bustling and wishing you good cheer. It is really and truly the most wonderful time of the year!

This started out as a Happy Weekend post last Friday. But time gets weird in December, and it just never saw the light of day. Instead, the diminishing daylight hours were spent hustling and bustling and brimming with cheer. There were two visits with Santa, wreaths hung in windows, and an annual holiday tradition: Sledwreckers! Presents for dear ones sit waiting to be wrapped, and the teeniest, tiniest tree is ready for strings of lights. The parade of old Christmas movies has begun its march across my TV screen (I watched It's A Wonderful Life for my very first time ever. If I'm being honest, I found it to be a bit of a downer. Think I'll stick with this.).

All that's missing is a sprinkling of snow. After a cold early fall, it's been rather warm here. There are still a few leaves hanging on trees, and the grass is full and green. It may be the first time ever that I went to pick out a tree without the cumbersome burden of a thick and heavy coat. According to the weather man, that should soon change. And I for one have no problem dashing through the snow to get my cards in the mail. It's how it should be, and I look forward to it.

Hope your Holiday Season is shaping up to be a merry one!

xo

Happy Weekend

Katharine Hepburn

Happy Weekend, Dear Readers! Are you enjoying it so far?

This past week was a good one, filled with music and city adventures.

A dear friend called and asked if I wanted to be his plus one for Wilco's taping

(if it's all digital, is it even called a "taping" any more?)

of Live on Letterman.

Umm, yeah!

So Wednesday, it was up to New York in the pouring rain. And y'all, Wilco brought it.

But before you get too jealous, Dave wasn't there. Good thing, too, 'cause the Ed Sullivan Theater is tiny!

He would never have been able to out run me ;)

The week ended with more music in another city in the pouring rain.

This time, Nephew One and I had a city date day in Philly, and we spent the afternoon enjoying a fabulous performance by Diego Garcia.

. The Boy is fascinated by music, and I just plunked his tiny self down on a folding table in front of the stage and watched him suck it all in.

He went home and played his guitar for mommy and daddy and Nephew Two, adding an introduction to his songs by way of counting. Like I said, he sucked it all in. He's been talking about the Drum Man and his drums and sticks ever since.

A very good week, indeed.

The coming week is looking a bit more low key, a little less musical. But with all the same rain.

It is fall, after all.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, Lovelies!

xo

It's All Greek To Me

One of my favorite places to eat in the city is a tiny little dining room tucked into a narrow row house in Old City. The brick walls are covered in old Turkish plates, and glass lanterns hang from the tin ceiling. The tables are covered in white butcher paper, and a rainbow assortment of crayons is tucked into ornate Moroccan-style glasses, nestled amongst equally ornate candle holders. The bar is very old, and very mirrored.

Above the restaurant is an tiny, narrow club, with an even tinier stage at the back of the room. In front of the tiny stage is a small grouping of tables. If you have tickets to an upstairs show, and reservations for a downstairs meal, you get to sit at one of the very few tables. And if you get tickets for a show, I highly recommend getting yourself a reservation downstairs.

Nearly every time I eat there, a meze platter is ordered: as an appetizer for a group, or a meal for two. Every time, as soon as the platter, heaped with Mediterranean delights, is put on the table, I bee-line for the tzatziki. The other night, I had a craving and a whole bunch of fresh-picked cucumbers. And despite the lack of ambiance, and the lack of warm, fresh pita, olives, or stuffed grape leaves, and despite the fact that, once upstairs, there was no music, just a bed and a basket full of laundry waiting to be put away, it was enjoyed, thoroughly and completely.

xo

Philly Love

Happy Thursday, Dear Readers!

I hope this week has been treating you well.

Me, I've been a busy busy Bee, getting things all lovelied up and ready for a weekend craft show.

This particular show has me rather excited, because it's right smack in the heart of South Philly. I've done plenty of shows that dance around the edges of the city, but this will be the first in the city proper.

I can't wait to set up shop alongside and meet a bunch of talented Philly folk!

So in honor of the weekend's festivites, I thought it's be a swell time to celebrate this fine city, Etsy style.

1&4 Standard Tap and Johnny Brendas prints by Michele Melcher
2 Love (Philadelphia) by Kathryn Whyte
3 Embroidered Pennsylvania Necklace by Il Gatto Selvatico
5 Philadelphia Button Set by B. Radley
6 Philadelphia Skyline Necklace by Crossed Out Creations

Hope your day is both bangin' and boomin', Dear Readers!

xo

Happy Weekend

Emmylou Harris

A sultry hello and welcome to the weekend, Dear Readers.

I'm sure you've heard (and are quite possibly experiencing) that it's hot. Triple digit hot.

The kind of hot that, when walked into from an air conditioned interior, grabs you and shakes you and has you saying, "So. This is what it feels like to be a firecracker."

The kind of hot that has you remembering the sleepovers of your thirteen year old self, when nothing could possibly have been more mortifying than having someone freeze your bra. Now you're thinking it sounds like a brilliant idea.

The kind of hot in which you would (or perhaps should) definitely think twice about attending an outdoor, three-day music festival. But not me. I thought once. I've been going since year one, and tradition is tradition.

Hot hot heat or not.

Now, you're probably all like "But wait- you hate heat!" Which I do.

So here's my plan: daytime performances, you know, the ones that take place under a blazing sun, those will be enjoyed over the radio, from the comfort of an air conditioned home or a pool. That's not to say I wouldn't really like to experience some of those in person, but, you know.

Mercifully, the big guns have all been saved to be enjoyed under cover of night. Which is when I will venture out, dressed in shorts and carrying a cooler filled with frozen water. Eighty five degrees at nine pm is certainly acceptable if I get to see Emmylou Harris!

How about you, Dear Readers? How are you spending this melty weekend? And how do you stay cool?

Be safe and hydrated, my friends!

xo

Sing Me To Sleep



This is how we rock, and this is how we roll.

Last Friday afternoon, Sister and I took Nephews 1 and 2 to see Gomez.
And though it was a rather stripped-down, two piece version of the band,
it was a far from boring performance.
Not that you could tell by looking at those two sleepyheads.



Wild In The Streets

There is some serious awesomeness going on on the streets of Berlin.

{via Honestly, WTF}

And then there's this bit of vintage street painting awesomeness from right here in Philly:

Have a colorful week, Dear Readers!

xo

Summertime, And The Living Is Easy

Hello, Dear Readers! Summer came today! And it has clearly made its point that it wants to be enjoyed- it took me three attempts to type this without the computer freezing up on me. Point taken!

I will be the first to admit, summer is not my favorite season. Something about the heat and the humidity and the bugs (ahh, East Coast living!). But that's not to say that it doesn't hold plenty of treasures to look forward to.

So, before this longest day of the year draws to a close, I thought I'd share with you a few of my favorite of those summertime treats.

First off, there are activities that require you to wear a bathing suit, like pool parties, sunbathing, slip and slides, and trips to the ocean. (Note- it's not the wearing of a bathing suit that I enjoy, but the activities for which they are required. Just to be clear!)

 Summertime also tends to make cocktails seem even more enjoyable than they already are.

Summer is also a fine time to steak out a spot between a couple of shady trees, climb in a hammock, and spend a day or so with the stack of books you've been meaning to get around to reading.

And finally, summer is definitely the most desirable season for al fresco dining. I mean, who doesn't love having food served to them while sitting outside on a city street, watching all of the world's comings and goings pass them by?

Of course, there are other small pleasures, like sleeping and driving with the windows open,

being able to wear shoes that show off your pedicure,

or better yet, foregoing shoes all together.

It's these little things that I enjoy most about the summer.

What about you, Dear Readers? What is your favorite part of the summer?

Baby, We Were Born To Run

My Dears, it would seem I did promise you I'd be back to regular posting today...

but somehow today seems to have slipped away, between gluing together bits and bobs that will soon become new lovelies,

to photographing a big old pile of things that have been patiently waiting to be photographed,

to eating sandwiches and going to pilates.

So, before the day comes to it's last call, I wanted to pop in here and squeeze out a little post.

A music post; a really lovely song for a lovely Monday evening.

A lovely song for a Big Man who has gone off to play his Great Gig In The Sky.

A Big Man that I got to see twice, once in a Very Big Stadium and once again quite recently, in a tiny by today's standards arena.

(That was a good night. That night, "Born To Run" was performed, perfectly, in its entirety.)

So farewell to you, Big Man.

And to you, my Dear Readers, a good night.

xo

Happy Weekend

Can you believe it...the weekend is here again, Dear Readers! While the days certainly don't seem to be going any quicker, the weekends seem to creep up (and by!) faster and faster every week.

And speaking of days, it has been quite a few of those since I have been able to comment on your blogs, or even see what's going on on my own.

Blogger seems to have gotten itself all buggered up, and I'm none to happy about it.

I have seen and read some wonderful things over the last week and a half, and have wanted to tell those who have shared such wonderful things just how wonderful they are. So, if you have shared something wonderful, know that I loved seeing and reading about it, and sent you lovely thoughts!

And to those new folks who have decided to jump on board and follow Bee: Hello there! And welcome! I know you're there, but I can't quite see who you are just yet.

Hopefully this will all get sorted out, and quickly!

Now on to the good stuff...the happy part of the weekend!

I will be celebrating my dad's birthday (there seems to be a birthday every weekend in my family!).

This year, he's foregoing the pumpkin pie, and has put in a request for Guinness cupcakes for the second year in a row.

There is also the possibility of a bike race, and perhaps a bit of Nodding Head-ing.

How about you, Dear Readers? What are you doing to make your weekend happy?

However you spend it,

I hope your weekend is lovely!

xo

{image from here, a favorite movie of my dad's!}

April In Paris...Sorta

Last week, Philadelphia phestooned herself in a phabulous show of phrippery, transforming herself, just for a day, into Phrance. Specifically, Paris, Phrance.

In the month leading up to this phancy dress day, many of the events going on throughout the city had a decidedly French leaning. PIFA pulled out all the stops, from an 81 foot Eiffel Tower to performers, of the street and stage varieties, dispersed city-wide.

But the Big Show, The Event Not To Be Missed, was the day long street fair that closed out the festival. There were jugglers and mimes, flower carts and a farm market. Food tents offering up frog legs and foie gras; crepes and gelato. There was music. There were trapeze artists, and a Ferris wheel. There was even a mini Jardin du Luxembourg, right there in the middle of Broad Street! So, you ask yourself, how do you top that, and bring this phine event to a proper close?

Why, with acrobats, of course! High flying, instrument playing French men (and women), dangling from a chandelier, lit and dangling high above the crowd.

Bravo, Philadelphia. Bravo.

Wishing you a week full of the delightfully unexpected.

xo

{Dear Readers, lest you think I've gone completely off my rocker, replacing my "f"s with "ph"s, rest assured that it's simply a Philly thing, and I shall return to my regularly scheduled spelling tomorrow.}

Happy Weekend!

Lovelies, the weekend is here! What do you have planned? Anything fabulous? Speaking of fabulous, I'm expecting my weekend to be just that, mainly because of these two words: French Acrobats!!! The Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts (or PIFA, as we locals refer to it) will be wrapping up this weekend with flying, flipping Frenchmen. And despite the possibility of clowns, which terrify me greatly, I am most excited. Bonus- free show by Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings.Woot! Did I also mention there will be crepes? Oui oui, a tres fabulous weekend is indeed on tap. Hope yours is equally so.

xo

Snow Day

On Sunday, after all of the presents had been opened, relatives had been visited with, meals had been eaten, and yuletide cocktails drunk, a fluffy blanket of white fell across the entire Philadelphia area.

The bulk of the day was spent inside, wrapped up in blankets, reading Vogue and watching the snow fall.

On Monday, I pulled on my boots, my scarf, and my gloves, gathered up my camera, and took a very cold walk through the city.

Hoping you're all cozy and warm!
xo

Ah-choo

I have a rather tight-knit circle of family and friends to whom I'm pretty close. And we share things, this little circle and I. Things like sweaters, books, cds, the occasional recipe. Sometimes, we share other things. Rather unsavory things, like germs. And lately, we've been doing a lot of that unsavory sort of sharing. 'Tis the season for giving (and re-gifting), and we've all been getting right into that spirit with this nasty little cold we've been passing around since Thanksgiving, rendering most of last week completely useless.

I've decided to rid myself of this little "gift" at any cost. Juice, sleep, and Tylenol didn't seem to be doing the trick,  so a nice brisk walk through the city seemed worth a shot. It was one of those cold early winter days, where the sun is bright, but not too bright, and the blast of cold shooting through the air made even center city Philadelphia seem clean and smog-free. I have to say, it seemed to help. I mean, it at least knocked the cold out of my head. Unfortunately, it landed in my chest.

So, after a completely useless week, and a weekend spent bundled up inside watching old movies and playing a bit of catch-up, I'm happy to be back on track on this fine Monday morning. I have a desk full of pretties waiting for their finishing touches, and little Etsy shelves waiting to be filled. Armed with my iPod and enough orange juice to fill a bathtub, I'm setting off for my creative space and a happy day full of making pretties. Welcome to a new week.
xo