Weekend in Gettysburg

It's tradition that we go on a trip to celebrate our birthdays. Nothing fancy and always in driving distance. Jon usually chooses Atlantic City for his birthday and in the past we have gone to New York City to celebrate mine. This year I decided on something different... Gettysburg, Pennsylvania! I thought it would be fun since my birthday is in the Fall (tomorrow to be exact) and the battlefields would be absolutely gorgeous this time of year. So we booked our trip for this past weekend. Unfortunately it was parents weekend at Gettysburg College so all of the bed & breakfast's were booked up and we had to stay in a little hotel. No biggie though, because we weren't in the hotel room much at all and the hotel we stayed at was pet friendly so we ended up bringing our dogs along, rather than having to find someone to watch them.

When we arrived in Gettysburg, we drove around just to get a feel for the area and then we checked into our room. We were starving so we had lunch at Blue & Gray Bar & Grill. It was a great little spot to have an affordable lunch! Next, we stopped into the Gettysburg Museum of History which was a great decision... it was one of the highlights of our trip and it was FREE. Then we headed over to the visitor center with plans to hop on a bus tour with a guide to tell us all about the battles. Unfortunately the bus tours were all booked up so we did the self auto tour. After exploring the battlefields we headed back to the room to freshen up for dinner. Reservations were at The Inn at Herr Ridge! We enjoyed a delicious fine dining experience in a beautiful setting. Finally it was time for our "Xtreme Ghost Hunt" which we booked earlier in the day at Gettysburg Ghost Tours. We visited two places that night... the Harmon Murder House and Sach's Covered Bridge. We were able to use lots of equipment to communicate and it was definitely an interesting experience! That wrapped up our trip and the next morning we were headed back home. Until next time Gettysburg... thank you for the amazing time! Here is some of our trip in pictures...

 

       

       

       

        

 

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:34

For my Loyal Readers {A Giveaway}

I know that after taking a few months off from blogging I risk losing readers/followers. So to thank those who are still around, I'd like to give away a fun little gift of cute random goodies! All you have to do for a chance to win is follow me on either Google Friend Connect {found on the right hand side of this page}, Bloglovin , or Instagram and then leave a comment below telling me which one you follow on. I will choose a winner {at random} on Wednesday October 28th. The winner will be contacted by email and the gift will go out immediately. Good luck and THANK YOU for reading!


 

 

 

 

 

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:34

Our Home, Master Bedroom Tour

  I love my small home. I love the coziness. I love that I don't have too much to clean. I hate my bedroom.

My closet is pretty much the length of my two hands spread out! Holy moly I h-a-t-e it. Our house has 3 bedrooms and the master bedroom closet is so small that I use one of the spare bedrooms as a walk in closet. It's THAT bad!

Aside from the closet issue, the room itself is very awkward with the window placement. We basically only had one spot to put the bed. And as you can see, a king takes up the entire room. Ugh

I've done my best with the space and I've come to the conclusion that I will never really love it. As of now, I'm the happiest with it that I've been since we moved in but I still feel like it's missing something.

So here's my to do list: I would like to do something with the closet doors because they are uggggggly. I need to re-arrange the décor above the bed because it's just not looking right. I think lowering the bed would make the room feel bigger {my husband likes it up high}. And I'm thinking a really subtle wallpaper would be perfect because the walls are too plain for my taste.

What do ya'll think? I'd love to hear from those of you who have small bedrooms too. How do you work your space?

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:34

Life Lately...

I'm back! I wish I could tell you I've been traveling Europe for the last couple of months but unfortunately that dream of mine has not quite happened yet {I guess I'll have to save that for retirement which at 25 years of age, isn't even on my radar!}. Instead I've just been enjoying life at a slow pace {welllllll not TOO slow since I'm still out of the house 50 hours a week working my butt off}. My point is, life has been pretty boring over here and to be honest with you I'm not complaining! 

With that being said, I'm so glad to be back in blog land and to share lifes little adventures with y'all. I thought about redesigning my page and making some major changes but I decided not to. As the saying goes, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"! But I DID decide to make one teeny tiny change. I felt like signing off each post with a sweet bible verse would be really nice. And I thought what better verse than the one I have tattooed on my body. Luke 12:34 really speaks to me and has a special meaning. Maybe it'll speak to you too? Until next time folks...

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:34

Restaurant Review, Ethel's Creole Kitchen

Name: Ethel's Creole Kitchen

 

Location: 1615 Sulgrave Ave, Baltimore, Maryland 21209. Ethel's Creole Kitchen is located in the heart of Mt. Washington Village. They are accessible via Light Rail (2 min. walk from Mt. Washington Stop) and via I-83 (a 4 min drive from the Northern Parkway East exit). Mt. Washington offers fantastic walking, shopping, and dinning options for those who are interested. Everything from a Whole Foods Complex to numerous restaurants, boutique shops, and bars are all just steps away from each other in Mt. Washington. Valet parking is available.

 



Prices: Our total bill was around $32. Lunch sandwiches range from $10-$15 and are served with chips- same with the lunch entrees. Dinner appetizers range from $9-$15 and entrees range from about $20-$29. I can vouch that the lunch entrée proportion was large and so I can only imagine the size of a dinner entrée. Compared to a chain restaurant, you are going to obviously spennd a few extra dollars but this is fresh authentic creole made by artisans and to me it is definitely worth it! Compared to other downtown restaurants, it is right on point.

 



Food: We were there for just a quick lunch during the work week so we opted out of drinks and an appetizer which we normally do when we go out to eat. Instead we each got a lunch entrée and that filled us up quite a bit... we even had enough for a take home box! I decided to go with the crab cake sandwich. I can honestly tell you it was the best I've ever had. It starts out with fresh toasted ciabatta bread which is prepared daily {so so good}. Next is the 6 oz. crab cake topped with lettuce and tomato. Finally, a remoulade sauce is served on the side. I wasn't sure if I would like the remoulade so I tried a small amount first. It was delicious and really tied in all the flavors so I loaded my sandwich up with that!



Jon went with the andoullie and chicken gumbo. Our server recommended it and told us it was the best in town. He was not wrong! It impressed Jon so much that he wants to go back for dinner to try the jambalaya and the creole shrimp boat. The gumbo is a slow simmered, rich Louisiana stew made with a dark roux, 4 different stocks, okra, and andoullie sausage At least that's what the menu says. To me it was pure goodness! It was my first time trying gumbo and I absolutely enjoyed it. Definitely a must if you're going to eat at this restaurant.

 

Ambiance: I felt like I was in Louisiana when I stood in front of the restaurant. The small street and cute buildings reminded me of something you would find in New Orleans. The tables are set casual and bistro style. We sat on the main floor where there is a small bar and window to see into the kitchen. We did not get a chance to see what the upstairs looked like but as you can see from the outside, they offer outdoor seating on the balcony! Our server was very nice and welcoming. He gave us a little background of the restaurant and menu since we were newcomers. He also gave very great and accurate recommendations on the food. We were not disappointed!!! And we will be back :)

 



XoXo

The Babysitting Chronicles {& a free desktop/printable}

Saturday night I watched our niece Emma. We've had her for an evening or two before but this time Jon had to work so I was all on my own. I'm no stranger to babysitting though... I grew up with lots of younger cousins, a niece and a nephew, babysitting neighborhood kids, and my mother had an in-home daycare from the time I was 4 years old {still does... we all love children!}. But I was a little anxious to see how it would go having Emma by myself. It was a lot of fun and she is such an easy little girl! We did sidewalk chalk, went for a long walk around my neighborhood, had dinner together, played with toys, and then dozed off to bed while watching TV.

 

What a refreshing Saturday night to have! Jon joked by texting me and saying "how do you like practicing to be a mom?"... I get that he was joking but it got me to thinking and I honestly don't believe anything can really prepare us to be parents. I don't think we will ever truly be "ready". Anyone else feel the same way? It's a scary thought... you know, the decision to take the plunge into parenthood! How can anyone be ready for that? Just thinking out loud...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isn't she adorable? She's such a lover! Miss her already. And I CAN NOT believe that it is June! Time fly's by. Head on over to By Dawn Nicole to get this free printable calendar and desktop wallpaper! Have a great week.

 

 

 

XoXo