This amazing duomo is just down the street from our AirBNB! We just stumbled into this impressive Chiesa, after grabbing some award winning pizza (more on that another day.) Italy has these (nearly) thousand year old buildings all over, and then you step inside and and your jaw hits the floor. The one is from 1200's.
Reggio Calbaria is on the bottom of the boot of Italy, it's not a popular destination for American touritsts but it caught us for December. We spent a few weeks there after we left Sicily. The weather was pretty great and we were staying right on the beach. Here's a few of our highlights.
Greek Amphitheater, yes please? Every other town in Sicily has an original Amphitheater from the 1000 years of Greek occupation. I had no idea the Greeks and Italian histories were so intertwined, which is crazy since I'm from an Italian immigrant family.
We've gone to see Amphitheaters in several towns and cities now and I cannot get over the architecture these ancients created. Back in the day this would have housed everything from shows to animal gladiators.
We spent Christmas & my birthday at the bottom of the boot, in Italy! Without friends or family around, we hunkered down in a 5 star resort, in the town of Siderno. We looked all month for our traditional Christmas activities, the Nutcracker or the Christmas Carol, but the only Christmas activity we found was called Christmas in the Castle. Souther Italy is covered with old Norman castles. Here we met Santa!
Hope you had a very Merry Christmas! We spent ours in a little town in Southern Italy, called Siderno. Traveling over the holidays can be difficult, even when you're somewhere fabulous like Italy. We usually hunker down in a full service hotel somewhere. Here's some photos of our Christmas in southern Italy.
I cannot believe it's almost Christmas, can you? Although it's hard to be away from family, it's incredibly cool to be spending the holiday in this ancient country! Around every turn it seems you find an ancient artifact or relic. Here each city has its main church in the town center. And in the town of Catania, on the island of Sicily, there's the Cathedral of St Agatha.
While staying in Catania for two weeks, we were able to take some day trips. One of these day trips was to Syracuse, Italy to check out the famed St. John's church. This site is where St Paul came in 59 AD. History goes like this, St Paul was working in Jerusalem as a missionary when he was arrested by local Jews. He exercised his rights as a Roman citizen and as such was being extradited to face trial in Rome. On the way, he was shipwrecked in Malta and then stopped in Syracuse where he preached at what is today's St. John's church- *I don't get the name either.
Mt Etna is this smoking, gurgling, gusting volcano on the island of Sicily, in Italy. Locals call is "volcano bueno" even though it's constantly active and has wiped out town after town, over the last few recorded centuries. The nickname comes from the slow moving lava, which allows locals to completely clean out their homes before the lava flows, even to the point of removing windows and doors!
Hey friends! Well, somehow we made it to Rome. The trip took 18 hours due to some delays along the way, but no worries- we're in one piece and look at this place! We are in Rome for only three days and then we will be moving to the southern Italy. This Air BNB has a double rooftop terrace, one on each side, both are long and this one is also wide.
Happy Halloween! Zack and I have been bouncing between San Fran and Fresno for our last month before Italy. We had Zack's first book reading for Harvest Moon and it was such a blast! Now we fly to Florida this weekend and we will be there a week before blasting off for a year in Italy Nov 8th!
These old oak pedestal tables are a timeless shape with classic appeal. They're also often real wood and refinish beautifully.
Back to the basics. I know you all love is what I've been doing with my stain. How much do we love the colors of your favorite vintage farmhouse? Well, you can finally have them. Easy peasy, just apply to wood and watch the magic happen! You're going to love this tutorial to easily achieve the Chip and Joanna farmhouse look.
For this project any old piece of furniture made from real wood will work.
1.] STRIP: First you'll want to apply a thick layer of Citristrip to the table. Citristrip has a tendency to dry out before it can eat away at all the layers of stain and lacquer. So covering the wet stripper with a garbage bag helps keep the moisture in while it works.
2.] SCRAPE: When the stripper turns white, it's ready to be scraper off. Remove the bags and scrape as much of the mixture off, as you can. You'll want to try and get down ti the raw wood if you can. But being careful not to scrape or damage the wood itself.
3.] CLEAN: You will want to wipe the table down with mineral spirits and a rag to remove any existing residue. This should remove any sticky residue from the tabletop.
4.] SAND: Here's the labor portion. You want to use a palm sander and 80 grit sandpaper to make sure the wood is completely down to raw.
5.] STAIN: Weatherwood released a new stain that can turn oak into a beautiful driftwood gray, called Light Oaking. This product can work on any wood, so it's less complicated than some of their other products. You can layer this product for the perfect gray! Just wait 30 minutes between coats.
6.] PROTECT: Seal with 2-3 coats of Weatherwood Varnish topcoat.
You're going to love our newest stain. The Light Oaking is simply gorgeous and so easy to use. I'd love to see your Weatherwood projects. And please don't forget to give me your feedback about paint. This is going to be an amazing year!
Hello friends- Fall is fast upon us and Zack and I are less than a month away from our Italy departure. It feels like time has become this vacuum towards our IT departure and I'm just trying to hold on for dear life. I thought I'd answer one of your most asked questions today. Everyone always asks what my favorite Weatherwood product is for refinished furniture, in particular. No, it's not my original formula, the Reclamation stain. It's a no-fail gray perfect for weathering any wood type. It's called Light Oaking and it's gorgeous on this gorgeous walnut piece from Cathy!
Pine is the most common wood out there. It's usually what pallet wood is made from and it will be your most cost effective wood type. You know this because it's frequently found at home improvement stores like Home Depot or Lowes. If you're planning a wood project and your's like instant barnwood, here's the project for you!
Hey guys, this weekend we were in Forks, WA, launching yet another new product! lol Zack wrote a sort of prequel to the Twilight Saga and it was received super well at "Twilight Forever in Forks." You can check out the craziness in our Insta. We just flew back to Cali and are in the six week crunch before we move to Italy for a year! Life couldn't be more full and wonderful- speaking of wonderful, this farmhouse table is the bomb!
It's my favorite kind of project! A Restoration Hardware inspired piece! I loving getting that look at an affordable price, don't you? Let's turn an old garage sale find into a RH masterpiece!
We got this old mahogany dresser, but this project will work on any wood type. Here's our inspiration, let's get started...
Everyone looks that weathered wood look and live edge furniture is all the rage, why not combine the two? I've seen tons of live edge tables with a natural, oiled finish. But very few look like this! Weatherwood stains are a great choice for live edge because you can still see the wood grain, but the wood is not gray! You'll love how easy it was to do!
Hey friends! This week we are in Eugene, Oregon. The northwest is finally warming up, guys! I am one happy camper. We live so much of our lives outside, traveling around the US like this, so the warm weather gives us our playground back. Back to projects! Yay! We launched a new wood stain color a while back, but I finally have some photos to share! This stain is Restoration and it will turn most wood types a warm, rustic brown.
We hiked to this awesome secluded beach, called Second Beach here in the Forks, WA area. You walk a mile or so thru this green, mossy, enchanted forest. The light breaks through the tall pines and mossy ferns lighting the unusual trees. Then, after ups and downs, ups and downs, you pass the hills and reach this mystical, (usually gray) beach. It is really something else you guys. If you're familiar with the Twilight series, you can almost imagine werewolf running around. ;-)
I'm writing this on Easter morning. Zack and I are in the Seattle area, and so, I am listening to the sound of Seattle rain. This year is a little more tender, we had to put our sweet pup, Beau Dog, down on Friday. It was unexpected. As my dogs are the only kids I've ever had, it's been a mournful weekend. All of us miss him terribly and having a loss on Good Friday made me grateful for Easter and all it means. Although we aren't by family here, we have our Easter rituals to lean on. We like to read the scriptures about resurrection, to go to church, to watch the 10 Commandments & Passion of the Christ. I hope you get to celebrate with your loved ones.
Onto other news, this Scandinavian look is just so hot right now. You know how we work with all the largest architectural and design firms, in the world with Weatherwood? Well hear it from me, this white oiled look is MAJOR right now. I've shared how to get it, for two different projects.
