Charlottesville Trip #2

 On the morning of our anniversary, we started the day with breakfast at a local bakery. Chocolate croissants seemed appropriate, and Albemarle Baking Company makes some good ones :) Then we headed to a little place called the University of Virginia to take a tour and look at ...

The Rotunda

  (the sweetest UVA student took this picture for us - she saw us struggling to take a self-portrait and offered to take it for us!)

The Academic Village 

(I couldn't get a good picture of the entire "village" so this is one pavilion)

Walled Gardens 

(these were behind every pavilion in the Academic Village and anyone could enter and take a peek)

Students walking around the lawn wearing bathrobes (Lol!) :)

After our tour of UVA, we grabbed some lunch at The White Spot in the "Corner" area.

Mmmm ... I wish I had a "Gus" burger right now!

Then we traveled to Ashlawn-Highland which is the farmhouse that belonged to President James Monroe.

The Monroes lived in the white section of the house; the yellow was added by subsequent owners. It was a fairly small house; I was kind of surprised at the size!

The farm had a flock of sheep that were descendants of the original flock of sheep owned by the Monroes, chickens, and peacocks. 

Adorable lambs!

This guy was giving me the stink eye the whole time we were there. I'm pretty confident that he didn't like me much.

Peacocks definitely know that they're beautiful :)

For our anniversary dinner, Peter and I went to C&O Restaurant in downtown Charlottesville. 

I didn't take a picture of our food because we inhaled it way too quickly for that to happen :) It was soooo delish! What a great way to end our special day!!!

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I'd like to take a break from writing about the anniversary of my wedding day to wish these two crazy kids a very happy wedding day tomorrow :)

(image from Yahoo)

Thirteen and a half hours until the ceremony starts!!! Can't wait :)

Charlottesville Trip

After some major problems with my camera over the past two weeks, I have successfully managed to upload pictures of our second anniversary trip to Charlottesville, VA. So I thought I should do a blog post in honor of that achievement :)

Peter and I wanted to do a quick getaway for our second anniversary, and since he had never been to Charlottesville and it's about a 2-hour drive to DC, we decided to go there. On Sunday we had a nice drive down to the C-ville area and made our first stop at King Family Vineyards in Crozet, VA. It was hard to pick a vineyard to visit because there are SO many vineyards around Charlottesville, but I'm glad that we picked King Family. It was smaller and owned by one family (hence "King Family") so it had kind of a laid-back, welcoming vibe to it. I'm not glad that I totally forgot to take pictures while we were there! We were walking to our car to leave for the day when I remembered that I had not taken a single picture. Seriously not happy with myself! Good memories of the place will have to suffice :) We had a delicious picnic there and then took a very interesting tour of the winery and did a wine tasting. It was my first wine tasting, and I really enjoyed it. We took home a bottle of their dessert wine, Loreley, which was super yummy! I had never tasted dessert wine before, but I'm definitely a fan now!

(image from King Family Vineyards)

Then we headed to our hotel, The Boar's Head Inn, which happened to be pretty much just down the street from King Family Vineyards. I, of course, forgot to take pictures of our lovely room in the main inn, but I did take pictures of our stroll around the grounds. There are a few lakes around the property, and all of the spring flowers were in bloom so it was quite beautiful. I would highly recommend The Boar's Head if you are spending time in C-ville!

 Front of the Inn

 Back of the Inn with Lake (Love the bench swings!)

Peter at the Lake (He may or may not have been thinking about having a swim)

Not very successful attempt at a self-portrait under a gorgeous pink cherry tree :)

After our stroll, we went to dinner at a fabulous restaurant called Duner's in Ivy, VA. It's located in what looks to be a house-converted-to-be-a-restaurant so it's fairly small, but the food was uber tasty. I did think about taking pictures of restaurant and the deliciousness on my plate, but we were literally touching elbows with the people dining around us so I thought that maybe I shouldn't :) 

More to come on our trip tomorrow ...

Happy Easter!

Low in the grave he lay—
Jesus, my Saviour,
Waiting the coming day—
Jesus, my Lord.

Up from the grave he arose
With a mighty triumph o'er his foes.
He arose a victor from the dark domain,
And he lives for ever with his saints to reign.
He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!

(Up From the Grave He Arose from the Original Trinity Hymnal, #206)

New Junior League "Murfee" Scarf from Lilly Pulitzer!

(image via Lilly Pulitzer)

Pretty, huh?! Can't wait to get my hands on one :)

Lilly Pulitzer has just introduced a new "Murfee" scarf in honor of their corporate sponsorship of the Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. The special Junior League "Murfee" will be available via Lilly Pulitzer, AJLI, and Lilly stores and retail outlets. Read more about the partnership between Lilly and the Junior League on Lilly's blog ("Lilly Loves the Junior League!") and at AJLI.

Marley Lilly Giveaway #2

I'm catching up on blogs after being out of town for part of this week, and I just discovered that Maryland Pink and Green is hosting a Marley Lilly giveaway. Let the Tide Pull Your Dreams Ashore hosted a Marley Lilly giveaway a couple of weeks ago, but if you missed that one you have another chance to win one of these lovely hats :) Head on over to Maryland Pink and Green to enter before midnight EST on April 25!

Happy Anniversary ...

... to the most wonderful husband in the world! Our two years of marriage have been the best two years of my life, and I look forward to enjoying many more years with you :)

How many states have you visited?

A few weeks ago, Annie posted a map of the United States that showed which states she had visited. I randomly started thinking about it today so I made my own map using this website.  Here it is :)

I only included states where I've spent some time - not states I've merely driven across on a road trip or only experienced during a flight layover :) My parents love the Western / Southwestern U.S. (especially my daddy!) so we took quite a few long camping trips there when I was growing up which accounts for that section of the country. I was born and raised in the South (and went to grad school there!), and I went to college in the Midwest which explains those regions. And I presently live in the Mid-Atlantic region :)

I want to visit all 50 states, but I am very eager to see New England! Those old houses, quaint towns, and rocky beaches are calling my name :) And I think I need to visit New Jersey. I find it kind of odd that I havn't been there before?! Maybe I can make a quick trip there on my way to New England ...

Easter Centerpieces

I was browsing through Martha Stewart's website the other day and found two Easter centerpiece ideas that I'm eager to try. Aren't these so pretty?

Tiered Bouquet

Arrange spring flowers in egg cups and then display the mini bouquets on cake stands. I don't have any egg cups right now, but I would be willing to buy some to make this :)

Tulip Egg Basket

Peonies are my favorite flower, but tulips are a close second! I love how the tulips actually do look like eggs when they are grouped close together in baskets like this :)

Of course I could also forgo flowers entirely and go with a centerpiece of Easter candy. I'm totally OK with that :)

Easter Candy Parade

(images from Martha Stewart)

Living in "Upstairs, Downstairs"

Did anyone else see the new Upstairs, Downstairs on Masterpiece Theatre on Sunday night? I love all things BBC and British so of course I was glued to the TV screen :) The acting and costumes were great, but I was really drawn to the set decor designed by Eve Stewart (who was also nominated for an Academy Award for her design work on The King's Speech). I could definitely live at 165 Eaton Place!

Here are some sketches of the set design:

(images from Masterpiece Theatre)

And here are pictures of the finished product:

The blue on the walls of the foyer is gorgeous. This picture doesn't do it justice!

This picture is a little bit better. Love!

 

 The other rooms aren't half bad either :)

(images from Masterpiece Theatre via Little Augury)

I think I see some Dorothy Draper influence on the set. What do you think?

 

(images from The Greenbrier via Whitehaven Interiors)

Weekend Recap

It's a sunny Monday here :) This weekend was a pretty rainy, cloudy, chilly one here in the DC 'burbs, but it's gorgeous today, and I'm very thankful for a little bit of spring!

On Friday, I had the day off of work so I spent the morning doing some errands and then headed over to my friend, RMZ's, house for lunch. Her sister (also one of my friends), MM, was visiting from New Jersey, and we had a great time catching up over some very yummy taco salad. After lunch, I took the train to Alexandria, VA, where I volunteered for a Junior League event. I think we had about 60 Girl Scouts plus leaders come to spend the night at a historic inn/tavern (now a museum) and learn about Alexandria's history. They earn a badge for it, but I forget which one :) I was a Brownie for a few years in elementary school, and we never got to do anything like that! I would have been crazy excited to do an overnight in a museum when I was little! I also managed to find time to pop into Lavender Moon Cupcakery while I was in Alexandria (I always find time for a cupcake) :) They were running a "happy hour" special while I was there so I got 6 for the price of 4 (I couldn't turn down a good deal even though I was originally only going to buy 2!). Peter and I tried 3 of the cupcakes when I got home around 11:00pm. We had never tried cupcakes from this bakery before, and we agreed that they were OK. Some of the cupcakes were dry, but the frosting on most was really good. Not Georgetown Cupcake delicious, but I also didn't have to wait in line for 2 hours to get my cupcakes :)

Saturday we had a lazy morning of sleeping in and then making a big breakfast. We made a "Dutch Baby" (I know it sounds weird, but it's really easy and good!) I had never heard of a "Dutch Baby" before Peter and I were married, but he grew up eating them. It's basically a baked pancake (it puffs up in the oven and then deflates when you take it out) that you serve with fresh lemon juice and powdered sugar.

(image from Martha Stewart)

Then I went shopping in search of a pair of white jeans for the summer. I've been a little hesitant to buy white jeans (I've never been a huge fan of white clothing, shoes, etc.), but they look so cute with tunics that I thought I would give a pair a try this summer. I had no luck finding anything, though :( Most of the stores that I visited didn't sell white jeans, and those that did have some in stock did not have petite sizes. If anyone has recs for a good pair of petite white jeans, please send them my way! Saturday night I made Orange-Glazed Salmon for dinner, and then we watched Gran Torino which I had never seen before.

(image from IMBD) 

I'm still thinking about/processing this movie. Wow! Clint Eastwood is a great storyteller - and actor!

On Sunday we went to church and then came home with plans to take a bike ride on the Crescent Trail to Georgetown, but it was fairly cloudy and chilly yesterday (even though the weather crew on the news had promised me a day of sun and 73 degrees!) so we scrapped those plans and just stayed home until a dinner that we attended at our church. We are planning a bike ride tonight when we get off of work, though, to take advantage of the loveliness that is outside right now :)

Marley Lilly Monogrammed Hat Giveaway!

EAS of Let the Tide Pull Your Dreams Ashore is hosting a great giveaway for a Marley Lilly monogrammed hat. These hats are so cute for the beach, steeplechase races, polo matches, etc.! The winner gets to pick which style floppy hat and the color. The giveaway ends Sunday, April 17th, at 5pm EST and is only open to U.S. residents. The winner will be drawn using Random.org. Head on over to Let the Tide Pull Your Dreams Ashore to enter :)

Vineyard Vines New Arrivals

I got my new Vineyard Vines catalog in the mail yesterday and immediately started drooling over some of the new offerings :)

Summerland Scarf Dress

Margo Ruffle Skirt

Tenley Tunic

Seersucker Patchwork Shorts

Mallory Cardigan

(images from Vineyard Vines)

These are my faves, but, honestly, I think I would wear anything in that catalog! And I'm too excited about VV's upcoming women's swimwear collection! You know it's going to be fun :)

Lilly Pulitzer on Rue La La

(image from Rue La La)

I'm sure other bloggers have been sharing the news, but just in case you havn't heard yet, Rue La La will be hosting a Lilly Pulitzer sale tomorrow (Wednesday / April 6) starting at 11:00am EST. If you need a free invitation to Rue La La, you can click here (There are never any responsibilities to buy anything, ever; it's completely free). Good luck :)

Weekend Recap

The first weekend of April was a good one :) On Friday night Peter and I went grocery shopping after work and then came home and watched some TV (I've become a little addicted to the British mystery series, "Midsomer Murders," showing on PBS) while I baked "To Die For Blueberry Muffins" in anticipation of the arrival of Peter's brother, CEGC, and sister-in-law, LHC, the next day. CEGC and LHC live near Boston so we don't get to see them nearly as much as we would like! Before they arrived around 7:00 on Sat. night, I cleaned our apartment and then made dinner. I made one of my favorite recipes, Chicken Tortellini with Asparagus and Olives, from Southern Living for dinner. Peter requests this for his birthday dinner every year :) After dinner, we talked and talked and talked ... I'm really upset that I forgot to take a picture of the four of us that night. Oh well! I am taking pictures more frequently this year, but I still have lapses sometimes :) We all went to church together on Sunday morning and then to Jason's Deli for lunch afterward. After CEGC and LHC left to drive back to MA, we took a long walk around our neighborhood and then had leftovers for dinner. All in all a very relaxing weekend!

Happiness Is ...

Today I'm linking up with Virginia Belle for her "Happiness Is ..." post. This is a good motivator for me to take time and think of the things that I'm thankful for this week :)

A Great Read-Aloud with The Reading Connection

I volunteered last night with an organization called The Reading Connection. Volunteers read aloud to children in domestic violence or homeless shelters throughout DC and northern-VA while their parents attend counseling sessions, workshops, etc. Each child leaves the read-aloud with a brand-new book that they select to take home. The volunteers plan the night's theme and pick out books to read aloud, a craft, and games that center around the theme. Last night, my fellow volunteer, MM, picked a Spring theme so we read books about Spring to the kids and made collages of cherry blossom trees. Super fun!

Making Plans for our Second Anniversary Trip to Charlottesville,VA

(image from the National Trust for Historic Preservation)

I havn't been to Charlottesville since I was around 8, and Peter has never visited so we're looking forward to exploring. Trips to several vineyards, Monticello, University of VA, and Montpelier are already in the itinerary :)

Daffodils

The weather has been cold, gray, and rainy in these parts, but I've started to see more and more daffodils blooming and it makes me hopeful that warmer weather is coming!

Edy's Girl Scout Cookie Ice Cream

(image from Serious Eats)

I don't think this needs any explanation :)