Sometimes WOW Doesn't Cover It...

We have just returned from a week on the world's largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas. Luckily, I found a way to post our photos here through Shutterfly, which simplifies the process. You can view them without being a member of that site, so click through to the page without signing up. You can also click underneath where it says "Click here to view these pictures larger" for a better view if you'd like. Now, a little more about the trip...

It goes without saying but the ship was A-MAZING. It has seven "neighborhoods," including a Boardwalk, Central Park, Royal Promenade and Solarium to name a few. We booked this vacation (almost a year and a half ago) for the boat, not the itinerary, but the stops were (in order) Labadee, Haiti; Costa Maya, Mexico; and Cozumel, Mexico. We'd never been to any of the ports before. We also had 3 sea days for a total of 7 nights on board.

Some of the activities we participated in on the ship were... Rock climbing (Jim), Ziplining (Carrie), seeing many live shows including a diving show, stand up comedy and Beatles tribute band, the Quest game show, 2 formal nights, watching a Steelers game on board, riding a Carousel, taking a Central Park botanical tour, playing (and winning) lots of trivia, watching parades, swimming in the pools, enjoying our very first private balcony and much, much more. That's not including the 3 days we spent in ports. We hope you enjoy our photos at least one tenth as much as we enjoyed our vacation!

Click here to view these pictures larger

And now, for a few video clips...

Carrie Ziplining across the boardwalk, 8 stories up...



Jim scaling the wall...


Here's 'Revolution,' a Beatles tribute band we'd actually seen years ago in Cleveland...


Crazy stunts on the Flowrider...

We'll leave you with this clip, filmed off our balcony while we were docked in Labadee. So peaceful...

Crazy

Another new print from Jim. Patsy, his new Buddy Holly portrait, and most of his other Icons of Music prints will be the featured artwork during November at the Square Cafe in Regent Square, 1137 South Braddock Avenue, Pittsburgh. Stop by and check them out if you're in the area.

Here's Buddy!

Here's a promo for Jim's latest Icons of Music portrait. It's been over two years since his last portrait, so he was excited to have a new addition to the Icon family. Stay tuned in the next few weeks for yet another portrait!

To see the complete series and pricing info, visit www.redrobotcreative.com.

Deal of the Mid-Century...

Every year, Egdewood Acres has a big neighborhood yard sale. I think most people just drag out the stuff they were trying to sell the previous year, and when it's over, just pack it all up and store it until next year. However, it is possible to find a few gems if you wake up early and get the jump on the rival pickers. Carrie had just organized a very successful garage sale a few weeks ago, so I was reluctant to acquire any new stuff. She even had to prod me to drive to a nearby ATM that morning to get some cash just in case we wanted to buy something. We were making our way down one of the streets and we came upon a house that had some vintage cabinets mixed in with the standard garage sale stuff. Sitting in the back of the driveway was a very cool side table that looked like some type of vintage 1950's office furniture. It was retro mint green, had door that held a trash can, and was in very good condition. We had never seen anything quite like it. I really didn't think that we needed it, so we moved on down the street. The whole time we were making our way around the neighborhood I kept thinking about that cabinet. I finally decided to myself that if it was there when we passed by that house again, I would buy it. I had also convinced myself that if it was gone, I would not regret not buying it - even though I most certainly would. We finally made our way back to the house and there it was. I really couldn't believe someone hadn't snatched it up. Mid-century stuff is very hot right now, and we've seen items like this for several hundred dollars in antique shops. I plunked down my money- the asking price, five dollars! The homeowner proceded to give us a brief history of our purchase. It was an original piece of office furniture from the ALCOA building in downtown Pittsburgh. Her husband passed away a few years ago and she was ready to get rid of some of his stuff. She even took me into the house to show me a matching piece from the set - a large display cabinet that will look great in our office. She took my business card and promised to give me a call when she is ready to sell it. We hiked to our car and drove back to pick up our treasure, just as two guys were eying it up and telling the homeowner how much they would love to have it (let's just say that they thought it was, um, fa-bu-lous). Sorry fellas, she's taken. Carrie did a great job of cleaning it up and it looks perfect next to our office desk. I don't know if there is such a thing as "garage sale high," but we had one the rest of the day. Moral of the story - don't wait too long to pull the trigger on something that is obviously a great deal and that you feel is something very unique. Some brief history... Made in 1953 by the General Fireproofing Company of Youngstown Ohio, this phone cabinet was part of an office furniture collection called "Mode-Maker". A 1960 catalog shows many of the pieces here. The below picture shows the piece we bought as part of a larger credenza (it would be the piece on the far right side of the illustration). How cool is that illustration, by the way? Ours was meant to be a stand alone piece- phone books would go on the upper shelf and the phone would go on the top surface.

Posh Pittsburgh...

Last week, we had a work party at a home on Mt. Washington owned by a family member of one of our managers. At over 10,000 square feet, it was quite a sight to see. Here are a few shots from around the property...

Part of the backyard entertaining area...


The party lounge...



Dance floor with DJ booth...



Wine cellar with bar...

Another shot of the infinity pool with hot tub and firepit in the foreground...

Love that pool...

Check out the view from the living room...

The master bedroom shares the same city views...

One of the roof top decks...

Looking down from the deck...

View from the rooftop...

For Your Listening Pleasure...

Here are a couple videos of Matt & Jim (aka Cephas & Milo) playing at Big Dog Coffee earlier this summer. Crank up the volume and enjoy!






Here is Jim's review of the shows...

Another year has flown by, and it was time for Matt Texter and I to assume our musical alter egos, Cephas and Milo's Rusty Strings Roadshow. Carrie can vouch for me when I say that I have been practicing like a madman this year in preparation for our trip. And with my new Fender Princeton amp, I was more than ready to get out and play this year.

This year's itinerary was a repeat of last year's trip — a stop in Pittsburgh at Big Dog Coffee on Friday night, then hitting the road Saturday morning to travel to Hagerstown, Maryland to play for four (yes, four) hours at the Gourmet Goat Restaurant and Bar. The owners of the Gourmet Goat like to have live music for their patrons during the weekend of the Western Maryland blues Festival.

First things first — the Big Dog Coffee show was a really good time. The shop is small, and we played totally acoustic, no mics or amps. I was like playing in someone's living room. A great group of friends showed up and filled our tiny playing area with familiar faces. It made for a very relaxing and fun evening.

The Hagerstown gig was jumping this year, to say the least. Most of our regular "fans" returned to see us, sporting their old C&M tees, and many of them stayed for the entire show. People were on their feet dancing, and we weren't allowed to pack up our gear before playing a rousing encore of Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues.

After the show, we walked across the street and checked out the blues bestival, where we enjoyed the funky stylings of Trombone Shorty, an amazing young musician with an incredible band.

Matt and I are very fortunate to be able to do this. A big shout out to Carrie and Abby for putting up with our musical shennanigans. We've been taking these trips since 2004, and each year is just as fun as the last. Better get back to practicing for next year's adventure ...

Check out Matt's original music at http://www.myspace.com/matttexter.

If you didn't get a chance to come out and see us, we still have some Cephas and Milo t-shirts available for $10. I'll figure out how to get them to you if you want one.

Our New Old Walkway...

This weekend, we finally completed a project that has been in the works for a long time. Since the time we moved in, replacing the "walkway" (if you could call it that) around to the back door was on our to do list. Unfortunately, it just hadn't made it to the top of the list yet.

We went through various rounds of quotes from contractors for every option from stamped concrete to pavers. Ultimately, we decided we wanted the walkway to look old, not new, to go along with the age and look of the house. We settled on Pennsylvania flagstone and decided we would do the work ourselves to save money. Luckily, we had help from our friends, Brandon & Sarah Mauch (thanks, guys!).

We looked at flagstone at a few places before finding just what we needed at Barn Landscape & Supply on Babcock Blvd. They were friendly & knowlegable, had a great selection and good prices. They were able to schedule a weekend delivery and only charged $50 to bring the pallet of stone to our house, even though we are 15 miles from their location.

Here is what we we were replacing- a narrow path made up of 1ft stepping stones...


Last weekend we pulled up the stepping stones and dug out a 3 foot wide trench for the new walkway...
Here's the completed walkway...

Since these photos, we have filled in the gaps with a grass seed medium. Once the space in between the stones is filled in with grass, we hope we'll have a walkway that doesn't look new. Only we (ok, and you) will know the truth!

A Trip to the Farm...

This past Saturday, the Pennsylvania Association of Sustainable Agriculture hosted the 4th annual 'Buy Fresh Buy Local Farm Tour'. Since it was such a hot day, we only ended up visiting one farm (24 participated) but it was of particular interest to us because this year we joined their CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). For a membership fee, we receive a crate of just-picked organic produce from Kretschmann Organic Farm each week.

It was really fun to tour the farm and meet the proprietors, Don & Becky Kretschmann, and to see where all the great produce we get comes from. Here are some shots from the afternoon. Feel free to comment or e-mail if you have questions about the CSA.

Eggplants...

Cattails by the irrigation pond...

Green bell peppers...

Apples in the orchard...

The orchard...

Something's sprouting (potatoes?)...

Under the apple trees...

Lovely coneflowers...

The big barn...

On a hayride/tour with farmer Don...

Giant green onions...

Kale- I never knew it grew in these pretty bouquets...

Bunches of basil...

More basil with dill in the background...

Tomato plants...

A view looking back at the barn from across the property. I was not expecting the farm to be so treed and hilly. This was not the flat farmland you normally think of...

The Big 3-0 in the Big Apple

A week ago at this time, we were on our way to the airport to head to NYC for a long weekend. Saturday was my 30th birthday and Jim agreed to take me on a getaway to celebrate. Having only been to New York twice before (both times on one day bus trips with no overnight stay), it was our first chance to get a real feel for the city. And I LOVED it. It was a perfect way to celebrate the occasion. We arrived Friday evening and departed Monday evening, and in those 3 days, we packed a LOT in. See for yourself...

The Raddisson Lexington, where we stayed, a few blocks from the Chrysler building in Midtown Manhattan.
The hotel lobby

Our tiny room (this was the first of 2 rooms we stayed in there, and the second one was bigger, but it's a long story)...

On Friday night, we headed to Lombardi's Pizza in Soho, the oldest Pizzaria in New York (opened 1905). Don't know that I'd ever had coal oven pizza before. It was delicious.

After dinner we headed over to Times Square. Take note of the photo bar at the top of the blog. Those are separate photos that Jim took while in Times Square and then used Photoshop to create a panorama. Pretty cool, huh?

Here's a quick video panorama as well...

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Saturday was the big day! Although the weather prediction was for rain (as seen here), it ended up being nice all day with not one raindrop, so we lucked out...

After hitting up the in-hotel Starbucks, we met our guide in the lobby and headed out on our private tour through Real New York Tours. Although it ended up being pretty history-based, we still saw some interesting stuff. Here's George Washington in front of Federal Hall (once the Capitol building).

The N.Y.S.E...

Front view of the Stock Exchange...

This was our first visit to Ground Zero which right now is pretty much a construction site. This is the new Freedom Tower going up. We were able to visit the Memorial Preview Site where they had models of what the area will look like when completed

One more shot of the Freedom Tower going up...

At Washington Square Park (you can see the Empire State Building through the arch)...

All ready to go out to dinner at the River Cafe in Brooklyn...

My Brooklyn Bridge dessert complete with candle and Happy Birthday plaque (made from chocolate of course)... No, they did not sing, thank goodness.

At our table... I really loved this place.

Outside the restaurant... It was so cute. After dinner, enjoying the view from outside the restaurant...

After dinner, we walked back to Manhattan across the Brooklyn Bridge, which was something everyone should experience once in their life. I wanted to go for a celebratory beverage, so we got changed and headed over to Rockefeller Center and went to the 'Rink Bar' which as you can guess, is set up where the ice skating rink is in the winter. We each had one delicious but very expensive drink. Ask me about this!

30 Rock...

From Rockefeller Center, we hopped over to Radio City for a few minutes...

What a great Birthday!

On Sunday morning, we hopped on the Subway (we did a LOT of subway riding- practically pros now) and made the hour long trip out to Coney Island. First stop, Nathan's, an institution in the world of Hot Dogs (home to the annual National Hot Dog Eating Contest on July 4th).

Next stop, Luna Park on the Boardwalk, as we made our way to the Cyclone. Love this shot...

Looking at the beach from the Boarwalk. Was surprised to see a "real" beach in NYC.

The famous Cyclone, a Roller Coaster mecca...

Waiting in line...

If you've never ridden this, I can't quite explain it. I was expecting it to be tame, but it was not at all. The drops were fast and steep and the whole thing was much more intense than the Thunderbolt at Kennywood (my gold standard in wooden coasters). I still like the Thunderbolt better, but this is certainly an interesting ride...

After we got back from Coney Island, we headed to Toy Tokyo in the East Village so Jim could check out their Robot selection. He found a tin friend to bring home. Next stop was the Mac Store on 5th Avenue. You can hardly see it, right? This huge glass box is all that sits above ground, with the actual store under the street.

We had some time to kill so we strolled around a bit and stumbled across a Bastille Day Festival with lots of yummy french food vendors.

Here's Jim enjoying a crepe...

I couldn't pass up a strawberry tart from Payard. Too delicious...

Next on the agenda was Circle Line Harbor Lights Cruise, so we headed down to the piers...

The boat was nothing fancy but the tour was great...

Now this was a cool looking boat...With the tour leaving dock at 7pm we had great sunset lighting for some nice shots...

Love how this one has a red, white and blue sky...

Of course, the Brooklyn Bridge...

At the bottom and to the right of the bridge, you can see the back of the River Cafe where we had dinner on Saturday (it's actually on a barge)

This one's the Manhattan Bridge...

After the cruise, I insisted we visit Juniors in Time's Square for a piece of their famous cheesecake...

So worth it - a great way to end the day...

On Monday morning, we rode the Subway to Herald Square for a stroll through Macy's... This Macy's had no less than four, yes four Starbucks INSIDE the store. Can you believe it?

Love those wooden escalators...

Next on Jim's agenda was a stop at a great guitar shop, so we headed to Rudy's in Time's Square and it did not disappoint. They had a large selection for being a fairly small place. They also had some vintage guitars on display that were for sale. If only we had $29,000, we could have brought one home! :)

One more pass by Rockefeller Center on our way to the next destination...

Which was Central Park. Here's the whimsical Alice in Wonderland Statue...

Miniature sailboats on the pond...

Taking a break...

We wandered through Shakespeare Garden...

It's strange that it can be so quiet in the park when the city is bustling just beyond it's boundaries...

After enjoying Central Park, it was on to the subway and then the bus to head back to the airport. It was sad to leave but our legs had reached their maximum limit on walking for 3 days. I don't think I could think of many better ways to spend celebrating my 30th. Thanks to Jim for putting up with my plan and going along happily with every minute of it!