This April will be 5 years in our home and I’m not sure if it feels like a lifetime or we just moved in. We’ve certainly put a lot of work into the house over the years, but it’s been the expensive, behind the walls type of work. The big stuff that no one is excited about kind of work. Recently, the previous owner stopped by to see if we had made any changes to the house and when she said it looked pretty much the same, I wanted to die. Granted, she didn’t live in the house for years when we purchased the home and had no idea the state it was in.. but still, it was like a stake through my heart. We’ve cut down trees, got a new roof, fixed radon, changed out piping, got a new HVAC, new boiler.. all the stuff no one sees or cares about. So although it stung when she said that, I just kinda shrugged my shoulders and chose not to enlighten her. But anyway, nearly 5 years here and we’re finally approaching the fun projects. The noticeable ones. We have a pretty big home renovation this year that probably won’t be finished until the very end of 2024. Between that, and doing our own updates in a few of the rooms, I expect the house will look completely different for 2025. I love our house, but I also love practical and efficient use of space. Our house lacks that. We have a pretty large house, but weirdly, not a lot of privacy. A lot of square footage, but no areas for storage. And the kitchen is incredibly cramped compared to the rest of the overly spacious rooms. This year we hope to fix the majority of that by carving out purposeful spaces, plenty of storage options, and actually relocating some rooms. It’s going to be a big year for this house and we’re super stoked about it.

Future Playroom

New Playroom

First up is the playroom. We’ll be completely relocating this room. Our house has undergone a few additions through its history, but the original farmhouse from 1800 remains at the heart of our home with a lower level room and an upper level room connected by a spiral staircase. The downstairs room has become our temporary junk room since it’s kind of tucked away, while Izzy’s bedroom occupies the upstairs room. We’ll be moving Maggie in there with her in the coming months though and that will become their shared bedroom. Downstairs, will become the playroom. We currently have the staircase blocked off in the bedroom, but once we don’t have to worry about them on the stairs, it’ll be nice for the girls to have direct access to the playroom right under their room. Also, since this is the old part of the house, the floor/ceiling isn’t drywalled so you can hear anything happening above or below very easily. We had initially had a little lounge/library/bar room downstairs, but quickly realized we couldn’t go in there when Izzy was sleeping. By putting the playroom under them, we utilize the space without having to sacrifice any conveniences.

The future playroom is a very frustrating space to work with. There’s two closets taking up corners, a weird angled wall that jets out like a triangle (we think it had to be a fireplace at one time), three entrance doors, and two sets of stairs that come into the room (one being the spiral staircase and the other being two horizontally long steps leading to the original farmhouse exterior door that we do not use). If the room was a shape it would be whatever has 15 sides. No lie. I was stumped with what to do for awhile, but decided to add some built ins for toy storage and possibly build a little stage over the long two steps to utilize the space. We’ll add some fresh paint, a dress up wall and probably keep the rest simple. I want the space to be able to grow with them overtime and be able to make little changes instead of a full redo when they’ve outgrown it.

Built In Bunk Beds for the Girls

Maggie will be joining Izzy’s room in the coming months and I would love for them to have built in bunk beds. I don’t plan on necessarily using them right away for both girls.. Maggie is still in her crib and will transition to her own twin bed while night potty training before starting in the bunk beds. But I do love the idea of having them already built and ready for them. Izzy willl be 4 this year and although it’s still early, I think it’ll be nice having an extra bed for any sleepovers that may start happening. Obviously not a pressing project, but it is one I would like to do this year. We’ll be going with a standard stacked twin bunk with steps instead of a ladder and spindles placed from bed to ceiling around the top bunk so there’s no chance of accidents. I promise it won’t look like a cage, lol. I plan to take a classic approach with style so like the playroom, it can grow with them and not feel too childish down the road. And if they decide they want their own rooms in the future, I would like to use the bunk beds for a guest room anyway.

After Vine Removal, Sanding Residue, Patching Cracks, Repairing Stucco, Repainting Exterior & Changing Trim/Windows From Red to Black

Paint House Exterior

If you’ve been following along on Instagram for awhile, you know this has been an ongoing project. In an effort to save our house from excessive moisture (and insects) we ripped down all of our beloved ivy, climbing hydrangeas, and wisteria. With that, we needed to sand the vine residue and repair some of the stucco that was underneath. From there, we repainted the exterior and changed the trim/window/door color from red to black. We probably have about 2/3 of the house done, and luckily, we have the most challenging wall completed, so there’s that. Sadly, for practicality sake, we won’t be finishing the entire exterior this year. The largest wall we have yet to paint will be getting a couple new windows during our big reno.. so it doesn’t make sense to make it pretty if we’ll most likely just have to do it all over again. I do hope to complete everything minus that wall by fall though. As we make our way around the house we’ll be changing out the gutters for black as well. So by the time we’re finished, the entire house will only be green and black instead of green, brown, and red.

Master Bedroom with New Master Bath and New Main Joint Closet

Master Bathroom

Adding a master bath has been on the “one day” list since we moved in. Off the master bedroom there’s already a framed out room that I believe the previous owners had planned to do a master bath as well. In it’s current state, it’s a giant cedar closet with zero windows. It’s actually been perfect for storage, but more importantly, little Maggie has become quite comfortable in there. It sounds terrible and we joke that it’s her Harry Potter closet, but in all seriousness, it’s been amazing for a baby space. It’s dark and quiet and couldn’t be closer to our bedroom. Her crib, dresser, bookcase, and reading chair all fit in there with room to spare. We plan to move Mags out and into Izzy’s room in the coming months and then our bathroom Reno should be starting in June. Our bedroom currently has two closets.. one that you walk through to get to the cedar closet (Maggie’s dark cave), and another on the other side of the room that connects to an entrance into Izzy’s room. For the future bath, we’ll be using the cedar closet and adjacent closet. We’ll then transform the second closet into our main joint closet by reconfiguring the layout. The bathroom will be getting two windows put in, feature a 6.5x3.5 shower stall, 6 ft tub, 6 ft vanity, and a privacy wall next to the toilet.

New Kitchen Location off Patio With Walk In Pantry & Pocket Bathroom

New Kitchen with Pocket Bathroom

Initially we had planned to do the master bath first and change the kitchen in the future.. But with both rooms essentially stacked on top of each other, it made sense to do everything at once. Currently, our kitchen is located right off the driveway. The main door we use to enter the house (the side door) even opens into the kitchen. It’s convenient and it’s not. It’s typically a giant mess, everything gets through down on the counters and the shoes/coats/bags are all over the floor. Ben put it perfectly when he said that out current kitchen is a mudroom, office, and kitchen all in one. I think that’s normal for most homes, but it’s a little extreme over here. We plan to move the kitchen to the farthest side of the house to occupy a much bigger space and be right off the patio. Even though it’ll be further from the driveway for taking groceries in and such, it’ll give us direct access to the patio for grilling and hosting, and the room already has a giant closet attached that will act as our kitchen pantry and storage. Additionally, we will be able to fit a dining table into the new kitchen, which I absolutely love. We currently sit around our counter, which again, usually has piles of stuff and random things on it. We do have a dining table in our sunroom that we love to use, but it’s not something we use for every meal. For starters, it’s not right off the kitchen.. but also, since it’s in the sunroom it gets super sunny during the day, hot in summer, and cold in winter. So we wanted to make sure we had a reliable, designated space for our meals. The kitchen will have an 8 burner stove with double oven placed on an angle against our current fireplace, a large 3 ft sink located in an “L” shaped island, and a tiny hall that leads to a pocket bathroom and big walk in pantry.

Current Kitchen Transforms into Mudroom/Storage Room/Office

Old Kitchen

The kitchen and master bath are our major projects this year, but I have to admit, I’m ecstatic for the old kitchen transformation. We’re planning on dividing the space into three areas/rooms. Through the side door, which we currently use as our main entrance into the house, will be our new mudroom. We’re doing built in benches, cubbies and hooks so everything can stay organized and the kids can have their own areas for their shoes, coats, and bags. Off the mudroom will be a giant storage room, which I am so excited about. The two places in our house that we’re currently storing things are in our soon to be playroom and soon to be kitchen pantry. So we’ll need a place for everything and having a designated storage room will be huge. I believe the plans have the room measured at 7’ by 7’ and will be lined with shelves for storage totes, the Christmas tree, and random odds and ends. On the one side of the room there will be space for our bikes as well and the kid’s outdoor toys. Considering we don’t have a garage, this is huge. The last area included in our plans is a little pocket office. It’s about a foot longer than the storage closet and will be set up with a simple desk and filing system. No more papers and piles everywhere.

Here are some things we love:

• Slowing down and enjoying the little things.

• Listening to the creek and croaking frogs as we fall asleep.

• Realizing housework can actually be enjoyable.

• Natural light in every room and looking out and seeing green everywhere.

• Discovering paths and trails throughout the property.

• Making a house a home.

Here are some things that are new:

• Bugs come into your house even though you lock the door

• Glass ceilings are freaking cool. Until they leak.

• If something starts to smell like sewage.. it’s probably sewage.

• When you lose power often enough, don’t bother resetting the time on the stove

• Weeds regrow as soon as your back is turned.

It’s been 3 months and a week since we moved our life to the East Coast and decided we were going to be Pennsylvania residents. Not going to lie, it’s been an adjustment. Although I grew up in the area and am quite familiar with small town living, I did spend most of my adult life living in a busy city and getting used to certain conveniences. Ben and I have pulled into more than a couple local establishments to only realize not everything is open every day of the week. Frozen cauliflower pizzas from Costco have been our saving grace a few times. One morning, my girlfriend and I met at 7am for a walk along the river with coffee. Except the coffeeshop wasn’t open that early. She looked at me with her *full* travel mug from home in hand like I was an absolute diva expecting the coffee shop would actually be open in mornings.. when people typically drink coffee. My bad. But honestly, besides businesses not being open when *I* am hungry or needing a coffee, life has been really good. We’re both learning how to take care of a house together and pretty much digging the overall experience. It’s funny how much we both are changing and taking on independently and together as a couple. It’s easy to forget that we spent the last 9 years living in 900 square feet sandwiched between neighbors, sharing walls, ceilings, and floors with other units. And now, we’re plopped on 12 acres in a 3500 square foot house with a septic tank and a well. Very new territory to say the least. But it’s amazing how much you learn and figure out when you actually care.

The history of our house is quite cool. The original structure was a stone farmhouse built in 1800. I’m unsure how the house was divided, but today, the original part of our home consists of one room downstairs and an old spiral staircase to one room upstairs. The home belonged to a mason, and to this day, we can find remnants of the old mill on the property. We don’t know much more about the house in its early days, but eventually it was inhabited by Josephine Herbst and her husband John Herrmann in 1928. Both, were writers and said to be involved in political radicalism. The Erwinna farmhouse became their haven for creativity and a gathering place for their friends and fellow literi. Ernest Hemingway was known to be a friend of Josephine Herbsts- so who knows, he could have very well been on the property. The couple eventually divorced, but Josephine remained in the house until her death in 1969.

After Herbst, Herbie Ward bought the property. Originally from Indianapolis and an artist, Ward settled in Bucks County to paint. He described the area to others as ‘the most beautiful place on earth‘. He had acquired the Black Bass Inn in the 40’s and had basically saved the business, renovating the space and making it an ideal stop for tourists visiting from NYC or Philadelphia. Ward had gone on to construct homes and gardens throughout Eastern Pennsylvania and he eventually did the same with the Tinicum house. Adding onto the original stone farmhouse, Ward had designed an addition not just onto one side of the structure, but 3 of the 4 sides. The add on consisted of a kitchen and dinning room on one side, a living room on the other and a giant sunroom in the back, connecting both the new sides of the house. Slate flooring was purposefully used in the sunroom to act as a natural heater, while the other rooms typically remained cooler. Upstairs, above the kitchen and dining room were two spare bedrooms and the master was over the living room on the other end. One can simply walk over the grated catwalk in the sunroom to get to the other side of the house, orrrr walk through the original house’s second level, which not only has a door to the master, but a doorway leading to a back hall, connecting the additional bedrooms. It’s a a maze of nooks and crannies for sure. Herbie Ward unfortunately did not get to see his plans for Tinicum completed before his death. However, the design had been executed at this point and although the home was in rough shape, the right person could appreciate Herbie Ward’s efforts and finalize the project.

That person was John Langdon. A graphic designer living in Philadelphia with his family. The Langdons bought the Tinicum house as a weekend retreat from the city in 1994. They renovated the home and brought Herbie Ward’s design to life. A small, 19th century farmhouse was transformed into a 3500 square foot contemporary home that featured original stonework with additional natural elements such as slate flooring and wooden beamed ceilings throughout. Although the house had originally been a country retreat, John Langdon began to spend more time at the Tinicum house and eventually lived on the property full time until relocating to the west coast.

When Ben and I had first found the house online, we were lovestruck. It was our dream home- totally unique and quirky, but beautifully done and cared for at the same time. Initially, I didn’t think we were actually ready to be packing up and leaving Chicago, so when Ben suggested we fly in and see it, I was a bit surprised. We met with a Realtor relatively quickly and I just remember thinking, ‘oh, god.. we’re going to buy this house, aren’t we?’ Well, yeah. We loved it. And I think our hearts were invested pretty immediately.

The buying process went as smoothly as one could hope for with a contingent offer and a home that’s been vacant for years with its owner on the other side of the country. You can read a brief overview of that process here. But there were definitely difficult moments.

We realized very quickly how we weren’t just buying a new house. We were buying a piece of living history that had been a haven for creative energy for over 200 years. Writing, painting, designing, discussing- the house was a space for intellects who appreciated art and nature and living. I’m not sure if it was learning of the history, or simply communicating with the previous owner and experiencing firsthand his emotional attachment to the house- but I realized if we were going to buy this house we needed to give it everything we had and truly love it and honor it. And that’s what we’re doing. But that’s not to say we haven’t faced challenges already.

Since we moved in, we had an abundance of cave crickets coming up from the basement. LOADS of them. And they’re the creepiest things ever if you haven’t seen them. Ben somehow swatted not one, but TWO! out of his beard at one point. They’ve dwindled quite a bit, but we usually find a couple dead ones every few days. Maybe about a week after we moved in, I came downstairs to a living ant farm in our kitchen. Little ants everywhere. It was horrible, but we got traps and the ants went away. A couple days later, I followed a trail of ants through our sunroom to a turquoise plant stand I have. It was no longer turquoise, but black. ALL ANTS. I believe they were draw to the kind of plant I had perched on top of it. Maybe a week afterwards, carpenter ants. Wasps. Spider webs in EVERY corner.

The biggest.. I’ll call it, ‘moment’ we’ve had was a bit more of a umm.. dilemma than insects though. Our basement sometimes takes on a bit of water after rainfall, so Ben has been keeping an eye on the the sump pumps and making sure everything is continuing to run smoothly. I had followed him down into the basement and when I walked around the corner, I stopped. Puddles were gathering right outside our dirt crawlspace and I hadn’t seem them there yet. Something wasn’t right. Ben stepped over the puddles, not thinking anything of them and I just stood there confused. Then I noticed little poops.. much too big for mice, but a cat or raccoon possibly? Now, I’m yelling across our giant basement that ‘there’s cat poop over here!’..’BEN! There’s a cat or something getting in and pooping in here!’ He’s messing with the pumps probably thinking I’m crazy and tuning me out. Then I see white, partially dissolved chunks.. is that paper? What the hell is going on? So I did what anyone else would do and went upstairs and ignored it. Ten minutes later, I have to pee and head into the bathroom.. a little bit of water is pooling on the floor around the base of the toilet. Ben and I had just sat down to make our round of calls to different contractors- something we had been putting off for a few weeks. Roofers, basement waterproofing, electrician, window guy for the sunroom ceiling.. just general calls for quotes. I walk out of the bathroom and tell Ben he may as well add plumber to the list and that I was heading outside to go pee. You can probably imagine his face of ‘wtf is going on now and why is my wife peeing outside’. But anyway, the plumber was scheduled for first thing the next morning. Too bad our sweet house couldn’t wait that long. Ben tells me he’s got to go to the bathroom and won’t be going outside.. Cut to 30 minutes later, and he’s in the basement yelling for me to come down NOW. Turns out, when a house is vacant for long periods of time, the inside of the pipes can flake and cause clogs. Our house had been vacant for three years. So instead of doing his business outside (like I had gently suggested), he basically did it in our basement. And the ‘cat poop’.. well, that may have been more like.. kat poop. This is all very uncomfortable and awkward, but SHIT HAPPENS and this is real life. So, long story, short.. The pipe backed up and shot sewage into our basement. We had an emergency plumber come out that day, he fixed the clog and tried to sell us on a $3,000 clean up crew that could come out that night in basically hazmat suits and clean our basement. Sooooo, plumber man left and we were on our way to Home Depot for a shot vac, squeegee, scrub brushes, all the bleach, gloves, and anything else we randomly grabbed. As soon as we got home, we quickly made suits out of garbage bags and tape and set off into hell to save 3 grand.

There’s something really humbling about squeegeeing your (and your partners) shit around your basement floor. We were laughing through most of it.. pretty much in total shock that this is now our lives, but we also had our moments. And by that, I mean me yelling SCRUB HARDER at Ben and then him later lecturing me how we needed to finish the job we started after I was borderline having a meltdown… it was an absolute shit show- I suppose literally.

This sounds horrifying. And I promise you, it was. That being said, it’s done and dealt with. We survived the sewage shakedown of Tinicum and lived to tell the tale. We both know there will be loads more fun set backs or experiences along the way and we’re ready for them. Hopefully not any time soon, but I think you all know what I mean. We’re rolling with the punches and learning a little bit more about our unique home and how to be better homeowners each day. It’s pretty cool. We love our house and plan to let it thrive with the mentality that if we love it and take care of it, it’ll love and take care of us.

Btw, if anyone wants to come over and help me weed- that’d be great! I’ll supply booze and food- don’t worry, the house doesn’t smell like shit anymore and everything is sanitized :)

We moved! We left everything our relationship has ever known and jumped into a new chapter of our lives. Traded in the big city for a small Pennsylvania town. A downtown Chicago high rise with a giant private terrace for a house in the forest with a creek and 12 acres. Are we fucking nuts? Or simply ready for change? I’m still not sure.

We’ve always lightly chatted about eventually leaving Chicago, so it’s not like it’s a total surprise. But I think we talked about it so often that it maybe became more of a story than an actual future plan. And then one day, almost out of the blue (how we do most our big life decisions) we met with a realtor, updated our kitchen and bath, and listed our condo on the market. We were under contract 6 days later. It all happened within a matter of weeks really and I don’t think it’s even totally registered yet.

I don’t believe we would’ve left our home of 9 years as fast as we did if we hadn’t found a house that just spoke to us. It was the second place we looked at and it was pretty immediate that we knew we were going to live there. I’m typically the impulsive one in the relationship and Ben is much more practical. So I was surprised when after our first viewing, before we even left the house, <and without talking to me!> Ben looked at our realtor and said, “I think we like it, how do we go forward from here?” There’s just so much about this that’s too funny. Like first, when did my city boy decide that he was ready for country living? Was mowing the lawn and dragging trash bins to the road every Tuesday secretly one of his dreams? Maybe. Secondly, the house needed (and still does) work. It’s not minor little things either. A new roof, a basement that takes on water, a few structural issues, you know.. the norm.. all came with the house. And still, we were interested. So interested that we started the process of selling our condo and trading in our lives for something else. Something totally new.

The purchase of our PA house was contingent on selling our condo in Chicago. For those of you who haven’t experienced that joy, I should mention that selling and buying at the same time is the absolute WORST. The amount of stress I was feeling was astronomical. People can be awful and you really have zero control, which is difficult if you prefer having a handle on things. Throughout the entire process, in addition to being stressed, we were both extremely excited and sad. And by the end of it, we were quite numb. Our new house came back with evidence of lead and radon during inspection, whereas our condo’s *first* buyer decided to not look into their finances before making us an offer. Needless to say, it was an experience. However, each person I chose to complain to over our three month experience all assured me, “thats what buying a house feels like.” Haha, so apparently, our process actually went pretty smoothly with the exception of normal hiccups, I suppose.

Bucks County, PA wasn’t completely random. Although, if you know us, you wouldn’t be surprised if it was. We moved back to my hometown-ish. And although it’s beautiful, I never thought in a thousand years I would move back. As a teenager, I was desperate to get out of this area. Small town charm is something adults appreciate- and apparently, I became an adult some time recently. It’s weird how you start to see things differently the older you get. The strangest part about moving back to your hometown though is probably the part where you bring your husband. Not only has Ben has never lived in a rural setting before, he has never had a septic tank or a driveway that would need plowing after a snowfall. Nor has he lived in a place that does not have one food delivery option and driving 30 minutes anywhere is the norm. And oddly, he was- and still is- all about it. Definitely more than I was initially, which was both interesting and terrifying. I kept torturing myself with horrible thoughts- “what if he hates it?- it’ll be all my fault.-Or what if he hates AND I LIKE IT?!- even worse! OMG.” We weren’t just starting a new chapter of our lives together, we were starting a new phase in a place that I had ties- a place where I had great memories and awful memories and if something went wrong, it could potentially further change the way I felt about my hometown. A lot of overthinking and unnecessary scenarios obviously overtook my thoughts. But honestly, what kept bringing me back to those good vibes was the fact that nothing has to be forever. If it’s not for us, we can leave.

April 6th, 2019, we packed up a 26 foot uhaul in downtown Chicago, hitched the Honda Civic onto the back and inched our way out of the city. PA bound! We’ve been in our new house for 3 weeks now and all I can say is that all those torturous scenarios I played out for 2 months were such a waste of energy. That boy is thriving and so is our marriage. I guess being scared of change is normal, but it’s definitely nice to be past it.

Here’s to change and learning new things! I’ll be adding more photos of the house and future projects along the way :)

Writing about your wedding may just be as overwhelming as planning it. There’s so many details, aspects, and emotions to describe and it’s hard to fit it all together in a cohesive piece. So I thought I’d make things a bit easier and tell you all about the beginning first. The “how we got here.” Or, the “what the hell are we doing/thinking” stages. (Hehe, jk) In this post, I also talk about our planning details and what we learned along the way. Turns out, you learn many lessons in wedding planning. If you happen to be in the midst of your own wedding plans, destination or not, hopefully this can help a bit.  

The absolute coolest part of our getting married was that from the very beginning, the experience was completely us. We had been together a month shy of 8 years when we decided TOGETHER “let’s do it”. There was no fancy proposal, no ring, no one hiding behind a bush ready to film us, it was just us, sitting in our cozy home and chatting about our future. It was kinda perfect to be honest and definitely the calm before the storm. 

We reached the decision to wed in early August and planned to elope in the fall, throwing a party in New Orleans (where Ben is from) the following spring. This gave us a couple months to sort out details and decide where in the world we wanted to go for our special day. It was a completely intoxicating (and overwhelming) feeling. I mean, we had the ENTIRE world to choose from and we were both just so excited! We spent our time looking at different unpopulated and largely unknown islands, breathtaking medieval villages, quiet, flourishing vineyards, and so on. We were all over the place with where we wanted to end up, but we knew we wanted to be out in nature. Somewhere beautiful that made us feel connected to the earth and allowed us to be fully wrapped up in each other. And then, there it was: Joshua Tree, California, a brief 3.5 hour flight from home. Go figure.

The inspiration behind Joshua Tree actually came from one of my close friends, Sam Nichols. She’s a brilliant professional photographer based in NYC, who happened to take a trip out to Joshua Tree a couple months prior. Her photos were incredible and just resonated with us. Even with all our searching, we kept coming back to the desert. Not only was the landscape something we both were drawn to, but also the vibe itself. The laidback desert feels were pulling on our heart strings and we just couldn’t resist them. 

We started planning our romantic escape and every step of the way seemed to validate our decision. We absolutely couldn’t have found a better place. But although we were ecstatic about our location the thought of not having our closest family and friends there was starting to weigh on us. We really tried to resist the guilt (sorry guys) and fuel our heads with so many reasons why eloping was a better idea. EASIER, less expensive, more romantic and about us, no drama, the list goes on.. we really said it all. But at the end of the day, not having our closest family and friends there just didn’t feel right. And we also really like a good party. Who doesn’t, amirite?

So we changed our plans a bit. Actually, we didn’t change our plans at all- we decided to keep everything exactly the same, but now just with guests. Sounds easy, right? No. Joke was on me. Turns out, adding guests changes EVERYTHING. At this point, it’s mid August and our plan was to get married October 27th. I try (pretend) to be optimistic though and have a can do attitude, so we just went for it and committed. The saving grace here and the only reason Ben and I didn’t end up running away to never be heard from again was my best friend, Liz. A prior wedding planner with a great sense of style. (Praise Jesus!) This completely saved me, to be honest. Not sure which was more calming, her knowledge of event planning and coordinating OR her sense of control. Regardless, she was a dream. If you’re starting to plan your own wedding, destination or not, I can’t stress enough how important it is to have someone organized, calm, and decisive on your side. Get yourself a Liz.

Although our plans changed from eloping to having a wedding, we still wanted our special day to feel intimate. We kept our guest list as small as we possibly could, which was under 50, and got straight to planning! Instead of choosing an actual wedding venue that would supply tables and chairs, have audio hook ups, and most likely, in-house catering, we opted for the more challenging route and booked a property we found on Airbnb. It was definitely more work for sure, especially with only two months to plan, but it was also totally worth it. We decided to go with Airbnb for a few reasons. One being that, the intimacy we wanted would be more easily achievable. We thought this would allow our wedding to feel laid back and cozy. The idea of people just hanging out, snuggling up by the fire outside or maybe having late night explorations around the surrounding boulders just made it seem more like us. Another reason we chose Airbnb was that we were bringing our closest, most favorite people in the world to one spot and we wanted to hang out with them! And having a house allowed us to do just that. Not only were guests able to swing by and stop in throughout the weekend, but we also managed to find an incredible Airbnb with plenty of space for people to stay on the property with us. 

Pipes Canyon Lodge was home for the week! An insanely special place located right in Pioneerotwn, just outside of Joshua Tree and approximately a 10 minute drive from Pappy & Harriets. The Lodge is situated right next to Black Lava Butte and Flat Top Mesa in the Sand to Snow National Monument. Gorgeous views of the boulders and surrounding hills with trailheads engulf the grounds. It was an absolute magical location. The property itself is set up with a main house, a guest house, and a super cool vintage trailer. A pergola sits beside the main house strung with string lights, creating a dreamy outdoor setting for the evenings. Between the three structures, 14 of our guests were able to stay with us throughout the weekend. Big breakfasts were had around the giant dining room table with our friends and family, while quiet moments taking in the view were experienced from the long covered porch. Words cannot express how beautiful this property is and just how perfect it was not only for our wedding, but also for our entire weekend. And somehow it got even better! Three houses on the same road were listed on airbnb and available to rent. Ben’s friends grabbed the house next door, my Dad and stepmom were two houses down from them, and then my cousins were two houses down from our house on the other side. A total of 28 people all within walking distance- it was almost like we had our own commune! 

It was end of August, the venue was booked and it was time to send out invitations. Not sure why I thought invitations were a good place to start the fun DIY projects. But it happened. I gave myself about a week to handpaint all of our invites. Four little cacti in a row painted in watercolor on thick watercolor paper. Nothing fancy, but fun and enough. Thankfully I decided against handwriting anything and simply printed our wedding details on nice paper, cut them down and secured them on the backs of the hand painted cacti. I do have to say, at the time, I hated myself. Our house was covered in ripped up practice sheets, unevenly cut scraps of paper, our floor had envelpoes laid out everywhere, and trying not to step on paintbrushes, rulers, or exacto knives was a chore. But in the end, I’m glad I did it. It was my way of making our invites more personal and you know what? I thought they were cute.

Invites are sent and it’s the beginning of September. Now lets plan a wedding.

To be perfectly honest, a lot of what we chose to do actually came together quite organically. Things seemed to fall into place when they were ready to and we really didn’t know what we wanted until we just did, if that makes sense. For instance, a few people had asked us what our “wedding colors” were in the early stages of our planning. I hadn’t thought about this at all and told them we didn’t have any. But then two weeks before our wedding, I realized I had a color without even really noticing. That’s what I mean though- SOME things just fell into place. That’s not to say we didn’t have our share of hiccups though. The next thing on our list was catering. And boy, was this a giant hiccup. Finding catering out in the desert wasn’t the easiest. People were either booked or unresponsive. The more we searched, the wider and wider our search circle had to grow. We finally found and settled on a Food Truck based out of Los Angeles. They served organic, sustainable food, their menus sounded awesome, and they were willing to drive out to Pioneertown. We were stoked. The event coordinator wasn’t very communicative and seemed like she could care less about us, BUT we were hopeful that it would all come together. 

So there was catering sorted and we were able to move onto rentals! Tables, chairs, heat lamps, a super cute boho lounge area—all the essentials. Pinterest really knows how to get you excited for the goods. Although working with ONE company would have been most ideal, I was the bride and needed TWO. Just kidding- but we did work with two different companies. Signature Party Rentals was the first company I started working with. They had a desert location, which was great, but I wasn’t loving their selection of furniture. They had the dance floor, audio hook ups, heat lamps and, not to mention, simple table settings that were exactly what I had in mind. Based out of Carlsbad, Adore Folklore on the other hand, carry the stylish boho style we wanted, but couldn’t help us with a dance floor or heating and audio equipment. So- we worked with both!

Finding someone to marry us was an easy one. There’s a reason Celene de Miranda is one of the first people to come up when searching officiants in the desert. She’s absolutely amazing! We scheduled a Skype date and almost immediately it just felt right. She has this warm energy about her and her smile is one of the most genuine. She was quick to understand what we wanted and had incredible resources in regards to readings and specific wording throughout the ceremony. The only thing we knew we wanted to include in our ceremony was sharing a sip of scotch from a traditional Scottish drinking bowl. Not only was sharing the quaich symbolic of us becoming one, but it was also our way of toasting those who couldn’t be with us. When we relayed this to Celene, she was quick to ask if we wanted to also include a Celtic handfasting ritual. We decided to go for it and chose three cords representing honesty, respect, and acceptance. During the ceremony, she would tie them in a knot around our hands. We really couldn’t have worked with a better person. Shy of two months of communicating and by our wedding day, it was like she really knew and understood us. I really can’t rave about her enough!

By mid September, our catering contact would not respond to any of our emails. And when she would, the answers would be short and never even answering our questions. At this point, our wedding is getting closer and closer and we’re losing faith in them quickly. What do you do when you’re being ignored and feel like your hands are tied? In an attempt to ease my mind, I started looking at more reviews, specifically about their events. This is where things took a turn. I was on the edge of my seat, heart pounding and blood pressure rising while reading lines like, “the food truck showed up two hours late for my wedding. Apparently the truck broke down and they never called..” or “they ran out of food at my wedding..” OH. MY. GOD. What had I done? We had already sent them a credit card authorization form for a hefty deposit and who knows if they were even going to show up. The lack of communication thus far was not reassuring AT ALL. I immediately called our contact and she ACTUALLY picked up. I expressed how uneasy I was by her unresponsiveness and asked if she had charged the card for the deposit yet. Not only was she not apologetic in the slightest, but she didn’t even seem phased. Our card had not been charged though, and when I asked if we’d be charged to cancel her response was a short “no.” Alright, let’s do that. Do not charge the card, shred the authorization, and cancel our event. “Okay. Is that all?” -Cut to my distorted confused face..What in the hell had just happened? No apology, no “we can make it right", nothing. I was so caught off guard and confused that I hung up and sat there, first in silence, then uncontrollable laughter, and then the anxious, holy shit tears came. We’re getting married in 6 weeks and we don’t have a caterer.

Things worked themselves out though and we ended up working with the most incredible (and local!) private chef, Kathleen Case. The owner of the property we were renting had recommended her when we initially booked. We had immediately sent her a message and discussed mediterranean food choices, but then lost track of each other. It was then, that we got wrapped up with the food truck for a couple weeks. Like time was on our side, we received a followup email from Kathleen one day after canceling our event with the food truck. Her menu was fantastic, she was local (no travel fees!), and she was the absolute sweetest and quick to tell me to call her with any questions. I was sold! Relieved and grateful doesn’t even start to cover it.

When you’re planning a wedding in the desert, there are two things you have to consider that you probably didn’t realize before. Toilets and noise. You will have to rent bathrooms for your guests since the homes in the area are on a septic system and not set up for bigger crowds. We used Burrtec and it was pretty straight forward. Concerning noise: sound travels so easily in the desert and, because of this, there’s actually a noise ordinance. Amplified music is not permitted past 10pm. Considering this little detail and the fact that we were having a small(ish) group of people, we decided to skip the DJ and just put together different playlists on my computer. Between Amazon and iTunes, you can download whatever songs you want and you’re set!

The bar was something we made sure to have though! We put beer and wine out in galvanized tubs for when people arrived, but then after the ceremony, it was a full bar! Andrew Simmons, from Los Angeles Bartenders, came out and was nothing but accommodating! What was awesome about working with Andrew was that he had different packages and we weren’t obligated to purchase alcohol through him. We could just tell him what we needed him to provide and worry about the other stuff ourselves.

We kept the table arrangements and decor simple. I ordered gold votive tea light holders, glass hurricanes and white pillar candles from Amazon and had them shipped to my family in Las Vegas. I shipped A LOT of stuff to Las Vegas actually. From a woven dreamcatcher to hang on our arbor, to cocktail napkins and a cake topper. Initially, I was all over the place with what I wanted to do decor wise. Planning from Chicago made it more challenging and so I finally just settled on less is more. I decided to do the name settings myself, using the same watercolor paper I used for the invitations. I cut them long, like a bookmark, writing each name at the top and stamping a cactus on the bottom. We kept them long to tuck them in a napkin pocket so they wouldn’t blow away. We were scheduled to check into Pipes Canyon Lodge on Thursday, the 24th. So to make sure we had plenty of time for shopping and picking up anything extra, Ben and I would fly into Los Angeles the Sunday before and run our errands during the week. Even though we tried to ship the majority of our purchases to my family to save us time, you’d be amazed at how many other “things” you realize you “need”. Liz and my sister were flying in on Tuesday to help us, so at least we had extra hands. It was in these few days that we picked up everything for our wedding: alcohol, galvanized tubs for beer and wine before the ceremony, picture frames to hold welcome signs, snacks and treats for welcome bags, minor decor pieces, food for the house and cases on cases of water. The list goes on. We were running nonstop it seemed. But we were kinda playing it all by ear too. To be honest, the wedding was going to be what it was going to be. That isn’t to say we weren’t stressed though.

Thursday morning came and Liz, myself and my sister woke up at 4am and took a ride over in the dark to the LA flower market. Three days before your wedding is a great time to sort out flowers, right? We walked in and almost immediately knew we were grabbing eucalyptus for the tables. A couple bushels of that, baby’s breath, and some amaranths in a warm yellow and magenta and we were ready to pack everything up and hit the road! Liz and Shannon were crammed together in the back between flowers and suitcases with my dress laid over them like a blanket. I doubt Ben could see out the back window, but why would the driver need to see?

The constant craziness surrounding us during those two months of planning was nothing short of exhausting. There were so many things we did not consider at the beginning and because of that, we learned SO MUCH. It’s funny how during the planning process so many people tell you that certain things don’t matter. It’s meant with love, but in the moment you want them to explode into a thousand pieces.. what? Just me? Well, turns out they were right. There’s so many things that really aren’t worth the time and energy worrying about. Especially for a destination wedding where you have so much less control. A destination wedding is all about exactly that, the destination. We didn’t tour the property before we booked. We didn’t taste any food before agreeing on a menu. We had no idea what we were doing until all of a sudden we did. We just wanted to go somewhere beautiful with some people that we love. And in the end, that really was the best part, being with our friends and family. It doesn’t matter if the bartender shows up late, or that the initial catering company charges you thousands after confirming they would not. There will always be aspects out of your control that don’t go smoothly. And you just have to let it go. You won’t be looking back thinking about those things anyway. You’ll be thinking about the special moments that made your heart swell. The times that you stood there thinking you never knew you could be so happy. And a month later when you’re thinking about your wedding day (or writing about it) you’ll be tearing up because it was the most magical day of your life.

Sam Nichols came back out to Joshua Tree by the way to photograph our wedding. Every photo on this post is hers and you can see more of her work here.

When you’re traveling, you're eating. Whether it’s trying new foods, indulging on desserts, just eating because you're happy- we all do it. The worst part of eating while you're traveling though is the kind that happens in airports, on buses or in a 7-11 in Thailand late at night. Unhealthy, processed and never fresh options are the worst (unless they were purposely chosen- then they're pretty good). 

But as well as being unhealthy and unsatisfying, the cost of all these options is usually incredibly high. I try to choose healthier options when I’m in the airport, but as soon as I see a salad going for the same price as a margherita pizza, I’m deflated. You know the salad is going to be depressingly lacking, so do you suck it up and just eat it anyway? I mean, maybe normal people do. But me? ... you can find me and my pizza box hiding at an empty gate in shame. No exaggeration by the way. Gate 27.

But anyway, I was that kid whose mother had 9 different snacks in her bag at all times because it was cheaper than buying something and you never knew when you’d be hungry. Looking back, we probably didn’t need such a variety, but choices are always nice, wouldn’t you agree? And now, 20 something years later, this is who I have become. Excpet I don’t have any kids and all 9 snacks are for me and maybe Ben if I’m feeling generous. 

This is where my granola recipe comes in! It's delicious, cheap and so easy to take on the go! Whether you’re a snack connoisseur/hoarder, looking for a travel friendly snack orrr just need a new granola recipe, check this one out! It’s seriously the best. It's super easy and it makes a giant batch- about 2 gallon size ziploc bags. Throw one bag in the freezer for later and divvy up the other for when you're on the go! 

Whenever I make this, it never lasts very long. It's just soo good! I usually try to use up what's in my cabinet, changing up the nuts or dried fruit, so it's different everytime, but it really never disappoints. This past time, I skipped the dried fruit and cut up fresh cherries and sprinkled a little unsweetened coconut on top. Chocolate chips are an awesome addition too.. maybe even toooo awesome. 

But enjoy! And let me know how the recipe works for you and if you end up making adjustments and changing it up! I love trying new things! 

Obviously, when you plan on leaving town, you don't overstock the fridge and load up at the grocery store. Or at least, that is never the intention. Sometimes it happens though and you're left with the aftermath of realizing "what the hell am I going to do now?" I totally know this feeling all too well. Whenever I'm getting ready to leave town, my anxiety kicks in and I start examining all the food that'll go bad in my fridge. I always try to make a plan for everything and utilize it all. Every meal leading up to when I leave ends up being strategically planned and the rest is properly stored and frozen. I've realized that salads and soups are the easiest for using up produce. You can throw anything in them! Check out quinoa cups and egg casserole recipes as well! You can also cut up berries and bananas and throw them in the freezer for future smoothies as well as leftover peppers and mushrooms can be sauteed and frozen for omelets or soups when you get back. I even hard boil eggs to take with me on the road as a snack.

Recently my go-to for leftover produce has been juicing. And not only when I'm leaving town. When I think I won't be able to use something up before it turns, it goes in the juicer. My only problem with juicing is the leftover pulp. I hate the food waste. We don't currently compost (hoping to change that once we move) so I feel obligated to find a different way to utilize the pulp.

I've been fascinated with the idea of beet burgers for a while now. And after shamefully tossing a variety of juice pulp in the trash, I started to wonder if I could sub out grated beets for beet pulp from the juicer. Well, I finally tried it and IT WORKS!

I made my favorite juice of beet, carrot, apple, and ginger and dumped the pulp into a separate bowl before juicing the apples and ginger. (I also peeled my beets and carrots as well as cut the ends before throwing them in the juicer). 

You can use just beet pulp if you'd like, but I figured carrot wouldn't hurt and would be a good addition. The patties come out a bit crumbly like most beet burgers and I had hummus and tortillas in the fridge so voila! A crumbled beet burger over homemade hummus on a tortilla topped with a fried egg and garnished with fresh cilantro from the garden! 

If you happen to have parmesan on hand, you can also sub it for the nuts. I actually used the vegan parmesan that I always have in the fridge. (Vegan parmesan is a combination of cashew nuts, nutritional yeast and salt).

Check out the recipe and let me know your thoughts or improvements you end up making! Avoiding tossing food not only saves on waste, but also saves you money And that's money you can put towards an awesome night out on your trip! Enjoy!