Ethan celebrated our 2 year anniversary in February, and his gift to me was a trip to Springfield to visit Red Velvet. That’s all we really had planned. We went to Springfield this past weekend and had an absolutely glorious time. Red Velvet was just a tiny part of why it was awesome. (and Red Velvet was actually a bit of a let down because neither Elsie or Emma were there, their sweet shoppe was closed, and the selection of vintage wasn’t as big as I was expecting. White Whine….But we’ll go back when Elsie and Emma are there so I can meet them and drink some bubble tea. It’ll be grand.)
Anyway, here is a look at our incredibly lovely and fun weekend through instagram:
(All photos via instagram. Username: deerrachel)
The 4.5 hour drive there was filled with music, the ABC game (I won) and laughter.
And a nap for me.
Our first stop was lunch (we pulled into town around 12:15) at Grad School, which got
locals’ high praise. I had fish tacos and Ethan had a sandwich.
My handsome lunch date. :)
Hoover Music sign near Grad School.
Red Velvet! Ethan spoiled me and bought me a black and white gingham dress with buttons up the back that you’ll probably see me wearing in a near outfit post.
After Red Velvet, we went down the street to a few more vintage shops. Ethan bought me a
vintage felt Stetson hat that I adore. Then we went to Funtiques (the coolest store ever) and stopped by an independent movie theater and a rad local skate shop called Classics that Ethan loved.
Pretty letters at Funtiques. I ended up buying letters to make the word “explore”
and a fantastic retro salad set in the prettiest shade of green.
After an afternoon of exploring, we checked into the most charming and adorable
bed and breakfast ever, The Walnut Street Inn. I died. We took a little nap
and then went out for dinner.
We searched for a restaurant that was local and was rated highly and we came across a place
called Arris pizza. It really was mediocre. Haha. A little disappointing, but fine.
We got froyo afterwards. Ethan is a stealer.
We also decided we are old people and went to bed around 10:30. But we slept well.
The next morning we woke up and got ready and had our very delicious Apple and banana french toast soufflé, fresh fruit, bacon, OJ, and hot tea. It was lovely. We ate outside and everything was fantastic.
Pretty flowers outside.
My colors of the day were pink, coral, and mustard. I ended up having to take the
cardigan off because it got too warm. So lovely, though.
After breakfast, we headed to Urban Flea Market, which is the best and biggest flea market
I’ve ever been to. I ended up spending $25 and walking out with a mid century orange
side table, a vintage suitcase, and two vintage silk scarves. Really lovely.
After Urban Flea Market, we went back downtown to enjoy some coffee and sunshine.
Coffee Ethic is right across the street from a park with fountains and sculptures downtown.
Ethan drank a dirty chai and I had an iced mocha.
I really like us. It was also gorgeous outside. Perfect. About 74, sunny, a little breezy. <3
Coffee in the park.
After coffee, we bought some bread, cheese, crackers, and jalapeno jam from a local little
grocery store. We had a picnic in the park then played catch with a ball I brought. It was
a lot of fun and sparked the urge to find/buy some baseball gloves and a few baseballs.
After park time, we went to go see a local play at Springfield Little Theater. We watched
Red, White, and Tuna. It was pretty funny, but pretty long. We didn’t have much time to do much
else. After the play, I did some homework (online summer courses. Gross) and Ethan cruised around on his pennyboard. After all of that, we searched for about an hour and a half for a good restaurant
that was open on Sundays. After a while, we finally found a local Italian restaurant and ate a
fantastic meal. We vowed to turn our phones off, so no instagram of the dinner.
We had bruschetta, salad, really flavorful and different pasta dishes, creme brulee (my favorite!) and good conversation. It was lovely.
By the time we got back to the Bed and Breakfast, we were both pretty tired.
We watched some Food Network and then went to bed early.
The next morning, we checked out of our B&B which we intend on staying again and headed out
for some breakfast.
We ate at a local creperie, called Aviary Cafe. It was such a cute little place.
The decor was lovely and the food was amazing.
I had berries and cream crepes.
(Crepes with marscapone cheese, berry compote, vanilla custard sauce and whipped cream)
And then I didn’t have berries and cream crepes.
Some of the prettiness of Aviary. And my shoes…
We took one last stroll around downtown before heading out.
The last stop was a little overgrown forest area we found. So we stopped for some photos (that I’ll
share very soon) before we hit the road.
I’m so thankful I got to spend this past weekend with my boyfriend and best friend.
He means the world to me and he is so generous, funny, kind, and loving.
He spoils me. And he shouldn’t. But goodness, I love him.
*Gag*
With love,
Rachel
Oh, by the way, I’m not offering 15% off ALL shoots booked with me from now until August 18th.
Woohoo!
by rachel
Sounds like the perfect anniversary! Love your photos too!