2 new onesies!

I’ve been able to get the Super Sweet Shirt co. studio into a working condition with the bare necessities to get the ball rolling again. Slowly I will be making it more the way that I want as I get more time, but I needed to get things set up so that I could keep up with the orders and make new designs. I have created two new onesies that I wanted to shamelessly plug on the blog today, both are totally awesome. I have had many requests from France and Australia to do a Van Damme onesie. I already do a Van Damme t-shirt but haven’t had a baby onesie until now. The onesie features Van Damme in fighting pose from “Kickboxer” as Nack Suk Cao (The White Warrior).

The second new onesie is something Nicole had come up with. I was always a fan of the “Big Wheel”. It was always something that would make a kids imagination run wild. I remember riding mine around driveways like it was the open road. Nicole had come up with the idea of “Heck’s Angels”. I totally fell in love with the idea and designed the little logo.

Both of these designs are available in the eBay and Etsy stores, along with our website at http://www.supersweetshirts.com .

July 27, 2011 0

WOO! I’m back. I’m trying!

Its been a hectic couple of days! Every day seems to be more busy than the next. Sounds exciting right? Sort of. I’m burning out. The shirt orders have been crazy, the overtime at my other job is non-stop, and the work around the house is never ending. Last weekend, Nicole and I decided to scrap any house work and keep our schedule as laid back as possible so that we could take a day and do what pleases us most. Shopping. Yeah, yeah, I know. Not a very manly activity right? Whatever. I love shopping, I love clothes, and I fully blame my mother. I was her shopping companion all of the years growing up. Hours of shopping for clothes, shoes, etc. I was raised to enjoy this activity, find sales, combine coupons, and search for bargains. We spent all Saturday having a shopping therapy day and it was just what we needed. We took the portion of our checks that we would normally spend on the house, and we bought some much needed clothes for ourselves. I managed to get myself a nice button down and a sweater for winter that is totally awesome. One thing in particular that I saw at Urban Outfitters, was so awesome, so incredibly stupid, and hideous, I had to share it here. I present to you this work of art (I should have purchased this):

Kelly Kapowski

Anyways, now onto the house (I can’t think about my poor decision not to buy this). The kitchen is exploding with life and Al is really making progress. We ran into a few roadblocks that I was able to overcome. First off, the pendent lights we ordered had recessed light adapters on them. It wasn’t too big of an issue because I was able to just splice off the adapter and hard wire it into the ceiling. I love how these lights turned out.

The back splash on both sides of the kitchen is now finished. Al finished the other wall today and installed the rest of the remaining cabinets that we had to get shipped because the originals that we ordered were cracked. Now all of the cabinets and the back splash are up, along with the microwave. Next up is the floor and ordering the granite. We cannot wait to get the appliances moved in.

July 27, 2011 0

Busy Busy! Quick Update!

I had taken 2 half days and a full day off this week to get some work done in the new house. This would also allow me to work with Al (our contractor) to learn some things. The heat wave hasn’t made things very easy on us but we were determined to make some good progress. We got all of the cabinets put together on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday we put them up. We love the way they look in the kitchen. When they were on display in the store, we were sort of on the fence about them.

July 21, 2011 0

Taste of Buffalo Pictures

I was supposed to get this up yesterday but things have been crazy with shirts! I wanted to post some pictures from the Taste of Buffalo. I’m pretty sure that this was the biggest one yet in terms of vendors, in fact this year was supposed to have made it the biggest food event in the US. It was pretty awesome. I was excited to go this year as a non vegetarian especially. It’s best to know ahead of time, or to at least get an idea, as to what you want to try there, otherwise you can wander aimlessly in large crowds looking for what you want. I wanted to try the Lobster Mac & Cheese from Parings Wine Bar, Pierogi from Polish Villa, and wine slushies which are the best when its hot out. Nicole wanted to try the Pierogi and wine slushies also, but also wanted to try the Stuffed Hot Pepper Roll from Molinaro’s Ristorante & NY Pizzeria. We got to taste all of these things and they were delicious. I had two Lobster Macs and Nicole’s Pepper Roll was the best tasting thing out of everything. If you haven’t attended this event before, you should definitely try to get there next year, especially if you love food!

Also, an update on the home renovation. The kitchen is coming along nicely. Al just finished dry walling the room minus a few small things left. This weekend we will be able to paint the kitchen before the cabinets go up. I took some time off next week so that I could help Al with some things. We cant wait to have storage again!

July 14, 2011 0

Da Vinci’s Machines

Over the weekend, Nicole and I went to go see the da Vinci exhibit at the Buffalo Science Museum. This was something we wanted to check out in New York City last year when it came but didn’t get a chance to. Having lived here for almost 10 years, I had never been to the Science Museum before here in Buffalo, so this was going to be a fresh experience for me.
When we arrived, we thought it was closed. The main entrance was completely closed off and the only reason we knew it was open was from the cars on the side of the building in front of another entrance that was barely noticeable. When we got inside, Nicole asked the people at the front desk why it was closed off. Apparently were portions of it falling apart and it was rendered unsafe for people to use. There was no mention that it was being repaired and no signs of any work being done on it. Hopefully there is a plan in place to get it fixed soon because it is a beautiful entrance and a waste to have to use the side door. It’s probably also effecting business because it really does look closed.


” I think they are closed…”

The exhibit was pretty cool to see. I wasn’t aware that we were able to work all of the machines that were displayed. Some of the bigger machines had locks on them which meant that the museum worker had to show you how to use it and watch you to make sure it was done correctly. I took some pictures of some of the most interesting machines.

This was a crane that he created. he didn’t invent the crane itself but he invented the plans to have the crane swivel 360 degrees at the base. Also he invented the locking mechanism on the gear that was responsible for raising and lowering the crane.

This is the locking mechanism. Pretty cool because its something I’ve seen on a bunch of modern devices even today.

I don’t remember what this does, but when you pulled the lever the big wheel would turn.

Dropping the hammer.

The da Vinci Machine Gun.

Nicole in the first ever designed battle tank.

This is the first ever designed battle tank. It was pretty awesome. They opened it up and allowed us to go inside. The tank took 4 people to move it and they had to coordinate almost like multiple people paddling a boat.

This exhibit has been all over the world and I would definitely try to see it if you can. There were way more machines that I haven’t featured here. Some of his designs that he created during his quest for flight were really out there, but awesome. Check back in tomorrow and I should have some stuff from the Taste of Buffalo!

July 12, 2011 0

Fish Friday And an Event or Two.

This weekend was packed full of good things. I wasn’t able to get much house work done, but then again, that was the goal this weekend. We have been doing a ton of work around here, so this weekend we wanted to take a break, or at least cut down ( I caved in and did a little work).
Friday I met some old friends out for a fish fry. There are a lot of places that make fish frys in Buffalo, but none of them can even come close to making a fish fry better than Papa Jake’s on Elmwood. They make a fish fry that is so far better than any other place I’ve been to, that it would be a waste of time and money to consider any other option. It’s that good. I hadn’t been there in over 3 years, so I was eager to see if theirs was still the best. We arrived at around 6:30pm and were fortunate enough to be able to sit down immediately as a table was open in the back. We could have waited to sit in their outside seating area if we really wanted to, but we were pretty hungry and decided against it. One thing I noticed when we walked in was that they increased the quality and the amount of beers they have on tap. I think I counted over 25. I was distracted when trying to count the taps when becoming overwhelmed by excitement from the sight of Ithaca’s “Hop Stash” IPA. The “Hop Stash” is easily my favorite beer of the summer if I don’t consider any of the beer I had in San Francisco. Ithaca brewed this beer in limited distribution to pay tribute to this year’s Phish tour. This is the perfect summer IPA, hands down. I ordered a pint and a fish fry. They did an upgrade on the fish fry since I had last been there. This time, the fish fry came with a crab mac salad that was out of this world. It was the perfect companion. As a whole the fish fry comes with a piece of rye bread, crab mac salad (I think you have a choice of another salad, but I was so excited when they mention the crab mac, that I didn’t hear the other option), cole slaw, and Papa Jakes fresh cut french fries.

Three pints of Hop Stash later, and a full stomach, I was more than satisfied and I can’t wait to get another fish fry on an future Friday. If you like a good fish fry, and you haven’t been to Papa Jake’s, you are missing out.
Saturday we went to the Echo Art Fair at the Central Terminal, one of the most beautiful old buildings in Buffalo. They hold events there to help fund its ongoing restoration. There was a decent turn out and the artists where very diverse from photography and paintings, to sculptures and modern art. There were some artists doing live paintings which is always interesting. And at every art show, there was always one artist that stands out either it be good or bad. In this case it was the bad. There was an artist that did paintings of computer desktops. Oh no I’m serious. A beautiful painting of an excel sheet here, a deep and thoughtful painting of solitaire there, this stuff was ridiculous but really funny to look at. I was actually approached by the artist while looking at them, and thankfully he didn’t seem to take himself all that seriously. At least I don’t think….

We were able to catch a quick lunch inside the art fair courtesy of Potts Deli. They are a Polish deli on South Ogden St. in Buffalo. They were cooking up some fresh pierogi that we smelled as soon as we walked in. Nicole and I are like basset hounds when it comes to sniffing out pierogi. Delicious.

This weekend we also went to the Taste of Buffalo and the da Vinci exhibit at the science museum. I have pictures and some thoughts on those two things that you can read here throughout the week! Thanks for reading and thanks for making Super Sweet Shirts #7 on the top 35 Urban Spoon Buffalo Blogs!

July 11, 2011 0

4th of July on the water and some festival notes!

The Buffalo waterfront has really stepped it up. We had gone down to the waterfront near the HSBC arena on the 3rd of July to check it out. In the past, it was a ghost town. There were no people to be seen, no activity at all. This summer it is totally different. There was tons of activity and people enjoying their Sunday afternoon by the water. It was really awesome. When we went down on the 4th, it was crazy. I took some pictures. The progress and development of the waterfront is definitely coming along nicely.

The fireworks display was pretty amazing. I didn’t get any pictures of them because pictures of fireworks are never impressive unless taken by a real photographer. I think the most annoying thing that happened during the fireworks display would be the excessive amounts of country music blasting as the fireworks went off. At one point I had looked to my left to see a family of really overweight trashy people, smoking tons of cigarettes, and getting into the terrible songs playing. The song “Proud to be an American” might be one of the most embarrassing songs ever written and definitely does not make me proud. For about 10 minutes, it was mind blowing and it actually felt like I was in some backwoods town in the South. Luckily they only played like 4 country songs. Yeah I know, some people like country music, but it is still embarrassing. All in all, it was a fun 4th in Buffalo.
This upcoming weekend and the weekend after are super busy. Nicole and I are volunteering at the Echo Art Fair at the Central Terminal this Saturday. Sunday is the Taste of Buffalo which, this year, is the biggest food festival in the United States. I will be eating food and taking pictures! The following weekend is the Italian Festival. This festival isn’t all that pretty to look at, but the food is amazing! I will have pictures of that also.

July 6, 2011 0

An old place we just discovered.

The Elmwood Village is riddled with pizza places, some really good, some awful. A few days ago, after doing some house work, we were exhausted, hungry, and looking to save some money while still adjusting to our new homeowner/ridiculous amount of home repairs budget. Then I remembered Casa-di-Pizza. I had always been a fan, but it just a few blocks outside our normal “walking zone” so we unfortunately forget about it a lot. But, we shouldn’t forget about it! Its a great place to order a pizza or just get a slice. The best part is attached to the takeout portion of this place is a sit down restaurant and bar that I had never really eaten at, but always checked out when I was getting my to go orders. It was the perfect place to go looking the way we did after our physical labor. Its not exactly a classy place but its not a complete hole in the wall either. It’s very just very relaxed, come as you are sort of place, and that’s pretty much what we needed.

We sat ourselves and the waitress promptly came over to take our drink order. Imagine our happy surprise when we discovered this:

Oh yes, you’re reading that right. $5.50 Martinis. Martinis and pizza? That’s ok by us! Nicole ordered a Mint Chocolate, and while I was narrowing down my choices, I happened to look at the back of the drink menu to discover a $5.95 Margarita. Casa-di-Pizza was quickly on its way to becoming our favorite new place.

Another great part about the restaurant is that the menu is gigantic. Everything from pizza and calzones, to steaks, pasta, and subs. It is totally awesome for quick food. For an appetizer we ordered mozzarella sticks. They were more the size of hot dogs than your standard mozzarella sticks and covered in a seasoned breadcrumb mix. They were super tasty.

How does Nicole’s martini keep sneaking into my pictures?

For the main entree, we decided to pass on the pizza (which we have had before from here and know its fresh, delicious and flavorful) and I ordered the black and blue steak sandwich. I promise I did take a picture of it but for some reason its not on my camera anymore. Nicole’s entree was still on there however. She ordered the French Dip. She wasn’t a fan of it only because she has realized that she just doesn’t enjoy red meat. So after realizing her opinion wouldn’t be fair, I decided I had to do my food duty and take a couple of bites of hers. I’m happy to report that her distaste was simply due to her aversion to red meat, and the sandwich was in fact delicious. The Au Jus that came with hers was great, made from their real roast beef (no Arby’s-like “meat” here) and was not salty like so many are. My sandwich was really great too. I asked for medium rare, and as the waitress explained to me, she’d tell the cook “rare” so it would come out medium rare. And she was right, it was cooked to perfection.

The French Dip Sandwich

Casa-di-pizza makes amazing bar food, and hey, who doesn’t want martinis and delicious pizza (really, try the chicken finger pizza, its incredible). I’m personally looking forward to hockey season, I think we just found our new favorite hang out.

July 3, 2011 0

Buffalo FC and some weekend notes

Last night Nicole and I went to see the Buffalo FC take on The Bedlington Terriers from the UK. The game took place at the historic All-High Stadium in Buffalo. When Nicole told me she had bought tickets for this, I was pretty excited. Since the last world cup I have become a pretty big soccer fan and I was excited to see something like this take place. The Buffalo FC has been active in trying to create a soccer scene here. With the Bedlington Terriers coming here to play, there was a significant amount of press for the game and it actually drew almost 4000 people which was pretty impressive. The crowd was pretty alive too which made the game more fun to watch. During the opening ceremonies we were graced with the presence of Mayor Brown, Chris Collins, and Superintendent James Williams. All three of them were booed by everyone there which was hilarious. Bedlington had just crushed Niagara Falls the night before so I was anticipating a crushing defeat. The result was the total opposite. Buffalo handed it to Bedlington 5-1 in what, at times, resembled the Harlem Globetrotters vs The Washington Generals. I was pretty impressed with the skill level of the Buffalo Team. The Bedlington team could have been exhausted from travel and playing the night before, plus they appeared significantly older, but regardless Buffalo really gave it to them. Here are a few pictures:

Nicole is really into soccer…

On a different note, when we moved from our old apartment, we left the box spring for our bed. It was a box spring that was there at the apartment initially that the previous occupants had left. They had gotten it into the apartment through the bay window. This was a huge pain that we did not want to reenact. We noticed these platform beds that were becoming more popular on Ikea’s website. Every place we looked online was really expensive and the more we looked at these things, the more we thought we could just make one. Check back this weekend to see if we were successful!

June 30, 2011 3

Full Weekend of House Work

This weekend was super busy. Friday night we set a goal for what we wanted to accomplish this weekend and we made sure that we actually did it. Our main goal was to tackle a few more of the old windows and paint the sun room. Like I had mentioned a few posts ago, the sun room consists of 7 large, old wooden windows. Instead of immediately spending what would probably be over a grand for that one room alone, we are going to repair and fix up the windows that are in there which will buy us a little time and make them look a lot nicer. I ordered some new glass and grabbed some more window glaze. Nicole picked up the painting supplies and we were ready to work all weekend.
Saturday afternoon when we got back from Home Depot, we received a call from our friend Patrick. He was bored and looking to help out so we told him to come down, we sure could use the help. I started pulling windows out while Nicole started priming the room. She wanted to prime it because of the old water stains that were present. The paint we decided on was a light blue/gray. It was a color that was going to go really well with the old mahogany. Here are some “before” pictures:

After Pat and I repaired the old windows, we joined Nicole and helped paint the room. With three people doing it, it took hardly anytime at all. Here are some “after” pictures.

The room looks pretty awesome now. We also took down the terrible Gothic light that was hanging from the ceiling and replaced it with a basic ceiling fan. I installed a dimmer so that we didn’t have to have intense lighting while watching TV.
The weekend flew by, but we got everything done that we set out to do. Next weekend will be a new set of goals to accomplish! Today I got to relax, as we went to Nicole’s mother’s house where I got to sit down for a few hours and watch the Red Bulls game. It was soccer Sunday for me and I loved every minute of it.

June 27, 2011 0

Author: Aaron F.