July 31, 2012

DIY Vine Supports & Sweet Potato Update


Last weekend, we mentioned seeing some sweet potato vines that were growing like crazy in our neighborhood — so much so that they needed vertical garden supports. We were inspired by seeing what our plants might soon look like enough that we decided to make some diy supports of our own!

July 30, 2012

Weekend Basics


We spent this past weekend close to home and around our favorite spots here in RVA. Those pepper plants we transferred into our front planters have since turned colors, so we decided to go ahead and pick them to allow the main plants a little rest and time to strengthen their root system before producing the next round of peppers.

Reveal: Our Gray Walls



As promised (and drug out...), today we're excited to show off the final results of our kitchen, back hallway nook and downstairs bathroom painting project. Catch up on all details for how we decided on what color gray paint was our perfect shade, how we prepped the three rooms for painting and how we decided to go all out and paint 2 entire walls in black chalkboard paint.

July 27, 2012

Painting the Kitchen in Chalkboard Paint


We left off with a preview of the prep and painting we tackled in our kitchen, back hallway and connected guest bathroom.

July 26, 2012

Getting Prepped for Painting: Our Gray Walls


At the end of May we asked for your help in choosing your favorite shade of gray paint we had swatched up all over our kitchen wall. The results from that vote came in with #2 being the winner — the lightest and warmest shade of the 4 shown.

July 25, 2012

Peach Pie Summer Smoothie Recipe


I mentioned having some almost over-ripe peach slices and Greek yogurt on hand after whipping up a batch of these fresh peach ice pops. The blender was also already out — so I decided a summer smoothie was in perfect order as a mid-morning snack after all my hard work. Plus, it's smoothie season, remember?

Recipe: Fresh Frozen Yogurt & Peach Ice Pops


I knew my 3 1/2 year old niece, Virginia, would be coming to visit us for a few hours over the weekend so I wanted to make a special summertime "treat" that was also a healthy snack her mom would approve of at the same time.

July 24, 2012

It's Been a Year Already: 1 Year Blogiversary

We almost can't believe it's been an entire year since we started this here collaborative blog and began sharing our little adventures for the internet world to see — it's been fun and we've loved making so many friends and meeting new people through this little corner of the blog world. It's amazing to us how many people have commented or emailed us to let us know how similar of a story they share with us or just enjoy following along with our sometimes crazy ramblings — which makes us feel great.

July 23, 2012

Recipe Roundup: What to Do with Those Tomatoes



Holy Moly, tomatoes are in season, that's for sure! If you're like us, right about now you're drowning in a sea of tomatoes and frantically searching for ways to prepare them while they taste their best. Today we wanted to round up a few recipes that have made appearances in our kitchen this tomato season to get some ideas going!

Weekend Basics


Our weekend was filled with family and food — sounds just like us, right? Yesterday I spent a little guy time with my son while Mary went over to her Grandmother's house to help clear some things out with her family — she brought a few really cool heirlooms home with her that we hope to clean up and share pics of. In the meantime, we hope you'll enjoy a little peak into other weekend happenings...

July 20, 2012

Your Burning Questions: Help Us Write Our 1 Year Post


Today we wanted to finish up the week with a post asking for your help — your help in what we plan to post for our 1 year 17 Apart anniversary post since launching the blog this time last year.

July 19, 2012

Greens: A Summer Garden Update


Our little container garden along our top landing has been growing and changing right along with the season. Today we thought we'd bring you a few updates on our leafy troughs we planted over the spring in hopes of fresh delicious salads to come.

July 18, 2012

Herriott Grace


Herriott Grace from Supplemental on Vimeo.

We have long admired the work behind Herriott Grace and have loved the products they make for some time now. When we came across the above video outlining the story behind the family, it gave us a little insight behind the beliefs of why they do what they do — and now we are even bigger fans.

Our Evening with Kitchensurfing


Have you heard of KitchenSurfing? We hadn't either, but boy are we excited to share what we've learned about this awesome new site. Basically, you can sign up as a chef on Kitchensurfing or find a chef for hire to any local area for any kind of event you might want catered or cooked for. If you are familiar with AirBNB, the concept is similar, but specializing in chefs.

July 17, 2012

Recipe: Homemade Blackberry Ice Cream


Last year this time we were so excited to find and use our very own hand-crank ice cream maker — you may recall we whipped up a batch of natural peach ice cream the first time we used it. Well over the 4th of July, we pulled the ice cream maker out from hiding in our cellar and whipped up a fresh batch of natural blackberry ice cream.

First Ice Cream Maker Appearance of the Summer!


We made fresh blackberry ice cream. It was worth the work, wait and almost unbearable heat.

Recipe to follow soon.

July 16, 2012

Weekend Basics


We took it pretty easy this weekend — staying close to home and wrapping up a few projects we've had on the old list.

July 14, 2012

Our New Hose Nozzle


So, we got a new hose nozzle — or should I call it our fancy new water wand? Gotta love the branding these days...

July 13, 2012

Recipe: Inside Out Summer Mojitos


Summertime always supplies us with an abundance of mint — and the perfect excuse to make mojitos! Today we're excited to share the recipe for our version, which we like to call "inside out" since we incorporate mint-infused ice cubes into the cocktail.

How To: Mint Infused Ice Cubes


Summer screams for large ice cubes and cold beverages — this time of year Tim and I love making herb-infused ice cubes to incorporate into our seasonal cocktails.

July 12, 2012

Update: Our Sweet Potatoes & More


Some of you have been asking for updates on our houseplant projects — today we’re bringing you a progress report on our sweet potatoes!

July 11, 2012

Recipe: Baked Zucchini Chips


When my daughter, Stephanie, was in town over the weekend we had the opportunity to try out a bunch of new recipes together. She's moving into an apartment at school this year so is beefing up her recipe repertoire and is also trying to add a few gluten-free recipes to her arsenal since one of her 3 other roommates is gluten-free.

Edible Landscaping: Pepper Plants



Remember the beautiful yellow pansies we planted in our front urn planters back in March?

July 10, 2012

Pinterest Challenge: Everything But The Kitchen Sink


Today we're excited to share how we've gotten things organized under our kitchen sink! When Sherry & John of Young House Love and Katie of Bower Power announced it was time for the Summer Pinterest Challenge, we knew it was finally time to tackle this project. The Pinterest Challenges are simply a self imposed challenge to make or do something inspired by the pins on your Pinterest boards — the project can be anything and anyone can participate.

July 9, 2012

Incriminating Evidence...


Friday night Tim and I took Tim's parents and daughter (Stephanie) out to dinner to celebrate his Dad's 72nd birthday. While we were out we kept talking about how far we've come with Basil's separation anxiety and how we ourselves feel less stress with our routine of leaving him home alone in the house outside of a crate for up to 3 hours at a time.

Weekend Basics


1. We finally decided on the perfect shade of gray for our kitchen — so we stocked up on paint, I pulled out "the visor," and we got to it. We can't wait to share results as things take shape.

July 6, 2012

Behind The Scenes: Etsy Video Team



As we head into the weekend, I just wanted to share this little behind the scenes peek into the lives of some of the amazing people I get to work with at Etsy.

July 5, 2012

RVA Fireworks


Yesterday much of the talk around town was what fireworks show everyone would be attending — the closest 2 near us were at Dogwood Dell and The Diamond. We were excited to be able to just walk down the block to get a good look at the fireworks from the Diamond and they were great.

The Antique Pallets


Last week I sent Mary the following photos via picture message...

July 4, 2012

A WHAT Dog???


Happy 4th y'all. Aside from celebrating Independence Day, I've always been intrigued by the Coney Island Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest. This may sound really weird, but I will admit that I have imagined what it would be like to participate in such a contest — then all those gross images of contestants soaking everything in water totally turns me off.

July 3, 2012

Compost Bin Giveaway

***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! *** 

For Father's Day Stephanie and Brandon, got me this beautiful white ceramic compost bin that fits right on our countertop, quite inconspicuously. It even accents the white tile back-splash we have really well — they are so good!


I was particularly excited about this little bin because we've been on the hunt for one and have admittedly been using a stainless steel bowl inside our little bar sink to chuck kitchen scraps before transferring them over to our outdoor composting system. Now we have our little bar sink back and a nice looking official compost bin — a win win all around.

July 2, 2012

Making Memories in Miami



It was a ladies weekend in Miami. Said ladies pictured above.

Weekend Basics


Hello from Miami! OK, this is actually just the view I had from Miami over the weekend — pretty great, right? It was my best friend, Emily's, combined 30th birthday and bachelorette celebration, so we decided to do it up big by all of us girls meeting down in Miami for a quick weekend together. It was definitely one of those girls' trips to go down in the memory books and I hope to share some of my favorite photos from the trip here a little later.
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