Midwest Road Trip

It’s been awhile since I posted last, and I thought I would share with you my last travel adventure before I embark on another trip! This past September my friend Matt visited from England, and we embarked on a Midwest road trip. Our first stop was in the windy city of Chicago, Illinois. I love Chicago for many reasons, their deep-dish pizza, architecture, Lake Michigan, and their great museums.  We had to go to see “The Bean” or Cloud Gate sculpture in Millennium Park. It’s fun to watch everyone interact with the reflective sculpture.

We spent a good amount of time taking photos of the sculpture and around the park.  We visited The Art Institute of Chicago, one of my favorite art museums in the country.  We walked along Lake Michigan and Navy Pier. I introduced Matt to Giordano’s Chicago style pizza. I’m getting hungry just thinking about the mozzarella deliciousness. (future note to self…share a small!)  On our last night in the city, we went up the Willis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower) that was only a few blocks from where we were staying. We rode 103 floors up to view the city from the Skydeck.  It was a little nerve wracking to step out on to the ledge that hangs out from the side of the building. I didn’t stand on it for very long!  The Willis Tower offered us an impressive view of the city all lit up at night.  

The next day, we left for New Buffalo, Michigan.  New Buffalo is an idyllic little town that sits right above Indiana. It was my first visit, and I enjoyed its charming atmosphere. We spent a few days relaxing at the beach. We borrowed some bicycles from the place we were staying and rode to the little downtown. Downtown New Buffalo has lots of good ice cream places and little shops. We had lunch at this great place in New Buffalo called The Stray Dog. The restaurant had a great atmosphere and menu! Throughout the restaurant you will find portraits of dogs and twinkly lights on tree branches. You can also eat on the roof. I had some delicious veggie tacos that I would love to recreate sometime.  New Buffalo is definitely a place I would love to revisit. We also made a stop in Indianapolis to visit some friends of mine for an Indianapolis Indians baseball game. It was Matt’s first American baseball game, and I couldn’t think of anything more American than hot dogs and a baseball game. Keep an eye out for more travel adventures!

Vintage Mirror DIY

Hello friends!

Today I'm sharing one of my recent DIY projects! If you'll remember last month I was looking for an antique mirror to hang above my new dresser, and I found one I instantly fell in love with. I loved the Baroque feel to it and the imperfections on the glass. I have always wanted to try gold leaf, and I thought that it would be perfect for bringing out the details in my old mirror. I found a gold leaf kit on Amazon, and it came with everything I would need for my project.

That's me in the stripes!!

First, I sanded and cleaned off the mirror. Next, since the frame was made out of a porous material (wood), I put a coat of a clear acrylic paint medium I had on hand. This can be purchased at an art supply store. You need to make sure that your material that you are putting the gold leaf on is sealed up if it's porous. After, that dried I put a coat of the gilding sizing that came in my kit on the spots I wanted to be gold. I applied a thin layer and let it sit for about an hour. You want the sizing to feel tacky to your touch. When it reaches this state you're ready to apply your gold leaf. The gold leaf comes in sheets, and I found it was best to do this quickly. I then took the little brush that came with the kit and brushed down the gold leaf and brushed away the excess gold leaf bits. Save your gold leaf bits! They might come in handy later to fill in a spot or two that you've missed! After I covered my surface that I wanted to gold leaf, I took the cotton cloth from my kit and rubbed it over the gold leaf until it was smooth and shiny. I left it to sit over night and the next day I put another coat of my clear acrylic on to protect the gold leaf. The rest of the mirror I painted with some leftover white house paint and also covered with a coat of the clear acrylic for a glossy finish.

Before

This delightful video is great for demonstrating the process. They also give great ideas of things to gold leaf!

You can even buy edible gold leaf for food!

What to gold leaf next???

xoxo,

Julia

Link Love & Travel Adventures in Nashville

Hello friends,

It's been awhile since I posted last! My apologies! I'm making up for it by combining two posts in one! I thought I'd share with you my weekend travel adventures! This past weekend I headed to Nashville, Tennessee for a girl's weekend with two of my friends. I've only been to Nashville a couple of times for day shopping trips, but I've never spent time exploring the city. This trip to Nashville was definitely about the food. We collectively decided to eat our way through the city. We arrived to Nashville late Friday evening and ended up in the 5 Points neighborhood for some deliciously doughy garlic knots and a fresh mozzarella pizza at Five Points Pizza. 

Saturday morning we headed to Fido  in the Hillsboro Village for breakfast and right away I realized this was a popular spot for breakfast. The long line that wrapped around the counter moved surprisingly fast, and it was well worth the wait! I had an iced Local Latte and the Village Scramble, which consisted of scrambled eggs, spinach, tomatoes, portobello, onions, feta, salsa, sour cream, and served up with some tiny tortillas and hash browns! (Nom! Getting hungry??) After our breakfast we walked around the neighborhood and found ourselves in a little shop called Pangaea. The store is filled with jewelry, clothing, quirky gifts, and I really felt like I could have easily spent hours in there looking at everything!

In the afternoon we headed to Centennial Park to see Nashville's Parthenon which is a full-scale replica of the original in Athens, Greece. Although, I have visited the original in Athens, this was still pretty impressive. I was really impressed by the 42-foot statue of the goddess Athena that is housed in the Parthenon. The Parthenon also features some casts of the sculptures from the original Parthenon that are housed in the British Museum in London.

After our tour of the Parthenon we decided to check out the food trucks that were parked in Centennial Park. I love a good food truck and as luck would have it this was the last Saturday this summer for the food trucks. I was really excited to find a lovely mint green truck parked there selling Jenis Splendid Ice Cream. I've always wanted to try Jenis  because of their unexpected flavor combinations. I paired a scoop of Salty Carmel with possibly the best dark chocolate ice cream I've ever had. It was rich, creamy, and delicious. I even stole a bite of my friend's Wildberry Lavender, not your typical ice cream flavor which I loved! We also had to try Retro Sno for some shaved ice. I had the Vanilla with Toasted Coconut! So refreshing!



To get a feel of the country boot wearing side of Nashville we headed downtown Saturday to visit some honky tonk bars. Downtown was bustling and full of bars with live country bands and a sea of plaid shirts and cowboy boots. We were told by a local to spend some time in Roberts Western World, where you can get a cold PBR, a fried bologna sandwich, and a Moon Pie. The bar defiantly had a lot of character!

Well, that was my little taste of Nashville. I'm sure there are lots more great places to discover! I would love to hear your feed back! Where is your favorite spot in Nashville?

Now for some Link Love!

The July issue of Matchbook Mag is live!

Need an idea of something to bake for 4th of July? This Blueberry Slab Pie sounds heavenly!

I'd love to splurge on an ONA bag for my camera.

Beautiful beach paintings by Teil Duncan.

Hope you all have a fun and safe 4th of July tomorrow!!

xoxo,

Julia

Spicy Mango Guacamole

Summer has officially arrived, and I thought I would share with you one of my favorite recipes that is perfect for summertime. I've been told I make a mean guacamole. I thought I would change up my recipe and add a little sweet to my spicy guac. Here's how I did it:

Ingredients:

• 3 ripe Hass avocados (avocados will be a bright green and darken to almost a black color when ripened and will be soft to the touch)
• 2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
• 1 small red onion, diced
• 1 ripe mango, peeled and diced
• 1 clove of garlic, minced 
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. red cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp. cumin
• 1 lime juiced, use about 1tbs. (a lemon will work too!)

Throw it Together Like This:

Grab a medium to large size bowl to make your guac in. The photo above is a single serving of the guac. You'll end up with lots more guac than this! First, scoop out the avocado into your bowl and pour  on your fresh squeezed lemon juice or lime juice (this is to keep the avocado from becoming a disgusting mucky brown color and once it turns this color no one will want to eat it) Mash up your avocados. I found that a potato masher gets the job done. Sprinkle in your spices and sea salt and mix it up. Finally, add in your diced up tomatoes, red onion, mango, stir and let sit for about an hour at room temperature to let the flavors meld. Keep bowl covered tightly with plastic wrap to keep it's green color. Serve with some tortilla chips. I like to serve mine with blue corn chips. 

Bon appétit! or more appropriately in Spanish, ¡buen provecho

xoxo,

Julia 

Wednesday Link Love

Hello friends!

Is it just me or is the month of June going by fast?! This past weekend my gold leaf kit arrived, and I'm looking forward to getting started on my antique mirror project this weekend! Hopefully, I will have a post on that soon! Here are some great links to brighten your Wednesday.

A garden you rarely have to water!

I made these crunchy asparagus fries for my Dad on Father's Day. They were delicious!

This would be a cool way to travel!

Diy friendship bracelets. I've been collecting these on recent trips!

The reason I love stripes! They are an essential.

xoxo

Julia

Wednesday Link Love

Hello friends!

It was so sunny and nice this past Saturday! I ventured to New Harmony, IN with my friend Martha for some antiquing. I was on the search for an antique mirror and ended up finding one, along with one or two other items! My mirror will be featured in an upcoming diy post! Stay tuned!

          I took this photo in New Harmony. It reminded me of the ceiling of the Guggenheim in NYC.

We also hit up a library book sale, the New Harmony Contemporary Art Gallery, and stopped by Bliss, a new artisan ice cream shop for a cool treat. The Red Velvet ice cream was delicious!

Now for some lovely links!

Do you sit at a desk all day? I do.Try these stretches to relieve some tension.

I just signed up for Julep! One of my friends loves it. I thought I'd give it a try. Click here to sign up! Your first box is free! (Practically free...shipping is not included with your freebie. There's always a catch, isn't there?)

I stumbled upon this lovely French blog Cachemire & Soie. I love her city guide of San Francisco. It makes me want to travel! Read her post here (Disclaimer! It's in French, but there is an English translation option.)

xoxo,

Julia

P.S. Stripes & Charms is now on Twitter! Click on the icon on the sidebar to follow!

Don't be shy! Leave a comment, question, or whatever is on your mind below.

Travel Adventures: London & Cornwall

For this post I thought I’d share with you some highlights from my past trip I took to England.

It has become a tradition that I go somewhere every year for my birthday. I started this a few birthdays ago with a trip to Las Vegas, and I have kept the tradition going. This past October, I celebrated my 26^th birthday in London with my good friend, Matt. Matt is from Cornwall, which is known for its beautiful beaches. We traveled there for the last part of the trip.

This was my first solo adventure overseas, and I had wanted to make the trip for quite some time.  My birthday seemed like a perfectly good excuse for some world traveling! I found a modern and stylish flat on Airbnb. I wanted to have the experience of living in London for the week (also a washer and dryer!). It was actually more affordable than staying in a hotel, and it had all the amenities of home (plus a Nespresso!)!

                                      (This is me at the Newark Airport bound for London)

I arrived in London and my first challenge was the Tube. I had purchased my Oyster card ahead of time and after a moment of brief confusion, I decided to get on and hope that I was going the right direction (I was!). The Tube is actually a really easy way to get around the city. Naturally, when I got on the pavement it started to rain, but fortunately it was a short walk to the flat, and I packed an umbrella.

My friendly host greeted me at the door and gave me a tour around the flat and the most ancient skeleton key I have ever seen. I didn’t venture very far  from the flat for the rest of the day because I spent most of the plane ride catching up on movies I had missed at the theatre, and I was exhausted! The next morning, I woke up to the chimes of Big Ben (the clock tower was only a few blocks away!) well rested and ready to explore London.

After I did this…

I was ready to go. 

I had always (since 1999) wanted to go to Notting Hill to walk down Portobello Road on Saturday during the antique market. I got up early that morning and found the nearby tube station was closed for a scheduled maintenance, so I took the bus instead. It was a long bus ride, but I got to see a lot of the city that I would have missed had I taken the Tube.  I wasn’t quite sure how to get to Portobello Road, but the people out that morning seemed to all be headed the same way so I decided to follow. The street was lined for what seemed like miles with stalls of antiques, produce, clothes, bread, and pastries. It was a visual feast. There was so much to look at and take in. I bought the most decadent looking donuts I’ve ever seen. They were covered in sprinkles and filled with a plethora of cream filling and jams. I have a weakness for donuts. By noon, the road was crowded with people, and I was glad I had arrived early that morning!

Sunday, Matt arrived and I met up with him at Victoria Station. That evening we went to Notting Hill and wandered around until we ended up in Kensington where we had dinner at a little Italian restaurant. After dinner, we headed over to the Coronet cinema to watch Skyfall. The Coronet is a charming old theatre (also in the film Notting Hill!). We grabbed some salty popcorn and settled in  the balcony to watch the film.

For my birthday we headed to Southwark where we wandered around taking photos and getting lost down tiny streets. Borough Market was one of my favorite places we visited. It’s basically a gourmet farmer’s market, a foodie’s mecca. Lots of delicious things to sample and buy!

We picked up a box of these delicious macarons.

Then we headed to the Tate Modern to look at some art….

Another favorite spot in London was Hyde Park.  We made friends with a very large pelican and paddled around on a paddleboat on The Serpentine.

Before leaving London we took a night ride on the London Eye, London’s giant Ferris wheel.  The Eye gave us a great view of the city all lit up along the Thames River.

On Thursday we left London by coach to head to Cornwall for the last part of the trip. It was a nice change of pace from the city. I stayed at a cozy B&B in Plymouth for my stay. While in Cornwall we visited St. Ives, a charming seaside town filled with art galleries and a gorgeous beach. I really loved St. Ives and we ended up visiting again the next day. We also visited Saint Michael’s Mount and were able to walk out during low tide to the mount.

At the end of my stay, I took the train back to London before heading across the Atlantic. I was sad to be on my way home, and it will always be a memorable trip. I wish I could have stayed longer! I look forward to my next travel adventure!

*Other possible title for this blog was going to be: The Week I Didn't Realize Kevin Spacey was my Neighbor.

Wednesday Link Love

It's Wednesday and that means that we've made it halfway through the work week!! I thought I'd share some of my favorite things with you that I've found.

Yesterday, the June issue of Matchbook Mag went live!

which led me to listen to this....

I enjoy the Simple Things.

How to properly wrap a burrito so it doesn't fall apart. This is valuable information!

I love this polish!

This adorableness is my dog, Chanel.



Have a great Wednesday!

xoxo,

Julia

How to Create an Anthro Inspired Dresser

I love Anthropologie’s furniture (and just about everything else they are selling), but it's a little out of my current budget. I’ve been looking for a new dresser for quite sometime, but for the price of a new piece of furniture I was not in love with anything I had found. I love unique pieces with plenty of charm, so I began my hunt for an old dresser to redo with an Anthro feel. I found this really well made dresser at a consignment shop, and for $168 (the owner gave me 10% off!) I could not pass it up. My favorite part about this dresser is that it’s made in my home state of Indiana! I knew with a little love and a fresh coat of paint this dresser could be transformed into a one of a kind piece.

First, I sanded the dresser using an electric sander, but I also picked up a little medium sanding sponge ($2.97) for the nooks and crannies.

Next, I filled in some vintage ware and tear with wood filer and let it dry before sanding over it again, to get a nice smooth surface.

I decided on a bright coral color. I purchased a quart of Valspar Signature Semi-Gloss Tintable Paint and Primer in One ($15.74), in Tropical Bloom. Make sure you paint in a well-ventilated area; also it helps to not paint on a really hot, humid Indiana day. (below 80° F is best to allow the paint to properly dry). I used a synthetic angled paintbrush. It’s important to not go cheap on a brush. You want a brush with good bristles that won’t fall out and get stuck in your paint.

I painted a coat and let it dry for at least two hours or more before putting on another coat. About five coats of paint later (and a few days..I took a couple breaks..ok, so I took a lot of breaks..), I was finished. You many not need five coats of paint. It really depends on your aesthetics and the furniture you are painting.

Finally, I put a coat of polyurethane gloss over the dresser for a shiny finish (two coats were recommended). I replaced the old drawer fixtures with bright green knobs for extra quirk. I purchased eight at Hobby Lobby for $12.00. I like fun, surprising details, so I lined the drawers with a fun printed shelf liner ($5.99 for 2 rolls at TJMAX) to match the knobs. If you’ve been adding up, the total cost of my dresser project was a little over $200. It was a really fun and easy project, and I look forward to redoing some more furniture in the future!









DIY Dresser Project, a photo by juliadevine on Flickr.

xoxo,


Julia