My Kitty Angel

My little Boots passed away today. She was an amazing little girl who loved being loved. It's hard to believe she would have been 17 this winter. I'm going to miss her furry face (and Lion haircut), but I'm sure her and Luca are having a blast in kitty heaven. Rest In Peace, Toots.

Self Portrait: April

April, did you have to leave so soon? I was just getting used to all the wonderful things you were showering me with. Many of you already know of the love affair I'm having with the Norfolk Arts District/Better Block (sorry, Mike you were bound to find out). April was the month that brought this relationship about, then exploded with exciting news. I met so many wonderful people through this process, my favorite being my pop-up partner, John Wharton (pictured in the background, see his website here!). In the short 30 days we knew each other before the pop-up event we tested our sprouting friendship by building a shop via emails, texts, Facebook messages and a brief coffee meeting. We exchanged a lot of goals, ambitions, personal stories and probably way too much Ashley bossy time (sorry, sometimes I still think I'm five bossing my family members around). John and I created a little place to call our craft and plant home for a few short days and it was magical.

The allure continued with the success of the first Town Fair in Town Center, which my friend Allison and I created. The announcement that The Norfolk Planning Commission voted unanimously in the support of the ordinance that would create the Arts District was a huge sigh of relief. Kitsch's news of their planned expansion (happening right now) and the AlchemyNFK buildout underway were welcomed signs of growing culture. And Sunday's news of the Hurrah Player's purchase of the Texaco Building made me jump 10 feet into the air with joy.

We. Are. Making. A. Difference. Change is happening.

We are making Norfolk our craft/plant/art/music/locally-grown and locally-owned home and it will be magical.

Monday Musebles

The weekend was one big game of hurry up and wait. Lots of emails, calls, texts, scans, faxes, signatures and waiting. Hopefully soon I can share some good news, until then I'll share with you my favorite part of the weekend: our picnic! After a trip to the gym on Saturday we packed a little picnic lunch and headed down to the Hague. It was sunny and breezy so we hung out for a few hours just talking. I even got a catch-up call from Spain! All and all, it was a pretty swell afternoon. Wish that weather would have stuck around a little bit longer...

Music Monday

April's Music Monday, by Adrienne.... Who should be home this week! I absolutely cannot wait!!

Momentarily Obsessed With...

1) frank's red hot.  I feel like a pregnant woman because of the cravings I've been having for Frank's. I have never gone through so much hot sauce in my life! I seriously determine what I'm going to make for dinner based on if I can pour a little (or a lot) of Frank's on it. Honestly, I'm not ashamed. And, this might not be a momentary kind of thing...

2) hop notch IPA.  I've also been craving some tasty beers this month. I ran down to the Shady Grove just before sitting down to write this entry and picked up a six-pack of this IPA. It certainly packs a punch at 7.3% alcohol! The beverage is also pretty yummy. I'll try to keep to just one during this post :)

3) downton abbey. Thanks to my boss and a very convincing NPR article I started watching Downton Abbey last month. The first season started a tad slow, but by episode 3 I was hooked. The second season I was able to borrow from a friend (first season courtesy of Netflix), but I finally caved and bought the third season. I can't wait to find out how the wedding goes....! Eeek!

4) house key holder.  Probably be needing one of these very soon.... I've always had a thing for antique keys, and of course, nothing is better than that teal color!

5) leather wrap.  What a trendy way to carry all your electronic cords when traveling! Mine all end up in a zipper pouch and get into a tangled mess. I'm not sure when my next trip will be, but this will be on a must-have list.

First Town Fair

Next time I will have photos of the other merchants :)

Yesterday was the kickoff to the Town Fair handmade marketplace series at Town Center. Despite the chilly temperatures and wind, I think it was a success. We had 13 merchants and 3 Town Center businesses, which were scattered all around the Fountain Plaza and the three-hour time frame was perfect. Some applicants complained about the times not being long enough, but I feel we got the late lunch crowd, the people running errands in the middle of the day, and then the dinner crowd. We immediately had five people ask for applications for the rest of the dates and are still getting inquiries. Our original merchant cap was 30, but we may tip over that by the time the Summer is through!

The next Town Fair is Saturday, May 18 at 3 p.m. You can find us in the Fountain Plaza (in front of Bravo and Ruth's Chris) in Town Center, Virginia Beach.

Color Therapy: Window Displays

This isn't actually "color therapy" but I thought it would be cool to share where my inspiration came from for our window displays at our pop-up shop. Plus, it's still all pretty to look at. Enjoy!

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Cali also tackled this project for me and shoppers just loved it! I have a few people who even inquired about some custom-made versions!

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 There would have been great for our back partition wall. Although, I didn't have 40 pounds of tissue paper on hand....

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Recycle old beer bottles by hanging them with handmade fabric flowers! Yes!

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 Might be a little dainty for John (he is a dude afterall), but it's pretty!

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How cute and easy would these be to make? Boy do I have the paper for it!

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This is a great idea for a Christmas window display... John, let's keep this in mind for December ;)

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Accomplished this with John's air plants and some of my vintage packaging.

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Adorable...next shop?

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My friend Cali was able to paint these adorable curtains (minus the face) along with our business names. I think those small touches made huge leaps for the window display.

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 In the background you'll see a retro bike covered with airplants and moss... This would be an awesome window display idea for us because we could hang things from everywhere on the bike.

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John and I wanted to have some sort of guest book or giveaway in hopes to collect emails and contact information. That definitely didn't happen - and with the volume of traffic we had, it just wouldn't have worked. Although, the idea of hanging business cards on a tree would have been super cute.