Do The Right Thing

It's finally happened. It's hot. I mean, hot. Like, cook an egg on the sidewalk hot. That could happen outside right now. For sure. Don't try it though, because that's just gross.

Even though we're spending most of our time powdering our sweaty crevices and considering cryogenics because freezing sort of sounds great right about now, we still hit the pavement and went yard sale-ing. Because we laugh in the face of pain. Or because we're delirious from heat.

Present: Sarah, Nick, Andrew, Sarah Mae

We only ventured to one church sale and a two street neighborhood sale, but got plenty of great things! Sarah Mae's finds:


Sarah Mae has a penchant for denim. This is her third denim purse. Not enough for a full collection, but it's getting close! The deer is cross stitched onto a vintage Levi's coat. I think the jacket was $2 and know that the purse was less than that.


She also loves elf style booties. And vintage insulated cups/mugs with raffia weave in them. $1.50 for the boots and cups. The genuine leather wallet is Andrew's. He bought two identical wallets. Just in case. $1 each.


She's also starting up a real nice collection of vintage elf dudes. Check out the planter. Some sweet paint by number pictures including what has to be my personal favorite. A 1950's street scene from the point of view of a church bell tower? Yep. Favorite. Then a little travel bag for toiletries. Everything you see here was under $5 including the thing in the next picture.


There are two of these. They came with clips on the ends. We speculated that they were for displaying pictures or maybe drying pictures in a dark room. Either way, they are magnificent and totally retro. I cannot wait to see what she does with them!


Who knew that the husband liked Fleetwood Mac? News to me. (25 cents) I'm all about these white enamel frames. (25 cents) And I have quite a collection going of mini headstones for the fall Halloween decor. (25 cents) The only thing that could be better was if they were replicas of the ones at the Haunted Mansion in Disney World. Don't get me started on Disney World. We don't have time for that right now.

I got this for myself for a quarter! It's a little boys shirt. So what of it? I think my inner geek is starting to show.

Bedknobs and Broomsticks dvd for $3. I love that movie. "Bobbing along, singing a song, on the bottom of the beautiful briny sea!" I'm pretty excited to watch it. The yellow bird is a vintage Avon bottle that a friend of mine will adore. (25 cents) The vintage Strawberry Shortcake doll is Apricot, I think. She's not in her right clothes. But, time will remedy that I'm sure. She also currently has a gum wrapper as a hair band. She's pretty creative and has her finger on the pulse of artistic innovative fashion. (25 cents) Now don't get all excited about my box of pink chicks. You get your own. (25 cents) If you remember correctly you already know I have a small box of yellow ones. Wahoo! These little pink tufts will be right at home with my spring/Easter decor!

We've also started watching our collection of hot weather movies. This includes Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing", one of my favorites "Fried Green Tomatoes" and Woody Allen's "A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy".

It's too hot to keep writing. I'm going to go either stick my head in a bucket of ice or crawl into the freezer. Either way, stay tuned because next week we are going to the Renaissance Festival and you are not going to want to miss out on that report.

Back to Basics

The day after we returned from our vacation we went to a church sale. It happens every year as part of a church festival and it's usually pretty good. It's right in our neighborhood and the have night hours. Have you heard of this? Some of the larger church sales in my town have night hours. On Friday. So you can go after work! Someone was really thinking.

A vintage frame, a paisley pouch, corn...holders that cradle your corn ever so gently and allow it to steep in butter and a very heavy metal icon. If you know me you might believe that the corn cradles were my idea. I do have a very real and abiding love of corn. But, alas. It was the husband who found these gizmos and he who purchased them. We've used them already and they were very much worth the quarter. Everything we got totalled $4.50, including the following...


Here we have one of a set of eight glasses featuring a black horse and metallic gold designs. These are for a friend of ours who loves horses and barware. The thing on the right is a plastic floral pic. It's kind of hard to see all that's going on with it. And, there is a lot going on. So, I'll itemize the pieces and let the dramatic scene unfold. Now, please hold your applause until the end. (Just so you know up front, all the items are plastic and ... covered in iridescent glitter. )1-Three pieces of peppermint candy, wrapped. 2-One white apple. 3-White holly sprigs. 4- Two tufts of pink hearts on stems. 5- One large ice cream cone with pink ice cream. Now, the best part is that I know someone who will love this thing. To death. I actually took a picture of it before I bought it and sent it to her via text (I can do that now) just to be 100% sure. Turns out it wasn't necessary because she was more than excited about it.

Turns out happiness can be bought. And the price is a quarter.

Summer Jaunt

The Belle's have friends in Philadelphia. Many friends. A huge group of our college friends moved down there after college graduation/dropping out and never left. There are a few hipster hot spots in this great country of ours and Philadelphia is one of them. Portland is another. I have a theory that one of these days Rochester will make that list. Big city culture on a smaller scale. Gorgeous location, cheap real estate and lots of local brews, not to mention the #1 farmer's market in the USA! Then all of us who have always known and loved Rochester can all out-hipster the hipsters with the classic, "We knew Rochester when it was just playing shows in my neighbor's basement." So, just crossing my fingers on that one.

I'm not real great at taking pictures of things in a place I've been to a lot. But I tried. After you've visited a place a number of times everything starts to look normal. You can't quite look at it with the eyes of an outsider anymore. One thing that I always love seeing on the car ride to Philly is the wind turbines. There are two caches of them on the way there. They are so huge and magnificent, spanning the horizon. Emblems of clean energy. You know how I love that stuff. Behold:


OK, so they don't look that massive in this picture. That is only because I took it on my phone. Also, never mind that splotch of bird poo on the windshield there, mmmkay?

We stopped along the way for a picnic. This was the husband's idea and he was quite keen on it. Sandwiches and chips. I'm sort of a spoiled brat on vacations. I like to go out to eat and spend money. I treat myself to expensive coffees and snacks that I don't normally allow myself. Eating a picnic from home wasn't my idea. It was fine and everyone enjoyed themselves and it was nice to get out of the car for a while, yes. Would I have rather eaten at Cracker Barrel? No. Friendly's? Probably. We also stayed in a motel instead of a hotel. I don't want to talk about that. The huge free continental breakfast was almost worth it.


We stay at places that are near the airport, which is just across a bridge from the city. There is at least one giant petroleum/gas plant there that reeks pretty badly and a giant metal scrap yard. Philly isn't winning any awards on cleanliness. One thing that tickled my funny bone was the billboard directly in front of said scrap yard:

In my mind it reads like this: "Don't just look at the garbage, Eat it!"

So, you know how I was saying that some places seem normal after a while? Well, one thing in Philly never seems to fade into normalcy, no matter how many times I see it or how long I stare at it. It's the King of Jeans. See what I'm saying? What you can't really tell from this picture is how enormous...it is. OK, I'm going to stop now.


When we visit Philly we play a lot of dominos and cook quite a bit. Rodney and Luke made unforgettable pho for dinner and LuLu made this pasta dish that I just love (not to mention the green tea angel food cake with the ginger frosting!!!). Andrew and Sarah came with us and made a Mexican squash dish that I know how to pronounce but have no idea how to spell. So, I won't try.

We did splurge one night and go to Distrito, a Jose Garces restaurant. I really can't recommend this place enough. It's tapas, family style dining, which I usually hate because JOEY DOESN'T SHARE FOOD. It was a Mexican themed menu and the first thing they brought us instead of chips and salsa were spiced peanuts. The smell was mouth watering. I don't remember the last time a smell enticed me like that. I didn't take pictures of the food. I'm not great with that. If there is food, I want to be eating it, not styling it for a photo shoot. I ordered a watermelon margarita (!!!), mahi mahi tacos and an enchilada. I didn't want to be hungry because at the last family style place, I went home with room in my belly and no money in my wallet. I was full by the second tiny fish taco. So, Joey ended up sharing. Everything was delicious and presented like artwork. Plus, the color theme was green and hot pink.

Wall of Mexican wrestling masks.


Ceiling fixture that looks like something straight out of Jem and the Holograms.

Philadelphia is just about an hour away from another of our favorite vacation destinations: Ocean City, New Jersey. I'm not much on gambling, and Ocean City is closer than Atlantic City. Last time (the only time) we went to Atlantic City to play the slots I was disappointed and bored that the slot games are just pulling a lever or pressing a button. Nothing like the thing on Super Mario Brothers Three. I took $20. Flushed $14 down the toilet and saved the rest for ice cream. I told you I'd rather be eating. Anyway, our first Ocean City stop was Brown's. Home made donuts. Served to your table piping hot!

Life guard station with the good bathrooms.


The Wonderland Pier.

I cannot abide the beach without one of these bad boys. The day we went it was cloudless and over 100 degrees. Everyone got a modicum of burn, even after reapplying sunscreen. I have an awesome tan because of this day. Don't lecture me about skin cancer. My skin sees the sun a total of two days a year in Rochester, so get a grip.



Kerm looks so happy, you can't tell how god awful hot it was. The water was cold enough to freeze your knees, but everyone was in it. Otherwise you'd be frying up like a side of fat back bacon. When it got too hot for me I decided to shop the boardwalk. I'm pretty sure the boardwalk is over a mile long and I know for sure that it is lined the entire way with shops and restaurants and snack places. I tried, I really did. I got a huge bottle of water and a Polish Water Ice. I only lasted about 10 shops. People: It was too hot to shop! Please know that this has never happened to me before. I mean, it was throwy-uppy hot. I did manage to get one picture though.


These kettles are notorious in our family. There is one very famous story about my mother and her inability to remember the name of this shop. They make insanely delicious fudge there. She gets the fudge, she loves the fudge. She called the shop a variety of names, none of which were correct. The Fudge Kettle, The Country Kettle, the Fudgy Cudger, The Kettle Kitchen, etc. The actual name is simply, The Fudge Kitchen. I have ordered their fudge online and had it delivered. I recommend it to a friend. At any rate, I gave up shopping and we went and had Mexican food...again. It was so good. I can't tell if it was because the food was legitimately delicious, or if we were just that hungry or if it was because the place had air conditioning. But you can go there and find out for yourself. Rojo's.

The day after that we went on a Ghost Tour of Philadelphia. Let me stress that this was not our (the tourists) idea. Our friend LuLu lives in Philly, has for years and years. She loves her some history, Ben Franklin and haunted things. We had lunch and dinner/snacks and drinks at some pubs first and just took our time walking around down town. This is a picture of Monkey Knife Fight. A beer you can only get one place on earth: Nodding Head Pub. It was ginger and lemon grass beer, you people. It was so delicious I could have cried. It depresses me that they don't bottle.

Then I saw this and knew I was in trouble.

Thank goodness that's not the only way to get it. Or I would be in deep, deep trouble.

Our tour guide on the Ghost Tour kept encouraging us to take pictures of various haunted locales in an effort to catch "orbs" on camera. See mine?


No? Me either. This is a cemetery haunted by orphans from the yellow fever epidemic in Philly's history. These ghosts gotta get a lot more haunty if they hope to pass along their gruesome and frightening legacy. Otherwise people on the tour are just going to get distracted by their free glow sticks. Although, to be fair, I could get distracted by glow sticks, necklaces and/or bracelets at almost any time. During a lightening storm in an open field where I am the tallest object? Yep. During a 4th of July fireworks display where my own name is being spelled out in pyrotechnics? Yes, for sure. On a plane careening through the sky in a downward spiral of death? I seriously hope I never have to find out.

Speaking of things being haunted or spooky, I present to you, Cabalina Jordan. Now, Cabby is sort of a legend in these parts. LuLu has had him since she was very young and Cabby went absolutely everywhere with her. To say that this thing has been and is still loved is a gross understatement. He (oh yes, Cabalina Jordan is a dude, not a lady.) is flat with love. Nigh two dimensional in areas. I can't believe I got to meet him live and in the flesh. LuLu keeps him close at hand in case of a fire. I have had his name in my head for years. It gets stuck there. You can't just UNthink Cabalina Jordan. Now I pass that curse on to you. Please let me know if you start calling one of your kids that, or name a pet after him.


Since I don't want you to have all kinds of nightmares tonight, I'll leave you with another image. My breakfast bloody mary from the Penrose Diner. My all time favorite diner. The waitresses have deep, deep Jersey accents. They say, "What canni get youse?" And I say to them: morning booze, please. This is vacation, after all!

The Swap Party

No, not that kind of swap party. No keys in a dish, no swapping partners. Just a good old fashioned bring-your-junk-to-my-house-and-take-some-of-my-junk-home party. Like a yard sale, but everything is FREE! I found out that it is hard for people to wrap their minds around this concept. Ladies at my gym kept calling it my "yard sale". The swap party is gaining popularity or so my magazines tell me, but I don't think my friends are exactly ready for it yet. I think it makes people uncomfortable when everything is free. Not some people, thankfully. But most. For the most part people in NY state are pretty skeptical of things. Skeptical and sarcastic, that's us.

We even had tons of delicious food and drinks (prepared by the ever talented husband) to lure people. And I posted pictures on facebook with my new phone. In my mind I would have been ecstatic to have 40 people show up. Ten people came. It became more of a hang out, party type thing. So it was fun even though we had a million things leftover.

Let me show you some of the stuff:


Mary ended up finding a good home as did some of the pots.


The large sifter went home with someone.


The chalkboard found a home as did the Christmas wreath.


The spice rack followed the chalkboard to new digs.


The cake plate, some trays, the oval picture and some salt and pepper sets were scooped up.


The red chair left.


The nesting tables were among the first to go.


Bob and Culleen were there fist thing and stay right through clean up, god bless them!


This Rachel Ray cookery thing didn't even make it to the table!

My mom and Gee (grandma) came and swapped with us. <3 I love those ladies!

Here is what the husband and I ended up keeping from what others brought over:

The husband is pretty excited about this wok. I'm excited too, because it means delicious delights are coming my way soon!


I use this clay for crafting and the blow up Barbie pool is actually a foot bath for the husband. If I were a kid I'd totally use it for Malibu Barbie and company.


I know it's a pilsner glass but I'm going to be using it for a vase. Don't judge me, you know I love my beer. Pretty lilac pashmina/scarf. A light up fall garland (WITH GLITTER) and last but not least, I'll be making my own popsicles this summer, thank you very much. Yes, you may come over and have some.

We packed up all of the remaining furniture/large items and took them to Heather's house to put out at the street. She lives on a very busy four lane road. Garbage piles don't last long there. Within hours almost everything was gone. More people participated in the swap party than we know! The clothes were taken to a nearby goodwill dumpster. The next day we took two car loads to another thrift store and donated it.

All in all a fun experience but not one I'm looking forward to repeating any time soon. On the other hand, I'd totally attend someone else's!