On my loom

It's been too hot to weave around here, but I've slowly managed to get warped.  I grumbled to myself...a lot... as I started the process of a 16 treadle tie up with 16 shafts.  But the results are undeniably awesome.

Cat Nap

Muffin and I have this routine.  Every Saturday, after I go to the gym and after I take a shower, we take a nap.  It isn't always long and I don't always fall asleep, but I find it so insanely sweet and entertaining that he wants to nap too.  I know... what a cliche!  Cats that like to nap.  But no cat can nap like Muffin.   If there was an award for napping, Muffin would win.  Most of the time I end up instagramming my sweet boy.  

Shenanigans

After 19 long hours we arrived in beautiful New Jersey.  Mo and Shane welcomed us with ice cold Yuenglings, the unofficial beer of New Jersey and also the oldest family owned American brewery.  

 Cheers!

I was eager to get to the beach, which was only 4 short blocks away.  It was hot but breezy.  The water felt great. 

 The next day we headed off to Point Pleasant Boardwalk. It was another hot day.

 We took refuge at the arcade.  Playing games and winning tickets. I bought silly neon bracelets.  The whole place was chock full of nostalgia.

 Later we took a stroll through the carnival. I love the boardwalk culture.  Everything is shiny and bright and a bit over the top....

...to say the least. 

Then, because we are adults, we spent a lot of time at a boardwalk bar.

In the afternoon came surprise #1.  Mo planned a fun trip on a boat.  But this wasn't any old boat.  It was a pirate boat!

Complete with a crew.

And a busty wench.

 The best we could do at being wenchy and piratey. 

 The next day, we went for a banana boat ride.  Thrilling and scary at the same time.  Afterwards we lounged at the beach where I proceeded to get a sun burn.   Later it was off to Asbury Park Boardwalk for  surprise #2, a  birthday party for Danielle at the Silverball Museum Arcade!  We had 3 hours of unlimited time to check out the museums extensive collection of pinball machines.  The best part?  You could try out any machine.  

 In the evening we went on a paranormal ghost tour of the board walk.  In addition to the ghost stories of the haunted old buildings we learned about Asbury Park's dark and bloody past.

 On our last day we feasted on lobster.  Prepared by seafood master Big D!.  I kinda felt sorry for the little guys.  Mo and I had a master plan to keep them in the tub, but they got cooked up while I was relaxing in the hammock.

Once they were all steamy and red. I didn't feel so bad. 

 And then it was back the way we came.  Rules in hand. 

Back

I've been back for a few weeks now and I am happy to say that I still have 6 wonderfully awesome friends.   Now that our trip is over I can finally share my most recent graphic design and screen printing project that I worked on for ourselves and our hosts.  

 I love that my friends humor me...a lot!  Not only did they let me make and followed an official rule that states; "your NJ T-shirt shall be worn upon entering NJ"; but they also let me stop at the first chance for a group pic.

Just working on these two guys makes me want to work up all the states!

 Did I mention we had nicknames?  Rule #1 "Your nickname is your identity."  I told you they humored me.

Can't wait to share the rest of our shenanigans!

Jersey Shore or Bust!

This 4th of July, I am going on my first big group trip with 6 of my closest friends.  We are going to Bradley Beach, New Jersey to visit our friends Mo and Shane. And we're DRIVING!  How will the 7 of us get along in our rented Dodge Caravan?  Easy.  We just need some rules...

I'll let you know if I still have 6 friends when I get back. :-)