Christmas Shopping in a Sundress

I am writing this watching football and drinking eggnog while it is still 65 degrees at 11 pm at night...and all the angels sang "Hallelujah" I love warm weather. On Christmas day it can be chilly and maybe even a few snow flakes, the rest of the year, I'll take this!

We had a full weekend that started on Friday night with a gingerbread house competition. My friend Caroline hosted it and she, as is always the case, had an amazing spread! This is how parties are when you're a food blogger and so are your friends;) My other real life bestie, Nicole, was there as was another favorite, Angela from Head to Toe Chic. It was a great night and when I say my husband and I did not win, I mean that sincerely. It was bad. I could never be a craft blogger. You are all so very welcome for that.



Saturday I got my hair done and then got a phone call from my husband about car trouble. After AAA was an hour late to pick him up and the tow truck dropped him off,  we had to get dressed,  I had to do all of my make up and wrap white elephant gifts in 15 minutes so we could then rush out the door and head to his company Christmas party. To say I was stressed would be an understatement. To say the fact they had a full bar helped to alleviate some of my stress would also be an understatement. Life is about adapting;)

Yesterday we shopped and walked around Raleigh with me wearing sandals and a sundress! It was rather amazing. We had a fantastic brunch at Coquette. My french onion soup was delicious, but these butter pecan profiteroles were absolutely scrumptious. I may be dreaming of them for a few weeks to come.


That was my weekend in a nutshell, we have a busy week ahead with basketball and my book club cookie exchange. I will have a few yuletide cocktails for you guys this week!

Philly at Christmastime

This post has been waiting right at about a year for me to write. Every year on our trip up to Boston, whether it be Thanksgiving or Christmas, we usually stop at a different city (or small and charming towns!) on the way up and on the way back. We try to turn our long drive into mini trips and see a new place each time. We were driving and debating between Philadelphia and Wilmington when we found a great last minute hotel deal in Philly and the decision was made.  We were there for less than 24 hours, but these are my favorite sights of Philadelphia at Christmas, with a bunch of architecture, history and food thrown in!

We ended up staying at The Latham Hotel which was recently renovated and in a central location and points for a bar with amazing bourbon cocktails. They obviously cared about me. The rooms were a good size for an older hotel. Not large enough for a gathering, but certainly enough room for the two of us to move around freely. Mainly...the bed. I almost cried when it was time to wake up because I was so comfortable. 

Anyways, once out of the hotel our first stop was historic Reading Terminal via a walk by the absolutely gorgeous City Hall. We ate a bunch and if you want to know how hungry I was...I didn't even get a picture of my food before I inhaled it. Just trust me, delicious. Every meal we ate was nothing short of fantastic. 

We walked around a bunch more, checking out what sights we could because it was a Sunday and lots of places I was interested in seeing were closed. I did grab a shot of the home of the one and only Betsy Ross. I was maybe a little too excited over that. Then we stumbled onto the spot where the first photograph was taken and we pulled up what it looked like on google and took a photo of the frst photo at that sight. Cause we are nerds and everything. 

Interestingly enough, my favorite stop of the whole weekend was at the Macy's. They have an amazing light show and organ concert in the original Wanamakers store. It is a tradition dating back to 1956 and their third floor has a Dickens Village set up. I cannot recommend stopping by there enough. 

Hopefully we get to go back again soon when we are able to spend a little bit more time and really embrace ourselves in all the history. 














Meems Bottom Covered Bridge

One of life's little treasure, at least to me, is the joy of discovering covered bridges. They are usually found on a scenic road in a sweet little town or stumbled upon on a lonely stretch of road. There are a few left in Virginia, but by far, my favorite is Meems Bottom Covered Bridge found in the gorgeous Shenandoah Valley just shy of New Market. The road leading to it is framed by lovely trees that seem to frame the setting. 

The bridge is named after the Meems family that owned the land and was built in 1894 and stayed in great shape until 1976 when it was partly burned. Thankfully they salvaged what they could and instead of scrapping it, rebuilt it with reinforcements. If you ever find yourself traveling on 81 in Virginia, it is found right of the exit and I promise it would be a short detour well worth your time. 

Fall in Virginia is a sight to behold and here is just a little snippet of why I love it so. 





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