DIY Dog Leash

One of the reasons we decided to move to Lexington was how supportive the law school was of families and significant others. I mean, they kind of have to be. It's a small, small, SMALL town that doesn't offer the resources or job opportunities that cities do. 

One way they support significant others is through a "Law School Families" group. Some of the girls I met through the group mentioned that they call themselves the "law school widows" because they never see their law student.  

Luckily, the boyfriend usually comes home around 4 and works from his home office if he still has work to do. But from 7-4 everyday, it's just me and Dixie. 

Dixie loves Lexington, but the love has gotten a little demanding. She LOVES that we have a yard instead of a sliver of AstroTurf pretending to be a dog park, but she now demands to be playing in the (unfenced) yard almost all day. She loves the trail that leads from our house to the law school, but she DEMANDS to jump in the creek every ten seconds on all walks. 

Since so much of my day is now spent walking her, and correcting people who think she's a boy, I decided to craft her a brand new hot pink leash. 

What you need:

You will also need:

• hammer or rubber mallet

• mixing bowl

• bucket

• dowel or mixing tool

• cup measure

• scissors

Ombre leashes have popped up everywhere lately, and there are a ton of tutorials on the internet. Brit + Co has a good one here, and they even sell a kit with the essentials you need to make your own! 

My little helper after getting caught drinking the water the rope was soaking in.

I bought my supplies online and at Lowe's, which resulted in me having enough supplies to make many many more leashes. If you don't want to make your own leash, head over to the Hello-Darllings store and buy one!

its a little muddy after the previously mentioned creek jumping

Dixie certainly likes her new leash; although, people still think she's a boy.

I think the first time we took the leash out, the rope got a bit stretched out by Dixie's pulling. It could have been my imagination and really it was my arm getting stretched. We're working on the no pulling thing, but it's not going well. 

Overall, her new leash has held up excellently. The color hasnt faded at all, even after she dragged it into the water. 

That's all the pictures I was able to take. Apparently, I was taking too many pictures of her this day. So Dixie decide that if I wasn't going to walk her, she was going to walk herself.

I hope everyone is enjoying the end of summer/start of fall with your furry friends!

Menu Planning Sunday

Back in Baltimore, I was a big fan of Plated. The boyfriend's favorite food is chicken, and growing up I literally ate chicken every single school night. Now the boyfriend would be perfectly happy for that to continue, which is why Plated was so great. It got us to try new proteins and new ways of preparing old ones. 

Lexington only has Plated delivery on Saturday and Wednesday, which isn't terribly convenient. Instead, I'm trying menu planning. I've learned that if I don't plan my meals a week ahead, I'll eat cheese or microwaveable meals all week. 

I've scoured Food 52 and pinterest for delicious recipes and I'm sharing my menu for next week. If you want to join in, you can download a shopping list below!

Monday

• Breakfast: Magical Coffee with Avocado, Feta, and Mint on Sourdough

• Lunch: Protein Salad with Soy Hardboiled Egg

• Dinner: Pulled Pork Sandwiches and Pumpkin Beer

Tuesday

• Breakfast: Soft Scrambled Eggs

• Lunch: Pulled Pork Stuffed Sweet Potato (you can use left over pork from last night)

• Dinner: Avocado Chicken Enchiladas

Wednesday

• Breakfast: Jumpin’ Monkey and Breakfast Quesadilla

• Lunch: Rainbow Chicken Salad with Almond Honey Mustard Dressing

• Dinner: Pesto Pasta with Sun dried Tomatoes and Roasted Asparagus

Thursday

• Breakfast: Monster Avocado Toast Sandwich

• Lunch: DIY Instant Noodle Cups

• Dinner: Hummus Crusted Chicken

Friday

• Breakfast: Crepes with Lemon Curd and Blueberry Compote

• Lunch: Chicken Chop Salad with Mango Dressing

• Dinner: Butternut Squash Carbonara with Fried Sage and Caramelized Onions

Download the shopping list here!

Happy cooking darlings!

What are your favorite weeknight recipes?

Pure Michigan: Grand Hotel

Before we went to Michigan, my mom kept talking about "The Bridge" and how we just HAD TO drive across "The Bridge."  Well once we got to Cheboygan, we finally figured out that she was talking about the Mackinac Bridge.  

The Mackinac Bridge connects the upper and lower peninsula of Michigan and acts as the border of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, and charges some lovely tolls. Driving was out. 

Instead, on our second day on Macinac Island, we woke up early and took a ferry that would give us a "seagull's eye view" of the bridge.

Really, all this meant was that the ferry ride to the island would be about 15 minutes longer and we would ride under the bridge. Now we can say that we've been on Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Plus, we got some cool pictures.

Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan & Lake Huron

Lake Huron

The rest of the ferry ride was just as beautiful as the day before.

Once we arrived on the island, we started the walk to the Grand Hotel. 

The hotel was opened in 1887, and boasts the longest front porch in the world. 

While the hotel claims its modern updates will make guests feel at ease, it's the old charm that shines through. It's first important to note that almost no cars are allowed on the island. If you arrive by ferry, your luggage will be picked up by a horse-drawn buggy. 

Coca Cola and Chandon are delivered to porch-sitters by bicycle. Waitresses bring other drinks, like champagne and cocktails, as well as yummy snacks.

In addition to the strict dress code to which waiters abide, the hotel also requestS visitors abide by a dress code: no halter tops, tank tops, or cut off shorts by day and dresses/skirts and blouses (ladies) or suit or sport coat, necktie and dress slacks (gentlemen) by night. 

Now, they do charge visitors a $10 fee to roam about the hotel grounds, but we never saw anybody collecting fees nor did anybody ask us to pay one.  Instead we sat in rocking chairs, sipped cocktails, and  looked out over the balcony at the lake. 

Once we finished our cocktails and hummus plate, it was time to return to Cheboygan for the wedding. 

After the wedding, we were woken up at 8 a.m. by a massive thunderstorm that flooded our tent. Then we drove 4 1/2 hours to Flint, MI. We woke up at 4 a.m. the next day to catch a flight, and arrived in Baltimore around 10 a.m. A short 24 hours later, we were driving to Lexington, VA, and moving into our new home. 

It was definitely hectic, but I am so glad we were able to visit Michigan. Now I am going to unpack the last of our boxes before Dixie eats all the cardboard.

Pure Michigan: Mackinac Island

My favorite thing we did in Michigan was bike around Mackinac Island. Like I said in my last post, we stopped at the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse before taking the ferry, which was operational from 1890 to 1958. 

It was built to help ships make the passage through the Straights of Mackinac, one of the busiest crossroads of the Great Lakes. 

The Great Lakes were absolutely crazy. We swim in the Atlantic while in Hilton Head, but we can see Savannah, or Tybee Island, or Daufuskie from the beach. When we looked at the Great Lakes, all we saw was water. 

To get to Mackicac, we took Shepler's Island Ferry from Mackinaw City.

Round Island Light

Once we pulled into Mackinac Island, we rented bikes and got going. Luckily, we could rent 7 or 10 speed bikes, because I would not bike around the Island on a cruiser. Trying to bike anywhere on a cruiser is like 15x more difficult than if you were on a bike with gears.

The houses on the island were so cute. I love the chevron bricks and wooden gates of this house entrance. These multi-colored adirondack chairs are basically my lawn goals. (But have you ever tried to buy adirondack chairs? They are surprisingly pricey.)

Once we got onto the open biking trails, the views were unbelievable. 

If you are ever on the island, I highly recommend this. We only had time to bike around once and pick up some fudge before hopping back on the ferry for wedding festivities. But we came back the next day to visit the Grand Hotel. 

Stay Tuned!

Pure Michigan

There was a wonderful period in July/August where everything I owned was in my car or in storage.

We had to be out of our Baltimore apartment by July 24th, and didn't move in to our Lexington house until August 4th. As stressful as this was, we were lucky enough to be able to celebrate the wedding of the boyfriend's college roommate in between the moves. 

The wedding was in Cheboygan, MI, and rather than stay in a hotel, we opted to camp at Aloha State Park. So instead of spending money at restaurants and bars, we ordered pizza from the camp store and hung out around a fire at night. 

During the day we spent most of our time in Mackinaw City or on Mackinac Island. Well, we planned to spend more time in Mackinaw City, but after our first day on the island, we knew that we wanted to go straight back there the next day! 

It's not that Mackinaw was bad, it just wasn't as unbelievably gorgeous as Mackinac. We did find a good breakfast buffet, but our favorite thing was exploring and wandering around the light house. 

We were lucky to have great weather every day except the day we left (more about that later). Stay tuned for my favorite part about our trip to Michigan!