You know I had to......

                                                         

 

 

 

 

                                                How could I visit somewhere and not try their local cupcake shops. Well, if you know me, you know I couldn't. We tried 2 places. The first stop was Just Cupcakes. That's what they sell, just cupcakes. Which by the way is perfectly fine by me! I don't know why it seems to happen almost every time,  we make our stop late in the day. It happened this day, too. They only had two flavors left to choose from. So we did. The flavors were peanut butter/chocolate and black & white. This is the first shop I've been to that has been a contestant on Food Network's Cupcake Wars. They've been on twice. They are very proud and have it displayed on their van. The cupcakes were good, but I'm more of filling in my cupcake kind of gal. I was somewhat disappointed these did not have filling in them. They were still good none the less. Just Cupcakes has two locations in Va.Beach. Visit their website here. Virginia Beach has a great deal of cupcake shops to choose from. The two we went to were the most convenient ones for us to visit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                      Shop #2 was Cupcake Central. They also have two locations in Va. Beach. We went to the one in Lynnhaven Mall. Since they are located in a mall food court, they have a great amount of cupcakes all the time. Heaven. Let me tell you, it was hard to pick just one kind. We each picked our own flavor and one flavor to share. Our flavors: bananas foster, chocolate cheesecake, caramel sundae, and orange pineapple. Now we're talking. These were wonderful! Their sign says they have 80 flavors to choose from. They do. Check them out here.  We had one rainy day at the beach and ended up in the mall. So there you have it. Cupcakes and the beach. Two of my favorite things. Have a sweet day! Maybe try something new today.

Beach inspired fireplace decorations

Remember this?

                                      Remember I said I couldn't promise that I wouldn't show my faux fireplace again. Well here it is, I know, again. It's looking a little different though, that has to count for something, right? Well, not in the above picture. I had to put that up there in case you didn't remember it. You know I'm only thinking of you!  Almost everything beachy I made from stuff I already had. Except for the wooden fence. I got the wood at Lowe's for about 3 bucks. So here's the after:

 

 



                                            

 

 

                              Where to start? Let's see... I made the summer banner from scrapbook paper and ribbon I already had. Just paper this time nothing fancy. I used the same stencils as before with the family banner. Oh, I just remembered I did buy the fishing net for this too. I got it at the Dollar Store. It was made of white cotton string. I mixed some black, green, and white paint together then thinned it with water. I soaked the net in it for a few minutes and then put it on the driveway in the sun to dry. The wooden fence is supposed to look like the fences I have seen at the beach. I bought two pieces of wood at Lowe's. I cut them into 3 pieces each and used some rusty wire pieces to connect it together to make it more fency, yes I said fency not fancy. I stained the wood with the vinegar and steel wool stuff. Have you tried that yet?  That may be what my next post is about. I really like the way it makes wood look. I made the beach sign also.  It looks pretty when I light it up at night. I put some seashells we have collected from past trips to the beach in some jars along with sand. The brass lantern was a gift from my favorite cousin quite a few years ago. So there you have it. Again, not very fancy, but I like the simpleness of it. It seems to fit there. Just the right beachy feel I was going for. 

I hope you are enjoying you week. We'll talk again soon. Thanks for stopping by!

More of our trip

One of the days we spent in Sandusky we decided to go to the "beach". In this case the beach was actually on Lake Erie. We were pleasantly surprised when we found East Harbour State Park. They have all kinds of beaches, mostly they are rocky. but we found the swimming beach located in the state park. I have to say it reminded me so much of being at the ocean. Waves, seagulls, the water was pretty warm too. The water wasn't too deep. We stayed pretty far out there too. We were close to the buoys that separate the swimmers from the boaters and it was about up to my neck. When the boats came by,  it really was like being in the tide. It was a lovely day. I managed to escape the seagulls little presents. I am glad, wouldn't want that joy two days in a row!