Southern Home & Garden Show

Isn't spring delightful? I love all the beautiful flowers that bloom in NC this time of year... tulips, azaleas, and dogwoods. On our street, just about every house has 3 or 4 dogwood trees so that when you drive down the street, you feel like you've been transported to another world.

This past week, I went to the Southern Home & Garden Show with my mom, my aunt and my mother-in-law. What fun we had finding great deals on decorative items, marveling over stained glass Tiffany lamps, collecting information on interesting home features and delighting in the breathtaking garden displays. We tasted scrumptious breads and dips, nibbled on candies and chocolates and took frequent coffee breaks in the concessions area.

We wandered through the more industrial part of the show where big companies focusing on major home repairs, pools, decks, playgrounds and tools were housed. As we passed by the booths, the salesmen tried to reel us into a spiel about the benefits of solar panels, the importance of leaf-catching gutters and comparisons on pest control services. We avoided making eye contact and said many "no, thank you's". (Although I did enter a raffle for free house cleaning!) But as I watched the company representatives try to entice people with free gifts, I had to laugh having been in the same position just a few years ago!

I worked for an agricultural chemical internet company and we had a rigorous trade show schedule every spring. I was lucky to attend only one a year but others in the office (salesmen, mostly) went to 2 or 3 farms shows in the rural areas of North Dakota, Illinios and Georgia. The worst one I can recall was in the flatlands of Nebraska. It was a 3-day outdoor show in the middle of acres and acres of fields. It was late spring, chilly in the morning and blazing in the afternoon. There was dust everywhere that would accumulate on the table, settle in your hair and cake in the creases of your perma-smile. Our hotel was an hour away, the closest we could find, requiring us to leave before sunrise to get to the show on-time.

But, despite the long hours, aching feet, and anxiety of setting up and breaking down the displays and computers, I really enjoyed the travel, talking with the other exhibitors and the luxury of my own hotel room. I could see all of my own emotions in the exhibitors of the garden show and was thankful to be one the other side on the table!

We had such fun at this show and afterwards went to a gorgeous Italian restaurant downtown and chatted over wine and heaps of pasta. Fabulous day!

See more photos from the show at Sunniviews (also a few from Easter!) Here are some things that I found interesting:

Beautiful Tiffany Lamps from Carolina Tiffany
Eco-friendly home improvement products from Common Ground Center and SafeCoat low-toxic paints
My husband's favorite, Central Vacuums (what a dream!) from Central Vacuum Experts
Landscape lighting from NiteLites, Inc.
Wines for Humanity home wine-tasting parties benefiting local charities

Drive-In Discovered

This morning we decided to have a little family time together and go for a drive with the new camera. We had no real destination and just took off driving, looking for interesting things along the way.

One of the neat things about North Carolina, that is so incredibly different than the area of Pennsylvania where I grew up, are the dilapidated farm shacks along the country roads. There is something so sad and historic about them. It makes me want to go into the restoration business and fix up every one!

As we were passing some of these barns, there was an interesting sign that caught my eye. We pulled over to get a closer look. It said "Cairo" in art-deco letters and appeared to be a movie theater marquee. Since it was sitting beside an abandoned old store, we didn't think too much about it. You know, people leave odd things behind. We poked around a little more.

Then I saw a something around back that looked like a billboard. My husband realized that it was a little bigger than a billboard. It was a drive-in theater screen! Of course - this place used to be a drive-in movie theater!

As it turns out, this was the Cairo Drive-In Movie Theater of Fuquay-Varina, NC. It was open for several years in the 1970's and could hold about 250 cars.

How bizarre it was to discover a drive-in on a random Sunday drive in January. It just brings to mind the amazing history of every crumbling barn that we pass on old country roads. It's too bad they all don't have a little sign to commemorate their interesting past.

I was reading a fascinating article in the January issue of National Geographic about abandoned buildings in the Midwest (see The Emptied Prairie - awesome!). Schoolhouses with books, desks and even faded lessons still scrawled on chalkboards. Homes with doilies still placed neatly on dusty, cracked furniture. Rusty cars found swallowed by wild grasses. It's so fascinating to think of the story behind, or literally, inside the building.

I wish we could have found out more on the Cairo Drive-In theater. But, I imagine it's just about the same to these stories. Check out this great clip (only 3 minutes!) we found on old drive-in theaters. My husband, who is a few years older than I am, remembers more about the drive-ins. How they would see a double feature... The first show was for the kids, the second movie for the adults. He and his brothers would be ordered to go to sleep before the second half. I only have vague memories of falling asleep in the backseat with the aroma of popcorn in the air and flickering lights all around.

When we lived in California, my husband and I went to see a move at the drive-in theater in Oakland. I liked walking to the concessions stand on a warm summer evening and being outside with all the other movie-goers. It was nice to be able to take off my shoes and get comfy in the car. It was fun, even if they got the reels mixed up and we watched the end of the movie before the middle! Oh well - the hazards of the drive-in I suppose!

I've posted more photos of our little adventure on Sunniviews. Anyone else with fond memories of the drive-ins?

Wonderful Whimsical Whirligigs

We recently went to the Whirligig Festival in Wilson, NC. My parents had a booth selling wonderfully designed folk art. My incredibly talented dad makes these great wooden marble chasers and bird houses and my amazing artist mom paints them! Their booth was called "Manspace"... (your not the boss of me!)

The Whirligig Festival started 3 years ago and was inspired by Vollis Simpson, a local artist who creates these huge, intricate whirligigs out of scrap metal. This year they had more vendors than ever.

We set up early on a Saturday morning and, since this festival is in November, it was quite chilly. But the sun was bright and the nippy wind made all the whirligigs spin with delight. Our booth neighbors included a husband and wife team selling a wide array of bright, colorful tye-dye clothing (of course my daughter had to have a zip up sweatshirt... but tye-dye looks so cute on kids, doncha think?) and an older couple selling sailboats and propeller airplanes made out of tin cans.

The hamburger joint down the street had refreshments for our four-legged friends, a real live pirate show complete with swordfighting and whip tricks played every hour (my daughter's favorite, of course), and music stages at 3 locations kept us entertained the whole weekend. As an added bonus, the had tons of blow-up jumpy rides for the kids!

We had so much fun setting up, talking to folks and demonstrating how the marble chasers work. The kids loved them and it was surprising to discover that many people had never seen a marble chaser before. Our family is originally from Lancaster, Pennsylvania - the Amish country, and we've been playing with wooden toys like this for ages. So, it was pretty interesting to see everyone's reaction.

But I will tell you my most favorite thing about the Whirligig festival was watching a local artist paint a mural of the festival on a huge canvas. He looked like an artist of old - decked out in an oversized button-down smock with a ponytail. He was amazing and it was fascinating to watch the progress of the painting.

The booth was so colorful and fun and the food was delicious. As far as I'm concerned, any festival that serves funnel cake loaded with powdered sugar and fresh Starbucks coffee is a success in my book! We had a ball...

(You can read more and view more pics from the Whirligig Festival on my mom's blog.)

Sushi and Seagulls

The other day we took a trip to the Asian market. And even though it's just down the road, when you enter it's like you've been transported to another world. There are shelves full of deliciously unusual items: pickled bok choy, fresh tofu soaking in water, boxes of dried shrimp and other assorted creatures, bins full of fresh blue crabs and stacked aquariums filled with fish that watch you as you pass by. While we were there, a man and his son ordered two live eels. I wonder how you prepare those slithering things!?! I'm sure there's a recipe on the web.

Our intention was to pickup up just a few things to add to our miso soup. We ended up with a basket full of groceries! My daughter's favorite is the flavored soda bottles with a marble at the top. You push the marble down and it wobbles around the neck of the bottle. Fun games for kids!

So we ended up with so much food for dinner that we were eating leftovers for a week! We actually did make the miso soup stocked with yummies like baby corn, water chestnuts, bamboo, egg and bok choy. We also made our own sushi rolls, spring rolls (with glass noodles!), pot stickers and heated up some Benh-Da, a crunchy cracker-like tortilla with black sesame seeds.

It took a total of 3 hours to make and we were finished in less than 15 minutes. Despite the short time, it was absolutely delicious.

Back to the Asian market... as we were leaving, I noticed seagulls in the parking lot. Since we moved here in 2001, I just can't get over the fact that we have seagulls flying around at all times of the year. Rob and I have lived in Key West and San Franscisco, so it's a given that seagulls are in both places. But I grew up in Pennsylvania and Raleigh kind of reminds me of it. I mean, it gets cold here, there are bonafide winters - most of the time. Plus, the ocean is not exactly within walking distance. Raleigh just strikes me as a land-locked location. So to see seagulls, which is such a "beach" symbol to me, is just kinda odd.

Well, it just so happened that we had a box of leftover bagels from church that morning, so Maddy and I decided to feed the birds. What fun it is to throw bits of bread to the gulls. The funny way they fight over them and look at you expectantly - waiting for the next little bit. The caws and sqaws they shriek, the way they fly down and catch pieces in midflight. I had birds waiting in line mid-air, watching each move I made intently. Once they got their bit, they'd sail off. It's so uplifting to watch them! It made us both feel light and happy.

Like I said before, we were in a parking lot and it was a busy Sunday. So our little activity drew quite a lot of attention. People in passing cars slowed down to watch, smiling and waving. Those leaving the store would stop to watch a little of the "show". I was delighted to see such happy reactions from others. What a great way to connect with strangers...

So, all in all, our sushi-and-seagulls day was an unexpected success!