Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, everyone!

 

I hope you guys have a spooky day and get lots of fun treats!

 

Be safe out there and eat LOTS of candy (I know I am!)!

 

 

What are you guys dressing up as??

 

♥Sara

The Serving Spoon

I just got back from another trip to Wisconsin — this time on a happier note! One of the greatest things about visiting Marinette, WI, is that you are a five minute drive from Michigan — two states for the price of one! Menominee, MI, sits right on the water with the most wonderful, historic downtown.

On chilly mornings, one of the best things to do is head to The Serving Spoon — a wonderful coffee shop/cafe in a quaint, old house located in the middle of First Street.

You'll be greeted by a vibrant, warm atmosphere — buy your coffee at the counter and head to the back room with a good book, or let them seat you for the most fabulous, homey breakfast!

Start with some of the best coffee I have ever had. I drank a minimum of three cups. Every. Time.

The prices are extremely reasonable. My usual was coffee, one egg and toast, and an order of hash browns or bacon.


The Serving Spoon is full of decor that makes it truly welcoming and unique: the giant silver spoon above the coffee counter, the rough and well visited wooden floor, tables made from antique, iron sewing machine bases, a collection of vintage percolators on a shelf, the sugar and cream bar from a repurposed desk, and local artist's painting and jewelry available for purchase.

Be sure to grab a fancy coffee drink to go — because they are AMAZING! The baristas truly take their time to handcraft your drink. You will have to wait longer than 2 minutes — which makes me wonder what I've been consuming at a well known coffee chain . . .

"Like" The Serving Spoon of Facebook for menu updates and news. A truly wonderful cafe — I guarantee you'll be in love after one visit!

♥ Courtney

All photos taken by Courtney.

Sara Is: October 2013

Drinking: Starbucks Nonfat Lattes. Hazelnut macchiatos are also a current favorite...

Eating: Harvest Snap Snapea Crisps and Wegman's vegetable sushi. Try them. You'll love them.

Listening to: ARMY OF 3 (featuring Ingrid Michaelson) EP. 

Loving: Revlon's Brilliant Strength nail polish in "060 Allure". I am LOVING this polish. It's a really nice, neutral pale pink. Perfect for any occasion, any season. (Don't mind the healing gash on my finger... That's just what I get for trying to open a box with scissors instead of a box cutter at work...)

Not loving: Bad drivers. I'm not saying I'm perfect, but when you see a stop sign, you should probably..... Oh, I don't know, stop?

Reading: Pretty Little Liars: Crushed. Yes, I do know this is a teen girl book. Thanks.

Wanting: That we actually got fall! One week of fall weather, and then straight to frost advisories. I'm not prepared to pack myself in scarves and coats in October!

Watching: The World Series. Yup. I'm a baseball girl. I wish I was watching my Orioles, but I'm a bandwagon Cardinals fan since 2011, so it's good enough. And no one likes the Red Sox anyway... ;)

Wearing: Sweaters. Slightly over sized sweaters with jeans and boots are my go-to this fall and winter.

What are you guys into right now?

♥Sara


All photos taken by Sara with the iPhone 4S.

Sara's September

Wow you guys. It's the end of September. Like. It's October. Crazy!

I know I've completed neglected the blog the past month, and I have no excuse for it. I've been working a lot lately, but that's not really your problem, is it?

I have managed to take some pictures through out the month though, so I thought I'd share them with you. Let you know what I've been up to (not that it's much).

September 1 started out the month and was also my birthday!

The AMAZING package of 25 gifts for my 25th!

Of course, we had to celebrate with cake!

Whenever I make a special sushi run, it's necessary to also run to Flavor and pick up some cupcakes.

Introducing Ghost, our neighborhood friend.

In downtown Baltimore, it's normal for a gorilla to offer you a banana while driving to an Orioles baseball game.

It's also pretty normal to see people of all sorts when there's a convention in town.

A momentous ocassion - a black iced coffee. How I've grown from my mochas...

I finally got rid of my summer highlights! I've washed a lot of the black out already, but it feels good to be dark for the winter.

Sushi and Starbucks... How preppy of me.

Again, living in Baltimore, you see some things. Not necessarily the safest, like this "ice cream truck," but still makes for interesting stories.

And another cupcake. I'm not ashamed.

So, with the holidays coming up soon (sooner than you think!) I certainly hope and will try my hardest to post more. Pictures, food posts, fun DIY projects, whatever!

Until next time,
♥Sara

By the way--- is anyone else loving iTunes Radio?? Probably my favorite feature of iOS 7...

*All photos are my own, taken with the iPhone 4S, and were edited with the Pixlromatic+, Beautiful Mess, and/or Instagram apps.*

Sara's Week

Hi, guys! So wow. I haven't posted in about a month. I'm ashamed.

I wish I had a reason to give you that would make this somewhat more acceptable, but I don't. There's life of course - work, my so-called social life, being extremely exhausted from staying up late playing Plants vs. Zombies.... You know, the usual.

I haven't had a lot of time to work on fun projects or go on fun trips. Instead, I've been trying to snap pictures and really take advantage of "iPhone-ography." I don't have a really fancy-smancy camera and I tend to leave my point and shoot at home, and since I have my iPhone with me at all times, it's pretty convenient.

I usually take pictures of the obvious - things I think are cute or funny, events and people I want to remember - but lately I've been trying to take pictures of things that are pretty normal, and make them unique and fun.

So, I apologize for going MIA and I hope to start posting more regularly again. And I'd like to start updating you guys on random things through pictures - whatever is going on at the moment, or whatever I think is worthy of sharing.

We also have an Instagram that we put more pictures on, so you guys can check that out too! And please share them with us! I definitely love looking at pictures!

Until next time (hopefully sooner than later!),

♥Sara

*All photos are my own, taken with the iPhone 4S, and were edited with the Pixlromatic+ and Beautiful Mess apps.*

Happy, Happy, Happy

Here are a few things that made me smile this week:

This probably wouldn't make most people happy! But when I know upcoming expenses are being budgeted for, I can breathe a little easier. 

Hooray for vintage sewing patterns! This simple wrap skirt design is going to help create a whole wardrobe of skirts!

When I can grab a coffee with the bestie, bad days become better and good days get even brighter. 

FINALLY! A chocolate Greek yogurt! And it's organic. And I am in love. 

 Letters in the mail bring instant happy feelings!

What made you happy this week?

❤ Courtney

All photos taken by Courtney and edited with Instagram and the Beautiful Mess app. 

I am not affiliated with the products above — they just made me smile this week! :)

DIY: Souvenir Boxes

Souvenir boxes are a wonderful way to make someone feel as if they were a part of your trip. They're also really fun to curate! Here are some ideas from the box I put together for Sara:

Sara is an intense baseball fan! So throughout the trip I picked up team schedules and postcards of stadiums (1). She says she's not into football, but I know the Packers are her favorite. ;)

Peanuts from the plane, hotel notepads, and a continental breakfast cappuccino mix (2) help document the travel aspect of my trip.

Chocolates from the cheese shop are a local treat, and so are the sugar packets! (Hey, it's pure Michigan sugar!) Pine trees abound in Wisconsin, hence the tiny pinecone (3). If you're headed to the beach, seashells would be a fun add-in.

Stop by travel centers for oodles of local info for your box! That's where I found the postcards (4) — which I wrote messages on, a cheese guide (we are in Wisconsin, after all!), and maps of the local downtown with all of my favorite shops (5).

Take out menus from favorite cafes are a fun addition, too. I wrote all over this coffee shop menu, marking the things I knew Sara and I would try if we were on a coffee run.

Packaging multiple items from one place jazzes up your box, too. This coffee shop sold earrings by a local artist. I wrapped them up with the sleeve from my latte and a frequent customer card.

Once you've accumulated your fabulous treasures, pack everything in a flat-rate box and drop it off at the post office.

You'll be amazed how many fun things you'll find to document your trip that you might have overlooked before! Happy hunting!

❤ Courtney