A Visit to Greensgrow and a Quick DIY

So I recently visited Greensgrow Farms, a really unique spot not too far from where I live in Port Richmond.  I was so excited to see everything in full bloom after such a rainy May.  After poking around for a bit, I decided to purchase a few airplants.  They ended up being on sale which was awesome since plants these days can get really pricey.  I always hesitate to splurge on a nice plant because I'm never 100% sure if I'll be able to keep it alive long enough.  

I read online that airplants were a good option for people who didn't want to tend to plants to much.  I have to admit, I still don't completely understand how they survive, but mine are still kicking about a month after purchasing.  Once I brought them home, I wasn't sure how I wanted to display them.  We have a few of these letterpress drawers and I remembered seeing these cute, glass himmelis at Target. I started thinking about how to attach them to the letterpress and next thing you know, I had a hammer in my hand!

The first thing I did was fill the himmellis with some tiny white rocks which I originally purchased for potting my succulents.  I also bought some Spanish moss when I was at Greensgrow and realized that the moss would be a cute addition.

I popped in the airplants and voila! A quick and easy DIY for displaying airplants.

Cute, right?

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Interior Inspiration

The last few weeks have kind of gone by in a blur, hence the lack of blogging.  I had a bachelorette party, followed by a wedding, followed by Mothers Day...it's like I blinked and all of a sudden it was May!  The weekdays have been equally as busy.  Since my trip to Seattle, I got promoted at work (!) and have had to bounce between two offices in order to transition into the new job. I have to admit, it's nice to have had absolutely nothing to do this weekend besides playing keyboard at church.  I spent the entire day yesterday deep cleaning the dining room, living room and porch.  For the first time in a really long time I really enjoyed cleaning and organizing again...it was strangely therapeutic!

I did some rearranging to our bookshelf, re-potted some of my plants that were in desperate need of extra space and found a home for some of the decor items I've been hoarding away in boxes and bags for quite some time now.  To top off the day, I drove to a thrift store which was selling some vintage auditorium seats on Craigslist for about 1/3 of the price they normally go for.  I've had my eye on these seats for what feels like forever. I mean, they're row home friendly since they flip and down and add some super valuable real estate to our tiny living room area.  Tom helped me unload them from the car and within about ten minutes, the cat was crawling all over them (which means she approves!) Anywho, it always feels good when you're able to thrift something you've wanted for a really long time. I've been a little decor-obsessed lately and I can't wait to give them some TLC (one side is a little broken, but it's nothing that a few new bolts can't fix).

Speaking of decor, here are some interiors that have been inspiring me lately...

How cool (and easy) is this stamped triangle wall? I also love the hanging brass planter.

I love that mid-century modern meets contemporary with all of the pops of color in this interior by Urban Outfitters.

I was able to get a row of three auditorium seats that pretty much look just like the one pictured above. Although they're in decent shape, I'm thinking about sanding and restaining them. I also thought it'd be a cool DIY to paint the underside of the seats, although that would definitely hurt the resale value if I ever decided to part with them!

Hairpin legs and a cool record player = yes.

I always stalk Vintage Revivals for DIY and inspiration pins, can you believe Mandi got that cool mid-century modern desk from Home Goods?!!

This would be a fun way to repurpose those landscape paintings that are always in abundance at thrift stores.

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A Short Trip to Seattle, Washington

So last weekend I tagged along with my boyfriend to Seattle, Washington. About a month ago my boyfriend told me that he was going to be going to Seattle for work. After a couple of weeks of him talking about getting ready for the trip, I realized that I should really try to see if I could go with him!  I'll admit, I really didn't know that much about Seattle before I went. I had to do a little bit of research before going, but planning the details of a big trip is kind of one of my favorite things to do. My boyfriend is the complete opposite, he would rather just get up and go someplace, wing it and see what happens.  I was only going to be there for three days, so I wanted to make sure that I made the most out of my visit by researching exactly what I wanted to do and see.  I have to say, I had an amazing time in Seattle and definitely wish I could have had a longer visit.. It's totally the kind of city that I can see myself spending a lot more time in. It's funny because I had some friends that said that Seattle was not going to be an interesting place to visit, but for me it really was a fantastic trip and I'm so glad that I went!

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A Visit to Czerw's: The Finest Homemade Polish Kielbasa

If you ever find yourself passing through the Port Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia, you better include a stop at Czerw's (pronounced 'CHEVZ'). If you don't ever find yourself passing through Port Richmond, then you absolutely should, because Czerw's is the kind of local spot that puts us on the map. No, seriously! I spoke to the owner and he told me that he has people come from all over the country just to bring back some authentic Polish food with them. It's THAT good. I find myself stopping at Czerw's from time to time because it's about a 3-4 minute walk from our house here in Port Richmond. This week I had a coworker (who lives in south Philadelphia) who asked that I stop in and pick up a few packages of pierogies for her.

Czerw's has a deep seated history here in Philadelphia that dates back to 1938. The image below hangs right next to the front door when you walk into Czerw's. Jan Czerw is the fellow in the top hat, standing next to the horse-drawn carriage. When you visit Czerw's in person, you'll quickly realize that there probably hasn't been too much that has changed since grandfather Czerw owned and operated the joint. There's no fancy bells and whistles or frills, just a well-stocked meat case, a refrigerator filled with fresh, handmade pierogies and a small selection of jarred tomatoes, pickles and sauces. I can totally understand why the family has decided to keep the place mainly in it's original condition, after all - why should you bothering fixing something that's working when it's not broken?

This was a slightly different visit for me since I had some time to take a few photos and chat with the owner, a living relative of Jan Czerw. One of the things I noticed on this visit was the small selection of pig tchotchkes on top of the meat case. Cute, right? 

You enter Czerw's through an unassuming aluminum door (to the left of the picture above) that more times than not has a paper sign attached to it with the store's hours. When I showed up on Monday, there was a sign that said that they were sold out because of the Easter holiday. When I came back later in the week, everything was pretty much stocked back up. My favorite things to order are the smoked kielbasa, Polish slim jims, smoked bacon and of course...the handmade pierogies which come in a variety of delicious flavors. After you have some authentic Polish food like this, it's really hard to go back to the store-brought stuff. It's pretty much all amazing - I haven't had anything I haven't liked so far. That open door to the right is where they do the meat smoking. The owner (who is legitimately the nicest person I have ever met in Philadelphia) took me into the back to check out where the magic is made. Vegetarians beware though...I'll let the pictures do the talking.

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Digital Beginnings Workshop at the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center

On Saturday I attended a three-hour photography workshop called "Digital Beginnings".  The workshop was held at the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center located in the beautifully post-industrial Crane Arts building. I had been considering signing up for a workshop for quite some time now but the $60 price point made me reconsider. I was poking around on Living Social one day a few weeks ago when lo and behold a 50%-off workshop deal popped up! The workshop ended up costing me about $28 and there were exactly 5 other people in the class, which made it even cooler.  My instructor was super friendly and helpful and we were given a full print-out of the presentation to take notes on. I am beyond excited to FINALLY understand the basics of owning and operating a digital SLR. Seriously though, why did I wait so long to sign up for something like this?

So the workshop included a really good overview of aperture, lighting, shutter speed, camera modes, ISO, focal length, correct exposure and also discussed the different advantages of shooting in different file formats. Some of the other things we discussed were the differences between medium and large format digital SLRs, the difference between Canon and Nikon cameras and how to properly take care of and store your lenses. According to the PPAC's website, "this workshop is the first step in gaining control over your photography" and I definitely feel like I finally understand some of the reasons my photography has been so mediocre over the past few years! After about two hours of a detailed presentation from our instructor, we were taken outside to put some of our newly acquired skills to the test.  

Ok so there wasn't a whole lot to take pictures of right outside of the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center, but one of the things I was really focusing on after the presentation was apeture, "bokeh" (basically my new favorite word - it's the art of having a blurry background and a sharp foreground, you see this effect on a ton of blogs) and composition. I have gotten really frustrated at how blurry my photos have been lately, especially when I take them at events for work. This class made me realize that just playing around with the settings in my camera is way different from actually knowing what settings do what. Once you know the basics, it is actually pretty easy to get a nice, sharp picture. I took all of these photos during the workshop and even though I didn't have the most inspiring subject matter, I think they came out really great.

Our instructor gave us some fun, little "photo challenges" while we spent time outside. They included having us all take pictures of the same thing from a variety of different angles (I didn't know that you don't actually have to always have the light aimed directly at your object - switching it up can produce some really subtle effects!), incorporating shadows and making sure we were using the right settings for our subject matter.  I was the only person in the class with multiple lenses and one of the things I made sure I did was leave with a solid understanding of what lenses to use for different purposes. I took all of these photos with about three different lenses. Spring is starting to bloom here in Philadelphia so luckily there were some pretty flowers and blossoms to focus on!
  

This is the only photo I took while I was inside the PPAC. The space also doubles as an art gallery  and event space and also features different local artists and exhibitions.

When I left the workshop, I was so excited to keep taking pictures.  This class was a serious game changer and I am totally going to make use of the Living Social deal (which is still going on!) and buy another few classes.  It has been the best $28 I have spent my money on in a very long time.  I want to eventually feature more mural artwork on the blog so I tested my skills out at this really cool one located at 3rd and Girard in Northern Liberties. 

After this one workshop, I'm definitely looking forward to attending a few more and featuring some more high quality photography on the blog. Until next time!

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