Weekend Happenings

It all started with a whole lot of nothing on Friday night and getting a good night of sleep which I don't often get during the week so I felt refreshed on Saturday. I did my usual weekend things like laundry, cleaning and some blogging.

The extent of my weekend fun was on Saturday night. We went out for dinner and drinks to celebrate a friend's birthday which was blast!
 

Lola woke me up bright and early on Sunday against my will. The weather was gloomy so I spent the morning relaxing and sipping on some coffee. In the afternoon I went to get some pampering with a facial. The weather was so extremely windy, it was pretty difficult driving in a straight line to and from my appointment.

I came home to some homemade Moscow Mules made by K which are always delicious.

Then we got a Tornado warning which would explain the crazy winds.

The rest of the evening was spent at home sweet home doing the usual food prep, blogging and getting organized for the work week ahead.

Lucky 33 Birthday Brunch

My birthday was on the 13th so K and I celebrated a little early with a trip to Islamorada in the Florida Keys last weekend.

This weekend Kate and my girlfriends organized a birthday brunch on Sunday which, of course is my favorite meal, and was nothing short of amazing from the food, the different flavored mimosas, the bloody mary bar and most importantly the company of all my friends!



Lola also got to join the fun since it was a dog friendly restaurant.

I'd say it was one of the best birthdays yet...... from relaxing in paradise with K in the Florida Keys to celebrating with my favorite girls and guys yesterday for brunch!

So much to be thankful for!

Joining the lovely Biana.

Happenings This Week

My birthday week has come and gone in a flash. On Monday we returned from Islamorada in the Florida Keys feeling refreshed and ready to take on the work week.

Tuesday was my birthday but it was back to work like any other day with tons of catching up to do all week.

Since all of my birthday celebrations were done over the weekend, we had a quiet night at home. K cooked up a nice dinner - grilled grouper and asparagus - with some wine.

I opened some cards and gifts received in the mail and one very sspecial gift from Andrea that literally blew me away!

The package was filled with so much thoughtful, super creative and customized items sent with love from Andrea because she's such a gem!

On Wednesday I shared a Gift Guide for Her with some cute gift ideas for birthdays or the holidays.

On Wednesday night I had all intentions of catching up on reading and commenting on blogs and going through my emails to get all caught up. I even had my Nassau Cruise recap 3/4 way done to be posted yesterday but I came home to internet and we were told they couldn't send a tech out to fix the problem until NEXT WEEK TUESDAY! The blogger in me is livid because I use my evenings to focus on blogging and my husband is pretty much screwed since he has a home office and needs the internet to do his job. I think that's bat shit crazy it will take them a week to fix the internet that went out for no apparent reason.

On to brighter things...

On Thursday Sarita featured a Christmas Q&A featuring yours truly where I talked about some of my favorite Christmas traditions and share one of my favorite party pleasers. - the Holiday Cheese Ball.

Today is now Friday after a roller-coaster week and I'm now wondering how boring my weekend is going to be without having internet at home. I'm going to need a glass of wine to calm down my lividness. I'm not even sure if lividness is a word but you get my point and I'll leave you with this piece of advice for the weekend...

Enjoy yours!

Islamorada Weekend Vacay

I've been dreaming of going to the Florida Keys for a few years now and K decided to make it happen for my birthday this year. The last time I visited Key West was over 10 years ago for spring break so another trip was well overdue. We found a gorgeous resort on Islamorada which is a slightly easier drive as opposed to driving two more hours to get to Key West.

We left Orlando just after lunch but hitting Miami traffic added an extra hour onto our trip so we finally arrived around 7pm just in time to grab some dinner and have a drink at the Tiki Bar on the resort property.
 

Our hotel on the beach was gorgeous with so many amenities, water-sports, and a few restaurants to chose from. I woke up on Saturday morning to this gorgeous view perfect for sipping on some coffee before getting our day started.

Saturday was a bit overcast so we drove around and explored the island. We found a huge art market and bought some local art for our house and for gifts, we ate some of the best seafood and drank (too many) frozen drinks.

The frozen Key Lime Daiquiris were to die for!

Sunday was a beautiful day despite the weather forecast not being favorable, it turned out to be a sunny and gorgeous day. We had brunch at a cute local spot on the bayside of Islamorada. Multiple friends recommended this spot and it didn't disappoint. I had the shrimp and grits with a pineapple mimosa but the scenery was just the best.

We spent the rest of Sunday relaxing on the beach at our resort and of course enjoying another Key Lime Daiquiri.







We're making the drive back home today and my heart is so happy for finally making it down to the Keys to enjoy a little tropical getaway with my hubby. Couldn't ask for a better birthday gift!


Joining the lovely Biana.

Birthday Celebrations & Beautiful Weekend

We've been having a small taste of Fall weather in Florida lately but this weekend was our first sweater and boots kind of weather. It was cold in the night but beautiful during the day and a perfect weekend to explore St. Augustine once again.

On Saturday morning K and I made the two hour drive north to celebrate a good friend's birthday. We checked into our hotel and gasped at the beautiful ocean view from our balcony before heading out to meet up with the birthday girl and the gang.



We walked around the cute downtown area which was bustling since the Light Up! Night Ceremony was happening that night. We finally settled at St. Augustine's famous restaurant, Columbia, for some dinner which is one our favorite restaurants in town.


 

For the Light Up! ceremony that night, St. Augustine turned on over 3 million white lights decorating the historic downtown to kick off the holidays. It was beautiful and this came as a pleasant surprise to us since we were unaware of this annual event.

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After an amazing dinner and some hilarious table banter, we went to Scarlett O'Hara's for a drink to cap off the night.

On Sunday, K and I were up and about early so we decided to enjoy the beautiful weather and explore. We walked around the riverfront and checked out several local shops downtown while waiting for another favorite restaurant to open so we could grab some lunch before heading home.

 

Joining the lovely Biana.

Another Relaxing One

As much as I love traveling and keeping busy, I definitely appreciate the relaxing weekends in between and that's exactly what my past couple weekends have been looking like. K and I usually go out for dinner on Friday nights but I was so tired after getting home from work, the only sensible option was to order Chinese food and watch the Olympics Opening Ceremonies at home. I actually know two guys who made it to the Olympics this year (both siblings of longtime friends I know from Trinidad) so I'm looking forward to following their progress.

On Saturday morning lots of relaxing happened before heading to a friend's baby's 1st birthday party for a few hours. It was very cute watching him dig into his smash cake and make a mess (which is never fun for the parents to clean up).

After the party we met up with some friends for dinner at The Chef's Table & Tasting Room which is a new-to-us restaurant and a serious hidden gem.

The four of us shared several small plates (like the Creole shrimp & grits and the fig & prosciutto flatbread in the photo below). Everything we tried was amazing and I'm already wanting to go back even though it's not very close to home! Catching up with friends along with fun cocktails and live music made it a great Saturday night.

Sunday was all about relaxing, getting stuff organized around the house, and grilling out for dinner. Oh and giving Lola all the attention she requires.

The good news is I feel super rested and ready to tackle this week!

Joining the lovely Biana for her Weekending linkup.