Where Shall l Start?

After 5 weeks of traveling, it's hard to know where to begin.  Even though I took my laptop with me, intending to blog often, it just didn't happen.

But because of Instagram, I still had a very lovely blog related encounter.

So, that's where I'll start.

Leesburg Town Hall

I was in Virginia to visit a friend who left Kuwait in June after 8 years of elementary teaching.

Me and Marisol in Reston, VA.

Little did I know that just a short distance down the road in Leesburg, there was Lisa of the blog An Abundance of Projects and Plans a/k/a @smile_bam on IG.

Once we realized we were in the same vicinity, we scheduled a coffee date.

Lisa suggested Shoes, Cup & Cork which had been a shoe repair shop for 80 years until the cobbler retired in 2006.

The restaurant has a very quirky interior reminiscent of the building's past, where the shoes on the wall let you know which bathroom to use.

She had pecan pie, I had apple, and we talked for nearly 2 hours straight.

Of course, we bloggers love to give gifts.

No picture of what I gave, but I received the softest, most colorful yarn and a very pretty crocheted doily that she said reminded her of Virginia flowers in the summertime.

I think she's right (and I'm sure the guy who saw me taking this photo probably thought I was pretty weird).

It's always a delight to be able to meet a blog friend in person.

Thanks again, Lisa!

Friendship blessings,

Philadelphia's Magic Gardens

We arrived in the Philadelphia area on Friday evening.

A drive that should have taken us about 6 hours, wound up being nearly 9 because of long traffic delays.

Double ugh!

Besides the history of Philly,

I came to see this truly amazing public art installation.

Mission accomplished yesterday on a very steamy day in the city.

The mosaic garden is the largest art installation of artist Isaiah Zagar.

After he and his wife served three years in the Peace Corps in the mid-1960s, they settled in Philadelphia and began a lifelong career of creating public art.  

In 1994, Zagar started working on vacant lots near his studio on South Street.

He spent two years molding and sculpting multi-layer walls from found objects, but when the  Boston-based owner learned of his work, he decided to sell the land.  

The community did not want to see the art installation destroyed, so they rallied together, and after a 2 year long court battle, Zagar's creation became a nonprofit organization, given the name Philadelphia's Magic Gardens.

Zagar's work can be found on more than 200 public walls around Philadelphia and the world.

I have never done mosaics but have always loved it and this definitely makes me want to learn.

Truly inspiring.

Amazing!

And magical!

Have a blessed day!

So Far

We've been from Kuwait via Istanbul to Toronto where my oldest son met up with us.

Road trip number 1 took us to Albany where my youngest attended his college orientation.

 

Road trip number 2.

 

Where we visited New York City and several towns in New Jersey

Road trip number 3 took us back to Ontario for a few days, where we left our Colorado boy to fly home.

And now it's just me and college-bound boy in Boston.

 20 days of travel so far.

About 19 more to go.

I don't usually bring my laptop on vacations, but needed it for several reasons and so here I am.  

It's a drizzly day where we're at so we are hanging out and I'm catching up on things that I've been neglecting along the way,

Hope all is well with all of you.

Best wishes,