Finally getting around to posting about our trip to Salem, MA last month. We had originally booked an airbnb within walking distance of downtown but a month before the trip the owner cancelled it. After some back and forth with airbnb we ended up at a place in nearby Marblehead and $400 in extra spending money because of refunds and booking a cheaper place! We went to celebrate the first day of Autumn and our sixth wedding anniversary.

I had a business trip in Boston the week before so Christian came along (worked from the hotel) and we headed to Salem on Friday evening so we'd be ready to go Saturday morning. Our first day was slightly rainy with a nice chill to the air. Normally I would hate rain, but it made it seem more spooky and Halloweeny.

First, let's take a look at my outfit! I decided to wear my fun b chyll cashmere cape for the day with an old Zara crop top, J Brand high waisted jeans, Etienne Aigner bag and some vintage lace-up heeled boots. Not the best outfit for a rainy day, but I had hoped the rain wouldn't be constant all day, and I was right. 

I now apologize in advance for all the photos!

We started our morning bright and early getting to the Forest River Park parking lot around 7:30am so we could walk from there to 4 Ocean Ave, which just so happens to be Max & Dani Dennison's house in Hocus Pocus! We didn't want to park on the street to disturb the people who live there and we didn't get too close to the house, but I had to have a photo at this iconic location! Even though we were there very early there was one other couple that showed up while we were there and a couple cars slowed down to take photos.

Next, we headed to Downtown Salem and found a free on-street parking spot. Tip: we found our spot on Essex street, down the road from the Hawthorne Hotel. After parking we walked to Wolf Next Door Coffee for a quick breakfast. We shared a hot chocolate, I had a lemon poppyseed muffin and Christian had an egg sandwich on a biscuit. 

After breakfast we walked back towards Salem Common and the the Phillips Elementary School building that is featured In Hocus Pocus. I had to video a scene from Hocus Pocus where Allison is walking along the Commons after school because I'm crazy. Unfortunately they were setting up for a food truck festival so there was a lot of junk in the way, but I got something at least! I did it again later in the afternoon after I got a witch's hat because Allison had a hood on in the scene and I thought it would look better. But then we got lovely Port-o-Pottys in the shot. Love it. We'll see which one I decide to post. The Salem Witch Museum is also across the street but we decided not to go because we didn't need to see mannequins and dioramas. 

Then we made our way from the Common to the Salem Witch Trial Memorial. It honors those who unjustly lost their lives in 1692. It is so sad to see the reasons these people were killed and how they were killed. 

After that sombering moment we made our way to Ropes Mansion, otherwise known as Allison's house in Hocus Pocus. Along the way we passed the Bewitched statue, Old Town Hall and The Witch House.  Be sure you check out the garden's behind the mansion as well, very pretty.  By the time we finished there it was till only 9:50am. This is my main tip to help you beat the crowds. Although I can't vouch for how crazy it is in October, I'm sure it's busy all day long.

Next up was one of the most touristy areas, Essex Street. It's full of shops, street performers and restaurants.  We were a little unorthadox and got some chocolates at 11am from Kahawa Chocolates.  I tried a variety of chocolates, some were a little too out there for me, but it was fun.

After our dessert we waited in a short line to eat lunch at Red's Sandwich Shop. While waiting one of the staff exclaimed how the Autumn crowds started very early this year and that they didn't usually have lines until October. Once seated Christian had the Fried Haddock Sandwich and I enjoyed the Strawberry Moon salad with grilled chicken, watermelon, strawberries, feta cheese, onion, & cucumber on a bed of lettuce with raspberry vinaigrette — I asked for no feta, and I think the watermelon was missing, ha ha. 

We walked went back down to where we had breakfast to check out Ye Olde Pepper Companie, one of the first candy stores. We didn't buy their famous Gibraltars because they were very expensive, but we did buy a few chocolates to eat later!

Before dinner we walked around a few more shops, explored some more side streets in the main downtown area and rested our tired feet on some wet benches.  

We had our anniversary dinner at Ledger Restaurant & Bar. We shared Popovers with beef drippings & pumpkin-maple-sage butter. Christian had the Ledger Double Burger (special sauce, American cheese, pickles, lettuce, sesame seed bun, onion, fries) and I had the Strip Steak special with mushroom sauce, broccoli rabe and hassleback potato. It was all delicious! (I did have to ask for the cheese to be removed from my potato because the waitress didn't mention it when describing the special, whoops!) 

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After dinner we walked back to the car, passing Odl Town Hall again headed to our airbnb and watched Hocus Pocus before resting up for day two!

Nothing new this month. It was a very odd month because I was on a trip right before the month started, then we were gearing up for Christian's birthday followed by a business trip the next weekend. I also had a few Layla-sitting days mixed in. I definitely don't need to be shopping for clothes, but I do miss it. Sometimes I just want to go on a shopping spree and blow all my money, ha ha!   

THE (modified) RULES

1. Be mindful of purchases 
2. Quality over quantity
3. Basics are best

MY PROGRESS

 

Clothes:

1. C&C California Tropical Print Linen Dress via Marshalls ($13)
2. Cynthia Rowley leaf print dress via Marshalls ($13) 
3. AllSaints Jayda dress in black splash print (polka dot) via Roundabout Resale ($16.80, retail $260)

Basics:

1. Joie long grey vest via Marshalls ($14, retail $68?, used gift card)
2. LC Lauren Conrad High Rise 5" Rolled Cuff Shorts in Doria ($24.99, retail $36.99)
3. Sonoma Goods For Life Premium Roll Cuff Jean Shorts in medium wash ($14.99, retail $24.99)

Shoes:

1. None

Handbags:

1. None

Accessories:

1. None
   

Activewear/Swimwear:

1. Colorfulkoala High Waisted Yoga Pants with Pockets in Deep Teal ($20, retail $30, used CC rewards)
   

Gifted from Brands:

• None
  

Spent in September: $0

Spent in 2024: $82.69

Spent in 2024 - counting ad money: $0

I took these photos at the beginning of September but then some life stuff happened and I didn't feel right/up to posting. So here they are now. I wore this to run some errands with Christian and then we went on a drive with my parents and brother before having a late lunch at Riley's in Lordship.

This was a day that was cool enough for me to wear this airy cashmere sweater paired with shorts. I often find it hard to wear this sweater because it is VERY open thanks to the deep Vs, so I can't really wear it in winter unless it's layered.

Double V-Neck Cashmere Sweater: Calypso St. Barth 'Gylden'

Sparkle Shorts c/o Banana Republic Factory at Clinton Crossing

Sandals: Ancient Greek Sandals 'Clio' leopard-print leather slingback sandals via Net-a-Porter Sale

Italian Leather Bag: bought in Venice

Sunglasses: Chanel

Moon Necklace: Marrin Costello

Endless Gemstone Station Necklace in Rose Quartz c/o Aurate

 

I wore this over the weekend to go out to Mecha for ramen! We decided to sit outside and the breeze was so perfect. I love the end of Summer where it's starting to get cool but we still get long evenings. I haven't worn this camisole nearly as much as I wanted this year, might have to see if I can transition it into Fall as well! I have been horrible at taking outfit photos the last few months, need to get back into the habit of bugging Christian to take them! 

Floral Camisole: eight sixty 

Jeans: M.i.h Jeans 'Farrah' Tomboy cropped jeans (Net-a-Porter)

Sandals: Ancient Greek Sandals 'Apteros' in Crosta Wine (bought in Athens)

Italian Leather Bag: bought in Venice

Sunglasses: Chanel

It's been a while (exactly 2 months) since my last baking roundup! With our vacation to Florida at the beginning of July and a lot of weekend plans I haven't had much time to bake on the weekends. We have a wide variety of bakes this time, which is always fun to see! Of course I baked some of my old standbys, like the focaccia, but there are also a few new recipes here. One of which Christian has declared one of his favorite bakes ever...

Lemon Blueberry Loaf

The first time I made this I used small wild blueberries and they made it too dense. This time I used regular sized blueberries and it worked much better. Which is a shame because I actually don't like large blueberries, haha! So I may have to figure out a solution to use wild ones, probably half the amount.

Whipped Cream Dream Cake

This recipe popped up on King Arthur's Instagram and since I had some leftover cream from another recipe it was perfect timing! It was super easy to make, although I accidentally set the oven to 350 instead of 375 - oh no! I baked it a bit longer until it bounced back and a toothpick came out clean so no harm done. But I definitely panicked for a minute. The topping was a fun added touch to the super fluffy cake. Will definitely be making this again any time I have extra heavy cream.

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Pillsbury Boxed Brownies - Upgraded

Sometimes you just want a quick and easy dessert. I always grab some boxed brownie mix if its on good sale for those nights when I want dessert but don't feel like actually baking. In this instance I did make a few modifications. I added chocolate chips and made a quick frosting (recipe from Butternut Bakery's Lunch Lady Brownies.) It only took a few extra minutes and made the boxed brownies feel even more homemade!

Rosemary Focaccia

I looooove focaccia and whenever we have little tomatoes ready to harvest from the garden I like to make a rosemary focaccia and sprinkle them on top as well. I can't remember if I had used this recipe before because I usually want a quick focaccia and this recipe has a longer rise. It can rest in the fridge until I am ready to bake. I made the dough on Sunday and baked it up on Tuesday for the rest of our weekly lunches! Since extra virgin olive oil is one of the main ingredients in focaccia, I figured it was the perfect time to use our super fancy California Olive Ranch Reserve Collection: Arbequina olive oil. 

Lemon Love Notes

I wanted to make something light for a last minute barbecue my mom had. I looked in one of my few actual cookbooks - Bar Cookies A to Z - and found these lemon love notes bars. We had a lemon I wanted to use up as well as sweetened coconut flakes so it was perfect! I halved the recipe and made it in my Le Creuset Heritage Rectangle dish instead of a 9x13in pan.

Homemade Fudge Rounds

The second Christian saw photos of these cookies pop up on my feed he said I had to make them. They were also part of Handle the Heat's August Baking Challenge so I entered a giveaway when making them! You can still enter for a few more days just by baking them and submitting a photo on her site (linked above!) They were super easy to make and Christian declared them a top 5 dessert. High praise!

Well, I finally got new jean shorts like I've been talking about since last year, ha ha! I got a 40% off coupon for Kohl's so I decided to take a look. I ordered two pairs figuring I would return one but they ended up being such different colors that I kept both for different occasions.

THE (modified) RULES

1. Be mindful of purchases 
2. Quality over quantity
3. Basics are best

MY PROGRESS

 

Clothes:

1. C&C California Tropical Print Linen Dress via Marshalls ($13)
2. Cynthia Rowley leaf print dress via Marshalls ($13)
   

Basics:

1. Joie long grey vest via Marshalls ($14, retail $68?, used gift card)
   
2. *NEW!* LC Lauren Conrad High Rise 5" Rolled Cuff Shorts in Doria ($24.99, retail $36.99)
3. *NEW!* Sonoma Goods For Life Premium Roll Cuff Jean Shorts in medium wash ($14.99, retail $24.99)

Shoes:

1. None

Handbags:

1. None

Accessories:

1. None
   

Activewear/Swimwear:

1. Colorfulkoala High Waisted Yoga Pants with Pockets in Deep Teal ($20, retail $30, used CC rewards)
   

Gifted from Brands:

• None
  

Spent in July: $39.98

Spent in 2024: $65.98

Spent in 2024 - counting ad money: $0