We are thiiiisss close to being done with our living room, or at least done enough to share for the first time since we moved in. The end is in sight my friends, which of course means my mind has already moved on to the next project. After reading this post on Justina Blakeney's blog, and this post on Oh Dear Drea I now know what that project will be, a perfectly mismatched set of colorfully patterned stairs.

The stairs leading up to the second floor act as a room divider between our living room and dining/kitchen area; they're steep, white, and often look dirty due to scuff marks. This makes them a bit of an eye sore for me. The patterns will serve double duty here: As a colorful reprieve from our all white walls, and camouflage for the scuff.

We're lucky to rent a property with an owner who let's us do pretty much anything we want to with the house, but I think I'll stop short of actually tiling the stairway. Ideally I'll come up with 1-3 unique stencils to use on the stair rises, in a palette similar to the rest of the first floor. What do you think? Would you ever create a patterned staircase in your home? - b.

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On Sunday we packed a backpack full of water, put our hiking shoes on, and headed out to the Lehigh Gorge State Park. It was a nearly perfect day for the trip and we were excited to leave Philadelphia behind for an afternoon, in pursuit of some nature. Our mission was to hike the Glen Onoco Falls trail which loops around a massive cascade of waterfalls and back down the mountain. It was as picturesque as it sounds.

The trail was far from deserted; masses of people gathered around the cool pools of water every step of the way. With sky-rocketing humidity, this was as much a necessity as it was an attraction. The falls themselves were massive, and as you drew close the temperatures would drop 10-15 degrees. At times it felt more like a tropical paradise than a mountain retreat less than 2 hours from home.

Because the trail was new to us, I left my nicer camera at home and decided to rely on my iphone and instax mini to capture the adventure. One of the stranger (i.e. cooler) events of the trip was stumbling upon a shrine of rock statues under a cliff edge. The rock art interplayed beautifully with the fauna and flora surrounding it and I'm glad I managed a few quick pictures before a giant group passed by.

Nellie was beside herself on this hiking trip, jumping in and out of the water as we meandered up the mountain. I'll be honest and say I probably watched her enjoyment of the day more than the scenic views surrounding us. At one point Ryan turned to me and said "I've been needing this." I think we all did. -b.

If there's one image (and there's only one) that sums up our July 4th weekend, this is it. We spent the long weekend catching up with friends, making new ones, and soaking in the fireworks displays that filled our night skies. This Independence day was a good one in Philadelphia. - b.