Welcome Home Taylor

A Quick Trip

Over the weekend, my mom and I made a very quick (one-night) trip up to Traverse City to see my grandmas and my Aunt and cousins. Two short days is just never enough time to squeeze in enough laughter and hearing stories about my grandmas' lives and how they grew up. We had a spectacular couple of days though! Once we arrived, we headed off to a near-by farmer's market to stretch our legs and buy some cherries and mint brownies, because why not? We had a wonderful time walking around downtown and on the beach for a bit before heading back to the house to have the most delicious grilled turkey I have ever had. And yes, it was the only grilled turkey I've ever had, but it was wonderful none the less. We stayed up until midnight giggling and telling stories!

My grandmas have the most beautiful garden! The daisies that they have are absolutely gorgeous!

I love this picture of my mom, aunt, and grandma. They're the sweetest people I know!

The next day, we spent a long morning talking and relaxing around the house before we drove off to eat lunch. My grandmas brought us to this awesome place right on the water (I actually forgot what it was called though!) and I ordered the best turkey sandwich with bacon and cherry chutney on cherry wheat bread. There's no pictures of it though because it was just that good.

I hope you had a wonderful weekend as well!  xoxo

Beach Babin'

A week ago, David and I headed out to Port Huron & Lexington with our friends Jessica and Omar. We had planned the trip a month prior, but as the weekend approached, the weather was looking not too good. When we left in the afternoon, it had spend the entire day beforehand raining and being all sorts of gloomy. Despite the weather, we headed up to one of my favorite little cafes, The Raven, in Port Huron. Sure enough, half way through our lunch, the weather had cleared up and became sunshiney and beautiful. We drove up to Lexington to walk around the the beach that evokes more childhood memories than an afternoon can live up to for me and had a wonderful time. It was dreadfully humid and a little suffocating, but right by the water, things were perfect. We ended the day with some ice cream down the road and by the time we were all back at the house, we were exhausted and ready for bed! Sun-tired is the best kind of tired if you ask me.

The Raven has the best frappes made with yogurt! I'm dying to recreate them!

David and Omar spent most of the time on the beach looking for stone to skips. I'm always impressed with people who can skip stones beacause I'm terrible at it!

That swan was GIANT! Maybe all swans are that big, but this one was really up close and it's crazy to see how thick and muscular their necks are! Also, we didn't go to Sweetwater, but I wanted to so badly! When I was young, that place was just a small little cafe that didn't serve very good food, but had water in beautiful glass bottles that we would always buy. Now Sweetwater is there and it's a little cafe and bakery. Next time I make my way to Lexington (which will be before the end of this summer!) I'm definitley going to try it out!

Bloom the Workshop

This past Friday, I headed to Grand Rapids to attend Bloom: the workshop. It was an absolute BLAST! The workshop was taught by bloggers Michaela and Ashley and they did just a fantastic job. I learned a lot of new things throughout the entire day -- even photography tricks that I didn't know (and I really wasn't expecting to learn!). We went through a few different lessons including blogging, social media, styling, and photography. Afterward, we were able to shoot some pictures of a styled tablescape and some brides (they weren't actual brides) and that was followed by a Q&A included both Michaela and Ashley, as well as Tieka, Julie, Abby, and Meg. I can't even stress how wonderful everything was throughout the day and how much fun I had with all the lovely ladies that came!

^^ Ashley teaching away!

^^^ Awesome tablescapes that Michaela designed!

^^^ Adorable miniature horses at Hydrangea Blu Barn

 

date night

Last night David & I went on a surprise date night. Not that either of us suprised each other with a date, we mostly just decided it has been wayyyyy too long since we've been out to dinner at our favorite Thai place. We were both so happy that we finally had a date night together. We were supposed to have a date night last Friday, but it was a little screwy and we didn't really spend time with one another, which happens sometimes, especially when there are other things that need to be done. So last night I put on lipstick and spritzed some perfume on me and then we headed off to our favorite Thai place for the night and had a blast eating our favorite food and talking about our days and how lucky we are to have each other as friends. (p.s. if you live in Michigan, the restaurant is in Rochester and it's called Sukothai and is the best ever. Go there now).

Happy weekend everyone!

 

red coat, white snow

If you haven't heard yet, the weather has been something esle this past week here in Michigan. Sunday & Monday we had a "snowpocalypse" as most people are calling it. I just call it a slightly more brutal winter in Michigan. The temperatures have been in the negatives (which, it's very discouraging getting ready for work in the morning when the weather app says "-2, feels like -31") for most days, but this morning it finally warmed up! The temperatures were at about 30, which felt like spring time! Plus, it was super foggy, which just looked awesome and it kind of why the background in these pictures is completely white. haha.

Awesome story about this coat. On New Year's Day, my mom, aunt, cousin and I went up to the mall because I had to return some stuff (and we all wanted something to do) and just before we left, we popped into Anthropologie. I've been looking for an awesome coat like this since I fell in love with Taza's and I just about died when I found this coat in their clearence section. Not only was it on clearence, but all of their clearence was 25% off! Not only that, but it was the last one and it was just my size. I'm sorry, but I'm a sucker for something that screams "fate". Although, with the price I bought it at, I felt like I was pretty much stealing it.

One more awesome clothing story. Not as awesome, but still pretty sweet. I found this shirt on pinterest and, much to my surprise, found the link almost immedietly to the shirt. It says, "Cat Hair is Lonely People Glitter". It made me laugh so hard I just had to buy it.

 

coat/Anthropologie // shirt/Skreened // boots/DSW  // pants/American Eagle high-waisted jeggings

 

Hope you all have an awesome weekend!

xoxo

hot cocoa for two

If you haven't heard yet, the snow here in Michigan has been crazy. David and I (and mostly everyone around us as well) have been snuggled up inside our home all day yesterday. We (mostly me) were going stir-crazy yesterday and was begging David to get us out of the house for a bit. After walking outside, we decided against driving anywhere though and instead shoveled out our cars from underneath the snow. I figured I'd make some hot cocoa when we got back in the house and then I thought, "well, while I'm at it, I mine-as-well make some homemade whipped cream to go with it." So I did that too. And it was all worth it (plus, I wasn't so bored anymore).

to make hot cocoa for two:easy doubled or tripled

1/8 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup granulated sugar
a little less than 1/3 cup water
a pinch of salt
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan, combine the cocoa powder, sugar, water, and salt. While stirring constantly over medium heat, bring mixture to a boil. Pour in the milk and vanilla extract and heat through until the temperature you like. Ladle into mugs and top with homemade whipped cream (recipe below) and chocolate*.

 

to make whipped cream:

1/2 cup whipping cream
1-2 Tablespoons powdered sugar

In a medium bowl, combine the cream and sugar and using a hand mixer (or in the bowl of a stand mixer) start mixing on low. Gradually move to medium-high speed and whip until slightly stiff peaks form in the cream. Adjust the sugar to your tastes. Sometimes I even add a touch of vanilla extract.

 

*Although I'm now fond of Barnes & Noble (that's where David and I met), I used to be a big fan of Border's bookstores because you were able to look up books on the computer yourself and the hot chocolate that they served. Their cocoa had white chocolate shavings and a stick of milk chocolate on top. It was stinkin' delicious and if I had white chocolate on hand, I would have done that as well.

 

 

 

 

indian summer

I know I said this before, but I'm pretty sure that this day was the officially the last day of this indian summer. I went with my friend Chance to a nearby metro park to shoot some pictures. It was nice catching up with him since I haven't seen him in basically forever. And let me tell you about this Michigan weather happening. The day these pictures were taken was Sunday and it was beautiful out and most of the day I didn't wear a jacket. The next day was freezing. And now today I woke up to frosted lawns, car windows, and just a hint of snow. Uhm, what?! I'm never ready for winter and you bet I'm counting down the days until it's shorts weather again. Until then, I'm diggin' on this autumn light. mmm.

 

xoxo

a festival

Last weekend, David and I went to the Renaissance Festival in Holly, Michigan. It was David's first time there and he absolutely loved it, which I already knew he would. We always went with my mom when we were little and it was nice to go back and see everything. Of course, I threw David in the jail as a ceremonious ritual to it being the first time, but he turned right back around and got me thrown in too! What a little weasel! David and I had such a blast spending the day together in such a cool place. I can't wait to go back again next year with him!

 

xoxo

 

a trip to Greenfield Village

I went to Greenfield Village the other day with my step-brother, sister-in-law, niece, and nephew. I haven't been there in quite a while, which is unfortunate because it's one of my favorite places to visit. If you're in Michigan, it's definitely a must in the nice weather. Our weather wasn't all too sunny until the half-hour before we left, but we had a good time anyway. It was nice spending the day with just my family from North Carolina.

Unfortunately, my camera battery died only a half-hour in so I took all the photos with my iPhone 4s. All photos were edited with Afterlight.

 

xoxo

Sundate

Yesterday morning David and I woke up early to take a trip out to the Armada Flea Market. It was the first time I've ever been there and I was so exctied! Personally, I don't think either of us were interested in the stuff they had, but we did really enjoy all the fruits and veggies that were for sale. The best part though, were the animals! Because Armada is pretty much farm country and most of the people there are, well, farmers so there were a lot of ducks, chickens, and bunnies for sale. Not to mention the few people that had the cutest little puppies for sale. I'm not a fan of small dogs really, but after holding that super cuddly boston terrier and pug mix, I was convinced I needed one. Unfortunatley, I didn't have a spare $350+ to shell out on the spot (which was probably a good thing cause I think my cats would kill me). I was also on the verge of bringing home one particularly fluffy and floppy-eared bunny. Even though I didn't get to go home with any animals, David and I did have fun. Needless to say it was one very VERY good Sundate.

xoxo