East Coast to West Coast and Back

Over the past couple days I've been on a quick working trip out to Los Angeles, California for a special project. I'll be excited to share the details of what went down a little bit later as plans shape up.

Gulpy Giveaway: Portable Dog Water Bottle

***Update: This giveaway has ended, find the lucky winner at the bottom of the post. Stay tuned for future giveaways right here at 17 Apart! ***

Basil drinking from the Gulpy during our orchard day trip.

We love this crazy little contraption for dogs so much, we're giving one away to a lucky reader! Full details below the dotted line (if you want to skip ahead).

NYC Through Our Lens

Now finally back home and settled into the swing of things here in Virginia, we wanted to share a glimpse of what our week in the city looked like. Amazing views, finds, food and company:

Weekend Basics

Much of this past weekend was spent unpacking from our week in New York, taking care of home tasks and taking a fun day trip to Virginia Beach on Sunday.

Subway transportation in New York City

We always wish there was better public transportation in Richmond. How nice would it be to walk to the end of our block and jump on a trolley like days gone past. After all, Richmond had the first successful electrically powered trolley system in the United States. That said, after a week of subways and taxis we are looking forward to being able to drive to the market and not have to carry everything we purchased the full way home.

How To: Homemade Natural Dog Treat Recipe, Fresh Apples

We've been wanting to try our hand at making homemade natural dog treats ever since we brought Basil home. We've even found a few treats we love including Whoofles and Sam's Yams — both very simple treat concepts we love giving Basil.

Showalter's Apple Orchard Trip

Today we wanted to recap the day trip we took to go apple picking in the mountains of Virginia. I'll warn you the post is a bit image-heavy as we wanted to share the breathtaking scenery and memories we made.

Weekend Basics

1. Inspired by Kimberley Hasselbrink's butternut squash gratin recipe posted this week on the Etsy blog, I just had to take it for a spin in our own kitchen — it didn't disappoint. Find my full variation of the recipe on E.A.T.

Things We Loved This Week

1. As you know, we're on a bit of a garlic kick. This recipe couldn't have come at a better time! French pickled garlic; recipe via food + words.

We Have Garlic!

I walked down to the garden this morning and to my amazement, we have garlic sprouts! 7 to be exact. If I remember correctly, we planted about 11 cloves, so over half survived the heavy rains of last week. We're still waiting to see signs of life from the other plants we seeded in the fall garden, but were most thrilled to find the garlic taking shape since it's something neither of us have planted before.

It's the little things in life...

Apple Jugglers

We told you we went apple picking in the mountains of Virginia over the weekend at Showalter's Orchard and Greenhouse in Timberville, Virginia. While we're putting a fuller orchard update together, today we wanted to share this stop motion film short Mary fashioned from the photo stills of me and Brandon showing off our juggling skills.

Weekend Basics

1 & 2. Tim planned an all day orchard trip on Saturday for us to go pick apples in the mountains of Virginia at Showalter's Orchard & Greenhouse. Not only was the scenery breathtaking, we got to spend some old fashioned family time together with both Stephanie and Brandon (Tim's children). We left tuckered and filled with fresh inspiration for fall apple recipes.

Planting a Fall Garden & Garlic

Last weekend, among the bigger projects we tackled included prepping and planting our fall garden. We'd been putting off the major weeding overhaul from the summer garden which has made us late in planting some fall varieties, right on time with others, and a tad early on the garlic - yes, we are trying garlic this year!

How To: Make DIY Natural Clementine Candles

While grocery shopping at Whole Foods Market last weekend, Tim and I picked up a small crate of clementines to have around the house. They're perfect for a little snack, and so easy to peel open. Once we got them home, I remembered a diy project I'd wanted to try that I'd read a while back on Apartment Therapy — making natural candles from the clementine peels.

Shout Out: Manzanita Kids

Check out this little birthday ham! Have I officially introduced you to my one and only nephew, Benjamin? Well, consider yourself acquainted. I'm using this post to show off his cute 1st birthday photos and talk about the amazing company on Etsy from which I found the perfect gift.

Long Weekend Basics

An extended Weekend Basics from an extended weekend...

A Dog and His Bone

Over 3 weeks ago we gave our dog, Basil, a giant beef knuckle in celebration of his first birthday. Whenever Basil gets a new type of food treat that requires "work," he will usually pace back and forth through the rooms of our house with it in his mouth, whining the whole time before finally settling down to gnaw through them — but this was on a whole new level.

Things We Loved This Week

1. Roost Blog; a visually rich food and lifestyle blog chronicling the adventures of living a grain-free lifestyle and the dream to one day run a sustainable working farm.

Irene Aftermath & Slow Cooked Baby-Back Ribs

We're still reeling from the fact we actually have power back, not to mention it already being the first of September! Even though we went what seemed like 4 long days without electricity, a significant portion of Richmond is still in the dark. As we'd hoped to do at the beginning of the week, today we'd like to bring a more robust update on the events of our weekend with Hurricane Irene.