Wrapping The Week: Music Edition

Ft. Worth

My husband's grandmother is 106, so the whole family traveled to Ft. Worth recently for a visit and family portrait. She is pretty amazing--very sharp for her age. She even asked how my mother was doing, remembering that she had a heart attack earlier this year.

Ft. Worth has some gorgeous art deco architecture along with neighborhoods full of bungalows and mid-century modern homes. Lindsey and I took a driving tour while Audrey napped in the car and marveled at all the great homes (and trees).

• Ft. Worth Mid-Century Modern Blog
• Steven Wade Smith's Favorite Ft. Worth Buildings
• Dallas Modernist Homes (We didn't venture into Dallas, but there are some really cool houses listed/shown here.)

Atchafalaya Houseboat

Photo: C.C. Lockwood

I wandered upon an image from Gwen Carpenter Roland's Atchafalaya Houseboat: My Years in the Louisiana Swamp, and now can't wait to get my hands on this book and see more photos.

From NPR: 

"In the 1970s, Gwen Carpenter Roland was about to start work on her doctorate when she decided instead to live off the land — and water — in the Atchafalaya River Basin Swamp in south-central Louisiana.With a box of crayons and the book How to Build Your Home in the Woods, Roland and her then-partner, Calvin Voisin, built a houseboat on a barge. They lived there for six years, with no electricity and no running water." 

I have a total romanticized view about this situation. The bed on a swing, a box of crayons, the 1970s with a hippy boyfried...all sounds dreamy. No running water...not so much.  

Read an excerpt from the book or listen to the 2006 All Things Considered interview with Roland.

Weeee Revisited

I blogged this trippy vintage ad for a backyard roller coaster in June. Then on the fourth of July, at my cousin's house, they had the same vintage contraption set up in their backyard! (I doubt they read my blog, bythe way.) I couldn't believe it! One of Tommy's real estate clients had it in his attic and wanted to get rid of it before he moved. It was rickety and fun and lasted probably two dozen rides before one of the kids broke the release lever. I'm going to start blogging other photos of things I want and see what happens.

Wrapping The Week

Ok. So I'm getting used to this "no blogging" thing. It feels like an actual summer vacation. I've been going to bed at a decent hour each night. I'm not as anxious. I've been getting more and more creative with Audrey's toenails. So the blog and I are in slow motion this summer.

Other things I could do without this summer:

• Lady Gaga. Enough. Already.
• Bad writing: Hilarious bit about bad copy writing. 
• Radishes. Thanks to my CSA, I've had more radishes in the last month than I've had my entire life.
• Bicycles. I want to be as hip, healthy, and eco-conscious as you, riding around on your cute little bike. But I'm a klutz. You'll see me on a bike the day Tyra Banks wins a MacArthur Fellowship.

What I could use...some creative/nature exploration.

Honey Balsamic Roasted Beets & Carrots

We are in a CSA program this summer and are enjoying it quite a bit. I've never been a fan of beets, but mostly because I've only been exposed to the pickled variety. Tonight I made Honey Balsamic Roasted Beets and Carrots with the beets and carrots we've received over the last two weeks and not only was it delicious, but the colors were amazing. Really beautiful! We followed dinner with a cake, that was well executed (my layer cakes get better each time) but I wanted a much denser cake. I'm not a light and fluffy girl. I should have just gone up to SweetArt and bought the cupcake I was craving. Nothing can beat that Harmony Cupcake.

On a different subject, I'm going to a summer blogging schedule--instead of trying to write 5 days a week, I'll probably post 1-2 a week and try to do a Friday Wrapping The Week.  

Wrapping The Week

My six day vacation started Wednesday at 5pm. With that, I'm just going to point you to this absolutely wonderful post from Hula Seventy {sent to me by Rebecca}.

Things I'd like to tell my 17 year-old self.

Amen, sister. Amen.

Happy Independence Day in every way.

Sleeping Nooks

I am such a complete sucker for little sleeping nooks and napping spots. Especially when books are involved. Am I ready for vacation or what?!

{Found at Apartment Therapy}

{Found at Paper Crave}

{Source Unknown}

{Found at Marie Claire Maison}

{Found at Flickr}

{Found at Teenangster}