Small Business Spotlight | A Gallo Watercolors
When I first started my business and blog, many creative entrepreneurs supported me along the way. They showed me the ropes, invited me into their community, and introduced me to their audience and customer base. I love that I can now return the favor to other creative entrepreneurs, from small start-ups to established, thriving companies, […]
Bibury, Barnsley, & The Pig
The next stop in our jetlag-countering Cotswold tour was Bibury. (You can read about our first stop in Burford HERE.) As an American, you might be tempted to say Bi-berry, but syllables are dropped by the English (or added by the Americans) as in straw-bry and rasp-bry. It’s Bi-bry. Now that we have the pronunciation […]
Arrival & Burford | “gateway to the Cotswolds”
The first delight of our trip came when we boarded the airplane from Washington Dulles to London Heathrow. As we’re walking through the first-class cabin, it’s hard not to look over the cubicle and wish we had tickets for one. Oh, to be able to lie flat in an airplane seat on an international flight. […]
the great shutter debate
Some people might argue over politics or what kind of music is appropriate for a wedding reception, but what people who love architecture argue about is shutters. They argue about everything from the proper shutter-to-window ratio to whether hinges and shutter dogs have to be functional. It’s pretty amusing to see the kind of heated […]
packing art supplies for international travel
I’ve been bringing along art supplies when I travel for the past few years. When I went to China in 2017, I had a vision of standing on the Great Wall and capturing the experience in a sketchbook. I was nervous about it, but I did it! The sketch was rubbish, but I learned that […]
building a custom propane tank screen
The only problem with cutting back the abelia hedge on the left side of the house earlier this year was that it exposed all of the work that needed to be done to this side of the house. You could see the staining on the brick from ivy, the trim that was long overdue for […]
four things | forty-eight
This week has been all about prepping and packing for my upcoming trip to England and Italy. It’s sort of wild to me that I’ve never been to England, given that I lived in Germany as a child. We traveled all over the place, but never made it across the English Channel. I know this […]
Europe shopping list 2025
Before my last two trips to Europe (in 2018 and 2019), I made a shopping list of things I wanted to look for. I thought it would help me focus when I felt like buying everything! It also gave us specific destinations to visit, which is always a great way to get off the touristy […]