{Local Gift Giving Guide} State of Indiana

are you ready for this upcoming season of giving? i guess it is really time to start getting ready for family gatherings and winter gifts!

something i love to do for the holiday season is give my favorite locally made goods to my loved ones. often times family members get excited about specific brands and makers and ask tons of questions. it makes it fun for me and i think it is once again a great way to support the businesses in our own communities!

today i'm sharing about Indiana made gift ideas! I was super inspired about the gifting possibilities during our summer visit to Bloomington, Indiana... so I remembered a few great places to share with you here on the blog! {no special treatment or compensation for mentioning these businesses or products on my blog}


+ local foods
every place has their favorite foods! what about a gift card to a local orchard, an independent restaurant or mom + pop bakery? or are you a canner? could you pull from your personal jarred up stash?

We really enjoyed eating at FARM {click here for their website} + grabbing burgers at Upland Brewing Co. {website here} in Bloomington. I think I'd like to try Late Harvest Kitchen the next time we head to Indianapolis {website here}.

If you decide to eat at FARM you can also try their FARM market while you are there {link here}. Or pick up locally roasted coffee beans from Hopscotch Coffee {click here}

+ handmade items and independent stores
someone on your list need a new tshirt? handmade ceramic mug? a tote bag for dance class? some new stationary? try a shop that focuses on supporting makers from your area.

a few of the favorite shops we hit up while in bloomington...

By Hand Gallery {link to artist collaborative here}

The Green Nursery {link to independent shop here}

Gather :handmade shoppe & Co: {link to handmade shoppe here}

and don't forget you can always do a quick search on etsy to support makers from all over during their best selling time of the year!


+ long time local favorites
you know the mom + pop store that everyone has loved for years. yes, you can make a gift of that... how about a couple bottles of wine from Oliver Winery {link here}? I know a few people who have loved getting such goodies from me in the past!


okay, so this is where i need your help! do you have a favorite Indiana made present you like to give? do you have a favorite way to support local while shopping for your holiday gifts? write in the comments and let me know!


happy gifting!

::this post was originally shared on slow, simple, self in november 2015::

mama hood mondays {halloween 2016}

good morning dear friends!

i decided today was the perfect day to share a little halloween love from last week. {a perfect, albeit a bit late} my husband and i have historically been pretty into the halloween scene, usually having a few costume ideas by the end of august each year! of course we never make our costumes until the week of halloween - leave it open incase a last minute idea rocks our world!

after a realizing that little j is a wrap-lover we knew he really only needed a hat for a costume. we decided to be three blind mice for the first of many fun family halloweens!


to stick with our more recent traditions of trick-or-treat night we passed out candy, ate snacks and drank cider with dear friends (they get so many trick or treaters at their house! including most of my students!) and our little j had his first big night out!

hope you and your loved ones have slept off the candy hang over! it can be hard to let that last bit of chocolate go after beggar's night is over.


happy monday!

{Local Gift Giving Guide} State of Ohio

hello thoughtful gifters, are you ready for this upcoming season of giving? i can't believe that it is almost time for the holidays!

something i love to do for the holiday season is give my favorite locally made goods to my loved ones. often times family members get excited about specific brands and makers and ask tons of questions. it makes it fun for me and i think it is once again a great way to support the businesses in our own communities!

today i'm sharing about Ohio gift ideas! {please note that this post has many links that take you directly to Ohio businesses. i am intrigued by these businesses and have received nothing for putting them in my blog post.}

+ local foods
every place has their favorite foods! what about a gift card to a local orchard, brewery, an independent restaurant or mom + pop bakery?

Carillon Brewery Co. in Carillon Historical Park in Dayton.
Wheat Penny Oven & Bar in Dayton.
Sunrise Cafe in Yellow Springs.
Wildflower Cafe in Mason.
Skillet near German Village.
Wolf's Ridge Brewing in Columbus.
Casa Nueva in Athens.
Ale House 1890 in Lancaster.
Fowl and Fodder in Toledo.
Cleveland Independents ::MANY places to eat on this link, i might make a personal quest to eat at each place:: around Cleveland area.

or could you find a holiday style treat at a public market? i love picking up local granola, honey or maple syrup to gift. there are many places to shop...

North Market in Columbus.
Second Street Market in Dayton.
West Side Market in Cleveland.
Findlay Market in Cincinnati.

are you a canner? could you pull from your personal jarred up stash? or pick something up from one of these stores... you might want to pick up some spices or chocolates to gift too!

Ashery Country Store in Fredricksburg.
Dorothy Lane Market in the greater Dayton area.
Mustard Seed Market & Cafe in North East Ohio area.

+ handmade items
someone on your list need a new tshirt? handmade ceramic mug? a tote bag for dance class? some new stationary? try a shop or pop up market that focuses on supporting makers from your area.

5th Street Arcades in Cleveland.
Crafty Mart in Akron.
Celebrate Local in the Easton Shopping Center in Columbus.
Urban Handmade in Yellow Springs.
Miami Valley Pottery in Yellow Springs.

and don't forget you can always do a quick search on etsy to support makers from all over during their best selling time of the year!


+ long time local favorites
you know the mom + pop store that everyone has loved for years. yes, you can make a gift of that... just some creative brainstorming and you can make a themed gift basket out of anything! {movie night in with a red box gift card and local snacks, a salsa gift basket with a few salsas and locally made tortilla chips... sounds pretty great to me!}

Ohio is pretty stocked when it comes to historical favorites of the donut and snack food variety...

Becker's Donuts in Lorain.
Bill's Donuts in Centerville {um, open 24 hours.}.
Mikesell's Potato Chips in Dayton.
Grippo's Snacks in Cincinnati.


okay, so this is where i need your help! do you have a favorite Ohio made present you like to give? what other states would you like to see a Local Gift Giving Guide created for? write in the comments and let us know!

happy holiday shopping!

::{Local Gift Giving Guide} State of Ohio was originally posted in november 2015 on slow, simple, self::

::our little one arrived::

hello dear friends!

just popping in this morning to say our little one arrived!!

our son, "little j"
arrived at 10:56 p.m. on October 7, 2016
after 42 weeks and 5 days womb -side
and made this mommy + daddy just so very happy + proud.

we are more in love than we ever imagined and can't wait to share more about this new person we already know so deeply but have so much to learn about.

keep us in your thoughts - we are all well and are enjoying some slow days of healing + bonding.

hooray for our little family, that is now just a little bit bigger!

{Local Gift Giving Guide} How to Give Locally Made Gifts

hello folks, are you ready for this upcoming season of giving? i can't believe that it is almost time for thinking about the holidays!

something i love to do for the holiday season is give my favorite locally made goods to my loved ones. often times family members get excited about specific brands and makers and ask tons of questions. it makes it fun for me and i think it is once again a great way to support the businesses in our own communities!

i thought this would be a perfect time to consider how to give locally made gifts. here are a few tips i have for you...

+ local foods
every place has their favorite foods! i am sure in every city there is a favorite bakery or even a few independent restaurants... we like to snag a few gift cards for our friends + family.

check out a local market that carries independent + local foods. we make at least one trip over to North Market each year in Columbus. even more locally we like to shop at the Second Street Market in Dayton a few times each season. sometimes the hours of operation can be tricky but make a fun outing - grab breakfast and holiday shop on a Saturday morning!

when considering local food one could also create a darling gift from canned goods. i'm talking pretty in the jar goods that either you or someone else thoughtfully put in the jar themselves. our local orchard carries tons of great jellies and jams and we've been known to gift Ohio maple syrup or my very own apple butter.

+ clothing or other handmade items
of course i am a huge fan of shopping {etsy.com}. supporting makers from all over is very important to me. so i totally believe that if you are looking for something particular and you want a quality made item you could easily find someone on etsy making a wonderful product. that is an avenue worth pursuing. you might also want to find out if you have a local store that supports many makers in your area - many of the makers might even have their own etsy store as well. i've mentioned it before but i like shopping at celebrate local in the easton shopping center in columbus if we are in the area. Or the ever reliable urban handmade in yellow springs {they opened a new location over the summer and it looks super great - check it out!}. shops like these often have t-shirts, bags, winter gloves, gorgeous pottery and other usable goods that might make you think of someone on your list.

+ long time local favorites
you know the mom + pop store that everyone has loved for years. yes, you can make a gift of that... around my home state we have a serious love of potato chips and donuts... i'm sure we can create a cute gift basket out of such goodies.


okay, so this is where i need your help! i have loads of ideas for Ohio made gifts and will be telling you more about that next week. what other states would you like to see a Local Gift Giving Guide? or do you have a favorite way to support local while shopping for your holiday gifts? write in the comments and let me know!

what state do you want to see a Local Gift Giving Guide for?

::this post is an update from november 2015::

::making our home::

wow, it has been just about a year since we bought our little homestead. this time has been so precious, but has moved so very quickly.

we've been living here full time for just under a year and i've never moved to a new location and had it feel like home so quickly.

a few things i always want to remember...

+our pantry - over the summer i spent a few afternoons really organizing our pantry, spices cabinet and stocking those often consumed morsels. i really love how it turned out. it makes my life easier and now my husband can tell where many things are in the kitchen {which helps with all the days that he does the cooking because i'm tired-busy with feeding our little love on demand}.

+seeing our chickens out the window - it is fun when i am busy in the house and look out the nearest window and there are the girls running in the yard or pecking along the fence. it makes me so happy to know that our eggs come from well taken care of layers. i don't know if chickens are an animal that we will forever be able to have live on our property, but i hope that we do for many, many years to come.

+the start of our garden - we didn't get as much planted as i had hoped. i'm beginning to realize that is the way of gardening. i also know that in this season i might not get to do 'all the things' and have decided to be happy and thankful for the work my husband and i did to get a little garden area started. it is a perfect place to begin, and i really enjoyed having fresh peppers and tomatoes this past growing season.

+all the in and out of our pup - everyday our pup wants to be inside, outside and back again. i love, love, love our old beat up fence around the house. it gives our dog some space to run or just sit and smell the air {isn't it funny when dogs do that?!} it keeps her away from pestering the chickens when people are still inside {however, when we are outside and they are all together she just follows the chickens and tries to herd them, but has done a good job of keeping them safe/not stressed, although sometimes annoyed}

+all the sweeping! - hooray for beautiful hardwood floors. i admire them so much i'm having a difficult time putting down rugs in many many rooms. this means that i sweep just about every day (or every other day). at first this annoyed me a bit. but then i realized that this can be a chance to be grateful for what i have and that i have a few minutes each day to make our home feel good under our bare feet.

+eating at our picnic table - for my 'expectant mother's day' my husband designed and built a beautiful picnic table for me. i love it so very much and i really enjoy all the nights we are able to have dinner in our yard, surrounded by so many of the things i wrote about above. whenever we would visit farm houses that came up for sale i would try to picture where we would put a picnic table. i knew that was something i wanted to do, eat outdoors as a family. it is perfect and now that this is really happening my heart is just so full.


how about you? anything super special to be thankful for in your day to day homelife?

::egg recipe round up::

good morning!

in the past year we've eaten a ton of eggs. once in awhile we'd get a little tired from these protein beauties, but after giving away a few dozen of those homegrown lovelies we would get back on the bandwagon and eat up!

::some of our favorite ways to enjoy the work of our sweet chickens::

of course, just plain ol' quick scrambled eggs in the iron skillet

french toast casserole {perfect for big family brunches}

hardboiled eggs on salads or just with salt for a snack

frittatas {i have two favorite posts to refer to for frittatas!}

at least a monthly breakfast casserole i usually just use up whatever veggies i have in the fridge for our bake {sometimes i bake in my silicone muffin tin to have mini breakfast bakes instead - similar to this recipe}

i've also been using the information from this post {and similar article found in mother earth news, also from Fresh Eggs Daily} to try saving eggs for the winter days when our girls just aren't laying like they do in the summer time.

i think i'm going to try and make more paleo baked goods, even though if we are going to have pancakes i typically want the real thing... but i am intrigued by this post for 3 ingredient paleo pancakes.

how about you? any spectacular egg favorites?!