Spoon River Drive 2015: A Recap and Flea Market Finds

How does 100 miles of flea markets, antique, junk and craft vendors sound to you? It's the flea market lovers dream.
Spoon River Drive is the first two full weekends of October every year. It's a festival in Fulton County, Illinois with several flea markets, craft shows, festivals, and junk, craft, and antique vendors set up along the Spoon River Drive Route. There are vendors setting up shop in yards, parking lots, barns, churches, just everywhere.  My mom, sister and I make a day out of it and hit a few towns each year searching for goodies and deals.

This year, I hardly spent 20 bucks, but did not come home empty handed.

My favorite buy was this giant screen drawer thing for a whole 2 dollars. I have the perfect spot for it. I love the tag holder on the end too.

Do you know what this is?

This $5 beauty will find it's new home in our basement...

my vintage carrom board

A few items I passed on, but caught my eye.

Brass horse and apples.

I already have a flipping awesome old metal bed. Believe me when I say, I super wanted this one too. I refused to ask how much they were asking otherwise it would have probably been in the car.

This old metal bed is everything. 

 More cool horses. Neigh.

Who wants this retro orange sofa?

A few years ago, I scored this fantastic old radio for less than 20 bucks. It does still turn on, but we haven't gotten it to work. Would have been pretty neat to listen to the Cubbies win on it last night though huh? We should probably work on this.

Philco Radio from the 40's

2015 route:
Hannah City
Farmington
Canton
Smithfield 

Hannah City: Go for the junk vendors. Our first stop is usually a guy selling antiques and junk in someone's garage/driveway. Great deals and usually we make our first purchase here.
Farmington: Go for the apple fritters, stay for the flea market at the fair grounds. Farmington has vendors on the sides of the roads too, along with 3 large vendor filled stops; one flea market/antique stop at the antique mall parking lot,  one fairground flea market, and one craft show at the park. We skipped the craft show at the park this year and opted for more time at the flea market.

GET THE APPLE FRITTERS at the fairground. They are worth standing in line for. I seriously am not kidding. Go.

Best apple fritters in the Midwest.

Canton: Again, go for the junk vendors. Junk vendors are everywhere along the Spoon River Drive. Stop when something catches your eye. Buy all the junk.
Smithfield: My opinion; this one is skippable. We heard good things, we drove, we walked around...and questioned why we heard such good things. Then we left. This town had very few vendors (maybe 20) but the town was bustling with people. We weren't sure why they were all there for only 20 vendors. We had high hopes but will not return on this stop next year.

Next year we plan to change it up again, while still hitting our favorite towns & vendors. And of course, get our favorite apple fritters.

Source

Have you ever been to Spoon River Drive? Share your route and tips!
Check back later this week. I'm sharing what I did with that $2 screen.

Summertime Fruit Spritzers: Vacation Every Day with Palm Breeze

You wouldn't guess it by this goofy Illinois weather, but summertime is here. One of the best parts of summer is hosting friends on our back covered deck. We have the perfect outdoor space and we make good use of it. It's especially great this year, because with Ben...we sure need a breather and a chance to relax in the evenings! We won't be going on vacation this year with our new little one. But we still need to unwind.

My favorite way to relax is on the back deck--with a cocktail in my hand.

I have a few go-to drinks for this summer. Palm Breeze is a brand new drink perfect for mixing--and pretending like you are on a tropical island without a care in the world. It's flavored malt beverage (FMB). Which basically means it’s an alcoholic drink made with a malt base, kind of like beer. They created it with women as their target customers!

I found it at my local liquor store; sold by the case, or just by the can. I chose to purchase the cans individually so I could try both flavors. Palm Breeze comes in Ruby Red Citrus and Pineapple Mandarin Orange. Each can was just over a buck a piece. Since I planned to make mixed cocktails with them...that's less than a buck a drink. Delicious...and easy on my wallet.

I created 2 different drinks. I wanted to keep them both easy...I have a baby...ain't nobody got time for making fancy drinks with 10 different mixers.

Ruby Red Fruit Spritzer serves 4

• Palm Breeze Ruby Red Citrus (two cans)
• 34 oz Tonic water 
• Handful of fresh strawberries, sliced (even better if they are from your own garden!)

Muddled Pineapple Spritzer serves 2

• Palm Breeze Pineapple Mandarin Orange (two cans)
• Pineapple chunks muddled
• Ice

They were both simple to make, inexpensive, and yummy. This beverage is for those who are: spontaneous, carefree, confident, social & stylish; loves to spend her free time hanging with her girlfriends; loves to travel, enjoys outdoor activities and tries to soak up the sun!
I will be enjoying a few more of these this summer....all the while dreaming up my next vacation. Happy Summer!

P.S. If you are in a big city check out the Palm Breeze Bar Events near you!

• San Diego
• DC
• Austin
• Dallas

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Summertime Kabobs ((perfectly paired with CK Mondavi Wines!))

Summer food is my favorite part of summer. If I were a teacher, lounging in the pool would probably be the best part, also if I had a pool. But I did not pick the right line of work---I am not a teacher. I don't have a pool either. So, food it is. Food; the best part of summer.

Summer always makes me think of grilling out, fresh veggies from the garden, wine, ice cream, strawberries, wine...did I say wine already?

Today I'm sharing a delicious marinade we put on our summertime kabobs. But it's so yummy and scrumptious, you will probably want to brush it on all of your favorite grillin' foods.

Ingredients:

Chicken Breast &/or Pork Sausage

Bacon
Green Apples

Red, Yellow, & Orange sweet Peppers
Kabob sticks

Marinade:
Apple Cider Vinegar 1/4 cup

Brown Sugar 1/4 cup
Olive Oil 2 tablespoons

Soy Sauce 1 tablespoon
Honey 2 tablespoons

I pretty much threw together what we had in the fridge for the kabobs. Pork sausage, chicken breast--with bacon wrapped around the chicken. We are serious about our pork in this house. I stuck a few green apples on there too. They were great with the sweet peppers!

We brushed on the marinade right before we put them in the oven. It was rainy the day we cooked this meal, so we decided to cook them in the oven. It was not a mistake.

Ready for cookin'!

Perfect summertime meal. Wine & kabobs.

I think they'll be great on the grill too this summer! I made a quick (pinnable!) recipe card so you can add it to your summer party food pinboards!

Ck Mondavi wines was nice enough to send us 4 of their wines to pair with our favorite summer recipe!

Sometimes, it pays (in wine) to be a blogger!

This treat made the kabobs 1,000x better. Honestly, wine makes everything better!

Their brand new Blonde Five was my favorite and reminded me of summer the most! I could have finished the entire bottle on my own.  It’s light and airy with a hint of pear and honeysuckle.

CK Mondavi Blonde Five recommends accompanying spicy chicken dishes, shrimp, and mild cheeses. I was smart to pair my bottle of the Blonde five with a chicken dish…and I have to agree with them!

I can’t wait to try the other white wine CK Mondavi offered me. They say to try it with roasted chicken and pastas. I’m a pasta girl, so this one will be next on the menu!

Adam is more of a red wine dude. He tried the Cabernet Sauvignon first. This one is a classic red, perfect for a chicken kabob dinner. It boasts a strong cherry & blackberry flavor with a hint of oak.

My new go-to wine is CK Mondavi. Yours should be too, here's why:

• CK Mondavi is the only American made/grown wine in the “supermarket wine under $10” category.
• CK Mondavi Winery is a family owned and operated business. Made in America!
• CK Mondavi is the only wine in this price point to be 100% American made & grown
• The perfect wine to serve on Independence Day: They participate in the Intrepid Fallen Heros fund a percentage of their sales goes to supporting Veterans! #CKMondaviHeroes
• BONUS fun fact: Owner Marc Mondavi was born on the 4th of July and 2014 marks his 60th birthday!

CK Mondavi wine can be purchased in every state! Pick it up for this year's fourth of July party! Don't forget to make it with your favorite summer recipe! What will you make?

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Finally Friday: Happy V-Day!

It's finally Friday. It's Valentine's Day. If you are a Valentine's day Grinch you better click yourself out of this post... Adam and I exchanged Valentines last night since we will be busy tonight.

Instead of regular bouquet of flowers this year he got me tulips! I really love tulips, hopefully I can take care of them so they bloom.

He also bought me perfume. It's Jennifer Aniston's scent. I like her. He hoped I would like her scent too. He did good. It's a light and sweet floral. It's something I can wear every day. Bonus: It doesn't make me sneeze! (stupid allergies)

I gave Adam a bucket filled with his favorite snacks, and a six pack of a beer he likes. I think he liked it...

Heavenly treats for him.

And I just wanted to post this because it's OH SO AMAZING. Everyone should probably make it this weekend and eat it all. I happily gained 10 pounds eating it last weekend. My friend Tan made two batches, and we were not mad about it.

 Lucky Charms Chex Mix.

If you follow me on instagram, you probably saw all of these photos already. If you don't you need to follow me!

Are you celebrating Valentine's Day? Or are you a V-DAY Grinch?
Have you tried this amazing Lucky Charms Chex mix?

A Ski Lodge Party

This New Year's Eve we participated in a progressive dinner party.  What is a progressive dinner party you ask? It's a house hop. Everyone starts at one home, and hop to different homes throughout the evening. Each host serves a signature drink, and appetizer to the house hoppers.

It's best to do it with your neighbors or friends that live close. Cuts down on drive time, and if you can walk to each others homes...you don't have to worry about choosing a DD! But if you will be driving from house to house, don't forget to decide on a DD before the night begins!

This year we decided each house could do their own theme of their own choice.

We chose Ski Lodge. We figured our house already has the lodge feel, so we already had the setting. Since we would only be hosts for a short time in the evening (about an hour), we didn't want to go nuts with party planning. But still wanted to do a few fun things..

One Saturday afternoon we pulled out the barn wood. Adam hammered some nails into it for about 10 minutes in the garage and came up with this:

Yep, that will work.

 We busted out some stencils, and printed some "mountain animals" from the internets to trace.

 This was Adam's first time stenciling. He said it was boring...

 Rawwr...

 And here she is. Ready for the front yard.

Welcome to the ski lodge!

Adam strung up some lights last minute to give it a little more pizzaz.

I added some new year's art to the chalkboard easel to greet guests in our entry way.

Vintage ski poles courtesy of my dad for some added lodge decor.

 My dad also gave us some of his old cross country skis. Adam tied them up on the catwalk.

 For the table I spray painted some pinecones with gold spray paint. And used some fabric as a table runner.

I served my favorite hot warm dip. Bagna Cauda. It's italian. And it clogs your arteries. And it's soso good.

 We had a bar set up with hot cocoa, wine, and scotch.

Your Ski Lodge hosts thank you for coming!

Other stops on the evening's progressive dinner included:
Hawaii (if you didn't notice by Adam's lei)
Mardi Gras!
German Christmas Market
A Wild West Saloon
and ended the night in New York Times Square!


I wish I would've taken photos at each hop, but the night happened so fast!
Here are a few more:

Adam's Aunt Katie painted this backdrop in one afternoon!

Beautiful German Christmas Market Setup.

Ladies in New York for the ball drop.

I am Tyra Smizing here..

At Mardi Gras...notice the cowboy in the background...

Have you ever been to/hosted a progressive dinner party?
What theme would you choose?

Dare to Entertain: Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Dates

We love to entertain. Especially during the holidays. We usually host a winder cocktail party and we always try to make the drinks & food menu fit the dress code.

I can only give credit to my mother for introducing me to these "fancy" appetizers.
They sound fancy, they look fancy, they taste fancy. But they're actually pretty easy to make.

I'm going to share the recipe so you too can make your guests think you are a fancy-pants host.

Ingredients

pitted dates

Bacon

crumbled blue cheese

balsamic glaze

toothpicks

gather your ingredients

Directions
Stuff your dates with blue cheese. Make them really cheesy. Squeeze them shut.
Wrap your dates with the bacon. 
Secure with toothpick.
Drizzle the balsamic glaze over the wrapped dates.
Cook on 350 degrees until the bacon is nice and crisp. (Mine cooked about 15 minutes.)

Serve. Be fancy. 

Ready to be wrapped in bacon.

Stuffed dates. Best when paired with a equally fancy cocktail.

Sharing this on the Dare to DIY link party @ Maybe Matilda