The Cute & Quaint Little Town of Gulfport!

So while in Florida, I also visited St. Petersburg. I prefer to drive and the bonus of driving is that I have the freedom to go beyond my primary destination. My grandmother resides for about 70% of the year in  St. Petersburg and the other 30% in NY at our family cabin during the summer. 

Within walking distance of my Gram's condo, like literally 3 blocks, is the beachy town of Gulfport!

I love visiting this little 1 street town and taking a stroll down the sidewalk on a 1st Friday or 3rd Saturday night when all the local artisans are out!

I happened to arrive at my Gram's on the afternoon of May 1st, so after a stop at my favorite clay shop we went to Gulfport for an evening stroll and some dinner. 

 Normally when I've been here in years past the sidewalks are lined for 4 blocks on both sides with vendor tents but because the forecast had been rain a lot of the vendors had apparently chosen not to come. 

 There were a few out though, the fella who had this abalone shell jewelry stand was quite the salesman, but I just looked. He actually had really reasonable prices with nothing being over $20 but I'm just not into this kind of stuff any more. But I do enjoy looking! :)

 If there was anything I'd have wanted to buy on the table.. it was the shell itself! Haha.

 Gulfport has a lot of great little eateries with pretty outdoor seating areas and this Italian restaurant had the prettiest flowers and bright yellow tuscan exterior. 

 There was even a little Yorkie King outside a local fro yo shop... I snapped a pic mainly because it made me miss Fritz, though he is much cuter that this guy!

 Despite the forecast for rain, it never did rain, in fact it was a gorgeous evening with a nice cool breeze from the ocean which is just behind that green building (the Gulfport Casino) at the end of the street!

Giveaway On My Friend A Girl Named Leney's Blog!!

Hey Friends! 

Just wanted to let you all know that my very cute and very talented friend Leney, whom I personally admire and look up to a lot when it comes to the self employed/ blog world and often run to for advice... is doing a really cool giveaway on her blog!

One that I selfishly have high hopes of winning! ;)

But I still want to share it with you all in case any of my readers are also bloggers and could use a custom blog make over! 

So check it out! 

"Up for one lucky reader is a free blog design package (a $150 value) from Melissa of The 25th Hour!

Melissa recently launched MAV Designs, where she offers graphic design and photography services. You can browse her portfolio website or check out her lifestyle blog, The 25th Hour."

Find out more on how to enter over at A Girl Named Leney!!!

The Love Tree

There is a tree in St. Augustine, Fl called the Love Tree. Its located on Cordova St. if you ever happen to go. 

A sable palm tree is literally growing through and up and out of the heart of an oak tree, as you can see in the pictures above.

I'm sure its not the only time to have ever occurred in the history of the earth but it was pretty cool to see in person. 

According to www.see-staugustine.com "if you kiss your love under the tree, you will have everlasting romance. This fairy tale ending must be true. Generations of romantic couples have kissed here and come back on their anniversary to kiss again."

Hmm, I suppose when I find my true love I'll have to bring him down to Auntie's for a visit and go kiss him under the tree! ;)

Guns'n Roses

Did I grab your attention!? Good, cuz I wanted to share with you some of the fun things I got to do with my Uncle and Aunt while visiting them! 

While I was visiting, my Uncle asked me if I'd like to go to the shooting range with him. 

I, having never even touched a real gun before, let alone shot one was a bit apprehensive but replied with an excited yes!

So the next day when my Aunt had a meeting she had to be at, Uncle D sat me down and went over all the parts of my Aunt's Ruger and gun safety & handling and shooting range etiquette. 

Then we drove on over to the range and had some fun while wearing our Mickey Mouse ears! It was kind of nice because no one else was there, so it took some of the nerves out of it both from the loudness stand point and the no one will be watching stand point.

 I was really nervous taking that 1st shot, mainly because I didn't know what to expect in terms of the kick back but after about 10 seconds of standing there, arms up, gun pointed straight ahead I took a deep breath and pulled the trigger. 

Hmm, not as big a kick back as I thought. Actually it was pretty cool! My Aunt's gun was really easy to handle and I did pretty well hitting the target after I warmed up to how to best handle and aim the gun. 

I shot at 3 targets and went through probably 200 shells at least. It was a fun way to spend time with my Uncle and also try something new that I'd kind of always wanted to try. My Dad and brother go to the shooting range every so often but have never invited me. You can bet next time they go I'll be insisting I get to come along. 

My brother seemed pretty proud of me as I was texting him my targets. This was my last and best target... well until I tried pulling and aiming lefty... then they were all over the sheet :)

The other thing I did while visiting was help my Aunt with learning how to crochet! 

She had mentioned when we were talking about my coming to visit that she'd like to learn how to make hats and I was like "Hey! I'm good at making hats! I'd be happy to teach you!" 

 We spent several afternoons and evenings just sitting on the couch chatting as I taught her how to crochet a circle and start a hat. And she told me about my great grand mother who was a master seamstress and also very talented crocheter and knitter. It was so fun to see how well she took to it and kept at it even when she felt like she wasn't doing so great. 

While she worked on hers I sat next to her and crocheted a little new born hat. 

 And then added a flower. 

And here is my Aunt J's 1st finished hat! She did such a good job with a little help from me and a lot of persistence. And it was such a joy to see how proud of herself she was! 

I suggested she purchase the Stitch'n Bitch books for both crochet: The Happy Hooker and knitting: Knit Happens! Ha, I just love the names but also I found those books to be so helpful and written in laymen's terms with great diagrams so that I could understand what they were teaching me. She ordered them used on Amazon so I can't wait to chat with her about what projects she is working on when she gets them and we can work on the same projects together over the phone and via texting pictures!

Thrifty Thursday: One Man's Trash is SHE Design's Treasure!

So the 2nd or 3rd day I was in Florida my Aunt and I came across a back alley dumpster find chest of gold! Metaphorically speaking. 

We had just picked up a few pounds of shrimp for that evenings dinner at a small local market and left through the back alley only to come across (thanks to my Aunt's sharp eye) a huge beautiful framed mirror sitting next to the garbage cans! 

Say WHAT!? So we stopped and I got out to investigate. The mirror was clearly broken but I was focused on the frame. Was it solid wood or partical board... it was wood. Was it knicked up or in good condition... considering its location, it was in good condition. So we loaded it into the back of my Aunt's little Prius (thank you Jesus that is just barely fit!) and saved it from a doomed existence in a pile of garbage at the dump! 

This picture really makes it looks small.. it is not.. the frame is a good 4 x 3 1/2 feet. 

The great thing I discoved while investigating in the alley was that the mirror while cracked, had some kind of heavy duty plastic backing which is why it was still holding together. So we took the whole thing not wanting to leave a jagged mess for someone else to clean up in a back alley and layed it on a tarp in the driveway to deal with the mirror. 

 My Aunt and I put some tape across the front of the mirror just to be safe... 

And then we pulled out all the staples around the back of the frame. After that we were able to just lay it down gently and the mirror fell out the back in one piece! (I failed to snag a picture of that)

 So then we just folded the mirror over a few times and threw it in some heavy duty trash bags and into the trash!

 And what was left is this awesome frame!

 I'm 5'11 so as you can see.. this frame is pretty big! Pardon the horrible shot.. I was snapping the picture with my remote shutter release at the same time I was holding the frame up!

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet... there are just so many possibilities! So for now I think it will become one of my photo props but in the future when I get my own place I'm thinking I'll hang it up and put a bunch of smaller framed and un framed photos and paintings inside of it!

Crescent Beach and Sea Shells

One of the best parts about having family that lives down d'ocean... is how close and convenient it is to well.. go down d'ocean when visiting them! 

Crescent Beach is one of my favorite beaches... and this was my 2nd time ever going. I guess I can be decisive about some things! 

I'm not much one for putting on a swim suit and jumping in the ocean or even going to lie on the sand and sunbathe but I do love walking along the waters edge and getting my feet wet while beach combing for sea shells. And of course taking pictures! 

And Crescent Beach is one of the prettiest beaches to go do just that! The sand is uber fine and white so you feel almost like you're walking on moon dust! And the shell pickings are colorful and varied. 

Beachy Chic Roomspiration!

I can't help but be drawn to beautiful shabby chic/ beachy chic places. Its like I have an internal compass for finding these places. And as much as I enjoy a walk through of a more typical place like Anthropology, I appreciate much more the small individually owned shops where I find equal if not sometimes better ideas! 

So of course while toodeling around St. George Street my 1st day in St. Augustine, I spotted a shop full of shabby chic beauty. Ironically all the things I would have bought in that shop were just display devices for the jewelry being sold.. but I snapped some pictures knowing I can file it away into my ideas folder for future spaces and DIY projects in my home!

 I LOVE how they used these big hemp ropes to create visual interest and texture and add a little ocean voyaging vibe! And of course the off white and oceany sea foam furniture!

I also loved all the beautifully shaped and sized glass bottles they had everywhere to display necklaces. 

And can we just talk about that white washed wood plank floor! Gorgeous! 

They also had some lovely abstract, richly hued paintings by a local artist that gave me some idea's for future paintings of my own! 

My apologies for the poor photo framing.. I was kind of taking quick snaps because it was one of those shops where I felt like I might get yelled at if they saw me taking pictures!