Keyport in the Great American Town Tour!!

We call Keyport NJ home. It reminded us of the little southern towns we drove through after we got married. Little Main St, some pretty old homes, couple of diners and bars within walking distance, and just enough white trash to keep it fun. The fact that it's on the Raritan Bay is pretty sweet too.

I walked around a couple weeks ago and took some photos of some of my favorite houses in town.





















And a few shots of the bay.





Thanks for stopping by! Check out Huckleberry Prairie for more town tours.

Thrifty Treasures

Lina and I went to an estate sale Saturday morning, but we got hit with a crazy storm Friday evening. Lightening, hail, the works. The storm left the sky a beautiful pink color, but unfortunately ruined most of the stuff that brought us to the sale (postcards, linens). There was some still some good stuff and it was in a killer neighborhood right on the bay.

Here's the view from our porch after the storm rolled through. Not impressed? Sorry.



Lina found a pair of leather shoe clips and I found this apothecary jar.



I bought this perfect vintage sign on ebay. It definitely wasn't thrifty, but I loved it and it'll look perfect in our guest room.

My Sister's New Dog

Meet Taffy, my sister's adult one-eyed chihauhua. That's right. An old one-eyed dog. She's a really, really good person.

Our house. A brief introduction.

We bought our little house in Keyport 6 months ago. As far as we can tell it was built in 1888. The historical society is helping us find out for sure. The previous owners kept a lot of the original details intact (doors, floors, etc.) and maintained a killer garden and we are so grateful for that. We definitely put a bunch of work into it, but obviously we are nowhere near done. I swear these photos weren't staged, our creepy little dogs really love the camera.



Staircase (and Riff)



Living Room 1



Living Room 2



Living Room 3 (and Ollie)



Sun Room



View From The Back Porch

Thrifty Treasures (kind of a slow weekend)

It rained the entire weekend so most of the garage sales we went to were canceled. Weak! A new antique shop opened in town last week and it too was kind of a bust. The owner told Lina and I a bit too much about her personal life, but she had a really cool parrot. I found this stoneware jug though. I don't think it's that old, but it's pretty nice. Got to do a little more research.
Head over to Southern Hospitality to check out some more finds. Hopefully they fared better than me this weekend.

Our 1st Attempt at Gardening Part 1

The previous owner of our house was a serious gardener and Lina and I (mostly Lina) decided to follow in his footsteps. He made it really easy with a nice raised bed and irrigation system. We planted a bunch of stuff this spring, with the hope that at least one crop would survive. Most of them are doing well and one's ready to pick.



We planted this lettuce from seed and it is perfect. I've always heard, but never realized, how good growing your own food can makes you feel.

Thrifty Treasures

This Saturday Keyport had it's annual town wide garage sale. The weather was perfect, the prices were fair, and there was some great stuff out. I picked up a bunch of things. Here are some highlights.

A pair of old painted oars.



A complete set of canisters with perfect chicken decals.



An old green painted chair with fruit decals.



A serious stash of old bottles!!!!



An old pharmacist bottle (my fav).



I got lots more but the first episode of Roseanne is on and I've never seen it before. Different kid playing DJ, weird!

Small Town Snapshot Sunday

Nothing makes me happier than seeing personalized properties, both the good and the bad. I caught this fellow gluing shells to his planter while puffing away on his pipe. Check out the nautical cut-outs on his house.

Monday Food Hangover!!

Friday was my 29th birthday and I had two amazing (ridiculous) meals this weekend. On Friday night, my parents took the family to Pete and Elda's.



This place is a Jersey Shore landmark, that is known for it's amazing thin crust pizza.



Best part about the place is the free t-shirt you receive if you are able to eat a double xl pie solo. That poor thing didn't stand a chance.



Even though I'm pretty sure my heart stopped a few times during my encounter at Pete and Elda's, on Saturday I had an insane lunch. Harold's Deli is under a Holiday Inn in what is probably one of the weirdest, lamest towns(??) in New Jersey, Raritan Center. Raritan Center consists of the Garden State Expo Center and a half dozen hotels scattered about to accommodate the people taking place in an expo at said center. That is it.



Even though the setting isn't ideal, Harold's is amazing!! The sandwiches are comically huge and the cakes are the size of garbage cans.





The menu boasts that Harold's has the World's best pastrami and cheesecake. I'm not sure who's judging, but they probably had something to do with the neon over the pickle bar, which while awesome, is sort of small.
PS. The pickle bar has extra bread and obviously pickles (free of charge), that when combined with the leftover meat, provide about a weeks worth of lunches.



Harold's is a great place to bring a bunch of hungry friends. It's super fun and casual and the huge plates lend themselves to taking goofy photos of each other.

Thrifty Treasures

I found some great old bottles this weekend.



I know it's pretty cliche, but I love the way glass looks on my back window ledge.



I try to only pick-up bottles that are from New Jersey, but this brown one is an old Pabst bottle and I thought it was pretty cool.



I also found these old glass Christmas ornaments in the box for 2 dollars!