Roadtrip Instagram

We left on a little road trip Friday, driving up to Staunton, Virginia to visit friends and to spend the night at The Frederick House.

On Saturday we drove 15 hours through Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio on our way to northern Indiana.

We had never been to PA or northern OH, so we had fun exploring Pittsburgh and the Lake Erie region of OH.

I'm using my iPhone publishing app, so none of these pics are in order. ☺

Internet is down...

After 13 hours without power (they were surprisingly wonderful, I got so much accomplished) I now don't have any Internet.

So you're looking at silence on the blog for a few days.

But maybe I'll get even more done today!

On a Bench, in Paris.

 

Enjoy.

‘The Star Wars That I Used To Know’ Gotye Parody

 

This is brilliant.

 

Photobooks, I love them.

 

I’ve been trying to get some photobooks made up from our trip last month.

I’m visiting my Grandmother in a couple weeks, and since she is internet-free, I wanted
to be able to show her what we did.

Why am I sharing this with you? Because Shutterfly offers $10 off a future project for embedding my book.

Shazaam.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Visit Shutterfly.com to create your own personalized photobook.

The Book That Can’t Wait

 

An Argentinian company has devised the newest thing in publishing: disappearing ink.

Yup, you heard me.

In an effort to help new authors get their read time, Eterna Cadencia is printing books with ink that fades within 8 weeks of exposure to air and sunlight.

Genius? Probably not.

Cool? Definitely awesome.

The publisher believes that by putting a time limit on a book, they can get readers interested in Latin American authors who are at a pivotal point in their career: book one.

 

 

Does it work?

I guess we’ll see.

$550 or $34

 

I may be the least fashionable person on earth, but I can spot a deal when I see it.

I was coveting this pair of Jimmy Choo’s on Polyvore I noticed the $34 Modcloth alternative.

 

[Jimmy Choo “Wheel” or similar = $550.00]

or

[Gold Rush Hour Flat = $34.99]

 

I actually like the Modcloth pair better…

…they are quite fabulous.

 

Weekend Adventures, Staunton Style

 

Ugh. I could barely lift my head from my pillow this morning.

I partied hard in Staunton this weekend. (cutesy little town.) Shakespearean plays, giant cranberry muffins, a camera museum. This girl is worn out!

I wrote about Staunton before I left, you can read the post here.

You’ll remember that I was severely bummed that my best pal wasn’t coming.

But…

I had a nice surprise waiting for me:

 

We had tickets to Friday’s performance of The Two Gentlemen of Verona at the American Shakespeare Center.

My favorite line:

            “Nay, I rhyme!”

I committed the ultimate crime and took a secret photo before the play started.

We crashed Cracker Barrel at 10 pm for grub…

…and danced in the hallways of our hotel.

But the fun had only just begun…

Saturday morning we attempted to use our awesome spy skills to prank the shower occupant, only we don’t actually have awesome spy skills.

Yup. It stuck.

Worst case scenario: calling the fire department to come get my aunt out of the bathroom. Only, her clothes were still in the room.

Best case: The door still unlocks from inside and remove visible parts of the bobby pin.

I had a super healthy breakfast at Mugshots, complete with Orange Crush and a cranberry muffin.

We walked the streets of Staunton. (Waiting for the jokes…)

[I wanted this dress to be black so bad.]

Staunton is home to a great little camera museum. They have one of the 3 original cameras carried by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor, a Nazi Luftwaffe camera, and all kinds of other fascinating tools of the trade. Definitely need to check it out.

[Trusty VW]

[Drew & Marvin, you should check out his fan page.]

The best fun of the weekend was the new tradition we’ve started.

It all began at a Sheetz station. I left Drew in the car with my keys.

Drew refuses to unlock the doors until we have all danced outside the car.

And thus, a new family roadtrip tradition has begun:

Some of the dances of the day:

The Swim

The Tango

The shake your boobs for everybody

and finally:

 

I can only thank God that the video is fuzzy.

The End.

Across America: Staunton, VA

 

So I’m in love with Staunton, Virginia.

I drive 4 hours every summer to breathe in the I’m-a-steeped-in-history-old-town-charm air.

My primary destination is always a visit to Staunton’s prized resident, the American Shakespeare Center, also known as Blackfriars Playhouse.

In fact- I’m headed there today. (Yes, I’m smiling right now.)

The ASC puts on a fantastic production, I am in LOVE with the place. It’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. They use some really interesting staging techniques. The audience sits on all four sides of the stage, and the lights remain on during the entire production.

The theatre itself is the only reproduction of Shakespeare’s Blackfriars theatre in London.

My best friend, cousin, child-hood playmate,
partner-in-crime, good cop to my bad cop, fellow Broadway musical addict: Michaela

(She isn’t going to be able to make it for the girl’s trip this weekend and I am completely depressed.)

The Stonewall Jackson, a favorite hotel:

I can’t get enough of this place.

Across America: Pensacola Florida

 

Another January travel post. I told you I always travel in January.

I really didn’t know what to expect in Pensacola, but I was pleasantly surprised with the white sand and classy locals. (But then, it was winter.)

We arrived just before sundown and headed straight for the H₂O.

Someone please explain to me why I thought jellies and sand would work well together? Disaster.

I have no idea what the locals say about Landry’s, but I thought it was great! and I found chicken. at the beach. in Florida. Success.

It was in Pensacola that I made my only ever mistake with a hotel- NOT BOOKING AHEAD OF TIME!

I ALWAYS  research and reserve a hotel room. Except this time. So we overspent on a classy but characterless American chain hotel. Away from the beach.

Stupid, right?

I kind of fell in love with Pensacola in the daylight.

We don’t have orange trees in Tennessee. I’m so jealous.