Save the Barns!

The New York Times had an interesting article and slide show in the Travel section this week, about efforts to restore and preserve old barns in Iowa.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/travel/in-iowa-working-to-save-historic-barns.html?smid=pl-share

This is one old barn in Iowa I'd really like to preserve...

Mill Creek Farms

The Road Less Traveled

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

Fort Tryon Park

Let the Game (On!) Begin!

I started playing The Game On! Diet today.

The next four weeks should be...

interesting.

The one aspect of the game I'm most worried about is the food plan (so many rules!).

So, I've been searching for recipes that satisfy the (seriously, so many!) requirements, and I found this recipe for Honey Nut Granola.

Ingredients (I cut these in half it was still a lot):
4 cups rolled oats
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Instructions:
- Heat the oven to 300F
- In a large bowl, stir oats, nuts and sunflower kernels together.
- In a separate bowl, mix together oil, honey, vanilla and cinnamon.
- Add to dry ingredients; mix well.
- Spread mixture onto two ungreased baking sheets.
- Bake in preheated oven, for 10 minutes.
- Remove from oven and stir
- Return to oven and bake until golden, about 10 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cool completely before storing.

With a palm-sized portion (?) of greek yogurt (protein), the oats (carbs) and nuts (fat) make one fully-sanctioned Game On meal.

Whew!  (Only 4 more to go!)

My Backyard

Not literally.

But, Fort Tryon Park is right across the street.

The Heather Garden is gorgeous in the spring...

Fort Tryon Park is also home to The Cloisters, the Medieval branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, built in part from portions of four cloisters from the South of France...

The reconstructed 12th century chapter house from 

Notre-Dame-de-Pontaut.

I could use some magic plants...

A statue of the Standing Virgin and Child from the 14th century.

As nice as this is, I'm actually thinking about trading in that backyard, for this backyard...

Not bad.

2nd Annual April in Austin

Oh yes, this is officially (hopefully!) becoming an annual event.

This year's trip was very similar to last year...

We arrived on Thursday night, just in time for "Traditional Interior Mexican Cuisine" (and, of course, Mexican Martinis) at Curra's Grill...

Carnitas Tacos

We spent the entire next day shopping at some of Austin's many vintage shops, starting on South Congress, where I found this maxi dress at Feathers Boutique.

Later, after a quick lunch at El Mercado on South 1st Street, we went to Amelia's Retro-Vogue & Relics, where I found this lovely jacket from the 40's...

and this cute necklace...

I love the light blue.

And finally, I found this dress...

black & gold!

and this necklace...

Estee Lauder Youth Dew perfume locket

at Lovely Austin (which really is lovely).  

That night, we were on the South Congress Bridge, once again waiting for the bats.

Afterwards, we walked along South Congress, stopping briefly in Big Top Candy...

Spam Mints?  Uh, no thanks.

then splitting some Mac & Cheese and a Good Seed Hemp Burger (it's good!) at Snack Bar.

On Saturday, after a brief detour to the flea market that wasn't, we found the Austin Antique Mall, which was perfect!

When we finished there (about 3 hours later!), it was time to head to Driftwood, for the Combo Plate at The Salt Lick BBQ...

And, the Old Settler's Music Festival...

A typical fan

You can buy an instrument (if feeling inspired)...

or, just a little help with an instrument you already have...

(like, a beginning bluegrass banjo DVD, for example).

Greensky Bluegrass was there again...

And, the act we really wanted to see (Bob Schneider), actually showed up!

My favorite Bob Schneider song...

Can't wait until next year!

Who wants to go with me???

May Flowers

Years ago, one of my favorite outfits was a cute little black and white floral skirt from the Gap, with a red t-shirt.

I love that combination.

(And so, apparently, does The Sartorialist...)

I still have the skirt.  But, it's still "little", and I'm, ummm, really not anymore.

But I loved it so much, I saved it.

(You know, just in case...)

Then I was flipping through the skirt rack at the Goodwill near my friend's house in Shrub Oak, NY last weekend, and there it was - a cute, not-quite-as-little, black and white floral skirt from the Gap.

And that little green tag?

That means it was $4.99.

And, it's perfect for this month's "May Flowers" Goodwill Hunting challenge!

(I probably should've gotten a red shirt while I was there too...)

Next month: Summer Lovin' (June 20 is the official start of summer!)

Until then, go see what lovely "May Flowers" my friend at Lemons & Chambray found!

Small & Cheap (and Light!) - Brimfield 2012

It's been 2 years since my last trip to the Brimfield Antique Show in Brimfield, Massachusetts.

This year, we arrived around 2 pm on Friday, and headed straight to the show...

I love these.  It was $500, though.

We wandered around for about 4 hours, until the vendors started packing up for the night.

Then we headed to Admiral T.J. O'Brien's for dinner.  When we were seated at the same table as the last trip, we decided this has to be an annual event!

The next day, we were back at the show by 10 am.  After another 4 hours, we were exhausted and broke, and decided (sadly) that it was time to head home.

But, we left far from empty handed...

One of my first purchases

I love these - they're so ladylike.

And they were still in the box!

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this, but it was $2.

And, in French, the word "cabochard" means headstrong, which I like! (One online dictionary said the definition was "hardass"!)

It's pink!  And it works!  (Love!)

It's a snow globe.  And a calendar.  And a bank!

Originally, the vendor was asking $5.  

I laughed!  

There's no water!  The snow just sits there at the bottom.  

So the guy told me to pick something "real" for $5 and he'd throw in the snow globe.  (So sweet!)

So, I picked this...

I love the old phone number!

Besides, as he pointed out, when does it ever snow in  San Francisco?!?  

(Good point!)

I only paid $3 for this marmalade jar.  (I saw an identical jar in another booth for $48!)

I plan to use it to hold pencils & pens.

The vendor had two of these lamps, marked $30 each.  Kris saw them first, but I liked them too.

There was a sign in his booth saying "prices highlighted in yellow are half off", so I told him I needed to borrow his highlighter!  He laughed and said I could have both for $30!

It worked!!!

Now, Kris has one and I have one.

(Perfect!)

I love old aprons.

(I never use them, though, because I don't want them to get dirty!)

I loved the colors and pattern on this, but wasn't sure if I liked the style.  So, I put it back.

After a few minutes, though, I panicked!  What had I done?!?  I loved that apron!

So, I ran around in circles for a while, trying to find the right booth.

Luckily, it was still there!

And finally...

I stole this idea was inspired by the girls at A Beautiful Mess.

I needed more storage in the bathroom, and thought these boxes would be perfect.

They were originally $30 ($18 for the big one, and $12 for the small), but the vendor said I could have them both for $15.

But, after I broke the lid to a lovely glass jar (asking price $20), possibly chipping the statue I dropped it on (asking price $45), I handed her $20 and ran.

After that, it really was time to go.

There are 2 more shows this year - July and September.

Very tempting...