Maine

Sean and I took our last trip sans baby two weekends ago. It was so much fun. Thanks to our dear friend, Liz, who grew up in the Portland, ME area, we had wonderful suggestions. I got my orchard fix...actually, we ended up visiting two orchards...we picked apples at Randall Orchards in Maine, and then on our way home, we stopped at Russell Orchards for hot cider and hot cider donuts and a walk around their beautiful farm grounds. We stopped in Kennebunkport for lunch, we had breakfast at the most yummy diner on one of the wharfs in Portland, we visited Freeport for the LL Bean flagship store and outlet shopping, and made our way out to Cape Elizabeth for lunch at the Lobster Shack on the rocky Maine coast...all of it was amazing.

Sean got to eat lots of lobster - lobster rolls, omelets, bisque, etc. He loved it. The trees were beautiful on our way up, but not quite as vibrant as we had expected. On the way home, it was amazing how much more colorful they were!

Here are a few snaps...

Sean exploring the banks of the rocky coast in Cape Elizabeth...
Pretty lighthouse out near Lobster Shack...

This guy, "Big Boy", was just too cute. He weighs 1000+ pounds!
Liz...this one is for you - the lobster/swiss omelette at Becky's - YUM!!
Don't you agree?

Nothing better than apples picked with your own two hands...

Some rowboats in Kennebunkport...what a pretty sight.

Cute sign for the town...

MVI

It took me a while to figure out that MVI stickers were for Martha's Vineyard Island. This was another one of our day trips while my parents were here. We were able to link up with Sean's sister since she has a dream job on the vineyard for the summer. It was a lot of traveling for one day, but it was fun to check out different towns on the island and get a feel for it.

I have always wanted to go to the Black Dog, so we ate lunch at their tavern in Vineyard Haven...what a view we had, and the food was great. We then met Jeanine in Edgartown, and she showed us around to some cute shops and we had relaxing afternoon cocktails on a rooftop deck over the water...ahhhh, the life.

We then headed back to the town of Oak Bluffs for dinner, again on a deck overlooking the water...so fun.

We hope to get back there next week before we head to the cottage....

Sweet, Sweet Newport

I think Newport is my new favorite town. We took a day trip here with my parents, and it was a blast. We ate lunch at the Black Pearl, after having several friends recommend it, and then we went to tour the Breakers. It is the mansion of the Vanderbilt family...and is the most incredible house I have been in. I was so sad that we couldn't take pictures inside! After that, we went to Castle Hill Inn where we had "cocktails on the lawn" followed by dinner on the lawn. They have this expansive property that is right on the water, and they scatter lots of adirondack chairs all over the yard. What a great idea. It was just lovely to sit and watch the sailboats go by and enjoy a cocktail (mocktail for me!). What an amazing end to the day. I can't wait to get back and explore more of this quaint and charming town.

loved the itty bitty mint julep cup with fresh roses...

how cool are these wicker chairs on the second story porch of the Breakers? We were thinking they help block the wind...??

I could get used to this being my porch view...what about you?


Can we live here?

looking at the back of the Breakers...

Castle Hill Inn...

Can you see the adirondacks?


Newport sunset...gorgeous.

Shower details

Hallie's shower weekend was such a blast. Being that it was at Phila's, I should have known there was not a thing to worry about! Phila was a wonderful hostess as always, and I would definitely recommend her place to anyone who is looking for a relaxing getaway in the Nashville area (Hachland Hall Vineyard).

The decorations, placecard/favors, guest book, and art activity all went very well. It was a wonderful group of friends and family that attended. The meal was delicious, presents went smoothly, and Brenda's idea to have guests paint on canvases to make a mural for the nursery was a huge hit...it probably helped that Hallie has a lot of creative friends.

There weren't many decorations, but we had fun with what we did do. If you are interested in details...here you go...

I made some pom poms after learning how on here. I would absolutely use these for a party again...they were so much fun! I had a little trouble separating them/getting them to look like perfect spheres, so I will have to try to figure out how to fix that next time. I folded the tissue and put the wire around the middle ahead of time, and the night before the shower, several of us poofed them. I wasn't sure if they would retain their shape well for Saturday, but they did.


After we poofed the pom poms on Friday night...


Voila! We hung them with fishing line and clear thumb tacks...and we didn't really even need any decorations with a beautiful backdrop like Phila has outside her windows!

Brenda had a great idea to use rubber ducks as a placecard/favor. I don't know HOW many conversations we had about rubber ducks and how to incorporate names, etc., but we knew it would be fun if they could be floating in water, and we had to have everyone's name on them. Brenda found some bowls that worked great, and I made some life preservers out of sheets of foam I purchased at a craft store. We weren't sure how it would all come together, but we were very pleased with the outcome.




For the guest book, we did the old photo guest book idea. I got a plain small binder (the size of a half page), I cut pages of cardstock for the inside, and we took Polaroids of Hallie with each guest, and had them write a message to her. Hallie's niece helped orchestrate all that getting done which was a huge help!

We served mimosas when guests arrived, and Brenda had bought these gorgeous cupcakes (more like "works of art", I should say!) and we ended up saving those for dessert that evening because Phila's lunch was so filling!



All in all, it was a beautiful day with new friends and old!!