the raleigh hotel, miami

Can we jut say "brrr?"

I'm suffering from a bit of weather whiplash here in Nashville. We had an appropriately chilly Thanksgiving, followed by a burst of springtime weather that led into...freezing rain, freezing temps and a whole week's worth of gray skies. Blech.

I'm escaping my weather woes by researching a spring getaway for me and the Mr. It's been a whammy of a year and a few days on a beach sound so very necessary. Sure a trip to an island sounds great, but what about Miami? It's close, cheap and Miami has the Raleigh Hotel.

Can you say magical?

This refurbished hotel has beach front access. It also stays true to its roots boasting that gorgeous art deco style that is so very South Beach.

greetings from austin, tx

This week I flew away to Austin for a work trip. While being away from home for several days at a time can sometimes be a drag, we made the most of this conference trip and saw a bit of the city.

Here are a few snaps from our trip away from work. Very excited to head back for a mini getaway with S and a few pals soon!

Exploring food trucks....

Korean Mexican tacos mean spicy chicken with kimchi.

Exploring South Congress

snaps from seattle

I just returned from a work trip to Seattle. At first, I was filled with dread at being gone over the weekend, but after getting a taste of the city, I felt really fortunate to have the chance to see it.

We stayed downtown at the Edgewater (famous for this photo) where we had fireplaces in our rooms and killer waterfront views.

The city is beautiful and wonderfully romantic this time of year. S and I are already planning a return trip.

Here are a few of my most touristy snaps:

 Pike's Market where we wandered under...

 

neon signage,

 

 browsed the famous fish market (get a load of those crabs!)

 

and even saw some burly gentlemen toss a few of these guys around. 

 

I fell in love with the bounty of fresh flowers  available for ridiculous prices (that bouquet is only $5!?). We also ate fresh chocolate covered cherries...a Washington state staple.

special weekend snaps

This weekend has been a special one. Our pals LD and AK are in town visiting from Chicago. Since it's their first trip to visit us here in Nashville, we had tons to do.

 Here are a few snaps of the highlights. We miss you already!

breaking out the new snakeskin loafers

Sipping Mississippi's own Lazy Magnolia brew at The Pharmacy's Biergarten before...

heading over to our fave 5 Points dive The 5 Spot to hear awesome local band Little Bandit.

A Saturday morning walk through Germantown and Bicentennial Park where...

the leaves have begun to fall.

Hair of the dog at Whiskey Kitchen means a glass of rose with...

fried chicken sliders (served with pomegranate butter and honey), obviously.

a row of guitars in Corner Music

These tiny baby jeans in imogene + willie made me giggle.

A late night stop to the speakeasy Patterson House where we ....

promptly broke the "no standing, no loud voices and no cell phone" policies. By we I mean...us.

Our handsome dates (right after L asked S to be in their wedding).

Sunday Funday at Fanny's House of Music where there was a vintage fair. We found a box of old work shirt name tags. Fun combos abound!

The perfect afternoon pick-me-up? Rose and cardamon marshmallows dipped in chocolate from Nashville's own Bang Candy Company.

In short, I would say they now definitely "believe in Nashville." Can you blame them?

so long, summer (snaps)

It's been a whirlwind of a summer that I would almost swear didn't happen. How did we already get from May to September?

Thanks to the recently discovered collection of iPhone snaps you see below, there's no denying that the summer actually happened. Backyard BBQ's in Brooklyn, concerts, a trip to Chicago, two weddings, a cross country drive to start a new life in a different state...and all sorts of other summery goodness in between.

Yeah, summer happened alright-- and it was awesome.

Cheers to a fantastic Labor Day weekend, friends. Let's celebrate her before she's gone!

  

1-a charcuterie plate complete with dainty floral garnish at The Old Edwards Inn in Highlands, NC/2-Parker's rehearsal dinner...nothing beats a fella in a bow tie/3-the groomsmen show off their tails/4-a stop for legit North Carolina BBQ at Bridges in Shelby, NC/5-beautiful NC mountaintops captured on an early morning hike/6-toasting with W and K at the reception

7-Benton's bacon on the grill/8-dance party with the bestie/9-Bouchon Bakery treats for Mr. B's birthday/10-saying goodbye to our garden in NYC/10-locking up our place one more time/11-so long, NYC skyline

 

12-a painting in progress beside the Highline in NYC/13-an impromptu concert in Central Park/14-one last snap of our beloved Bethesda Fountain/15-buildings reflected in water at Central Park/16-disco roller skating on the Mall/17-Only in New York, folks. Dance, baby, dance!

 

18-pretty AK on the roof of her Chicago home/19-Lake Michigan was...freezing!/20-The Drake/21-delicious tacos, guac and margaritas at Big Star Taco in Wicker Park/22-napping with AK's new kitten Dexter /23-because Home Alone always rules-the American Airlines terminal at O'Hare.

24-Those Darlins rock it at The End in Nash/25-Biggest. grasshopper. ever./26-a double stack from Gabby's burgers in South Nashville/27-summer carnivals mean ferris wheels!/28-Nashville-based chocolatiers Olive & Sinclair make a mean sea salt and pepper chocolate bar/29-fresh peaches from the farmer's market in our new neighborhood

30-East Nashville's Tomato Arts Festival doesn't play around. Mad Donna's advertises their offering./31-cruising Nash in our new ride/32-frozen lemonade at a street fair/33-shopping for bikes in East Nasty/34-hot sun, cold soup at the Tomato Arts Festival/35-Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams never disappoints.

36-checking Mom and Dad in at the Union Station Hotel...they say it's haunted, you know.../37-our new living room in Nashville/38-a framed Bob pic scored for a dime at an antique shop/39-baking lemon bars/40-THE Hot Chicken Festival/41-date night at The Belcourt theater

42-new shades make Mondays brighter/43-blue skies over the Tennessee capitol/44-orange Pellegrino is certainly the drink of champions/45-Libby dog shows off her spots/46-oysters on a weekend jaunt to Memphis/47-one last coral pedicure before summer ends

hello there

Well, hello there! Remember me?

After an insane two weeks of work, travel and some serious steps toward a big life change, we are back to a sweltering NYC and back to work.

Daydreaming of our recent adventures in an attempt to fight off those office blues...

 We saw a college friend get married, visited with family, met Steve Earle in a parking lot, had a cannon ball contest and ate more than our fair share of delicious food.

Where did these magic events occur? On a whirlwind trip down South. Here are a few snaps from our adventures.

getting in the mood with a pre vacation JTE show at Webster Hall

Nashville honky tonks

 deliciousness at "meat and three" favorite At the Table (why yes, that is fried chicken)

eating our way through East Nashville: tacos, burgers, cocktails, oh my!

 the water tower in my hometown (read NYT article about it here)

a visit with my Grandma Nora and her gorgeous hydrangeas

before RM's wedding in Oxford

a late night date a John Currence's Snackbar

weekend plans

Oh my. For a moment I wasn't sure we would get here, but at long last it's...FRIDAY!

Do you guys have any fun plans? S and I are heading out of NYC to see our sweet fam before sneaking away to a Justin Townes Earle concert with some friends at MASS MoCA (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art to those of us not in know...).

Stoked to wander the galleries before the show starts.

In honor of the show, here is a JTE tune that might break your heart...in a good way?

Happy (almost) weekend!

P.S. Remember this post? I know S does.

(image courtesy mass moca)

san antonio

In exactly 24 hours, S and I will be on our way down to San Antonio for our dear friends' wedding. Since we've never explored the city, we've decided to extend the trip and turn it into a full fledged getaway.

The Alamo, a peek into the missions, the Pearl and plenty o' Tex Mex are all on our agenda.

We've booked a lovely room at Liz Lambert's Havana Hotel on the Riverwalk, and I'm beyond excited to get into some local flavor before we celebrate sweet K's big day.


Bring it on, Texas!

(original images courtesy san antonio visitor's bureau and remodelista)