Mama and I decided to take a trip to Red Hook yesterday to see what kind of trouble we could stir up.  We had a great sunny, but freezing cold day with no kids and the world was our oyster.  Or at least, our burger.

While looking for someplace to have some lunch and keep warm, we were driving down Route 9 to see what was what since we hadn’t been to Red Hook in quite sometime and didn’t know our lay of the land.  We drove past several places to eat…Dunkin’  Donuts, a Bagel Shop, a scary looking little diner. Nothing was getting us excited. Until I spotted this in a parking lot -

Uncle Chippie's Sign

We walked into the well lit and retro styled diner around 11:30 am. 50’s music was playing in the restaurant and the wonderful aroma of beef and french fries filled the air.  A friendly woman came out of the kitchen and stepped behind the counter, greeting us with a cheerful hello.  We told her we had never been to Uncle Chippie’s before and asked how long they had been there. Two years, she had told us, and welcomed us to Uncle Chippie’s. Uncle Chippie, in the meantime, could be seen prepping the food and warming the grills through the window behind the counter that led to the kitchen.  There were all kinds of cute retro styled signs with a multitude of different burger entrees, side dishes, beverages, and of course, Chippie’s Special Sauce.  After considering what to try, we figured a good place to start was the Daily Special… a 1/4 pound burger with fries and a drink for $4.99. Mama had a coffee and I went for the Fresh Brewed Iced Tea. I realized after we paid that I had forgot to ask for cheese, but didn’t want to bother, so we said it was fine, we would just have it sans cheese.

We placed our order and took a seat at the red and white vinyl booth by the front window.

Uncle Chippie's Menu

Uncle Chippie's Diner

As we sat and chatted and commented on the decor, people began filing in.  A mother with her young son, a

middle aged man in coveralls picking up a large order of food for co-workers, two younger men on their lunch break.  A good sign of a good place to eat is regular customers coming in on a regular basis, and Uncle

Chippie’s seems to have their share. We listened to the 50’s music and when our burgers arrived, our waitress commented that they went ahead and put cheese on the burger for us.  After a 10 minute wait and the sounds and smells of sizzling meat and baskets being lowered into the deep fryers in the kitchen, we were presented with our Uncle Chippie hand formed burger and hand cut fries. She motioned to a plastic bottle of pinkish stuff which she said was Chippie’s Special Sauce and to go ahead and try it. We took her advice and went for it…. Chippie’s Special Sauce on the burger and on the side to dip our fries in too.

The sauce is a slightly zesty ranch dressing type of dressing with tangy mexican flavored spices throughout.

It was a nice change from ketchup and complimented the chopped onions, pickle, mustard and ketchup that comes standard on the burger. It was also yummy on the perfectly crisped hand cut french fries.

Chippie's Special Sauce

The $4.99 Special - 1.4 pound burger and fries

Chippie's Fries

Chippie's Napkins

Chippie's Special Sauce on Burger

So if you are in Red Hook and looking for a great place to eat for not a lot of dough, treat yourself to a bite at Uncle Chippie’s !  You can find them on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=56724232050 . Tell them I sent ya!

If you are a dog lover (and who isn’t) and if you want a great, local business to support, The Keen Dog on Partition Street in Saugerties is your place. The amazing and always entertaining Sikena Barley is the proprietress of the Doggie Domain and is a Saugerties native herself. This boutique provides more than just leashes and dog food.

The Keen Dog

Where else can you take your favorite furry friend to stock up on supplies, have a gorgeous Doggie Portrait done by Photographer Extraordinaire Sikena Barley and have him groomed so he looks his best? The Keen Dog, of course!  With an onsight professional dog grooming salon, you can bring in woofie for a pampering, get him some treats and treat yourself to an amazing photo.

Keen Dog Photography

So if you want to support local businesses and the people that run them, please be sure to visit The Keen Dog on Partition Street in Saugerties. Sikena would love to see you and you can even become a Fan on Facebook!

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1168884054&ref=ts#/pages/Saugerties-NY/The-Keen-Dog/121478236515?ref=ts or visit her online at http://www.thekeendog.com

Partition Street Wine Shop

I love visiting the village of Saugerties and catching up on some great shopping.  Partition Street is the best place in town – populated by great shops, cafes, and other cool finds.

One of the best places in town on the best street in town is the Partition Street Wine Shop, run by the dynamic husband and wife duo of Suzanne and Jordan Balsamo.  The shop is bright and well lit, the displays are well organized and pleasing to the eye.  The soft yellow walls and old wood floors serve as the perfect backdrop to the bottles on the simple wood shelves.

Inside the Shop

They have a wide array of wine and liquor and will give you any information you need about whatever you are interested in.  They also have a nice choice of all the little extras like wine bottle stoppers, hand painted wine glasses, handmade gift bags and more.  They do a fantastic job of giving the shop that handcrafted and personal feel…no bright orange price stickers here, they handwrite on the bottle!

The best thing by far about this shop is the customer service that Suzanne and Jordan give. Anytime of day or night, busy or not, when you walk in the door you are greeted with a smile. Sure, you say, that is Retail Customer Service 101, but the sad thing is, it has become very rare these days.  The couple is conversational and well educated and can tell you where a wine or liquor comes from, something about the people who make it, what it pairs well with, and usually some interesting trivia to go along with it.

Beautiful Window Displays

Partition Street Wine Shop also has great wine tastings and other events and they are very active in the local community. You couldn’t ask for a better place to spend your money and support local business than here. So, go on in, say hello to the nice shopkeepers, buy a bottle of wine, and check their calendar for something interesting they have coming up.  You should also consider becoming a Fan on Facebook  http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1168884054&ref=ts so you can be aware of all the good events and info they give on their site. You can visit their website at http://www.partitionstreetwineshop.com .

And of course, please feel free to comment on this post or spread the link to it around. They deserve it!

http://www.crocs.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-crocs_us-Site/default/Search-Show?q=melbourne

Here are the direct links to my design work that is posted on HGTV’s Rate My Space

A Porch for All Seasons

http://www.roomzaar.com/rate-my-space/Porches/A-Porch-For-All-Seasons/detail.esi?oid=511271

Family Room with the Family In Mind

http://www.roomzaar.com/rate-my-space/Living-Rooms/Family-Room-Design-with-the-family-in-Mind/detail.esi?oid=502936

Theatrical Tuscan Dining Room in Progress

http://www.roomzaar.com/rate-my-space/Dining-Rooms/Theatrical-Tuscan-Design-In-Progress/detail.esi?oid=476568

The Reading Room

http://www.roomzaar.com/rate-my-space/Living-Rooms/Reading-Room/detail.esi?oid=504254

Soft And Feminine Bathroom (Decorative Painting)

http://www.roomzaar.com/rate-my-space/Bathrooms/Soft-and-Feminine-Bathroom/detail.esi?oid=504255

Here are some of the projects I have done during the past 15 years:

Bellinis Restaurant

Detail of Handpainted Lotus Flower

Jamie and I hard at work on the Lotus Flower

Thayer Coggin Chair

Bedroom Coverlet

Bedroom Design

Please welcome the Cuddly Kangaroo and Baby Joey to our adorable line of Pillow Peeps!

Cuddly Kangaroo and Baby Joey

Tools ‹ Northeast Craftworks – Inspired Designer’s Blog — WordPress.

Upstate New York

HISTORIC ALBANY FOUNDATION

http://historic-albany.org/

Historic Albany Foundation is a private, not-for-profit membership organization working to promote the preservation and appreciation of the built environment in and around the city of Albany. Since 1974, Historic Albany Foundation has fulfilled its mandate through public education, promotion and membership, provision of design and technical assistance, community projects, advocacy for endangered buildings, publications, tours, lectures and operation of an architectural partswarehouse.

Keystone Antiques, Hudson New York

HADA

http://www.godmanskeystone.com/

Keystone is the creation of James Russell Godman, Jr. a second generation antique dealer born in San Francisco, CA and raised in Cincinnati, OH. His parents’ Mainville, Ohio shop, Four Chimneys Antiques, specialized in early Americana and Shaker furniture.

Keystone Antiques

Godman maintained his business in Cooperstown, NY for 20 years, where, he dealt in early Americana furniture. In 1997, he moved his business to Hudson, NY. Today, he and his wife, Theresa, travel through the Northeast of the US all the way down through Central America searching for antique furniture, ceramics, devotional art and folk art.

Zaborski Emporium, Kingston New York

http://stanthejunkman.com/

Zaborski Emporium

If you have been hunting for just the right claw foot tub, pedestal sink, vintage light fixture, doorknob, porch column, fireplace facade,   set of pocket doors or the hardware to hang it with, you have found the right place! Can’t find the right faucet, no problem. We have a large selection of vintage fixtures. We now carry reproduction plumbing hardware from Sign of the Crab and will order whatever you need (20% discount if you buy a tub).  We also have vintage wall hung toilets, more than one, glass lamp shades, chimneys, lamp parts, hinges, shelf brackets, library ladders, tools, cast iron radiators & a fabulous huge sky light,  or maybe you need a spiral staircase.

Over 25,000 square feet space  jammed to the rafters offers shoppers a great selection. Wander spacious (yea right) aisles , & enjoy a variety of items you’ll find hard to imagine, unless you know Stan. If you do know Stan, you’ll be happy to hear that he can often find things now.

Heritage Restorations, Windham New York

http://heritagebarns.com/

Historic Restorations

At Heritage Restorations we preserve fine examples of timber frame barns, cabins, house and mills from the 1700’s and 1800’s for conversion into homes and offices with all the conveniences of modern structures.

Each building is documented and carefully disassembled before being brought to our workshop in central Texas. The frame is then cleaned and completely restored. Repairs and restorations are done by our craftsmen using matching hand-hewn timbers, traditional timber frame joinery, and the hand tools used by the original craftsmen.

Antique & Vintage Woods of America

http://antiqueandvintagewoods.com/

Antique & Vintage Woods of America

Antique & Vintage Woods of America serves the people in the community who are most interested and concerned with the “Green Earth Concept”. Its major goal is to salvage and reclaim building materials of historical significance and incorporate them into new and restorative construction for the architect, designer, contractor and homeowner.