Last week I shared a little recap of our babymoon getaway weekend. Before we decided to spend a weekend on Nantucket for some R&R pre-baby arrival (and the madness of the holiday season), I was doing some research on babymoon destinations and felt like there weren’t many resources out there for this type of a trip. The babymoon concept has gained more popularity in the last few years, and up until recently most people I knew that took one ended up going somewhere warm and tropical. It wasn’t really an option for us to pick a destination that required plane tickets or tons of time off (and sadly, with the spread of the Zika virus, my doctor cautioned us against traveling anywhere too far south). Those factors kept us in the New England travel radius, and helped me narrow down a few key places to consider going. We ended up picking Nantucket because it was just at the edge of the off-season and neither of us had been there for more than a day trip before.img_5571 read more

How gorgeous was the weather this weekend? It had that crisp hint of fall that makes me so darn happy. We spent what felt like our first glimpse of autumn up in Portland, Maine this weekend to celebrate some the wedding of our good friends. While our trip was brief, we managed to pack a ton in and I thought I’d share my mini-itinerary should you ever find yourself with 24 hours to kill in Portland, Maine!
maine-recap_edited-1 read more

One of the best things about this blog is that I’ve made some really amazing ‘blogger buddies’ and get to do fun things with them. Alison of Long Distance Loving and I got the chance to have a little Boston Bloggers ‘pow-wow’ at The Break Hotel in Narragansett last weekend to kick back, relax, enjoy the amazing (and unseasonably warm) weather, and do a little planning for our Boston Bloggers group. The folks at Lark Hotels know how to make a girl feel special, and treated us to some spa-time (manicure for me!), beyond delicious food at their restaurant Chair 5 (um, s’mores ice cream sandwiches, do I need to say more?) and even hooked us up with a cooking lesson with Chef Basil Yu (more on that in another post!). It was a perfect girls getaway in one of the prettiest places I’ve ever stayed — if you’re ever looking for a weekend near the water check this cute spot out! rarebrick_20150624_1152 read more

Our trip to New Orleans last week was full of what the city had to offer …. lots of eating, lots of drinking, and lots of exploring! We stayed at the Old No 77 Hotel and Chandlery, which was beautifully decorated and had a hip, laid back vibe. It was a great location, right on the edge of the French Quarter and close enough that we could explore other areas of the city. The first day we arrived we walked around the Garden District and meandered down Magazine Street to check out the shops, and then the second day we tackled the more touristy areas in the French Quarter. As always, I collected a list of all of our favorite places we visited along the way!
Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset

read more

Well, would you look at those two nerds taking a selfie with Elvis? (My husband is a saint for agreeing to my antics, don’t you think?) We just got back from another road-trip adventure, our favorite vacation ritual. We flew into New Orleans for a few days and decided while we were there to take a quick excursion to Memphis for the day to see Graceland and get some local Memphis flavors (read: BBQ!). Graceland was everything I hoped it would be, tacky and over the top. The house itself is actually sort of small by today’s ‘mansion’ standards but the interior design was hilariously gaudy and rich. One of the best parts is that you can tour the inside of Elvis’ two planes and check out his massive car collection too. Graceland was the main Memphis attraction, but we also stopped into Central BBQ to try one of just about everything on the menu (my favorite was the pulled pork).

Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset

Processed with VSCOcam with c1 preset

read more

Let me let you in on a little secret: I love the process of planning a trip almost more than I do going on the actual trip. It’s like a sport for me — finding the hidden gems in a new city, organizing our days to maximize all of the different neighborhoods I want to explore, and collecting as many recommendations as I can before we leave about what I *must* eat or drink in our destination city. We have taken some pretty amazing trips over the past few years that lead to awesome adventures (check out our travels to Austin + Marfa, Nashville, and our cross-country honeymoon road trip for a few examples!). Someone commented on one my instagram posts last week and asked how we go about planning for these fun little getaways, and it dawned on me that I actually do have a pretty standard process that I thought I’d share here today, check out my tips for note to plan awesome getaways:  

read more

I had one of those *pinch me, is this really my life?* moments this weekend while being treated to a luxurious getaway by Lark Hotels at their newest property in Newport, RI. I was so lucky to be invited with a group of awesome bloggers and creatives to stay in the newly opened Gilded Hotel, participate in some fun activities, and cruise around the historic ocean town to learn a bit more about the area.
Gilded Hotel Newport 2

The hotel was an absolute feast of eye candy, designed by  Rachel Reider. The tagline of the hotel is ‘A Clever Twist on a Golden Age’ and the decor certainly lived up to the moniker. Jewel tone paint colors, ornate mirrors, lacquered surfaces, and gold accents gave the whole space the vibe of a funky, modern-day Great Gatsby party. A few of my favorite details — the graphic pink wallpaper in the hotel’s lounge, the whimsical garden courtyard, and the over-the-top design of the front desk and breakfast area.

Gilded Hotel Newport 1rarebrick_20150501_9427rarebrick_20150501_9370

When we weren’t ogling over the crazy gorgeous decor of the space, the Lark Hotels team had us busy with tons of fun activities. We toured some of the Newport Mansions, and got to see some of the historic opulence of the Newport area that inspired the hotel’s design. We had manicures on the hotel veranda, private croquet lessons in the courtyard, and took an afternoon sail boat ride around the harbor to tour the local area. And after dinner both nights, we ended the evening in the hotel’s pool room which had a moody library vibe for champagne, cookies, and some games.

Gilded Hotel Newport 3It was a hard adjustment to come back to real-life on Monday after such a luxurious weekend (I am still dreaming of the tapas-style breakfasts served at the hotel!). I’m so happy I got to spend the time with such an amazing group of fun, inspiring women, and grateful to Lark Hotels for truly treating us like we lived in the Gilded age. If you’re looking for a fun spot to stay in Newport, or want to getaway with some girlfriends for a relaxing weekend, I can’t recommend the space enough. Now, we are we going to travel next to and do this again?!rarebrick_20150501_9258For more pictures of the weekend and the hotel, be sure to check out the hashtag #GildedGetaway on Instagram.

Please note: Lark Hotels hosted us for the weekend and gave us complimentary stays at their property. All opinions are my own. 

 

 

It was a pretty glorious long weekend, we packed our bags and headed south to Nashville with two of our friends for some fun. We stayed the Union Station Hotel (it’s an old train station!) and spent the long weekend exploring (aka eating our way through) the city. Researching our trip and sharing a guide to the interesting spots we find in a new city are almost as much fun for me as the actual vacation — so prepare for a very comprehensive recap below!

The very first thing in our to-do-list when we landed was to get some classic Southern food, and several folks had recommended Hattie B’s hot chicken (and the potato salad and pimento mac and cheese also came with praises!). I was actually in pain when we left — not because I felt sick from the food, but because I could-not-stop-eating it was so good. The mac and cheese a bit too saucy for me, but the chicken was awesome — I got the mild because I’m scaredy-cat, Mike got the hot and loved it. Another classic Southern recommendation was the famous Loveless Cafe. If you visit Nashville and aren’t from the area, know that it’s about a 25 minute cab ride outside the city, but SO worth it. I always get nervous that places like this are going to be overhyped but it wasn’t at all, it exceeded my expectations. They are famous for their biscuits and I thought they were delicious, but the star of the meal was the cheesy hash brown casserole. I’m delighted to let you know that my friend Colleen we were traveling with actually ordered the cookbook as we were eating brunch just so we could see the recipe, so they’ll definitely be recreated in the future. Nashville Trip Food We saved our more refined meal choices for dinner, including a stop at Husk Nashville. I had been to the Charleston location before, and loved that the design of the Nashville outpost was similarly in a retro-fitted antique home that was a nod to the city’s heritage. I ordered a roast chicken and it was delicious; the highlight was snagging a bit of my husband’s dessert — a rhubarb tart. We stumbled upon another great restaurant in Germantown per the recommendation of an awesome bartender (more on that later) called Butchertown Hall — it was a fun little surprise that we stumbled upon it and it ended up being so amazingly tasty — we shared carefully crafted cocktails and family-style feast of brisket and homemade sausages. The absolute highlight of the trip was eating at Rolf and Daughters though; I think the four of us said “oh my god” no fewer than 100 times in between bites at this spot. Every dish was phenomenal, the service was impeccable, and we had such a fun time in the lively space (which can sometimes be lacking in nicer-restaurants!). If you ever find yourself in Nashville, please eat here.Nashville Trip Food  2 We did supplement all of this massive meals with a few more casual spots, mostly just to give ourselves a break and digest. We spent one morning in East Nashville and had breakfast and cold brew coffee at Barista Parlor — this place was like a giant hipster playground and I loved it. They had breakfast sandwiches on biscuits and homemade pop tarts! Remember how I said this was one of our smaller meals? We also checked out The Pharmacy in the same neighborhood and enjoyed some burgers and drinks in their backyard beer garden. Nashville Trip Food  3_edited-1 What did you do besides eating you ask? We did visit the Country Music Hall of Fame, and saw Hatch Show Print – the famous music-poster print shop connected to the museum. We also wandered up and down Broadway and checked out some of the famous Honkey-Tonk music spots. There was some shopping too! Whites Mercantile was probably my favorite shop we visited, and I found some fun things in vintage shops. A few other stores I thought were gorgeous — Imogen and Willie and Fuselage. Oh and we stopped into lots of fun bars for cocktails too. Remember that bartender I mentioned earlier? There was a laid-back spot called 12 South Taproom in the eponymous neighborhood where we met the worlds most helpful bartender named Patrick who gave us great local tips, kept our beers full, and talked with us for the better part of an afternoon. Another great spot that I wish we had been able to spend more time at, but was closing early for a private event, was Pinewood Social. I’d seen tons of write-ups about this multi-functional space that’s part coffee shop, part bowing alley, bar, restaurant, and outdoor lounge and was excited to see it in person. The drinks and the decor were almost too much for this instagram-obsessed gal to handle. And then our favorite late night spot that we went to not once, but twice, was called Losers (next to a bar names Winners, can’t make this stuff up) — this dive bar had the coverband of all coverbands playing and we drank and danced until the wee hours of the morning. And with that, we headed back on a plane to Boston and I’m a dire need of a detox and diet, but it was so worth it and so much fun! Nashville Trip  3_edited-1

I have been digging through the photos that I took on our West Texas vacation and can’t believe it’s been almost two weeks since we got back. Because I just can’t narrow it down, this recap is likely going to be a multi-part blog post — I need to share the detail of every.single.bite. I ate and lots of fun pictures too. First up: Austin! Austin, despite being about 100 degrees, was totally and completely awesome. We fell in love with the cute little house bars on Rainey Street, browsed through the vintage shops in the South Congress area, and tried many, many tacos to try and nail down a favorite (barbacoa tacos at Torchy’s were the winner!). A few more favorites from our Austin stay were…. IMG_3655.JPGElizabeth Street Cafe. When I was doing research for our trip, I happened upon Elizabeth Street Cafe through Mackenzie’s Austin recommendations and decided to check it out for ourselves! I love the super bright space with quirky little teapots and floral wallpaper, and the outside had a bright pink and turquoise paint scheme that was so cheery and cute. We had the pork belly buns and spicy pork meatball bahn mi — and I couldn’t pass up the macarons in the pastry case when we were leaving — they were delicious!DSC_0001IMG_3732.JPGDSC_0008 copy

Hillside Farmacy. I’d seen pictures of the Hillside Farmacy on Instagram and knew we had to go here. The striped awnings and bright green facade reminded me of our wedding color scheme, so I was sold even before we walked in. We ate here for brunch and I was prepared to go for eggs or pancakes, but then I saw a piping hot skillet of the mac and cheese walk by our table and I had to order some of my own. I am quite glad it did — it was super rich and delightfully tasty (and I washed it down with a wasabi bloody mary, yum!).

IMG_3695.JPGDSC_0016Barton Springs. This place was amazing, I’ve never seen anything like it! Given that the temperatures were creeping  up into the hundreds during out trip, a little respite from the heat was very welcome. It was part pool, part lake, one-hundred-percent refreshing once we jumped in.

photo

Josephine House. Our meal at Josephine House was phenomenal and the restaurant design was nothing but impeccable. We got there just as the light was fading and I didn’t get any pictures of the interior, but trust me when I say it was gorgeous — take a look at some of the gorgeous pictures on their website. The best part of the meal was dessert: a honey panna cotta with Texas figs and ginger-oat streusel — heavenly. It was just the treat we needed before heading off on the next leg of our trip! DSC_0021

 

 
 
Verified by MonsterInsights