new york city

***

the second leg of my vacation, i traveled to nyc to visit my best girl, beth.

after hitting congested traffic early that morning in charlotte, missing my flight and re-booking, i finally made it to nyc later that afternoon. she picked me up from the airport with some much needed macaroons and we headed home to settle in and have a late lunch.

that evening we ventured out to the west side and had cucumber cocktails and appetizers at cafe gitane at the jane hotel.  the cutest, quirkiest place where the bell hops still wear red-tail coats and top hats.

we strolled a bit then met up with tony at mtk tavern and laughed until early hours.

needless to say i slept great that night and woke refreshed and ready for the day ahead.

friday was low-key.  beth had some errands to run and once she was finished, we ventured out to greenwich ave and had a late lunch of buckwheat crepes at milo melo and strolled boutiques for a few hours.

after, we headed home, freshened up and headed out to port chester to one of mario batali's restaurants, tarry lodge.

the food was unreal and the company was even better.

we hit up bar taco after and had mojitos to end the night.

saturday was our city day.  we wandered around the metropolitan museum of art for hours, strolled through central park and tried a few different macaroons from different places.

dinosaur bbq was mentioned as a possible dinner spot and i was hesitant because you can't get good bbq outside of the south.  boy was i wrong.  it was good. soooo good. 

and the homemade key lime pie...killer!

we called it a night at that point because neither one of us was capable of moving after that meal.

sunday was my last day and we left for the airport a little after noon.  it's always sad to leave but knowing that i will be back keeps my spirits up.

i miss my girl but am so thankful for the laughs, car dancing, and good times!

hunting island

***

time has gotten away from me.  four weeks ago i was anticipating my vacation and now it's suddenly two weeks after my vacation.  where does time go?

anyway, the hubs and i enjoyed a nice little camping trip to hunting island, south carolina.

we spent two lovely nights with a couple friends playing in the sand, collecting sand dollars, splashing in the waves and counting hundreds of jellyfish.  our campsite was even raided by raccoons.

nonetheless, we enjoyed every minute of it and i can't wait to go back.

we had lunch in the small town of beaufort, and spent a few hours reveling in its' charm.

then it was over the bridge to what felt like a secluded part of the world.

we woke early each morning to greet the sunshine, cooked by campfire, and even climbed a lighthouse.

it was a dreamy place and many memories were made.

strawberry-basil frozen yogurt

***

this weekend at the farmers market i picked up some local strawberries and it was all i could do to not eat them all on the way home.  they were so sweet and juicy.

rather i made strawberry basil frozen yogurt.

you HAVE to try this. it is out of this world yummy!

recipe can be found here.

asheville

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most of the time our weekends are spent in asheville.  and this past weekend was no exception.

we loaded up the car with a couple of our good friends and headed up the mountain for an afternoon in one of my favorite cities.  we spent some time at the farmers market getting some veggie plants and herbs.

and then we hit downtown to wander around.  we ended the evening at one of my favorite joints, modesto tratorria.  the food is local and such a wonderful combination of flavors.  the mojitos are very tempting and refreshing. sometimes it's hard to limit myself to just one.

weekend

***

another busy weekend, but thankfully i found time at the end of this sunday to sip on a coconut mojito and enjoy the last of the evening hours before the sun bows out for the night.

in full swing

***

everything is budding and the days are getting longer.

spring started off very warm here in the south, but it's mellowed out into chilly mornings and warm afternoons.

and i'm trying to capture every moment i can.

the solitude of evenings

***

these longer days are made for porch sittin'.  i'm always thankful when i can slip in a few moments of soliutude and enjoy the the sun and moon trading places.