project progression through the lens of a sometimes blurry phone

I realize that I'm a bit quirky, but late one night as I was starting this project (night owl tendencies & all that) I thought to myself, "Wouldn't it be cool to see how this thing comes along? At least at the end if it was a colossal failure, I would be able to find the good somewhere along the way before my amateur status really started to shine through..." 

So here it is, albeit a bit blurry at times (or at all times?) due to the fact that our living room has no overhead light & I must depend upon the trustworthiness of an IKEA lamp until I get a work lamp someday, as well as the fact that using a real camera every few hours seemed a bit tedious so I lazily used my phone... You know, just laying it out there honestly. 

Regardless I thought it kinda neat to see a project from start to finish & thought you might too! So without further ado, meet the beauty that is Westminster Theological Seminary, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania & current home to a sweet friend of mine who'll be using this as one of their Christmas cards (I hope).

life lately, mostly according to my iphone

^^Missing this little nugget, despite her perfect record for scratching up my legs every time she sees me. Interpretation: I'm her favorite. Also, it's remarkable that she sat still for this picture.^^

^^He burns, & it turns to tan. I burn & return to porcelain. And so it goes. Good thing I love him lots ;)^^

^^I managed to get two holes-in-one, but neither were on the gimme on the 18th hole... Because I'm awesome like that.^^

^^I have a serious love affair going on with Old Town. Don't worry, my husband knows & has the same problem.^^

^^While wandering the streets one day I stumbled across this little beauty of Washington's. As if he didn't have enough land at Mt. Vernon... This townhouse was used as an office & a receiving house for his belated guests.^^

^^For those of you who don't follow me on instagram, I'm starting up a little stationery & paper goods business, & this was the night we bought a computer for it! Obviously I'm beyond giddy in this take but manage to compose myself for the next. More details to come soon ;)^^

^^Random fact #57: Trader Joe's has the prettiest flowers I've ever seen at a grocery store. And I hate to say it, but I think the tulip has a tight race against the peony for my favorite flower these days. I mean seriously, look at how gorgeous they are! Please note the mint julep cup that's finally claiming a purpose in my life. Might mean an excuse to buy fresh flowers for my desk on the reg... fingers crossed.^^

Hope everyone has a wonderful (and safe) Fourth of July!

Shenandoah Skyline & Whiteoak Canyon Falls

First, let me paint you a picture as to how this husband-wife team makes decisions regarding the upcoming weekend plans... Unless it's a long weekend (which thankfully involves pre-planning), Friday afternoon or sometimes Saturday morning will roll around and we haven't even contemplated what our Saturday will hold. Call us procrastinators a spontaneous bunch... Living life on the edge here folks.

Well several weekends back, husband discovered that the upcoming weekend was one of the rare get-past-the-guards-free-of-charge days in the Shenandoah National Park, so it seemed only natural that we would spend our Saturday in the great outdoors. We settled upon the Whiteoak Canyon Falls trail, and as usual the trail did not disappoint when it came to beauty. The leaves were at the beginning stages of changing colors, and everything was just beautiful! I can't imagine how pretty it must be now that the leaves have changed around here...

As if you couldn't guess, husband is the outdoors enthusiast of the two of us, and I'm fairly new to the whole hiking thing, so I can occasionally get bored on a trail (I have to be honest). But this trail followed a babbling brook the whole time (and for some reason I found that to be entertaining?), so I was as happy as a lark. That and I can't stand doing outdoorsy things when it's hot as blue blazes outside, so I thoroughly enjoyed the fall temperatures in the 50's that day. Ah, fall. Thank you for understanding me.

Oh, and the view? I'd say it was worth it. We chose to see the smaller of the two falls that day since we were crunched for time after visiting the Luray Caverns. And in case you were wondering, I did actually say "aww, look it's a heart!" without any sense of sarcasm in my voice or in my thoughts. See, I'm maturing a little. There's hope for us all.

life lately

1. a peek over the Shenandoah Skyline Drive

2. one of the many pretty views on our short hike

3. the Luray Caverns organ

4. our warm friend at Mt. Vernon

5. some of the 2 pounds of chocolate we needed for our cookie recipe

(it made some 8 dozen cookies, woah)

6. one of the beautiful buildings at the Naval Academy

7. sailboats at the Annapolis Yacht Club

8. we have survived 6 months of marriage (hoorah!)

Here is just a sampling of what's to come to the Berry blog in the coming days. Every weekend these past few weeks has been full of local adventures, and I just haven't had time yet to put them all to words! I hope all of you had a fabulous weekend, and for all you Bulldog fans out there... 7-0! Who would have seen this coming just a few years ago? Not this girl (if we're being honest). Hail State!

VA to KY: football, fall leaves, and good food

 

 

Husband and I took advantage of the long weekend last week and packed our bags for a road trip to Kentucky to see Mississippi State play (and beat) UK in Lexington. We left after husband got off work on Friday and drove all the way to Charleston, West Virginia that night before waking up way too early on a Saturday to make it to the game. We saw a beautiful sunset on Friday before everything got dark, and we literally climbed a few mountains before reaching our halfway point. I had never before seen signs warning me of 9 and 10 degree descents, and needless to say we were both very glad that husband was driving during that portion.

Being displaced bulldogs, it was quite a treat to see our team play in person rather than on tv, and we're only hoping their good fortune of winning continues this weekend against Tennessee! I will say that even though we knew that UK was a basketball school, never have either us seen such an empty stadium at kickoff (and we were there for the rebuilding years at MSU). It was a little sad, but maybe that's what happens when the team is 1-5 and there are horse races around to entertain you otherwise on a Saturday afternoon...

In regards to the super cheesy picture with the broom, let me say two words: Harry Potter. That's right. That is in fact a broom from the filming of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and yes I realize that I have a major Cheshire Cat smile going on there. But eeeeek it was from the movie!! And some cool people totally used it!! Let me explain: husband and I visited our good friend, Leigh Holland (see awesome friend below), in Wilmore, KY, home of Asbury University and Asbury Seminary. And who knew, but Asbury has an incredible media communications program there, and a lot of their alumni have gone on to work on some pretty notable projects (like the Olympics). All over their building are movie props, posters, awards, and cameras donated from alumni and their projects, and I totally geeked out on seeing most of them... No shame. 

And side note, they made my heart even happier when I saw a sign for Welton Academy from the film Dead Poets Society... favorite. movie. ever.

 

 

On a whim, Leigh's suggestion for dinner that night took us to the Windy Corner, this neat market/restaurant, in the middle of nowhere horse farms. We might have thought that we were majorly lost for at least ten minutes, but the confusion was well worth it for this sweet little cafe. It was truly a unique and delightful experience, and oh, the food was divine! We knew we couldn't go wrong with some of their homemade pumpkin chocolate chip cookies (it is fall after all), and they definitely did not disappoint. If you're ever in Lexington for a game, you should try out this wonderful little nook!

 

 

And other than the last one, the pictures above were of the scenery on our drive back through West Virginia. That state may have nothing but small towns and cities, but it certainly has some beautiful countryside. It also didn't hurt that our first impression of our western neighbor occurred during the beginning stages of the leaves changing color. The last picture was taken during our drive through Middleburg, VA. This little town has a main street of stone and brick buildings, and its outlying areas are full of rolling hills and beautiful farms. In short, it's gorgeous and totally worth a drive to see. 

So recap: football. harry potter. friend reunion. food. fall. Yep, a wonderful weekend for the books.