Weekend Review | Bread Baking and a Trip to Monterey

Hello loves! This weekend was a surprisingly fun one! The weather was warm and I was in the mood for fresh bread.

BREAD

It's been a few months since I made my favorite bread recipe. But I woke up the other morning with fresh baked bread on my mind, so naturally I whipped together this gorgeous loaf! I have a full tutorial on how to make an easy, rustic loaf of bread on Patreon which was the first (and only lol) episode in my "Mastering the Magic of Homemaking" series. It's super easy and such a great way to elevate your meals.

You can watch the full bread making tutorial video here: HOW TO BAKE BREAD

Stowaway Wife

What do you do when you find out your husband is going on a business trip to one of your favorite locations? You stowaway in his suitcase, of course!

Cain had a work trip to beautiful Monterey and decided to bring me along for the ride. Which I was thrilled about because the Monterey Plaza Hotel is one of my favorite hotels. Endless views of the Pacific and such a relaxing ambiance.

While he worked, I hung out around the hotel, walked down to Cannery Row and spent some time at the spa. We had dinner with his boss and coworkers and it was nice to do something a bit spontaneous! I haven't taken a long drive by myself in a while, and it felt good to be on the open road listening to my favorite podcasts and songs for a few hours.

We got SO lucky with absolutely stunning weather. The skies were blue and people were out and about taking full advantage before the rains come in next week. I spent my day vintage shopping, writing, eating fish and chips and watching Law & Order SVU reruns. So I'd say it was a solid trip.

But my favorite part, was watching all of the sea otters splash and play in the ocean. They are so cute and it's so much fun to watch them just fully enjoying life in the water. We can learn a lot from the sea otters lol.

We spent the last morning in the hot tub overlooking the ocean and drinking spa water. And finished our trip with a delicious seaside brekky of crab cake benedict and a chorizo breakfast burrito. 10/10!

(can you spot the sea otter???)

*Yes, I have a full 60 seconds of a sea otter playing in the water on my phone and yes I wish I had more.

Trouble in the Garden

Unfortunately, upon returning from our trip, I came to find that many of my seeds that I worked so hard to start have perished. No one was home to water and care for them so they shriveled up and died! It's still early in the year though so I do think I have time, but it was very sad to see my babies that I worked so hard to germinate die after just a few days of neglect. I'm not giving up though! I will have the cottage garden of my dreams this year just you wait!

Spring Preparations 🌷🌱🌤️ 🦋

As I mentioned in my last blog post on enjoying the last bits of Winter, I'm trying not to get too ahead of myself with getting excited for Spring. But I simply can't help it! I know that so many new and beautiful things will be happening in the Spring. Flowers will start blooming, things will be changing, the weather will be warming, and I can't wait. In fact, I'm planning on having a Spring Garden party, which I've been dutifully working on the tablescape design and invitations for. This is my year of hosting and community after all, so I have to keep the momentum from the Christmas party going!

My Spring Garden Party table setting mockup! I've been having fun doing this in Canva when I want to visualize my tablescape before purchasing anything and it's super fun and helpful!

I hope you all had a fun weekend and I wish you a blessed week ahead!