Grand Rapids is sinking!

So for those of you who don't live in Grand Rapids, or Michigan for the matter, our city is flooding! The Grand River is at a record high level for the past few days. People are literally lining up along the side to watch it and take pictures. Alex happens to find the fact that the Titanic exhibit is at our Public Museum right now is hilarious/ironic. What if the Titanic sank twice?! So I luckily had the day off yesterday so I got a new library book, a nice almond milk latte from Madcap, and took some photos of the rising river. Take a look for yourself:

Downtown looks all cute and rainy. 

Until you reach the river, and it's SO high. 

Here's a comparison photo that Laura took a little while back:

Crazy, huh? Here are a few more photos too of all the craziness.

That's all for now! Please keep the families affected by the flood in your thoughts and prayers. 

xoxo, K

 

Coffee Addict

Like many of you have already seen, I am enchanted by coffee and everything about it. It all started when I was a wee little girl (probably around 11), and my dad would let me drink coffee with him...well it was more like coffee milk and a pound of sugar or Irish creamer. Once I got into college and began to work as well, I found it essential to get caffeine one way or another. Every time my stepdad and I went somewhere together (and still do) we always get a Mocha to enjoy. I've had some of the best conversations over coffee, and made amazing barista friends while working at Starbucks. Here's a little history of my coffee passion through some photos. I have way too many photos of coffee so I'll have to pick and choose :)

While in Guatemala on a mission trip, we visited a coffee plantation. Here they are drying the coffee beans. I bought some whole bean from this plantation and from that day on I've been grinding my own coffee for my brewer! It's definitely worth the trouble, try it out sometime.

The next year I took off for Spain and experience a whole different coffee experience. In Spain, they call coffee "café con leche". It's pretty much espresso and steam milk in equal parts. 

Yes, those little glasses are some café con leches. These churros were a perfect snack between classes, or really whenever.

I made sure to take photos of my coffee experiences every country I traveled to. This first one is in England, and the second in Dublin, Ireland.

Now that I am a barista and know A LOT more about coffee, I've experimented with different ways to brew coffee. Here's all five of our coffee brewers in our humble abode. 

My favorite is my Italian coffee pot. You put it on the stove and the water boils and rises through the grounds to create a dense, espresso like coffee. You can buy one here like mine from Target.

Here's an awesome example of how it works! I used Spanish coffee grounds.

That's all for now folks! Enjoy your Thursday and if you're in Michigan, enjoy this sunshine!

xoxo,  K

Currently Reading: Onward by Howard Shultz

Currently Listening to: Gracious by Ben Howard

Over the Weekend: Detroit

It's safe to say the weekend went by WAY too quickly.

I had an amazing past few days.  On Friday I came home to quickly pack up some things and Katelyn made me a fantastic latte.
Then I quick packed up my bags so that I could take off to Detroit right after work.

After work I took off for Detroit for a fun filled weekend of hockey, beer, and my favorite man on the planet.  Steve and I had big plans to see the Detroit Red Wings take on the Nashville Predators.  The best part?  We are RIVALS.  That's right, he's a Preds fan. :{} !

Okay, no, that's not the best part.  The best part was when we beat them in a TOTAL SHUTOUT of 4 - 0.

Sorry, Nash.  But not really.

We stayed in a hotel right downtown, so it was nice not driving anywhere all weekend. 

On Sunday we grabbed breakfast at The Fly Trap in Ferndale, did some indoor glow miniature golfing, went out for ice cream, and did the dreaded and anticipated long hug&kiss goodbye.
Two weeks until I get to see him again.

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend!

xoxo,

Laura

Late Afternoon Lattes

Living together as roommates since August has been a new experience for Katelyn and I.  What's my favorite part, you ask?  SHE'S A BARISTA.
Aside from her brilliant sense of humor, passion for travel, social awkwardness, and love for all things weird, she makes a DAMN good cup of Joe.

We shot this quick 6 second video using the Vine app.  I'm so lucky to have this awesome espresso maker that an old coworker gave me because she wasn't getting enough use out of it.  I LOVE this thing!

Today I was also in need of some color.  This January has been so cold, grey, and gloomy.  I've never been more ready for spring.  I decided to brighten up my day dressing in color for work.

Katelyn and I warmed up this afternoon by sipping on the delicious lattes she made.
Like I said, living with a barista is BALLER.

Syrus wanted in on that latte action.

 

Have a lovely night. :)

xoxo, 

L

Lessons on being socially awkward.

Since Laura and I have started this blog we have managed to throw around a few ideas on what our theme should be. We both love fashion, shoes, eating, traveling, etc AND we're cousins, but that just seems like too much...like all those commas in this sentence. So tonight as we were at Wealthy Street Bakery eating and taking pictures and embarrassing each other we had an "a-ha!" moment: we're going to blog about being weird and awkward and crazy because it's what we're best at. So here's a little re-cap of our night tonight:

We first decided to take photos for our blog in wintery clothes looking all cute and cozy. So we both get home around 5:15 and rush to get ready trying to make it outside to snap some photos. By the time we got to Reeds Lake, the sun was set and the good lighting was gone. So we instead went to Wealthy Street Bakery to take a few photos. 

My new $5 hat from Target (love me some sales) and my HUGE piece of a cinnamon roll. The whole 'I'm getting married in 5 months, need to diet' thing was shattered by this sweet and scrumptious roll...and I have to admit I don't regret it at all ;)

I love this hat. I'm a hat lady and I'll probably be a crazy hat lady when I'm older...get ready Alex!

I'm really happy in this photo because I had just finished that awesome cinnamon roll :D

Caught in the action. I didn't even stop for a photo...I was on a mission at this point to finish that pastry! Such a weakness of mine. Here's a prime example of me being awkward...I couldn't manage to put all the food in my mouth and now here's documented proof of that moment forever. 

After Laura and I awkwardly took photos everywhere...we went to Hobby Lobby! I bought a cute new glass lantern thingy and filled it with coffee beans and a candle and viola! You have this beautiful candle holder! 

It perfectly showcases my coffee obsession in a very tasteful manner. 

Okay guys, it's Laura's turn to describe tonight's events and share her uber cute outfit with you. Over to you Laura-- 

Welp, Katelyn just about sums it up. When searching for our "niche", we decided it'd be best to be ourselves, and who we are is straight up, 100% no holds barred WEIRD.  We thank our mothers for that. (Shout out to our mamas!)

Anyway, here are some more photos of the evening: 

xoxo, 

K & L