Oktoberfest Craft Beer Tour

Over the weekend, myself and a dozen other ladies went on the Brew Thru SRQ tour to explore the craft beer scene in Sarasota for my Sister-in-law's bachelorette party. Who knew Sarasota had such amazing breweries? It was the perfect way to celebrate with my eclectic, beer-loving SIL
 

The meeting spot to start the tour was at Mandeville Beer Garden and I was so surprised that we had never been or heard about this brewery before. They have a beautiful (dog-friendly) outside patio and inside bar/restaurant area plus a huge selection of craft beers and German-style eats.

 

From there we took off on the trolley to explore some more breweries. Our first stop was at JDub's Brewery where I tried a nice Passion Wheat beer. While I do drink some beers, I don't like heavy and hoppy craft beer but I was able to find some lighter options at each brewery we stopped at.

 
 

 
 
The staff were really incredible in terms of keeping us entertained and educated throughout the tour. Despite it being a million degrees outside, I have to say this is the most fun I've had on a brewery/pub tour.


 
The third stop was at Big Top Brewing Company, which is another hidden gem with some amazing brews especially the Key Lime Wheat and then their Pumpkin Stiltskin during Oktoberfest.

The next stop was at Calusa Brewing Company which is a huge Tap Room with a brewery attached. At this point, all we wanted was some AC to cool down in before exploring the beer menu. The Coffee & Cinn Brown Ale was a hit among our group.


 

The last stop was at Pi Craft Beer & Spirits Restaurant which is a small laid-back joint in a strip-mall but is hugely popular for their pizza and craft beers. I think they knew pizza/food would hit the spot after beer drinking during the day.

 

It was such a fun experience and a great way to celebrate a bachelor/bachelorette party for those interested in breweries and beer tasting. I'd definitely go again at another time of year since Brew Thru Tours rotate to different breweries depending on the season.

 

Is it Friday yet?

Weekend Bachelorette Bash

 

I went to my first bachelorette for the year over the weekend for my sister-in-law. She's around my age so thankfully she chose a daytime brewery tour which is more my speed than going out clubbing until the early morning.

On Saturday morning we made the drive over to Sarasota to meet up with my SIL, cousins and her friends. Around 2pm we left for an Oktoberfest brewery tour to 5 different craft beer breweries in Sarasota. Despite it being a million degrees outside, it was a really fun tour and we tried some amazing beers.

After the tour, K and I went to grab dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in Siesta Key. We shared some appetizers while listening to live music on the outside patio. After daytime drinking in the hot sun, I was ready to have a quiet night relaxing at my in-laws house for the rest of the night.

On Sunday morning we had some coffee with the in-laws and then hit the road to head back home. It was a fun weekend although I wish we could have stayed longer to go to Siesta Key beach which is gorgeous but hopefully we'll make it there before "winter" in Florida arrives.

Joining the lovely Biana for some Weekend talk.

The Cutest Travel-Themed Baby Shower & Brunch

I'm excited to share the details of the most precious baby shower we threw over the weekend for Kate. Kate has become a special friend to all of us since she moved to Florida so we wanted to make her shower extra special and what better way than hosting a Sunday brunch with a travel-theme?

The Invitations
I got all excited about the travel theme and volunteered to do the invitations which turned out gorgeous! They were printed on shimmery champagne-colored paper and came in the form of a dainty postcard in the mail. (I blocked out some info below for privacy purposes)

Have Baby, Will Travel
We asked Kate's guests to bring an unwrapped children's travel-related book which we collected in a chest by the front door. I'm sure these will be sentimental for her to read to Serena through her different stages of childhood.

The Brunch Spread
We put together quite the menu which included a bagel station along with quiche, deviled eggs, western omelet muffins, scones, french toast with bacon, and granola yogurt parfaits.

 

The Mimosa Bar
Brunch and mimosas just seem to go hand-in-hand so I used some Pinterest inspiration to put together a nice selection of juices, champagne, and fruit to garmish with.

The Fun & Games
We played some traditional shower games and then a travel-themed game, which was actually quite difficult because, who knows how to say the word "baby" in 15 different languages? A nice effort was made by all and then it was time to get crafty at the headband station.







The Baby Bump Cake

Jen designed the most beautiful cake perfect for Kate to go with the whole travel theme. Inside was filled with chocolate cake and chocolate mousse so talk about being pretty but so delicious!





The Shower Gifts
I have to say Kate and Serena got showered with some amazing gifts and it made me realize how fun it is to shop for little girls. I got Serena some Minnie Mouse gear and an adorable baby-size travel neck pillow and blanket.

The Ladies

The Party Favors
Jen put together some adorable party to-go favors with some cute personalized detail.

 

What was inside?

I love how all the details came together for Kate's baby shower and it was so fun celebrating the beautiful mommy-to-be as we await baby Serena!
 

Weekend Celebrations

Another weekend come and gone way too quickly but it was a great one spent in and around town before more traveling this weekend. K and I also booked a little weekend getaway for my birthday in December so I'm looking forward to that!

On Friday night, we actually made it out of the house for dinner and Outback it was since we have very limited restaurant options close to home. We had some dirty martinis and delicious meals before heading home for a relaxing night.

On Saturday we went furniture shopping and finally found a dining room table after going through four different furniture stores. We still need a guest bedroom set, couch, and a few other things for the new house so I walked around taking mental notes. Our previous house still hasn't officially sold yet so I'm waiting til then to fully furnish our new house.

That night we had a birthday dinner to attend and our sushi fix was definitely taken care of with several delicious rolls and some tuna sashimi.

Sunday morning was Kate's baby shower which a few of us girls had been planning for months now. We decided on a travel-themed Sunday brunch shower which was super fun coming up with ideas for games, decor, and the menu items.

It was a huge success and I can't wait to share all the details later this week when I have time to compile the pictures. I was super happy with how my Mimosa Bar turned out along with so many other cute & personalized details the "shower planning team" put together.



Cheers to another week and is it really mid-September already?

Joining the lovely Biana.

Exploring Music City

Nashville treated us very well and it was an amazing time touring the city. It was a short trip but we made sure to pack in as much as we could.

  
K's birthday falls on Labor Day weekend so we usually try to travel somewhere new to celebrate and take advantage of the long weekend. This year he chose Nashville to visit one of his good friends and explore a city neither of us had been to before.



Saturday
After dropping off our luggage and relaxing for a bit we headed over to Broadway Street to explore Music Row and get the full Nashville experience. We quickly realized that this city is the #1 bachelor/bachelorette party central in the US. It made for some good people watching and I now know why it's nicknamed "NashVegas".
 

Our first stop was at the world famous Tootsies for some rooftop drinks and a view of all the action down below. We spent the entire day walking around exploring the music scene and checking out the shops in between.



One of our favorite places was The Stage on Broadway which was a nice relaxed bar/venue with amazing live music.

After hours of fun and exploring, we settled at Merchants Restaurant for dinner which is on Broadway Street in the heart of the action. The food and craft cocktails were excellent!

Sunday
On Sunday we had reservations for brunch at Pinewood Social which was recommended to me by several people and for good reason. This place is more than just a restaurant, there's a full bowling alley, pool area, cafe, large outdoor patio and several bars. The atmosphere was fun and trendy, the service was great considering how busy this place gets, and the brunch menu didn't disappoint!

After our hearty brunch, we walked around the premises to check out the different areas and then made our way into downtown on foot to walk off those calories and sight-see in slow motion.

Once we made it to Broadway Street, we were ready to cool off and relax our feet so we stopped at the George Jones Entertainment Complex to walk through the museum and have a cold beverage at the bar overlooking the Nissan Stadium.

The entire day was spent exploring all the fun things Nashville has to offer and of course we returned to The Stage for more live music.


 

After another action packed day it was time for dinner so we jumped in an Uber to head to Peg Leg Porker for dinner. Several people recommended this restaurant for amazing BBQ so it was on my short list but when we arrived, we found out it's not open on Sundays so we had to take another taxi and head back to where we originally were.

 

We settled at The Stillery for dinner which was a place my boss had told me and about he raved about the sriracha deviled eggs. He wasn't kidding!

Monday

Our flight home was in the evening so we had a few hours to enjoy Nashville before heading to the airport. We went to visit our friend's parents at their beautiful home.

 

It was then time to make our way to the airport but TSA precheck bought K and I some time to stop for lunch at another highly recommended restaurant called The Pharmacy Burger Parlor and Beer Garden. We loved the outside patio/beer garden and the burgers were excellent!

Even though it was a very short trip, we loved Nashville and hope to return again to see the beautiful Fall foliage.