Fun Stop at The Found Cottage

Hudsonville, Michigan is the site of the cutest little shop, co-owned by one of my favorite bloggers, Liz of Liz Marie Blog. I've been following her blog now for a while, and I never miss any of her social media posts or Insta stories.

Liz just seems like the sweetest person. She's my age, and I remember following her blog as she was in the middle of taking interior design classes, and I became hooked. She has such a knack for making things look pretty, and I love following her new journey of life on a farm. Seriously, check her out if you haven't already.

Since I knew Liz was in Michigan and that's where we were going for our vacation this year, I had to look up where her shop was, so that we could hopefully stop there during our trip.

The Found Cottage is actually right outside of Grand Rapids, which was on our way to where we were staying in northern Michigan. We didn't have time to stop on the way up from Illinois, but luckily we had time on the way back home.

I was so excited to check out the store. It always looks so pretty from her photos, and after stopping and looking around, I was not disappointed.

There is a mix of antiques and home decor, along with some clothing and jewelry, too. I just snapped a couple of photos, but everything in the store is just so cute! There are so many unique vintage, rustic, and handmade items. It all looks so pretty, it's hard not to want everything!

I was of course wondering if Liz was going to be at the store working that day, and she was! I saw her there but didn't talk to her. I think she smiled at me, but I was too scared to say anything. I didn't want to make a fool out of myself! Haha. She did seem really nice though, and she sounded exactly like she sounds on her Insta stories. I was kind of star struck, I have to admit!

There was a necklace there that was so cute and I thought about getting it, and there were SO many other things I considered, too. In the end though, I ended up taking home this framed print, which we hung in the hallway:

And this throw pillow, which is now on the living room couch:

Are those not super cute?

I'm so glad that we had time to stop on our trip, and if we ever get back up there, you know I will be stopping there again!

Weekend in Iowa City

Hello, and happy Saturday! Last weekend was Chelsea's wedding, a good family friend, and it was about an hour and a half away from us in Iowa City. (Just a short drive from the Quad Cities) We stayed there for the night and got to hang out there a little bit over the weekend. Haley and Dan came down from the Chicago area, and Mom and Dad made it out as well but didn't stay the night.

Our hotel was in Coralville, and the wedding and reception were just short drives from there which was nice.

The wedding and reception were both beautiful, and we had a great time. The reception was at Bella Sala. It was so nicely decorated! Chelsea has great taste. :)

The table decor was also super pretty. There was baby's breath at the center of all the tables, and the bridesmaids' bouquets were also baby's breath, and were stunning!

The next day, we decided to explore a few places in the Iowa City area. Haley and Dan went with us to Hurt's Donuts. We'd been wanting to go there, and had heard good things about their donuts. :)

They have donuts there with super creative and fun names, like the "Jesus" donut, and the "Bart Simpson." (That's the one in the back, far left corner in the above pic by the way. It's covered in Butterfinger pieces.) We had to sample some, so we got a 6 pack, and Trent got a Maple bacon donut, too.

It took us almost a full week to finish the donuts we got, but they were pretty good! Just a little too sugary to eat all in one setting. :)

Another place we decided to try was Zombie Burger & Shake Lab, downtown Iowa City. It's another fun restaurant, that's basically like an upscale fast food burger and shake place. You can kind of customize your burger - you choose which style of burger you want, then they have different options, all with zombie-themed names like "28 Days Later" and "Dawn of the Dead."

The food wasn't too bad, but we had to wait a long time to get it. This place is BUSY! The line was almost out the door, and there weren't any actual tables left when we were there, so we sat at a "bar" style table off to the side of the ordering area. It is a popular place, that's for sure.

Since I'm a vegetarian, I got the veggie burger and I just got their classic option, but got it in a Double. It was way too much for me. Haha. I only ate about half of it. I thought the veggie patty was just ok. But the fries were awesome!

We didn't try any shakes, but if we go next time, I'd probably just go to try a shake. They have some pretty cool looking ones that they make with different kinds of cereal.

And of course, when you're in the Iowa City/ Coralville area, you have to do a little shopping. 

We went to Coral Ridge Mall and killed a couple of hours, then went to the Von Maur at River Landing that just opened a few years back. I had never been to this one but had been wanting to go! I tried on some dresses there, since I'm in need of a dress for another wedding in a couple of months, but didn't have much luck. I did like a couple of tops though, that I ended up getting.

I didn't think the dresses I tried on were really "dressy" enough for a wedding, especially when Trent will be wearing a tux. :) I did get the two tops on the right, though. A sweater/cardigan, and a one-shoulder top that will be cute for summer!

So that was our little Iowa City weekend trip. It was fun exploring the area, and we did have pretty good weather when we were there, too, which was nice.

This weekend is more low-key. Trent's going out tonight with a couple of friends for a "guy night," watching some fight (WWE type thing?), Haha. I will most likely be watching movies on Netflix and hanging at home by myself. A little romantic comedy night for me I think. Who's with me?

Target Spring 2017 Decor

Have you all been to Target lately? I've been too busy with weddings and clothes shopping (in IA City this past weekend), as well as planning for vacations this summer. But I know I'll need to make it into Tar-jay this April for the new Victoria Beckham clothing line coming out on April 9! Who's with me?

In the mean time, there's always online "window shopping" for a good Target decor fix. I decided to check it out and see what decor they have out this spring.

Here's a roundup of some of my favorite online finds. (Links for all at the bottom) What do you think? Some fun items this spring, I'd say!

Sources:

Floral illustration art

Metal star sculpture

Double-head desk lamp

"The Future Is Bright" wall art

Orb lamp

Pineapple bookends

Glass terrarium

Feather wood wall decor

Planter stand

Farmhouse style lamp

Happy Target shopping, everyone!

Birthday Weekend

Hello all! Today is my 29th birthday. I took the day off work today, so I could sleep in and stay home, and get some things done around the house. So far today, I've watched a movie and got a visit from Trent this morning, who delivered my new shoes. :) I plan on doing the dishes and cleaning around the house.

I can't believe this is the last year of my twenties! I better live this year up, huh? Today I wanted to share with you a little about my weekend and how I celebrated my birthday.

Saturday, Trent and I took a little trip to Bishop Hill - a historic, little Swedish town with cute shops and restaurants. We did some eating and shopping - I had never really been there before, and it turned out to be a really cool place that's right in our backyard!

The first place we went to was the Bakery - a cute, old-timey restaurant and bake shop. 

They played some old style music, and as soon as you walked in, you felt like you just stepped back in time.

All of the old buildings here have the old style, country decor inside. Even the tables and chairs feel like they're from the 1800's.

The food was delicious and all tasted homemade. Since they're a bakery, their specialty is the bread, and it was amazing! It was so soft. We ended up taking home a loaf of the wheat bread.

The weather was gorgeous, too. So bright and sunny out, and about 65 degrees. We had a perfect day for shopping and exploring.

We also went to Sweet Annie's, an antique and gift shop.

My favorite thing there was the homemade soy candles. We spent at least 10 minutes just smelling them all. Haha.

There were so many different scents. I ended up getting the "Brown Sugar" scented one.

All of the buildings in this little town are so old and historic. There's an old hotel there, and a Colony Store, that we stopped in and bought a few things at. I picked out some things that Trent got me for my birthday, too, like some yummy Fudge and a few little decor items.

We didn't go into any of these buildings, but I thought they all looked cool, so got a few pictures:

All in all, it was a great afternoon and was nice to get away and go shopping for my birthday!

Here are all of my treasures that I ended up getting on the trip:

I love these Bee coasters - aren't they cute? There were a ton of different coasters that you could mix and match. I went with the "bee" theme for all of them. I love the little sayings!

We brought home some Cheesecake fudge, which was amazing. And I found some really cool old wood blocks at a place in Altona on the way back, with our initials. I want to display them somewhere - just need to find a place for them!

I also have a thing for coffee mugs these days, and thought this one was pretty cool!

We burned my new candle yesterday, and it made the house smell amazing! It has kind of a buttery smell. I kind of just want to eat it. Haha.

Yesterday, my parents took us out to eat for my birthday at a new place in Moline called The Steel Plow. They are becoming famous around the Q.C. for their burgers and crazy delicious shakes!

Don't they look awesome? They taste just as good as they look. And the rest of the food was good, too. It was a nice, early Sunday dinner at a cool new place.

When I got home, Saleen wished me a Happy Birthday, too! Isn't she adorable in this picture?

Well, I am going to start cleaning around the house and enjoy spending my birthday at home today! And just for "kicks," - Here are my new shoes that just got delivered. :)

They're my birthday present to myself! (From DSW - get them here). Happy Monday everyone!