How Do You Beat the Winter Blues?

Instantly when writing this title, I realized that many of you probably live someplace warm, not caring for an instant about us northerners barely keeping it together up here. So if you are that person, please remind me that summer will be here...eventually. For the rest of you suffering through this horrid cold front, I want to know - how do you beat the winter blues? This is one of the blog prompts from the Better Blogger Network, and it's a great one. I definitely relate to feeling a little down during the cold months! I'll share my cures and please share yours in return!

Admitting that it's kind of gorgeous outside
It has snowed almost everyday since Sunday this week, and it's just so darn pretty outside! If you live outside of Michigan you probably haven't seen this astounding photo:

Coffee
I'm a barista so I know my coffee and I love my coffee. Whether I'm pretending the closest Tim Hortons isn't that out of the way or grinding up my own beans here at home to make an extra strong cup of coffee with my favorite Coffee-Mate flavors, I love a good cup of joe! It warms my soul.

Cats
As you may know, we recently adopted a cat named Stevie. He is a super sweet boy and luckily will sit with us and relieve our stress as he purrs and purrs. I'm assuming this is part of the reason I haven't felt as blue this winter as I have in winters past!

Friends
My friends always make me forget that it's dreary weather. We go to trivia at a local Mexican restaurant every week, have classic movie nights, play silly games, and we recently celebrated the inaugural cottage fest! What more could I ask for?

Films
Andrew and I have been watching all the movies up for Academy Awards - our favorite so far is Django and the only one up for best picture that we haven't seen yet is Amore. Has anyone seen that, by the way?

Naps
I used to hate naps, but you know what? They are pretty nice. Sometimes I get home and my extremities are so frozen that I can only get warm doing one of two things - taking a shower or taking a nap. Either way I feel refreshed and most importantly, warm!

And lastly, celebrating the fact that Justin Timberlake has FINALLY RELEASED A NEW SONG!!!!!

Thank the Lord and joy to the world. (Do you like it?)


Also, many of these aforementioned cures go nicely together: cats and naps, films and coffee, coffee after a nap? Get creative; )

So, what helps you get through the bitterly cold and decreasingly shorter days?

Michigan Alpaca Fest 2012!

Last year, Andrew and I saw an advertisement for "Alpaca Fest." We hyped up the event for weeks, not fully understanding what it was, but determined to attend. Although no one else ended up accompanying us, we went and had an amazing time. Odds are, we know more about alpacas than you. We got to pet alpacas, learn about the two different breeds, see them get judged, and it was all free!

This year I had just assumed that they would move the show elsewhere since it's for the state of Michigan, but thank goodness I saw a tweet that led to a google search where I found that Alpaca Fest was this weekend! I would have been so upset if we had missed it! Anyway, we roped our friend Gaby into joining. She seemed hesitant, but she loved it like we knew she would. And here is what we saw:

 Keepin' cool.

Alpacas are judged on the density, color, and luster of their fur among other factors. Behavior is not one of them.

Rosie and me!

Sophia and Gaby 

Rosie and Andrew. Aw.

I also grabbed some literature on alpacas that I will relay to you to share my wealth of knowledge: 

"Alpacas are members of the Camelid family and are native to South America. Their fiber is very soft and is used to make yarn. Adults reach an average height of 36" and an average weight of 100 to 175 pounds. They have one baby a year that weighs about 15 to 20 pounds at birth. Alpacas come in many shades of brown and tan as well as white, gray and black. There are two species of alpacas, the suri and the huacaya."

The suri are the ones with dreadlocks and the huacaya are the ones you see more of, without dreadlocks. They are all super soft and adorable! I can't wait to start an alpaca farm one day! Or at least live in a house with a backyard so I can own a couple of my own.

And what did you do today?

Romeo Peach Festival

Yesterday I went to the peach festival in Romeo, Michigan with my parents. There's not much to say, so I'll leave it to the pictures!

 We walked around the carnival but didn't ride anything. This ride was 4 coupons which equalled $5! Rip-off central.

I wonder how long ago these things were built! I liked how vintage they looked.

 I wonder what the inside of this one is like...

 Since my birthday is in a couple of weeks, and I won't see my parents that day, they treated me to a piece of deep fried peach cheesecake.

It was pretty delicious, although it's strange to have warm cheesecake!

 We took this photo for my grandma because she likes Woody from Toy Story. Howdy!

Enjoying peach iced tea and peach lemonade during our snack pitstop.

We stopped at a farmer's market on our way out of town and I realized there had been no pictures of my mom, so we took a fall preview photo in front of the corn field!

Today I am going to the Tigers game with Andrew, his family, and our friend Gaby. I am excited! I haven't been in a couple summers. What have you done this long weekend? Happy Labor Day!

Tuesday Treasures #5

It's been a while since I shared my Tuesday Treasures! Have you guys been in a Target lately? They have all this cool new stuff and I have so much trouble not buying it. This week I wanted to start by sharing some items from Target's Patch NYC Look Book, which are super irresistible!

Owls AND mushrooms AND foxes!!!  

Do you see the owl in the middle? I love this!

I also wanted to share a few of my favorite items from The Mitten State, which sells the neatest Michigan apparel! I haven't bought a shirt yet, but I look at their site all the time! They also donate a portion of the proceeds to charity. Aww, what a great company!

Their stuff is great, and my birthday is coming up soon - just sayin'!

Happy Tuesday!

Tuesday Treasures #2

brought to you by me window shopping on the internet:

this pillow from etsy! representing the great lakes. i love how simple it is, but it has such meaning for michiganders!

this journal from anthropologie is so neat! i have been oogling over journals lately since i have been searching for a travel journal. somehow i keep finding regular journals that i do not need but really really want!

speaking of travel, you've heard that quote from j.r.r. tolkien, "not all those who wander are lost" i assume? this etsy seller will personalize a luggage tag with your name on it. i love this!

i almost bought these coasters from a store near me called art of the table, but they are also available at modcloth. so fun! i am really loving all of the kitchen stuff that modcloth has, so i will save some to show for future tuesdays. i dream of having an amazing kitchen, someday!

i bought this dress the other day when i stopped at an h&m. i love the color! i have been spending way too much money lately on "dresses for croatia" which has turned into a lot of other things i didn't really need as well. oh well, i could die tomorrow but i will look great in this dress today!

finally, i already have an obama sweatshirt, but with 90 degree days (like the other day), i could really use this v-neck! 4 more years!

what goodies have you been eyeing lately?

p.s. the winner of the kurt vonnegut giveaway is colleen! congratulations, colleen! i need your mailing info so your print can be sent!

Tuesday Treasures #1

treasures i absolutely love and need! buy them for me? here they are:

this shirt from etsy to show my michigan pride.

i always knew i liked kate spade's bags as opposed to other designer bags, but i have a new unhealthy obsession with her stuff, since i can barely afford a deck of her playing cards. she is amazing. i want it all.

this journal from chronicle books. they seriously have the cutest things ever. and it's all quite affordable. i looked at some of these when i was in schuler books the other day and even the pages on the inside are filled with pretty details. want!

this pretty dress from lovenell. i don't usually wear white, but i wantttt this! (i found lovenell through cakies giveaway).

this colorful, geometric locket from etsy. she has a lot of great stuff! 

this glow-in-the-dark pineapple dress from urban outfitters! so fun.

these minty shoes from b.a.i.t. footwear that make me want to attend a hoe down. (i found out about b.a.i.t. through the dainty squid giveaway).

Hot Dogs and Ice Cream

today was the prettiest day we've had since last friday, so we had to celebrate! we almost went back to cinco de mayo for the sangria margaritas, but we walked up the street to jonny b'z instead. being vegetarian, it's always great to find a delicious veggie dog, and theirs is delicious. they also toast the bun, yum! i got mustard, tomatoes, onions, and pickles on mine. andrew always gets the veggie chili.

 i like the above picture because the little girl at the pinball machine had a crazy outfit on! a crazy orange piece in her hair, a nice dress, and cowboy boots! andrew looks nice too; )

we walked back home to eat on our swing!

 i lost this necklace with some of my other jewelry for a year and a half and i FINALLY found it! i always get compliments on it and tonight was no exception.

 new beer we tried from martha's vineyard. they spoke very highly of it. i really like it for an IPA. check out their website here.

brad walked over to join us for dessert. andrew took us to the jersey junction in east grand rapids. the line was huge, but went pretty fast.

they had hudsonville ice cream, so delicious! and a large assortment of candy and other treats. i'm not going back to eastown sweet treats after coming to this place. they had great prices, too. next time i want to try the chocolate covered fruit kabob, it looked sooooo good.

we walked around gaslight village with our ice cream and andrew almost lost his scoop.

brad's new friend!

my blue lips and my pretty boyfriend. happy friday! how did you spend the day?