When The Relatives Came ♥

It's one of my favorite books of all time; I would read it to the kids before we'd head "up north" to spend a week (and many times, two) at Sara & Dan's farm. That was in the 80's and 90's, so very long ago. Sigh. The kids were such cute, happy, innocent 'lil nuggets...ahhh, the good ole days!

"In a rainbow-colored station wagon that smelled like a real car, the relatives came. When they arrived, they hugged and hugged from the kitchen to the front room." And my favorite line:  "It was different, going to sleep with all that new breathing in the house."

Those lines just evoke such a sense of family, vacation, love and happiness to me! ♥

Now, the relatives come "down south", (Can ya blame 'em?! No snow, lots o' sunshine, and theme parks!) which is fine and dandy with us! The relatives: have time-shares that they share (with all the bells and whistles), they take us out to eat, and they come see all the things we've changed in our house since their last visit! Kidding! Well, they do do all those things, but we are so thankful to have them come: to hear their 'Pennsavainya' accents, feel their hugs in person, and sit and laugh and talk.

 

Nanny, Aimee and Ivy... girls bein' cute. Relaxing on the back porch, drinkin' iced tea and beer, and smellin' Jack's fabulous smoked pork.

A world-renowned Dolce Girls' party was held in Sara's honor! We gave her a good laugh or two! She's now one of us, heh heh heh...

Linds came home to get her Pennsavainya hugs, too! Ivy and Oak kept her runnin', and I showed them the best places in the house for hide n' seek.

Here is Neal, riiiigggght before he put his head on Jack's shoulder (I was lucky to get a pic, but I'm being a nice aunt and keeping it to myself). Vacation and Yuengling can really get you to let your guard down!

 

 "When they finally had to leave, they were sad, but not for long. They all knew they would be together next summer." ♥

 

Ladies' Night at Pheasant & Phig!

You may notice the LLC's slight name change...Fig to Phig. Cute, huh? Foozer suggested that one, and I like it. Annie E, on the other hand, quizzed me over my choice of "fig" to begin with. "You know that figs aren't indigenous to Western Europe, right?" Then something about islands, or breadfruit, or something of the like, but I stopped listening. Sigh. Just like Jack (we had the same conversation last week). I JUST LIKE FIGS, OK?! She imagined the pub to be called the "Pheasant & Crown" (which I love, but, dangit, it's too late, we've already had our Grand Opening) I'm just giving her a hard time, I love our Annie! ♥

Anyhow, our first Ladies' Night begins with some Mardi Gras flair!

Ok, these are not ladies, nor are they Mardi Gras themed. But they sure looked perfect at the bar ☺Jack, Lee & Pete were headed out to Crackerjack's for some quiet time, because Lord only knows these gals are anything but quiet!

The photog was a tad lacking, but I love this shot. Typically silly!

Our masks are donned. Except Laura & Dawn, but perhaps the photo below will give you a clue as to why Laura looks so happy, and possibly even thinks she has her mask ON.

 

Everyone signed the 'Guest Log'. Laura was already having a great time, and we were approximately 30 minutes into the party! (I think 'bar' said 'bark', and in case you can't make it out, it says, "I'm fairly drunk already"; then she signed her whole name just in case I wouldn't remember who she was. No worries, she had a DD!)

Mom and Dad had the coolest guest log at our big house on Walnut Street, and this is shaping up to be just a fun as that one!

 

Look who wanted some beads!

We had a gift exchange (cuz the Christmas ones were tooooo much fun!), and it was a hoot. Intriguing wrapping paper is the key, and these were all intriguing in different ways!

This one was different; wrapped in a taped box with used q-tips, makeup remover pads and assorted garbage. Love it! And wait till you see what was inside!

The beautiful, handmade pink cap on Linda's head! (Annie rocks the knittin' needles) Becky got the gift that Bev brought, and refused to take her Tweety off all night. Perfect!

This is our version of a King Cake. A Valentine cookie with a porcelain statue of Laura's Uncle Teck on top (don't ask, it's a long story). By the time I got around to snapping a pic, this was all that was left! And that was AFTER we ate spicy sausage stuffed mini peppers, hot wings, two versions of red beans and rice, muffalettas, kielbasa, Chinese spring rolls & dumplings (we had a dual celebration for Mardi Gras & Chinese New Year!), homemade mac n' cheese cupcakes, etcetera etcetera.

 

What a KREWE! ;)

Pheasant & Fig!

A few years ago (it seems like decades), we properly closed in the old front porch of our house (after Jackson moved out!) We had been using it as his bedroom, and he would complain about spiders (we he literally despises), ants and other creepy crawlies in that old "front room", as it had been poorly redone in the past and had many cracks and crevices that allowed Florida's wildlife in.  So...we had a new front wall and windows installed, and moved the front door.  Then my Jack-of-all-trades-wonderful-handyman-hubby hung new drywall, laid a tile floor, cut a pass-through window, trimmed, shot knock-down walls and painted, and made us a beautiful new room. A beautiful new room that was rarely ever used, until now.

This is the "old" room and entertainment center that was never used; a few weeks ago we offered it to whichever kiddo wanted it, and Jax got dibs (the tv went to Alex when he moved back out last year). So what to do with this room now?!

Our BFF Debbie suggested we turn it into a bar. Ummm, a bar? Well, OK! Now you're talkin'! So off we set in search of a bar. I checked the internet. Nah. Bars were either too expensive or too "cheap". Ugh.

 

On a whim, we stopped at Haverty's on the way to Doris' a few weeks ago. HELLLLOOOO! We feasted our eyes on this gorgeous piece of furniture, and our search was over! It wasn't the "stand behind" bar that we originally had in mind, but, man, we fell in love! A few negotiations later, we had a deal! ☺

 

*Sigh* Isn't it lovely?!  We just knew our "bar" would look fabulous in this spot!

 

We made two trips to Kirklands to find a mirror; we had a vision (think "Olde English"), and picked the perfect one for above the bar. Here's Handyman Jack hard at work to get it hung before our Grand Opening!

 

Ta-da! Now of course this pic's in the daylight; but in the evening, with a little vino, some smooth jazz, dim lights, and good company, we're all set! Debbie attended the "soft" opening on Tuesday and Wednesday, then Linds came home on Thursday for the official opening. See the pheasant on the bar?! That was Deb's gift to us, hence "pheasant" in the name!

 

Harrison kept an eye on the parking lot while we enjoyed our drinks.

Make your reservations now! 2-4-1 Happy Hour, drink specials (we're still working on a signature drink (thanks, Rob!), and Ladies Night on Fridays!

Welcome to Pheasant & Fig!