i love New Jersey: Asbury Park

From it's start as a Victorian resort town to the namesake of Bruce Springsteen's debut album, Asbury Park is steeped in history, a mix of the very old and the brand-spanking new.

We took a drive down the shore yesterday to check out Asbury Park and it did not disappoint.

After we arrived I took a little walk. I would've explored further but it was BRUTALLY HOT. And after a little while I just had to return back to our blanket - and pass out. But I hope to come back soon. Here are a few of my favorite things:


The abandoned casino is one of a few remnants from Asbury Park's heyday as THE place to be in the early 20th century:


Inside the building, a nautical mural...


You can walk through the casino into the beach next door, Ocean Grove. This is a view looking back on Asbury's boardwalk.


The entire length of boardwalk is lined with American flags, no doubt in preparation for this weekend:



A re-purposed carousel:


View out to sea:


View up the beach to Asbury Park's famous Convention Hall:



A few clouds came by before we packed our bags and headed home:

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Most of New Jersey isn't remotely close to what you see on tv.

This is just one part of an ongoing series that will show the awesome side of NJ to the world.

Vintage glassware

I found these glasses in John's grandparent's house a year ago. Then they stayed packed in a box at my in-laws for a few months. We bought the house and the box was brought over and shuffled between our guestroom and attic. The glasses were almost forgotten, until recently when I started unwrapping all my old goodies.

Right now I'm displaying on the side table in my dining room. I think I might move them into my glass bookcases in the living room. Because there are many pieces and I think I could do better than stacking them out in the open.

Through the magic of modern technology (internet) and also looking really close at the glasses themselves (duh) I found out that these are all Culver glassware. For the curious, there are many Culver glass items for sale on ebay.

Did I mention how awesome they are?!?

Paint colors

I don't think that everything in -or related- to the house has to be matchy-matchy, but I do believe that there should be some harmony between things.

So I started a little notebook to keep track of some things we have going around the house...
This page in particular shows all the colors we have in place right now. The center swatch is our trim and ceiling color - Decorator's White, surrounded by the colors of our living and dining room, bedroom, guest room, bathroom, and office.

One of the things that prompted me to do this was just a need to have all our paint swatches in one place, for future reference. But I'm looking at this page right now and thinking - there are no warm colors! I prefer cool tones - but one room in a warm color won't hurt... and it may balance things out a bit. Neutral camel, pear yellow/green - or even a soft raspberry pink! - might look nice in the third bedroom, so maybe I'll start thinking about that when I get back to painting this fall.

Bathroom - Part 10 - Can we just finish it already?

I've had several ideas floating around my head in regards to the bathroom sink area. But it's hard to think about how it will all look together without actually ordering all the components and hauling it all upstairs.

Enter stage left, Mr. Photoshop Mock-up:

I tried to preserve the proportions in the image.

And I'm actually liking it! Who would have thought it would come together so easily after agonizing for months?

Now all I'd have to do is order everything.

Sources:
Park sink console - Restoration Hardware
Simone mirror - Z gallerie
Irvine wall sconces - SchoolHouse Electric

Hair and GOOOOAAAAALL

me

Just got a sweet haircut last night. I know it's still looking kind of large, but that is my hair after all, and I'm trying to embrace the crazy waves.

He actually cut off like 4-5 inches! And layered everything that was left. Then he gave me this awesome goo:
It's called Hair Resort by Kevin Murphy. And it makes your hair look, smell and feel like you just spent the day at the beach.

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So sorry for the lack of house updates. We have so much to do, but every weekend we're working the barbeque circuit, as my friend Kim always says. The warm weather will do that!

But maybe if I start keeping track of my goals it will start nudging me in the right direction...
My goals for the next 6 months:
1) Lots of painting/mini construction projects coming up: finish the bathroom door, finish touching-up trim in the guest room and painting the vestibule and stairwell area, to name a few.
2) Lighting: I just counted the number of electrical fixtures that need to be replaced: 4 ceiling fans, 5 wall sconces, 1 dining room chandelier, 1 hallway light, yikes! Hope to have at least a few of these done soon.
3) Backyard clean-up. Still haven't touched a huge portion of the yard.
4) Window treatments: Everything in place right now is a temporary fix. Got to get it going!
5) Furniture. I need a bed, dining room table/chairs and a coffee table in the worst way. Also have huge plans to neaten up the desk area in our office/sunroom.
6) Bathroom sink! Hello?? We're still brushing our teeth in the bathtub!

Golden Boy

My home renovation equivalent of Golden Boy. I can't imagine how I get any painting done without him, and I am already dreading his inevitable demise.

He was only like $2 at Lowes, but I can't figure out his brand name. It's all corroded around the metal part. I might have to take him on a field trip one day, do a little research in the paintbrush aisle. Buy all his cousins.

Blues Sisters

We just spent yesterday with friends at our First Ever Annual Summer Kick-off Party. So much fun!

Unfortunately I didn't take any photos of the actual party, or photos of the food, or even John and I in a traditional posing-on-the-front-stoop pose. (our friends took those and soon I'll be begging them on Facebook!).

But I did manage to squeeze in a couple of shots while I was getting things ready.

In the living room...

Grabbed some hydrangea from the backyard and stuck them in a vase. I still can't get over the quantity of free flowers we have just hanging out in the backyard.

To go off on a tangent - I am thinking more and more about decorating the living room - furniture, window treatments, cushions and pillows, new chairs. Right now everything is brown, white and greige. It's all just begging for some kind of color to punch it all up.

I've really been feeling this Cerulean and Rust combination, like the photo above. Picking up on the blues, (as usual, no surprise there) but also my new-found love of orangey colors. I swear I'm just starting to "get" orange.

In the dining room...

I also decided if I'm going to be psychotic about blues, might as well go crazy with it. I picked up this tablecloth, above, in Kmart of all places. For our party, I just made sure all the plates, dishes, etc, were either blue, white, or clear. It was actual pretty simple once I committed to the tablecloth! I'm also starting to become a little excited about tablecloths. Perhaps because our dining room table looks so hand-me-down-dorm-roomey? It's an easy fix. And most likely one I'll be using for a while!