charleston: beach by bike

One day while in Charleston, Kurt and I rented bikes and rode out to Sullivan's Island for a beach day. Despite the ominous skies and a wrong turn due to my faulty navigation, it was a great ride! Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge is huge and incredible and long. A rain storm put a slight damper on our beach lounging but nothing that beer and fish tacos couldn't solve. Another win for Charleston.

charleston: king street

It's been about two months since Kurt and I went down to Charleston, South Carolina for a short vacation. I had been wanting to go for years and was definitely not disappointed. It is easily one of the most charming places ever. The buildings are gorgeous and old. It's super easy to get around without feeling too small. The food and drinks were to-die-for (more on that later) and the people were super friendly. I am seriously scheming of ways to get Kurt to move there! I wouldn't mind a few years somewhere warm, relaxing at the Southern pace, and taking frequent trips to the beach! Now if only I could convince my ski bum boyfriend of all of Charleston's perks...

These are some photos from King Street, the major commercial strip that runs the length of Charleston's peninsula. There were so many shops, restaurants, bars, and people on it. Look forward to lots more Charleston images as I sort through the hundreds we took. Seriously, it's a gorgeous place.

[some photos by me, some by Kurt]

5/500

5 years ago today I moved from Alabama to New York City. Coincidentally, this is my 500th blog post. While semi-unrelated (I lived in the city a couple years before starting my blog) they are pretty exciting milestones for me.

While looking through some photos of the last five years, I came across some images taken from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade when I lived in my first apartment in the neighborhood. (Another noteworthy 5 is how many apartments I've lived in! Ha!) Brooklyn Bridge Park was just in its infancy at the time, so the waterfront looks pretty bleak.

Fast forward several years and it's a gorgeous park (though still under construction) where I spend many a summer weekend (even though I live quite a few neighborhoods away now). This city changes daily and I do my best to keep up, evolving and hopefully improving along with it.

I'm not sure how much longer I will live here (2-3 years? 10? Forever?!?!??) but the adventure has been outstanding and I am so happy I have his platform to record and share it. 500 more posts? I sure hope so! As always, thanks for reading!!!

[The last couple photos are from the BBP Pop-Up Pool where Kurt and I had a drink a couple weekends ago. Five years ago I could have not even fathomed sitting in that spot with my toes in the sand having a beer. How times change!]

black doors

Around the same time I decided I wanted to install a gallery wall in our apartment (i.e. before we even moved in) I decided I wanted to paint all our doors black. My inspiration: Daniel from Manhattan Nest (while you are checking out his black door project, also be in awe of this kitchen transformation he just did!). Our little neighborhood hardware store has a limited paint selection and I didn't want to use black-black, so I chose Midnight Black by Pratt and Lambert. At first I was upset that it looked too charcoal/purple but I'm really happy with the color now. I love the contrast with our white walls and moldings.

All the doors in our apartment are old and solid and have some nice panel details except the bedroom door. I didn't want it to feel left out, so I followed this tutorial on Little Green Notebook and added some cheap molding from Lowe's.

I cut all the wood pieces on a miter box with a hack saw. It felt like I was using a nail file. Keep those blades sharp! 

Then paint!

Ta da! I love our black doors!