Category Archives: vacation

Greetings from the Black Hills

November 23, 2015

The Black Hills are SO beautiful this time of year! Our trip there this past weekend had a dusting of snow and the evergreens and spruce trees were covered in white and absolutely gorgeous! We stayed at this really cozy log cabin and enjoyed wood burning fires and stunning scenes out the large windows.

While eastern South Dakota and our house was getting blasted with 16 inches of snow, we enjoyed the beautiful snowfall on the Black Hills.

We hit a few of the legendary Deadwood bars. What’s to do during snow… drink and gamble! :)

Lewie’s

And of course we had to hit Wall Drug on the way home!

I always love going to Deadwood and the Black Hills. It’s so pretty. And it reminds me of our wedding! We got married in Deadwood on 7.20.12 and fun to reminisce about our nuptials!

The Black Hills

July 14, 2015

Last weekend, we headed towards the beautiful western side of South Dakota en route to the Black Hills. We decided to leave Ivy at home with Grandma Betsy to get some quality time with Leo, and let’s be honest, to make it easier on us! : / We hit some gorgeous hikes, shopped around the antique stores, and had a blast at the wedding! Congratulations Kyle and Celeste Horazdovsky!

We started our trip on Thursday and made a stop at Rapid City. To our surprise, it was the night of the Main Street Square Concert Series. There were two live bands playing, tons of people walking the streets, and a beautiful night to cap it off. John, Leo, and I, walked around, said cheers with some beer (well minus Leo…indirectly), and enjoyed the live music to stretch out our legs!

The coolest is ART ALLEY! It’s an entire alley dedicated to graffiti!

The next couple of days we hiked two different paths, walked around Sylvan Lake, and downed some more beer at the State Game Lodge in Custer.

FAVE when you get to cross creeks and dip your toes in the cool mountain water

LIke, HOW PERFECT IS THAT ACTION SHOT?! Exact leg placement, holla!

Solly Wrap came in HANDY

Of course John had to do some shopping for antiques and animal stuff for our cabin. This was a favorite! So West River, ha! I love it

Last but not least, the wedding night for Kyle and Celeste. BEAUTIFUL setting, gorgeous bride, handsome groom, and surrounded by fun and friends. Very memorable evening! Leo loved the disco lights :)

Next time, the kid in me wants to bring Ivy and hit Reptile Gardens and Bear Country! I know she had fun with Emmie and Papa though!

Minneapolis Weekend

March 23, 2015

This past weekend, John and I left little Ivy behind with Emmie and Papa Koch to head to Minneapolis for a much needed shopping trip. The grandparents couldn’t wait for a sleepover with Ivy and I couldn’t wait to get a lone weekend with the hubs, have some delicious food and nice dates, and buy some things for the nursery, AND myself! So we kissed Ivy goodbye and packed our wallets!

The dresser I wanted from Ikea showed there were only 2 in stock! EEEEK! So we went right away Friday night when we got there and thankfully we did because we got the last one! FEWF! I love the look of the birch and white, perfecto. We also picked up a white nightstand for the nursery and found a few other things for the house because who can really walk out of Ikea with only two things. Ugh. One thing checked off the list, now on to dinner, which I was SO excited for!

We spent the evening at Spoon and Stable, one of Minneapolis’s new restaurants for fine dining. And it was superb! We love sitting at the bar, so we bellied up, and took in beautiful restaurant. I was obsessed! The white was gorgeous and it was in fact an old stable, hence the name, but it was remodeled so exquisitely. I love all of the historic buildings in downtown Minneapolis, some of the coolest spots I’ve ever seen. The bartender shook up a fabulous mocktail of ginger beer (found out ginger beer is not actually alcoholic, sort of like root beer, duuuhhhh), grapefruit juice, and lime juice for me, and John and I said cheers to a so far successful trip and weekend alone! We had some i n c r e d i b l e food that had the best presentation. MMM. We had duck sliders (holy quack), french fries, scallop carpaccio (award winning), chilled lobster, pasta, and apple crisp for dessert. O M F G. My mouth is still salivating.

The next morning, we woke up talking about what the hell happened to Paris Hilton (we were staying at the Hilton), caught up on some news, John got a nice run by the river (I was jealous), and pretty soon we headed out on the town again. We wandered over to the Warehouse District and had breakfast at Moose and Sadie’s. Delicious (again!).

There were quite a few shops around our breakfast spot, so we hit a few of them. Our favorite – Askov Finlayson. It was the perfect mix of outdoor gear, clothing, and just all around cool stuff. John went wild in there because that is his perfect mix of store! We found baby boy a rad paddle for the nursery and some funky towels for the beach.

Next, I just HAD to go to H&M for some maternity clothes, so we reluctantly made the drive to the Mall of America (John was NOT excited). I found myself some clothes – these jeans, (I wanted these too but they didn’t have them), this crop top (I think crop tops will be cute with a long tank underneath! Pop that baby belly out!), and basically every single color in this long tank bc I live in long tanks while pregnant. I really wanted these yellow flats, but I had outdone myself with nursery stuff and H&M :(

Later in the evening, we met my friends Tori and Gina and her husband Ben for dinner at Hola Arepa and had some delicious Mexican! Again, I scored an amazing mocktail and had an overfilled and satisfied belly.

All too fast, our trip came to an end, but we got so much done! Meanwhile, Ivy was back with the grandparents and having fun playing dress up and reading the morning paper with Papa :)

Now to put everything together – Ikea, curse you!!! But thank you for being cheap :) We got the dresser and nightstand together, now the room is finally getting somewhere…

crib // plus sign curtains // triangle lamp // nightstand // dresser // rug // ottoman // paddle // triangle pillow (found at Zing sale) // lightning rod pillow (also found at Zing sale) // LWPH tomahawk blanket // black and white blanket // evergreen tree blanket //

Overall, the nursery is getting along great! Crib sheet and changing pad cover arrive in 2 weeks from Iviebaby! Can’t WAIT! And now in need of some wall decor. John says it is his favorite room in the house… Yay :) #success

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Colorado

December 28, 2014

Snowy majestic mountains are such a spectacular sight, one of my favorites. So when John suggested a trip to Telluride, Colorado, I was right on board.

I should say, “you had me at mountains.” Durango Telluride 2014-80

Eh eh, ok, moving on…

John’s uncle Tom, his wife Teena, and their daughter Hailey live near Telluride, in Ridgway, so we were anxious to visit them and hit the hot springs and slopes.

Now, we have flown with Ivy to many places so far, such as Arizona, Oregon, Wyoming, South Carolina, and now Colorado, so we could say she is an experienced jetsetter so far, but each of our trips we have been able to eliminate a necessity (stroller, pack-n-play, and/or car seat) since a friend or hotel had one. But this time, we had to haul so much s*** that John even said, “we are never traveling again.” I don’t dare hold him to that, but indeed, the thought crossed my mind for a mere millisecond. Ya ya, it ~~is hard~~ sucked. BUT, we like to bring her and it was the holidays with family for pete’s sake. And with another baby on the way in June (see more here)… welllllll, let’s just get our travels in now. EEEK. Thank god the airport checks all that baby stuff for free!

We flew into Durango and I was pumped to see this old historic town. It had a ton of restaurants, bars (I would have loved to belly up to a bar and have 10 craft brews, ugh), and unique shops, all surrounded by huge mountains.

We stayed at the General Palmer Hotel and it was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. Old woodwork, vintage wallpaper, gorgeous stained glass windows, glamorous chandeliers, and an original elevator that we could barely squeeze in to.

General Palmer Hotel

We ate at the Jean Pierre Bakery and had mouth-watering food and mmmm their baked goods were to die for. I could have had 5 of those croissants.

What I was REALLY looking forward to in Durango, was the historic train! They turn it into a Polar Express over the holidays and I could hardly WAIT to ride the train and pick up Santa at the North Pole. We put Ivy in her pjs and brought her blankie, just like in the book, and headed off to the train!

The train was SO COOL. I mean, I’ve never ridden on a train, a subway in New York City is about the closest I’ve come, so minus the sewer rats and the hoards of people, I knew it would be spectacular. AND, the POLAR EXPRESS, HELLO

The train ride was just like the book. The big train came in with all the whistles and horns and the conductor stepped out to pick up the boy who no longer adores Christmas. We rode the train to the North Pole to pick up Santa, all the while Christmas carolers were singing jolly songs, we sipped on hot cocoa and nibbled on chocolate chip cookies, the conductor stamped our yellow tickets, they gave us a jingle bell, and they even showed The Polar Express book and told the story along the way. A LOT of action! Ivy LOVED it! She could hardly contain herself (me either) trying to take everything in. And she did MUCH better with Santa this time! :)

The next morning, we packed up and headed towards Ridgway. Named the “Million Dollar Highway,” or U.S. 550, it’s one of the nation’s most spectacular drives. The road climbs up 3 very high mountain passes and takes you from Durango, through Silverton and Ouray, to Ridgway. It was MAGNIFICENT. I was in mountain heaven. But holding on for dear life around some of those curves!

The rest of the trip we enjoyed the snow, the outdoors, and stayed cozy by the fire. Ivy loved to be in the sled! We also went to the Orvis Hot Springs in Ouray and I WISH we had pictures because Ivy was so damn cute in her little swimsuit and stocking hat playing in the water, buuuut, trust me, you wouldn’t want pics, well, because it’s a NUDE hot spring resort. Swimsuits are optional. Sooo, ya. That’s that.

And lots of wood for those wood-burning fires!

The last day of our visit, lucky John and his uncle Tom and cousin Hailey, got to go skiing in Telluride! I stayed back being preggo and all so I was pretty jealous.

Teena and I joined them when they got done skiing for some Telluride action.

And that’s the end of our 4 day vacay! I really do love Colorado, until next time… xo

I’m just obsessed with this picture. I told her to hold still and she just froze, it was hilarious!

Marriage and Cowboy Boots

July 30, 2014

Marriage and Cowboy Boots. An unlikely combination, but when you’re in Cheyenne, Wyoming during Frontier Days, that’s all you see. Boots, boots, and more boots. I’m certainly no cowgirl, but I felt quite left out with no cowboy boots of my own. There were cowboys, cowgirls, and (like I would have been) wannabe cowboys and cowgirls. But most importantly, there was family and a wedding. My cousin Emily and her new husband Lee tied the knot! The Keating side (my Dad’s side) is quite big, with 7 siblings, so almost all of the aunts and uncles and cousins united in Cheyenne where Emily grew up and her parents still live to celebrate the happy marriage of these two lovely people. The Keating side has been fortunate to have 3 years of weddings now! John and I got married two years ago, Ariel and Lee got married last year, and now Emily and Lee. It has been SO great getting to see the family and catching up with everybody each year. Also, many of them had not met Ivy yet, so that was VERY exciting to share her with the family. Like they say, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage :)

Congratulations Emily and Lee, xx

(Beware, lots of photos ahead)

Isn’t her dress AMAZING? She got it from Anthropologie bridal BHLDN

The ceremony was at Mary and Gary’s (Emily’s parents) backyard – beautiful setting! Emily and Lee are currently working in Taipei, Taiwan so the addition of the Japanese lanterns was just the right touch.