We’ve been on quite the tour lately! 8 flights, 7 states, 4 National Parks, and 2 National Monuments!
I haven’t had a lot of time to catch up and organize all of our media yet, but I’m working on it! (Also, we’ve been a little sick, but more on that later.)
So, keep watching! We have lots to share!
Love, Jenn & Donald
I saw this Bunny yesterday snuggled in the grass before I mowed the backyard.
Since we moved away from Tallahassee, we have been searching for a local coffee shop that is comparable to our beloved Lucky Goat. We love Lucky Goat because they have great coffee and make the creamiest lattes that we’ve found anywhere. (Plus, they get some delicious pistachio muffins from a local bakery that are AMAZING, but that’s another story and another quest.) They also are the best foam artists that we’ve found, always giving us our caffeinated delights with a cute image on top.
We have found some good places, like Birmingham Roast and Kahve, but were still seeking out that elusive creaminess. When we went to Kahve, we had initially found both it and Sabbath Coffee Roasters, located quite close to each other on different corners of 14 Mile Rd and Main St. However, at the time, Sabbath had a long line out the door, so we decided to try Kahve first.
Today, after our brunch at Biscuits and Gravy, we decided to give Sabbath another try and grab a coffee to go before Donald had to start work. As soon as we pulled up, we saw a sign on the door alerting customers to continue the line outside – a clear indication that they frequently have more customers than can fit inside the store.
Upon entering, we saw that it was a very small space. You could only fit maybe 3-4 people in line in front of the counter before you hit the front door, and there was no indoor seating for you to enjoy your coffee (although, there was an alley with some outdoor seating available immediately adjacent to the shop). This area looks like it would make a really cute Instagram spot when the twinkle lights are lit at night. It appears to be part of a historical area, with a plaque on the outside of the shop’s building.
Inside, Sabbath is interestingly decorated with a variety of skeletons (including a skeleton dachshund!) and dinosaurs.
They have a small cold case in the lobby area with some Liquid Death water and their own branded Nitro Cold Brew.
We took home with us a bag of coffee beans: Liturgy, which is supposed to have notes of plum, milk chocolate, and açai berry. As for the coffee selections, Donald tried their Hot Pot of Gold and I tried a Honey Cinnamon Latte. They were as creamy as we had been hoping for! We may just have found our new favorite coffee spot! We didn’t take a look at the coffees before we traveled home with them, but even after a car ride, you can still see my heart and Donald’s leaf.
If you have any other great coffee shop recommendations, please send them our way!
— Jenn & Donald
The white building with the large chicken on the roof is a familiar sight to those who live near Clawson, MI. It has been a few different restaurants, but most recently it has been renovated into a very popular brunch destination called Biscuits and Gravy.
Given that it’s located just steps from downtown, the restaurant’s footprint is a bit small – both inside and out. The parking lot fits almost exactly the number of cars that the dining tables can accommodate, meaning that if there is a wait for a table, you may also encounter a wait for a parking space. That said, the staff does a great job of managing turnover, and we only had to wait a few minutes for a table.
While cozy, the dining area had a light and airy decor, with touches of (fake) greenery throughout. The tables were well-spaced and the seating was more comfortable than most. We were greeted by coffee served in small mugs, which was clearly a deliberate decision meant to keep our coffee fresh and hot at all times. The servers were constantly circulating to refill mugs and replenish our supplies of creamer and sugar, without us having to ask for a thing!
Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs as we ordered the Big Breakfast, Meat Lovers Omelette, and the titular Biscuits and Gravy. The plates came out of the kitchen heaping with deliciousness! The bacon was extra crispy the way we like it, the grits were yummy, and surprisingly, they even managed to elevate the toast, which was light and crispy with the perfect butter taste!
The only, super minor, quibble that I had was, unfortunately, with the biscuits and gravy. It’s one of my favorite comfort breakfast foods, so I order it a lot in various locations. This version fell a bit short in my estimation, in comparison to the robust, seasoned offerings familiar to true Southern kitchens. However, this was just my opinion. Donald, our “true Southern boy,” delighted in their version, praising the biscuits for their homemade, old-fashioned quality akin to cornbread. I have to admit, those were the largest biscuits I’ve ever seen served with an order of biscuits and gravy! For just $1 more, you get two instead of one, so you can’t go wrong with ordering the set and splitting with your table mate!
Overall, we loved our experience at Biscuits and Gravy and plan on making a lot of return visits. We haven’t even begun to scratch the surface of their menu, but our bellies are already excited!
Happy Saturday!
— Jenn & Donald
Every year the Stage Nature Center in our city offers a Rent-A-Maple program, where — for a small fee — you can have a maple tree on the property tapped in your name. Last year, we just donated to the program and had our name on a tree, but didn’t sign up in time to do the tapping ourselves. This year, we put it on our calendar and signed up as soon as we were able!
Even though Donald has to work on Saturday afternoons, we figured that we could fit this into our morning. We made sure not to sleep in, had our coffee, and Donald made us eggs and toast for breakfast. Once we were fed and ready, we set out into the sunshine, blue skies, and cold weather (below freezing)!
We were met at the door by some of the Stage Nature Center docents/volunteers and quickly found our guides for the event. I was so surprised to see Sarah there! She was in training as one of the guides and happened to be assigned to Donald and me!
As we went from the main building to the staging area outside, our guide, Danielle, kept reminding us that we needed to get a bucket and a lid. Apparently, it was a common thing to forget, and they didn’t want to have to walk all the way to our tree, just to have to backtrack to pick up the bucket that our tree sap would collect in.
Donald made sure to grab them, and then commented on how he could use them to make himself some Mandalorian armor.
Once we found our tree (which already had a tag on it with our names), Danielle showed us how to use a brace hand crank drill to make a small hole in the tree, angled slightly downward, each of us taking a turn. We then used a nail to get the wood shavings out of the hole and sprayed some water in it. Donald then gently tapped the French cast iron spile into our new hole and I hung our bucket on the spile. Donald put the cover on the bucket and we were good to go!
For a quick outing, it was a lot of fun! We received a little goodie bag with some maple candies, a pint of maple syrup, candles, pancake mix, and a certificate for our “lease” of the maple tree. We grabbed a Starbucks on the way home, my parents stopped by for a visit and a surprise (more on that later!), and then it was time for Donald to start work.
We have another adventure planned for tomorrow, so keep an eye out for another post soon!
Happy Saturday from Jenn and Donald!
Several years ago, my friend, Stacy, started a Project 52 group on Facebook, where we would have a prompt a week and take a photo to fulfill the prompt. It helped us work on our photography skills and encouraged us to get out there and take more photos.
This year, I’m thinking about revitalizing this area of my interests and think that another Project 52 would be fun to do. (And just maybe I can convince Donald to join me, so I’m not doing this alone! Also, please join us!)
I will be using the prompts from 365 Project. I will try to make a graphic for the year’s prompts, but for this week it is: New.
Paroxysm of Giggles / Critical Mass 