travel

Explore Ohio // Wooster { and a GIVEAWAY! }

July 14, 2017 by Rachel 25 Comments

I have to admit — I’m really loving this “Explore Ohio” series! Not only does it give me a chance to give ya’ll a virtual tour of my favorite places, but it’s a way of reminding myself exactly why I love living here. There is always somewhere new to explore — like these kid-friendly things to do in Amish country!

Well on my recent trip to Wayne County I spent a whole 24-hours in Wooster, Ohio. Wooster, pronounced Wuh-stir, is just 35-miles southwest of Akron — but, until recently, I had never been!

These were my honest thoughts of Wooster, prior to my visit: “It’s a place where people go to camp, right??” I’m not certain why I thought that, but I did.

Boy was I surprised!

Besides surprised, I was also very nervous because this trip to Wooster was an overnight — and would mean my very first overnight without Miss Bea. But upon check-in at the St. Paul Hotel, I completely ‘checked out’ from my children. No joke.

First of all, the St. Paul Hotel?? Gorgeous! Absolutely stunning. With 17, newly renovated rooms, this unique boutique hotel has culture written all over it!

Our room featured a luxurious king-sized bed amidst a rustic, rust-belt-chic setting. And the bathroom? Heated… freaking… floors! And a TV in the mirror, ya’ll!

And don’t even get me started on this shower! My only disappointment was that I couldn’t spend more time snuggled up in this bed. No joke. I mean, for us, we could have spent an entire week inside this hotel room! That’s how bad we needed a getaway!

Here are my other must-see spots in Wooster, Ohio!

Broken Rocks Cafe. Fresh baked bread, exposed brick, delicious seasonal eats — what more could you want!? I had the chicken salad sandwich (which comes on amazing focaccia!) and a side of jojos. Jojos are basically seasoned + deep fried potato wedges. It’s a regional thing to call them jojos. I never understood it until I moved to Akron.

Chad had the Kung Pao Woodfired Pizza. It was amazing! The sauce was beautifully balanced with the crispy veggies and crust!

The Ohio Light Opera. This professional opera company is located on the Wooster College campus and features operettas and musical theater from June through August. They perform several shows a day, and several different shows at a time!

We happened to catch them during a rehearsal for Say Anything, and, even though we only caught about 30 minutes, I seriously could have stayed and watched them perform all day!

Our group was lucky enough to also go on a little backstage tour, where we saw so many people hard at work! Costume design, set design, and all of the props!

It was an amazing experience, and I have so much more respect for those who work in the theater industry! It’s clear they do it out of passion!

Faithful Little Cupcake. A bakery that specializes in all kinds of specialty cakes, but also sells cupcakes in their storefront, has a passion for ‘paying it forward.’ For every wedding cake sold, the bakers donate a birthday cake to a child that, otherwise, wouldn’t have one.

PS. Their cupcakes are the bomb. THE bomb.

Blue Spruce Boutique. This boutique is life, y’all. I mean, imagine a smaller, more inexpensive version of Anthropologie + Magnolia combined into one! I could have spent hours and all of my bank account in this store! In fact, the next time I’m in the market for something fancy shmancy, I’m heading here!

Spoon Market. The small-town market of my dreams… We stopped here real quick for a drink at their bar before dinner. They have a full bar with craft beer on tap, craft beer in bottles, and make cocktails to order. The bar only seats about 10-14 people, but the market itself has tables lined up throughout.

The vibe is chill. Very, very, chill. A few of us decided to play a game of Cards Against Humanity (I mean, how can you not when the cards are just sitting there on the bar!?) and it was a blast.

The next day I came back to shop even more. They offer Jeni’s ice cream, a full deli, and eclectic wine selection. Basically, the perfect place to swing by and pick up a bottle of wine and some cheese before your next dinner party.

Tulipan Hungarian Pastry and Coffee Shop. Think of the most divine little coffee shop and pastry shop. This. This is it. The pastries and intricate, hand-painted cookies were not only beautiful to look at, but were some of the best flaky baked goods I’ve ever eaten.

We were tempted to come back the next morning for their chicken paprikash crepes, but we opted to sleep in instead!

Basil Asian Bistro. I’m a bit tough on Asian restaurants, but this one meets the cut 100%! They offer all kinds of sushi, traditional asian dishes, as well as thai dishes!

We may have tried a little bit of everything and this is what I can tell you:

1 You must try the dry ice martinis.

2 The calamari is the best I’ve ever had. Perfect amount of spices/salt/pepper and crunch!

3 My pad thai was on par with what I hold to very very snobbishly high pad thai standards. I can’t help it. I just really love pad thai! 😛

We were excited to hear that the owner of this restaurant also owns two more closer to us in Akron, so we’ll definitely be back to see him very very soon!

Sure House Coffee. On a whim I swung into this coffee shop near our hotel. I walked in and I totally knew it was my kind of coffee shop. With air plants on the wall and a limited menu (think pour overs, brewed coffee, and simple espresso combinations), I could tell the coffee would be fabulous. So I ordered a coconut milk latté to-go, but I so wish I could have stayed!

And I’m SO excited to hear that they are opening up a second location in the Northside District in Akron! Hooray! My dreams have come true!

Even though our kids were not with us on this trip to Wooster, there was not one single place on this trip that I wouldn’t feel comfortable bringing them along. And I just love finding new family-friendly day-trip destinations! I can’t wait to come back and explore more.

And now, a giveaway! That’s right – I’m hosting a giveaway for a $25 gift card to one of my favorite places to shop here in Ohio (and they do have a lot of locations elsewhere, too!) — Giant Eagle! Use the rafflecopter widget below to enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you to HER Realtors for sponsoring todays post and giveaway. As always, all opinions herein are my own!

Explore Ohio // Wayne County

July 3, 2017 by Rachel 27 Comments

Confession: I grew up in Amish country.

Okay, so many of you may already know that about me; but some of you may not know what exactly that means. It means that our high school consisted of students from 3 different towns coming together to attend school (but still only graduating with 83 people); it means that we had “drive your tractor to school day;” it means my best friend in elementary school was amish — and, yes, I’ve ridden in a buggy several times; oh — and it means that my hometown doesn’t even have so much as a flashing yellow light, let alone a stoplight!

So when I was recently asked to visit Wayne County, Ohio — also considered amish country AND home of the Ohio Light Opera — I was intrigued, but skeptical. I mean, how could amish country impress a little country bumpkin like me!? 😛

But guys. Wayne County changed me. Well, that may be a tad bit dramatic; but I seriously never would have or could have imagined that this place just an hour from my home in Akron, could be so amazing!

We started our grand tour of greater Wayne County by heading out to Lehman’s Hardware Store. My friend kerry had mentioned that I would love Lehman’s. But neither her nor their slogan of “for a simpler life,” didn’t convince me.

But approximately 3 minutes into our trip into the amazingness that is Lehman’s, I was sold. SOLD, ya’ll! I mean, it didn’t hurt that this place was comprised of so many of both mine and Chad’s favorite things — we just didn’t realize that this constituted “homesteading”!

Rain barrels, compost bins, old-fashioned push-mowers, cast-iron skillets, and wood-burning stoves — you name it! In fact, the other girls on the trip were surprised by how much of what they offer we already incorporate into our daily lives. I suppose we’re semi-homesteaders of some sort?? Who knew!?

Our next stop was Quince Bakery and Café. I can honestly say that never did I expect some of the finest bread and baked goods to come from a tiny bakery in Wayne County, Ohio! I mean, I find myself to be a bit of a baked-goods snob. In fact, my husband and friends tend to poke fun at me for being the kind of person that simply must buy and taste all of the baked goods, but only to hoard them. Is there a “Hoarders: Baked Goods Edition”??!! I kid!

I. am. in love with the food from this tiny bakery — and thrilled to find out that she travels to Akron for the Countryside Conservancy Market in Highland Square every Thursday! Hooray!

And somehow I convinced her to let me buy some of the amazingly soft and fluffy focaccia bread she was saving for the market! I could eat only this bread for the rest of my life, ya’ll! Seriously.

Next up was a quick stop by Shisler’s Cheese House. Shisler’s is a teeny, hole-in-the-wall, kinda place, with delicious, soft, swiss cheese on the counter for patrons to try. It was delicious and this family-owned business (for THREE generations!) had such an awesome vibe!

Believe it or not, there was still time (and room!) for more baked goods! That’s right — we stopped by the Dutch Kitchen Bakery, a mennonite and amish bakery in the heart of Wayne County, for a tour of the bakery (ya’ll those mixers were HUGE!).

The manager told us that an old Amish woman comes in every morning (sometimes at 3am!) to make all of the dough for the pies and fry pies — every single day!! PS. We had a strawberry rhubarb fry pie and bumbleberry fry pie. They did not disappoint. 😉

And, I mean, look at the size of this donut!! Crazypants!!

Our next stop was a place I’d been meaning to visit for a very long time — the J.M. Smucker Company Store + Café. Little known fact that our great state of Ohio is home to the Smucker’s corporation — which is actually headquarters to Jif, Pillsbury, Crisco, Dickinson’s, Hungry Jack, Santa Cruz Organics, Folgers, and Dunkin Donuts, to name a few!

I was in shopping heaven! We may or may not have bought a plethora of jams and juices to bring home (I mean, when in ~~Rome~~, Wayne County, right?!).

We rounded out or day in Wayne, County with a trip to the Pine Tree Barn. The Pine Tree Barn restaurant, the Granary, which is only open for lunch, features amazing house-made salads, entrees, and desserts.

The food and desserts were amazing! And so was the infused iced tea. OMG we drank so much of that, it’s ridiculous. And after our lunch we wandered through the old barn, which acts as a furniture and furnishings store.

I also told my husband that we MUST come back during the holidays for a carriage ride and to cut down our own Christmas tree!

Chad and I have already discussed our next trip to Wayne County! Another trip to Lehman’s and Quince are definitely in order — soon! Thankfully, we’re only an hour away from this delightful place! I hope that you’ll consider visiting Wayne County, Ohio for your next weekend getaway!

Thank you to the Wayne County CVB for sponsoring this trip! As always, all opinions herein are my own. #DoWoo

Kentucky Round Up!

August 23, 2016 by Rachel 1 Comment

Hey! Did you know we went to Kentucky (or as Ari calls it ‘Tucky) three weeks ago!? Yep! We did! And honestly, the last two-plus weeks haven’t been hard. We’ve just been busy. And I’ve had a hard time concentrating on pretty much everything (helloooooo, three different to-do lists that need to be condensed!).

But Kentucky was our first real/kind of vacation as a family of four.

It took us EIGHT HOURS to make a 5.5 hour trip (#ThanksRemy). But we made it.

We had to stop about an hour from home because Remy had pooped and wanted to eat. Yayyyy infants. 🙁

She seriously screamed the entire drive… which was super fun and not at all anxiety-inducing… Sigh.

But we made it. And when we got there we settled in and ate (a very late for us) dinner! To be honest, the whole sleeping situation was even more rough. Not because it was uncomfortable; but because our children are sleep demons. Ari and Chad slept in a queen bed and I slept in a room with Remy. She, of course, hated sleeping in the pack and play. And woke up frequently.

Thursday morning my mom and Ari made pancakes for everyone — and it was totally cute. The pancakes were very heavy on the blueberries! Ha! 😛

After our delicious breakfast, Mimi and I went to get pedicures! I’ll admit – I’ve had very few (if any?) indulgences since Remy was born; but Mimi wanted to treat me and my little piggies to some pampering! A little girls time was just what the doctor ordered!

We ended up spending the rest of our day relaxing before grabbing some dinner at this incredible Ethiopian restaurant, Queen of Sheba.

Traditional Ethiopian food is served ‘family style,’ and without utensils! The spongey-bread is the only utensil you need! Surprisingly, the kiddos did awesome. Not surprisingly, we l-o-v-e-d our amazing meal. Seriously. We need to find an Ethiopian restaurant nearby in Ohio!

Other items of note during our trip — Ari got to play with Legos. Like, a lot. I mean, I know that’s business as usual for him. But we ended up finding this Lego resale shop that specializes in minifigures. It was totally cool. They even do birthday parties! If we were local we would totally be having his fourth birthday party there.

Oh! Chad and I got out for a date day without the kiddos! Okay, so it was really like three hours. But still! It was fabulous!

We went to a neighborhood in Louisville called NuLu — which is very Ohio City-esque (if we’re comparing Cleveland to L-ville!). They happened to be having a neighborhood block party.

We wandered around, in and out of little boutiques. Being in bourbon country almost made me want to drink bourbon. Almost. 😛

We ventured into a crazy antique store that was… trippy, to say the least. But there were fun-house mirrors! :O

How fun! Post-fun-house/little shop of horrors, we grabbed some (Nashville) Hot Chicken. Add grits, slaw, and potatoes to the mix? Hea-ven.

For reals. We LOVE this food. Love it.

Later that night we all — meaning me, Chad, Mimi, Poppy, Ari and Remy — all went to downtown Louisville to walk the bridge over to Indiana! It was HOT. And our kids were straight-up losing it. But the views were incredible (even if we did bribe Ari with ice cream — real talk, friends).

To be honest, the rest of our trip was spent just lounging around. It was really nice to visit. And I’m seriously surprised I was able to post this update before our next trip to ‘Tucky! :p :p

‘Tucky.

July 28, 2016 by Rachel Leave a Comment

Well, it may have taken us 7 hours to make a 5 and a half hour trip, but we finally made it to Kentucky — or ‘Tucky, as Ari so lovingly refers to it — last night.

It turns out traveling with two kids, both of which refuse to sleep in the car, is about as fun as you might imagine.

Chad had the pleasure of navigating construction and rush hour traffic with a screaming — practically hyperventilating baby — in the car.

And I was ‘snuggled’ between the kids car seats in the back — in a desperate attempt to calm Remy down (newsflash — it didn’t work).

But such is life. We survived. And our travels were safe! That’s all that matters.

However, we’re all kinda in ‘recovery’ mode this morning. Groggy. Sleepy. Sore.

Now bring on the fun! Catch ya on the flip side, friends! xo

hello, weekend //

July 8, 2016 by Rachel Leave a Comment

I’m going to be MIA for the next couple of days as I travel to Columbus for my sister’s baby shower! In reality, I’ve been MIA for much of this week, thanks to party-prep!

Also? Remy Bea has ANOTHER UTI. For. serious. Ugh! So before we head to Columbus for the weekend, we’ll be going to the pediatrician’s office… again. Sigh.

But can we just talk for a second about how my ONLY sister is about to have her FIRST baby!? In, like, a month!? Time flies, friends!

So enjoy your weekend. I’ll be soaking up family time and enjoying some delicious food! xo

weekend wrap up //

September 29, 2015 by Rachel 1 Comment

This weekend my sister-in-law and her family came into town from Denver for a quick visit. The unfortunate part about this is that I was still very much sick; but I made the best of it (and luckily just spent my nights throwing up, not my days). We haven’t seen them in what seems like ages. My niece and nephew were so excited to play with Ari — it’s been nearly a year since Chad took him out to Denver for a visit.

As much as it was a chance to visit with out-of-town family, this weekend was a chance for us to reconnect, too! Chad + I spent some serious snuggle time with Moosh. I took him for coffee + donuts at the Lil’ Donut Factory (where he requested a “red” donut… I’m not quite sure what that meant, but he seemed to enjoy his sprinkle donut all the same!) before we went to a family cookout — complete with the biggest bonfire I’ve ever seen.

On Saturday, Chad had plans to go with his sister + her family to the Ohio State football game against Western Michigan. He was beyond excited; and I was just as happy to not be going! [Pregnant + around a lot of drunk people = no bueno]. My job for the day was to hang with Moosh, my niece Grace, and their Grammy [my MIL]. We had big plans of our own!

First stop, the North Market! It was definitely busy, but not too busy to swing by my favorite stands + grab some goodies! Moosh seemed to enjoy the Belgian waffles (from Taste of Belgium). I would only let him eat a few bites because we had lunch plans for the Hot Chicken Takeover popup shop.

GUYS. It was amazing! The spicy chicken with warm maple syrup!? Incredible. So incredible that I had to rub it in Chad’s face that he wasn’t there to enjoy it with me! And the kids seemed to enjoy the mac + cheese! In the words of Ari, “It was really good!” Ha! Kid cracks me up.

Post-market we took the kids to Dave + Busters for some fun. I should have known better. I should have known that these kids didn’t even need any tokens… they just pressed buttons! They did end up finding some games they liked to play… like skeeball. It was adorable.

By the end, I was exhausted and so were the kids — SUCCESS! Before we headed home, we got them their prizes (a sticky hand and a Fun Dip each!) and a treat — Graeters Ice Cream!

Believe it or not, Moosh asked to nap afterwards!! Post-nap the kids were pretty mellow while we waited for everyone to come back from the big game. It’s safe to say that everyone slept well that night. Well, except for me — ha.

Sunday morning we went to the Orchard Co. in Plain City for their Fall Festival. Moosh seemed kinda wiped still. And I certainly was. But he managed to enjoy the “train” ride and playing with his ‘friends,’ aka – his cousins!

By the time we arrived home, I was beyond wiped out. I slept for 11.5 HOURS. No joke. But seriously, busy but great weekend. It’s officially Fall, y’all!