random pickings.

Just some random pickings with a little bit of everything....some of these would make great gifts!

Polka Dot Print Long Sleeved Shirt

Cap-Toe Pointy Flats

Metal Ice Cream Scoop

Wishbone Bracket

Canvas Document Pouch

Roll-Top Tote

Bliss Break Wrap

block party.

Ben struck up a conversation with one of our neighbors earlier this week and guess what? Turns out that Rayful Edmonds, the most notorious drug dealer in DC and apparently credited with introducing crack to the District in the 80s, lived and operated off of Orleans Place. The same Orleans Place we live on. Apparently, he had a money house and a drug house. Rayful ran an operation worth billions of dollars, was tied to over 30 homicides, dominated about 60% of the drug market in the city, was convicted and went to jail, continued his drug trade behind bars by using a special pig latin to communicate with his dealers, and then eventually became an informant in a deal to get his mother released from prison. All a real, true story. There is also a documentary about it on youtube...but yeah - Orleans Place - making us proud!

the honest truth.

The Honest Company, which makes all organic, natural products, will give you a kit of free samples....so I signed up. They mail you a small box with a sample of products. Ours included laundry detergent, soap, and lotion. And I have to tell you, it is good stuff! The samples are small and won't last you long at all but why not? Anyway, just thought I would share in case you are interested...and yes I took pictures for you also.Click here to go to the page where you can sign up for a free sample.

all dressed up.

Just realized I forgot to show you the new dresser that we picked up on Saturday for our room - here it is in all its glory!

hang it up.

Remember back in May when I was talking about building a clothing rack? Click here if you don't. Well we made a project of it this weekend and put the finishing touches on it last night. I am very excited to show you our temporary solution to our closet/storage challenge.

On Saturday we hustled up to Home Depot and picked up everything we would need. (We also had to make a quick return trip on Sunday because I got the wrong black spray paint - oops - I do not recommend two trips to Home Depot on a weekend!).

We picked up pipes, screws, casters, elbow joints, flanges and a piece of pine wood we had them cut down. We also picked up stain for the wood.

Here is our pine wood at the start...

And here it is with one coat of stain...

I did a couple coats of flat black spray paint on every other piece and then we went to putting it together! And here it is for a first look!

chinese relations.

My god did we eat well on Friday night. We met up with Nick and Val for dinner and headed east on New York Ave to Bladensburg Road to check out Panda Gourmet. This sechuan place is housed in the Days Inn right off of New York Avenue and we have been wanting to scout it out for a couple weeks. We can now report back that it lived up to all its recent hype and more!

The food was unreal. The Mouthwatering Chicken was exactly that. We couldn't get over it.

Photo Credit: Val

It is a total hole in the wall and you want to ask for the authentic sechuan menu.

Or you could just do what we did and order a couple of the dishes that you know you want and then have them order up the rest. 

Among the many many dishes we ordered, we loved the Dan Dan Noodles, the cumin beef, and the flounder and vegetables in fiery pot. 

Our meal conservation mainly consisted of exclamations of how good the food was and then talking more about how good the food was. And of course, fortune cookies to wrap up the meal. We can't encourage you enough to get out there and try this place out, we absolutely loved it!

dressed down.

Big things are happening on 6th street this weekend! After weeks of being so busy we haven't been able to do much on the house, we have a full weekend ahead of us and the closet situation will be addressed. After two months of clothes everywhere (and I mean everywhere!), I have been nearing a breaking point. Click here and here for past posts.

Everyone can now breath easy knowing that we are picking up this dresser tomorrow. I am very excited about it. It will fit perfectly in our bedroom and we like the shape and legs. With that said, I am looking for some hardware to replace the handles, so stay tuned...

I also have had my eye on this color for a while now (just ask Ben!) and depending on how the finish and paint job is, I might go for it on the dresser. Does anyone know what this color is? I love that it is a grayish-blue...soft but prominent. Anyway, we will see but thank god for drawers, I cannot wait to put my underwear in a drawer...its the small things in life.

maintained.

Earlier this week, we went to the Nationals game with Becky and Matt. Matt scored us all tickets in his firm's box and let me just say, not a bad way to spend a night! Free food (hot dogs check!) and a dessert cart was brought by as well. A flash storm interrupted the game so we didn't end up getting to see the whole thing but it was fantastic. After living the big life for a couple hours in the private box we went back home and Ben broomed water off our roof. Turns out we have some gutter blockage that means snaking. And so the home maintenance begins in earnest....our fantastic contractor/handy man, Luis, (if you are in DC and need someone, message me!) is coming by to fix and bill us!

mixed up.

Have you all heard about MixBit? Are you using it? I am going to download the app tonight to try it out. Ben sent me this NYTimes piece on it last week and it has intrigued me. It is a new app (like Vine and Instagram) to share videos....

ny state of mind.

It was another weekend away for us and our 4am wakeup today to get back to DC in time for work was worth it! We went up to New York to see Ben's parents and even though we got there late Friday and left early this morning, we certainly made the most of it.

Saturday morning we went to the Farmer's Market in Pleasantville. It was a phenomenal market...

Not to mention they had the best waffles I have ever tasted from Pikas Farm Table.

I was wiped out this weekend. No idea why I was so tired but after the farmer's market I took a nap while everyone else went for a run. After all of this, we hit the road and drove over to Connecticut for lunch and antiquing. Lunch was awful but to make up for it we went to this roadside ice cream shop in Woodbury.

Our first stop was at Millhouse Antiques and Gardens. It was a gorgeous property. The pieces were spread out between a couple different buildings and we admired and talked with the owner. 

We then just drove down route 6 pulling into anyplace that had an antique sign. 

None of us planned to buy anything so we just perused and were amazing by some of the pricing!

By late afternoon, we made a last stop and then drove over to visit Ben's grandmother in Bridgeport. We spent a while looking at old photos and Ben's Aunt Susan stopped in for a visit as well. We piled into the car and drove through Fairfield to dinner. It was a gorgeous drive and we all commented on our favorite houses.  
Sunday morning we woke up and headed out for a run with Ben's dad in Rockefeller State Park Preserve.

Right after that we jumped in the car, with the roof down because it was a gorgeous day, to swing by Stone Barns to grab a bite for lunch at their cafe.

We also ran into some of their family friends and their golden retriever, Laila. I was in love.

After lunch, we hung around the kitchen. Ben and his Mom cooked up a storm. I took another nap. Ben's dad watched golf. It was quiet and nice.

And for dinner, we feasted on a fantastic meal by Ben. These scallops with corn and tomatoes were spot on...

Ben and his Mom also made this great beet salad...

And of course, green beans, potatoes, and ribeye.

Not pictured was the dessert of vanilla ice cream with a fresh peach sauce that was unreal. It was a wonderful weekend. We both feel rebooted and ready for the week to come!