babes who brunch.

one of our very favorite weekend activities is brunching. lucky for us, saint louis is home to an abundance of really cool restaurants for us to explore. one of our favorites is city coffeehouse + creperie in clayton. this summer has been particularly rainy so far, so it seemed extra cozy that sunday morning. on this visit we both opted out of crepes, however, from sweet to savory, they are truly out of this world. we both love the noisy, yet peaceful coffeehouse atmosphere and can't wait to go back soon. 

^^a very personalized menu, named after many well-known stl locations.^^

^^a fresh strawberry smoothie & a frozen hot chocolate^^

^^their new chocolate chip waffles- amazing!^^

happy tuesday! 

xoxo, 

caroline and mary grace. 

eat to live, don't live to eat. {mary grace}

i'm not gonna lie, i wake up every morning excited to eat. i've never been a big breakfast person, especially since i don't eat meat or eggs & don't drink milk, but my new routine has got me pumped up for mornings. i have recently become accustomed to eating avocado toast & a fruit//green smoothie for my morning meal & will never go back. i am now incapable of living without avocado ;).

i am 6 months vegetarian, and have since learned so much about food & what i am putting into my body (thanks largely to my very knowledgeable, aware, and vegan momma). by no means am i an expert and i am learning every day, but i love the idea of eating to live instead of living to eat. i have not yet once regretted my decision for removing meat from my diet & have actually had a lot of fun trying out new recipes & figuring out yummy supplements & alternatives. 

if anything, take the time to enjoy the food you're given! spend a little extra time becoming aware of what foods you are feeding your body & eat to nourish rather than to instantly gratify cravings.

here are a few photos of some of the foods i've been eating recently...

^^banana, strawberry, mango, spinach, coconut milk, chia seeds.^^

^^my homemade vegan cinnamon & sugar donuts // before & after^^

^^goooood morning.^^

^^i'm a big, big fan of these, people. corn tortillas w/ vegan cheese, refried beans, veggie burger, vegan chipotle sauce, avocado, and greens. holy yum.^^

^^nothing quite like refreshing watermelon juice to accompany you for a day by the pool & a day in the sun.^^

^^some of my faves all in one pic. my avocado toast, freshly blended watermelon juice (so easy!), and vegan peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.^^

xoxo,

mg.

our love affair with carl's.

as you can probably tell by the amount we talk about it on this blog, we love food. a place has got to be pretty special to take the prize for one of our favorite restaurants in saint louis, but carl's has our hearts. it's fast, close to our houses, but obviously it's our favorite because of the food! we started going during high school and quickly found it to be our go-to place to stop for meals before concerts, school events, parties, etc. we found ourselves going so often that one of the ladies who works there began remembering our orders so when we would walk through the door she'd ask if we still wanted the same thing. on our last visit, we'd been gone for such a long time that we didn't think she would remember. however, the second we walked in the door she asked if we wanted our usual orders. 

we both agree that carl's is a must if you are in the saint louis area. it seats a very limited amount of people at a time on barstools at the counter, so it's a very intimate atmosphere- especially since they are cooking your food right in the middle of everything. fitz's rootbeer in the loop is the only other place we can think of that could compete with carl's rootbeer/rootbeer floats. however, we are both big fans of their milkshakes. 

below are a few photos of our most recent stop at carl's. (i'm sure there will be some more soon...) 

^^ mg has gone vegetarian since our last trip to carl's (last august, the day before we left for college-before cliffs & caves!). thankfully, carl's has some pretty rockin' grilled cheeses, and we'll always love their milkshakes. ^^

^^fun to watch your food prepared right in front of you^^

^^milkshake time^^

^^the big root beer barrel right in the middle^^

xoxo, 

caroline and mg

return to the cliffs & caves.

upon arriving back home a couple of weeks ago, we made it the top of our priority list to visit one of our favorite places: cliffs & caves. the last time we had been to cliffs & caves, it was our last day in saint louis before we left for our freshman year of college. this made our trip that much more meaningful. to say we have both changed in the time since we had visited c&c last would be an understatement. however, as much as things have changed, it was comforting to be back in the place we've visited so many times together before and find it the same as we left it. below are a few photos from our day at cliffs & caves.... 

^^ up we go....^^

^^ top of the cliff^^

^^ we stopped and got lunch before our hike to the top, then spent a good amount of time just laying on the blanket and admiring the view^^

have a great week! 

xoxo, 

caroline & mary grace