Matcha Latte Recipe
I'm near the end of my 3-month wellness program with a nutritionist, Diane Teall Evans. I won't go into all the details of how amazing it's been (not enough time), but I want to share how Diane completely proved me wrong. At the beginning of the Root Cause Reset program, she had me write out my goals for our time together. They were lofty and there were a lot of them. I noted that I will never get to a place where I don't need, want, or crave coffee.
And I was wrong. After a lot of hard work shifting my diet and lifestyle, taking Diane's recommendations, trying new recipes, recognizing when I'm stressed, and doing something healthy about it, I have come to a place where I wake up with energy. I no longer look for my own power at the bottom of an empty mug.
I'm not caffeine-free and probably never will be but I've found a good alternative to limit how much coffee I have in a day. During a stressful week, it's worse for me to have coffee because it heightens anxiety and cortisol levels. My focus is off and my head feels scattered. Reducing the amount of coffee I have makes me enjoy it more when I do have it. I love Diane's salted fat mocha recipe for my coffee days. On stress days (AKA deadlines, full schedule, trying to fit too much in) I make a matcha latte.
Simple & Quick Matcha Latte Recipe
Boil water
Add 1 tbsp. of matcha powder (matcha green tea latte dry mix at Trader Joe's)
Add milk of your choice (I'm loving Elmhurst oat and cashew milk lately)
Having a special mug makes it more like a treat too. My favorite mugs are my mom's, East Fork Pottery, and little delicate cute ones I find at thrift stores that speak to me.
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Rural to Urban: What we like and what we don't
It's been six months since moving from a small lake town to a more urban area in an apartment in Grand Rapids. We're about halfway through our year-long visit and we've been learning a lot about ourselves, each other, and what we like and don't like about living in the city.
Urban life: Likes
1 | Convenience
Everything I need is within walking distance. Whether it's groceries, going to the farmer's market, walking Tiger in the park, the coffee shop to plug in and work, our favorite brewery, or getting my yoga in – it's all right here and opens during realistic hours (vs. everything closing at 7pm on the lakeshore or closed for the winter). It's a homebody's haven because you don't really have to go anywhere.
2 | Connection
Meeting up with friends more often has been easier because it doesn't take planning a week ahead and the long commute to make it happen. I feel way more connected and like I've found my tribe of freelancers and creatives to hang out with. It's energizing and uplifting, to say the least!
3 | Kitchen
I like knowing I only have 3 bowls to store leftovers – small, medium, large. We've removed or replaced a lot of plastic items and because we have fewer items there isn't a bunch of mismatched tops to bowls taking up space (a big pet peeve of mine). I like the "one of everything" rule that the size of our apartment keeps us to.
Urban life: Dislikes
1 | Small space
I thought I could do it, you guys. I thought I could live a minimal lifestyle with a small footprint. While I like being intentional by room, like the kitchen, I'm not enjoying it from a home standpoint. My studio has gone from a spare bedroom to the leftover cabinet in the kitchen. I also like decorating seasonally and it's limiting to do in a space where I fear putting a nail in the wall. I prefer OPEN SPACE, and so do Joel and Tiger.
2 | No house projects
It's been good for my design business that I dedicate more time to work but it's limiting Joel and me with house projects we like to do. We enjoy dreaming about the next project to build, make, and fix. I grew up in old houses with little quirks and personalities and Joel comes from a long lineage of builders. It's in our blood to create resourcefully but this place is already done (not that we don't think it's beautiful, because it is). I don't know how many times we've looked at each other on a weekend, sitting on the couch, and asked, "now what?"
3 | Noise
The noise outside makes it so that the windows are closed. And the windows being closed creates stagnant air. I hear sirens multiple times a day and every time I say a prayer for the people they're rushing to. I'm praying a lot. And I don't think the tenants above us are aware we can hear their every move. Especially at midnight. While I'm happy they lead a healthy sex life, I'm not happy for me who is trying to fall asleep.
What's next for us?
We're still not sure. We've reflected on a few options but are really just doing our best to keep the faith that "what's next" will present itself when the time is right (and praying time will be right before our lease is up). Otherwise, we may be forced into a different direction. Equally encouraging, I suppose. Until then, we're hopping around to our favorite breweries like Harmony Brewing and Brewery Vivant, discovering hiking trails north of town, and balancing this season of work with things like yoga, disc golfing, and walking Tiger so he doesn't give us a 'tude.
Now I want to hear about you...what do you like and dislike about the place you live?
Seasonal Edit | Moody Tones & Staying Home
Seasonal Edit: Fall
This seasonal edit focuses on darker hues (still neutrals, you know me), soft fabrics, and the art of slowing down. I have a special place in my heart for fall. It's a great time to reflect, relax, and enjoy the harvest after a long season of hard work and challenges. Even though it feels we're going through an Indian Summer right now, I'm loving the first day of fall. The Autumn Equinox, a day where the amount of daylight and darkness are equal. The best teacher of balance is the nature we live in, yes?
Oyster
Indian summer days call for lighter fabrics that can be easily layered for morning and night. I love this light beige hue because it reminds me of the ocean grays of the Northeast coast. I like layering similar shades with different textures so adding a little sparkle with the necklace is enough to make this basic outfit have a bit of bling.
Shop the look: tank (similar) / shorts / hat
Seafoam
I'm anxiously awaiting bonfire nights. A soft sweater, jeans, and a baseball cap are my go-to. Do you love the bonfire smell that lingers or do you hate it? I love having the scent of a great bonfire linger the next day. So much I even got a candle called Campfire because I miss our bonfire pit so much.
Shop the look: sweater (similar) / Madewell jeans / Lake Day hat / moccasins (similar) / camo jacket (thrifted)
Cinnamon
I've worn this burnt orange slip dress a couple of times and love it as a fall transition piece for weddings or outdoor events with a jacket. Gold details make it feel warm like the Fall golden hour that I love and make me think of my mom and friend who got the bangles for me.
Shop the look: slip dress (similar) / wedges (similar) / Brave bracelet
Books & Letters
Fall essentials for me are all about slowing down. It's crazy how challenging it is to slow down lately, isn't it? Scrolling through your phone on the couch doesn't count by the way. I'm definitely guilty of it and feel like I have to be intentional about slowing down for overall mental wellness. I'm trying to incorporate more solitary acts of slowing down this season. Books will always be a part of this for me.
I'm going to try writing more snail mail (thanks for sharing how you do this Ginger!). I don't know how many times I've said I feel like I'm in such a busy season of life right now but it isn't getting any slower. I hope more reading on the balcony and writing letters on Sunday helps calm my mind.
Tea
Totally bought this for the design but the tea is really good too. Hot. Cinnamon. Sunset. What a beautiful name for the fall. If you like sweeter tea with cinnamon and clove flavors, you're going to love this. Hot tea with a book and a cozy blanket is what my fall dreams are made of. I hope the weather will let this vision come true this season. Also got a great recommendation from a friend to reuse the tin as a succulent pot when I'm done with it and had to share. Such a good idea to keep the beauty of this tin around!
Staying Home
We've had a lot of full summer weekends so I'm looking forward to staying home more this season. And not staying in our small apartment only – we'd drive each other mad – but I more mean enjoying the town we live in instead of traveling elsewhere.
"What do you wanna do?"
"I don't know what do you wanna do?"
"I don't know, what do YOU wanna do?"
We've had some of the best times after asking each other this question, haha. I think it's ok to be bored, healthy even because then the day naturally becomes something fun. I suppose it's another act in presence I'm always seeking.
Shop the essentials: 10% Happier book / tea / Our Nest pillow (similar)
What are some fun fall plans you have?!
Seasonal Edit is a curated list of lifestyle essentials and well-designed products inspired by the seasons of the Midwest. See all edits here.
Seasonal Edit | Classic, Simple, & Wild
Seasonal Edit: Summer
Summer is my absolute favorite for her warmth, sunshine, and relaxed vibes all season long. This seasonal edit is full of textures, wildness, and simplicity. Or at the very least, an intentional effort to try and keep things simple amongst the chaos. Truthfully, this summer has been more challenging than I expected.
Since the Spring we've moved to an apartment in the city, gotten new jobs, and I've felt a shift within I'm still trying to work through. I've had 5 different haircuts in under a year, a clear indication there's a lot of change going on!
Summer Edit: Classic, Simple, & Wild | Polka dot dress from Target and straw hat | Brave Girl Design + Blog
Black and white textures
The majority of outfits I wore this summer were some version of a black and white pattern, white tee, and splash of denim. Whether it was a summer dress in a classic pattern or a pair of patterned shorts, black and white was the palette. Usually, I lean towards color and lightweight fabrics for the summer but I think going between air conditioning and heat multiple times a day, instead of the beach vibes I was used to living by the lake, had something to do with it.
Shop the textures: shorts / summer dress (similar) / denim jacket / hat
Summer Edit: Classic, Simple, & Wild | Sunflower bouquet | Brave Girl Design + Blog
Wildflowers, Wild Woman
It's been the best living near the farmers market because of fresh flowers ALL. SUMMER. LONG. Sunflowers are my favorite for how they depend on the sun for their happiness. It seems emotional. When the sun went down my sunflower heads would droop on the counter and come to life again in the morning sun. I can relate which is why I like them so much. More wildness came through in the books I read this summer. I re-read The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, always have Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes on my nightstand, and started a new one The Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd. Having a Sue Monk Kidd moment I guess.
Recommended books: The Secret Life of Bees / Women Who Run With the Wolves / The Dance of the Dissident Daughter
Summer Edit: Classic, Simple, & Wild | Farmer's Market haul | Brave Girl Design + Blog
Summer Simplicity
I kept finding myself craving the open country roads this season. Rolling down the windows to feel the heat that brings good memories from childhood. Listening to grasshoppers making music in the ditches. Watching the cornfields blow in the lazy breeze. I needed to know calm still existed amidst all the change this season. Even if it's out there somewhere far away right now. I needed to remember what my soul enjoyed. Needed to stop chasing external ideals and feeling the pressure of others’ expectations for me and my own pressure of what I should be doing at this point in my life. In the open space, amongst the wildflowers and bees buzzing, all that dialogue vanished. I found ME again & you know what she loves?
Soul music. Open spaces. Nowhere to be. Just enjoying the view.
The journey within will always be discovery and I'm guessing some chaos (has been so far). With that comes the importance of wellness – mentally, physically, spiritually. I'm always trying to keep that the priority. This season was about trying some new things and sticking with tried-and-true ingredients.
Summer Edit: Classic, Simple, & Wild | Care/Of Vitamins, monthly vitamin subscription service | Brave Girl Design + Blog
Care/Of Daily Vitamins
Care/Of is a new thing I'm trying. They're a subscription-based and customized way to take daily vitamins. It takes you through a quick and thorough quiz and gives you a detailed recommendation list of vitamins. I've selected energy-boosting and stress-free vitamins for the last two months and can really tell the difference in my overall well-being in these areas. Their customer service is also AMAZING and the boxes are cute enough to keep on your kitchen counter to remind you of your daily dose.
Use my code "TYRWB" at checkout for an entire FREE month of vitamins to try it out.
Summer Edit: Classic, Simple, & Wild | Lake Effect Apiaries Honey | Brave Girl Design + Blog
Local honey
There are a lot of benefits to honey, even if it's just a teaspoon daily in the morning to help with allergies. The most beneficial is getting honey from your local farmer's market. The bees are pollinating from the very plants giving you the sniffles so it's important to get honey close to home and from local beekeepers. Not the grocery store stuff, too much unnatural sugar.
Summer Edit: Classic, Simple, & Wild | Raw Coconut + Mango Hand Wash from Target | Brave Girl Design + Blog
Coconut + Mango Hand Wash
I was never a coconut fan but then my Mom gifted me this coconut face mist. It feels so summery and refreshing like I'm on a paradise island somewhere with no worries mahn (thanks Mom!). Since then, I started using this hand wash to keep the good vibes going for the bathroom.
Shop the essentials: Care/Of Vitamins / Local honey / Coconut + Mango Hand Wash
Seasonal Edit is a curated list of lifestyle essentials and well-designed products inspired by the seasons of the Midwest. See all edits here.
Dead Flowers
My sunflowers have wilted in their simple bouquet on the kitchen counter. The water has gone brown. There's a faint smell of dying in it, filling the air with a thin veil of burnout. I haven't taken the sunflowers out of their vase yet. I haven't put them in the dirt to become part of the soil that grows new flowers.
Bees and Petals | Brave Girl Spirit
I've watched the petals fall one by one. Can't seem to look away. Can't seem to avoid the metaphor that these sunflowers – usually so full of life and energy, always looking towards the sun – look a lot like me. Heads bowed in exhaustion. Sadness. The color from their leaves fading. Unhealthy. And the life force, their water, gone brown with decay. Stagnant.
Sometimes it's good to call it what it is. Most times. All the time, really. Because when you acknowledge that the water is brown, that the color is fading, that the petals are falling, the real change can begin.
Rural to Urban: A moving update & where we are
An update on moving from rural to urban life and how we're transitioning in Grand Rapids, Michigan. #becomingthebodes
It's been 3 months since moving from our first house in a rural lake neighborhood to a one-bedroom apartment in the city. Like most transitions, it's been messy, overwhelming, and not easy. Of course, we could've made it easier on ourselves. We didn't need to have the new Moon Lodge renters move in the same day we were moving out. Or schedule an afternoon flight to Texas for a week-long vacation the same day. Definitely didn't need to do ALL OF THAT at once, ha. But we did do it that way and survived with minor injury.
I want to share with you why we moved, how we prepared for it, and what's next for us.
Why did we move?
We moved from our cozy cottage to a bustling city to see if we could do it, quite simply. I considered moving to Chicago after college. Joel's often entertained the idea of city living. After we got married last fall, I thought it might mean we'd be settling into one kind of life and I didn't like the feeling we'd never try something we've always wanted to (why I attached that to marriage, I don't know. Always been a thing). Joel responded to my concern with a, "Let's do it" and so here we are in Grand Rapids.
Of course, it wasn't that simple. We prepared for a year to transition to this new lifestyle. Everything didn't go the way we thought it would. We learned a lot about faith, hope, and flexibility because of it though.
How did we prepare?
We started by listening to each other's differing concerns. We lived in a small lake town for 4 years before moving so there was a lot to dig through. I was most concerned with how our fur babies, Tiger and Belle, might handle the transition with a smaller place and no yard. Joel was concerned with the long-term financial aspect of moving to an expensive city and the challenges that might bring.
Our concerns led us to solutions; We'll walk Tiger each morning and night and stop by during lunch. We'll be able to keep a closer eye on Belle with her age-related health issues. I set up our budget with the Everydollar app so we can track our expenses and "move" our money into new pockets easily. We knew the gas & oil budget would decrease and the restaurants & entertainment budget would increase in the city. I honestly enjoy this kind of organization, haha, and it allowed us to see this just might work. Asking ourselves these kinds of questions let us see this move could be a reality.
From there, we started looking for a place to live. We found a brand new, 700 sq. ft., one-bedroom apartment in the city and chose our move-in date (this is where faith and gratitude came in!). We set it for a couple of months later and got to work finding renters. Renters we trusted were found soon after (more faith and gratitude!) and we became landlords as well as renters in the city within the same month. I thought renting out the Moon Lodge would make it so we had one less thing to worry about. I quickly discovered it's another responsibility altogether. However, we're good with it. It's allowing the lodge to be a new experience for our renters as we have a new experience with apartment living. Win-win.
I had to become unattached to material things in order to go from a 1,000 sq. ft. cottage with a basement and yard to a 700 sq. ft. apartment with 2 closets and a balcony. We donated most unused items to Goodwill, gave some away to family and friends, and sold valuable items we couldn't take with us. There was clarity and freedom to all the purging and one of my favorite results from the move.
We have 8 drinking glasses, 6 coffee mugs, and 4 bowls now. Joel has 112 clothing items and I have 120, including bags, shoes, and accessories. I haven't felt the need for more since we've been here.
What's next for us?
It's difficult to say. Both of us have never felt more uncertain in our lives and I think that's the hardest part. Not that the move prompted all this uncertainty. We were uncertain already. Moving to the city is a way we're trying to find the answer.
One of our favorite ways to discover things about ourselves and the world is traveling. I like to think of our new city life as a little pit stop on our travels. We essentially are in an Airbnb for one year, now what will we make of it?
So far, we've discovered new restaurants and cafes. This one and this one being our favorites. I've found a guacamole and margarita combo that alone could convince me to stay here longer. We've walked at least 100 times already to a beautiful park around the corner from us. Tiger's practically a celebrity there. Joel has a favorite running route around a nearby lake and brewery. He continues to discover new corners of this city for us to explore. We do this thing where we drink wine and watch Netflix almost every night as the sunsets. Not our lake routine, but a routine in togetherness I enjoy for the time being.
I've opened the digital doors to Brave Girl Designs, my shop with courage-based art prints for purchase. I would've never had the courage to sell prints had we not moved here. Being immersed in an inspiring creative community with kind people has made all the difference. There's an openness to collaborate instead of competing that's hard to find on the outskirts. I don't know if we'll be here forever, but we are here for now.
For that, I'm grateful. xx, EM
Answer one of these questions in the comments below:
Do you have any tips for living in the city with pets?
If you could move anywhere, where would it be?
What's your dream vacation?
Our couple photos courtesy of Sincerely Ashley