Rehoboth Beach Vacation!!

Last week we went to Rehoboth Beach in Delaware to surprise my Dad for his 60th birthday. My parents go down every year for the 4th of July/ Dad's B-day so I thought it would be fun to surprise him.

My family started going to Rehoboth around 26 years ago. It was always our summer vacation. Ironic, I know, considering I live in New Jersey and cold go to the shore here ;)

My parents still go every year but I haven't been in at least 6 or so.

 The view from my balcony.... front....

 And back.

 The inside....

Ground level front...

My Dad was very surprised. We had a great week playing games......

Going on rides.....

Taking walks on Henlopen State Beach.....

 Old WWII towers....

 

Watching the fireworks right in front of our room on the 4th.

©StefanieStyle

©StefanieStyle

It was amazing.... like they set them off just for us :)

 There was lots of ice cream eating....

 And shopping.....

 Best of all, there was Mini Golf!!!!

Then there was Alyah..... the resident fun maker in our lobby.... isn't she the cutest??

I leave you with silly pictures of me, sis and mom.... ;)

Wishing all of you a fantastic summer,
 ♥jenny

Friday Favorites..... Films!

Hey there!
I'm going to try my hand at Friday Favorites, but I'm gonna do something different...... Movies!!!

I love movies. Any time I sit down to veg in front of the t.v. I always look for a movie first. I like 'em all...... indie, action, drama, comedy, musicals..... even horror, though I have to usually work myself up to it ;)

So without further adieu.....

Dirty Girl

via Wikipedia

There are so many movies I love but I thought I would start with one I just watched.

Set in 1987, it is a coming of age drama/ comedy about a troubled promiscuous girl who befriends her withdrawn gay classmate. They end up stealing his homophobic father's car and driving cross country with their flour sack baby from health class so she can find her birth father. Plenty of requisite antics ensue.

via weinsteinco.com

 It didn't get great reviews, but I really loved this movie and I absolutely think it's worth watching. Being an 80's teen I am always up for anything set in that time frame. Add a road trip and a GBFF and I'm in. I thought it was a funny, delightful film about to people  battling their insecurities in very different ways.

Overall I think this is an underrated quirky film with a great soundtrack.

What are some of your fav's?
♥jenny

Strawberries!

When we moved to this house two years ago, I brought one pickup truck and three SUVs of potted perennials from my old house. ( I love my plants :)

In addition to the flowers (and one tree) I also brought two blueberry bushes and a whole bunch of strawberry plants. I only got them in the ground last year in when I made my new garden. So I was surprised to see that this year has given me three big bowls of beautiful fruit!

 I thought it would be too soon, but they must be very happy where I put them.... Yay for me :)

Let's hope the blueberries do just as well.....

I don't plant my strawberries in a patch, I use them as a border along my flower beds. I like the way it looks, and the plants like to be on the edge or mounded so it works perfectly.

Happy Gardening,

♥jenny

Sturbridge Village

When I travel up to Brimfield for the Antiques Fair, I always stay in Sturbridge Massachusetts. Brimfield is very small and only has a few B&B's that fill up quickly. Sturbridge is very close and has quite a few hotels to choose from. ( plus lots of places to eat :)

This trip I decided I wanted to take a break from shopping one day to check out Old Sturbridge Village. I had never been, or so I thought as I somehow do not remember our family trip there when I was young ;)

I thought it would be fun. Spend a couple hours there, maybe go back to the hotel for a swim then maybe a movie..... No sir. It takes the whole day. I was so much bigger than I thought.

Living on the East coast I have been to my fair share of Colonial villages and such. Sturbridge Village is one of the best.

The people who work here are so nice and I learned something from every one of them. They have broom makers....

Stage coaches....

Oxen.... (how beautiful are they!!!)

Beautiful old houses and gardens......

Potters.....

A glimpse into daily life on a small homestead with actors you can interact with......

A saw mill... (and a Grist mill and a Carding mill)

Horse drawn cart rides....

Tin Smiths, Shoemakers, Gardening demonstrations, an old time general store, boat rides and lots of activities for kids.

I highly recommend a trip :)



Happy Travels,
♥jenny

Brimfield Antique Show 2013

As usual, my blogging has been infrequent since the warm weather arrived.  We have been busy, busy beavers over here..... lots and lots of garden projects that I will post at a later date :)

We did take a break a few weeks ago to attend the Brimfield Antique Show in Brimfield, Massachusetts. It is a gigantic Antique show that runs along a mile of road and has around 6,000 dealers ;)


On the way up, we stopped at Louis' Lunch. Birthplace of the hamburger. We attempted to stop last year but neglected to notice they are closed on Mondays ;)

It's a teeny tiny place and it gets pretty crowded so I would recommend going when they first open. It is in the original historic building that was moved in the 70's to save it from demolition.

The inside is cozy and full of history with walls and tables covered in many decades worth patron's initials carved into the wood.

Their claim to fame is the little upright original cast iron stoves that they cook your burger in.

And let me tell you.... the burgers are FANTASTIC!

Another happy customer!!!

The next morning I was up bright and early and READY TO SHOP!!!!!

Even the Mr. found himself a super fantastic cowboy hat :)

Oh, lovely mermaid. I wanted her oh so badly but could not bring myself to spend $250.

 I am in love with these giant umbrellas.... how cool would that be to have in your backyard!!

As usual I had a fantastic time. I even got to watch them film Flea Market Flip :)

I didn't get anything big. Just a bunch of small stuff.... I realized I am developing  cooler/ thermos problem....... ;)

How cut is that toy mixer!!! I could just die. I had to have it :)

Happy Hunting!

♥jenny

Big ol' Dogwood Transplant

When we bought our new house last year we knew that the big dogwood the previous owner planted right up against the house would have to go or get moved.

We missed the window of opportunity last year to move it, so it was top priority this year. Even though we are going to be putting a patio where we are taking the tree from, it would still need to be moved. Since it was planted so close to the house it is only half a tree and whenever we get a big snowstorm it's branches end up on the ground.

I knew it was a big tree, but somehow I totally underestimated how long it would take. I thought we would move this tree, the large bush next to it and possibly another bush that day..... it ended up taking 8 hours start to finish ;)

   I always have dreams of grandeur when doing home improvement projects.........

The Mister dug it up (6 hours work) A couple of our friends came by to help us move it across the property. (thank god) I had thought we could handle it ourselves but after it was dug up I realized I was very mistaken ;) We used a ramp to get it out of the hole and on a tarp and used the tarp to drag it across the yard.

 This felt so comical that I wished I had asked someone else over just to film it...... When we got to he hole the first guy went in and we all piled u p like a 3rd grade tug o' war ;)

 This is the hole where the tree once stood. Phase .5 of the patio project.

And here she stands now......

All that's left to do is keep watering and cross my fingers. Oh yeah, she needs a little pruning to encourage root growth.

I hope she does ok, it just kills me to cut anything down. I even saved the little azalea and wild rose that were growing in front of it :)

With a bit of time and energy you can move almost anything. Most design shows love to just cut down everything and start new, that's easy. It is harder to reuse what you have and make a bore beautiful and productive garden, but I think it is so much more creative and rewarding. I am always so proud of the plants and trees I have saved and given better homes. I get to watch them flourish instead of becoming compost :)

Happy gardening,

♥jenny