b l o g o r e l l i

Curb Appeal: Southern Recurrence

It's Friday again, and with no more MeMes and The Medal Round dormant until the Beijing Games start in August, I've decided to slide Curb Appeal into this plum end-of-week slot.

Today, I'm revisiting a fairly recent adventure destination to find my property du jour: Asheville! In the "Paris of the South" and location of my 30th birthday solo reflection trip sits the adorable gut rehab at 11 Hanover Street. This gut rehab is basically brand new inside and has lots of charm but also lots of new IKEA goodness in the kitchen. The house is located in up-and-coming West Asheville, which is a funky little enclave close to downtown but with plenty of its own 'vibe'.

A little history: back when my Nona started getting very ill, I used to peruse Craigslist Asheville late at night for houses as an escape from reality. This was also a period of extreme indecision and a more-than-a-little-blue depression in my life so I loved thinking that I could start anew in a funky Southern city. I became totally obsessed with this house (11 my lucky number, so what does that say about 111?), kept looking at its website, and even called to make an appointment to see it when I was down for my vacation (I never made it there, unfortunately.)

The house was on the market for (I think) $174,000 and sold for (based on a real estate site I found as it's no longer listed) $164,000. I sort of, as Cho and I say when we hear about an amazing place for an unbelievable price, threw up a little in my mouth to see that my "dream" had sold for less than half the basic MA hovel would go for these days. Luckily, I have the photos that I saved from the listing, and even more fun, the Flickr Photoset that I found of the sisters+dad trio who renovated  the house!

At only about 2 hours away by plane from The Bean...might we make it back to Asheville in the future?

Happy Day To Cho!

Today is Cho's birthday -- yea! As a preamble, last night I planned a surprise girls' night out. First, we went to Inman Oasis for an hour soak in the Japanese wooden tub. Though no 10,000 Waves or Shoji Retreat, the facilities were  clean and our time there relaxing. We then proceeded to the bar at Oleana to wait for our table outside.

There's more to this story...but I'll have to wait until I get home tonight to tell because lunch hour is over.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHO -- Glasses Up to You!!!

FFF (Flickr + Freeze Frame)

Hi everyone,

Just a quick note that I'm in the process of transitioning the photo albums over to Flickr, which has come a long way since I attempted this feat the last time. For those curious about what I've been up to lately, here are a few albums to satiate the cat-like inquisitions:

Charles River Saturday
One  of the first sunny spring Saturdays, the Charles, and BBK

Frankie Nacho's Half Birthday
Six months into his mid(?)-thirties means Boston Bowl and fruity cocktails in honor of the man who once ordered a "Scarlett O'Hara" with a straight face.

Vermont Country Weekend
The ChoBos, HalfPintCars, Murforellis, BBK and Bump head up to Okemo for some cheese, drinking, and relaxation at my boss' ski house.

Letterpress n' Things

A little over a month ago, I finally got to take a drive out the Northern MA way to visit Letterpress Things. The morning itself was slightly grey and the drive a bit monotonous, but well worth the effort when I met John Barrett, proprietor of all things letterpressed. On certain weekends, he opens his third floor warehouse space up so that typophiles (is that even a word? Well, you know what I mean) like myself can sift through his giant collection of type cuts, presses, cases, and supplies. The Prof and I have tried to make the trip to LPT two times before, once thwarted by other plans and once by a snowstorm. We lucked out this time, though, because the morning we did happen to go to Chicopee, it was just us and John for most of our three hour visit.

John runs a printshop during the week, but LPT is his real passion, and he not only gave us the full tour but also did an impromptu demonstration back in the print shop, where we inked up a press and I got to pull my first print! Luckily, The Prof was there to photograph the whole momentous occasion...

Here's a little description of our process (I'm remembering the best I can, so please excuse if something is in the wrong order.)

Step 1: Pick out something to print
In our case, John chose a kicky little parrot, which we ended up using over my Swiss-looking cut of two children because it had better metal.

Step 2: Lock the type into the case
This step involves arranging a bunch of little pieces of wood to steady the type (or parrot) and locking everything tight with a key.

Step 3: Ink the plate
Pretty self-explanatory, except that the ink was pretty sticky and concentrated. Luckily, I have a light touch.

Ink smear on plate, how very Pollock, no?

After spreading the ink on the plate, you've got to turn the plate and run the rollers over it a bunch of times to get everything coated to the right consistency. John said that it kind of sounded like rolling wet paint onto a wall (it did) and that as a person letterpresses more, s/he knows when the ink is exactly at the perfect consistency by sound alone.

Step 4: Lock in the chase
Basically, we got the whole metal/wood thingy-ma-bob and slid it into the press.

John makes an adjustment to the guides so we don't crush the expensive little pieces in the big metal press.

Inking the type/parrot...

Step 5: The proof
Before you just "take it there", a proof is pressed to check ink coverage and positionng. This is when I first got to see the positive impression of our parrot; I'll call him Morty.

Step 6: (Deep Breath) Pulling a print

Here I am, pulling my first print of Morty. I guess most people don't have a photographer front and center to capture this moment, but luckily The Prof was there. Now we can look at this foto and remember the exact second when I stopped sinking all of my auxiliary money into Catherine Holm pots from Ebay and instead started amassing letterpress things.

Me and Morty; could I look more eerily excited?

Morty immediately after his "birth."

Karate Kid and my letterpress Mr. Miyagi (he said I was a natural.)

I loved my time at Letterpress Things and am planning to buy a press there, a little Kelsey that is in the process Mr. Barrett and start my new hobby -- as an amateur letterpresser. Wootie-woot!!!

Look, we even made the LPT blog! (click on "continue" to read, and look at some more fotos of LPT here.)

Hotdogs, TOO?

As if the low(er) housing prices and quaint seaside charm aren't enough to recommend Rockport as a possible place the buy in MA, now I find out that the town has Top Dog, "a truly unique 'have to stop'  hot dog shop located on historic Bearskin Neck in the old fishing village of Rockport, Massachusetts."

What hot dog stand isn't a 'have to stop"?!?

The Prof is working with one of the owners (Eliza Lucas) of Top Dog on a project, and we have a weekend field trip with the ChoBos planned for an upcoming weekend. I love that all the menu items are named after dog breeds, and also that the business plan was inspired by the PBS documentary A Hot Dog Program.

The only question that remains is, do I order the Boston Terrier, the Shaggy Dog...or both?