{inspired} Hatch Show Prints

I love unplanned adventures. Chris and I purposely under plan vacations because the chances of spontaneous (and a lot of the time more memorable) adventures increases when we spend less time on a schedule. One day, on our recent trip to Boston, while having lunch near Boston University, we saw this poster across the street. Chris wanted to go check it out because it looks strikingly similar to a tattoo a friends of ours just had done.

What we found a Hatch Show Print art exhibit. Oh friends, it was amazing! Have you heard of Hatch Letterpress? Neither of us had and we both agreed it was the coolest thing we saw in Boston. We actually spent a couple hours in this little BU gallery.

Hatch Show Print, located in Nashville, is one of the oldest print shops in the U.S. They were letter pressing  posters in 1879! The company began as an advertising company, but is really known today for its concert posters. In fact, as you'll see from the website, Hatch is actually a part of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The show, part of the Smithsonian's Art of the Letterpress series, featured a wide variety of posters and, my favorite part, actual letterpress blocks.

We weren't allowed to take pictures in the museum (sad!). And, I tried a few times. But we were the only people in the museum and it was really obvious. Luckily,  there is a  this flickr stream with photos from other shows!

Hatch actually does a few different types of posters.
There are Advertising posters:

Large wood block prints:

Monoprints (which were so awesome!):

And of course, the famous show prints. These are my favorite, I think (every time I look I find a new favorite):

 All these are more *current* and found here.

 We came home with a little souvenir! This is the official BU show poster. I ordered a frame for it this weekend and am so excited to find a place for it in our house! 

I also love that we came home with this small post card. The food letterpress print was both of our favorites, so it's fun to have a little sample of it.

I learned a few things from this show. 1. I want to go to Nashville, just to take a tour of this place. 2. I want more Hatch Letterpress posters! 3. I want to learn letterpress :).

http://www.bu.edu/today/node/11473

boston: the details

I have one more Boston post to share with you today. I've tried to spread them out so you don't get too bored. You haven't read the previous posts yet? They're here and here. 

You know how it's easy to get attached to someone when you know them really well? It's because you've come to know all gritty details that makes them unique. And really, I think it goes without saying,  for someone special, it's these details that make them beautiful. 

I've lived in Boston. I know the big picture. But it's the little details that I really miss. They are different details than Portland. Not better, but so special to me. So on this trip I set about capturing all the details to take home with me. 

And so many interesting details in Boston there are. Probably because it's old historic. But I love that with detail comes rich texture and depth that so many other cities are lacking.

The brick juxtaposed with wrought iron. Love.

Sidenote: I love signs. I think there are so many clever, unique signs in the world. I end up taking random pics of signs all. the. time. The best part? Chris has started taking them now too! :)

Original log from a really old ship. 

Next sidenote: I'm really not all that into history. So, I spent our time at a historic nautical museum drooling over all the cool-to-me details. Like this handwriting from sometime in the 1700's.

An entire store window display made from ... antique sewing machines! It was huge too. I seriously couldn't take my eyes off the display. We walked by a couple times and I finally had to take a picture.

Love the detail to this wrought iron. Would it make a great fabric?

Sparklies at the barking crab!

Thanks for hanging in there and letting me gush about our trip! I had fun sharing :).

Come back friday for the table runner how-to. It's a fun and easy weekend project!

boston: barking crab

One of the highlights of our Boston trip? Dinner at the Barking Crab.

A friend introduced me to this restaurant when I lived there (okay ... it was a first date. blushing.) and it is completely amazing. And first date worthy :). I have taken all my friends and family that visited me back east and it's one of the first places I recommend. You know, to people who like seafood. :) So of course it was on the agenda for this trip.

I love the atmosphere here almost as much as the food. The restaurant is in a big tent on the river. There are tons of sparkly lights and picnic tables. It's such a laid-back vibe.

And of course, accompanying your meal is this amazing view of the city!

I'm not going to lie. Chris was a little hesitant at first. 

I think it was because this ROCK was our utensil for the evening :).

But we found a lovely bottle of wine to split. At every restaurant we visited, we ended up ordering northwest wines. This one claims Washington, but is bottled in Oregon. We're Oregon elitists ;).

Once we had wine and his meal, he was all smiles. Chris tried King Crab and I had my default Dungeoness. Yum!

Um yeah. Me too :)

I love having amazing nights like this to remember with this wonderful guy. It was our last night our east and it was the PERFECT end to this fun trip.

boston: a glimpse

We went on a little trip recently to my second most favorite city (Portland is number one, of course): Boston! See, I attend graduate school in Boston and lived there for two years. And loved every. single. minute. I've never regretted my decision to move back to Portland (I mean, come on, I met Chris upon my return!), but I do have a very special place in my heart for *bean town*. Chris on the other hand, has never been to New England. Well, I knew I needed to remedy that as soon as possible. 

And, remedy, I did! We spent our second anniversary in Boston. And friends, it was awesome. We both had a pretty harried September, to say the least, and the trip's timing was perfect. We relaxed, we drove to Maine (!), we're now planning our Maine return trip (loved, loved, loved Maine), and best of all, we enjoyed each other. We make a huge effort at home to take time to appreciate, love and connect with each other. But, there was something so special about having a week (!) for fun, exploring and adventures with just each other.

Below are a few highlights from our incredible week away.

We spend time strolling through Boston's public garden.

We took in the incredible city views from our hotel room.

We visited my old neighborhood. (Above, not below. HA!)

We soaked in the amazing historic architecture. Back home, just for fun, we checked real estate prices for some of the nicer areas. Let's just say I'll have to be content with strolling through and taking pics. Forever.

We ate cannoli's at Mike's in the North End. MMMMMmmmmm.

We visited Fenway. And, shed a tear for the Red Sox season.

And, we spent an evening at one of my favorite restaurants ever. More on that later :).