Jun 27, 2016

last minute beach getaway!

Happy Monday!  Last weekend we realized we had zero plans so we researched a last minute beach house and were lucky enough to find one on Ocean Isle! We left Thursday and got back late Sunday night.  The house was nothing special, but perfect for a quick beach getaway.   I just adore my family and crave quality time together.  This past weekend at the beach was just what we needed!  The first night we unpacked and played at the house and watched the sun set.
Friday morning we made a big breakfast and headed to the beach.
Graham insisted we wear hats at breakfast!





 Ellie loves the water so we took turns playing with her in the water.  She loves to jump the waves.
 Ryan gets jealous during the week since I get so much time with the twins.   I could tell he was loving having lots of time with them to himself.
 When I was little I would stick out my tongue when I was concentrating....both my kids do this too!

 We built sand castles, made countless meals with sand and made the kids into mermaids.
 Here is Ariel and King Triton!


 After a long day on the beach and naps back at the house we went to play putt putt!
 Graham has gone with Ryan several times to play golf, but this was their first putt putt experience and they had a blast.


We took them out to eat and then to ice cream.  Nothing like ice cream at the beach!  This was Ellie's face when I said "smile for a pic and we can go get ice cream"


Under our house there were a few chairs, hammock and swing.  We spent a lot of time down there.  Surprisingly there was a cool breeze and no humidity!  It was the perfect place to have a cup of coffee and read a magazine!  
 Every morning we made a big breakfast.  For lunch we would eat chicken salad, Doritos and fruit and then went out for dinners.  Each morning at breakfast we drank cantaloupe juice.  We have been making cantaloupe juice a lot at house (just like we had in NYC) and the kids love it!
Day 2 on the beach was full of seashell hunts, digging big holes in the sand and riding waves.

 When both kids want to go with dad to swim and you can't pick who to go first.....you take them both!



 After dinner Saturday night we tried Sunset Slush....pure heaven!  Seriously better than ice cream!
 We paid the small fee to walk on the pier while we ate our dessert.


 These three have my whole heart.
 Our favorite pizza place in Charlotte has a few arcade games, but other than that we haven't been to an arcade so we spent some time having fun after our walk on the pier!
For the most part the twins get along, but there are times when they just play so well and giggle and their bond is so sweet.  This was one of those days:)



 The sand was FULL of shells.  Ryan showed the twins how to scoop up some sand, pour water over it to reveal all the beautiful shells.
 Ellie said "mommy when I put water in the big bucket my muscles are not big enough to carry it" so Bobo helped.

 Nothing compares to time at the beach with these 3!  It is just good for the soul!
 The highlight of the weekend for this guy was his new croakies!  He wears them non stop haha!!!

Jun 14, 2016

NYC

Ryan and I just returned from the most amazing NYC getaway!!  We have been to New York a few times, but always around Christmas so we were looking forward to seeing the city and doing different activities in the warmer weather.  We stayed at the James Hotel in Soho which was a fun and funky hotel in a great location(thanks for the rec Simps).  Just two blocks away was a place called Bens Pizza with gluten free pizza.  I ordered an entire pizza and embarrassed to say finished it all!
We recently built a shoe closet in our master bedroom and my shoe selection is all flats.  I rarely wear heels so Ryan took me shoe shopping at Bergdorfs!
 Next we walked around central park.  The people watching there is perfection!
Right in front of the park is the Plaza Hotel and a good friend told us to go underground and look around. 
I had no clue all that was under this hotel!!! We first got some macaroons....
We visited the Eloise store and bought Ellie some stuff.  We both kept saying how we want to bring the twins to NYC next year and we will definitely be taking Ellie here!
 Around 2 we sat at a bar and got a glass of wine and watching people shop and just relaxed.
 We got a second wind after the wine and went shopping some more!  After we were exhausted and had our hands full of bags we took a cab back to our hotel.  We got dressed for the night and headed to one of the bars in our hotel for a pre-dinner drink....and I wore one of my new paris of shoes!

 For dinner we ate at Charlie Bird in Soho.  We saw Famke Jannsen on our way there!  Charlie Bird did not disappoint.  The food was delicious and our waiter was great!  We basically just ordered everything he suggested and loved it all.
 After dinner we went to a roof top bar called Mr. Purple.  The view was awesome and we sat across from Jillian Michaels and her entourage all night!
After a long day and late night we woke up the next morning starving!  Several articles I read suggested brunch at Jacks Wife Frida so we walked there first.
 This restaurant was so cute!  Small, quaint, loud and busy.  We wanted to try their most popular dishes and we loved them both...different but delicious.  We loved the duck cured bacon the most!
 They are also known for their cantaloup juice so we got one to go!
 We spent the entire morning shopping!  And for all those who don't know my husband well he is the shopper.  I didn't buy a single thing for me the second day!  We also love to shop for the twins so we did a lot of that the second day.  Once we were worn out and out of money we went to Ludree for a macaroon and coffee.
We slowly made our way down to Eataly.  We visited this place last trip, but had to go back it was so good.  While we waited for our table for late lunch we got a meat and cheese board.
 We ate at La Pizza La Pazza and got the gluten free short rib ragu and Ryan got lasagna!  We left stuffed!
 We picked up a few gifts and looked around until we made room for dessert!
 Surprisingly for an Italian market they have lots and lots of gluten free options.  I asked the main at this dessert stand if he had any gluten free options and he pointed to this case and told me everything in there was an option.  I was in heaven!
 Dessert and coffee before heading back out into the city.

 I liked shopping in the flatiron district because it was less clothing and more home goods.  Ryan stumbled upon the bitters selection and wanted to buy them all.
 I love milk glass and colored cake stands.  If I could have fit these in my suitcase I may have bought one of every color.

 Fishs Eddy was a favorite of ours.  Lots of different and unique tableware.
 Then we hit Bloomingdales since they have a good kid selection.  I am not one to match my kids but when we saw this little girls Kate Spade dress that matched mine we got it.  I don't plan to wear it the same time as her, but she is obsessed with my dress so I knew she would love it!
We went to Babycakes to stock up on Gluten free goodies.  I have this cookbook and always wanted to go to the actual bakery!
 We went back to the hotel to change and then took the subway to the Yankees game.
 Neither of us have ever been to a Yankees game and we had a blast.  The weather could not have been more perfect!
 They even had gluten free beer there!


 The sky looked like cotton candy when the sun started going down.  There is something about baseball that is just so relaxing.
 We left after the 5th inning and went to change before our late night dinner reservations at Dirty French.  I seriously can't say enough good things about this place.  First we were greeted with a drag queen, given champagne while we waited for our table and saw the actress from My Big Fat Greek Wedding!
 This meal is one of my favorites of all time.  Again we asked for recommendations from our waitress and she ordered us all her favs.  She brought me this garlic butter gluten free bread with our brown butter grilled oysters...pure heaven!!!  We didn't finish dinner until well after mid-night and there were still people arriving for their reservations.....only in NYC!
 We stopped by Black Seed bagel for Ryan the next morning before heading to walk the Brooklyn Bridge.
 Our Uber driver suggested he drop us off in Brooklyn and then for us to walk back to NYC so we would have a better view.  This was great advice!
 Here I am stuffing my face with the gluten free donut and scone I bought from BabyCakes bakery the day before!


 We have only been to New York in winter so walking the bridge was not an option, but I am so glad we decided to do it this time.
 After walking around some more we headed to the airport.  We got the kids on our way home and they loved opening our suitcase and helping us unpack all our new goodies.  Even though we bought them both new shoes they were more excited about ours. Ellie named my new shoes "rainbow shoes" and "princess shoes".  She also asked me how my date with Daddy in NYC was.   I love that girl!  Hope she finds a man one day that spoils her and loves her the way Ryan does.
 I could not have planned a better weekend away with my favorite guy!