Being Present For Christmas | Personal

Hey guys! I know it has been a long time since you heard from me. I feel like I have had plans in the back of my mind for months on taking off Christmas season from Social media. I have been having this argument in the back of my mind and asking one question. Can I be a business owner in this day and age and not be on social media? This question has been burning in the back of my mind for most of 2019. To be honest, I feel like I would have already deleted everything if I didn’t feel like social media validates my business. As a shopper myself, I look down on business who are not on instagram or on facebook.

In the morning I would find myself mindlessly scrolling instagram and facebook moments after my alarm went off. If I was bored I would again be swipping up and down through the internet to fill time with beautiful things ( and a LOT of Taylor Swift). This year I have taken active steps to feeling like I am in a better place. I took the app off my home screen. I decided to post photos I simply loved for no other reason.

The plan was to take a break from both Facebook and Instagram and just be present for the holidays(see what I did there). The month is now almost over and we are planning to welcome in 2020. (CRAZY) This month has been the hardest one I have had in a long time for other reasons and I think not having the distraction of social was a blessing to focus on the things that actually mattered. It wasn’t hard to go without and I think it has shown me that it isn’t as important as I thought it was going into it.

I think in 2020 I will be taking more breaks from Social to be more present with the real things that actually matter in my life.

Best Donuts in the Twin Cities | Donut Crawl 2019 | Personal

After much talking our plans finally came to fruition. Marcus (my husband), Christian (my brother), Emily( my sister-in-law) and I (you know, Molly) decided to put our taste buds to the test and try several donut places in the Twin Cities! We were on the hunt for the best donuts in the Twin Cities! After some research, we decided our stops for our Donut Crawl 2019 would be Mojo Monkey's Donuts, Sugar Rush in St Paul and Cardigan's donuts, Angel Food Bakery, Sleepy V's, and Glam Dolls Donuts in Minneapolis!  We would buy 1 donut per place and split it four ways. (Because you know that’s a lot of donuts whoever you are!) We rated the donuts all from 1 to 10. This is what we found out on our delicious donut adventure!

First we went to Mojo Monkey's Donut Shopt in St Paul.

Mojo Monkey Donuts : 1169 7th St W, St Paul, MN 55102 

It was St. Patricks day and decided to get one to celebrate the holiday! We ended up getting a chocolate Irish cream donut.

This donut was the perfect combination of flavors and the cake was so moist. The icing was topped with andes mints and the coffee Irish cream just balanced out all the sweetness making it not as over powering as it could have been.

It was agreed all around that this donut was a solid : 8.5 Rating

Second Stop was at Sugar Rush:

Sugar Rush: 712 University Ave W B2, St Paul, MN 55104 

Sugar Rush didn't have as big of a selection as most of the donut places we went to. It carried the donut staples like glazed, chocolate, and sprinkles. The store itself wasn't tidy as they had buckets and other things in the front of the store that had us questioning if it was even open. That was interesting needless to say. BUT we got the Bearclaw donut filled with cinnamon and apples. It was a delicious donut with solid flavors. The inside of the donut itself was a little doughy.

If I was in the area and really craving this I would get it again, despite the place being a little shabby.

Rated: I give it a 5.5 rating.

After our adventure in St. Paul, we headed to Minneapolis!

Both Angel Food Bakery and Cardigans are in Minneapolis's Skyway. So instead of paying for parking, we dropped off Christian and Emily to run inside to grab the donuts.

Based off google Maps, these donut places were a little difficult to find. So if you are attempting to find these on your own after reading this, my advice is just ask a store owner where they are located. Christian had been to Cardigans before and STILL had issues finding it in the skyway. So don't let your pride make you be there longer than you have to be. Ask for directions if needed.

Angel Food Bakery: 86 S 9th St, Minneapolis, MN 55402
Christian and Emily ended up getting two donuts from here. They got the Mint Milkshake Donut and a Fruity Pebble Donut. They both said it was a cute space but didn’t have too many seating options.

First we had the Milkshake Donut. THIS WAS SO RICH. Out of all the donuts we got this on made me so glad we split it because I do not think I could have eaten a whole one by myself. The whole thing just kind feel flat for me. I wouldn’t get it again.

Mint Milkshake Donut : Rated 4

A fun donut choice for someone who loves fruity pebbles cerial Christian couldn’t leave without this donut in hand. It was a good flavor but it wasn’t anything special. If someone handed me one for free I would eat it but I wouldn’t go out of my way and spend my own money to buy it again.
Fruity Pebble : Rated 5

Cardigan Donuts: City Center, 40 S 7th St #207, Minneapolis, MN 55402
Also a smaller location, They got a Key Lime Donut from this location to go!

Being a citrus lover, I was very excited with this donut and the presentation was really pretty. ( Christian said they ran out of bags so they gave it to them in a bowl. I thought it just looked so fancy!)

This donut had a tart inside filling that worked perfectly with cake part of this pastry. Flavors were there and just thinking about it is making my mouth water.

I greatly enjoyed this donut and will look forward to having it again!

Rated: 7.5

Sleep V's : 1226 NE 2nd St, Minneapolis, MN 55413

This was a very small space, but what I was excited about was they offered mini donuts, which meant more flavors to try! So we grabbed 4 mini donuts, Oreo, Pinnaple Hibicus, Raspberry Chocolate, and Butterfingers.

All of them tasted like regular sugar donuts. I would pass on them and try one of their large donuts next time as they did not taste like any of the flavors they were advertising. You have been informed.
Rated: 3.0

Last Place on the list was Glam Doll.

Glam Doll Donuts : 519 Central Ave NE, Minneapolis, MN 55413

We got two here as well since they have a card limit of at least 4 dollars. We purchased their Lemon filled Donut and their espresso Donut. This place was packed! But I can totally see why. Both of these donuts rated high on the list. They were bursting with flavor, moist, and cute to boot.

Espresso Donut: Presentation was beautiful, flavors went so well together. Everyone of us enjoyed this donut.

Solid Rated: 8

I COULD NOT GET ENOUGH OF THIS DONUT. It was a powdered donut with a custard lemon filling. The custard was so smooth and tart that it was one of those foods you put in your mouth and just close your eyes and groan from pleasure.

Yes it was that good! I love lemon. If you do not like lemon you might disagree with me. (But more for me so I won’t be that hurt.)


Lemon Filled : Rated 9


So there is our list of our Donut Crawl 2019! I hope you enjoyed seeing a little into this adventure around the Twin Cities.

Donut Winner for me was Glam Doll’s Lemon Filled Donut
Group Winner was Mojo Monkey’s Irish Cream Donut.

Way to make something super delicious for us guys!

Any food crawls you think we should do next? Comment and let me know below!!

What I am Obsessed With Right NOW! | Personal

I have not done a personal blog post in a LONG time. 

It has been so busy with wedding and engagements I am just so pumped to share my amazing couples with you that I some times get put on the back burner. 

I just wanted to take this time to share with you some thing that I have found the last couple of years that just WORK. I am always really excited to find something that fills a need or a want  and it actually lives up to the hype . It frustrates me when I spend money on something that falls short. So here are a list of everyday things I have found that changed my life! 

The Wet Brush - This is a simple hair brush. Now I know what you are thinking “Molly, did this really change your life??” And the answer is YES. I have always had thick hair on my head and majority of my life I have kept my hair style long. When I was a kid I have vivid memories of my Grandma Gertie brushing my hair while I sat there crying from the pain. That is not something that just leaves you. You know those circular hairbrushes? (Aka torture devices) Yeah, I had one day in my childhood where one had to be CUT out of one of my siblings hair. So a couple of years ago, my boss of all people told me that he found this brush for his daughters hair that works wonders. I went to my local target and bought one to give it a try. It is simple the most painless hairbrush I have ever used in my life. I will never buy a different brush again. You can use it with wet or dry hair and it will guild right through. It is a miracle worker.

Lipsense Lipstick - I have NEVER found a lipstick that lasted all day; I always had hopes of wearing the perfect color, looking glamorous but coming up short when I had to reapply what felt like every hour. I never wore lipstick because I felt like it was a waist of time and effort always wondering if it needs to be reapplied. Then along comes Lipsense. It was a friends recommendation and after seeing videos I gave it a try and fell in love….HARD. I bought several colors and all of them last ALL day long. I often look to see if I can find the colors I want for cheap since this is one of those things that consultants sell. But if you go on Facebook or Ebay you can find some for a good price. Colors I love - Mulled Wine, Redblue, and roseberry. No, I do not sell this product. I just am really excited I actually found something that works.

Eyesense Eyeshadow- This product is ALSO by the same company as lipsense. It stays on my eyes without any kind of primer and that is after running around sweating up a storm on an 8 hour wedding day. So in my book it is literally liquid gold.

Bzees Shoes - I found a pair of shoes on sale at DSW and my life has never been the same. They are called Bzees. Extremely light weight shoes that give me support and gives me the opportunity to focus on everything else BUT my feet. After 8 to 9 hour wedding days my feet are feeling great which in the wedding industry is like finding a magical unicorn and calling it Whinny. My very first wedding after college for my internship I wore a pair of dress flats that were well used and loved. After documenting a beautiful wedding, my feet were literally bleeding. I walked barefoot in the stress of Minneapolis to go catch my ride. I never again will abuse my poor feet that way. After finding this unicorn of a shoe wear, it didn’t take long until I ordered 3 other pair from this brand all different kinds and I am still in love. I found one pair of wedges and now I can have some height on wedding days which is a first in my life.
 

I borrowed images off of google. I in no way own them and I am not being paid for this post. I just wanted to spread the good news that there are things out there that work! Enjoy