wild excitement

Happy Monday!

Have you all seen those commercials for "The Shops" at Target? Those geniuses curated items from some of their favorite shops around the country and brought their merchandise to the stores. Clothing from Miami, candy from San Francisco, and house goods from Connecticut are just a few of the things they feature. The candy shop had me at hello because of their salt water taffy. (for more info, click here)

In other news, please tell me you saw the story of the lady getting mauled by the two cheetahs in South Africa. Just another reason why you DON'T TRY TO CUDDLE WITH FEROCIOUS BEASTS! The best part is, the husband doesn't help her, he just keeps taking pictures of the attack. Ridiculous. 

Alright, on to Instagram Mondays:

1-3: a little view into my work wear. yes, i do wear big necklaces a lot. deal with it.

4. obama was in richmond. word.

5. part of the rva skyline

6. first friday artwalk on broad street- glowing sidewalk awesomeness.

7. bands & spoken word a block or two away from our apartment.

8. yours truly back in the day. 

9. clouds rolling in to FINALLY break the humidity.

How was your weekend? 

(here's hoping there were no cheetahs involved)

pssst. follow me on Instagram HERE!
psssst x 2. tomorrow i'm sharing my strawberry basil lemonade recipe. tune in. 

xo, lp

Insta Love

How is it Monday again?

My parents were in Virginia this past week, and our days were filled with wine tasting, beach strolling, Richmond touring, gallery visiting, and plenty of eating. I've been pretty MIA on blog commenting, Twitter, etc- and I can't wait to go over all your posts that I missed last week!! 

In other news, I finally figured out that Instagram is available for Android users. HECK. YES. I finally get why everyone is so in love with it. I just got an account this weekend, and added a feed on the blog:

Finding me should be easy because I've got the same old name as Twitter, @lpodlich! 

Now that I'm in with the uber cool crowd, I can finally link up with a {little} dash of ash - here's a taste of my weekend via Instagram!

1. stained glass ceiling in the jefferson hotel

2. new RVA murals during first friday art walk

3. three people i love. (mom/dad/michael)

4. old wheel in shockhoe bottom

5. japanese garden at maymont estate

6. a quick limonata on a hot day

7. james river rapids

8. gallery showing on broad street

9. new additions to the jewelry tree (inlc. diy neon necklace)

Hope you all had a lovely weekend

Have Instagram too? Leave a comment with your handle so I can find you!

xo, lp

A Brush With Celebrities

You know them, I know them.... 

      Sherry and John from Young House Love. Just in case you live under a DIY blog rock, they are the sweethearts behind the blog I mention all too often around here. You can find them any given day tearing up their house, stenciling a wall, reupholstering chairs, or just being fun and quirky with their adorable daughter Clara and their little dog Burger. Back when we lived in the Midwest, YHL was one of the first blogs I ever started following, and have stuck with them because of their real, honest, and refreshing point of view. They keep it real, and post not only about their amazing DIY projects, but also what it's like in the blogging world for them. Their recent posts about what real life is like for them seen here for Sherry ($herdog) and John (J-Boom) as well as dealing with criticism in the blog world here . 

      I follow a ton of blogs, but often get sick of most of them because of their:

a. constant plugs for sponsors that are somehow ALWAYS positive about EVERY product.

b. "i swear i'm normal and live on a budget but only own $800 purses and have a 10 carat rock on my finger" act.

c. incorrect use of "your" and "you're" (yes, really).

    YHL is one of the blogs that has an even balance of DIY, personal life, adorable baby pictures, and honest, hilarious stories. When John and Sherry posted that they'd be at a Gallery5 in Richmond as special guests for an improv show I knew I had to go. (Gallery5 is conveniently a block away from our apartment!) So Michael, Matthew and I went to check it out. 

Oh. My. Gosh.

HILARIOUS.

Sherry and John would tell a funny story and then the improv cast would take the stage and use bits and pieces from the story to make acts up on the spot.  (Sorry for the bad pictures. Cell phone camera + dark theater = bummer photos)

 In the final act John even got up there to show some improv skills. Let's just say at one point he was "knit cop" wearing a full body hand-knitted outfit...and a few minutes later he was Tyra Banks. Yeah. He went there.

 After the show I wasn't going to join the line to go up and talk to them, but Michael reminded me that if I didn't, I would regret it. (Unlike with the Pin Jang canisters, I listened to him). The blogging world is strange. Some of these people I've never met and probably will never meet, but I feel like I know them! Kind of creepy, but kind of sweet. When it was our turn to go up it was actually like I did know them. After a quick hug from Sherry we got right to talking...as you can see here...full hand movements and everything...

Oh, and when I first saw Sherry I said to Michael "Oh my gosh, she's so pretty! And so tiny!" He reminded me I'm no taller than she is...as evidenced by this picture:

They were ridiculously sweet and were excited to learn we had just moved to Richmond. Sherry thinks I look like her bff Katie from Bower Power.

What do you all think?

Thanks John and Sherry for being such down to earth, fun people!

60 cents of awesome

    I love going to antique stores, and one thing I'm always looking for is cool, old looking mason jars or glass canisters. Normally I end up finding really cool ones, but the stores are charging ridiculous prices for them, so I end up walking out empty handed. 

    The other day on my way to work I saw a garage sale - yes, it's still in the 60s in Richmond, so people still have garage sales- and had to stop by. Then the magic happened: I saw these HUGE glass golden harvest canisters. Now, I've seen these go for upwards of $15-$20 at antique shops, but when I saw them unmarked in a big pile of dirty old dishes and tea cups I had a feeling these good old folks might not realize just what they had. At first when I asked the price for all three they looked like they just wanted to get rid of them for no cost to me- but settled on 20 cents a piece. 20. Cents. 

Here they are:

 And now, after a good cleaning and filled with some necessities:

So there you go. $65 dollars worth of canisters for 60 cents!

(oh, and yes, popcorn is one of the necessities, in case you were wondering)

Buggin' Out

Virginia has a lot of the same bugs as the Midwest. You know, your bees, your mosquitoes, your spiders- the usual suspects. I can live with those bugs. I mean, I'll admit I still slightly freak out like a little child when a hornet gets close to me- but then again, who likes something with a needle for a butt an inch from their face?

One bug I've never seen in the Midwest that I know are in abundance down here is the cockroach. I'm not saying they don't exist in the Midwest- but I looked into it, and evidently the southeastern states of the USA have a much bigger infestation of cockroaches. COOL. I haven't been around those buggers since I lived in Peru- and let me tell you- I have zero interest in moving on my tip toes to avoid the skittering creatures all over the street EVER. AGAIN.

So far, the only one we've seen in our apartment was a dead one in the pantry when we moved in. I will Lysol our place day and night to try to avoid them, trust me. I'm told however, they can practically survive nuclear attacks, so a using a lemon scented cleaner against them is like using a Vikings player 10 year old boy to block Clay Matthews. So if a live one happens to weasel in to our place, I will let you know immediately - or at least immediately after I let Michael go at it with a baseball bat.

We have seen some other creepy looking kind of bug on our walls:

Aaaand a nice close up:

I don't know what it is, and I sure as heck don't want to. Normally I'd be all "oh let's just catch it in some tupperware and put it back outside so it can live a long happy life with its bug friends!", but with these guys, they are wayyyy too gross to let near my tupperware. Thus, I let this happen:

Big strong man vs Bug

So that's what's up with us this weekend in Richmond. Bug killin'. Be jealous.

More RVA

Well, now that you've all gotten a taste of Michael blogging, I'm guessing y'all don't have any interest in hearing from be again, but here goes. We wandered around Richmond a little more today, including a visit to the Capitol. Since it's Friday, let's turn this into a drinking game: any time you see a bronzed statue, take a shot. Hope you all have a bottle handy.

City Hall

Stonewall Jackson

Washington + buddies

State Capitol Building

State Capitol from another angle

Pretty, eh?

Best part about living in the Arts District- all the normally ugly newspaper and electrical metal boxes are painted! 

IDK? My BFF Robert E. Lee?

Alright, it's time to make my first appearance on this blog thing.  Yes, this is Michael.  Shocking, I know, but there's a catch.  This post is all about history!  Yay!  I know you are all as excited as I am to begin, so let's get started!

As we reached the end of the VCU campus we came across this little gem.  If you're thinking quietly to yourself  "hey, that looks a lot like Confederate general and cavalry commander J.E.B. Stuart" you are absolutely correct!  Laura and I were relieved to learn this, because this is clearly not the 60 foot Lee statue we had heard about.  

Moving on, down Monument Avenue, we finally reached our original destination:

The Robert E. Lee statue.  The car and random student give some perspective as to how massive this work really is.  For you nerds out there, Lee served as the commanding general of the Confederate army during the American Civil War.  He is remembered here, in the former Capital of the Confederacy, atop his trusty steed, Traveller.

Well, that's all for now.  Back to hanging out with my BFF Robert E. Lee!

Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives

We get basic cable for free in our new place, but the channels are all wonky. Food Network is one of the few channels we get consistently here, and the thing they've been playing lately is Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives marathons.

Since Guy Fieri is our new close friend via the TV, we decided to check out if there were any Richmond sites he'd visited and loved. (BTW, creepy picture of him courtesy of Food Network) Sure enough, just a short walk away from our apartment is The Village Cafe - endorsed by Guy for having an awesome all-day breakfast and super killer onion rings.

We headed on in and right away dug the cool water glasses... or should I say personal water pitchers:

 Our waitress was kind of non-existent, but at least the food came out incredibly fast! I got the Spinach and Feta Hot Croissant which was ridiculously gigantic. This picture doesn't even do it justice:

Michael got the Fried Chicken Club - with the onion rings Guy Fieri suggested, of course. It had everything he enjoys most: bacon, fried chicken, and cheese.

I'm not gonna lie, those onion rings were daaaaaamn good. Not only were they gigantic, but also served with a delicious homemade ranch-ish dipping sauce. Michael snapped a few pics to try to show their size- I'm pretty sure I could have slipped them over my hand and worn the things as big, greasy bangles.

 With so much food we had a billion fries left over that now sit in our fridge and wait for a tipsy Michael to enjoy later tonight. Overall, delicious meal -we'll definitely be going back to try the malts and breakfast soon!