With the busy summer behind us, I’ve been working on decorating our home, room by room. Although Ben and I have been homeowners in some capacity since 2015, building a single family home is (1) A dream come true I wasn’t sure I’d ever experience, and (2) A totally different type of [fun] challenge — because there is always so much to do! Over the summer, we rotated between all of the projects we needed to complete: adding ceiling fans and light fixtures, hanging curtains, and getting all of the structural details of our home squared away. Now, winter is on its way, which is my personal favorit ..read more

A couple of weeks ago, Ben and I spontaneously decided to plan a long weekend trip to New York City! For years, we had talked about visiting New York City in fall. In addition, with my upcoming surgery in November, I really wanted to do something fun and unique before I’m officially in recovery-mode. To plan our trip to New York City, we consulted close friends and read lots of reviews — so, below, I’ve collected all of the places we visited and recommend, along with a brief video of our trip at the end! Just like our summer road trip to South Dakota, we were very conscious of coronavirus. We ..read more

Just like July, home decor progress in August has been slow and steady. In July, we got organized, hung our curtains, and ordered everything we needed to “complete” our house. When we chose our finishings last year, we chose only recessed lights overall and decided we would find and purchase our own light fixtures — like our entryway fixture, hallway sconces, kitchen pendants — once we had moved in. This month: Our sofa arrived from Burrow! We chose and customized a Nomad Sofa Sectional from Burrow. We chose “Ivory” fabric, oak legs, slope arms, and plain cushions and a moveable chaise. Our ..read more

When Ben was younger, he and his family traveled via RV to a variety of places across the United States. So, when Ben and I discussed taking a road trip before summer comes to an end, he suggested one of his favorite places — South Dakota! We, but mostly he, planned our road trip from Minneapolis, Minnesota to South Dakota — namely, Wall, Custer, and Hot Springs! Before I share all of the details of our trip: Opening weekend for Sturgis Motorcycle Rally took place over the course of our trip. While we saw lots of motorcycles on the road as we traveled from place to place, I can’t say how the ..read more

It’s been about 6 weeks since we officially became Minnesotans! Getting settled in has been slow and steady, but the main floor of our house is nearly complete! Over the past few weeks, we have: Organized our pantry and garage, Mounted our kayaks and bikes, Hung curtains, and Found mirrors for our bathrooms! Because both Ben and I primarily work from home, we are both really dedicated to making sure the decor is calming and peaceful. I’m excited about how everything is coming along so far, and even though summer has just begun, I’m already daydreaming about how cozy fall will be here ..read more

Ben and I took a post-quarantine, vaccinated, and essential trip to Fort Myers, Florida! We stayed at Pyramids in Florida, which we discovered on Airbnb. Not only were the pyramids a unique experience, but they were also really centrally-located, which allowed us to explore a variety of places in and around Fort Myers! Things to Do in Fort Myers, Florida Visit Bonita Beach and Sanibel. There are a lot of beaches to choose from along the Gulf Coast, but our favorite beaches of all were Bonita Beach and Sanibel. On the first day of our trip, we watched a beautiful sunset at Bonita ..read more

No matter where we go, Ben and I love to explore and discover beautiful places to hike or bike. Since moving to Minnesota just one week ago, we’ve done our best to get out and explore as many parks and hikes as we can squeeze in. Here, I wanted to gather our favorite hikes in and around the Twin Cities — places we really enjoyed hiking and can foresee hiking again and again! Tamarack Nature Preserve Afton State Park The Saint Croix River Afton State Park Rattlesnake Afton State Park Fish Creek Carver Lake Park and Beach Best Hikes In and Around the Twin Cities Afton State Park. Afton ..read more

Our first official week as Minnesotans has flown by! Over the past week, beyond our everyday work, we’ve been trying our best to balance exploring our new area and getting settled into our new home. On Saturday, we went to the Saint Paul Farmers Market, had lunch at Foxy Falafel, and worked on a few projects around the house. On Sunday, we had coffee at Bootstrap Coffee Roasters and went to IKEA for curtains. (We may or may not have tried the plant-based meatballs at IKEA!) Over the course of the week, we made a lot of progress; now, we’re fully unpacked and organized. I am really excited for ..read more

While Ben and I closed on our house in Minnesota in March, for a variety of reasons, we held off on planning our official move-in. Now, spring has arrived, Ben and I are both fully vaccinated, and we both feel more comfortable than ever before to start our new chapter in Minnesota! We decided to rent a U-Haul and move everything except our furniture to our new house. A couple of my favorite parts from the day were: The beautiful spring weather we had. The drive to our new house was so green — and it was a really beautiful way to be welcomed to Minnesota. Just being together! Building our h ..read more

Closing day has come and gone, and our home in Minnesota is officially complete! Closing day was a whirlwind: It began early on Monday morning with one final walkthrough, a quick breakfast before our closing meeting, and our closing meeting. It’s surreal that the home building process is finished! I think my favorite part of closing day was walking through the house with Ben, being able to appreciate the process as a whole, and having a quiet moment to daydream about our future plans. Our Entryway Our Entryway Looking Back on Our Entryway Walking Into Our Kitchen Looking Back on Our Kitch ..read more