We officialy arrived in Maine a week ago. And while there are a few things we are still working out,  we couldn’t be happier to be here. I started a new job, and have been having a blast exploring our new surroundings. Even Einstein has made some new friends. Our current neighbor has a lovely cat who goes by Clark (I call him Clark W. Griswold) that Ein treats as a fellow dog. So far Clark has been nice enough to allow him into his ragtag group of outdoorsy animals as well greeting me on the front porch when I arrive home. Unfortunately though we will soon have new neighbors as we found out the hard way that Freight Trains do not make good neighbors. Upwards and onwards.

Well it’s actually quite a while until Crafty Bastards (over 2 months away). But I am so excited to be invited to be part of this amazing indie craft show. This will be the farthest I have ever traveled for a craft show, but some awesome people have reminded me that the leaves will be changing and the drive from Maine to Washington D.C. will be beautiful. Hope I will get to see some of you there!

It’s been sort of radio silence around here for the last couple weeks. Matt and I enjoyed our trip to Maine and found a great space that we will be calling home for at least the next year. I’ve been busy getting ready for a wholesale show as well as packing up the peppersprouts shop and all of our belongings. I can’t wait to see where the year takes us, but I can tell you this much, there will be many lobster rolls and beer evenings at the Portland Lobster Company this fall. I love outdor seating, great food, bands and a place where the pup can hang out under the table.

Matt’s parents were in town this weekend so we decided to head over to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. I have lived in Brooklyn for 4 years and have actually never been there before (it’s a shame I know). This place is simply beautiful. I always worry about going to “guidebook destinations” in the city because I don’t like being in large crowds, but aside from the indoor areas we were pretty much alone in the gardens. It was such a peaceful escape from the everyday city life and I’m planning on going back sometime in the next few weeks to explore the areas we didn’t get to see.

On Saturday I received a call from an old friend that I haven’t seen in about a year. It’s not because we live so far away from each other there really is no good reason at all for the time lapse in our friendship. We met up in Central Park, with Matt and Einstein and spent the afternoon walking around and enjoying the cooler weather. We came across these two birds at the boathouse, whom at first glance looked to be fighting. Turns out the smaller one was squawking at the larger one to feed it, which of course it did numerous times. They then hung out with us and seemed to be enjoying watching the boats pass by almost as much as we were.

I went to see Ben Folds perform last night at Town Hall in Manhattan. It’s such a small intimate theater and we had just amazing seats so needless to say the show was amazing. I actually didn’t give much thought to who, if anyone, might be the opening act. In this case I was blown away. Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall performed an amazing set. If you haven’t heard Kate sing (I hadn’t until last night) this girl has a set of pipes on her. Her voice is actually very sweet with a wonderful Australian accent and a mix of playful operatic notions come through every now and again. The video above is probably one of my favorite songs that they performed last night ( I do apologize about the ad in the beginning)

I’m actually taking off later today to head to Boston to attend PAX east. For those of you who may not be familiar with PAX it’s a game convention put on my the amazing guys at Penny Arcade. Even with my often very busy schedule I still find time to unwind a bit by jumping over water pits, shooting zombies or rocking out on virtual guitars! I’m pretty excited to attend this three day convention so I thought I would leave you with a few game inspired handmade goodies. Have a great weekend everyone!

Space Invaders Bangle by ParAmourDesign • Pacman Cufflinks by dedalo • Keep Calm art by Queens Spoof • Q-bert inspired Pillow by  Regansbrain

I know it’s still a few days until the official first day of spring but spring has come a bit early here in Brooklyn. This morning when I walked out the front door I noticed a few crocuses have bloomed under our currently barren rose bush. The sun was hitting them just right so I decided to take a few pictures of our first spring flower! I hope this brightens your day just a tiny bit.