With Your Coffee {Tuesday Edition}

Shard Villa in Salisbury, VT

Hello preservationists and friends! It’s time for an unconventional Tuesday “With Your Coffee” post because it’s good to switch it up once in a while. How’s it going by you? Work and life have been busy around here, but in a good way with challenging work projects, more daylight, and many good reasons to get outside. Here are a few inspiring and fun links that I’ve come across lately, some preservation, some design, etc. What about you? Fill me in!

• Forget tent camping or RV camping; how cool is this Cricket trailer?

• The architecture of Vermont’s churches (good podcast episode from Vermont Public Radio).

• Sign up for the Amazing Preservation Race in San Antonio, TX!

• I love when obscure everyday items are in the news, like manhole covers.

• Before grocery stores were commonplace, they were connected to gas stations, meaning they catered to people who could afford a car.

• Do sororities now equate to feminism?

• This couple went into serious debt to rehabilitate a house. Would you?

• I am not super into Harry Potter, but this sign made me laugh.

• You can rent Julia Child’s house. Talk about inspiring!

• Raina’s photos continue to be my favorite.

Have a great day! Let me know if any of these stories spark a conversation. Cheers!

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With Your Coffee {Monday Edition}

Hackett’s Orchard in South Hero, VT

And, it’s back! With Your Coffee took a break {a coffee break…ha, ha, ha}, but now that fall is in full swing, it’s time to focus on work and writing again and sharing the news. What better way to start than on a Monday?

On that note, hello! How are you? How have you been? Been reading lots lately? The weather has been gorgeous in Vermont and we’re in a stretch of good weekends. Apple picking, foliage, hot coffee, hot chocolate, chili, good stuff. Here are few stories from around the internet, some recent and some I’ve been saving to share.

• Read an excerpt from Prof. Robert McCullough’s latest book, Good Roads and Good Sidepaths. If you’re in the Burlington, VT area, come here Bob’s lecture about the book on Wednesday October 21 at 5:30pm in the Bailey-Howe Library at UVM. He is the best lecturer!

• Have you seen Bernice Radle’s HGTV show, American Rehab Buffalo? Or read this article? Congrats, Bernice! You’re an inspiration to us all! 

• Is the tiny house the American Dream? (I’d bet on certain areas, but certainly not everywhere.)

• From Preservation Action: Tell Congress to support the reauthorization of the Historic Preservation Fund. 

• While you’re on a good preservationist kick, nominate a place to the SCA’s Falling by the Wayside: North America’s Most Endangered Roadside Places. 

• Remember those colorful clamshell Macbooks? (Rory Gilmore had one that I coveted). Well, this will make some of us feel old: one is now in the Cooper Hewitt Museum. 

Coffee cheers!

With Your Coffee

A view from the North Congregational Church in St. Johnsbury, VT

It’s the With Your Coffee Monday edition, as the weekends are much too nice to spend time in front of a computer screen. Wouldn’t you agree? I hope you had a fabulous weekend. My weekend took me to/from central Vermont and north/south on the Island Line bike path in gorgeous weather, both with historic site explorations. What about you? Here are some reads to start off your week:

• Warning: this rehabilitation will make you want to buy and live in a church. More photos here.

• This bookstore in Brooklyn makes millions … but it’s not a bookstore anymore.

• Good question. When did the rent get too damn high?

• Did you love To Kill a Mockingbird? Harper Lee is an interesting character, indeed.

• The constant battle of “there’s nowhere to park” described in Greenburg, PA.

• Thinking about living in a tiny house? You can try it out 2 hours north of Boston, MA!

• Literary road trips. Which one would you choose?

Cheers! Have a great week. 🙂

With Your Coffee

Basse-Ville (Lower Town), Quebec City, looking up at Le Chateau Frontenac.

Happy weekend, everyone! What an exciting week in the news, and a very special Friday for everyone: #lovewins! It’s a nice change to have good news in the news as opposed to only terrible news. Hug your loved ones.  I hope your weekend is filled with good weather and lots of outside time. While you’re sipping your coffee, here are some interesting links to read.

• The trend in house design and re-design is open floor plan; yet, many of our historic houses have rooms dedicated to specific functions. Which do you prefer?

• The creator of the plastic pink lawn flamingo (and mascot to us Mary Washington flamingos) has passed away. Don Featherstone, you will be missed. We are forever in love with your work.

• The Vanderbilts (of Newport, Rhode Island’s “The Breakers” are in disagreement with the Preservation Society as to how the house should be preserved and operated, and who can live there. “A family lived here.”  

• Remember “Brutalism is Beautiful”? or The Case for Ugly Architecture? Well, the building, the Orange County Government Center in Goshen, NY is being demolished, not saved. 

• Worth more than one line, but this article is too fascinating not to include here. A business duo in Albany, NY bought a 1950s amusement park – the entire thing – and relocated it to an underused portion of the city along the Erie Canal. Will this be the economic engine that spurs redevelopment in this part of the city. So brave, so inventive. What do you think? I am enthralled. 

• Let there be love.

Cheers! xo!

With Your Coffee

The HP Wine Tour ended at Snow Farm in South Hero.

Happy weekend, everyone. Yesterday the UVM Historic Preservation Alumni & friends toured Vermont vineyards for Preservation + Wine 2015. Our day began a bit cloudy, but also began with wine. The wine flowed, clouds parted, and we enjoyed a wonderful day. A perfect Friday to kick off summer. Join us for our next (TBD) event! I hope you have a great weekend. Here are a few stories from around the web. 

• You’ve heard of the High Line, yes? Now the focus is below the elevated railroads. 

• Towns and cities that continue to give Walmart tax breaks are only hurting themselves in the long run. Hurts my heart. 

• Public housing has been promised in New Orleans. It’s a slow process but new ideas of public housing have been very successful. 

• On a lighter note, aren’t you glad we don’t live in the era of these bathing suits? At least we can understand why they are called suits. 

• This week in Burlington, the #planbtvsouthend plan was revealed to the community at a draft plan release party. People were very vocal! The South End is near and dear to many of us in Burlington.

Read anything good this week? Hope your weekend is sunny and fun! 

With Your Coffee

Afternoon view at Shelburne Farms: sheep on the left, mountains up ahead, traveling along a dirt road.

Welcome to summer, everyone! Happy Memorial Day! Are you ready for a three day weekend? How was your week? Learn anything new? Have fun adventures? I’m looking forward to a weekend of some Vermont explorations and cheering on the runners in the Vermont City Marathon + Relay. Here are some interesting stories from around the internet.

• Sweden wants to move an entire town, choosing exodus over unemployment, to save itself. 

• Forget moving a town. There was talk in Winooski, VT about covering the whole in a dome (for real).

• Beach bungalows in Rockaway, Queens, 1910.

• “Built St. Louis” shows fascinating and devastating images of St. Louis, MO.

• This is the coolest website. Check out locations in New York City and see the historic images, and their location – from the New York Public Library. 

• What happens when seemingly similar stores locate across from one another? Trader Joe’s and the locally owned Healthy Living as well the locally owned City Market are all in Burlington, and still surviving. 

• WordPress reminded me that Preservation in Pink turned 8 years old yesterday. Wow!

• Other happenings in Vermont: today is the opening celebration for the Proctor Marble Museum, and the opening celebration for the new Brookfield Floating Bridge.

• And if you’re in Burlington anytime soon, I wrote up a list of my favorite places.  

Have the best weekend, everyone. Take pictures, laugh, eat ice cream, enjoy the sunshine, eat locally, all good things. Cheers!

With Your Coffee

Spring blossoms.

Happy Sunday, friends. How was your week? I hope your weekend includes your favorite mug, delicious coffee, and people you love. While you’re sitting around on a nice Sunday morning, afternoon, or evening, here are some interesting reads from this week.

Have you ever wanted to live in a ghost town? Visit sure, but live?

Shipping containers are in vogue right now. What would you do with one? 

Maple sugaring in Vermont. 

Residents in Chicago are complaining about festivals in their park. (Aren’t parks for festivals?)

Instagram recommendaton of the week: @michaelrallen for snapshots in St. Louis, MO. 

What are your favorite reads from this week? Have a great day!

With Your Coffee

My mom and me at the Lake House in the historic Lake Placid, NY. I love my mom!

Happy Sunday Mother’s Day (or Happy Monday, depending on when you read this)! To all the mothers out there, may you have a lovely day and know how much we all love our mothers and mother-figures. Here are a few reads from around the internet talking about history, architecture, design and culture:

• Did you know that Mothers’ Day did not begin as the “thank you” holiday we know it as today. It started with Ann Reese Jarvis before the Civil War as a way to teach mothers how to care for their children – “Mothers’ Day Work Clubs”. Mothers Day became a national  holiday in 1914, and then the greeting card industry took it and ran! 

• The news from Burlington, VT: A 14 story building is proposed as a design concept for redevelopment of the mall. 14 stories in a low-rise city. What do you think?

• The world is obsessed with mid-century modern. Why? Are you?

• Speaking of: some of California’s midcentury architecture. How can you not love it?

• Modern day yuppies. What do you think?

• A longer read for you: How historic preservation is maturing.

• And, are you in Vermont on June 19? Please join us for the Preservation + Wine tour! 

How was your weekend? Favorite reads? Favorite activities? Have a great week!

With Your Coffee

#ihavethisthingwithfloors = one of the best internet trends lately. This floor is in the women’s’ bathroom at the Vermont State House. Yes, even the bathroom floor is beauitufl in that building. 

Happy weekend, friends! How are you? Hopefully Spring has sprung where you are. I can see flowers, green grass and buds in Vermont! Why am I always talking about the weather? Because I get so excited for warm weather in Burlington; I can’t help it. Today I spent the day in Montpelier with all of the Vermont preservation consultants and the Division for Historic Preservation staff at a training for preservation consultants. How fun it was to see everyone together. Side note: most of us are graduates of the University of Vermont Historic Preservation Program. Also, Happy Preservation Month! I hope you have fun weekend plans, including watching the Kentucky Derby, wearing big hats, and drinking Mint Juleps. Or something equivalent. Cheers! xo.

• It’s Preservation Month. Are you taking a Jane Jacobs walk? There are plenty in New York City. I wish I could join! 

• People think preservationists get all tied up about paint colors. Well, I LOVE stripes (seriously, I just painted my bathroom in stripes), so I can’t help but like this house. IF it’s a spite house, it totally backfired.

• New York City Landmarks Turns 50! Happy birthday! The hard part of being a preservationist is not being able to save everything, right? But just because it’s not historic, doesn’t mean people don’t value it. Hopefully people continue to appreciate the building and love it until it has gained historic significance.

• Wouldn’t you love a shotgun house in New Orleans? Ah, they’re so adorable. And such an interesting history to them. 

• Montreal subways are neat. But, built in the 1960s, they are incredibly Soviet looking. Don’t you think so? 

• Read about some Kentucky Derby traditions. 

• Instagram account of the week: @ihavethisthingwithfloors

What’s going on in your world? Any interesting news? I’d love to know!

With Your Coffee (Monday Edition)

Set your sights high! This is the CN Tower in Toronto. I have many more Toronto photos to share this week. 

Good Monday morning, everyone! Hope you had a lovely weekend. Anything fun? It was a fairly quiet weekend around Vermont. Having just finished week two of a new job, I am still catching up on sleep! Now I am working as a Preservation Planner for VHB, an engineering + environmental firm. {My views remain my own on PiP.} It’s great! But, of course, all new jobs are exhausting in a good way. Week Three, here we go! What’s new in your world? Here are a few links from around the internet to give you inspiration for the week. The list begins with a few photos on Twitter, something easy. It’s going to be a good one! Coffee cheers, friends.

• If you went to Mary Washington and studied Historic Preservation, you know and love Professor Gary Stanton. He’s retiring after this semester. Send him some love! We’ll all miss his wisdom, friendship, and fiddle playing.

• Manhattan, from above.  Side note: I love @historyepics on Twitter, but they never include the source of the photo and it drives me crazy. Anyone else?

• Benches built on hills. Brilliant! 

• Dreaming of summer? Or of a Friday? Join the UVM Historic Preservation Alumni Association on a Preservation + Wine tour. Friday June 19, 2015.

• We’re talking cars, but… finally, some recognition that millenials aren’t the only people in the world, shaping it. And, not all millenials are the same, anyway! 

• Listen to: why Pioneer Girl (by Laura Ingalls Wilder) is such a success.

• Instagram recommendation of the week: @timhagley for beautiful midwestern shots.

• And @presinpink is public on instagram. Meaning, you don’t have to sign up to see the photos.

Talk to you soon!