6 Things You Should Totally Do at Applefest... For Us

We have had a good two days, and there is plenty to be grateful for, but more importantly Applefest starts in earnest tomorrow. I know all you crazy kids will be out and about, but between your merriment, take a moment for those of us who cannot appreciate the joy of Franklin's colorful trees, packed sidewalks

1. Awkwardly Avoid Eye Contact with Someone at the Apple Pancake Breakfast- I love this part. If you don't awkwardly avoid talking to at least one person who also mostly doesn't want to talk to you, you are missing the magic of your small town filling back up with people. So kick the whole thing off with pancakes and just the right amount of awkwardness.

2. Buy a Ridiculous Craft (Extra Points if It's a Little Bit Racist)-We bought a shell with Native American stereotypes on it back in high school, and i think we also have one with the Pope. If you share the political leanings of everyone I block on facebook, maybe a nice rebel flag related item? I also like the tire swings and any kind of clay figurine. Oooooh! Also, anything with a lot of glitter glue.

3. Eat Leonardo's bread-Savor every bite, because it does not get any better. If you get pizza, think of me.

4.Complain About Traffic at least Once (Car and Foot Both Count)- Oh Franklin, and your one weekend of traffic.  it is ridiculous, and then when you finally find parking, you can be in shock at how many people just stop in the middle of wherever you want as long as it is incredibly inconvenient to everyone else. Do they not notice? Or arethey encouraging everyone else to stop and appreciate the moment? Even better? People with giant strollers. Like big enough to hold 6 babies. Bonus points if there are no spawn to be seen.

5. Pretend to be Interested in Classic Cars for as Long as You Can- If you make it longer than 5 minutes, you do better than me. I figure you just pick your favorite and move on. You would absolutely school me if you had a conversation with one of the owners, though then you have to make conversation with strangers, so weigh your options on that one.

6. Go to Chicago-This show, from what I read, is no place for children (you have been warned, in case you have never heard of Chicago before). So watch out, because the Barrow is encouraging some serious hoodlums. Or just go see an amazing show which everyone has been singing the praises of since it opened last week. With lots of my favorite people involved. And tell me all about it, so I can be super jealous.

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13 Things You Don't Realize Until You Leave Franklin, PA

Hedging: This is no slam on anyone who now lives in or out of Franklin. I swear these are all based on moments The Boy and I have had when we realize we aren't in Franklin anymore. 

1. Apparently other people vacuum their floors, I sweep mine- Also, jagger, not thorn. And "to be" is not nearly as useful as other people seem to think. The floors needs swept is a perfectly legitimate sentence (The Boy just read this as I was writing it, and it blew his mind. He had no idea that everyone doesn't say "this needs cleaned" or "the ring needs destroyed"). Also, this can be the quickest way to find other people from PA.  You don't need to be from Polklahoma to have an accent.

2. Grocery Stores can be filled with people you don't know- At certain hours and in certain levels of lazy fashion failures, this is even a good thing.

3. Not everyone knows someone who owns lots of guns (in a totally non-creepy way)- Last weekend, we had the gun debate with a friend, and as is often the case, he was surprised (given our general super-liberalism) that we are mostly ok with people having lots of guns (they should have licenses and background checks- and some guns nobody needs- we aren't crazy). Some of the gentlest and most nature-loving people I know are also hunters, there is no disconnect there. Apparently, if your grandpa doesn't like wearing a bolo, doing sudoku, making his own ammo, and sitting in the woods, you have a different mental picture of what it means to be a gun-owner.

Also, and this has been noted many times in and out of Franklin, first day of deer season is not a holiday everywhere.

4. "Frownie Brownie" sounds super racist- Also, the t-shirt has certain historically specific connotations people aren't fond of. It even gets worse if you try to explain it to someone. I am totally sure it is unintentional, but I have been suspicious since I realized the wall of the Barkeyville King's Lady Bathroom says "KKK" on it.

5. You need Identification when you go to the bank- Looking just like one of your parents does not help you when it isn't Northwest Savings Bank.

6. Nearly nothing takes 15 minutes to get to (and some people don't use time as a form of measurement)- Franklin to the cranberry mall? 15-20 minutes. Franklin to Utica? 15 to 20 minutes. To Barkeyville? 15-20 minutes. Also, some people measure distance in miles. For the record, I would guess these distances based purely on the assumption everyone drives at exactly 60 miles an hour at all times.

7. You can buy beer in grocery stores- You can even buy liquor outside the hours of 9 to 5. I still feel like someone might kick me out when I am in the Safeway booze aisle, because I am in the state store without my Mom.

8. Meeting people is its own skill; You haven't always sort of known everyone you know- When people ask when or how the Boy and I met, the short answer is Marching Band. The long answer is that his brother dated my friend all the way back in Middle School, and I can remember watching his dad at the pizza shop as a kid, and there is a picture of he and my mom when he was in 7th grade. When you get out of the small town, friendship feels more like world's colliding. In Franklin, it can feel more like you have always already known that person.

9. Everything is louder than the mighty Allegheny- You miss genuine quiet, or even the slight buzz of 322 and the sound of the river. Both my brother and I both have to listen to things to sleep, but city quiet is never quiet enough, so you are better off drowning it out.

10. Things other than Walmart (and formerly Kings) can be open at 3 in the morning- If it is very late, and you would like to do something or go somewhere, there are other options than "just drive around" or go to Walmart. Though I have found there are fewer King's or Eat'n Park-like establishments in the world than it needs.

11. Parking tickets can be expensive! No longer 2 bucks, every ticket for the rest of your life will remind you of Franklin as a parking utopia.

12. You have to tell your doctor your family history- Because he wasn't also your mom's doctor, or friends with your grandma, etc. I will say, I am cool with our baby not being delivered by the doctor who delivered me, which I know for a while happened a lot in Franklin. No one needs lady parts comparisons with their mother.

13. You can tell your family news before they hear it at the beauty salon or curves- My advice: tell everyone around the same time, or else your grandmas will discuss it at Curves before you get to them. Just because you have left Franklin doesn't mean that people won't still know your business, but the distance means you can at least put it out there at your own speed.

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Throwback: Top Five Things I Miss About Applefest (and Top Five Ideas We've Had for Making our Own)

 I wrote this two years ago, and if I wrote it today, mostly it would say the same things, with the addition that I would like to go see my dad's show. I doubt I will ever be ok with missing Applefest, though I do love our own little traditions now, and I bet lots of people feel this way. So here are my thoughts again...

I am feeling especially homesick this week, because it is Applefest back home this weekend. Franklin Applefest is a huge event in our town, and most FHS almuni go back for the weekend. We will never do that, because the Boy's family owns a restaurant downtown and my Dad is very often involved in the shows, so if we came home, no one would have time to hang out with us! So, this time of year I get pouty and start stating plans to move back as soon as possible.

So here are the things I miss most about Franklin Applefest every year:

1. The season- the air is crisp and cool, but most years it isn't too cold or too rainy (though those Applefests have definitely happened). The best part is that all the trees are starting to change color, so the whole area just looks beautiful. It is the BEST time of year to live in Pennsylvania. It's why fall is my favorite season, and I am pretty sure I am not the only one!

2. The Show! The Barrow Civic Theater always goes for a blockbuster at Applefest, so the show is often kind of "classic." I won't say they are all winners, but I love them when my Dad is directing. This year they are doing Oliver, and my Dad is the director, and everything I have heard is that the show is fantastic, so if you are in Western PA, buy tickets before they sell out (which they often do this weekend).

.

3. It's genuine and un-ironic weirdness- you get this a lot in the crafts. We have a shockingly large collection of Applefest seashells (The Pope, Elvis, the American Flag with Native Americans, etc.) The crafts every year go from sweet to just bizarre, but they aren't trying to be cool or weird or ironic. They are just awesome. Plus, very often when you walk around the parks, you will just happen upon something really odd. That is the insane beauty of living in a small town. Things are odd, without trying to be odd.

4. You see EVERYONE you know- This is a picture of me and my cousin Harrison from 5 years ago. This weekend, you can see Harrison with his band at Bossa Nova's on Saturday. Everyone comes back, and when you do, you can't go 5 feet without running into someone else you know. Of course, this is a mixed bag, especially if you are like me and you don't exactly love the small talk, but so often you get to see like 50 people you love in the same hour, and now I understand what a huge freaking blessing that is.
5.The Food- I am happy whenever I am in walking distance from some cotton candy. You could also get a great hot sausage sandwich. The Methodist Church also has a giant pancake breakfast, where you again see everyone you have ever known ever.

Ok, so we again are stuck here this year, so I am pulling out the old Applefest decorations and pushing the boy to buy the stuff I need for Apple Pie. So many of the things we just can't replicate- the crafts, the fall weather, and  seeing people we love. Those are all out (though we are serving at the church Saturday night, so we can look forward to seeing people who vaguely know who we are, oh joy). So I try to focus on the food, the weird representations of fall, and when we can we watch the movie version of the Applefest show. This is what I think works:

1. Apple Cinamon Pancakes- This is NOT what they serve in the basement of the Methodist Church, but it is what we have found works over the year. We make a regular batch of bisquick, just like they say on the box, then add less than a tablespoon of brown sugar and about 3 good shakes of cinnamon.

To make the apples, cut up whichever apple you choose (we usually start with something like granny apple, but for an apple like that you may have to add a little extra sugar). Peal, core, and slice the 5-6 apples, as if you are making an apple pie. Saute the apples with 3 tbs. of butter and a pinch of salt. Do this for 15 minutes, and add a bunch of cinammon, a 1/8 cup of sugar, and a 1/2 cup of water and have it simmer down til it is a consistency you like. If it doesn't seem right yet, throw in some more water and a pinch more sugar, and keep at it. Put on pancakes and enjoy!

2.  Drink apple cider! This may be the best part of our tradition, because it is so good. Even better now that I have given up juice.

3. Embrace our weird crafts and decor- Yep, we bring in little mini pumpkins and buy the weirdest fall/ halloween decorations we can find. I think now that I have the wall in the dining room, I might make some of my own weird crafts and hang them!

4. Hot sausage sandwiches- I am not sure I have any tricks to share on how to make these awesome, except that The Boy Puts the onions and peppers on the bottom of the sandwich so they don't fall all over the place.

5. Bring in fall-colored flowers- this may seem like a stupid thing, but here it is still way hot outside and it looks like July. You wouldn't even know it is fall. Bringing in some natural, but fall-shaded stuff. I am thinking I will try the apple candle-holders later this week. I will let you know how it goes!

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Our Steampunk Travel Nursery Inspiration

This weekend our car is in the shop, so we finally had lots of time to put things together and start making the room our futon and printer is in into a nursery. The Boy and I love a project, and I am lucky to have a partner that responds to my crazy ideas with "Ok, how are we going to do this?" We have been buying little things and taking small steps toward getting it done, but now it is time to step up our game and make this thing happen.

I decided early on that I wanted the nursery to have a travel-y theme, because I feel like having adventures is a good (and completely genderless) foot to start on. When I started showing the Boy the things I was thinking about, he really loved the idea of making it steampunk travel, with lots of flying machines and mechanical doo dads. He got so freaking excited about it, and whenever he jumps on an idea like that, I basically go with it, because he mostly just vetoes until we find what we like.

So we had our theme- Steampunker Adventure- and our colors- teal, gold, black, white, and metallic business- way back in May or June, before we knew the gender. We scared people with the theme (if you just google steampunk, you don't find much that is baby-appropriate), but I think they are mostly on board now. As we get closer and closer to meeting our spawn, we have collected a bunch of inspiration and ideas, all of which are on my pinterest.  Here are the ones we love the most:

There are a couple of really cool rooms on pinterest with a travel or a steampunk twist to them: 

from thedecorologist.com

This is a very subdued and chic version of the adventure idea, which is not our style (I will never pull off chic), but I still love some of the ideas.

 

 

from laybabylay.com

Gah, I love everything about this one:

from thehandmadehome.net

from babyology.com.au

This is my favorite room we have found, so it is the closest thing to what we are trying to replicate in our room (though I think ours is pretty different). This one is whiter and lighter than what we are doing, but it inspired me to use white and metallic frames together. I also love that it is for twin girls:

from melodymelikianphotography.blogspot.com

from melodymelikianphotography.blogspot.com

 I also love this shelving, which we haven't figured out yet:

from theminimalistmom.com

 This one is the closest to our colors:

from designdazzle.com

The theme comes with tons of cool art options, but sadly we don't have too much wall, so most of this is just inspiration:

from society6.com

from minted.com

from etsy.com

from relaxdeco.com

I also love this clock, but it is so expensive, and again, no walls here:

from amazon.com

 You can find tons of really cool steampunk stuff on Etsy, though it is a little more challenging to find things that are baby friendly. Plus, you never want to go too crazy, because the baby doesn't care, and the theme will change in a few years (so we have tried to mostly pick things that can transition into other parts of the house or other uses when he wants Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or something). But here are some of my favorites:

from etsy.com

from etsy.com

I love that this one is an iron on. Right now, our plan is really plain bedding, so I am thinking one iron on like this might make it pretty special. 

from etsy.com

 We did buy some hot air balloons to hang from the skylight too, but they are in boxes. Sadly, I never found it in this color. I also found black and white ones, which I loved, but they apparently only sell them in Australia. No one needs to spend 50+ bucks just on shipping for a nursery.

from casasugar.com

 The Boy is working on a flying machine mobile, and we couldn't find any too many examples out there, but this is the closest we got to what we are thinking:

from texassteampunks.ning.com

I am still obsessed with this rocking puppy, because I feel like it matches the room and reminds me of Bumbo. I may still go for it for a "Christmas gift" or something.

from rhbabyandchild.com

 What is Done so Far

So, we are 9 weeks out from baby, and we still have a lot to do to pull off all these cool ideas.

My mom came to visit at the beginning of August, and she helped me paint the room "Icy Teal." Then I mixed Icy teal with a couple of the more saturated testers (1 in the background) and painted the inside of the skylight. We are going to hand hot air balloons, our biggest splurge, from the skylight. 

 The Boy's big project has been turning this old steamer trunk into an eventual toy chest.We have to change the hinges so as to not cut off his fingers. Until he is is old enough to get in it, we will use it as a table and storage. The Boy has really transformed it, but I will show it off once he finishes.

 Yesterday, we stepped up our game and really got to work. The Boy painted my dresser a copper metallic color. We bought cool handles on ebay to fit the Steampunk theme, but they aren't here yet, so for now we just put the old ones back in. My plan is to put the changing pad on top of the dresser, so we can give it multiple uses.

 We also put together the crib, which has been sitting in a box in our living room for over a month. I thought putting this thing together was supposed to be a rite of passage, but in comparison to some of the things we put together this year it was easy peasy. None of the furniture is particularly where it is going yet, because I have no idea exactly what that will be anyway. We are also trying to figure out what to do about our router, which also lives in the baby room but probably needs to be out of tiny person reach (eventually).

The rest of the room (including the closet, which I didn't take a picture of), is just a collection of all the stuff that doesn't have a home yet. We have a map of Franklin from Debence, a world map, and some of the decor from our shower to frame and put up as art. We bought a neat surveyor's lamp that still needs a lampshade. I etsy-shopped a bunch of mappy, steampunky pillowcases since we don't have much wall to hang things on.

We still need to figure out storage, but we will either buy something vintage/used/cheap and repaint it, or we will buy some cubbies like I have my art supplies in. We are not planning a big investment here.

The Boy still has to get working on his flying machine mobile, and I am going to make an art piece out of maps and some sort of family pictures wall hanging. Plus we have to put it all together in a way that makes sense, and I still have no idea how we will do that. Luckily, our spawn will be bunking with us for the first 3 months or so, so there is really plenty of time. We are getting there, but once we finish, I will post more pictures.

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Today's Inspiration- Gordon Matta-Clark

Gordon Matta-Clark, Splitting 9, 1977- from http://www.culture24.org.uk/art/art349213

I am pretty sure Gordon Matta-Clark was not commenting on the horrors of home ownership with this Split piece. But in another way, clearly he was. A classic piece from Matta-Clark's ouevre, which I generally avoid, but you can't deny the charm of cutting a house in half.

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Ten Things We've Learned in our First Six Months of Homeownership

1. Find your Pizza place (or your sushi place, or a Chipotle)- Moving to a new place means that nothing feels like home. You might feel homesick for the weirdest things (I did), but order pizza from a new place every time until you find a good one. Or sushi. Or whatever you do when you just can't handle the thought of cooking or you realize the chicken smells funky. I feel convinced that we only have warmed to Seattle because we found good sushi and pizza. It is worth the time investment, especially because at some points, all you will really want is to get the heck out of your house for an hour.

2.Who you gonna call? No seriously, who?- Oh Roy or Hugo (after Roy ran off with his internet girlfriend). How I miss you. I would complain to you in a tone I tried to copy off your domineering mother, and somebody would show up to fix it the next day. I miss you so much. Now, every problem has a different set of conversations, estimates, and random dudes in my space involved. If you are renting, even to a goober, it kind of makes you want to hug your landlord. If you own where you live, nobody cares but you.

3. Be careful about making friends with Jehovah's Witnesses (because you are making friends for life)- The very first week two very sweet ladies showed up at our house to tell me about Jehovah. I didn't want to be rude, but I tried to make my affiliations clear. It apparently does not matter to them, as they come back to visit every couple of weeks and when they can't catch me during the day, they will show up on weekends. I honestly don't know what to do about it, because I don't even think they are trying to convert me anymore, they just want to hear about the baby. You have to hand it to them, Jehovah's Witnesses are persistent.

4.It's not that something will go wrong, it's that something else will go wrong the second this current wrong thing is mostly ok- I don't think we were so naive to think we would move into the house and everything would be perfect and easy and fun all the time. At the same time, no one warns you that just when you feel like your feet are under you, it must be time to get your butt kicked by a new challenge.

5. Kill the Spiders- Spiders make more spiders. In worst case scenarios, you end up with one really big spider under your bed in a way that should only be reserved for children's nightmares. The Boy is sometimes merciful, but Washington is wet and spidery, so I have quickly abandoned my mercy. I am not James. There is no peach. If you are a spider and you come in my house, I will kill you.

6. Donations, Plastic Bins, Shelving- The only way to keep things clean is for everything to have a place. The only way for everything to have a place is to maintain a healthy ratio between what you have and (real, the floor does not count) places to put them. You would think that most of the donating would happen in the "moving out" stage, but it is crazy how when you move things out of their context, they sometimes become so much less necessary. We gave up car loads of stuff already, and every time we give things away, I feel like a weight is lifted. You need less than you have, and somebody might need it. Plus those piles only make homes for spiders.

On a similar end, I think under bed plastic bins might be the key to a happy home. I love buying decorations and things to make our house warm and homey, but decor is like the skin of your house. For the whole thing to work, you need the organization muscle, all the stuff behind the scenes that keeps the machine working. Our old apartment was a lesson in organization, and we reorganized multiple times just to avoid a move. I think we will master the same art here, and we have started on the right foot for that.

7. You are never done, but you should take (1 day!) breaks- Six months in, our to do list remains epic. In fact, on the actual six monthiversary, we discovered a leak in our roof, so we have to call in someone for that. It is ok to decide you are overwhelmed and take a break. We had more than our share from hiding from the world weekends. But if we played Mario and watched TV all day on Saturday, you better believe we were back at it on Sunday. Momentum is half the battle (having a plan and flexibility when the plan fails is the other half). Just like with a good friendship or relationship, sometimes you can have basic maintenance phases, but a lot of the time you have to put genuine work in. So take your day, but have a plan for tomorrow.

8. Take the help- My in-laws were awesome about this in their move (also this year, just the worst!), because they had so many people come help them move their furniture. My mom says "it takes a village." If you are completely new to that village, this can prove a challenge, but we were surprised to get the help when we really needed it from the Boy's coworkers. Many hands really do make lighter work, so if someone offers to help with your project this weekend, let them and make them a really nice dinner.

9. Wait for sales, be stingy, know that whatever you are spending now is probably not the end of it- Wow, moving into a bigger place is expensive, and it often feels things wait to break until after you have just spent a bunch of money on something else. The bright side? Home Depot, furniture places, they all love holiday sales. You should never stand too far away from a sale, so if you can wait out a jank appliance or an air mattress until you can buy it on sale, crown it an adventure and go for it. Because something else with absolutely come up. On the other hand, don't try to wait out a problem, because things do not fix themselves by you ignoring it. EVER. You can have a slow game for a solution, but no solution is too dangerous a game.

10. It will be alright. This is the nicest thing I can tell you, as you pine away for your renting days. I am sure there are people out there who would say they are so glad they did it and it is so worth it, etc, etc, etc. Whatever. Owning things doesn't seem like all that impressive of an accomplishment to me, but I do feel genuinely proud that we haven't backed down, we keep working at it, and we still like each other most days. If you feel pride at owning stuff (which is cool, each to their own), owning a house will make you feel really good all on its own because it is a lot, but I notice that you can find a lot of joy in realizing you have figured out how to do something new (weeding! stripping the deck! buying a refrigerator!) because you have to. You learn all the time. Also, except for the money part, you can't mess it up as bad as it feels like you are messing it up all the time. The punishments for not having your shit together is mostly just having to deal with the shit until you figure it out, but you can live through that. Eventually (I am not sure we are there yet, but I have faith I am not lying here), you can look around and just feel fine about things. Plus, you get to do your laundry in your house, which is genuinely great.

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3 Favorite Pieces at the Olympic Sculpture Park

On Labor Day, we finally made our first trip to the Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle, which is often mentioned as one of the best sculpture parks in the United States. It did not disappoint, as it boasts many of the big names in monumental sculpture (Richard Serra, Mark Di Suvero, etc) and a really thoughtful and fun design. The park is situated right between Seattle Center and the waterfront, and it smartly interacts with both.

1. Eagle- Alexander Calder- The sculpture looks is pretty great on its own, but its placement in the park and interaction with the space needle, the park space, and the visitors (who can sit all around it in matching chairs) seems totally sweet and fantastic. It feels like an iconic placement within the park, and the qualities of the sculpture came to good curatorial use.

1.5. Michael Heizer- Adjacent, Against, Upon- 1976- Apparently, we had ventured all the way into Myrtle Edwards Park, but I couldn't leave this off the list, because I was so excited to see a Heizer being cold and unruly in the flesh. Residents weren't pleased with this multiple behemoth sculpture when they first installed it, but I think it is one of the biggest gems not in the sculpture park.

2. Split- Roxy Paine- We walked past this on entering without realizing we were looking at a tree made of steel, and only on our way out did it catch our eye. Usually, you think of outdoor art as asserting itself more fully as not of the landscape, but this attempts to blend in.

3. Eye Benches I, II, III around the Father and Son Fountain- Louise Bourgeois- To be honest, I did not love this fountain, but I was excited to see some of her biomorphic benches sat around it. Perfect place to take a little break, and apparently they have been the closest to car-caused disaster of anything in the park. Oh Louise, you are such a risky badass.

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