It's the Grand Opening of Jes' shop Junque Revival. Her jewelry is so original & gorgeous! She's having a contest & you could be the lucky winner of her one of kind designs. I have a necklace made by her & I receive loads of compliments whenever I wear it. Congrats Jes on your new shop!!
The Paper Princess is also having a giveaway. Take a look at what you could win! Ahhhh..Sometimes the best things in life are free!!!
Oh Yea! Did I eat some lobster. Almost everyday. It all began at the landmark DeMillio's for lunch. I wanted to try a lobster roll Maine style. I was presented with the choice of having it on a toasted hotdog roll or a croissant. I pondered this decision for a brief moment. Croissants are so buttery & crisp, my mouth watered a bit just thinking about it. I chose the plain hotdog roll instead, because I didn't want anything to take away from or compete with the flavor the of lobster. When it arrived my face must have lit up because Hope wanted to snap a picture. I was not disappointed at all. My roll was overloaded with large chunks of the freshest lobster in the universe. It was not smothered in mayo, instead, the mayo was barely there, just enough to keep it all together & add a touch of moisture. Hmmm.........OH, and the French fries rocked, too! Hope & I decided after testing them in several different places over the course of our stay, that Maine makes the best fried taters ever. It seemed as though they were dusted with a special batter & maybe even double fried.
I did have another lobster roll the last day of the trip at this funky little place in Old Towne, Portland. This roll was a bit more sophisicated than the first. It was made with chopped fennel & was served on fancy bread. It was absolutely divine!!
My favorite lobster meal was served at Jes & Jon's home. What a grand dinner we had! It began with a loaf of olive bread & a fresh baked rosemary variety dipped in herb olive oil (made by Jes' best friend Judy). The main course was a buffet that consisted of pork tenderloin that Jon had marinated for many hours, seared on high heat & than slow cooked on the grill. It was pure perfection! Hope's childhood favorite zucchini bake was a big hit. It was loaded with cheese and flavored breadcrumbs. Hope was so thrilled that Jes made it for her. The highlight of the dinner was of course, whole Maine lobsters & steamers accompanied by fresh corn on the cob &cilantro butter. We tried many different white wines as well, too many to count. We stuffed ourselves so much that we did not leave room for dessert, strawberry rhubarb pie. That's OK because we had it the next morning for breakfast.
I must admit that I had never tried rhubarb before. I've seen it at farmer's markets, but never thought of using it. Jes has it growing right in her yard. Just knowing someone who cooks with it make it seem less scary. It was delicious, I even had rhubarb lemonade right before heading back home. The next time I see it I'll pick up a bunch & bake some pies. The food in Maine was great!! I can't wait to go back & test out some more lobster rolls.
That pretty much sums up my trip to Maine. It began on Friday bright & early in the mornin'. Jes met me at the airport & we waited together in anticipation for Hope's plane to arrive. Once the 3 of us New England gals were together all seemed right. We headed to downtown Portland for some thrift store shopping. And then visited Old Town, Portland (the waterfront), which kind of reminded me of Newport, RI except it was about 4 times the size & much, much funkier. The shops, cafes, & restaurants were so much fun. I do not think we even began to tap in to all there was to see. That area is a trip in itself. We went to 1 craft store that featured lots of artists from all over the place, & we recognized so many of them from the blogging world. Hope left her card for the owner (who wasn't there at the time) & she received an email from her within a day. Apparently the chick who runs the shop is a big fan of Paper Relics & she wants to carry Hope's creations!! And Jes walked around wearing her gorgeous necklaces& shop owners took notice. She'll be carried in some cool local stores soon. We lunched at an area landmark, DeMillio's, a large cruise ship permanently docked in Old Town. I had a fab lobster roll. More detail about the food later. After a long day of shopping, chatting & laughing it was time to head to Jes' house to meet her family; Dogs-Dakota & Rudy, cat-Weezie (who made Hope & I very sneezie) & of course, the one & only Big Daddy.
Jes live on 17 acres of beautiful land in the an adorable old farmhouse. Her regular readers have seen pictures of the Plenty To Do Farm & it's lovely gardens. It was kind of surreal to see it all in person. I felt instantly at home. And I must give props to Big Daddy. He put up with us for 4 entire days. We can be very giddy, chatty Kathies when we are all together & he didn't seem to mind at all. In fact, he was so warm & sweet & invited us back anytime.
On our second day we headed to 2 adorable towns close by to Jes' home. Hope & I, both Aries, received gift certificates for Maine stores from Jes for our B-Days. Hope's was from a cool paper store in Wicasset (prettiest town in Maine) & mine was from a funky home/garden store called Brambles. I was truly impressed with the variety of shops, galleries, antiques, etc. I didn't realize that Maine had such a thriving artistic community. Each & every store had it's own special feel. They were designed with such attention to detail, each more interesting than the next. We finished our day by having a lobster bake back at Plenty To Do Farm with some of Jon & Jes' friends & family. We instantly all took to one another, which was so nice. A great time was had by all.
The third day was perhaps my favorite. We had lots of big plans, but we awoke & saw that it was raining again (over 2 weeks straight in N.E.), so we scratched them & decided to stay home. What fun we had! The three of us went up to Jes' craft room & made jewelry together. She has the most amazing craft room ever! The walls are the prettiest shade of blue & the floors are off white with delicate hand painted flowers scattered throughout. There was magic in the air as we all sat close, sharing paint, ribbon, brushes & words of encouragement. And it was cool to see how we all came up with such different designs. I'll cherish our crafting time together always! We than filled the rest of our day with computer lessons from Hope, nap time, & even a power walk. Yes, the sun did finally come out later that afternoon. To walk by trees, wild flowers, farm houses & cottages while smelling nothing but green grass, the wet earth - nature, was priceless. It sure beats the smell of car fumes that I'm used to here in the Big Apple.
We did so much in four days that it's hard to write it all down. The above is just a small sample. What I loved must about the trip was spending time with 2 wonderful, strong, intelligent, talented & kind-hearted women. We could have stayed at the farm the entire time, never venturing out & we still would have laughed & treasured this trip just as much. It's so very rare to connect with people on a deep level. We have only met in person once before & yet, it's as if we've been old friends forever. There's just such a comfort, ease & flow between us. And to think that we all met through the blogging world is kind of mind boggling. I'm very fortunate to have both of them in my life.
Jes is so very alive. She has this free spirit quality about her, yet she's very grounded. She's earthy, but has a bit of city hip, too. She's very honest, which I love. And she's such an amazing painter, gardener & artist. I felt inspired walking through her garden, sitting in her craft room, heck, even her downstairs bathroom, which she painted herself, got my creative juices flowing. Every time I wear the necklace she made for me, someone stops to ask wear I got it. Thank you Jes & Jon for welcoming me into your lovely home with open arms. Just thinking about Plenty To Do Farm makes me feel all warm & fuzzy inside.
Hope is truly one of the kindest people I ever met. She just exudes warmth & generosity. She believes in people & wants to see those that she loves succeed & will help them in any way that she can. OMG & is she patient. Especially with me, the computer dummy. She has an artist style that is all her own. When you see a Hope Wallace collage, you instantly recognize it. And what an creative eye she has. Hope took lots of pictures on our trip & she truly is an amazing photographer. The way that she sees things, even a simple can of paint brushes, left me speechless. Thank you Hope for our late night girlie chats. You make me feel as if I can do/accomplish anything & that's what friends are for.
I personally had some revelations on this trip. There were moments where I just kind of sat back, watching Jes & Hope interact, almost feeling like I was viewing them from above. Is that an outer body experience? I haven't gone off the deep end, I swear. I was just reflecting a lot about my life, where I am & where I want to be. Discoveries were made & I shared them with Tom. I promise I'll share them with you soon. And I'll also share my Maine food experience, too. That deserves it's very own post.
The lovely Sweetpea has invited Hope & I to her farmhouse in Maine. We've been planning the trip for some time, counting down the days. And now it is upon us, or at least it will be bright & early this Friday. We have so many wonderful things planned. Shopping in Portland, visiting area flea markets & antique shops, meeting Jes' family & friends, a computer lesson from Hope, a day of crafting & eating lots and lots of lobster.
It's been years since I've been to Maine, 10 at the very least. I went only once on a camping trip with my old beau, a friend & her man. We were there to go white water rafting, but I can not remember the name of the river. I wasn't too fond of being jolted about & splashed upon. And those wet suits are ridiculous! My favorite part of that trip was when we got out of the rafts because we had reached calmer waters & tried kayaking. That felt much more natural to me. I lost touch with "a friend", Stephanie, about 8 years ago, but recently received an email from her after she saw my wedding photo in the local RI paper. We are going to reconnect once I get back from Jes'.
Spending time with my fellow bloggers who I now consider dear friends is priceless. Jet Blue now flies direct from JFK to Portland - also priceless. I will be sure to take lots of pictures and post them here next week. Have a great weekend!!!!!
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