A Country Sampling

I am almost home. I have been relaxing and resting in Idaho Falls with Mark's family before heading to Boise, and it has been much needed. Our trip back was so fun and we saw so many neat things, I wanted to show a quick sampling of pictures taken in each state we travelled through.

Wisconsin's beautiful flowers.

Des Moines, Iowa.

Omaha, Nebraska.

View from Boulder, Colorado.

Being welcomed in to Utah.

Wonderful Idaho, home at last.

Our road trip was fantastic, and many more posts to come. I just wanted to share some beautiful scenery that we found along the way traveling across our great country. 

Homeward bound

Friday is finally here and the packing is complete. It seems like I just got to Madison, and now we are heading back to Idaho. Sadly I will not be able to post for a while, I will be happily occupied by the 24 hour drive back to Idaho through the midwest.

But as I was packing I realized there are some travel items that are a must! Etsy again came to the rescue and I found everything that I need.

1. The open road: fortunately this is free, except taxes of course, but it is beautiful and exciting to get in the car and drive.
2. Travel Clock: reminds me of my grandma who has thousands of clocks, and always travels with one just like this. I love the gold and cream tones on this one.
3. Camera: my camera may be a wee bit smaller than this, and it doesn't really ignite for a flash, but this is a must just the same.
4. Maxi Skirt: traveling in comfort is essential. This flowy skirt provides comfort and coolness, and is also camera-ready when you stop to see the largest ball if twine or some other neat attraction in the Midwest.
5. A good book: it is a great time to catch up on some reading on the road, beware of the motion sickness though.
6. Sunglasses: these are so cute and would be perfect for the car.
7. Travel Map: necessary to be the perfect passenger navigator. I'm the best at this job, or at least that is why Mark tells me I should be the passenger and not the driver.
8. Luggage: this vintage leather luggage is so perfect, great size for weekend getaways.  



These are some great finds an additions to any road trip. For this one I might need to add a box of tissues. It has been such a great summer here and I will really miss this wonderful city and our new friends.

Milwaukee Trip :: Part II

On day two of our trip to Milwaukee, in perfect Mark and Stacia style, we decided to just relax. To do so we decided to stroll down Milwaukee's Riverwalk. It was such a nice day, and I felt like we really got a taste of downtown Milwaukee. From their public art to the "Bronze Fonz" it was a great afternoon.

While walking along the river, we found ourselves in the Historic Third Ward district, the same neighborhood we found the The Home Market.  We stumbled upon a restaurant, Ryan Braun's Graffito. They are a "scratch italian" restaurant which means all of their dough, pasta, everything is made from scratch.

Very fitting logo for this neat restaurant.

It was a really warm day, so I had a tomato mozzarella panini with champagne. Mark had a margherita pizza and Graffito's own craft beer Graffito #8. 

Overall it was a great time spent in Milwaukee, great baseball, great food, and a wonderful city. I would love to come back here any time.

Milwaukee Trip :: Part I

Another new city explored this weekend, Milwaukee Wisconsin. I am so relieved that we got to go visit before our time here is done, and it exceeded my expectations! I mostly wanted to go so we could see the Milwaukee Brewers play at Miller Park, and we did just that.

Our first stop was at our hotel, which was a gem. I really like to stay at places unique to the city, and that is just what we found. It is called Knickerbocker on the Lake and it was filled with charm. It is a mix of hotel rooms and permanent residents, so each room is set up like an apartment with a kitchen and dining and living area. We even had a great view of Lake Michigan.

After checking in to our hotel, and enduring a terrifying yet efficient cab ride, we arrived at Miller Park. It really is an awesome field, and it was so fun to see a professional baseball game.

Mark and I got to the field nice and early so we could catch some batting practice. We luckily picked a game that was hosting "Craft Beer Night" that was being held in our seating section (this was not a coincidence). We had samples of Leinenkugel's craft beers, paired with Wisconsin cheese.  It was a perfect pregame treat!

It was really the perfect baseball game. I got to see the Brewers play but also the Cincinnati Reds, the favorite team of my dad and brother. We had delicious cold beers, and a bottom of the 9th comeback for the win! It was so fun and reminded me how much I love baseball. 

Très chic: The Home Market

A new favorite home goods store was discovered this weekend, The Home Market, located in Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward neighborhood.  It was wonderful, filled with my favorite French Country goods! I really could have taken anything in that store home and been pleased, and Mark even liked a lot of their items too, though he spent most of his time modeling the couches.

Here is the special couch Mark modeled, very comfy.

These are just a few of the neat furniture and home decorations they had. The store is locally owned just like most of the neighborhood, and the manager said they pride themselves on that in the Third Ward. Unfortunately that means that I won't be able to furnish my someday home in their goods, but what wonderful inspiration they gave me.

We couldn't leave empty handed though, and bought a box of matches with bee illustrations that I couldn't resist. Just a small souvenir from a great new store. I only wish I had a house to fill with wonderful stuff from The Home Market!


Great find on our trip to Milwaukee, and more from last weekend to come.

Fourth of July Weekend

What a great Fourth of July this year. Though I was missing friends and family a lot back in Idaho, Mark and I had a really great long weekend!

We started by joining some new friends to watch the Madison fireworks on Saturday. The fireworks were across the lake and we had a perfect view.  We tried a new recipe and made some Pretzel Sparklers. We just melted chocolate and dipped the pretzels, then sprinkled them and let them chill in the freezer. I also attempted to pull off a dressy red, white, and blue outfit.

We had such a great evening with new friends and a new city. We were so tired from our fun day, we spent the next lazy day just cooking and cleaning, where I tried a new cake recipe. 

Thank you to the fabulous Katie Quinn Davies and
Design*Sponge for the recipe and instructions.

Of course Mark was on board when I told him the recipe required Guinness beer. It turned out really great, even though I may have had to make it twice due to leaving out a few ingredients the first time. Apparently the eggs and vanilla are essential in baking? Well Mark was quite a trooper and let me try again (his job was to drink the leftover Guinness) and it is delicious! The whipped cream cheese frosting on top of the dark brown cake is supposed to resemble the frothy head on a dark Guinness beer.

We also had the chance to watch a movie at the Sundance 608 theatre. I must say it was a quality theatre and we will definitely go back! We watched Larry Crowne, a film written by Tom Hanks. It was very good and funny, and a perfect matinee. 

Cool Patriotic Print found on Etsy. 

It was a great weekend, and perfect birthday party for America. I look forward to more fun adventures as the summer winds down.