april

Diana's Catering & Gourmet Market

For this month's spotlight, meet Diana! Formally known as Diana's Cafe since 1998, Diana has recently restructured the vision to serve the Lehigh Valley with high quality, homemade food through the new Diana's Catering & Gourmet Market. They offer several services and fun events, including catering, sunset dinners, brunch, rentals for small events, and much more. You can even purchase prepackaged meals and scrumptious other items such as house roasted coffee (I can attest - delicious!), jams, and soups. You can also find many other small business items inside the market for sale.

Diana's is not only a wonderful, family-owned business, but they source their products locally when possible, prioritize quality, and support the local community. Businesses like Diana's can be hard to find these days, and I promise you won't regret making a visit.

Outside of her busy work as a business owner, Diana loves spending time with her family and doing outdoor projects. Check out Diana's Catering and Gourmet Market next time you need a caterer, a date night, or even a quick snack! See the photos below and prepare to drool 🤤

march

Sky Gold Design

Of course I had to make sure I included a fellow photographer in the monthly spotlights! Meet Skylar (if you haven't already) from Sky Gold Design this month. Skylar is a local Pennsylvania wedding photographer and has been a part of over 100 weddings. Although she specializes in weddings, she offers services for engagements, couples, elopements, and more.

You may have seen some of Skylar's work on my own page, as she has done some of my branding shoots (including the latest!). Skylar also photographed my sister's wedding who to this day still expresses how grateful she was to have such a beautiful wedding gallery from her.

Skylar previously worked as a graphic designer at an architecture firm before becoming a full time wedding photographer, and a lot of those skills have carried over into her work by being intentional with the space around her subjects. Fun fact - that's where the "design" comes from in Sky Gold Design. For fun, she loves to spend time in nature, travel and explore new places, and love on her golden doodle of course! I highly recommend checking out some of Skylar's work - she's not only a talented photographer, but a wonderful person to get to know.

february

The Old Library Bookshop

I am so excited to share this month's spotlight - The Old Library Bookshop! Mary and Margaret, a mother-daughter duo, have run this lovely shop since 1996. This gem of a book shop has drawers of photos, maps, ephemera and wonderful artwork on top of a diverse collection of over 26,000 second-hand books. New items are brought in every single day!

Admittedly, I had not been in the shop since I was in college. I immediately found a little treat to leave with (a poetry book) and I look forward to visiting these ladies more often. The shop was bustling with customers the whole time I was there, and Mary and Margaret were a delight with every person that entered. This is everything we love about these small local businesses.

Besides operating their book shop for years, Mary and Margaret are extremely active in the community participating in rallies, supporting local organizations, and working with their church group to assist those in need in Bethlehem. They are both passionate about social and political issues and strive to push for change. If you are nearby, or passing through Bethlehem, I highly recommend stopping in to meet Mary and Margaret. There is a book for everyone in this shop.

And for funsies...

• Margaret has a collection of Irish literature that she loves, but one of her favorite books is Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa
• Mary loves historical fiction and one of her favorites is A Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks

JANUARY

Jaquelyn's on Main

There is no better way to kick this off than to highlight the owner of my favorite local coffee shop - Jaquelyn's on Main! Jackie has special occasion cakes and sweat treats, coffees and specialty drinks, and even gluten free goodies. On top of that, she also has an event space to rent for bridal showers, work get-togethers, and more.

I go to Jackie's quite often to work remotely, and my go-to drink is a chai latte (shocker), but I love trying the specialty drinks each month too. Sometimes she even has chai drinks on the specialty menu, like the pear chai this month! Soooo delicious. I've had many treats from Jackie's as well, and as someone who is not the biggest fan of cheesecake, I can truly attest that Jackie's cheesecake bars are TO DIE FOR. I love to watch the place fill up in the morning, even on work days. The shop truly brings people together, and it's a great spot for your next meetup with a friend.

Aside from being a rockstar business owner, Jackie loves to mow the lawn and do landscaping projects. Her favorite dessert is pudding, but she's also a huge fan of chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling, with a little ganache too! Next time you're in Coopersburg, stop by and say hi! I promise you won't regret it.