... because i heart nostalgia ...

i have a special place in my heart for entertainment of days gone by. entertainment weekly did a cast reunion: then & now feature in the latest issue. these make my heart happy. some of the shots they got were just too perfect. there were definitely many more shows & casts that i would have liked to see. maybe they will do another issue!?! until then, enjoy these little gems. you can also check out all the photos at www.ew.com

{SIXTEEN CANDLES}

{MARRIED WITH CHILDREN}

{WILL & GRACE}

{GROWING PAINS}

{NORTHERN EXPOSURE}

{THE GILMORE GIRLS}

{HOME IMPROVEMENT}

{THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW}

{ROMY & MICHELE'S HIGH SCHOOL REUNION}

 {THE PRINCESS BRIDE}

 

Insta-Friday {1}

i am fairly new to the land of instagram ... and i am totally hooked. i have only had an iphone for a few months, but i LOVE it. i've been an avid apple fan for years, but i've also been rockin' a verizon droid for awhile now. after the unfortunate demise of my droid incredible and the fact that iphone is now available at verizon i opted to make the switch. there are still some droid things i miss, but overall it has been an exciting transition. here's to my first insta-friday post!!

{new facebook profile in timeline & my mom's sock-stealing lab sleeping over at our place}

{i made those blocks for my sweet niece charlotte ann who graced us with her presence early.}

{two delicious dinners with my hubby. best bbq around & a business dinner in buckhead}

{swanky new freestyle coca-cola machine and a little lunchtime inspiration}

{reppin' the ATL. a little varsity "what'll ya have?" and coca-cola headquarters}

{pimp ride parked outside my work. working hard at my second job - Trendy Toolbox.}

{two views of downtown atlanta from bobby dodd stadium during a GA Tech football game.}

{first cool fall night to enjoy the fire pit with our buddies. also, beer pong was happening.}

{just cool enough to use my foot warmer under my desk. reese enjoying our open windows.}

Goodbye.

Like much of the world today, I am so saddened by the loss of Steve Jobs. It is literally mind blowing to think of the impact that this incredible visionary had on our society. Things that we take completely for granted may have never been part of the day-to-day vernacular if one man would have decided that following his dreams was to complicated, that his passion wasn't enough to base a career on or that his brilliance wouldn't live up to the expectations of others. Imagine for just a moment if Mr. Jobs had sold himself short. If he would have allowed doubt to incapacitate him from moving forward. If he would have given power to the naysayers. If he would have let conventional wisdom chart the course of his life. If he would have let words like complicated & difficult define his revolutionary inventions. 

In only 56 short years on this planet, he made it possible to literally touch the virtual world, he changed how we define music & video entertainment, he made digital interaction truly personal, he made an infinite amount of information just a single touch away, he lived life fully expecting the impossible to become possible and he was simply ... genius. I find him deeply inspirational on many levels. It leaves me wondering what more he could have accomplished if his life was not cut short. He will surely be missed, but not forgotten. I sit here contemplating his life and I ca't help but wonder, what must it have felt like in his final moments in this world to know, without so much as a whisper of doubt, that he had touched millions of lives and forever altered the course of society as a whole? Powerful.  I cannot wrap my mind around that concept. Cheers to a live well lived. 

 

ABC NEWS REMEMBERS STEVE JOBS

STEVE JOBS: HOW TO LIVE BEFORE YOU DIE {STANFORD UNIVERSITY, 2005}

hello there baby.

my adorable little niece, charlotte ann, graced us with her presence on wednesday, september 28 at 3:38pm. she is absolute perfection. even though she decided to make her appearance about 17 days early, she was a very healthy 7 lbs, 20.4 lbs. and is already rockin' a head full of super cute curly black hair. my brother & his wife are the picture of calm, especially for first time parents. she literally didn't even break a sweat. i mean, childbirth is a piece of cake right?!

i feel so incredibly fortunate to have been able to snuggle her just a few hours after she was born. she's so tiny and she makes the funniest little faces. i am looking forward to a lifetime of memories & milestones with her. congratulations on your precious new addition!! she is going to be one cool little lady with parents like you.

did i mention that charlie is my Granny's 10th GREAT-GRANDCHILD! that is simply unbelievable to me. what else can i say? babies are just an absolute miracle. especially when they are perfect. i am a very proud sister & aunt. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLOTTE!! 

Blog Silence

it sure has been quiet over here on the boatman blog lately, huh?
well, our lives have been anything but quiet. just about every day has been filled with the humming of the sewing machine, the roaring of saws, the whirring of sanders and the whooshing of paint brushes. our little adventure into entrepreneurship has been a busy one. we jumped in, wielding our tools and talents to join forces with some dear friends of ours creating a small business called TRENDY TOOLBOX. it has sort of taken on a life of its own. we are so grateful for the extra money and the blessing of being partners with such amazing and creative people. sorry for the blog silence over here, but even if i was being a good blogger, most of my posts would be focused on my splinters, stained fingernails and sore back. our company is awesome. check us out. if you want something and you don't see anything like it on our site, call us anyway. we would be glad to hear your ideas. have a great day.

     

Check out what we have been up to over at www.trendytoolbox.com

DIY Baby Gifts for my Niece

i am thrilled that i am going to be an aunt again. my little brother and his wife are having their baby girl in october and today family and friends gathered to celebrate her upcoming arrival. as expected, there was much food, much laughter and much love. this sweet baby girl isn't going to know what hit her. there will always be a line a mile long to see her and hold her and rock her and squeeze her. for the record, i am staking my claim at the front of that line. i got dibs people ... are you hearing me?!

anyhow, i digress. my sister-in-law is one of the most amazingly creative people i have ever known. this of course lends itself to her having a fun, quirky, unique style. she has this way about her of turning the most mundane object into the PERFECT thing. something totally and uniquely hers. i am astounded by this talent always. and a little jealous if i'm being frank. it also makes gift giving, shall we say "challenging":)

i decided to embrace some of my own diy talents and try my hand at some special gifts for the shower. i wanted to give her something meaningful and something i hoped she would love. {fingers crossed}. i made a set of adorable, vintage style wooden blocks and a super snuggly baby blanket.

the blocks have been a project i have been looking forward to making. in a creative burst i thought of the idea and have been waiting to gift them to someone! a little nerve-racking in the beginning, but it all panned out. her stamped name on all the patterned paper just makes my heart smile. tons of patterns and colors to keep her interested. i hope.

i can thank my dear granny and mom for teaching me how to crochet a few years ago. i loved the little scalloped corners! they turned out looking like little petals on the ends of the blanket. the heather gray yarn was so soft and beautiful. however, i couldn't resist just a touch of peach with the flowers. peach, not pink. the blanket is under the blocks in the above pics. i think i have a better photo but i couldn't find it. i'll look again.  ** UPDATE ... i found them **

baby grubbs is sure to be loved beyond measure. her parents were literally showered with both love and gifts today. you know there are sometimes when i see my family and i think "geez. am i really related to this pack of loons?" then there are other times, like today, when i look around at a room full of wonderfully different individuals and think "geez. how did i get so lucky to have an incredible family like this?" family is big part of my life and today i felt truly blessed to be a part of one that continues to grow and evolve in ways that none of us could have imagined. i am so very lucky.

The San Francisco Treat.

No, not rice-a-roni. The San Francisco treat for us was our work/play vacation there this past week. The timing was absolutely impeccable. Saying that we were overdue for a little adventure and relaxation is the understatement of the day. It was such a fun trip and I have tons of great recommendations for anyone headed west to Cali.

I say this was a work/play vacation because we had our annual Subway Convention in downtown San Francisco for a few days and then we snuck off together for a few days. The convention was great. We got to see lots of subway peeps from all over the country. It is always fun to catch up and see how things have been going for everyone since last year. We sampled lots of delicious food from the vendors, gathered up tons of cute (mostly useless) tchotches from the trade show floor and checked out all the goodies coming up for the next year in the Subway world.

Vacation, in my universe, is largely defined by the eating lots of great food, preferably local fare that I can't get back at home. Avoiding chains when possible. I enjoy trying out local haunts and taking advice from cabbies/hotel staff/etc. on the best places to grab a bite. Some of my san fran favorites:

• The Grove Cafe: to die for sandwiches, fresh squeezed juices, biggest breakfast burrito I have ever laid eyes on! and a cool, eclectic atmosphere. This one easily made it to the top of my list.
• John's Grill: delicious steak and seafood. fun fact, it was the setting for the maltese falcon.
• Annabelle's Bar and Bistro: they do an herb rubbed, rotisserie chicken with a quick flash-fry (yum!). the juiciest and most flavorful fried chicken I have ever eaten. 

PS: the shopping off market street in union square is absolutely insane. If you have money to burn, you would love this area. Too much for me and my empty pockets ... but worth remembering if I hit the lottery.

Then, we headed off for our Boatman vacay. Where did we go you ask? An all around decadent tour of Napa Valley and Sonoma. Beautiful. Breathtaking. Truly unforgettable. This might be one of my most favorite trips we have taken together. It was such a unique experience. I am not really a wine person, but I may have been converted after this trip. Visiting all the different wineries and partaking in the tours really gave me an appreciation for the skill and precision it takes to make all those different varieties of wine. It is incredible the level of devotion that these wine makers have to the perfection of their craft. In just a few days we were able to visit several different wineries and we loved something different about each one of them. Napa and Sonoma combined boast over 400 wineries, we did our best people!

• Trinchero
• Beringer Brothers
• Rutherford Hills
• Robert Mondavi
• Francis Ford Coppola
• Ledson
• Cakebread
• Nickel and Nickel
• Benzinger
• Kunde
• Geyser Peak
• Folie a Deux
• ACE Hard Ciders

I could go on and on about each stop, but my favorite was Kunde. The view was majestic, the wine was delicious and we had a moment of serendipity - we ended up at a tasting 1,400 feet on the mountain side with Jeff Kunde, current CEO and great, great grandson of the founder, who just happened to be there entertaining a client. Just a great experience. 

Great eats on this leg of our tour:

Norman Rose Tavern: grass fed local beef hamburger, local cheese, local bread. good lord this burger. They also serve fresh, dill pickles. I honestly never knew a pickle could be THAT delicious.
Gilwood's Cafe: eggs california = the most delicious breakfast of my life. Basic eggs benedict plus tomatoes and avocado. It's topped with the most incredible hollandaise sauce ... EVER.
Healdsburg Bar and Grill: another burger. I know, I couldn't help myself. A perfect patio with tons of seating to enjoy the Utopia-like weather. The parmesan and garlic fries ... heavenly.

I MUST give a huge shout out to our hotel. The Avia in Napa Valley was perfection. It was situated right in the heart of the Napa Valley Square and within walking distance to dozens of shops and delicious restaurants. Everything was ideal and romantic. The room was incredibly cozy and featured a huge soaking tub ... i do love a good bath. Most of all I could rave for days about the incredible staff. If you ever need a place to stay in Napa ... Avia is it.

We couldn't pass up visiting Fisherman's Wharf - it's one of those must-see tourist areas. It has all the typical tourist stops and shops. It does boasts beautiful views across the bay, of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate bridge. You can also visit with the sea lions at the end of Pier 39, who are super cute I might add. Ghiradelli Square is a shining star here. The restoration and repurposing of this building is spot on. It now features shops, restaurants and 3 Ghiradelli ice cream and chocolate shops. Plus, they give you free chocolate when you visit the shops. It's worth the walk. We did a tour of Alcatraz Island and it was well worth it. Such an interesting piece of history. The audio tour was narrated by former guards and former prisoners which added a nice, authentic element to the entire experience.

TO SEE MANY MORE PICTURES -- CLICK HERE!!

Overall, just a spectacular vacation. I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to create so many beautiful memories with my sweet husband. This will be a vacation we remember forever. Safe and happy travels everyone!