My Favorite Things: December 2012

Hello, friends! I took a week off to spend the holidays with my family and it's been SO refreshing. My batteries are recharged and I'm ready to tackle 2013 with gusto. :) More on that tomorrow; right now I want to share my favorite Christmas presents with you all as my final Favorite Things of 2012!

1. Fine Art Wedding Photography by Jose Villa. Ohhh I have longed for this book since Jose (we're on a first-name basis) announced it's arrival on his website! I adore his work and am so excited to get a peek into his creative process and business perspective.

2. Couples Massage at Solaire. Nathan got tired of me asking for a massage after every, single wedding and decided to splurge on a massage for BOTH of us. :) I cannot wait!

3. Sweetie Fry Gift Card. I'm pretty sure I'm one of Sweetie Fry's #1 sources of advertisement. I'm not kidding you, if you Google Image "Sweetie Fry, Cleveland Heights," Nathan and I pop up in the first few rows. It's pretty embarrassing actually. But it's no surprise that one of my favorite gifts is the chance to do another late-night run in the near future. :)

4. J.Crew Fair Isle Sweater. This is the coziest sweater! I could wear it to bed. :)

5. The Smoothies Bible. One of my New Year's resolutions is to eat more balanced meals, aka more fruits and veggies. I love smoothies, and this book is giving me so many fabulous (and HEALTHY) ideas!

The Late Night Ice Cream Run

The other night Nathan and I looked at each other and smiled. We were both thinking the same thing: It was time for a late night ice cream run. Since moving to Cleveland, we've become rather obsessed with Sweetie Fry in Cleveland Heights. If you haven't been there yet, you Need to go. Need with a capital N. They serve gourmet homemade fries (chicken parmesan, pizza, etc.) and ice cream (strawberry and sour cream, turkish coffee, deep chocolate, etc.), and we just can't get enough! Check out a review I did for my friend Jen's blog, WhyCLE?

Because Sweetie Fry is open late ('til 1 a.m. on Saturday!), Nathan and I make up excuses to go at like 10:30 p.m. A few weeks ago, we hadn't really had dinner, so we decided the next best option was eating fries and onion rings. Then just a couple nights ago, I had a craving for peppermint ice cream with hot fudge so ... off to Sweetie Fry we went. Unfortunately, they were out of the holiday-special peppermint, so I opted for mint chocolate chip instead.

It's probably kind of sad, but these spur-of-the-moment, weeknight Sweetie Fry trips make me feel liberated. Like we're back in college and this is our date night. These trips are definitely about the fries and ice cream, but they're also about feeling part of the community and getting to spend quality time with each other. Uninterrupted time over creamy ice cream and gooey hot fudge.

My Favorite Things: March 2012

With this crazy warm and sunny weather we're having, I've got summer on the brain! Can you tell? :)

1. The blooming tree in our front yard. I always wanted a tree that bloomed pretty, fluffy flowers in the spring. And now we have one! Our whole street is lined with these bright, white trees and it looks so inviting when you drive into the neighborhood. I know the flowers won't last long, so I run to the window every couple hours to make sure it's still there.

2. Sweetie Fry (and Nathan ... he's definitely a favorite thing! :)). We had heard rave reviews about this new Cleveland Heights hot spot, and last night was the perfect time to try the infamous ice cream and french fries joint. We didn't opt for fries (although they looked delicious), but the ice cream was amazing. I could tell my peanut butter with hot fudge was homemade, but in a top notch kind of way (did that even make sense?). Nathan went with a maple bacon cone (yes, real chunks of bacon in that puppy!). Ice cream aside, I felt pretty plugged in to the community sitting in the cute cafe. If you're a Clevelander, definitely check it out!

3. Our new Fiskars lawn mower. Ever since we decided to buy our house, Nathan's been drooling over lawn mowers. We have a really small yard, so he finally settled on this no-motor option. I was slightly nervous about it, but we broke it out yesterday and it works great! The name ("Momentum") doesn't lie though. Nathan said it works better the faster you go, so if you happen to drive by and we're running around the yard, don't be alarmed.

4. Spool No. 72. This crazy warm weather makes me want to break out all my sundresses and go frolic in a field. :) I don't really NEED a new dress, but I like to look at them, and Spool No. 72 is my current favorite window-shopping (screen-shopping?) store. I especially like the two shown above!

5. Starbucks Iced Skinny Caramel Latte. I'm not kidding you, it's like I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I switched from the hot latte to the iced one. Yes, I get this drink year-round, and the cold version is so refreshing. Perfect on a warm afternoon!

6. Smash. You're probably thinking, Does this girl only ever watch TV in her free time?? The answer is ... sometimes, but as I get into busy season I'm really working on being a little more purposeful with my time! More on that later. Back to TV. This show is so addicting. It's about a musical being made, like from the verrrry beginning through the workshops through ... Broadway? We're not there yet, but I could really see this musical about Marilyn Monroe hitting the stage in real life. The songs are amazing, so I hope that's where they're headed.