A Domesticated Goth

Isn't she beautiful?! Yes, I am talking about our brand new stove. Hahaha! And she has a partner.....

*Cue angels singing* Okay, this may not be that exciting to most, but to Derek and I it is very exciting. When we bought the house, (almost 3 years go) we negotiated to have the appliances as part of the sale. We figured we would use the old appliances until we either remodeled the kitchen or they malfunctioned. Well, flash back to Halloween when I went to use the oven for hot appetizers and the oven stop working. Yeahhhhhhh. Well, the oven came back to life a few times, yet that's what inspired us to shop the holiday deals and Voila! I like to cook (that's how we save boat loads of money....by eating at home), so having this new stove is 'Just Like Heaven'. It doesn't hurt they are both black and for the first time in my life, I got to pick out the features of appliances that suit our needs. All the years of living in apartments and 'making due' with that came with the rental, really makes me appreciate having our own that much more!

I have been concentrating on our bar area inside the house. We do have our amazing 'Hut' aka the garage (blog out our Hut), but in the winter it is very cold out there, even with the pellet stove burning. So, I've been wanting to maximize our little bar area and give it a little makeover, starting with new curtains. There was just a valance on this window, but was inspired by this out-of-print Robert Kaufmann fabric (etsy) to make curtain panels. I wanted to add some pattern and color to the window, but not darken the room. 

I really wish I could find more fabric to make a little cafe curtain for our front door.

The display corner got a make over too. Before...

After! Much needed storage/display and another 'pop' of color to brighten up the corner. We will be adding lighting to the shelves, so we can see our Tiki mugs and other collectibles.

We splurged and got these amazing handmade Tiki shelves from Forward Back Vintage on etsy. They are worth every penny and not only create more display space for our Tiki mug collecting insanity, BUT they look like amazing pieces of art on the wall. Now we can sit on our couch and really enjoy the view into the bar area.

Here's my typical view. Feet up on the coffee table, wrapped in my electric blanket. Hehe!

Another latest addition to our home is this amazing display case that is now in our dining room. I had been actively looking for gold display case for about a year now (finally gave up) and found one at an estate sale for a great price. It's a little smaller than I had hoped, but there is enough room for some of our bone collection and other fun tidbits. 

And just some moody shots of the living room. I was enjoying the view and snapped these.

Mortimer (our skeleton) is festive in a black pentagram Santa hat.

And the weirdo's who live here.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Thank you for reading, until next time!

Weekend Getaway: Davide's Tropical Paradise

Okay, so sorry for the delay about our getaway weekend in Cleveland earlier this month. My parents had been staying with us (up from Florida, their house is OK, etc.) and it's been hectic and my mind has been in a fog. BUT, now that things are back to "normal" I can share some of our silliness.

So, I had seen some Instagram photos that my friend Shannon had posted about this amazingly kitschy AirBnB, which turned out to be Davide's Tropical Paradise. Once I told Derek about this little slice of paradise in Cleveland, Ohio, we knew we had to book a weekend! Turns out Adam Ant was performing so, a concert + Tikitastic fun=OH YES!!!!!

I hate feet, lol!

We loaded up our suitcases with our tropical garb as we wanted to take full advantage of the bar and the decor in the kitchen/eating area. I *may* have had a little hangover the next day due to me imbibing more than normal. Oh well, worth it! 

Derek the bartender

The rest of the apartment is decorated with different themes, which you can see on their website. My descriptions (I should have taken more photos) of the decor will not do it justice. This will be the only place we will stay when we visit Cleveland, we felt soooo at home. Hahahaha!

I love going to Cleveland area, we get to visit some of our favorite vintage shops, eat some tasty food and visit Tiki bars. In fact, there is a new Tiki bar in the Akron, Ohio area called Tiki Underground, which we visited first thing before heading to the AirBnB on that Friday.

The outside and area are interesting, very odd spot for a Tiki bar. It didn't even look open when we arrived.

Bar area has a lot of cool mugs and decor. The owner was super nice and inviting. I have to admit the cocktail menu hanging on a little flip stand was different and bit odd.

Tons of Witco! I love these chairs!

Witco Vulture(?) on a Witco table.

Tiki Underground has not even been open a year and I wish the owners all the luck in the world! I think they have some things they still need to figure out, but I hope they grow in popularity and I hope travelers (like us) visit this interesting place.

Thank you for reading, until next time!

It Doesn't Take A Lot of Money To Look This Tacky

"It doesn't take a lot of money to look this tacky", is something I say quite often and I really don't mean that I think it's tacky......I think it's FABULOUS! (You have probably figured out by now that I'm a very tongue-in-cheek person) What I am referencing to in this instance is for my love of collecting (and wearing) muumuu's and caftans. The one I am wearing is my newest addition that I snatched off ebay for $16.99, which included shipping. And, the perfect opportunity to wear this beauty was for Tiki Tuesday at our favorite restaurant. I even turned a few heads, hahaha!!!!

Fish and palm trees and blue water, oh my!

I love this style of caftan, I would think it would be amazing if I could make the same style with some spooky prints. Derek and I have been talking about it for years and would love to have a matching Hawaiian style honeymoon set made for us (camp shirt and muumuu) with a print that has bats and pineapples or something along those lines. Mixing the two things we love! Probably would have to have the fabric printed and search out a seamstress (or seamster) to make us our dream garments come true. Sigh.....a gal can dream. Hahaha!!!!

Thank you for reading, until next time!

Craft Along with GIY: Food and Beverage

I'm excited to participate in G.I.Y's August theme, Food and Beverage.

I decided to share my favorite Tiki beverage, the 1944 Trader Vic's Mai Tai recipe. You can read what Beachbum Berry writes about the Mai Tai, quite an interesting read. We love crafting different cocktails and experimenting with different recipes, yet the Mai Tai will always be my favorite!

Ingredients:
Rhum Clément VSOP Martinique rum
Appleton Estate Extra dark Jamaican rum
Orange Curacao
Orgeat (Almond syrup)
Sugar syrup (aka simple syrup)

Copied from the Beachbum Berry's website:

In your shaker pour 1 ounce each fresh lime juice, Rhum Clément VSOP Martinique rum, and Appleton Estate Extra dark Jamaican rum; 1/2 ounce orange Curacao; 1/2 ounce Latitude 29 Formula Orgeat (I just use Monin Almond Syrup or make our own); and 1/4 ounce sugar syrup. Add at least 2 cups of crushed ice, then shake well for around 10 seconds. Pour unstrained into a double old-fashioned glass. Sink your spent lime shell in the drink, and garnish with a mint sprig.

Derek approved!

Aloha and Mahalo to Bane from G.I.Y for inspiring this post!

Thank you for reading, until next time!

New Orleans Trip Part 2

I totally forgot to mention in New Orleans Part 2 that we ended our evening (5/8/17) by strolling through Jackson Square and finding a tiny bar in Pirates Alley. The bar services absinthe and Derek and I had wanted to give absinthe in try in the tradition sense. We both dislike anise flavors and have had absinthe based cocktails that we did not enjoy, but we got adventurous this time!

The verdict? It was quite enjoyable! We shared one glass together (that was already prepared?), which was tasty, so we ordered another and watched the process. Ice cold water dripping on a sugar cube that is over a glass of the absinthe brand, Absente. Yum! 

So, as you can surmise from all the photos that we did consume a lot of alcohol, but not getting too crazy. *Wink*. Tuesday (5/9/17) was Tiki tourist day and we dressed in our tropical ridiculousness and set out once again to check out the French Quarter sites. We stopped in at the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum which was so interesting, so interesting that I forgot to take any photos inside. So many interesting artifacts and so much to read, I could have spent all day looking at all the old medicine bottles and reading what they claimed to help. 

I did snap a photo of us in the museum's courtyard. Tourist fashion!!!

Since we were in the area of the Hotel Monteleone, we decided to stop in a have a drink that their carousel themed bar. Yep, it's a bar that very slowly rotates around. You sit on the bar stools and you move, but the middle bar stays stationary. The bartender has to hop over the bar in order to get in and out! Craziness! The drinks were tasty and the ladies next to us were a riot.

Next thing you know we are hungry and went over to Tiki Tolteka which is a Tiki bar that is located above a Mexican restaurant. Wait, you can order tacos and a Tiki drink?! I'm in!

I really wished we could gotten a photo of the both of us in one shot. Oh well. 

The drinks and food were good, the decor was AMAZING, but our experience was sorta 'meh'. The bartender could have cared less if we were there (at first), but finally got him to knowledge our "How are you?" inquires. Oh well, can't have a great experience everywhere. 

Wednesday (5/10/17) was our last full day in NOLA, but we wanted to get out of the French Quarter, so we hopped on a bike taxi and went to the Garden District. Number one place we wanted to visit was Lafayette Cemetery #1. 

I took a lot of photos, but I'm going to post them all and bore you. We went to St. Louis Cemetery #1 the last time we visited, so it was cool to go to a different cemetery and hear some of its history. 

I did so good with applying sunscreen and not getting burned....until the cemetery. Irony. Ugh! Hahahaha! 

Thank you for letting me share my trip with all you!

Until next time,

New Orleans Trip Part 1

Sunday 5/7/16 tipsy outside of Reverend Zombie's House of Voodoo

Hello friends! Derek and I are back from our trip to New Orleans and we had a great time! I have to admit this vacation wiped me out. Lots of walking, eating and drinking....and sun. There will be a lot of photos in this blog, so I hope you enjoy!

This would be our band photo. 

Sunday we got up at 3:30am to get to the airport for our 6am flight, (Ugh!) which got us into New Orleans at 11am. We headed to our AirBnB to drop off our luggage and headed to Cane and Table for brunch, which included an all-you-can drink menu. So you see, Sunday was a very 'boozy' Sunday.

After going back to the studio apartment (found through the AirBnB app) to get freshened up and changed, we headed out to roam the French Quarter. We found ourselves on Bourbon Street, which was in full blown drunk tourist mode. We kept saying, "What is going on? Why are we here?", but we managed to run into a friend we could relate too. Hahaha! Derek was so excited that that mascot was wearing a top hat.

Mr. Skeleton man requested I take a photo too, so I had to give him a hug.

We ended the night at Latitude 29 which is owned by Beachbum Berry and his wife. We had a great time, chatted with some lovely people and had some great cocktails.

Obligatory photo of Derek enjoying his cocktail.

The next day (Monday 5/8/16) we got a slow start to the day, because well....we drank a lot the day before. We started off the day going to the French (open air) Market and had a delicious brunch and headed out to explore the shops. Our main goal was going to the John Fluevog store as we had a credit from a shoe return (pair for Derek that didn't work out) and we wanted to look at the shoes in person. Derek tried on a crazy pair of loafers (which he didn't purchase) and he let me use his credit. This resulted in me getting my first pair of Fluevogs!

I fell in love with the Alison style the first time I saw them. The skull buckles paired with the strappy and pointy style makes me very happy. They are SO comfortable and I'm looking forward to no sock weather so I can rock these beauties with dresses, skirts, etc. 

Hand. Staple. Forehead

After popping into the shops, we went to the Museum of Death.  It was a really neat smaller museum that had lots of Victorian Memento Mori items, bones, taxidermy as well as lots of serial killer information and artifacts. The murder scene photography, car accident footage and other various gruesome imagery didn't peak my interest, but I'm glad we went as I always learn something new!

Derek loves Baron Samedi

We worked up a thirst and wanted to sit in a shaded courtyard, so we wandered into Pat O'Briens. They are famous for their hurricane cocktails and frankly they just tasted okay, yet  more refreshing after the ice melted. Hahaha!

After more walking around (I had to ice my hips and ankles every night), we went back to Cane and Table for dinner. Not only was the food delicious, Derek was very happy that he got the pineapple drink that he saw on the menu. Mind you it's a two person drink, but vacation to us means "let's indulge!". That is one happy person with his happy pineapple.

I was marveling as to how awesome the Tiki fountain was in the restaurant's courtyard and next thing I know we're posing next to it. Our waitress was awesome to offer to take our picture, but we are both clearly uncomfortable. ACKWARD PHOTO TIME....GO!

Phew! I'm exhausted all over again just looking at these photos. Fun exhausted, of course.

*Wink*

Part two soon to come. Thank you for reading!