Phish... and a restoration???

Well, here we are in the new year!  Hi!  Are you loving 2012?

I had the nicest Christmas/New Years break with Jimmy.  (yea, I know... I talk about Jimmy all the time.  What are you gonna do?  I'm going to show you guys a house, so I get to talk about Jimmy as much as I want.  A deal's a deal! -- see the results.)

We started out our visit in North Carolina where his mom's family lives.  We went to his aunt's house for lunch.  You may remember her from the kitchen she designed in Jimmy's grandma's house.  She has a great eye for design, and I was really looking forward to seeing her house.  Her home used to belong to Jimmy's grandmother's sister (great aunt?).  She lovingly restored/renovated it and did an amazing job!  There were so many unique things about the house I had to take pictures so I could share them with you.  I found out later my camera was actually on the brink of death, so forgive me if these pictures are not my best.  One more side note...  Jimmy's aunt had an awesome lunch for us.  It was so great that I got distracted and forgot to take a picture of the kitchen.  #totalfail  Don't blame me though, I was on vacation and didn't have my head totally in the game.  Ha.

This is the foyer, which I love.  Why?  I love a glass front door.  It's nice to be able to open the wood door and see out to the front yard.  I also like the wood floors.  The man in the picture is Jimmy's grandfather.  Unfortunately he died before I got to meet him, but everyone in the family raves about how kind he was.

This is the other side of the foyer.  I was really drawn to the bronze wallpaper.  I tried to get a close up of it...

Aren't those pretty imperfections?

This is the formal living room.  I love those bay windows.  They looked like iron to be, but I am not positive.  You may notice Jimmy's sisters in this photo :)

This is the fireplace in the living room.  I loved the carvings on the mantel!

I really like the dining room a lot!  The China Cabinets probably had the most space of any I have ever seen.

See?

Here is the solarium.  Loving the oversized windows and brick floors.  You guys know I am a sucker for brick floors.  Duh.

His aunt told me that she chose these Christmas decorations to echo the bronze in the foyer.  How clever is that?  I would never have thought of it and really admire the fact that she did.  The decorations look amazing.  Let's walk outside.

This is the other side of the window we were just looking through...

and here is the back patio.  Is that flagstone?  Or maybe bluestone?  It looks great.  I love the size of the stone.

Here is a view of the home from the pond in the back yard.  They put in a lot of landscaping that all looks so natural and lush (even in December!).

More landscape and the pond :)

Lets head back in show I can show you my favorite room!

We are heading up the stairs.  I put in this picture of the window seat because that's Jimmy's favorite place in the house.  He said he would hang out there a lot when he was a little boy.... awww.

We end in my favorite room.  She vaulted this ceiling and added the beams, which really opened up the space.  The recessed lighting is such a nice touch because it really lightens up the room.  We had such a nice time sitting and talking in this room, and before we left we even got to have a fire in that great fireplace!  Jimmy's sisters hung out on that bench seat in the corner.  I love it now, but wouldn't that have been such a cool nook as a kid?  Jimmy's family has been visiting this house for their whole lives and were kind enough to share all their childhood memories with me.  I can imagine this would have been quite the place to explore as a child.

Here is a closer look at the craftsmanship on the ceiling.  They even had a stained glass window made and put up in the corner.  If my camera had not been failing every other shot I would have had a picture of it for you.  Sorry!  Just believe me that it was beautiful.

Here is the other side of the room, which had great buil-ins!  If I were in high school/college I would have done all my studying here... it just makes me feel studious.

A close up of the fireplace where we had the fire...

This is the coolest balcony off the room.  It was warm enough to open the doors and go out there for a little while, which was so pleasant!

Finally we have Jimmy just doing a little hanging out in the room.  Can't you imagine him there as a child?  No?  Let me see if I can help you out a little...

How's that?  I KNOW, RIGHT!!!  CUTEST BABY EVER!  Thanks for letting me use that picture :)  And thank you to Jimmy's aunt for having us over for a wonderful holiday lunch!  I love your house!

Moving along...  What did we do the rest of the break?

Phish MSG night 1...

Phish MSG night 2...

Phish MSG night 3...

Phish NYE and MSG...

And my new years dress!!!  Success! And see how I am trying to make my arm look skinny?  Success.

Did I have fun?  Yes.  Am I glad it's over?  No.  What was my favorite song they played?  46 days.  What song got stuck in my head the most?  Quinn the Eskimo.  What was my favorite set?  NYE set 3.  "How were you able to make it through four nights?  Didn't you get tired?"  Yes...  but it was totally worth it!   Am I glad Jimmy took me?  Absolutely.  Thank you so much honey.  I had a wonderful time.

HAPPY 2012 everybody!!!

Let's sell some houses this year!

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Frazier and Bodin + Georgia's Best Sausage (Striplings)

Houses and Sausage?  The perfect combination! Let's start with the house.

I shot the coolest house the other day.  It's in Dunwoody and is listed by Cia Cummings and Jan Hart.  Address: 590 Old Cobblestone Drive.

This is a Frazier and Bodin home was originally built in 1939, and architect Stephen and Kerry Fuller has renovated it beautifully.

This foyer is breathtaking with the curved ceiling and beautiful floors.

The solarium, located through the foyer, is perfect and allows for so much natural light.

My favorite thing about this house is that it has all the historical elements, but the interior design is perfect for today... very modern.

This dining room is a perfect example of that...  loving the color choice.

Beautiful detail shot that really shows off the trim and the fireplace.

No joke, this might be my favorite room in the house.  It is the wet bar/catering kitchen that runs between the dinging room and the kitchen.  I really like the color of the cabinets and the countertops.  It feels very masculine.  I'm mad at myself for not taking a better detail shot.

Woah.  How beautiful is this?  I actually texted Jimmy and said it reminded me of his grandmother's kitchen (which is beautiful if you haven't checked it out).  I love: the arches, the island, the cabinets, the openness to breakfast room, the green cabinets, and the lights.

This view shows the archway into the kitchen and the base of the island.

And here you can see those green cabinets.  Aren't those to die for?

Can you believe it?  Octagon window cabinets!

How posh is this breakfast room?

Beautiful detail shot.

Here is a shot of the family room off the kitchen.  I'm loving that interior window at the top and the built in cabinets.

Does that rug have orange trim?  So cool!

Isn't this China cabinet a little jewel?  It reminds me of a Tiffany's box!

This is a photo of the hallway off the foyer that leads to the formal living room and the study.  Again, I'm loving the bold use of the green.

How great is this study?  The wood walls are magnificent.

And now we move into the formal living room.  Aren't the green accents amazing?  I think green and white is my favorite color combination.  For sure.

This is the hallway from the living room to the master.  This is such a peaceful photograph.  I really wanted to use this as the cover of "The Beacham Series," but couldn't get the crop quite right...

And finally we incorporate some blue in the master bedroom, which is nice.  I'm really digging the mirror over the bed.  It's the perfect scale... big bed, little mirror. :)

And we end here in the bathroom...  amazing!!!  How pretty is that light?

To see more photos of the home please check out the listing.  You won't regret it!

NEXT-

Striplings Sausage.  My mom has a lake house at Lake Blackshear, and we grew up going there.  One of the best parts about going to the lake is going to Striplings.  It's the best gas station/sausage store I've ever visited!

This weekend I took Jimmy to the lake for the first time (augghhh), and I INSISTED on us going to Striplings to grab the fixins for a pecan pie.  Jimmy LOVES coozies (I don't ask questions), and he was super impressed by the selection... you know what else they have a great selection of (transition?), SAUSAGE!

People from Atlanta are obsessed with it... literally.  Every time we go to the lake someone asks us to bring some back for them...

They have both ground and link sausage.  They als0 have mild medium and hot.  I have only ever tried the mild, but I hear the hot will almost make your head explode (which is a good thing for some people).

Here's a nice picture of Jimmy after we made our sausage selection.  1. I don't know why he put the sausage on the pie crust.... 2. I don't know why he makes that face.  Whatever, it's cute.

We also discovered this little gem!  Pork with Apple Cinnamon BBQ sauce!!!????!!!  Augh!!

And where else can you find 4 Whole Quail?  We would have gotten some if we weren't already having yummy deer meat and ribs for dinner.

There is also a really cool produce department where we grab stuff every time we go!  After this picture there were 3 less packages of asparagus up there.

And the best part about Striplings?  This is next door!

Happy Wednesday everybody!

Flocking to the Gorge...

The Gorge rocked.  It was better than I could have ever expected!  Camping?  Great!  Phish?  Awesome!  New friends?  Sweet! The Gorge?  Amazing!

We flew into Seattle and met up with our friends Dani, Ryan and Graham.  We rented a car and started the trip to George, Washington (where the Gorge is located.)

We stopped for a casual grocery store run on the way.  Dani (that's her on the right with her phone) and I thought we had the car packed pretty well, right?

Clearly the boys didn't think so....

Ha ha ha.  After they got it all fixed back the way they wanted we were back on the road.

We passed this beautiful windfarm on the way.  I have never seen one this close before, and it was beautiful...

I took this photo on the way into the Gorge on my phone.  I've never seen anything like this in my life.  It was so cool to look out and see all the boats (not in this picture).  I spend most of my time on Lake Lanier and Lake Blackshear, so this was very different :)

On the way in we stopped at this amazing hotel/winery.  It was called Cave B and was breathtaking.  It was about a mile and a half from our campsite.  I enjoyed the juxtaposition of the winery to the campsite.

This is a picture of the main building as we walked in from the parking lot.  I was immediately drawn to the roof line.  I did some research and found out that the hotel was designed by Olson Kundig Architects. Huge props to them.  The hotel had a very modern yet organic feel to it.... as if it belonged in the side of the mountain, but was still cutting-edge.

I grabbed this image of the view walking in through the vineyard from their website.  Do you love?

There were these very cool cliffside houses.

We of course walked up to the hotel to check it out.

I saw this very cool chandelier inside, which I would describe as industrial organic.  Sorry for the terrible picture.  I did not want to take all my camera equipment, but was impressed by how well my Canon Powershot preformed.  This being the one exception.

Then we walked over to the winery for a wine tasting.  Doesn't everyone do this before a Phish concert?  Ha ha.  I thought so.  It was such a great deal... we got 10 tastes for $6.  It was a great way to spend an hour.

Before we head over to the campsite I want to take a moment to tell you about Dani (as I always say... it's my blog so I can do that if I want.  You thought you were coming here to look at houses?  he he)

Dani is the girl on the right.  She came with her awesome boyfriend Ryan, and we had a blast hanging out with them.

Dani has the best style ever!  I was totally obsessed with the necklace she had on at the tasting.  She owns an hip boutique in Boston called Flock. I really want to go to Boston just to shop there, but I am afraid I would come home with no money.  I love her website and her style.

If you know about my bird obsession you may be able to figure out why I like her style and the name of her boutique. :)  So if any of you guys are from Boston please go check out her store.... and then report back and make me jealous!

Back to the story of the Gorge :)

We went over and picked out our campsite, which was toward the back and fairly quiet (luckily)....

This was the view in front of us.  Not bad, huh?

After we set up camp it was time to walk to the Gorge...  which was actually a pretty far walk....  and after you just didn't want to walk anymore you crested this hill and saw this...

Can you believe the view?  I have never seen anything like it.  Ever.  It's hard to get a sense of the scale because the stage is at the bottom of a huge hill, but the stage is massive.

This shows the perspective a little bit better.  :)

I love this picture.  For those of you who suffered with me through what to pack, what do you think?  Good choice?  It was a fairly painful packing process, but I was pretty happy with what I chose.  I even rocked those feather earrings, which is a fairly bold choice for me, but I thought it was appropriate.  :)

Saturday afternoon we hung out at the Cave B pool and just relaxed before the show Saturday night.

Both shows were absolutely amazing.  If you are into Phish at all I highly recommend downloading the shows.  Some of the best I've ever seen.

Thank you guys so much for putting up with my totally personal posts :)  You won't regret it!  I'll be back with an amazing house later this week.  Until then you can occupy your time on the Flock website...

Phish... and a kitchen?

I'm sure you guys were longing for a more personal post from me considering my recents writings have been strictly business.  Ha ha.  I'm kidding... kind of... This was one of the most serendipitously awesome weekends of my life.  Yes.  I said that.

Phish has been my favorite band since 2000.  I love them in a way I have never loved any other band.  I am not talented enough at writing to really explain why other than to say that they provide an entire community experience/language with their music... either you know what I mean or you don't.  If you don't then I would suggest listening and trying to figure out what I'm saying.

Side Note: This weekend I decided I'm in awe of people who can write about music.  They are equally as talented as the musicians.  It reminds me of the kid in Almost Famous.  I wish I could channel his talents for just a moment, but I guess I will have to just stick to writing about houses... at least you guys humor me by reading that :)

After two great shows in Atlanta last week, I was super bummed that my Phish concerts were over for the summer...

But to my great delight, I got the opportunity to go see the next two shows in Charlotte and Raleigh.  Did I want to go?  Duh.

The Friday night Charlotte show (click the link to see a video) was hands down the best show I've ever seen (click here to check the set list).  I am not sure if it was because we were so close I could see everything/everybody (usually there are a lot of tall people in front of me and I have to jump up and down and check the giant screens), or if it was because IT WAS SO AMAZING, but either way it was something I'll never forget.

Again cue the fact that I don't know how to write about music other than overusing the words awesome, amazing, cool and other lame adjectives.

On Saturday we drove from Charlotte to Burlington, NC (which was an hour from the next show in Raleigh).  We were staying in my friend Jimmy's grandma's house.  It was beautiful.  Burlington was a nice town, and the house was located in a quintessential Southern golf neighborhood.  I was impressed by the house as we drove up, but was ill-prepared for what was inside waiting.  We went into the house through the side door that opened to the most beautiful kitchen.  I was in awe.  How is it that in the middle of the greatest music weekend of my life (bold) I happened upon a magazine-worthy kitchen in North Carolina?  My two favorite things at once!  Coincidence?  I don't think so.... I think the universe was just trying to get me to write about Phish on my blog!  ha ha.

Please let me preface this part by saying I did not bring my camera.  Unlike most people who break out their cameras on vacation because it's something new and different, I spend 90% of my life with a camera in my hand and like to use my vacations as a break from hauling a camera.  Thank the lucky stars (or the universe again) I traveled with my ipod and used it to snap a few pictures.  Please don't judge me on the quality of these.  I wouldn't have posted, but you guys NEEDED to see this kitchen.... so look past the cell phone-iness of them.  Thanx.

Additional side note:  You may notice my writing change once we discuss houses (I'm such a nerd).

Here is the view as you walk in the side door.  Blue and white is obviously one of my favorite color combinations, so I'm already sold.  Also, you can't beat natural light, and there was a huge skylight (top left corner).  I want to mention the floors too.  Today there is such a trend toward dark floors, and while I think they are beautiful, the lighter wood here adds a certain warmth that ties the whole thing together perfectly.

Here is a better shot of the skylight, but it also shows the French door leading to the patio.  This kitchen has ideal flow for a dinner party where the guest could mingle on the patio and in the bar area while the host works in the kitchen.  This openness is something I lack in my own kitchen, so I am hyper-aware of it when I see it in others.

Here is a little bit better picture of the eat-in bar.  It's such a nice height, and I like that you can fit three stools there comfortably without feeling cramped.  Going back to the party, this would be an ideal place to set out appetizers, or you could take the stools away and let people set their drinks there as they chat.

I wanted you guys to be able to get a closer view of the marble.  I'm not sure how much you can tell from the photo, but it was intricate and beautiful.

This is the area to the right of the eat-in bar.  I took this to show the brilliant use of under cabinet storage.  Again, this is something I lack in my own home and covet in others.  I took the liberty (sorry Jimmy) of checking out the storage situation, and there was room for several medium-sized appliances.  Thus we can affectionately use the term "cook's kitchen" here.  One more thing I wanted to point out was the use of glass panes and glass shelves in the cabinets, which were filled with glasses.  The whole thing created a very pretty visual and created the feeling the glasses were floating.

This bar was to the right as you walked in the side door.  Can you see the backsplash tile?  It is so pretty... white with veins of gray.  It looked to me like the same marble as the counters, but with more of a highly polished finish.  I could be wrong about that...

This door hardware is great.  It reminded me of a suitcase latch :)  Take a moment to check out that glass on glass action.... almost like an optical illusion... you can also see me lamely standing there with my ipod... brilliant.

This is a closer photo of the island and range.  There are a lot of things I love here.... firstly, I like that the ovens are in the corner and out of the way.  There are also two ovens, which is always nice!  The diamond pattern of tile on the backsplash is also worth noting.  It breaks it up and adds interest without distracting.  So classic.  And finally, I may be in the minority here, but I adore an electric range.  I have an electric range at my house, and it is so easy to clean and gets hot really fast.  I cook a lot, and it's nice to be able to just wipe up when you're finished.  My mom has a gas range at her lake house that I cook on a lot.  It feels more substantial to cook on it, but I always spill something, and it's a pain to clean.  So for me, electric>gas.  :)

And finally we have this view from the other side of the kitchen.  I am not sure it shows us anything new, but maybe gives a better idea of the space?  This is a huge kitchen, and that is coming from someone who walks into 2-3 kitchens a day.  I will also say it's the most awe-inspiring kitchen I've seen in a while.  Honestly, can anyone even remember the last time I did an entire post on one kitchen?  This may be a first.  Jimmy told me his aunt made all the choices for the kitchen, and I want to say she did a fantastic job!  So thank you to Jimmy for inviting me, thank you to Jimmy's grandma/family for letting me stay there, and thank you to Jimmy's aunt for having great taste.

For those of you who are interested, the Saturday night Phish show in Raleigh was AMAZING (ha ha... I did that as a joke... but also because I could not think of what else to say... remember, we are back to talking about music).  But honestly, it was a great show, and they played Ester, which I am told is a rarity.  Great weekend.  Great music.  Great kitchen.  Can it get any better?  For me?  no.

Hope you enjoyed the personal post :)

Love ya! BB