St. Augustine Christmas

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Right before the holidays I lucked out and had a few days off back to back, so it was off to St. Augustine I went to celebrate Christmas with Ryan. Before I arrived, he went and picked up a mini tree for us (we got the last mini tree on the lot!) and I arrived with so many boxes of Christmas lights, Ryan's apartment ceilings are now practically all covered. 

^^Our little tree all decorated and awaiting Christmas morning. The next morning we woke up really early and opened up gifts and stockings followed by a decadent Christmas cinnamon roll breakfast. I had gifted Ryan with several new pour over coffee accessories, so he whipped us up a couple of pour overs to start the day. 

Back when I visited my friend Katherine in Germany, she gave me a couple Kinder Happy Hippos to try out. I had intended to save them until I got home from Europe, however, I ended up eating one on the plane ride home. I was so upset when I did because they were so delicious and I could not find them anywhere stateside. A few months ago, while visiting my favorite Polish restaurant in town, I noticed that they sold them in packs of 5 in their food market. I was so excited that I snatched up their last two boxes, yet I refused to eat any of them because I knew I would be craving them as soon as I ate the last bite. I had mentioned it to Ryan once about how I had been hoarding Happy Hippos and low and behold, for Christmas he ordered me a box of 50 so I could finally enjoy them and not have to worry about running out immediately. Next time you see anything Kinder related at a European market, buy it! Just don't wait to eat them like I do!

We spent the rest of the afternoon visiting with a few of Ryan's friends, eating pizza, and riding the carousel on San Marco. We used to ride it sometimes when I would visit my friends Britni and Bobby at Flagler, but it's been a few years since I've been back on it. Ryan and I walked down to the carousel and paid our well worth it $1 for the 3 minute ride. The park wasn't very busy, so Ryan and I had the carousel to ourselves. We took advantage and paid a few extra dollars to keep it going. 

Later that evening we just spent a bit of time walking around downtown for Nights of Lights. It's my favorite time of the year in St. Augustine and I wish that they would leave the lights up year round. I suppose then it wouldn't be as special, so I'll soak it all up while I can until it's time for them to take the lights down. 

Each year, for the last five years, Ryan has made a "staching through the snow" letterpress Christmas card. This year, in celebration of his new press and the five year mark, Ryan designed a five color letterpress card. Each year, he sends them out to friends and family, and in return, they must post a photo of themselves holding up the card as if the mustache were their own. It has seemingly become a fun tradition for Ryan's friends and it's one I know I enjoying doing as well. Below are two of the photos we took. 

St. Augustine

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About two weeks ago, I headed back to St. Augustine for a couple of days to visit. Below are a few of the photos of some things we were up to while I was there. One day, we took a trip up to Jacksonville for the morning to eat at a few new restaurants and to shop at the town center. My favorite place we stopped into was Community Loaves. Disclaimer: their ice cream sandwiches and egg and cheese bagels were out of this world delicious. 

The rest of the trip we just spent time relaxing and printing a few new pieces of stationery for myself a la M.C. Pressure. I'll post a photo of the completed projects as soon as I'm done lining all of my new envelopes! We had breakfast at our usual, Blue Hen, and spotted the cutest mint VW bus on our drive home. Later that evening, we whipped up a dinner that included fresh pasta tossed with tomatoes, fresh basil, and olive oil. For dessert, Ryan and I bought a miniature (six inch) cast iron skillet and filled the bottom with chocolate chips. Next, Ryan chopped the marshmallows in half and placed them on top and put it into the oven at 350 degrees. We baked it just until the marshmallows were golden brown and served it with graham cracker pieces for dipping. It was the simple, delicious, and I was left wanting s'more ;) Another summer bucket list item completed! 

Pizza, Pierogies, and Preacher Lawson

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I spent a few more days last week cruising around St. Augustine with Ryan. We spent time  stopping into our favorite local spots and adventured out to a few new places as well. On my first day in town, we hopped on Ryan's new (but vintage) bikes and rode up to one of the antique shops, Anastasia Antique Center.  After, we headed into downtown for dinner and dessert before the monthly comedy night at the Corazon Cinema. All of the comedians were really funny and it made for such an entertaining night. My favorite was Preacher Lawson, definitely check out his YouTube videos!  It's been one week since we saw his act and I am still laughing over his jokes. 

On our bike ride home we ran into this little guy. I really have a love for all types of VWs, especially buses...as you can see here. 

Ryan and I have been attempting to go to Gaufre's and Goods for about a month and a half now. Each time we try and go it's always closed. This trip, we made sure it was on our "must" list and we headed there for lunch one afternoon. They have a variety of Greek and Polish dishes that all looked, and smelled, amazing. We ordered three of each type of pierogi: spinach, potato and cheese, sauerkraut and mushroom, and meat...extra sautéed onions too, of course. Ryan had never tried pierogis before and I think it's now safe to say he loves them almost as much as I do. 

 We ventured up to  the Jacksonville Farmer's Market to pick up a few different fruits and vegetables for dinner that evening. Everything looked amazing and if you know the vendors, they will make you a great deal if you are purchasing a few different items. 

We tried the cocos frios, which I had never had before! 

After drinking all of the coconut water, they split the coconut open and sprinkle chili powder on top to scoop and eat. 

My pineapple before. 

My pineapple after. 

Raspberry lemonade & rosy pear pops from The Hyppo before heading into the studio so Ryan could work on printing business cards all afternoon. 

My last night in town happened to fall on a Thursday, so bingo at the Elk's Lodge was a must. Ryan's friends Nick and Mary Kate joined us. It was both of their first times playing in St. Augustine and Mary Kate was definitely struck with beginners luck; she won the $250 coverall game! Right before Mary Kate won the coverall game, I won one of the $50 games! I couldn't believe we had both won back to back. We all were in shock and couldn't stop laughing. Needless to say, I think they'll come play bingo with us more often! I ended up "donating" the $50 dollars to our "little fun adventure" jar that we just started. Maybe if we play and win enough bingo games, it'll eventually pay for a trip to Europe :) 

St. Augustine Days

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I took a few days last week to head back to St. Augustine and wanted to share a few photos of some things Ryan and I were up to. On my first night in town, we drove up to Jacksonville to have dinner at Whataburger. Ryan had been telling me about a secret menu item called the, "brown burger," that replaces a regular burger patty with hash browns. Funny enough, when I ordered so called, "brown burger," the manager looked horrified because had no clue what I was talking about. After explaining it a bit more, he graciously said he would try making it for me anyways. I was beginning to believe this was a trick Ryan had played on me to order an item that has never existed, however, according to the internet (my incredibly valuable resource) the brown burger does exist! The very sweet manager did a wonderful job making it for me and I will definitely be back to order another one next time we drive up there. 

The next day, Ryan and I spent the morning running a few errands before meeting up to hang out with our new friend, Calli. We ate waffles at Cousteau's, popsicles at Hyppo, shopped around Uptown and stopped into Ice Plant for pretzels and cocktails before calling it an early evening. Calli snapped a few photos of Ryan and I at Cousteau's; we're pretty silly. 

We stopped into Jenna Alexander's shop to check out some of her work. I am so in love with her Stripes and Buns collection (on the right) and wanted to take the entire gallery wall home with me. 

Declaration also recently reopened their new space called Declaration & Co: The Market Place. My best friend, Britni, used to intern for them when we were in college. It's been a lot of fun to see just how much they have grown over the past five years. On one side of the shop they sell a variety of home goods, gifts, clothing and their own line of stationery and textiles. On the other side of the shop is Mr. George's Candy Corner which pays homage to the building's original use as a candy and tobacco shop. 

We quickly popped into the Yield shop and studio so Calli could take a look around and see where Ryan keeps his letterpress for M.C. Pressure. 

More Hyppo pops were consumed...I can't stop and won't stop until I try all 450 flavors. This time, we had pistachio coconut and papaya pineapple. 

Treasure hunting at its finest. 

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And of course, no trip to St. Augustine would be complete without an order of shrimp tacos from Catch 27. If given the chance, I'm fairly certain I would eat them every single day. 

See you again soon, St. Augustine!