Friday Favorites: Fashionably Chic – Blue Sperry Top-Siders

Celebrating the Everyday, Friday Favs  //  28th September 2012

When it comes to shoes, I have nearly as many as Liz.  Ok, maybe not quite, but it is definitely close.  Now that summer has officially drawn to a close, we thought it would be fun to share one of my favorite pairs of shoes from this past year.  They definitely got a work out and probably don’t look quite as clean as the picture below anymore! :) I pretty much wore them everywhere.

Friday Favorites: Fashionably Chic – Blue Sperry Top-Siders

Since we moved to Baltimore, we have become spoiled living near the water.  On nice nights during the summer and early fall, we LOVE to sit up on our roof and watch the sailing school race around the harbor. One day, if we don’t get a boat, at least maybe we will learn to sail! :) But first things first, if we are going to live near water and one day learn to sail, a guy has to have a pair or two of Sperry Top-Sider boat shoes.  Plus, what other shoe can you  wear without socks and still look dressed up!  They are definitely the perfect summer shoe and the blue matches our new brand perfectly!  Now we just need to start making friends with people that own boats! :)  As summer slowly fades away, one thing is for sure, I will definitely be trying to incorporate my blue Sperrys into my wardrobe for at least a few more weeks.  Blue Sperrys and Pumpkin Spice Lattes sounds like a perfect pair to me! :)

Congratulations to Sophie, the winner of last weeks contest!

Friday Favorites: Sweet Treat – Ladurée Macaroons

Celebrating the Everyday, Friday Favs  //  21st September 2012

One of our absolute favorite things, well at least category of favorite things, are sweet treats! We love pretty much anything with caramel, peanut butter, or chocolate. Cupcakes are definitely one of our all time favorites, but they are definitely fighting a tight battle with this week’s Friday Favorite: Ladurée Macaroons.

Friday Favorites: Sweet Treat –  Ladurée Macaroons

Our obsession with these little puff like cookie pastries, started earlier this year. We were hosting a super fun wine and cheese night with some of our friends. Wine and Cheese nights are definitely a topic for another post. :) We were sampling wine and cheese to get us ready for our trip to Paris that was coming up later in the year and our AMAZING friends Lindsley and Jeff stopped by with macaroons! They explained to us that in Paris, there was the best macaroon patisserie called Ladurée.

Fast forward two months to this past May to us standing in line outside the door of Ladurée in the rain. We huddled tight under our single person umbrella and tried to dodge the sideways rain drops. Each time a person in front of us was lucky enough to make it inside, the sweet smell of freshly baked macaroons would linger outside for a fleeting moment just long enough to convince us to stay in line just a little longer. Finally, after 5 minutes, we swear it definitely felt much more like 5 hours :), we made it inside.

The display case was a Crayola Crayon box of colors. From chocolate milk, to cherry blossom, to pistachio, to Liz’s favorite, salted caramel, there was an endless variety. We bought half a dozen and by the time we had paid and made it out the door, we only had two left! We shared the last two later that evening and were instantly hooked. So the next time your in Paris, be sure to pick us up a dozen! And if they don’t make it off the plane back, we understand.

Although we can’t share Ladurée Macaroons with you, we will be giving away one dozen macaroons from the FABULOUS Patisserie Poupon, which is located right nearby us! They are definitely a very close second to Ladurée. Just be sure to like our page on Facebook, and leave us a comment below for your chance to win!

Friday Favorites: Good Reads – Food and Wine Magazine

Celebrating the Everyday, Friday Favs  //  14th September 2012

Friday Favorites: Good Reads – Food and Wine Magazine.

We LOVE reading (or at least flipping through magazines and looking at the pictures). :)  I can still remember heading to the library multiple times per week when I was in elementary school to pick out a giant pile of books to read for the Lyter Summer Reader’s Contest. 20+ years later, there just doesn’t seem to be enough time in the day to read as much as we wish.  When we do have a free moment, the first magazine we dig out of our overflowing magazine basket is always Food and Wine.  A magazine that combines some of our favorite things in its title is definitely a good read.  One of my favorite things to do is to find a new recipe in the magazine, head to our local farmers market or Whole Foods, and then whip up an amazing meal.  Checkout this post for the latest recipe we recently tried.  If you have followed our Instagram feed for any length of time, you have probably seen a few of the creations inspired by Food and Wine Magazine.  Plus, the layout and design is AMAZING!  Food and Wine Magazine was definitely one of our inspirations for our new site and brand. Download the latest issue today and get cooking!

Friday Favorites: In the Kitchen – Our Starbucks French Press

Celebrating the Everyday, Friday Favs  //  7th September 2012

Good morning everyone and Happy Friday!  Each Friday we are going to start of the day with what we are calling our “Friday Favorites.”  Each week we will highlight one of our favorite things, something that we just can’t live without, or something that helps us to live a more AMAZING life.  So without further adieu …

Friday Favorites: In The Kitchen – Our Starbucks French Press. 

One of our absolute favorite things is walking into one of our favorite coffee shops and being surrounded by the AMAZING aroma of coffee.  As soon as you walk in the door the scent of freshly ground beans, brewed coffee, and espresso, washes over you.  It’s like a caffeine jolt to your senses.  Waking up and driving immediately to the nearest Starbucks or up to the AMAZING Artifact Coffee doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.  So, the next best thing is brewing coffee in our Starbucks French Press.  Each morning we start our day by grinding some fresh Ceremony Coffee, boiling water in our green teakettle, and then brewing the perfect cup of coffee in our press.  The aroma quickly fills our first floor as the coffee bloom builds.  After 4 minutes it’s time to break the crust and press down the grinds.  What’s left is a perfect cup of coffee and a fabulous coffee house aroma to start our day.  The bold flavor is something you just can’t get from a regular old coffee pot.  The extra effort is truly worth it.  Get yourself a French Press here and learn more about how to make a perfect cup of coffee with the Intelligentsia App.

And to start of our first Friday Favorites and to commemorate Liz and Ryan launch week, leave us a comment for your chance to win a bag our favorite Ceremony Coffee to go with your new French press!