I’ll start off by saying that my goodness am I excited to flip the calendar from January to February. It has been such a long, snowy month! That being said, I’m very grateful to have spent part of it in Florida, much of it snuggled up inside our home doing Sudoku, and a little of it celebrating our wedding and dating anniversaries. ☺️
After far too long, here are five things that I’ve been wanting to share with you!
1. The Musical Come From Away
I texted my mom, “WOW. What a show!” upon walking out of this stunner Tuesday night at the Civic Center. I’m innately skeptical of new musicals, which isn’t something I’m proud to admit. This one, though, was just packed full of heart and wildly talented performers. The show tells the true story of when a town of around 10,000 called Gander, Newfoundland, safely landed 38 rerouted planes on 9/11. The tight-knit community took in over 7,000 people for four nights during the frightening (and enlightening) days following the terrorist attacks in the U.S. It’s more of a storyteller-style show with a cast of 16 to 18 all staying on stage throughout the entire 100-minute performance playing multiple roles with a very simple set. Each actor and actress transforms from southern Americans to Newfoundlanders with strong Canadian accents to those from across the pond entirely sometimes. It will have you belly-laughing at times and trying to hold back tears at others. It’s a show deserving of praise and one I think we all should see! It’s at the Civic Center through Sunday if you’re in central Iowa. 😍
2. Next Year in Havana
I know I’m late to the game on this book, but I still feel it’s worth mentioning. This book follows along with a Cuban young woman living in the chaos that was Havana in 1958 and her granddaughter’s adventures in Havana for the first time in 2017 as she mourns her grandmother. It’s packed with a ton of Cuban history, lots of juicy family secrets, and my favorite element of any story…romance. 😉 I didn’t expect to enjoy a fictional book filled with so much actual history in it as much as I did! I highly recommend giving this book a read. I feel like it kept me entertained while helping me understand our country’s relationship with Cuba and the country’s messy past (and present).
3. The Kenwood in Minneapolis
While visiting one of my besties in the Twin Cities last weekend, she took me to this cute restaurant in the middle of a neighborhood that gave off major South of Grand vibes if you’re familiar with that part of Des Moines. The. Coziness. Of. This. Place. 😍 The little restaurant felt very Ivy League to me, which I hope you can gather from the photos of its interior below. I was so inspired by their design choices! As for food, I had the pancakes with black walnut butter, a side of bacon, and a maple latte—all of which was delicious. Definitely go for brunch on a slow Saturday or Sunday in Minneapolis!
4. Mixbook Photo Co.
After being married for an entire year, I decided to finally put in the loads of time it takes to make a wedding album. About time, right? I scouted out my options on Shutterfly, Artifact Uprising, and Mixbook, but ultimately went with Mixbook. If you’ve never used the site before, it’s super similar to Shutterfly in that it seems like there’s always a 50% sale happening (!!) and they have similar photo/photo gift product lines. The difference, for me, is that Mixbook really lets you customize their templates whether for a Christmas card, photo book, gift, etc. I’m so particular, so it’s a Godsend for me and a total game-changer. They also have AMAZING customer service. There were a couple printing glitches (so small that normal people wouldn’t have noticed) in our book and they are sending an entire new book to us to make up for it. I also goofed up and put a duplicate page in the book and they generously allowed me to go back and correct it for the second (free) printing. Wonderful company, spectacular customer service. Give them a try! Also, this is not an ad…I just love this company. 😂
5. This Poppy Seed Bread Recipe
Poppy seed bagels, muffins, and bread are my favorites! I always look for anything with poppy seeds at coffee shops and am proud to say I found a great recipe to make at home, too. I usually don’t love the citrus notes in most poppy seed recipes, so I found this one to be perfect for my taste. I used milk instead of orange juice in the glaze and a few tablespoons of melted butter, as well, instead of butter extract. I easily could have halved the amount of milk I used, too. I had more than enough glaze, which is not the worst problem. ☺️ Happy to endorse this recipe this week! So yummy.
It feels good to be back on the blog, friends. ❤️ I have missed the writing and push to be creative. Can’t wait to see all the places this blog goes in 2020 as our family grows and our spaces change with that growth. Thanks for being here! 😘
Woo Hoo! All of the above sound awesome but I most excited about the book recommendation as the novel sounds very interesting. I will push for my book club to read this next. Thank you and Happy 2020. So glad the blog is back on and you completed your wedding album. I can wait to see all those photos.