Serendipity. Antiques, Bees and Murals, OH MY!

Dancing Dog Antiques

Cheryl Korb- small painted block

Matthew Willey- The Good of the Hive

Its hard to even describe the sheer amount and array of fun I was fortunate enough to have this past weekend with two of my sisters. While I am not proud to admit I was Wendy Whiner Extraordinaire about driving 'all that way' to sis's country house, BOY am I glad I did!

The drive itself is lovely and the weather only continued to improve the further north I got. Not to mention I got to have a quick stopover to see mom on the way, which is always good for the heart and soul.

Wayne County, Pennsylvania is in a pretty part of the state with air so crisp and fresh we couldn't believe that folks elsewhere were melting and sweltering in the city heat and humidity. And sis also happens to live a few doors down from the local fish hatchery - an interesting place all on its own. And YES! They really hatch fish there! Read all about it right here: Pleasant Mount Fish Hatchery

As luck would have it, this weekend was also full of events and festivals along the Delaware River up north. (I also needed a geography lesson. That Delaware River is a long one!!) First stop, Callicoon, New York. Absolutely delightful! And rumor has it that the dishy Mark Ruffalo has a house there...no sightings, but not for lack of keeping my eyes peeled!!

Along the way, a perfect pit stop at the incredible Dancing Dog Antiques was in order. Sisters had been there before, but this was my first time getting to ogle at the incredible and vast selection of hand picked treasures Catherine Delattre, the owner, has amassed there. Her eye as an artist is obvious. Things are arranged just so; so inviting, so interesting, I truly could have spent the entire afternoon there. Just a few shots of her WELL PRICED gems:

See?! Absolutely delightful!!

When we were finally able to pull ourselves away from the Dancing Dog, we met some really cool people at the Country Fair selling their wares in Callicoon. (*Remind me to tell you sometime about the crazy character we saw whizzing by us on the dirt road in his golf cart...yikes. It's worth asking- really!!*)

ANYWAY, back to the cool people we met in Callicoon: Take, for instance, Ms. Judy DePalma. She makes the most gorgeous children's clothing from pieces of vintage fabric, tablecloths and other textiles. You can read about her successful, varied, and storied experiences in the fashion industry here: Nyack People & Places: Judy DePalma, One-of-a-Kind Dressmaker.

Of course all of this shopping and making new friends makes one hungry and thirsty (right?!) and a kindly local directed us to one more delightful find of the weekend: The North Branch Inn. Um. UHmazing!! How cool is this- they have a 100 year old Bowling Alley in the area where the kitchen is. You can BOWL while you watch the chefs make your dinner. WHAAATT!?!?!

Check out the lovely couple behind the renaissance of some of these beautiful buildings, restaurants and businesses in the area, Sims and Kirsten Foster. Their eye for beauty, detail and history are exquisite, tasteful and oh so inviting. We got to chat with Sims before dinner and he's as nice as can be.

There is so much more to tell (we met the shop owner who was the inspiration for Stanley Tucci's character in The Devil Wears Prada. We met a local children's author and artist, Lindsay Barrett George who signed one of her adorable books for our dear sweet niece, Miss Mae).....

But I live in fear of boring you, dear reader, so I will skip to the end. The pièce de résistance! The BEE MURAL. You GUYS. I have been following Matthew Willey of The Good of the Hive for quite a while now. One of his coolest projects now graces the Great Ape House at the National Zoo. You should DEFINITELY check it out if you can. The whole time he was painting there, I kept thinking I would make it down to check out the entire process but never could :/ Well, I also happened to know that his next project was somewhere in New York and somewhere I had never heard of, and somewhere I would never go in my entire life BUT GUESS WHAT. The second day of antique-ing, friend-making, and sister-ing, etc. was spent in Narrowsburg, NY which was even more exceptional than the little town the day before! There literally was not enough time in one afternoon to visit with all the cool people who were selling their wares, telling us their stories, sharing local lore, or helping us to decide where and what to eat and drink! It was the end of the day, and the band was packing up (they were so cool), tents were being dismantled, and I wanted to see if I could catch this young woman whose handmade bags I had passed on earlier (UGH! Why did I do that?!?) (Oh. Maybe because BUDGET. I hate that). ANYWAY out of the corner of my eye, I spy an incredible rendering of an enormous honeycomb and bumble bees on the side of the local post office brick wall. "Hey" I said to myself..."that looks like one of the Good of the Hive murals. I should go check it out." And BAM. Not ONLY was it one of Matt's incredible works of art, he was STILL THERE working on it!. Well, he also was wrapping up for the day, but I was able to chat with him. And even though I acted like a flustered teenager meeting a rock star, he was so kind and so very happy to meet one of his supporters! Please, if you can, read about the great work he does. He IS a rock star- for real!!!

So there you have it. Maybe it was my visit to the Himalayan Institute in Honesdale while sis took her yoga class, but I just feel like the whole weekend was a very grounding, soul quenching, serendipitous gift. And I am so grateful. With summer winding down, we need to take advantage of our lazy hazy days before school sidles up to us again!!

Hope you have a wonderful week and also, seriously, where did July go ?????

xoxo

~Amy