One of my favorite parts of traveling is trying out new coffee shops. If you’re familiar with my travel guides, then you already know I don’t mess around when it comes to trying as many new coffee shops as possible. Things have been a lot different this year for the travel industry. I love supporting local businesses when I travel and I know they’re having a hard time this year, too. I’m excited to team up with Storyville, a premium coffee company, to show you how to create the coziest at-home coffee bar that will bring a little taste of Seattle right to your door! Now that the winter months are here, and all of my plans include staying home, my coffee consumption is about to double.

I’ve been in coffee heaven the past few days brewing exceptional, every day flavorful, and smooth coffee beans right at home! Storyville Coffee shop is ranked #1 in Seattle, and I can see why! In fact, I’m drinking a cup of Storyville’s Prologue blend right now while writing. It’s pretty rare for me to be on my computer without having a cup of coffee in hand. I know many of you love reading my blog with coffee as well (the pictures you send always make my day!), and now if you sign up for the Storyville coffee subscription, you’ll receive 76% off your first shipment! Use promo code: LOVE No matter what machine you’re using at home, Storyville is super convenient with providing whole beans, Nespresso pods, and Keurig pods. 
My uncle, who lives in Seattle, says coffee is one of the #1 reason that keeps him there. When people mention Seattle, my brain always goes straight to coffee. I have a theory that people walk about 5x faster there due to the delicious coffee that’s available. I’m so looking forward to traveling to Seattle one day and visiting the Storyville coffee shop for myself, but until then, I’ll be making some coffee magic with their beans right at home.

The Storyville Roastery is located in Seattle, along with three coffee shop locations in the city. One of my favorite ways to enjoy coffee is with a friend, catching up, and so many memories have been made over hot coffee. I’m sure many of you can relate, and that’s similar to how Storyville got its name. The name “Storyville comes from the image of two friends sharing their stories over cups of coffee. I strongly agree with Storyville when they say “coffee is a vehicle for forging relationships and making memories.”

We are having a very small Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. I am looking forward to sitting at the dining table with desserts and ending the night with a delicious cup of coffee from my new coffee bar. I’ve always loved the idea of having a coffee bar set up at home, and I’m so happy I have space for one in our new house. With the Storyville subscription, the at-home coffee menu is pretty much endless. I can make peppermint lattes with their espresso pods, americanos, extra-strong French press, caramel macchiatos, cortado, ice coffee, oat milk cappuccinos, and the list goes on. I’ve even considered making homemade ice cream with the Storyville decaf coffee beans to top off the pecan pie this year. Let me know what you think! I think every coffee bar should have the ability to make espressos and a regular cup of coffee, whether it comes from a Keurig, pour-over, or a French press.

I am so obsessed with how the Freedom I kit looks on top of my coffee bar.  Being able to create a coffee ritual by grinding the beans, boiling the water, timing my brew to fit the perfect coffee boldness, makes my coffee so much more rewarding.

I’ve been looking forward to making my own French press with the Freedom I home brewing system each morning. It’s definitely a system to impress the guest, even if it’s just my mom and dad coming over for Thanksgiving. It makes me feel like I’m putting on my apron to go work at a coffee shop each morning, and I love that feeling. The design is so sharp-looking, and it comes with all the tools for my daily coffee ritual.
As soon as I opened up the bag of coffee beans, Kyle came in from the other room just to tell me that the beans smelled so good and he wanted to try a cup asap. The funny thing was when I got home from my walk yesterday morning, he was in the dining room making his own pot of coffee with the “Freedom I” system. He’s just as obsessed with it as I am. I should have never shown him the way!

We’ve been enjoying the Storyville Prologue roast each morning. The prologue blend is made from three varieties of beans that come from all around the world and are sourced from the top 2% of coffee farms. The flavor is so rich and robust, and the quality is exceptional. I love how much pride Storyville takes when it comes to sourcing the most perfect coffee beans. The Prologue blend includes three different varietals from three different continents. What makes the coffee taste so good is that each varietal is roasted separately and then blended together to make the most delicious 100% Arabica bean blend. This is a great blend if you’re looking for a low-acidic coffee.

No matter how you brew the blend (Keurig, Nespresso, pour-over, French press, or your coffee maker preference) the Storyville artisan roastmasters have dialed and balanced the beans to ensure a consistently delicious cup of coffee each time. I’ve made Prologue with every coffee maker in the house and it’s been smooth, bold, and just perfect each time! The beans are nitrogen-flushed for peak freshness, so they’ll be just as fresh when arriving on your front porch. I love that the Prologue blend is also available in decaffeinated because sometimes I want a cup of coffee at night, especially in the winter months. How legit does the Freedom I look on my coffee at-home bar? I had so much fun setting this area up, and it adds so much more to the dining space. I don’t love adding many things to my home (I have furniture commitment issues ), but I’ll fill it up with anything that has to do with coffee. Coffee brings me joy. Isn’t that how it works? Now, I need to get my hands on one of the decadent scone recipes they sell in their coffee shops to get the whole experience. I can’t wait to visit because they look so good!

Storyville never compromises when it comes to any details in all facets of their brand. They have the highest quality products, the best customer service, and they take so much pride in their design and value. Their coffee I’ve been drinking the past few mornings can definitely back that up. With the amount of focus and effort put into roasting the beans, they’ll never have that burnt or bitter taste. 
I’m a coffee in the morning and a coffee in the afternoon type of gal. I go through it so fast, especially since Kyle has turned into a coffee lover. It’s so convenient being able to have coffee shipped to my house instead of having to run to the store when I’m out. There is nothing worse than waking up in the morning and having to run to the store to get coffee. If you’re also a serious (sometimes overdramatic) coffee drinker, you know what I mean. I love being able to wake up, drink coffee, and enjoy the peace and quiet around me each morning. If I’m out of coffee and have to make a grocery store trip first, my coffee ritual is ruined. See what I mean by overdramatic?

Sometimes I need the ability to make coffee quickly when I’m in a hurry. The Storyville Keurig and Nespresso pods are equally fresh and made with the same precision to ensure quality. Storyville roasts, grinds, and packages the same premium beans for Nespresso and Keurig Pods. If you sign up for the subscription, they’ll be packaged and shipped fresh to you directly from the Seattle Roastery. Premium beans + freshness = extraordinary!! When signing up for the subscription, you can adjust the number of pods or coffee beans you’d like to receive. If you’re a heavy coffee drinker like me, you’ll definitely want to have more. You can also purchase single bags just in case you want extra for a few weeks where you have guests over! You can change the frequency of when your coffee is delivered, too. Storyville makes it so convenient to fit the subscription to your coffee needs. You can put a pause or cancel your subscription at any time if you need to! I highly recommend trying it out, especially with the 76% off offer right now. Use promo code: LOVE on your first shipment. I know you’re going to love it!
Not only do you get the best cup of coffee when ordering from Storyville, but you’ll be supporting A For-Giving Company®, which partners with organizations working to end human trafficking. I so appreciate this because my aunt runs a shelter for women involved in human trafficking and I’ve learned so much about the dangers and sad situations that come from it.

Storyville’s goal is to out-fund the perpetrators while standing behind the heroes on the front lines every day. The criminals behind human trafficking are well-funded and turning violence into profit. It’s incredibly sad, and I love that Storyville has joined in against the fight.  
I hope you are all excited and craving a cup of Storyville coffee right about now! When I see people drinking coffee, my brain immediately thinks it needs one. I promise you’re going to love love love the Storyville blend. I have never steered you guys wrong when it comes to coffee, and I don’t plan on doing it anytime soon! Subscribe to Storyville coffee now and get 76% off your first order! Don’t forget to use the promo code: LOVE  

1. Do you drink coffee every day?
2. What is your favorite way to make coffee?
3. Have you ever been to Seattle?

We just got back from a short mountain trip on Wednesday and it’s been raining here ever since. I’ve had a hard time motivating myself when all I’ve wanted to do is lay on the back patio reading and listening to the rain. I let myself do that yesterday, but today, it’s time to get to work.

We have a lot of projects planned for the cooler months. I wanted to share some updated photos of our house and talk about all the projects we plan on doing this fall/winter! I’ll also be covering a lot of questions I get about where items are from in the house. I wanted to put together a post to have all of those questions in one place, and if you have any questions, feel free to drop them in my comment section! Fall is almost here (4 more days) so unfortunately, the grass is dying, trees are turning yellow, and the summer flowers are done blooming. Next week, I’ll be pulling out the Fall decor, putting mums and pumpkins everywhere, and adding a few Halloween decorations. You’ll have to look out for those Fall updates on my home’s Instagram page. (@cottagestory)

This fall, we will be having our brick painting white and our garage door painted black.

Our stair runner is Anderson Tuftex. It’s in the Only Natural Herringbone collection in the color Plaza Taupe. We had a local company (carefree carpets) order, cut, finish, and install the runner.
Another project we have coming up is the interior door painting. We will be painting all of our doors black! We are removing the two mirrors over the console table today and adding a painting we purchased. The painting brings in more blues, greeens, and soft natural tones to the room. I first thought that I would want everything black and white, but I didn’t last long without a pop of color. We will be finishing our music room this winter as well. Those french doors lead into Kyle’s home office for now, but once he’s back at the office full-time, we will be building black floor to ceiling built-in bookshelves, a piano, record player, and lounge chairs. This is going to be for music and reading and I cannot wait! Kyle is a really good piano player, so I can’t wait to get a piano in there. All pillows and throw blankets are from Target. Our couches are Remington Sofas from Arhaus. This little hallway is going to get a big makeover. All of the doors will be painted black and the first door on the left will be removed and turned into built-in shelves on top of a beverage cooler.  We are still working on the guest room, but have thrown a few things in there from our old townhome. We are thinking about doing a shiplap in the room.  We are contemplating on painting the kitchen island.
I have been through so many rugs in here and I think we finally found one that we both like! Kyle also built the black coffee table with a black ink finish, but I think we are going to build the same one again and do a soft sand wood finish. I think with the black fireplace, black t.v., and black 5 ft coffee table, there are just too many black squares going on. 
 All of the lighting in our house is Kichler! I’ve linked up a lot of them and can share any that I missed in the comments.  Our floors are LVP, which is so worth it. They are indestructible with the dogs and so far, there isn’t a scratch!  We are still working on getting drapes for the back windows as well. We don’t want anything that’s going to block out the light. I’m almost finished with my office. I need to roll out the bubbles in the wallpaper, hang a few shelves and pictures, find a computer chair, and add shade for the window. I’ll do an office reveal on the blog once I’m done sharing all the details! We still don’t know what we want to do for the front porch. We are thinking of getting a hanging sing, but we are using our back patio chairs for now! We bought couches for the back porch and it was the best decision yet. The table was taking up too much space out there and we figured we’d use the couches way more.  (painting our patio)I have had so many questions about our garage gym! I will do an entire post dedicated to that after we are finished. I know my bedroom isn’t downstairs, but I made a few updates since the last blog post on my bedroom! 
I hope you all have a great weekend. I have so many blogs to catch up on this weekend, so I’ll be spending my time here! Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions in the comments!

Questions for you!

1. Have you decorated for fall yet?
2. What kind of home posts do you want to see next?
3. Should I paint the loft (movie room) black with a batten or keep it creamy?

Plus, most mornings looked the same. I woke up with my cup of coffee, took the dogs out back, and had an Ezekial gluten-free English muffin topped with vegan butter. Some mornings, I add blackberry jam on top! 
I’ve been playing around with a new gluten-free chicken nugget recipe for the blog, and I finally found one that tastes so good! I’m going to try it again with the air fryer and then again actually frying it in avocado oil on the cooktop. I’m hoping to have a recipe up on the blog by next week. Honestly, we could eat these chicken nuggets for days and never get sick of them.  
And after I get done photographing my meal, I usually pile a side of ketchup, bbq sauce, and mustard for dipping! I finally got around to doing a little pantry organization. I now need some smaller glass jars to put some other ingredients in, but I love how it’s turning out so far! I’ll make sure to do a complete reveal when it’s completed!
You can find these jars on Amazon and order the chalk labels.

It’s important for me to keep the pantry organized because you can see it with the glass door. I’m painting the door black sometime this week (I’ve said that for two weeks now ) I’ve slowed down on the projects since starting 90 Day Fiance.

I also got fortunate. I headed into Homegoods (crazy, SC is open right now) to pick up a few things we needed in the house, and I found four barstools in the same style, perfect height, and color that I had been searching for. I had no idea barstools were so expensive online, and these were only $120 apiece! The ones I wanted online were around $400+, So I got all of the chairs for the price of one of the ones online. 
I’m SO HAPPY about tackling is the closet. I have to be in the right mood to organize the closet. It’s not something I can do in a few hours. It’s a project that takes half of a day. I got rid of SO MANY clothes and will be starting a Poshmark soon.
I need to find baskets that are much better looking than the random colored ones on the wall, but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. I feel so much better now that it’s done! 
While I was doing the closet, our backyard fence was getting installed. This is probably the one thing I was most excited about this house! My dogs LOVE being outside, which was so hard in the townhome. We had to walk them three miles a day to get their energy out, but now they get to wrestle and run around like crazy dogs in their yard. I’m so happy! The cool thing is that our property at the end goes down a hill, so you can’t see the fence from inside the house.

And they LOVE it! 
Kyle and I had an appointment at the Sleepy Poet on Friday and then picked up Chipotle for dinner. It was just as good as I remembered. I always order their salad bowl with chicken, fajita vegetables, pinto beans, brown rice, mild salsa, guacamole, and their vinaigrette. 
Kyle and I picked up some mature camellia trees for the side of the house (we’ll be planting today!) and three white crepe myrtles for the house. I’m a big lover in trees and greenery, and I want to get them started right away.  
We always shop at a local nursery for our plants and trees. Wilson’s in Rock Hill is my hidden gem! They are AMAZING! 
I finished the hanging pots, and they are all up now! I need to deadhead them today.
I think baking in the new house is so much better. Our old kitchen was so dark, and now I feel like I’m practically outside while baking. I made the oatmeal cream pies for our PM as a thank you. This may have been the best batch I’ve ever made. I think pressing the cookies before they went into the oven helped as well as having an oven that cooks more evenly!
Matcha lattes have been keeping me going during the afternoons! I mix 1 tbsp of unsweetened ceremonial grade matcha with unsweetened almond milk and stevia! It tastes the same as the Starbucks Iced Matcha lattes but without all the extra sugar. I now have my mom and brother’s girlfriend hooked on them. 
I made a random zoodle dish the other night, and surprisingly, it turned out sooooo good.  I sliced up the zoodles with my potato slicer (SO MUCH FASTER THAN A SPIRALIER) and way easier to cook because they are half the size. I cooked theme up with olive oil, then cooked the tomatoes in the leftover oil with garlic, onion, black pepper, sea salt, and basil.

I mixed the roasted brussels sprouts in with the tomatoes and zoodles! SO DARN GOOD! Next time, I’m going to add grilled cod and white beans to this dish.
We also did stir fry with brown rice pasta last week. It was delicious, and I will have that recipe up on Friday!

My dahlias in the front are growing tall and strong! I also have dahlias that I planted from tubers coming up on the side of the house. I will post a photo of those on Cottage Story today! I’m so excited to get my shoes on and head outside to start working!

I’ve been taking progress photos of all the projects I’ve been working on and will have a lot of posts to write when it’s too hot even to go outside!

I hope you have a fantastic Wednesday! xo

1. Have you ever had success planting with bulbs?
2. What was the last thing you organized?

Oh, and our creamy guest bedroom is coming along! Since it’s on the main floor, we are going to be sharing that one soon! We wanted to finish it first, especially for guests coming over. 
I know I have ten rose bushes in my yard. Why? They make me happy! I get so excited when a new one blooms.
I mean…
My dinner plate dahlias are started to open.
I have over twelve dwarf dahlias planted around my borders. I love how colorful they are! The sunrises will never get old. We are finally getting our backyard fence this weekend for the dogs! I had a few people ask if I was worried about ruing the view, but the cool this is that there is a HUGE drop off at the end of the yard. It’s about a 75-foot drop, so we won’t even see our fence. You can kind of see a bit of the fence in the corner of this photo, and that’s about all you’ll see when we bring it across. I will also be planting rhododendron, azaleas, and gardenia bushes along the edges.
The brightness of this house just makes me feel more productive and happier. That may sound crazy, but the old house was very cozy and dark, and it kind of made me less motivated. I think it’s true that natural daylight does have a significant effect on the body and energy levels.

Kyle hung my flower baskets yesterday, and I’m so happy with how they turned out! I bought the baskets on Amazon and filled them with petunias. It’s incredible what painting the door black, adding the fan, and light above the door added to the front porch. I have a rocking chair set from Wayfair arriving in a few weeks (boo for back order), and I can’t wait to have that up. I wanted a porch swing, but I think I’m going to put one in the back!

As for the brick around the house, I still want to whitewash it or paint it completely white. Although the red is starting to grow on me. But, I do keep leaning towards it being all white.
We got lucky with literally the sweetest neighbors. They brought us over some homemade rolls, and I think the dogs thought they were for them!
Yesterday, I planted my four gardenia trees by the side windows and my new dahlias along the back porch. Right above them is where I want my porch swing to go I’ve been having so much fun with the exterior of the house. I know in a month it’s going to get so hot that being outside will be unbearable, so that’s when you’ll see me paying more attention to the interior Anyways, I know this post was so random, but thank you for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed the photos. I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to around your house this week!

Questions for you!

1. If you could grow any vegetables or fruit, what would they be?
2. What kind of plants should I put in the metal pots by my door? I’m thinking of something green!
3. What have you been doing around the house this week?

Let me know if you like these spontaneous blogs and I can pop on during the week!