Showing posts with label misc. Show all posts
Showing posts with label misc. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

hitting pause

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Sometimes those precious moments, those in which the busy parts of your life have been paused, can be the most wonderful thing. Those moments when work is finished, planning is paused, and you can take some time to sit at your dining room table with a cup of coffee and a puppy curled up on your lap-they are magnificent.

Lately it has come to our attention that we spend so much time preparing for what is next that we forget to appreciate what is around us now. Luckily our little moments allow us to think about these things and to refocus ourselves to be more appreciative, more in the moment, and they allow us to remember that life isn't just whats to come it is also right now. We can be excite for our jobs, homes, weddings, etc, but we can also be excited about right now.

For instance today I sat in my dining room with a cold fancy beer and some cheese and crackers and soaked up the sun that shone through my window. It was the best. Relaxing and enjoying the moment is the best, you guys. Try it with us.

-a clover & a bee

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Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Recent Photography

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This semester is the first opportunity I have had to take a photography class in college so far, so I figured I would share some of my work! Photography would kind of be my procrastination before, but now it's actually homework! Best feeling ever. It's so nice to be in my final stretch of college and finally have a different type of homework to mix it up. I'm so used to all of these math and computer classes that art classes are an awesome change of pace. Anyways, here are a few of the photos I took for Self Portraits & Portraits. (Thanks to Landon for playing with smoke until I got enough photos). Enjoy!

- Erin

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Thursday, February 6, 2014

On Being A Barista


On being a baristaOn being a baristaOn being a barista


Erin and I are both Baristas at our local coffee shop and have been for several years; I started in August of 2010 and she started August 2011. I dreamed of becoming a barista since I was in high school. One specific memory I had was one day, when I was in one of my preteen mood swings, I went in to the coffee shop with tears in my eyes. The barista working noticed my sadness and served me up a mocha with a mountain of whip cream that was several inches higher than the brim of the cup. I left so much happier and I knew that I wanted to bring that kind of happiness to other people. Our lives have both drastically changed in really wonderful ways since we started serving coffee for a living.

First, we met each other. I never thought I would meet my best friend standing behind a coffee bar giggling about vacuuming and constantly smelling like coffee. It was at Mojo's where we became friends, plotted out our life together as bests friends and roommates, and schemed the beginnings of this here blog of ours.

Second, we have met some other really amazing people. Our boss has become like a mother hen to us and our coworkers have become a little family. Perhaps this is something that happens everywhere but really standing behind the bar with someone and bonding over coffee and such really helps you to get to know other people. I wouldn't trade in my Mojo's family for the world.

Meeting our customers has been pretty amazing too. I know so many people in our town now that I would have never known if I hadn't been standing in that one spot for most of a day, all week long. We meet people old and young and have wonderful conversations with them. I would have never imagined having several friends that were apart of our early morning older man group, but what do you know.. they are some of my favorite people to interact with on a daily basis.

Third, we seriously love coffee. It is so nice to be able to sip on a cup of coffee every single day and to bring other people the same happiness by serving them. Coffee is really a magical thing, plus it has health benefits!

There are so many other amazing things that go along with being a barista, but we just wanted to name a few.

ALSO, we're guest blogging over on Chandra's blog, Modern Day Charm, today while she's away in Cambodia! So head over there to see our whole outfit post.

-a clover & a bee

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Wednesday, February 5, 2014

At The Breakfast Table

At the breakfast tableAt the breakfast tableAt the breakfast table

We're in the middle of a bit of a snowpocalypse right now - we got over ten inches yesterday! Neither Leah nor I had to go to work or school today which gave plenty of time to relax and try out a fancy bread recipe. I decided to try making some Braided Nutella Bread, which ended up being somewhat of a disaster lookswise, but still tasted awesome! It's hard to go wrong with bread and Nutella. Turns out, its World Nutella Day anyways, so it was fitting. Having things cancelled because of snow just makes me want to bake, clean, and sleep all day long (plus a lot of Pinteresting...). I rearranged my bedroom, and it never fails to change my mood when it feels like I have a whole new space. Maybe it's the excitement of change? I dyed my hair yesterday too, so I'm just on a roll of exciting changes apparently.

Life has been good around here, getting into the groove of my new classes, and Leah getting used to working full time. Excitement is in the air in our little apartment though, so keep your eyes peeled for an announcement pretty soon!

-Erin

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Monday, February 3, 2014

Birthday Girl.

Birthday Girl.

Today is this darling young woman's birthday. I couldn't ask for a better friend to blog with! So here's to 23 years of living, keep it up! Birthdays are such nice reminders to appreciate the people who we see everyday. Happy birthday Leah, you're a gem.

Also, here is the GIF we made last year for her birthday... (apparently my go-to word to describe Leah is "darling")



-Erin

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Thursday, January 30, 2014

At the Breakfast Table (with a bonus pancake recipe!)

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Living with your best friend is great (**Relevant: 22 ways your best friend is actually your significant other). Many people who have ever experienced living in a college dorm will definitely understand that, and getting an apartment with your best friend is even better. Leah just finished her last class of college last week, and I'm starting into my last semester. This is all well and good and very exciting, but approaching the end of college often times means some pretty big transitions. Coming soon: Leah and Erin announce their plans for next year... after they figure them out. That being said, we will probably be parting ways and leaving our little apartment behind.  It's crazy to imagine how different our lives could be in less than a year's time! When we first signed our lease last May, one year sounded like so long to live in one place! After moving in and out of the dorms every few months, an entire year in one place is paradise. Now that we're slowly approaching that year mark though, it doesn't seem like quite so long anymore.

There is something so awesome about living with your best friend. You know their habits, and their schedule. You sucker them into hanging out with you for just a little longer by pouring their glass of wine just a liiiittle bit fuller. You can pee with the door open and not care. You (eventually) learn to love their dog. You wear their clothes as often as your own. Why bake just one loaf of bread when you can bake two?

Upon realizing that our days are numbered, we decided to treasure our last few months as roommates, starting with a breakfast tradition. This semester, once a week, we're going to sit down and make a "fancy" breakfast together.

Leah: "I'm liking this tradition already!"
Erin: "Yeah I just really, really love breakfast."
Leah: "I meant I like hanging out with you but whatever.."

We'll figure it out eventually...

To kick off this tradition we started off with pancakes, of course, because I love pancakes more than most things in the world. I found a copy of the More-With-Less Cookbook secondhand, and on the pancakes page it has the most perfect pancake recipe scribbled in by whomever owned it before me. A good case for buying books secondhand, I'd say.

Here's the magic recipe:
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 egg
3 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp oil
1/2 tsp salt

How do you handle big transitions? Have you had any times in your life when you were uncertain what was going to come next? I'll probably cope with life's changes by making these pancakes every single day, but that's just me.

- a clover & a bee

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Monday, January 27, 2014

freedom at its finest

No More College! No More College! No More College! No More College! No More College!
It is official! As of Friday at noon I am officially done with college (everyone likes to remind me to add in "for now"... but I am choosing to ignore that for now...:) ). I had an awesome past four and half years at my little ole' Bethel College. I made some amazing friends and learned so much about the world around me, art, education, and about myself. It has been an amazing experience that I wouldn't trade in for anything, despite it kicking my butt at times. 
My sense of freedom hasn't quite kicked in yet. While I have spent most of my days relaxing and spending time with Erin (she is home you guys! My roommate is back!) it still feels like it has just been a long weekend and that I should be going back to class soon. I am so excited to sit back and relax for a little while. 
For those who are curious, I will be spending the next few months sitting back, blogging, and working at Mojo's Coffee Shop, where I have worked for the past three and a half years. I am so excited to just enjoy myself making coffee and spending time with my friends. I will be applying for art teaching jobs in the area as well! I can't wait to start decorating a classroom and making lesson plans for my first year of teaching. Crossing my fingers that I will find a job!
-Leah Faye
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Monday, January 6, 2014

Our favorite crafts of 2013

It is amazing to reflect on the past year of blogging and all that it has brought for Erin and I. I don't think I ever crafted as much as I did in the past year! I learned so much about making quality items, about myself and what I will actually keep, and most of all how to take good quality pictures of the things I was making! Our posts have come so far since the very beginning.

Here are our favorite crafts from the second half of 2013 (you can see our first recap here):

These Polaroid coasters were some of my favorite things that I have ever made...ever! They turned out so cute and they were incredibly cheap to make! They would also be pretty fun to make as gifts for other people!


I was so glad when I finally found a pre-sliced log at Joann's. I always knew that I could cut my own, but making this wood slice chalkboard was just so dang easy! I love the way it worked out and I can't wait to work it into my ever changing decor.


I knew from the very moment I found these espresso cups at our local thrift store that I had finally found the perfect dishware to try out the baked sharpie technique. That mixed with my love of honeycomb print made for the most adorable little espresso mugs. Now just to get an espresso maker...

As the summer ended it was finally time to start bringing all my succulent propagation experiments inside. I made these adorable little hemp and yarn planters to give them a nice home inside.


We get so many compliments on our restyled picnic basket when ever we bring it out and about! We just love it so much. It is amazing what a little bit of paint and patience can do!

One of our favorite crafts from this past year, strictly because of how beautiful it turned out, was our lunar necklace DIY. It seriously turned out so pretty and from items found at our local hardware store (and Joann's of course). 


We cannot wait to get crafting now that it is 2014. Our second year of blogging is sure to bring some fun things! We already have so many ideas planned!

Anything you guys want to see?

-a clover & a bee

Thursday, January 2, 2014

December in Instagrams

Erin:




Leah:




December just flew by, but that's no surprise since that seems to be happening with every month lately! This month was filled with the end of the semester, finals, and Christmas break. This whole year is just going by so fast, it's freaking me out! I'm going to start panicking about the end of college pretty soon here. There is so much left to do between now and then!! Whew. Breathe.

In other news, tomorrow I leave for a European Choir Tour for most of the month of January so things might be a little quieter around here. Don't worry though, you'll have an entire month to prepare yourselves for all the (hopefully) awesome pictures that I'll be able to take around Europe!

Anyone done anything super cool in 2014 yet?


- a clover & a bee

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