Let’s Get Casual + Some Photos From Our Trip to Traverse City

Let’s Get Casual + Some Photos From Our Trip to Traverse City

Well, hello there. Who even knows if anyone is out there anymore since I’ve been such a bad blogger lately! Hopefully some of you are still sticking around! The inherent downfall of being a home renovation/design blogger is you have to actually do home renovation and design, and when you don’t, well, there’s nothing to blog about. That means finding the time to complete a project, investing the money, having the ideas and inspiration and desire to do it, and then spending the time to take photos, edit photos, write the blog post, and, well, sometimes we just … don’t. Because sometimes we’re having so much fun getting out and enjoying fall, going to pumpkin patches and taking vacations! As it gets cooler and we settle into this season, I’m sure we’ll be back to the project board. I’ve definitely been feeling the itch!

Here are a few things I’ve loved lately:

Pictured above: Michael of Inspired by Charm‘s porch is fall perfection!! See more of his adorable Pittsburgh-area home on his blog.

I LOVE this article in Design*Sponge about Destiny Seymour, who designs textiles reflecting her Anishinaabe culture for her shop Indigo Arrows. I grew up in Alaska surrounded by native culture, and my parents were avid collectors of native art from a wide variety of cultures, but mostly Athabascan and Inuit. I really regret not keeping more of my mother’s extensive basket collection. This Indigo Arrows pillow is very, very high on my Christmas list (hint hint Andy!).

This house tour on Lark & Linen is amaaaazing. You HAVE to scroll down to see the bathroom of my dreams! Be sure to take note of the stair railing and bedroom ceiling, as well. So good.

This whipped pumpkin dip is my go-to for every party from about August to January! Super easy, super quick, and a crowd pleaser.

Earlier this week we took a few days off and drove up to Traverse City, Michigan, aka one of our favorite places on earth. It’s a fairly easy six-hour drive from our house, and it’s just the most amazing place. We had a great time. Here are a few photos from our trip:

We stayed in this cute AirBnB downtown. It was sweet and simple, nothing fancy, but the location was great. Joey was super excited to sleep in a “big” bed (a twin) for the first time! I have a feeling we’ll be making the switch out of her toddler bed in the next few months. Stop growing up so fast!

We tried to go to some new-to-us places this trip since we tend to go to our favorites a lot. We really enjoyed Taproot Cider House (above — all the ciders we tried were delicious as were our meals), The Franklin (the griddled cheese was amazing), and we had the most magical evening at Hop Lot Brewing Co. in Suttons Bay (below).

Hop Lot has beer, of course, and a simple but good food menu. But the piece de resistance — and honesty the reason I wanted to go — was the s’mores. For just $2 they give you a marshmallow, graham crackers, chocolate and a stick. The whole place was all super kid friendly and fun for adults too. It just is so perfectly Northern Michigan.