Exciting Weekend Ahead

I'm sorry for being MIA this week but work has taken over my life. Needless to say, as stressed as I am at work I am super excited to head back to CT for the 4th of July weekend! There's nothing like being on the water, BBQing and seeing friends and family - I can't wait. To that, I wish everyone a wonderful 4th of July and I'll catch up with y'all in a few days.

Have a yummy 4th of July weekend!

Vineyard Vines Friends and Family

Happy Shopping!

Hiking in C'Ville

After joining the girls at the Farmers Market Saturday, RBD and I decided to drive up to C'ville and take a little hike with Bayley. We've been hiking before but not with Bayley, so we thought this would be a fun activity for all of us to do. Well, after an hour drive we hit the mountain and guess what we spotted???....A bear! When we parked in the area to begin the hike a couple approached us about a momma bear and her two cubes on the trail. At that moment RBD and I thought it wouldn't be the best idea to take our Bayley on this trail, so we pick the shortest trail possible and went on our little hike!

 ALY and Bayley

RBD and Bayley

After our pathetic .8 mile hike we decided to walk around Charlottesville 

There were tons of outside vendors - so it was fun to walk around to all of them and window shop

I also loved all the outdoor restaurants

Farmers Market

This past weekend KKW, LR and I went up to the Farmers Market at St. Stephens Church. I went once last year but it was about 100 degrees so I wanted to experience it again on a more tolerable day. We all had a wonderful time walking from vendor to vendor picking out the freshest of fruits and veggies. I'm looking forward to more Saturday's at the market!

The Farmers Market - Richmond VA

Click here to find out more about The Farmers Market in Richmond

The fresh Tomatoes

Berries Galore

Live music to listen to while you walk around

The Girls

And of course the doggies!

Lunch From A Cart Anyone?!

Today some co-workers and I decided to walk a few blocks to the food carts on 9th Street. I've never been so I was excited to check them out and see what food they had to offer. Unlike New York, you can't just walk outside your building have 10,000 restaurants to chose from. Richmond is a small city and it's downtown offers very little options for lunch - except for the food carts during the warmer months.

They line up on the street and you just walk around to find the

cart that suits your craving

Today I had a chicken salad wrap - yum

You can honestly get anything from Thai food, Dumplings to healthy wraps

I'm looking forward to many more lunches on 9th street now that I've discovered this jem!

Margaritas and Monograms - A Richmond Shower To Remember

Last night I was thrown a surprise shower from the HW ladies and few of my dear friend in Richmond. I was so touched and extremely surprised! Way to go ladies. The theme of the night was Margaritas and Monograms, which suited me so well, and all the gifts had some sort of monogram on it with my new initials. Honestly, I couldn't have asked for a better group of girls to share this night with ....THANK YOU!

 The group dining and sipping on some margaritas

 KKW, ALY and AM

 

The amazing strawberry cake AK got for the group

It was de-lish!

And of course, all the fabulous monogrammed gifts that were given at the shower

This night will forever stay with me.

I can't thank everyone enough for making RBD and I feel so loved!

Lipstick I'm Loving

Recently, I purchased the new Chanel Rouge COCO lipstick and I'm obsessed.  The wear is excellent. It passes the “apply at start of work shift, talk for four hours” test and was definitely still there by lunchtime. It’s surprisingly tenacious for a hydrating lipstick! The color that matched my lip tone the best is Boy (#54) but if your looking for the perfect shade you have 29 shades to choose from.

Even though it's a bit of a splurge, Chanel's Rouge COCO is completely worth it!

This is my pay day pick of the week

Nautical Charts as Wall Art

I love the idea of using charts as well art. When I saw this picture in a magazine I just wanted to go ahead and buy it for my next home!

Colonial Nautical Charts

From Wisteria

Could your home use a chart or two?

It's Time For Some KLP...

It has been about 100 degrees here for the past 4 days and I'm ready for things to cool off a little. Whenever it's this hot out, I always enjoy making my gilt free Key Lime Pie. So.... guess what I decided to do!?

Here's how you make it:

 1/2 Cup of Key Lime Juice (or actual key limes if you have it)

14oz of Fat Free Sweeten Condensed Milk

1 Tub of Fat Free CoolWhip

Graham Cracker Crust

1)Stir the Sweetened Condensed Milk and Key Lime Juice till the consistency thickens

2)Pour the combined Milk and Juice to the bottom of the Graham Cracker Crust

3)Add CoolWhip to top

And there it is!

I put mine in the freezer for a few hours then take it out 1hr before serving.

Good luck and enjoy - I know I will :)



Dying for an IPhone!

I've had my blackberry for a number of years now and I'm ready for an upgrade. Unfortunately with all this wedding stuff I need to pay for, my IPhone will have to be put on hold for a little. Now my thought is, do I wait for the IPhone 5 or should I just bite the bullet in August and just get the IPhone 4?!

Oh, the decisions....

HELP

House Warming - New England Style

One of my closest family friends, who we grow up sailing with, sent me these amazing kitchen towels that just fit me so well!

These are going to look so cute in our kitchen.

Thank you to the Galindo's for putting a little New England in our Richmond home.

Harbour Town

This weekend when we were heading back to the airport, RBD and I decided to take a road trip to the  Harbour Town section of Hilton Head, South Carolina. I absolutely fell in love with this town and all that it had to offer.

We saw the famous Harbour Town Lighthouse

The Salty Dog Cafe

 View from the bridge of Salty Dog Cafe

RBD checking out the view from the dock!

All the cute shops on the strip...don't worry I didn't do any damage on the Credit Card

And my favorite - all the Spanish moss that hung from the trees

Honestly, this will be a place I take my kids one day - it truly is a magical place!

Wedding Weekend in Hilton Head

This weekend RBD and I had a wedding in Hilton Head, SC. Not only was it a fabulous weekend with friends and weather but RBD and I got to have a nice little vaca to boot!

We stayed at the Westin Hilton Head Island

It was beautiful and we loved the bar called OCEANS!

I woke up bright and early to layout

I have sunorexia

RBD and I right before the wedding brunch

Brunch was at the Port Royal Golf Club

Not to shabby!

AY outside the Port Royal Golf Club

Cat Eye Sunglasses

After leaving New York City a year ago, I've kind-of stepped out of the fashion world a little (tear). Well, thank god for my two besties who keep me informed on all the new trends. Without them I would have never fallen in love with the idea of Cat Eye Sunglasses.

Can you see yourself in a pair?

Looks like I'm going SHOPPING for a new set of eyes!

Life in the Reef...

It's day 3 back in reality and I'm still having Ocean Reef withdrawls. The girls and I have been emailing eachother back and forth about meeting at the "Raw Bar" for lunch or who's taking which golf cart...haha. Life in the Reef consists of driving around in golf carts, shopping, eating and getting sun kissed - sounds fabulous, right?! Here are some more pictures of our amazing trip.....

ALY and Kiki in the Golf Cart

 The Darien Girls!

I wish I had an "afters" shot of all of us - after a few reef cups we didn't look that cute.

Dot and Kiki

Kiki driving the bubble golf cart!

You would never guess where we were headed....hmmm THE BEACH maybe?

The Girls!

Next fall on Bravo...The Real Housewives of Ocean Reef!

Ha ha - sorry that picture just looks like something out of a reality TV series.

Bachelorette Party - Reefer Style

This past weekend my dearest friends and I flew down to Ocean Reef to celebrate my Bachlelorette Party (and Dot's Birthday). We honestly had such an amazing weekend that coming home put us all into a deep depression. Here are some highlights of the weekend....trust me, there's more to come.

My liquid lunch at the Palm Court

Ok, I'm obsessed with this bike, as I think we all were when we tried it.

It's called the Elliptic-go - it's an Elliptical bike!!!!

I'm sorry, but how genius is this!

PVN, ALY, CG at The Fish House

PVN and CG planned a fun day for us at the tennis club. We played tennis in the morning and had a catered lunch prepared for us after our workout. This picture is of all of us and our tennis pro Willy!

This was our lunch.

Seriously, the flavors of this meal were unreal. We even had a giant fruit bowl and home made biscotti, which was to die for.

Thank you again PVN and CG for this amazing weekend