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Friday Favorites #536

by Kaylah Stroup

I’m teaming up with Etsy today to bring you a super special Halloween version of my Friday Favorites. It may not look all that different than my normal FF posts but this only contains items from rad small businesses!

This post also contains affiliate links. Check out our disclosure policy for more details.

Sorry, we’re dead! Satsuma Street has all kinds of cool Halloween themed cross stitch patterns in their shop. I’m especially fond of this headstone.

How cute is this bat enamel pin!?

Ghost kitty!

This skeleton blanket! The same company, Frankie Print Co, also makes this tiny skull blanket too.

Spooky candles from Lichen & Limestone! I bought bat wings and frog’s breath. They both smell SO good and the wood wicks make such a relaxing sound as they burn.

A little something to help you sleep like the dead.

Creepier than a cemetery at midnite.

Because sending Halloween cards should definitely be more of a thing!

I have loved this ring by Datter for so long. I already own the matching earrings.

I love Sweet Omen’s work!

Best for last? Perhaps! I am so excited to finally have gotten my hands on this Future Ghost shirt!

Link love…

Happy Friday! xoxo

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abandoned Fort Courage, AZ

by Kaylah Stroup
abandoned Fort Courage, AZ

Throwing it back to June’s massive road trip again today. Check out the bottom of this post for links to previous posts.

After relaxing at The Wigwam (aka heaven on earth!) Jeff and I started our long drive home from Arizona. Just over 2,000 miles. 30 hours without factoring in any stops! Our friend, Jake, who we had taken the first half of the trip with had a business trip that he’d be flying off to from Phoenix so it was just the two of us heading back to Ohio.

The idea of that drive home seemed a bit daunting but I was excited to cover some new ground. If you haven’t gathered the fact that the journey is just as/ if not more important than the destination to us then uh, you must be new here! Hello! Nice to meet you!

The first eleven or so hours would all be fairly familiar territory. The route is one we’ve driven a handful of times but that’s totally cool by me because we always seem to find a new place or two to stop each time.

Like this place! This is a spot that has caught my attention every single time we’ve driven past it but we were always too late to get off at the exit. The first time we drove by it, it caught my attention but I don’t think I fully realized it was abandoned. It just looked like another huge business off the highway, probably selling dusty old trinkets. The next year, when we went by it again, I knew it was abandoned but of course, we didn’t have time to get off at the exit.

This year though? It was a priority. I had a pretty good idea of what we’d be getting into and I was determined to actually make it there. I marked it on the map and let Jeff know far in advance where the exit was.

Fort Courage was far beyond my expectations!

abandoned Fort Courage, AZ
Fort Courage, AZ

Fort Courage was built in the 1970’s to replicate the fort from the TV show “F-Troop”. Reviews left on their page reveal that they really didn’t have very much in way of F-Troop merchandise (probably because they weren’t officially affiliated!) But thanks to the sales of miscellaneous travel souvenirs and the ever needed snack, they managed to stay in business for quite a while.

On the property, there was a gas station, large gift shop, Pancake House (dude, it was awesome. I have photos for another day!) and a whole bunch of buildings that would later become apartments.

We were unable to get into all of the buildings but still had a heck of a fun time wandering around what was open. Approaching the buildings behind the main gift shop, I wasn’t sure what to expect. At the time I didn’t know that those were abandoned apartments. It didn’t take long to figure it out though. They were packed full of things. It’s like one day everyone just up and left!

More posts from this trip;

Check out even more road trip posts under the ‘travel‘ tag & more ghost towns here.

Fort Courage is for sale! $995,000. 57 acres and boasts “no competition on an 8 mile radius” Buy it and be just a short trip from me over at Two Guns!

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Friday Favorites #535

by Kaylah Stroup

This post contains affiliate links. Check out our disclosure policy for more details.

How cute is this sweater!? I bought this one last week and it fits great so now, of course, I’m on a total sweater kick!

This phone case is just… batty!

I’ve definitely featured things from this line before but would you just look at this pillow!? That is 100% my style. There are also matching coasters.

So obsessed with these spooky bags I whipped up yesterday!

This snake mug!

When we finally buy a house, one of the first silly purchases I’m making for it is a hand doorknocker. I like this one too.

Green corduroy overalls! Yes, please!

Uhh... this sweater!!!!

This rug!!! Soooo good!

Very very into this pin!

These jammies!

Link love…

Happy Friday! xoxo

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10 things making me smile

by Kaylah Stroup

Finding little creatures around my neighborhood. For a while it’s just been dinosaurs and other animals but recently there was an alien invasion!

Bending down to pick up a kind of boring piece of clear beach glass only to spot what is easily the nicest red piece I’ve ever seen.

Family time. Working on the bus, dump digging, and metal detecting at abandoned houses. I feel so close to my people right now and its the best.

Even more exciting than plastic aliens – real ones!! More photos of this little model here.

My favorite idiot and his unconditional love.

Mushroom season!

Bikes, pals & friendly strangers. This is from the end of August (Critical Mass is the last Friday of the month) but I can’t not share. I really enjoy this video. Nights like this one make me never wanna leave the city.

This determined plant that went from not being watered in months, to just some leaves with roots to two healthy plants (and this is the small one! Those leaves on the right yielded two pots worth of plant!)

Watching cicadas emerge! I’ve got a play by play here!

Tiny kitties, giant bean bag. Will I ever be that cozy? Probably not.

Other nice things; â–´ this GIF from what feels like a million years ago â–´ when Spotify makes you a “time capsule” playlist and it’s full of bangers you can sing along to while you burn the midnight oil â–´ seeing my favorite band twice in one week â–´ fresh baked pumpkin muffins â–´ when you forget about a food you like to make and when you make it again its better than ever (sausage gravy & biscuits!) â–´ this recent dumb and dumber inspired purchase â–´ this photo of Professor â–´ decorating the apartment for Halloween (today’s agenda!) â–´ tiny turtles! â–´

What’s making you smile today?
xoxo

PS. Can’t recommend this gratitude journal enough!

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Vincent Baptist Church Cemetery – Chester Springs, Pennsylvania

by Kaylah Stroup

I feel like recently a lot of my posts have mentioned how ridiculously cool I think my family is. This is another one of those posts. Back in January, my sixteen-year-old nephew texted me about our many greats great grandfather. He’s super into genealogy which is something that interests me but basically only in the sense that I’d like the information handed to me and then I wanna go see where those folks are buried*. So, when he told me a bit of information about this random family member and mentioned he found the cemetery he was buried at, I was definitely interested!

*That really makes it sound like I’m not interested but I am! It’s just that I have a lot of other hobbies and spending time/money on genealogy sites just doesn’t make the cut at this time. There’s only so much time in a day, ya know?

Nearly a whole year has passed but as I was getting ready to hit the road and head to Philadelphia last weekend for a concert I happened to remember those texts. My nephew had mentioned it was ‘somewhat close to Philadelphia’. As luck would have it, it was only 20 minutes or so off our route. Of course I wanted to take a little pit-stop!

The route there from the highway was beautiful. Hilly, wooded, and speckled with beautiful old homes. I exclaimed more than once “this is where I wanna live!” The cemetery itself sits next to an old church. There are close to 900 memorials listed on FindAGrave but somehow I managed to essentially walk straight up to what I was looking for…

There he is, Daniel Evans. My great great great great great grandfather! Born in 1743 in Caernarfonshire, Wales, he emigrated to the United States in 1752. Daniel is thought to have been a soldier in the Revolutionary War and was a schoolmate of General “Mad Anthony” Wayne. He fathered eight (possibly nine) children. He died at age 76, in 1820.

I’ve never heard of this man. I know no stories of him, aside from what I read on his FindAGrave page but the excitement of finding a relative was immense! I don’t even have any relatives that I know of with the surname ‘Evans’ but suddenly every Evans in this cemetery was cause for squeals of excitement. Let me tell you, I just kept stumbling upon them too! Most were so old it was hard to make out dates and inscriptions. Still, SO exciting!!!

I kind of thought I’d just be sharing some photos from my little adventure and telling you just that it was a relative but gosh darn it, I’ve been cruising ancestry sites for the last oh… four hours. I’m excited to learn more and visit other cemeteries with the excuse of looking for relatives. I have a feeling that’s going to be my new obsession for a bit. While browsing the internet, I found my nephew’s records of our family tree, that’ll definitely make it a lot easier to start finding where folks are buried.

One of Daniel’s sons. So… an uncle of mine?

Here’s to finding more long lost relatives! xoxo

Check out more of my cemetery posts here.

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Friday Favorites #534

by Kaylah Stroup

This post contains affiliate links. Check out our disclosure policy for more details.

I love Sophia Rapata’s work so so so much! How terrifying is this spider!? Love it!

Creepy Candles makes some wonderfully… wait for it… creepy candles. Seriously, how rad it this coffin shaped one that burns to reveal a human skeleton!?

Stay Creepy!

I bought these pants earlier in the week. (They’re out for delivery today!) I’m super excited because they’re a little bit out of my comfort zone but I just thought they’d be so cute for fall. I’m planning on pairing them with a striped top, of course!

This pennant! Love Halloween decor that could totally be left up all year long (which is like most of it to me!)

Precious little ghost kitty!

Loving this spiderweb sweatshirt.

This mug with a hidden skull in the bottom!

The color of this scarf is perfect.

This is the most out of place thing in this list, it isn’t spooky or fall-themed at all but Forrest Gump is my all-time favorite movie and I just about screamed when I saw this pin!

I don’t know anything about Fantastic Beasts but Pottery Barn’s Fantastic Beasts line has some incredible stuff. These jewelry holders are right up my alley! Also, if you like those I’d jump on them fast. I spotted a rad snake mirror from the same collection earlier in the week and when I went to put this post together it was gone. Booo!

Link love…

Happy Friday! xoxo

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#1 houseplant care must have!

by Kaylah Stroup
Dr. meter moisture meter review

Okay, so maybe this isn’t the “#1 houseplant care must have”. I’d say that goes to proper lighting or pots with drainage. BUT, holy cow, it’s been a major game changer for me!

The Dr. meter moisture meter! *cue angels singing in the background*

It is a small device that you poke into the soil of your plants (indoor, outdoor, potted or not) that gives you a reading of the moisture level immediately. It doesn’t need a battery and is ready to use as soon as you take it out of the packaging. The back of the box includes a list of some plants and what moisture level they like to be at.

It’s obviously way more accurate (and less messy!) than poking your finger into the dirt. Previously, that’s how I’d check if my plants needed water but I quickly realized how much more of a superior method was. Not to mention, it’s small and easily fits in places my hand wouldn’t – like into the pot of a spiky cactus!

Dr. meter moisture meter review

From the day I got it, I was very into it. About a week after starting to use it though? OBSESSED.

Here’s my little success story about the moisture meter: So, I have this chenille plant. This is what it looked like when I brought it home. Gorgeous, right!? The first few weeks I had it, it started dropping it’s fuzzy pink chenilles. I wasn’t too worried, figuring that maybe I bought it during its showy season and now it was going to kind of just chill for a while before blooming again in a few months. Then my leaves started to look kind of icky. I wasn’t really sure what I was doing wrong. I felt like I was following all the stuff I’d been reading online about it but still, it wasn’t improving.

The first time I used my moisture meter I poked it into my chenille plant. It read as a “1” meaning very dry which was weird because I had watered it that morning. I watered it, waited until morning and checked again. The meter yet again said “1”! It took a few days of this cycle before I realized that that plant just LOVES to drink. I don’t water anything else in my collection that often or even close to that often but the moisture meter helped me figure out that where I had my chenille plant placed made it really, really thirsty and that it was a plant that liked to be moist all the time.

It’s a been a little under two months since I’ve had the Dr. meter moisture meter. Every single one of my plants has benefited from this silly little thing. I honestly really thought I was good at knowing when to water my plants and how much moisture they liked but this has shown me otherwise.

My chenille plant still is nowhere near as fluffy pink as it was when I brought it home but each week its producing larger and larger chenilles. It’s on the up and up all because the moisture meter helped me figure out how quickly it drank.

I use my moisture meter at least once a day on some of my more high maintenance plants. It’s a bit addicting for me to see what their moisture level is at different points in the day. It’s helped me learn a lot more about my plants which of course, helps me take better care of them.

For the price (currently under $10!) you can’t beat it! The Dr. meter moisture meter will be a staple in my plant supplies for life.

You don’t leave the meter in the plant. This is just me showing you a thirsty plant! 😉
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Friday Favorites #533

by Kaylah Stroup

This post contains affiliate links. Check out our disclosure policy for more details.

Would you just look at this ridiculous kitty costume!? Tickey Bootique has all kinds of silly photos, perfect if you need a smile.

This skirt! Perfect for fall.

Squirrel sweater! That’d actually look super cute with skirt above.

For anyone out there looking to make friends who also like cryptids!

My recent adventures in dump digging (read about those here) have me obsessed with bottles. I would absolutely scream if I dug up a poison bottle like this! Also – a green one + a red one! Ahhh!

LOVING this dress! I’m picturing it paired with a jean jacket and some boots.

Okay but how rad is this bronze tooth mold!?

19 boxy bags hit the shop earlier this week, including some awesome ‘Halloween’ themed fabrics. (Halloween in quotes because I like bones and things all year long!) Seriously, how rad is this glow in the dark one?!

I seriously just love Joules raincoats so much. This starry one is perfection. I’m still a fan of this bee one too!

Professor’s bow tie is looking a little rough these days so I was browsing for a new one (because he can never go back to being naked now!) and spotted this one. Isn’t that the cutest!?

Aren’t these rings beautiful!?

Link love…

Happy Friday! xoxo

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dump digging treasures

by Kaylah Stroup
A few of the dump finds I’ve kept.

Since my first little foray into dump digging, it’s basically all I’ve thought about. There’s just something really spectacular about digging in the dirt and unearthing old things. That coupled with the fact that my nieces and nephew are also super into it makes it the most fun ever.

Our Sundays are essentially reserved for working on the bus but since we’re all hooked on finding treasure, we’ve been sneaking away to do a bit of digging. We even went in the pouring rain last weekend because we were all so anxious to get back at it.

This particular dump is just absolutely lousy with bottles. Lots of baby food jars too! We’ve gone three times total. The first was basically all bottle finds but the last two times we’ve started to uncover more unique items. A marble, a few wheat pennies, and miscellaneous figurines, to mention a few.

My nephew is in full-blown coin mode, he even brought over a sieve so he could search more efficiently. I’m honestly stoked about essentially everything we dig up but if I had to choose some things I’m most excited to find it’d be tiny bottles, marbles, and jewelry (so far no jewelry but I’ve got my fingers crossed!)

cleaning old bottles from the dump
dump digging finds
Mrs Butterworths glass bottle
Dippity Do setting gel bottle from bottle dump
old 7UP bottle
bottle dump
Some of the whole bottles we dug up that no one was interested in. We’re getting to the point where there are so many they’re in the way of finding new ones.
Not super into old soda bottles but I do love Dr Pepper!
Bayer Aspirin.
A marble!

Despite the fact we all really love finding treasure in the mud, we’re still all reasonable people who know that we can’t bring home every single neat thing we find. My dad offered up some space in the pavilion for us to display our finds. Displayed below are some of the treasures from a single trip to the dump. Needless to say, we either need to pump the brakes (no!) or find more spots to display our goodies! (yes!)

I’m excited that we have a new family hobby, aside from the bus. I foresee lots of muddy adventures in our future.

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