Happy Monday everyone! How was your weekend? Mine was a whirlwind, but so much fun! And the best part was that it ended with Josh coming home! Yay! Even though he was only gone for a few days, I missed him and am excited to have my favorite guy back to talk to and snuggle with at night.
Here’s what I was up to during my weekend of solo adventures. Don’t forget to link up to yours at the bottom of this post!
Friday night started with a coffee date with a girl who just moved to Omaha, and then couch cuddles with my favorite cat. We watched Teen Beach Movie 2. I thought it was cute, but Punky was not a fan and slept the entire time.
Saturday morning I went to check out the Farmer’s Market downtown. It was my first time going this year and I loved getting to see all the vendors and people. As many cool options as there were, it was a little too packed for me, so after browsing for a bit I ducked into a restaurant to decompress and grab breakfast away from the crowds.
I went to Culprit and had a glass of their homemade kombucha and pesto potatoes for breakfast. While somewhat of an unconventional pairing, it was absolutely delicious.
After breakfast I headed over to Omaha Community Playhouse to celebrate their birthday! They had a live band.
And Jones Bros cupcakes! This one had red velvet cupcake filling. It was yummy.
After a cupcake break it was time to head to the Century Link for a pretty exciting event.
(This top in pink is on sale for $13.99 right now!)
Antiques Roadshow was in Omaha! I grew up watching this show on PBS so I was super excited to be able visit the set and see it in person. I got to tour the set, have items appraised, and interview guests, crew, and producers. It was such an incredible experience.
Antiques Roadshow is celebrating its 20th season next year. Its milestone season involves visiting six cities and Omaha was lucky enough to be one of those six! I toured the set with NET, Nebraska’s PBS and NPR station who were heavily involved in helping to organize this event. The daylong event will be turned into three one-hour episodes that will air in 2016.
Getting to have items appraised on Antiques Roadshow is free, but based on a lottery system. There were over 12,000 entries for the 3,000 pairs of tickets available. A ticket allows you to have two items appraised by one of the 70 experts in attendance who are truly at the top of their game.
When you first get to Antiques Roadshow you line up to tell a crew member what kind of items you are getting appraised. They then give you a ticket for each item. Depending on what items you are getting appraised, you then line up to speak with an expert specific to your item.
A backstage look at the set. You are not allowed to take any pictures on set, but being press, they allowed photos without flash. This was the first time the new set was being used and I thought it was beautiful. The set is a circle with all the specialists in an outside ring and the camera crews on the inside.
I lined up for jewelry and watches. Neither turned out to be worth much, but it was so cool to get to talk to the appraisers and learn more about my pieces.
Here were two women next to me getting some ceramic bowls appraised. It’s crazy how knowledgeable these experts are.
If an appraiser thinks your item has an interesting story attached to it, they then have you go to a green room (so you don’t hear any of the discussions) and pitch your item and the story they can tell to the producers. If an appraiser doesn’t think that your item has a story for the camera (most items brought to Antiques Roadshow are worth less than $100), they tell you everything they know about it then and there and answer any questions you have.
I got to hear a pitch happen while waiting in the watch line and it was the coolest thing. A bunch of experts in the same field get together and talk it out. They talk price, historical significance, and timeliness of the story for audiences. A metal contraption that I honestly thought was a spare engine part or a piece of junk had a price tag of $10,000 put on it. It would have been upwards of $50,000 if it weren’t for the condition it was in.
After a pitch gets the approval from a producer, you’re brought out of the green room, and taken to a set where the expert explains the item and its value on camera. They keep you out of the loop on things like authenticity and price until the big reveal on camera.
Here’s one of those on air-moments.
And another. I hope they got some good news!
While on set I noticed this really cool pink lamp post and decided to take a picture. I didn’t think anything of it until I was interviewing Executive Producer Marsha Bemko and asked if there were any unique finds from the day so far. She told me she’s obsessed with pink and they had just finished shooting a piece on a pink gas lamp post. The gentleman who brought it to the show to be looked at had purchased it years back for $2,400 in New Mexico and was told at the time that it was circa 1860’s and from the Vienna Opera House. It turned out that not only was it from the Vienna Opera House, the lamp is actually worth between $10,000 and $15,000! Even cooler, as I was leaving the set I ran into the man who owns the lamp. His name is Richard, he’s from Lincoln, Nebraska, and he is keeping his lamp. 😀 It was so cool to see a story come full circle like that. I can’t wait to see it air on TV next year!
One of my big takeaways from the day was Marsha’s favorite thing about working for Antiques Roadshow. She said she loves how every new item she sees teaches her more about the world we live in. I thought that was such a fantastic outlook on life.
After the incredible Antiques Roadshow set tour, I headed over to Midtown Crossing to listen to some live Cajun music at the Zydeco Festival.
I was feeling a little snack-ish by this point, so I ordered an iced coffee and bowl of chicken chili soup at Delice. I loved sitting outside and listening to the live music.
Later that night I headed to my friends’ house for a cookout.
There was so much delicious food. It is crazy how good a grill makes food taste.
My plate of summertime happiness. As awesome as the food was, the company was even better. It was such a fun night.
I also fell in love with a banana bread cake. Oh my god you guys. This stuff was ridiculously amazing. It would be so much easier to eat less if my friends weren’t such good cooks. 😉
Molly and Brian are animal lovers like Josh and me. They are so amazing that they open their home to foster dogs and cats. I snuck away from the company after dinner to go snuggle some baby kitties. They were absolute joys.
And seeing the kitties interact with their bunny Henry made my heart explode. Cuteness overload.
(Old photo)
As fun as my busy Saturday was, I was excited for Sunday to move at a slower pace. I slept in and then met up with Jess and Joanna for lunch at Whole Foods. Jess used to live in Omaha but moved to Illinois last year. I’ve really missed her so I’m so excited she’s in town visiting family for a little bit. She’s going to be celebrating 4th of July with us which I’m so excited for!!
Jess and I were talking about Smoothie King over lunch and I was telling her how much I love them. Next thing I know, I’m making an afternoon trip to Smoothie King to pick up a Strawberry Lemon Twist to give me fuel for the massive amounts of cleaning I had to do. It was delicious.
Sunday night involved picking Josh up from the airport (yay!), going grocery shopping for the week, and then grabbing a late dinner. Josh has been wanting to try out King Kong and I was more than happy to get a delicious chicken gyro plate, hold the pita. It was so good but holy moly was it huge. I have dinner for tomorrow now, too!
Questions of the Day: Are you a fan of Antiques Roadshow? Does your town have Farmers Markets? What was the highlight of your weekend?
I love watching Antiques Roadshow and the pawn shows that actually contain items of value and a lesson in history. Looks like you had an awesome weekend learning at the roadshow!
I love what Marsha said about seeing more of the world with every item – she has a great outlook and a great job!
Hope you enjoy the week with Josh back home! 🙂
Yes! She has such a cool job and was such a sweetheart! Seeing the set made me really want to start watching the show again more regularly!
That is so cool that you got to visit a filming of The Antiques Roadshow!
Also, love the tiny kitten and bunny! Your friends sound like great people to foster animals.
Thanks for hosting the link up!
My friends are amazing people! I wish I had the space to have more animals like they do!
Pesto potatoes? Oh man! I need to recreate this simple dish in my own home. It sounds delish.
To answer your question – yes we do have a farmers mkt here in Kuwait. This question also reminded me that I need to see when it re-opens. Thanks!
Ohh I would love to experience a farmers market in Kuwait! It sounds like it would be amazing!
And the pesto potatoes were incredible! I want more!
Kitty and bunny!!! My heart! Ok, I’m officially done now.
Aren’t they the cutest?! I couldn’t even handle it!!
That farmer’s market looks so amazing! And I literally was just watching Antiques Roadshow during the rain yesterday here in New England and I think they were filming a special 🙂
I really need to start watching Antiques Roadshow again regularly! Seeing it being filmed reminded me of how much I loved it!
Looks like you had a great weekend! Lovely shots!
http://fashion-soup.com/
Thanks Carine! It was a wonderful weekend!
All of your food looks so amazing!! Seriously drooling over here!
We love the Farmer’s Market! My blog post from today has pics from our visit there this weekend.
This was a weekend of wonderful eats! 😀
What a cool experience! I love hearing the stories behind jewelry and other antiques.
It was so cool to get to learn more about some pretty interesting items! I’d love to be a fly on the wall on the Antiques Roadshow set more often!
I’ve been looking forward to reading this blog post ever since I saw your kitty & bunny pic on Instagram this weekend! Cuteness overlooooad. Glad you had a great (jam packed!) weekend.
Omg I couldn’t even handle how cute the bunny and kitties were with each other!! It was adorable! I really wish I had more space so I could have more animals. I love them so much!
That pink lamppost story is too cool!! Wow. I love that Omaha does things like that antique show/pricing, and how cool you go to those things!
Mmmmmm cupcake. I really want one now!
It was so fun getting to see Antiques Roadshow. I grew up watching the show on PBS so it was kind of surreal.
And I want another cupcake too! haha
You have the most fun weekends! My husband has been gone all weekend too but all I did was clean and do work. You clearly had a more exciting weekend!
Next time he’s gone we should totally hang out!! Or if he’s here we could double date! 😀
Hi Erin! My Mom watches Antiques Roadshow, but I never have before. She raves about it in fact. I love the quote about learning about the world from these antiques — makes me want to watch the show. I’m glad your man is back home. Have a happy Monday and wonderful week!
You should totally watch the show! I want to watch more of it. Seeing the set reminded me of how much I used to love watching it. And thanks so much, it’s so nice to have Josh home again!
love all the food! this antique thing looks so interesting!
thank you for hosting this beautiful link up!
Irene
http://www.thedailylace.com
Thanks for joining the linkup Irene! And oh man it was such a yummy weekend!
Sounds like an awesome weekend. So much yummy food and KITTENS sounds perfect to me!
Omg I couldn’t even handle how cute the kittens were!! They were so itty bitty and SO FLUFFY!
I think it’s hilarious and awesome you went to antique road show! Also those pesto potatoes look unreal.
The antiques roadshow was so much fun! It reminded me of watching it growing up! And the potatoes were amazing. Omg, so good!
I am crazy jealous about you going to Antiques Roadshow! My boyfriend’s mom is going for her birthday in August, but unfortunately I didn’t win tickets in the lottery! How fun!
Katie
Oh I’m sorry you didn’t get tickets! But I hope your boyfriend’s mom has a blast!
That’s so cool to see a TV show from behind the scenes! And the food from your grill-out looks awesome… reminds me I need to change the gas so we can grill out!
I love grilling! I really need to do it more often!
Lots of fun things happened during your weekend. Looks like you had a great time! I love lunch at Whole Foods and those potatoes look AMAZING! Happy Monday, and thanks for hosting the link up! 🙂
Oh man the potatoes were amazing!! I’m already craving more!!
Looks like a very cool weekend. So cool that you got into Antiques Roadshow. I have tried many times when it has come to the Bay Area to get a ticket and never have I got in. Super cool that you got in.
It was a lot of fun! I’m sure the Bay Area has a lot more applicants than Omaha does though!
I had no idea Antiques Road Show was still on. We were actually watching it last weekend and it was cool, it was from 2011 and then after they gave the price, they then flashed the 2015 price, it was pretty cool. My grandma used to love this show. I watch it occasionally, but it’s not something I have to watch, and when I do watch it’s for 10 minutes. But what a really full Saturday. I kept thinking…oh my gosh, her day keeps going! Crazy busy Saturday, but everything looked so fun!
It was such a busy weekend, but such a fun one! And yes, seeing Antiques Roadshow reminds me of my grandma too! We used to watch it together.
Looks like such a fun weekend!
xo, Jessica || The Petite Diaries
It was a great weekend! Thanks Jessica!
I’m so sad I missed out on the Whole Foods date! Also, we MUST go to Culprit sometime!
Yes! I’m up for a Culprit date anytime! And you were missed at Whole Foods!
Looks like a busy weekend! I’m seriously jealous that you got to see Antiques Roadshow being filmed. I love that show!
And I need a kitten STAT!
Please adopt a kitten and then send me lots of pictures of it so I can ooh and ahh. It’s like one of my favorite past times during the day. 😉
How cool about antique roadshow, what a neat experience!
It was such a crazy cool experience! I need to watch the show more often now!
Looks like you had lot’s of fun!! Those potatoes look so good. I LOVE pesto!
Danielle
http://www.blushblossom.com
Oh man the potatoes were incredible!!
Sooo when do you sleep?? Lol!
I used to work at the downtown Farmer’s Market and it gets super crazy (and super toasty..especially when you’re making coffee!!). I’m scheduled to work every Saturday morning in July, but we should fight the crowds together sometimes because there’s some amazing stuff! 🙂
Yes! Let me know whenever you’re free! I’d love to hang out!!
And it’s funny, I don’t get enough sleep during the week, which I never really post about, but I get tons of sleep on the weekends! It’s amazing what not being gone at work 9 hours a day will do for you! haha
After reading and drooling over your post, I’m now going to raid my fridge to find something to eat. I’ve suddenly become hungry. Your friends definitely make some good looking dishes. And those pesto potatoes look delish. Sounds like a great weekend.
I hope you found some yummy food to eat! Omg those pesto potatoes were unreal! I crave them if I haven’t had them recently. haha
Thanks for the linkup! I wanted to let you know I’ve linked you back in mine. <3
Awesome! Thanks Chelsea!