NYC highlights - (1) browsing around Eataly / happy hour at Birreria; (2) outdoor exploring; (3) meatball sliders at The Meatball Shop; (4) dinner at Schiller’s Liquor Bar; (5) staying at the Chelsea Pines Inn; (6) Sunday Funday in Brooklyn at Radegast Hall & (7) Brooklyn Brewery; (8) walking the Brooklyn Bridge; (9) hanging at Entwine, the most adorable wine bar in the West Village; (10) our rainy day escape at The Met
Dogs outnumbered people in our house last night. Phoebe and Henry played hosts to two furry houseguests, Levi and Platypus.
St. Paddy’s 8K
This past Saturday, I ran my first 8K. This is only the second organized race I have participated in, and given that I am in no way a runner, I was slightly terrified. I have been loosely training for it since January and it wasn’t all awful. There were a few thousand people that ran, including my husband and some of our friends. Afterwards I was really tired but I made it!
I also beat my goal of 55:00 by a whopping 3 seconds! To say I was proud is an understatement. I used this race as part of my training for a 10K I’m doing in Richmond in just five weeks. There’s a part of me that wishes I didn’t have to run for a little while but that’s not happening anytime soon, and I’m alright with it.
Even though I may not love running, it is a good way for me to shake up my exercise routine and is something I can do with my husband and friends. One of the only things I need to do now (besides keeping up with my running) is remove Passion Pit’s song ‘Take A Walk’ from my running playlist. That song encouraged me to take a walk. Literally. And I can’t say I’m too proud of that. :)
If you have 78 seconds to spare, watch this. It makes me want to get another pug puppy stat, but unfortunately the pug limit in our household is maxed out at two.
thecooknook asked: hey! Following up on an instagram comment. The rugs usa rug I posted in my nursery is called the Rugs USA Tuscan Terali Moroccan Trellis Sunshine Rug. Item #: 200MTVS36A-P. I'd give you the direct link but tumblr won't let me put a link in the ask box.
Hey, thanks so much! I love it and we have been on the hunt for a rug for under our kitchen table.
christmas in february
Ryan whisked me away to Asheville for a little mountain getaway over the long weekend. He surprised me with a trip for Christmas and it was such a treat.
We stayed at the Grove Park Inn, which was really nice. We have been there for drinks but have never stayed there before. Our room had a great view, overlooking the mountains.
We tried all new restaurants this trip, which is one of our favorite ways to experience any city we are in (via food). We’ve always been to Asheville with a large group and while that’s really fun, it poses problems for trying to get reservations at some of the smaller places.
Our first stop was Corner Kitchen for brunch on Saturday. It was awesome - we split some of the best corn & crab chowder I’ve ever tasted.
Then, we headed to Wicked Weed Brewery. I will go on record and say this is now my favorite brewery in Asheville. Go there and give it a try. The atmosphere was so cool. We tried a few different beers and loved them all.
We then headed back to the hotel to relax and hang out. One of my favorite things we did was sit in front of the big fireplaces they have in the lobby with a cup of coffee and rock in the rocking chairs.
We got our second wind and headed to dinner in the River Arts District at The Junction. I had the most delicious burger. Hands down. (I didn’t even need ketchup). The cocktails were awesome, too. To add a little adventure to our trip, mother nature sent a blizzard and nearly stranded us at the restaurant. It was freeeeezing, but thankfully, a cab rescued us.
On Sunday, we spent the better part of the day underground. The GPI is known for its award-winning spa and Ryan treated me to an 80 minute massage. It was so, so great. Then, we swam around in the pools and chilled out. It was relaxation at its finest. I have never felt more pampered.
After our day in the spa, we knew we needed to go to one of our favorite Asheville hangouts - The Thirsty Monk. We have always been at night when it’s super busy so it was nice to go in the early evening when we could enjoy the atmosphere and actually have a seat at the bar. We got to create our own flights, which was fun. Both of us loved the Southern Tier Choklat the best. If you like chocolatey beers, this one’s for you. Just be careful, it’s super high gravity.
We then mozied on over to Wall Street and had a cocktail and Indian fries at MG Road. This place was so much fun - we had the best bartender who looked like a cross between Sam Shakusky and Nick Miller, with an equally as entertaining personality. He could mix a mean cocktail. We will go back and hopefully pay him a visit on our next trip to Asheville.
Our final stop was at Cucina24, per one of our friends suggestions and it did not disappoint. We sat at the bar that overlooks the chefs in action. They were flipping pizzas and whipping up delicious cakes. It was such a fun spot.
We closed out our weekend in Asheville at Sunny Point Cafe for breakfast on Monday. It was worth the hype and the perfect way to end our vacation.
Thanks, babe, for the wonderful treat and fun getaway. :)
I put together a little playlist in honor of Valentine’s Day.
(just click the little arrow in the playbar to scroll to the next song)
Enjoy! <3
(Source: Spotify)
Have your wits about you. Dig in and do what you can. Because it might not last. —Ethel Kennedy
Weekend in Wine Country
I just got back from a fabulous weekend in California (my first time!). I was there to celebrate one of my very best friends, Jordan. She’s getting married in a few months and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate her upcoming wedding other than how we did - in wine country with our best friends.
We spent the better part of Thursday in San Francisco and did your normal touristy stuff.
Rode on the infamous cable cars.
Got Irish Coffees from Buena Vista Cafe
And took in the Golden Gate Bridge.
On the way to our house in Sonoma (which was fabulous), we stopped at In-N-Out Burger. So good.
On Friday we spent the day in Napa. We had a limo pick us up and take us to three wineries.
I really enjoyed all three wineries we visited for very different reasons. Frog’s Leap had the most gorgeous private tasting room with a breathtaking view. We learned a lot at Schweiger’s and had a really nice employee who told us all about their wine and gave us lots of history about the vineyard. And finally, Smith Madrone was great because it was so low key and casual, and we got awesome one on one time with the owner, Charlie Smith. He was so charming - we invited him to dinner at our house but he graciously turned us down.
We spent Saturday in Sonoma. Since our house was in a great location, we were able to walk to wineries on Saturday. Sure we got weird stares and drew unintentional attention to ourselves, but it was lots of fun.
Our first stop was at Landmark.
And our second stop was Chateau St. Jean.
Again, I enjoyed both places. We spent more time at each of these. Landmark had an awesome lawn so we were able to enjoy the outdoors as well as the wine. And at Chateau St. Jean we probably tried 8 or 9 wines and then had a picnic lunch outside. It was glorious!
We rounded out the trip with a fun dinner at Kenwood Restaurant.
Seriously, this was the best bachelorette trip. Ever. We had such a great time with each other - I miss it so much already. I will be back to wine country - hopefully in the very near future with Ryan or back with the same group of girls this time next year, maybe? A girl can dream.
