Why I Opened an Antique Booth (And What I Hope It Becomes)
For most of my adult life, I’ve been drawn to objects with character, history, and soul. The worn edges of a vintage mirror, the turned legs of an old table, the mystery of a story embedded in something aged just right… these aren’t just things to me, they are pieces of life waiting for a new chapter.
Opening an antique store has been a dream simmering in the background of my design life. It feels like the natural next step in sharing what I love most: thoughtful, meaningful pieces that make a home feel collected, not rushed. This isn’t about trends or fast decor, it’s about treasures that anchor spaces and invite life in. This booth is the first step of making that dream a reality!
Some Pieces You’ve Seen in My Home
A lot of the items I’ve brought into the booth are pieces that I’ve styled in my own home and items I’ve sourced locally and abroad. My house is a mashup of vintage and antique woven together with intentional design, and I’ve loved watching how these pieces evolve in different rooms over time. That experience taught me what resonates, what lasts, and what brings a kind of everyday joy that new stuff alone can’t deliver.
What You Can Expect From the Booth
I’ll be restocking twice a month, which means every time you come to visit, there’s something new to discover. My goal is to bring you items that I would love to experience in my own home, items that spark immense joy, and items that will bring layers and history to of YOUR homes.
Grand Opening Details
I’m so excited to invite you to the grand opening of the booth on the 16th of this month! This feels like such a meaningful milestone for me, and I truly can’t wait to share it with you in person.
You’ll find my space inside The Found Cottage, a beautifully curated shop that mixes vintage, antiques, new decor, clothing, gifts, and so much more with such a warm, welcoming vibe. thefoundcottage.com
Location:
2460 Chicago Drive, Suite B, Hudsonville, MI 49426 thefoundcottage.com
Hours:
Monday through Wednesday: 10 AM to 6 PM
Thursday: 10 AM to 8 PM
Friday: 10 AM to 6 PM
Saturday: 10 AM to 5 PM
Sunday: Closed thefoundcottage.com
Website:
https://thefoundcottage.com thefoundcottage.com
What I Hope You Feel When You Visit
More than anything, I hope this booth feels like an invitation. An invitation to slow down, to choose thoughtfully, to bring pieces into your home that carry meaning. I hope when you walk in, you feel curious, inspired, and delighted by what you find.
If you stop by on opening day, or anytime soon, please say hello. I’d love to hear which piece speaks to you.
My Everyday Makeup Routine: Simple, Glowy, and Under 10 Minutes
I used to be a full glam, products-on-products kind of girl. Drawers of makeup, drawers of skincare, and easily an hour to get ready. At the time, I thought more meant better. More coverage, more steps, more products.
The biggest shift for me didn’t actually start with makeup. It started with learning to love my skin. For years, skincare felt confusing, so I used everything. About a little over a year ago, I started getting regular facials locally, and that completely changed how I approached my skin. Working with an esthetician helped me realize I didn’t need 15 products layered on at once. I needed a few quality ones used consistently. Once my skincare routine simplified and my skin started improving, my makeup naturally followed.
Now my everyday makeup takes under 10 minutes, and I honestly don’t know how I ever lived any other way. I’m not trying to cover my skin anymore. I’m just enhancing it. The routine is simple, glowy, and effortless, and it actually feels like me. Quality over quantity has become my rule for both skincare and makeup, and it’s made getting ready easier, faster, and so much more enjoyable.
I’ve linked the five makeup products I use every single day below, along with my current daytime + nighttime skincare routine, if you want to shop exactly what I use. Simple really can be better!
Batch Cocktails for Holiday Hosting
It is officially that time of year! We just hosted our annual holiday cocktail soirée and it is truly my favorite party to throw.
Lots of food. Lots of drinks. And a house full of people we love.
When I host, I always like to offer two signature cocktails so guests have options and the bar feels intentional. This year I kept it festive, strong, and crowd friendly with a Cinnamon Espresso Martini and what I called Gratz Christmas Punch.
Both were flavorful, cozy, and very much on theme. And yes, they were strong!
We hosted roughly 50 people, so I made large batches of each cocktail in glass dispensers to keep things easy and flowing all night. Both drinks were a huge hit and were served alongside a mix of different wines, bubbles, and beers so everyone had options. That is definitely one of my top hosting tips. Always make sure you have plenty of options!
If you are hosting this season and want two cocktails that feel elevated, festive, and party tested, these are it. Recipes are below.
Cinnamon Espresso Martini
Large glass dispenser
Equal parts of the first three ingredients.
Batch
4 cups vodka
4 cups Kahlua
4 cups espresso cold brew
1 cup cinnamon simple syrup
I added about 4 cinnamon sticks directly to the dispenser for extra warmth and a festive touch.
Cinnamon Simple Syrup
Use a classic simple syrup and add vanilla extract and ground cinnamon.
Gratz Christmas Punch
Inspired by Half Baked Harvest
Large glass dispenser
Batch
2 bottles dry white wine
3 cups pomegranate juice
2 cups vodka
1½ cups St. Germain
¼ cup Cointreau
4 twelve ounce bottles ginger beer added right before serving
Infused with
Blood orange slices
Pomegranate arils
Cinnamon sticks
Fresh rosemary
Mix everything except the ginger beer and chill for several hours so the fruit and herbs infuse. Add the ginger beer right before guests arrive.
Josh’s Birthday Dutch Apple Pie
Every year I make one pie, just one, and it’s this one. Dutch apple pie is Josh’s all-time favorite dessert, so it’s become our little birthday tradition for him. I bake it once a year, usually with flour all over the counters and apples piled high across the kitchen. But this year felt different. It was the first time making it in our new kitchen and somehow the whole thing felt a little more fun and a lot more beautiful. I’m still very much on my cooking and baking journey, so a fully homemade pie is what I’d consider labor intensive, but this space made the process feel special.
It’s made with freshly picked local apples, Alison Roman’s buttery pie crust, and The Food Charlatan’s classic Dutch apple filling as my base, plus a few tweaks of my own. I always pre-cook the apples, blind-bake the crust, and add in a little extra sweetness.
Not to brag, but it’s the best apple pie either of us have ever had. If you’re ready to try it yourself, here’s exactly how I make it (floury counters and all).
Homemade Crust (Alison Roman’s Recipe, Halved for One Disc)
Ingredients
– 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
– 1 teaspoon sugar
– ½ teaspoon kosher salt
– 10 tablespoons (1 stick + 2 Tbsp) unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1-inch pieces
– 1½ teaspoons apple-cider vinegar (or distilled white vinegar)
– 2 tablespoons ice water + more as needed
Instructions
1️⃣ In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, and salt.
2️⃣ Add cold butter pieces and use your hands or a pastry cutter to smash and rub the butter into the flour until you have a mix of pea-sized and flat flour-coated bits.
3️⃣ Drizzle in vinegar and ice water; toss with a fork until shaggy dough just holds when squeezed. Add more water a teaspoon at a time if too dry.
4️⃣ Gather into a ball, flatten into a disc about 1-inch thick, wrap tightly, and refrigerate at least 2 hours (or up to 3 days).
⸻
Apple Filling
Ingredients
– 8 medium-to-large apples (I like to use 2-3 varieties)
– Juice of ½ lemon (≈ 2 Tbsp)
– ½ cup packed light brown sugar
– ½ cup granulated sugar
– ¼ cup all-purpose flour
– ½ tsp kosher salt
– 1½ tsp ground cinnamon (not going to lie, I eyeball this)
– ¾ tsp ground nutmeg
– 2 tsp vanilla extract
– 2 Tbsp unsalted butter (for pre-cooking)
⸻
Streusel Topping
Ingredients
– 1 cup all-purpose flour
– ¼ cup granulated sugar
– ¼ cup packed light brown sugar
– ¼ cup packed dark brown sugar (for extra sweetness and caramel flavor)
– ½ tsp kosher salt (or slightly less if using table salt)
– ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
⸻
Assembly + Baking
Instructions
1️⃣ Roll & chill the crust
Roll the chilled dough into a 12-inch circle. Fit into a 9-inch pie plate, trim and crimp edges, then chill 30 minutes (or freeze 15).
2️⃣ Blind bake
Preheat oven to 400 °F.
Line crust with parchment or foil and fill with pie weights, dried beans, or rice. Bake 15–18 min until edges look set. Remove weights, prick bottom with a fork, and bake 5–7 min more until lightly golden. Cool 10 min.
3️⃣ Pre-cook the apples
Melt 2 Tbsp butter in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add apples, both sugars, flour, salt, spices, and lemon juice. Stir gently and cook 8–10 min until apples just begin to soften and release juice. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla, and cool 15 min.
4️⃣ Make the streusel
Whisk flour, both sugars, dark brown sugar, and salt; pour in melted butter and mix until clumpy crumbles form.
5️⃣ Assemble
Spoon cooled apple mixture into the blind-baked crust, mounding slightly. Sprinkle streusel evenly over top.
6️⃣ Bake
Bake 10 min at 425 °F, then reduce to 350 °F and bake 35–40 min more, until topping is golden and filling is bubbling.
7️⃣ Cool & serve
Cool on a rack at least 2 hours before slicing. Serve warm or at room temp with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
Serving + Storing
Best served warm, ideally with a scoop of Bluebell vanilla ice cream if you can get it. You’ll thank me later for that one! Store covered at room temperature for 1–2 days or in the fridge for up to 5.
🍎 Recipe inspired by @thefoodcharlatan and @alisoneroman, with The Gratz Life twist.
The New Chapter…
It all begins with an idea.
In 2015, I started working at Warby Parker after Josh and I had just moved to San Francisco. I was just a twenty-something trying to find my footing, standing in a bright little store helping people pick out glasses. I had no idea that job would become nearly a decade-long chapter of my life, one that taught me so much about people, leadership, and myself.
My background has always revolved around connection. Retail, hospitality, even cosmetology, every role tied together by a love for people. But if I’m being completely honest, my favorite job of all time was being a barista at Starbucks back in high school. I loved seeing my regulars. I loved how excited they were to see me, and I them. It wasn’t just about the coffee. It was about community, familiarity, and the small joy of being recognized. There’s something so special about starting someone’s morning with a smile and a drink crafted just the way they like it. Even then, I think I was chasing that same feeling I still chase now: creating small moments of beauty that make people feel something.
Over the years, I’ve worn a lot of hats, but none of them ever felt like the one. I’ve always been searching for the thing that made me come alive, the thing that made sense of all the little passions I’ve carried along the way. Design, storytelling, people, and purpose. And somewhere in the middle of life and work and figuring it all out, I stumbled into the world of content creation and design.
It started small. Just sharing pieces of my home, my finds, the things I loved. But it started to grow. It started to connect. What once felt like a hobby began to feel like a calling, something that blended everything I’d always loved into one creative, chaotic, beautiful mix.
So here we are. After nearly ten years of balancing safety with possibility, I finally took the leap. I left my full-time job to pursue content creation and design full-time, and honestly, it still feels surreal to say that out loud.
Am I scared? Without question. There’s uncertainty in every corner, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have moments of doubt. But I also feel so much peace. God’s fingerprints are all over this story. Every twist. Every moment that didn’t make sense at the time. I can see now that He’s been guiding me right here all along.
This new chapter feels like freedom. It feels like standing in the middle of what I was made to do: creating, connecting, sharing beauty, and trusting that the best is still ahead. I’m nervous, I’m grateful, I’m hopeful, and more than anything, I’m ready.
And in every way that matters, I feel like we’re just getting started…