The Stitch Up

Christmas Trips

We've been getting around a bit to different spots around Virginia for Christmas celebrations.  My favorite every year is the Christmas weekend at Middleburg, VA.  Their Christmas parade begins with the Hunt parade: hunting dogs and horse and riders decked out to go chase some foxes.

In addition to the parade they had wagon rides around town.  In past years, I think they've done sleigh rides, but this year has been totally snow free.

These horses were so cute and all dressed up for Christmas.

Middleburg had a craft fair and lots of other activities - the whole town was festive!

Santa apparently likes the Hunt parade as well!

Another week we took a walk in Gulf Branch Nature Center in Arlington, VA.  The Blacksmith Guild of the Potomac was doing a presentation and had made a bunch of bells and candy canes for the holidays.

I loved watching the artisans at work.  They weren't selling anything, which was too bad as I think it would be cool to have an iron candy cane to decorate the house.

I think this last week before Christmas we'll be laying low, finishing the gift wrapping and chugging some egg nog.  I need to finish a few embroidery projects before the big day arrives and I'm cutting it close. Good luck to everyone with their last minute shopping and crafting!

Last Trip of the Summer

At the end of the summer the hubby and I took a trip out to Cali to visit friends and enjoy the last of the lazy summer weather.  We stayed in Palm Springs at The Parker which is a very cool hotel.  It's pretty hot in Palm Springs at the height of summer but it's relaxing and there are plenty of pools and shady spots to beat the heat.  

The Parker is decorated in a very 70s chic style.  Every room is hip and I felt like I added cool points just by staying there.

This made me think that I could probably work a suit of armor somewhere into our house.  Maybe in the kitchen.

Our room was as cool as the rest of the hotel and the bed had an adorable needlepoint pillow.  Crafty and chic:

The hotel had a great restaurant with possibly the most delicious huevos rancheros I've ever eaten:

yummy crepes as well

The garden and pool area had all kinds of little spots hidden behind hedges and buildings that provided privacy and quiet.

If giant chess is too taxing of an option - there's always croquet!

Despite how awesome the hotel was we did get out and about to visit friends.  We did a little sight seeing on the way:

The Palm Springs Visitor's Center on the way out of town.  One of the beautiful midcentury buildings in Palm Springs.  

I love the desert landscape of the area and seeing all of the windmills always feels like home.

As I grew up not too far from Palm Springs, I took the hubby on a tour of some local hot spots.  First up, the dinosaurs at Cabazon.

The inside of the brontosaurus is a little gift shop.  In case you want some dinosaur memorabilia.

Next to the dinosaurs is the old school diner that's been there for decades.

Not too far down the road is Hadley's Fruit Orchard which was always a must stop when we were kids.  They sell nuts and dried fruit but they are famous (relatively) for their date shakes which are delicious!

The big event on this trip though was getting to spend some time with my girlfriends.  Teresa and her family hosted a beautiful lunch in her backyard and we had a fantastic time.

Teresa is a master gardener and her back yard is a gorgeous spot to spend a summer evening.

It was so nice to spend time with the ladies again.  We managed to fit in a pedicure date, some shopping and lots of talking.  We do our best with facebook and email, but having the chance to spend time together, face to face is really precious.  

 

Penfield House

A few weeks ago we took a trip to Ohio.  We visit regularly to see family but also try to see something new each trip.  I'd been wanting to see some of the Amish neighborhoods in Ohio so we took a drive through Middlefield.

Amish central!  It's so cool to see the horse and buggies driving down the road alongside cars.

We made a stop at the Middlefield Cheese House which sells delicious Amish cheeses, but for some reason does not allow buggies in the parking lot:

This area of Ohio is known for its Swiss cheese we tried a few different types and they were all yummy!

The shop also had a full size horse and buggy display which I hopped in to get a feel for Amish style.  I think I could pull this off, although having a fake horse that stands still may have made it a little easier.

Our final destination for a couple of nights was Penfield House.  This is a private home that was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and is now available to the public to reserve and stay in.  It was like living in a piece of art for a couple of days.

Frank Lloyd Wright homes are such a beautiful mix of style and organized living.  I actually don't think I could live full time in one of his homes as they don't allow for a lot of clutter, but for a few days it was great!

Furniture like the beds and shelves and desks in the bedroom were built into the rooms when the house was designed and are permanent fixtures.

Penfield House is located in Willoughby, Ohio which is a really cute little town with good restaurants and a fun downtown area.

The house was just down the street from downtown Willoughby but it's set back on some beautiful property so that when you walk out of the house you felt as if you were in the middle of the forest.  We saw deer in the mornings and evenings and took walks to the back of the property where the Chagrin River runs past.

As we were so close to the river we took a little fishing break.

My catch was not exactly impressive but it was beautiful outside on the river.

We also took a quick day trip into Cleveland to head to the West Side Market.  It's in a cool old building and houses delicious local food.

We picked up cherry donuts and apple fritters for our breakfast the next morning.  The fritters were the size of our heads and the cherry donuts were amazing!

We've toured a lot of Frank Lloyd Wright houses but this experience was so special.  Spending a few days being able to just sit quietly and look at this home, to sleep in it, to cook and eat here gave us a greater appreciation for the thought and care that Wright put into designing every corner of his homes.  

Latvian Needlework

I always have to check out the local crafts when we travel.  Especially embroidery if I can.  Latvia had lots of crafts - beautiful knitting, intricate weaving, and some spectacular embroidery.

There were a lot of vendors set up around town who had very pretty hand made things.  However most were modern designs and I was looking for traditional Latvian work.  I found a boat load at SENĀ KLĒTS.

The shop was just down the street from our hotel.  It was clearly destiny!  They had exhibits of traditional folk costumes from different eras and regions of Latvia and also sold handmade goods that were created with traditional designs.

I wish I had a bit to share about each of these displays and the region they represented but I think the study of Latvian needlework would take some time - although it would clearly be worth the effort.  

The costumes were a mix of weaving, knitting and embroidery.  The embroidery was amazing, intricate and colorful:

This site has quite a few Latvian embroidery patterns and examples of costumes from each region.  I'm not quite sure how to utilize these.  When I have a little time I think I'll compare some of my pictures with the patterns and explore a little more about technique and see if I can post a usable embroidery pattern.

The site Latvian Stuff has information on the symbols used in Latvian folk art.  Many of them represent the pagan Gods that were worshipped in that region.  It's really interesting.  I definitely see the Dievs or God's sign, which is a sort of triangle, as seen here:

There is also the Thunder Cross, a symbol for Pērkons, the God of war.  It is essentially a swastika although used in Latvia, as in many cultures, long before the Nazis got a hold of it.

These designs were so beautiful I was truly inspired.

We of course picked up a couple of souvenirs here.  I bought a belt weaved with a traditional design -

The husband bought a beautiful pair of knitted mittens -

The number of patterns for Latvian mittens was innumerable.  At this store and on many stands along the street we saw mittens of every color and patterns, no two the same.

I found the above photo on Riga Summit showing thousands of Latvian mittens knitted for that event - as you can see the patterns and colors are so varied.

I did a little searching around online and it looks like Latvian knitting patterns are very popular.  The site Knit Like A Latvian has a bunch of pictures of her mitten projects and there are also patterns on Ravelry and other sites.

I'm not quite at that level so I'm just working at making a scarf for the husband to match his mittens.

This is my first time changing yarn color.  I really am a knitting novice, but I'm hoping it will look nice enough when I'm finished.

Latvian needlework is something I will absolutely continue to study.  I really want to attempt some of that embroidery design.  I love the opportunity to be inspired by the traditions and designs of other countries and Latvia was an especially great experience.

 

What I Ate On Vacation

There was no end of great food in Latvia.  We tried several traditional Latvian restaurants which I would describe as a combination of Nordic and German food - but with it's own distinct flair.  Our hotel had great food and put on a good breakfast every morning with tons of smoked fish, potato salad, radish salad as well as traditional breakfast foods like bacon and eggs.  Needless to say we were not hungry until late in the day after stuffing ourselves at breakfast.

Riga is a pretty hip city and had any kind of food you'd like.  We hit as many places as we could.  One of the best was a Belgian restaurant - Cafe Bon Vivant.  We ate sausage and mussels until we could barely move and washed it down with delicious Belgian beer:

This was the SMALL sized sausage.  The waitress told us that the large is three times as big.  Holy smokes!

Bad focus, but these mussels were fragrant with tons of fresh herbs and cooked to perfection.  The fries were pretty great too!

Across from our hotel was another great restaurant - Restorans 1221.  I think I would describe this as Latvian fusion - it was delicious.

I had veal with what I think was a lingonberry sauce with green peppers and it was so good!  Served on the cutest cow pan!

What I ate most of in Riga was pastries.  We found so many good bakeries and everything I tried was perfect!

Most of the bakeries offered pastries that reminded me of German tarts and cakes - lots of fluffy crusts and sweet berries - but we also hit a french bakery:

The solarium eating area was so pretty and quaint and sunny!

and the baked goods were delish!  My raspberry, white chocolate tart melted in my mouth and I grabbed a few bites of the husbands chocolate cherry tart before it was gone.

We also found a great donut spot that provided a nice, mid-morning fuel up for our sight seeing - Ze Donats

These were boston creme, caramel and cappuccino - but choosing a flavor was pretty tough as they had a big selection.

The other great thing about Riga were the many nice places to just stop and take a break and have a beer.

I let my matryoshka doll get in on the act.

Although we'd surely packed on enough calories in Riga, we continued our spree in Germany.  I had planned in advance to eat as much schnitzel and bratwurst as possible while there as there is just no equivalent in the US.  

My brother and his family took us to the oldest bratwurst restaurant in the world in Regensburg - the Wurstkuchl.  They do one thing and they do it well: bratwurst.  You line up, tell them how many and then you get out.  It had a soup nazi kind of vibe to it, but I could feel for the ladies cooking up the brats as it was HOT in there!

The bratwurst were a big hit with the whole family

Since we had a big day of sight seeing in Regensberg we had lots of time for eating and really, we needed the energy.  So, a doner sandwich break happened as well.  Yeah, eat and walk people, there's lots to see:

Man those sandwiches were good.  We did sit and eat, or sit and drink - but we relaxed a bit as well:

Schnitzel got love too.  I ate it everywhere but had a great one at the cafe by the salt mines:

And of course always the German beer

The kids were drinking soda.  Just FYI.

A disturbing discovery while visiting my brother and his family was that they live down the street from a chocolate factory.  I mean - really.  As if the non stop pastries, beer, bratwurst and schnitzel were not enough, a chocolate factory was calling my name.  I responded:

Siedl Confiserie was full of dangerously delicious candy and animatronic jungle animals.  I don't know why, but the candy was so great I didn't ask a lot of questions.

These are rum balls, coconut covered macadamia nuts, kir royal balls, chocolate bars, and chocolate coins.  There were some chocolate covered marzipan balls and some chocolate macadamia nut crunch that did not make it past the flight home.  It is all so good!

So we brought a taste of Germany home with us and as much as I will miss the awesome schnitzel and bratwurst I think it's good we can't get it here or I'd be big as a house.  I love vacation eating but it's good to get back to the occasional salad!

Summer Vacation - Germany

The second leg of our vacation was all about Germany and kicking it with family.  My brother and his family were posted to Germany a few months ago and we'd been looking forward to visiting them there.  They're in the Bavaria region of Germany and were our tour guides to a bunch of cool towns in the area.

The first stop on our whirlwind tour was Amberg

It's a pretty town on the Vils River and it's been around since 1034.  

 
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This square had the cutest fountain:

Pigs.  Too cute!!

On the way back from Amberg we decided to do a quick drive through another town - Kallmünz.

Our quick drive through turned into a full-on exploration however when we saw Kallmünz Castle on the hill and decided to make the trek up the (steep, asthma-inducing, never-ending) stairs that had been cut into the mountain to see it up close:

The Castle itself was beautiful but so was the view from the top of the mountain.

 

Our next outing was to Regensburg.  It's a larger town and had many beautiful churches, Roman ruins and more pretty parks and squares than I could count.

The Stone Bridge was built in 1135 and crosses the Danube.  It was a pretty spot to stop and relax a bit.

The Dom cathedral can be seen from all over Regensburg.  It was built between 1275 - 1634 but has one chapel inside that dates back to the 8th century.  The interior was beautiful:

There was also a lower level where several bishops were buried and that had really early ruins - I'm not sure what period they were from, but they had a Celtic look: 

 

Across from The Dom is a tiny chapel that is dedicated to St. Mary.  It only has about 4 pews:

Also near The Dom was the Cathedral "Zu unserer lieben Frau".  The inside is rococo style and blew me away:

We did a big road trip to Berchtesgaden, Germany to see the Bavarian Alps and tour the Eagles Nest and the Salt Mines.  This area was breath taking - we could have spent a week there hiking and fishing.  But as we were on a tight schedule, we hit the tourist highlights.

The Eagles Nest was interesting.  The location has amazing views of the Alps.  The only downside is that there is not much info about the history of the home and it use by Hitler as it's been completely renovated into a restaurant.

Pretty great background for a pic with My Sister-in-Law and nephews.

The Salt Mines tour on the other hand was very informative and FUN!

They suit you up in miner's coveralls and send you down through the salt mines by train, slide and boat:

 

The area near the salt mine is lovely with an aquamarine river running next to it that I think is a result of salt runoff, but for whatever reason the color is startling.

They sent us on our way with a free sample of salt which I thought was very kind!  They had lots of salt based spa treatments as well as specialty cooking salts for sale in the gift shop but at that point we were nearing packing capacity on the suitcases for gifts.

On our way back to the States we spent half a day in Munich before our flight.  It's a pretty city although I don't think we were really able to appreciate it in such a short amount of time.  

This is the Hofbräuhaus in Germany.  We were there around 3 pm and they were having a "Tea Dance" - which did not appear to involve tea but rather a lot of beer.  I'm assuming "tea" just refers to the time of day.  

Odeonsplatz.

We might have to give Munich more of a chance on the next trip.  Bavaria is a beautiful region and we clearly only saw a small portion, but the whole trip was made that much more fun because of the time we got to spend with family.

Summer Vacation - Latvia

Our first official vacation of the summer was primarily to visit my brother and his family in Germany.  But, the Hubby and I have wanted to see some of eastern europe for a while, so we added a side trip to Latvia which turned out to be a genius idea!

For scheduling reasons we hit Latvia as the first leg of our vacation.  We spent our time in the capital, Riga,  and stayed in a hotel in Old Riga which put us within walking distance of the lovely churches and buildings of the town.

The main building here is the House of the Blackheads which was apparently a guild for unmarried German merchants working in Riga.  The building was originally constructed in 1344, but bombed by the Germans in 1941 and ultimately destroyed by the Soviets in 1948.  This current building was reconstructed in 2001 to celebrate the city's 800th anniversary and designed as closely as possible to the original building.

The steeple in the back belongs to The Dome Cathedral.  A beautiful church where we went to an organ concert one night.

In addition to being an impressive building in and of itself, it was at the center of activity during the days of The Barricades in 1991 when Latvia repelled attempts by the Soviet Union to retake control of the country.  Being in a building like this was part of the attraction of visiting Latvia. It's a place with more than just an ancient history that you might read in books but the relatively recent events that took place here: things that we remember happening and watching on tv, but that the people here lived through.  

Another lovely church in Riga is St. Peters.  The outside has lovely sculptures and inside there is an amber chandelier.  Amber is all over Latvia, made into jewelry and other decorative objects.  It apparently is found on the shores of the Baltic sea.

While not as big and impressive as the Dome or St. Peter's, I found the pretty white and blue "Our Lady of Sorrows" Church was my favorite.  It's a Roman Catholic church built in 1785 and it looked like a cake topper or one of those tiny building you light up at ChristmasL

What I was most looking forward to, and had poured over photos of in magazine articles and travel guides about Riga - was the Art Nouveau architecture all over the buildings in Riga.  I've never seen anything like it anywhere else.

Our hotel in Old Riga had a stunning facade:

The majority of buildings with these fascinating decorative facades are in the Central District.  We took a walk around Elizabetes and Alberta streets and went camera crazy:

There were so many amazing details on these buildings.  I was really cursing my little snap and go camera.  The most interesting carvings were high up on these buildings and the sad zoom capabilities of my camera had me frustrated!

My other favorite part of Riga was Bastejkalns Park.  It meanders through Riga, separating Old Riga from the Central District.  There are green gardens and hidden sculptures and the whole place is relaxing with the Pilsetas Canal cutting through it.

 

One of the charming items in the park are a few bridges over the canal where couples attach wedding locks to commemorate their wedding:

I thought it was romantic.  The Hubby thought that locks were a very appropriate commemoration of marriage.  Harrumph.

From just about everywhere we were in Riga we could see the Freedom Monument:

She commemorates soldiers killed during the Latvian War for Independence in 1918.  

We walked around as much of Riga as possible.  The views from across the Daugava river let us see all of Old Riga:

Riga is such a beautiful city.  We enjoyed every day there.  The people were kind, the food was delicious and the architecture was inspiring.  We hope to see more of Latvia and more of eastern europe in the future.  This trip definitely left us wanting more!

Fredericksburg, VA

The husband and I took a little trip out to Fredericksburg last week for some antiquing and had a great day!

One of the things I love about Virginia is the number of little towns with so much history.  Like many towns around Virginia, Fredericksburg has a wealth of Civil War history and was the location for two major battles.  Fredericksburg is most well known for being the location of George Washington's childhood home.  You can visit the spot where he supposedly threw a penny across the Rappahannock River and chopped down the cherry tree.

However, the main reason we headed down to Fredericksburg?  Antiquing and a good meal!

While Fredericksburg is quite an old town, most of the buildings in the historic section had more of a 1950s than a colonial feel.  

Every other store in the old town section was an antique store and there were some great finds!  I bought a couple of vintage scarves, but the furniture in the stores was what caught my eye the most and I think we might have to go back with a truck.  Or a moving van.

After an exhausting day of antiquing we hit up the Blue and Grey Brewing Company for some great local beer and food.  I actually haven't found too many good microbrews around Northern Virginia, so this place was a nice surprise.  The husband also got us a quick tour of the Bowman Brothers Brewery.  It's on the banks of the Rappahannock River and the bourbon tasting was straight up smooth Virginia whiskey!

 
We will definitely be returning to Fredericksburg for more shopping and maybe to include a few of the historic high points.  We brought some Bowman Brothers Bourbon home with us though, so we will be enjoying a taste of Fredericksburg (I know - corny!) for a little while to come.

o-HI-o Road Trip

We decided to take a road trip to see the Hubby's parent in Ohio for the 4th of July.  It's a pretty trip through Pennsylvania and Ohio is a great place to spend the 4th.

Our first stop when we get to Ohio is a local burger place that makes THE BEST burgers: Swensons.

 

Mmmmmm.  People - I'm not kidding.  THE BEST burgers.  I get the hot fudge milk shake, Hubby gets the coffee shake and we get our cheeseburgers with the works.  Heaven.

There are always a lot of fun community activities going on around the holidays in this area of Ohio.  We went to a great concert with the Cleveland Symphony playing patriotic marches and songs and we hit the local 4th of July parade.

Watching the 4th of July parade required another food stop:

The fact that the parade started at 10 am did not stop us from getting some frozen custard.  It was hot out after all, plus...frozen custard!  Enough said.

Blackberry frozen custard the breakfast of champions!  The Hubby said watching me eat this cone was like coming across a crime scene, but people, let me say again - it was hot out!  And the cone was melting!  And I don't think this is all that bad:

 

Harrumph.  Let's move on to some pics of the parade shall we?

The parade route.

The local American Legion post.

   

 

 

 

 

Some patriotic cars from the parade.

 

 
 Some of the cool floats in the parade.

I love a good parade and this was a great one.  The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays and this was a great place to celebrate it.

 
 
 
 
 

 

Wild West Getaway

After a few months of separation due the Hubby's work, we are once again reunited and took the opportunity to high tail it out west for some fishing, hiking and together time.

Our first stop was supposed to be South Dakota but there was some ugliness and delays and horror that dare not speak it's name at the airport that pushed our trip back a day and required us to go directly to Montana.  No problem - Montana is AWESOME and the views from our lodge we were staying at were an immediate balm to our frazzled travel nerves:

 

 

 

 If anyone is looking for an amazing hotel in Bozeman, Montana we can whole heartedly recommend the Gallatin River Lodge.  The hotel is just steps from the Gallatin River which was raging when we arrived:

  
There is a really pretty walk from the hotel to the river over pretty meadows and creeks:

 

(the Hubby by a little bridge)

 

The location is gorgeous, plus the chef at the hotel is amazing and we stuffed ourselves with delicious food every night.  The hotel also arranged a great fly fishing trip for us on the Madison River.  Our guide Tim was really patient with our basic fishing skills and even steered us toward some fish:

 

 

 

It was sometimes a little difficult to concentrate on fishing as the Madison River was beautiful and there was so much to see along the banks:

 

A real bald eagle!  

Poor Tim had his work cut out for him keeping us focused on the fish.
 

 

Yeah, Tim was awesome.

Despite wanting to just laze around the lodge all day we did roust ourselves to take a day trip to the Little Bighorn Battlefield for the 134th anniversary of the battle.  It was an interesting and informative trip and even though the site was the location of a tragic battle it's a beautiful place.

 

 

It was a great road trip and the lodge packed us a yummy box lunch that we enjoyed at a picturesque spot on the way back.

While we loved the lodge and I was pretty much ready to live there permanently, we had plans to drive to Jackson, Wyoming so we headed off with a couple of pit stops at some cute towns along the way.  First, some snaps of Bozeman before we headed out of town:

 

 

The helpful staff at the Lodge recommended a route to Jackson from Bozeman that followed the Madison River and went through the cute town of Ennis, Mt.

 

 

While we were in Ennis, MT we realized we were close to Virginia City, MT, the historic gold rush town, and decided to check that out as well:

 

 

We didn't just see cute towns on the way to Jackson, we also saw beautiful scenery.  First in Beaverhead Deerlodge National Park:

 

 

and then along the Continental Divide:

 

Jackson itself was a fun town.  We shopped and ate and enjoyed the sights:

 

 

The real beauty of Jackson however is just outside of town.  Grand Teton National Park is gorgeous and inspiring:

   

 
   

A great trip!  Just the reunion we needed and so wonderful to see another part of the country.