Survey aside, you all know we’ve been up to our ears in new house stuff for the last few weeks. We’ve closed on the new place, have lined up a wonderful couple to rent this home of ours, and we’re beginning to stockpile some treasures for the new studio and our big new garage (my favorite part!). All that said, every hard-working man needs a weekend diversion and my diversions usually involve bicycles. When the weather isn’t great for riding, I can often be found lending a hand building and maintaining our trails at The Garden Dirt Jumps, a bike park that my friends and I have been building top of the remains of a defunct Chicago amusement park for the last half-decade or so:

While we’re out working on the park, we often find unexpected things in the dirt. Like, really unexpected things. Over the last 6 summers of building in the woods, the boys and I have found parts of cars, roller-coaster bits, unidentifiable bones (yes, really, I say!) and often chunks of antique dishes and glassware.

It is, however rare to find anything whole and/or in good shape. Last weekend was an exception and on a build day at the park, I uncovered an adorable little half pint milk bottle and a cool blue glass inkwell.

After the day of digging was all wrapped up our tools were cleaned and put away, I headed home to polish up my newfound treasure. A quick scrub and a short soak in the sink later and we were left with some clean and quirky glassware with a history all its’ own.

An Ebay and Etsy search confirmed that neither one is worth much, but it turns out there is some really cool history to be told. The milk bottle is from Rusche Haller & Co here in Chicago, and according to this Google Doc, Mr Rusche. really knows his milk! The ink well was manufactured by  Sanford’s, likely in the late 19th or early 20th century. And for all of you history nerds (myself included) this is the same Sanford’s that still manufactures Sharpie markers and PaperMate pens. Who knew?

What sort of treasure have you unearthed in backyard renovations?

Our little virtual home turns four today!

To be honest, we can never quite remember the actual day – it’s not like we have our very first blog entry marked on the calendar (although, it’d be funny if we did!) – but every June, we remember to do a quick search, find that first entry, and celebrate with a little… something. (After all, the blog did birth our shops – all thanks to a very enthusiastic, very loved readership!) Last year we shared a slice of pie, and this year, we filled our bellies with biscuits. And gravy. (Which, as it turns out, makes for a not-so-pretty photo, and the four cats have graciously subbed in.)

The timing of our blog birthday couldn’t be more perfect; aside from being on Friday (the best day, we think), it falls right in line with our new home adventure. It’s really amazing to think of our yearly, traditional travels as the starting point to our question: Where will we end up?

And in the end, it was here all along! Chicago, we love you. Here is our home.

This year, we’d like to do something a little different and have our very first, very official Reader Survey! In 15 quick questions, we want to know – who are you? (You know, really.) What do you like/dislike and everything in-between when it comes to this virtual home of ours? Your feedback would really mean the world to us; as we grow, we want to improve. Our survey ends with a good ol’ open forum; ask us anything. We’ll round up a reader Q&A and share in the coming days. Just click below to get started!

If you take nothing else from our over-rambled birthday speech, hear this: thank you. For stopping by, leaving your advice, suggestions and inspiration, and for being our cheerleaders. It may seem we say that a lot for every Shop milestone, birthday and anniversary (in our minds, not enough), but we mean it more than you will ever, ever know.

Cat photo via.

Nicole invited us along for the too-short trip (I’m still pinching myself; if only we had the time to stay longer!), and while we did all those things that girls do when they get together – you know, eat, drink and talk, talk, talk! – we also took a moment to sneak in an archery lesson, swing on the trees and, of course, take way, way too many photos. It rained constantly, but it didn’t matter.

I woke up the following morning on a top bunk – making my heart so happy – after spending the evening over a bottle of wine and a fire in the lodge. The Camp, I’m telling you, is magical.

See Nicole’s recap right here.

ONE. After Scott spotted the dresser in a nearby alley, we slept on it before scooping it. Because, remember, we aren’t supposed to bring any new items in that we’ll have to move? But it was still there 2 days later, and a quick social media poll told us to stop being silly! We picked it up, and for now, it’s living in the back of the wagon. (Where else will it go?)

TWO. As if one new item wasn’t enough (although yes, it was free!), we treated ourselves to an afternoon at Humboldt House – a new vintage shop that we want to move into. Every price point is hit throughout the store, and you guys! They have a shop Pittie! The seemingly innocent trip turned dangerous when I spotted that velvet chair – and after pleading my case for a solid 30 minutes to Scott, we picked that up, too. I have big plans for that one; big plans.

New house, get here! We have things to put in you!

As you can imagine, it was slightly comical when the previous owner passed the torch – 2 pounds of keys, ha! – followed by, what the?! There are 20 more days of tenants living in the our soon-to-be home, but we’ve tossed around the idea of some exterior fixing up (including a tree limb that’s thisclose to crashing through the second floor window), and we’re already making plans for knocking down walls and leveling an uneven floor (oh, the ceiling, too). This future guy needs help, and we can’t wait to dive in.

We’re deep in the rental process of our own little condo, and we were admittedly surprised by the overwhelming response – pleasantly surprised, of course. Fingers crossed we can make a decision among the applicants soon – opening the rest of June to  pre-planning and hyper-excited dinner conversations. For every hurdle we’ve jumped through to get to that closing table, we know we have that many more (way more) ahead of us still. Those old (at times, painful) hurdles seem so distant now; we’re only looking forward.

PS! Happy birthday to the coolest guy I’ve ever known; Scott turned a whopping 32 yesterday.

With our patio appropriately perked (and our whole home in the beginning stages of being tucked away in boxes), I took a time out over the weekend for a tiny outdoor detail – DIY herb signs! We’d meant to do so last year, but we’d also been so quick to jump on a living room tweakfest that it went out the window as fast as it flew in. So! This year, here we go:

We knew they needed to be mostly waterproof, but a quick search online left us empty-handed; they were all too kitschy (nothing wrong with that, by the way!), non-permanent or more money than we would have liked to spend. I scoured the studio cabinets for bits we could piece together, and we agreed on the simple design above. Here’s how we did it:

Supplies needed
1/8″ thick plywood (can be found at any art store)
lettered stencil
wood stain
exterior paint
spray Polycrylic (for good measure)
ruler or any straight edge
sharp utility knife (I changed the blade 2x in the process)
pencil
small paintbrush

What to do
draw your desired sign shape on the plywood
using your straight edge and a sharp utility knife, cut out your shapes
stain (or paint!) your signs
with the stencil, use a pencil to write your herbs
paint your letters using a teeny paintbrush and exterior paint
spray Polycrylic on your signs to seal out water damage
stick your cute signs in that herb garden!

I’ll fully admit that it’s a bit more effort than just hand painting the letters on, but I’m a through and through type A, OCD girl (as many of you should know by now), and I truly can’t stand the site of my own handwriting. (For real, Scott writes all the notes on our chalkboard entry wall; remember how panicked I was when I wrote that list on photo shoot day?)

You could make this project even easier by using, say, tongue depressors (Scott, of course, suggested this later!), and you can certainly customize it any way you’d like using any paint you may have on hand. The exterior paint for the lettering is key – as I’m sure you know – to prevent your hard work from being washed away in rain and daily waterings. That goes without saying though, yes?

Aah, we’re going to miss this patio.