Our Woods

We celebrated Easter at the Pink Beds which has been tradition since I was born. It's been a great standing tradition and the only real change is that I help hide the Easter eggs rather than hunt them. We leave that to the next generation.

It's a pretty special spot to us. Not only because it's where our families have always gathered but because part of my wedding was held there! Andrew and I decided to take Daisy to our wedding spot, which is just a few minutes down the road from the Pink Beds.

I have dubbed them "our woods". We had a pretty epic life event happen there and it feels right to call my childhood woods, our woods. They're not just mine anymore and I'm happy to share them with Mr. Horton.

So special!

xo S

Dresses in the Woods

Yesterday instead of blogging and spending yet another day at home we had an adventure! Girls, you feel me when I say that on the third day of your period you're still feeling kind of crappy and you really just want to stay in bed with the heating pad and some chocolate right? That is how I felt all day yesterday. But, rather than succumbing to my heating pad + bed + chocolate yearnings I put on a dress and lipstick and went out into the wild with Andrew.

Well... okay, it wasn't planned that way exactly. First we went for coffee with our most recent client and had some fun there, visited my dad at work and surprised him with a cup of coffee and let Daisy out. That is when we decided to take to the road.  We have been DYING for some kind of change or adventure or romance lately. We got all three yesterday! We ended up on the far side of our little county and over the TN/NC boarder and that brought us to Big Creek.

Side note: To get there you have to go by a hydroelectric plant (hydroelectric? right? awesome.). It looks like something out of Hogwarts and upon seeing that I knew we were in for a good time.

Andrew has spent a lot of time at Big Creek and I have not. I had never been there and honestly could slap my friends and family for not allowing me the delights of this magical place before now. And then at the same time I could kiss them for it since I was able to experience it with Andrew for the first time.

We pulled up and I really had to pee. You probably don't need to know that or what I'm about to tell you but it's part of the story. So, I had to pee. Andrew taught me how to pee in the woods. Yep, he did. So we ruuuuun to the bath house the park so graciously has on site, only to discover that it's been "winterized". Delightful. Being the woodsy people we are we always have some form of toilet paper in the car. Even if it's a receipt from walmart or something. This time it was an actual roll (huzzah!) so we both peed behind the bath house. Ironic.

After breathing a sigh of relief and laughing about the fact that Andrew was taking my picture squatting we went to explore.

We found some really pretty rocks, perfect for skipping but we decided to keep them for our nature basket at home.

Then Andrew needed to go be a wild mountain man. And by be wild mountain man I mean this:

I wanted to be a wild mountain girl so I was really brave. Sometimes Andrew holds my hand when I'm brave.

And then we just went on appreciating where we were and of course that we were the only people there.

xo Shannon & Andrew

You Like "All Kinds" of Music?

So, there is a channel on Youtube called Soul Kitchen and we LOVE it! It features magical live videos of underground/indie bands performing some of their favorite songs. I think Andrew found it and after we watched this video of James Vincent McMorrow we were hooked. You should probably check it out.

You're welcome.

Like I said in my vlog about 15 Things, I love all kinds of music (with the exception of new country and the crap my sister really likes...*cough* Kesha, G6, etc *cough*). When I read off the question about a song I love to blast and sing with I forgot to include the Civil Wars. Specifically the song Poison and Wine <-- I have no idea if they are lovers or not, when I researched them it said they were partners, but nothing about being together. After seeing how he looks at her during this video.... it's like something you shouldn't be able to see. It's such a gorgeous vulnerability on his part, it makes me blush and if I don't turn away from seeing it, it makes me tear up. I also forgot to tell you about Damien Rice, The Blowers Daughter. I started listening to Damien Rice in college. My great friend, Jeremy, would listen to him as he went to sleep and he shared a few songs with me and I was in love.

That's all. I don't know why exactly I needed to share that with you but, there it is. What kinds of music do you guys love to listen to?

xo Shannon

Thankful For

And the thankfulness continues! Have I mentioned that I kind of love this?

Day 5: Anything involving that man and funnel cakes
Day 6: Finding a little Fall leaf hiding on an old tree stump while hiking
Day 7: Having the ability to make pretty things that I'm proud of for my shop

What are you thankful for today?

xo S

How We Like to Spend a Sunday Afternoon

Andrew's birthday was pretty great this year. We were able to celebrate a few times which is always freaking awesome in my book. The more you are celebrated on your birthday the better it is. So we devised a plan to spend part of it in the woods. There were two places on my list to take him and we settled on what I call Goldenrod Field on Green Mountain. It was fabulous.

This is a shot of the field, the goldenrod wasn't as thick as it has been in years past but it was still beautiful. We took a roast up for lunch and in typical Mimms/Horton fashion we cooked it on a spit over the fire! Dad brought up some catfish too and it was pretty grand!

Daisy tried to use reverse psychology on us and acted like she wasn't interested in the roast, it lasted all of 3 minutes and then the howling began. While it cooked we decided to take a hike and ran into a nest of yellow jackets. After that I was out and we decided to head back to see if it was finished and to get some coffee.

Seriously... how good does that look? This is how I felt while we ate and had some coffee, sans bees.
Did I mention that we don't use plates or forks when we cook like this?

We decided to be married and cute after we ate and rested so we took a few photos and I just kind of love this one. He has a really cozy shoulder and that is my favorite blend of tobacco and it smells sooo good!

After lunch and a few hours of enjoying the woods we had to head back down to the valley for some pumpkin pie. On the way down we had to stop and soak up some autumn beauty - I mean seriously, check this out...

What the what? How could anything be this gorgeous? I'm always stunned into silence when I see things like this. For real. When we got back to my parent's house my mom had everything ready for his party, I got to cut his slice of pie and then we ate and made merry until it was bed time!

I think for our second married birthday it went pretty well. I kind of love how Andrew would rather have pumpkin pie than a birthday cake! How do you like to celebrate birthdays?

xo S

Monday Reminder

Happy EARLY Monday! Have I mentioned that I get up with Andrew before the crack of dawn? I get up with him, talk his ear off, make him breakfast and drink coffee with him before he gets on the road. Let me tell you, it's hard to talk someone's ear off at 5:30 in the morning. This morning when I was making him some eggs it occurred to me, I'm like a really cool wife. When I shared this epiphany with him he laughed (while pulling on his boots) and said yes, you are. Then he said he was like a really cool husband because he went to work and actually wants me to stay home and do what I love.

There is zero doubt of the love in this family.

I want to remind you all that today is the very LAST day to enter any of the giveaways from the blog party.  If you haven't had a chance or if you thought it was too late go ahead and grab a spot! Here is a line up:

Blowfish Shoes Giveaway - win any pair!

Colleen's Fall Pom Pom Banner

Ashley's 6 Months of Advertising

My Wee Owl or Large Ad Spot

Don't forget to read about the ways to enter. There are several opportunities on each giveaway! I'll be announcing the winners tomorrow! I'm really excited to see who wins!

xo Shannon

Tutorial | Pressed Coffee

Good Morning my dears! It's chilly here and a little bit foggy. It's a perfect Fall morning! And what do you need on a perfect Fall morning? Besides a cozy hoodie, wool socks, and a sleeping puppy...... coffee!

Andrew and I typically use Jr. to make coffee. He's our percolator. He was actually Dad's percolator but I won Jr. from Dad. We were going to meet him in the woods and he said if I could find him I could have Jr.... I found him! Now Jr. lives on our stove for the most part. He's pretty charred up from past campfires and other adventures but we think it gives him character!

So, now you know what we usually use. Now on to what we've discovered. I've always like pressed coffee but it always seemed like more work than it was worth.

And then we ran out of coffee.

We had a ziplock bag of a Costa Rica blend that A's co-worker, George - who's wife has direct connections with coffee farmers in Costa Rica, gave him and it was just enough for a coffee press! The timing was perfect. I'm going to share with you what I learned about how to make pressed coffee!

Put whole bean coffee in your coffee grinder and set it to the drip setting. If you don't have a drip setting put it on a coarse grind.

Measure out your coffee. Our coffee press takes 10 scoops. Each one is different so read your directions or look it up online. We also like ours to be a little more bold so we add a little more to grow on!

Once you have your coffee measured and in your press add some hot water! We used our tea kettle because we like the whistle it makes when the water is hot.  It's the little things in life.

Here is the way important part! Put your lid on and wait for 4 or 5 minutes (depending on how strong you want your cup to be) to let it steep. Set a timer and go kiss your husband for a little while.

Now then, press down the filter. Use only the weight of your hand and push it down slowly. All of the grounds will be under the filter on the bottom of the press, leaving only velvety goodness!

Pick out your favorite coffee mugs - ours were a gift from our friend Chris, he made them! - pour it out and fix it the way you like your coffee!

Drink and enjoy!

Happy Pressing!

xo Shannon