the experiment: booking a house with vrbo.com

The Experiment: Book a trip with VRBO.com

On a Sunday morning there are few things as good as blueberry pancakes delivered by room service to your hotel room. You're cozy in your hotel-provided bathrobe as you sip hot coffee on your balcony. Sure, that's a happy thing. But hotel rooms are also small and if there are more than two of you, it can get a little snug. This is what we were thinking last year when we booked our trip home to Cape Cod. So if not a hotel, what then? During our search for a place we stumbled across VRBO, Vacation Rental By Owner, a website that connects homeowners and vacationers.

VRBO.com is easy to use. Just plug in a few parameters like place,  bedrooms and amenities desired along with the dates of your trip and in a few moments the site will give you availability and cost. When I searched for a home on Cape Cod for this past week, the house above came up. As we browsed through the photos we fell in love with this shingled cottage. I read the ultra positive reviews and sent an email requesting the dates. Immediately the owner emailed me back. It was an easy contract and here we are.

There are so many benefits to renting a house versus a hotel room. For one, if you are traveling with friends or family members, a house gives you a space to spread out together. On the day we arrived, some of us went to the market to stock up the kitchen while others made beds and got the house in order. The first night was rainy and as our friend and exquisite chef, Louise, made dinner, the rest of us set the table and sat around the kitchen drinking wine and listening to the rain fall.

Mornings were fun and relaxed. Whoever work up first made coffee and put out the pastries.  One morning we made scrambled eggs and bacon and just sat around the kitchen table trying to live in the moment so we could remember how much we love  being together.

At night we sat curled up in the theatre on comfy couches with blankets watching "The Big Chill" or sitcoms. You couldn't do this with your family or friends spread out in multiple hotel rooms.  There were so many moments we would have lost if we had decided to go the hotel room route instead of VRBO.com.

The Experiment Results: VRBO.com led to one of the best weeks of our lives. I highly recommend using VRBO.com to find a vacation rental. It's a happy thing.

{the experiment: the dip-dyed scarf}

There is something about the Nantucket blue color of Hydrangeas that is delicate and ethereal. It's a soft reminder of summer days and balmy beach breezes. This was clearly on my mind when I was choosing a color for the dyed scarf experiment. A few months ago I saw the idea for Dip-dyed scarves in Martha Stewart Living and it looked like a fun, easy Saturday afternoon project.  I love this kind of DIY: easy with a rewarding payoff. All you need is a package of dye and a garment. For this project I used a white linen tank and two silk scarves, along with two packages of dye in Turquoise and Brilliant Blue by iDye. 

How to:  

This project is easy but messy. Try this one outside. Cover your workspace with a plastic sheet, protecting anything that you wouldn't want dyed permanently. Seriously.

Important: Put on thick rubber gloves.  I used thin rubber gloves and this happened. 

Wash and dry garment you are going to use.  Set aside. 

Fill two containers (I used plastic shoes boxes from Target) with tap water. Add dye to one container and swirl until completely incorporated. Place containers side by side. If using two different colors, use a separate water container for each color. 

For a tie dye effect on the scarf, fold the scarf into accordion pleats, iron and hang using the clips on a pant hanger (this will make it easier to dip.)

For the linen tank, I submerged the entire shirt in the dye bath and swirled it around, followed by a rinse in the clean water bath. (If you are dying more than one item, use clean water for the rinse bath between each item.)

To dye the scarves, hold the hook of the hanger and dip accordion pleated scarf into dye bath about halfway. Pull up then dip it again but this time to 3/4 of the way up and pull out quickly.

Now dip the scarf in the clean water all the way to the second dip line. 

Unfold accordion pleats and hang items fresh from the clean water bath to dry. It was a sunny day so I hung them on tree branches, giving our front walkway a bit of a natural bohemian look for an afternoon. (It's good to throw the unexpected out there every now and then.)

Be careful when disposing of the dye baths. This ink is permanent and impossible to remove once it's set in.

When items are dry, bring them inside and rinse in cool water in a sink until water runs clear. You can also throw items in a delicate wash (which is what I did) and then in the dryer to set.

That's it!

It's an easy way (for less then $5) to add a punch of your favorite color to your current wardrobe. 

The Dyed Scarf Experiment Results: Great project. Easy (but messy) with a big payoff. Definitely a happy thing.

Dye and scarves from Dharma Trading (Crepe de Chine 22 x 90 $17.05)

the call me maybe experiment

Chatroulette version of "Call me Maybe." This will make you laugh. Hard.

Happy Monday morning!  Last week I was home in New England on vacation and now I'm back at my desk and completely rejuvenated. Being back in my hometown with my friends and family was kinda like plastic surgery for the soul. I feel like a new girl. :-)

Over the 2+ weeks back home I became obsessed with Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call me Maybe" THE song of the summer. I would roll down the windows, slide open the moonroof (enormous) and blast "Call me Maybe."

OK, so people slam this song BUT here's the awesome fun thing: Whenever I was listening to the song like at a stoplight or parking lot, people around me started smiling and some even danced. This happened at a stoplight in Northampton, MA, the Stop & Shop parking lot in Charlton and even yesterday back home in Seattle. TWICE.

#1  7am and I had the top down on my little Beetle convertible. It was a bright blue sunny morning and I was on my way to the  market. I pulled into the parking lot listening to "Call me Maybe" and a group of five guys were loading bags of ice into their boat (attached to their pick up truck.) As soon as they heard the song/saw me they ALL started dancing, laughing and fist pumping to the music. It was perfect.

#2  5pm I was driving down my street (top down) listening to "Call me Maybe" and my teenage neighbor, Megan, her boyfriend, Junior and her mom were outside their house.  When they heard the song they started laughing and dancing too. I danced too. And laughed.

I don't know what it is about this song but it makes people happy. Go ahead and say you are so over this song but try this: Download the song, play it when you're driving with the windows down. I guarantee people will start laughing and maybe even dancing with you. It's a great way to get your happy back today.

Check out three of the best "Call me Maybe" lip dubs from the military, Harvard men's baseball team and the U.S. Swim Team