july – A Smith of All Trades

The Best Place on Earth: Antoinette’s

July 2, 2012 Jessica Smith

I think I have the best family on this planet. Seriously. The Rowickis are just awesome. Today was a day to just hang out and unwind from the busy graduation celebration yesterday. Of course that means swiimming in the pool, eating tons of food and visiting some of our favorite places around town: Vidler’s & Antoinettes.

Vidler’s is pretty amazing. It’s a nickel and dime shop in East Aurora, N.Y., that sells the cutest stuff. I bought lot of bird decorations for our house (because remember, I love birds. It’s becoming an issue. … Seriously, someone intervene!). My cousin Garrett and I walked around picking which birds I should get, naming the ones we chose. Stanley, Pal, Flap, Beatrice, Lola and… OK, shoot… I don’t remember the last name of the birds. He would be very upset.

I picked out a set of three small silver birds; a set of three white ceramic birds; and a set of bird salt and pepper shakers. I might be starting a collectino of those… don’t tell the hubby. I’m sure he’ll have something to say about that. BUT he’s not here, so he couldn’t stop me and my obsession. Muahahaha.

After Viddlers, we drove to Antoinette’s Sweets. It’s pretty much the best place ever. The whole Rowicki clan crowded in to order exorbitant sundaes and milkshakes. Then once we finished, we went to the other side of the store to pick out our delicious candy. When you visit Antoinette’s, you have to get three things: Ice cream, Sponge Candy and Shoestring Licorice. It’s a good thing we don’t go to Antoinette’s more than once a year (if that), or we’d all be total chunky monkeys.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Holiday, Life

A patriotic printable

July 1, 2012July 1, 2012 Jessica Smith

Happy almost Fourth of July!! Do you have any awesome plans for the Fourth? Fireworks? Picnics? Parties? Crafts?

My plans include my cousin’s grad party today and hanging out with ma familia on Monday, then driving back home on Tuesday to be with the hubby on Wednesday. Not sure what we are doing for the actual holiday, but I’d like to go out and buy an American Flag for our new house. We’ll see… I’m not quite sure where we have a place to hang it outside.

Buffalo is awesome. My older sister (who just fed me a Flintstones vitamin – ha!) arrived in New York yesterday — she lives in Colorado Springs where there are huge wildfires burning down the city and causing a ton of devastation. Because of the fires, she didn’t want to leave her pup, Addison, back home. So they packed up her Subby and drove 27 hours to come be with the family on our Fourth of July celebration.

My baby sister should be here just about now. She went to a friend’s wedding last night and flew up here early this morning to join the fun. It’s so great when the three of us get to see each other — it’s usually only three times a year: Once during the summer (if we are lucky), once at Thanksgiving and once at Christmas. Last year we were spoiled because of the wedding so I got to be with my sisters at the same time six different times. It was awesome.

In honor of the upcoming holiday, I made this patriotic printable in InDesign. It’s rather simple, but it took me a while to get it just right. The font I used is called Braggadocio. It’s available for free online.

If you need quick and easy decoration to celebrate the Fourth of July, print it and frame this cute little number. Also, which do you say? “Happy Fourth of July” or “Happy Independence Day” — I say the “Fourth.”

Have a great holiday, whatever you end of up doing. And remember to be thankful for the freedoms that we have in our country 🙂

Life

I love New York

June 30, 2012July 1, 2012 Jessica Smith

I love New York. It’s one of my favorite states to visit. I’m having a great visit with the family. Lots of swimming, drinking and relaxing. Tomorrow is my cousin’s graduation party. Should be a ton of fun! Also, so many Marylanders are out of power because of a nasty storm. It’s great to have power! Hopefully power is restored back home super soon.

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!