• Food and Drink,  Uncategorized

    Amazing Desserts from Around the World: Baklava

      The holidays are such a special time. I feel so incredibly fortunate to have my friends and family so close by. So, when I was trying to narrow the list down to just 3 dessert recipes, naturally good friends who also happen to be good cooks with great stories from around the globe seemed like a great fit. Let’s begin with my friend, Rose. We have been friends for over 6 years and used to work together. She always brought in the best food that either she and her husband made or that she picked up from delicious local bakeries for our meetings. Rose taught a class a few years ago about…

  • Food and Drink,  Uncategorized

    Day-After Recipes

      The Holiday Season is officially upon us. Lots of good food, good times, and good drinks are in our immediate future. I have already bought the ingredients for my Day-After recipes to get myself feeling healthy again. These are my top 3 contenders for the Day After I return from traveling as well. No matter how hard I try, I just almost always need the upgrade to french fries, at least one McDonald’s breakfast in the airport, and dessert, dessert, dessert.

  • Gifts,  Uncategorized

    Gift Guide for the Traveler in Your Life, Part II

    Welcome Back! Well, there is officially snow, and it is officially sticking to the ground, which signals the end to our lovely fall days but also the excitement that surrounds the holiday season. Now, where did we leave off? *This post contains affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission. Oh, yes, my great love of Mark and Graham. I just can’t get enough of their classy, functional, and fun travel selection. No one likes to lose their luggage and no one likes scrambling to fill out the paper tags that the airlines provide, so some durable and classic tags would be a welcome gift under the…

  • Gifts,  Uncategorized

    Gift Guide for the Traveler in Your Life

    The Lake Effect snow is on it’s way, and I am finally realizing that Christmas is just over a month away. It’s time to get shopping. Fortunately, there are many, many, many gift options for the travel-lover in your life. Here are a few I already have or wouldn’t mind having show up under the tree this year. *This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission. Mark and Graham had me at Herringbone. Classy and organized? Yes please. If you haven’t checked out Mark and Graham, it is worth a look. There are so many gifts for the traveler in your life,…

  • Michigan Travel,  Necessities,  Uncategorized

    Friday Finds (Take 1)

    Welcome to the first installment of Friday Finds, aka my excuse to be Random! *This post contains affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission. It is looking like another beautiful, slightly colder, weekend in Michigan. As such, my first random recommendation is to hit up Mt. Baldhead in Saugatuck. We took our kiddos last weekend, and we all had a fantastic day. Here is the gist: you climb up many, many, many stairs to discover spectacular views of Saugatuck and the Kalamazoo River. Next, you hike down a dune which leads to Oval Beach where there is plenty of sand, walking, and a swing set; there…

  • Uncategorized,  US Travel

    Top 6 activities in D.C. with Small Children

    *This post contains affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission. Washington D.C. is one of my favorite U.S. cities. Not only is it beautiful and historic, but it also seems completely manageable regardless of who your travel companions may be. I have visited D.C. several times throughout my lifetime~ with my family, with my husband, with the Close Up program, and this time with our children, ages 5 and 2. We brought our double jogger and are so grateful that we did because walking was our main mode of transportation during this trip. We were able to walk to most of the activities described below with the exception…

  • Food and Drink,  Uncategorized

    3 Easy Indian Dishes

    True story. I used to be cautious with Indian food. Now, I love it. As in, I can’t get enough of it. As in, I went to India for 11 days and came back craving, no not a steak, but more Indian food. Here is the thing, though, it isn’t a food that I find easy to make. There is a lot of preparation and generally a long list of ingredients, which basically explains why it is so good. I once asked my mother-in-law for her chole recipe and threw in the towel after only reading about halfway down the list. Thus, comes in my list of imitation foods that I…

  • Food and Drink,  Uncategorized,  US Travel

    Top 5 Hilton Head Activities with Kids

    We did it! Our first road trip. Naturally, we decided to drive to Hilton Head, South Carolina, a place my husband and I had gone together with our college tennis teams. (I can’t tell you how many times we have already forced our kids to take a walk down memory lane with us. Just add this to the list.) I won’t talk about the ride down, but once we finally got to the island, it made it all worth it. Listed below are our Top 5 activities that we did with our kids on the island.