Friday, May 30, 2014

5.30.14

California Dreaming ... Napa

Happy Friday! In just 3 days I will be jetting back to California for my annual summer trip. Whenever I'm home, a trip to Napa is a must. It's only about an hour from where I live and I can always coerce someone to go with me. When I was younger, aka a fresh 21 year old, I thought doing Napa right meant hitting up at least 4 wineries with a big group of friends. Don't get me wrong, we had a blast. My 23rd birthday was epic (some may say). However, when you go from winery to winery to winery, everything eventually starts to taste the same. If you really love wine, this is so NOT the way to do it. The best way is to pick 1 or 2 great ones and take your sweet time. The last trip I took, my mom, my best friend, and I chose to visit Cakebread Cellars. I had been dying to go there for years (no joke) and it was most definitely worth the wait. I'm more of a cabernet gal, so we chose to do a red wine tasting. We happened to go on a day when it was not very busy (due to the rainy weather) so we were able to ask as many questions as we wanted and to chat with our wonderful guides. We loved it so much that we decided to buy a few bottles on the spot. Not wanting to ruin our tasting by going to another winery, we decided to go straight to lunch and open up one of our purchases (another awesome thing you can do in Napa). To round out the day, we stopped in at Dean & DeLuca for dessert. Honestly, it couldn't have been better. I can't wait to do it again.






Some people's version of happiness ...

My version of happiness.




Happy Weekend!



Tuesday, May 27, 2014

5.27.14

Latest Loves ...


1. // Stag bar tool set (manly yet whimsical)
2. // Report Signature pumps (nothing is better than white against a great tan)
3. // Warby Parker Reilly sunglasses (summer time necessity)
4. //  Stick Candles (also in a variety of colors & bark types)
5. // Madewell silk shorts (I'm more of a shorts girl than a skirts girl)
6. // Ban.do gem speaker (I mean, who wouldn't want this portable speaker? Hello, beach tunes!)

Friday, May 23, 2014

5.23.14

This Weekend, Why Don't You ... 

Plan a reunion with your best buds!

Despite the fact that most of us are sprinkled across the country, I have been lucky enough to keep up with almost all of my college friends. A few weeks ago, my friend Lana reached out to myself and a couple others with the idea of planning a reunion. This little idea was all we needed to get the ball rolling. First up, the date. Labor Day weekend. Second, the location. After a little back and forth, Nashville. Accommodations? We're very into Airbnb. Now all we need to do is pull the trigger on flights! I realize taking a plane ride anywhere might not be the easiest thing to do but the point is, it's all about making an effort. My girlfriends are pretty great at sending texts every so often to give encouragement or just to say "this made me think of you." We've also done our fair share of setting up phone dates (an issue when dealing with opposite coasts) and conference calls (middle-school three-way calling style). On the rare a occasion, old-school snail mail pops up and that's great too. However you decide to do it, use the long weekend as an opportunity to reach out to those that mean the most. And then go enjoy your extra day off :)


We're coming for you, Nashville!

Thursday, May 22, 2014

5.22.14

Dusting Off ...

Hello again old friend. I feel terribly guilty for the almost month (eek!) of neglect. I promise to never do that again. But it wasn't my fault, I swear! Life got the best of me and you know, sometimes you just gotta take the ride. And it really was a good ride (vacation, graduation, family time). The only down side was that my poor little corner of the internet was ignored. But I'm back and ready to get this party started again!

If you're still out there (whoever you are), thanks for sticking with me.