Wild Flowers

Eastern Washington in the spring is my favorite place ever. I think it takes being away for a while to really appreciate the beauty of my home town and the valley where I grew up. I mean just look at these wild flowers! And they are everywhere on the hillsides and plateaus. It is very dreamy. The weather has been in the mid 60s since we have been here and its been really nice. I thought it would be a little warmer but with it being 85+ and super humid in North Carolina. I am 100% enjoying this cooler and milder weather. It is fantastic.

I have been enjoying watching my brothers play baseball games and taking them out to lunch. They are both in middle school so they have school all this week still but Clark and I took them out to lunch which has been fun. Although in our tiny home town there are only like 2 places to go to lunch. We used to have a McDonalds but it burnt down. Sad day. haha, but really. 

We have also been enjoying eating some Eastern Washington specific food. In Chelan, WA there is the best little drive in EVER! It is called Lakeview Drive-In and if you are ever in the area during the spring/summer you HAVE TO go. It is seasonal so it is not open late fall and winter. We have also been enjoying eating at the taco wagon. In other parts of the country these are known as street tacos but here we just call them tacos. We have some hardcore authentic Mexican food here and it is amazing! Anyways, it has been wonderful so far. Now I am off to enjoy these beautiful weather. 
love, Carlee

Plaid Shirt: H&M

Tank: American Eagle

Jeans: Macys

Sandals: Toms

Roses by the railroad tracks

I was on my way home from Target the other day and I saw a glimpse of something pink behind some trees and a building by the railroad tracks. The next time I went by, I was like those are wild roses! So when Clark and I went out to dinner last night I had him snap some quick photos. Clark just finished 60 days of the Whole30 diet and he lost 22lbs which is amazing! I didn't do it with him but I did end up eating better which is good. So to celebrate the end of the diet we went and got some pizza last night! 

After publishing my post yesterday I realized that I have only posted 5 blog posts for May and it's already the 19th. That's okay though. Life has been busy lately with trying to get everything ready before we move to Italy in July and also we are taking a vacation to Washington State and I am also trying to get things figured out with Little Sloth the shop, I will share a post on that soon and what is happening with the shop. Happy Thursday, I am way more active on my instagram and snapchat both @carleewengel for the username, if you want to keep up with me over there. 

love, Carlee

Shirt: Target

Sandals: Old Navy

Jeans: TJ Maxx

Blue and White for life

My favorite wall in Fayetteville, it is in downtown on the backside of main street on the one way street. I first discovered this wall almost 3 years ago and you can see the first post I did with it here and another one here. These photos were taken over the weekend when Clark and I had a little day on the town. We strolled along Hay Street and went into a bunch of fun little shops. There were actually some new really cute gifts shops that have only been there a few months so it was exciting to check those out. I also finally got a Fayetteville Christmas ornament. Whenever I go on vacation or visit a new city for a souvenir I get a Christmas ornament so I can look at all the places I have been every December when I put up my tree. Clark thought I was silly to get a Fayetteville ornament. But I was like we have lived here for 3 years, it needs to be represented on our Christmas tree! haha

We are headed to Washington State soon for a little visit and to see our family before we move to Italy in July. I am very excited to see our family and friends. And Clark's sister is going to be home which is exciting because she wasn't home last Christmas so we are happy that everyone will be together for a little while. My mom and I are also throwing a bridal shower for my brothers fiancé  while I am home and that should be fun. I am also one of her bridesmaids so I got double duty haha. 
Happy Wednesday! 
love, Carlee 

Shoes: Ross

Dress: Target

Vest: Forever 21

For some reason my post is not formatting correctly! So sorry if it looks kind of funky. 

And Then There Were None: Agatha Christie

So this is a great mystery / thriller novel. Agatha Christe is the most published and best selling author behind only Shakesheaper and the Bible. Which is crazy. Especially since I was not familiar with her books and work before this book. So shame on me because this book was amazing and is the best selling mystery of all time and also 3 most selling author of all time. This book was written in 1939

and originally titled Ten Little N*ggers but without the asterisk and when it was published in the USA it was first titled Ten Little Indians. I think it is pretty obvious why the titles were changed. 

There is a poem in the book that is kind of the whole bases around the murder mystery. And in the current version of the book the poem is about ten little soldiers and they are at Soldier Island. So I can only image that it was the other derogatory terms in the other versions. I actually didn't know about the first titles until I finished the book and Googled it and looked at the Wikipedia page. So don't let the pervious titles deter you from reading this book. If you want a good mystery novel this one really is. This one seemed to freak me out more than any of the Gillian Flynn books and even Stephen King's The Shining so I think that is saying something. It wasn't necessary that it was super scary or freaky. It was more psychological tormenting which for me is the worst kind of torment. 

It was a good book about 10 strangers that are on an island and they get picked off one by one but no one knows who the murder is. I don't really want to spoil any more than that. Just make sure to read the 'manuscript' which is technically the last chapter of the book. I just thought it was a manuscript for another one of her books so I was like wtf that ended was terrible but the 'manuscript' is actually the explanation of what happens in the murders eyes so make sure to read it! Thats all. Its great if you like mysteries. 

love, Carlee 

Cameron Antique Street Fair

On Saturday, we headed to Cameron NC to check out the spring antique street festival. We actually went to this street fair in the fall of 2014! We loved it and last year I missed it all together but this year I wanted to make sure we went. It was just as awesome as I remember from 2014, we got there around 10am which I was happy about because the later in the day it gets the more people show up. It is actually best to drive all the way though the town and park on that side because you don't have to pay and the walk to the street fair action isn't far. There is also tons of good food which we didn't really eat much of this time. But there were funnel cakes, snow cones, hot dogs, hamburgers, Chinese food, ice cream, etc. 

We actually didn't buy anything this time but had fun looking around. Last time I was searching for Christmas gifts for my mom she has a novelty oil can collection but this time since we are moving to Italy in a couple months I didn't want to buy anything for myself. There was a lot of good stuff and lots of people! It was also a really pretty day out. 

I have been super into shopping lately which is not so good for the bank account. I haven't even really been shopping for clothes. I will go to Ross or TJ Maxx looking for kitchen stuff I need/want for Italy and we need a bigger suitcase, another shower curtain set, and new sheets, etc. But then I will end up looking at the clothes section and finding some super cute things, like this dress, which I found at Ross. This jacket is also new, I went to Old Navy looking for a swimsuit (it was buy one get one free the other day) and I had to look at the clearance section and found this awesome jacket. It was gonna be $15 but then they rang it up and it was $4.47 seriously such a steal! And I love it because its so cute and different. When it is zipped all the way up its a turtle neck! 
love, Carlee

Dress: Ross

Jacket: Old Navy

Shoes: Belk

Purse: JCPennys

More from MASS

A few more photos from my friend and I's trip to Massachusetts! If you read the last post you know that my friend was moving from NC back to her hometown in Massachusetts while her husband is deployed so we road tripped back and I stayed a few days and saw some of the beautiful state then I flew back to North Carolina. Anyways, here are some more photos from the trip. 

The New York City skyline from I-95 we were traveling pretty late into the night so the traffic wasn't bad at all. Which was definitely a bonus. 

 Wild turkeys on the side of the road, driving out to Plum Island. 

The first time having apple cider donuts. I have seen this all over instagram during the fall from people up north or in the midwest. But this farm actually opens in the spring and starting making fresh donuts. The apple cider they use isn't fresh because there is no apples on the trees right now but still so good. 

My friends parents dog Piper she is a 10 year old golden lab and she is so sweet!! But sheds really bad, way worse than Knox haha. 

So yeah, those are the last photos from the trip! Like I said in the last post, we had the best food! 
love, Carlee

Massy Massachusetts

I went on a mini adventure the last few days! On Thursday my friend and I headed to Massachusetts. She is moving back home while her husband is deployed and didn't want to make the drive by herself so since she knows I love to travel and we get along really well, she asked me to make the trip with her! I, of course, said yes. How could I pass up on an opportunity for adventure. So we left Thursday around noon. We were planning on leaving earlier but there was some mishaps and delays which you know happen occasionally. We got on the road and the drive was 13 hours so we knew we had a long journey ahead. But it wasn't so bad. The worst traffic we hit was around DC at 5 pm or so and after that it was so late when we passed NYC that the traffic wasn't bad at all. Since we left so late it meant that we were driving most of the night and didn't make it into her some town of northern Massachusetts until 3:30am but it really wasn't a bad drive. Surprisingly.

After sleeping in greatly on Friday. I am talking noon-1pm haha. We headed to the beach. She lives 20 minutes away from the Atlantic Ocean which I think is just awesome. We went to Plum Island and if you drive to the wildlife reserve area and tell the man you want to go all the way to the end then you don't have to pay. But if you are stopping at one of the first parking areas to swim or relax on the beach then the cost in $5. But the very end is where it's at because there is purple sand. Which makes me think that is maybe how the island gots its name. But the wikipedia page did not confirm this. We actually got to see some of the purple sand and it was so cool. My friend said their used to be a lot more but there was still quite a bit I thought. We even saw like 6 wild turkeys on the way in and I got a really funny video of one passing by. I also found the coolest unbroken shells. So excited to add them to my collection.

We ate a lot of good food while I was there. My friends Dad asked us what we were gonna do while their and we basically just said a bunch of food. We had a continuing joke that we were doing a 'food tour of the Northeast" haha. We had french toast bagels, apple cider doughnuts, maple nut ice cream, what they call 'beach pizza' (it's square cut pizza), authentic cannolis. I do have a few more photos to share for another post! I had a lot of fun. 
love, Carlee