The Big Apple

Eeep...has it really been almost two months since I blogged! Lots has happened since then, including a wonderful trip to Seaside with my family, but I'm going to start with a trip I took to NYC with my mom a week ago!

Mom and I both love NYC and both enjoy doing the same things while there - seeing a show, eating and drinking, and a little shopping. We were there for three nights - it never seems long enough!

We started our trip with lunch at the National, which was wonderful:

Next, we decided to walk uptown and go in some stores on Madison Avenue...but we had to stop midway for a glass of wine, of course!

This is the adorable terrace outside the Tory Burch store on Madison Avenue - so cute!

Mom and I at lunch on Friday at the Island on the Upper East Side:

Of course Mom had to do some shopping at the Lilly store:

Enjoying some yogurt on the steps to the MET:

Taking a stroll through Central Park:

We saw a show Friday night and had a quick and tasty dinner at a Thai restaurant in the Theater District:

The show was AMAZING!

Saturday we spent the day downtown. Lunch was at Freeman's, a neat place in the Bowery:

We had an afternoon drink at a cute Italian wine bar in Soho:

And another afternoon drink, this time with cheesecake:

Saturday night, we had dinner at Perilla in Greenwich Village. It's Harold from Top Chef's restaurant and it was phenomenal!

Sunday, before we left, we had tasty brunch at Maialino, which is the Gramercy Park Hotel:

Last pic of the trip!

As you can see, we definitely wined and dined our way through the city, which is exactly what we both wanted from our trip. It was such a fun getaway. Next up - our beach trip!

Decorating the Study

The study is coming along slowly. I thought I'd share an update with how it's looking these days. We haven't done anything special to the room except for painting (the color is Sherwin Williams Techno Gray if you're interested) and adding crown moulding.

Michael's parents gave us this beautiful antique piano when we got married. I LOVE it. We had the bench recovered, but that's about it.

Obviously, my favorite colors are neutrals and soft greys, greens and blues :) And a tad bit of contemporary fabrics!
We got a desk for cheap at Target for now. It does the job until we find something we like better.

That's about it! It has beautiful French doors that open up to the study from the living room, but I could not get a good picture of those. One day we'd like to get a nice club chair for reading, but we're making do for now. Have a great weekend!

Jekyll Island Weekend

Is anyone still here? If so, I'm thinking about coming back to blogging on a regular basis. Hopefully I can come up with enough interesting posts!

Over Memorial Day weekend, Michael and I took an anniversary trip to one of my favorite places in the world - Jekyll Island, Georgia. We always stay at the Jekyll Island Club Hotel, which is one of my favorite hotels - everything is so peaceful and relaxing. The hotel and property has so much history and natural beauty. We didn't use our cars once over the long weekend, which was perfect.

{image from Jekyll Island Club website}

{image from Jekyll Island Club website}

During the day, we rode bikes all over the island, relaxed by the pool, and took a few naps. I'm looking kinda gross here...sorry!Reading at the pool!Each night, we ate at a different delicious restaurant on the property. I'm missing that Dungeness crab right about now!Sorry for the poor quality - we took this with the timer:The most beautiful backdrop:My favorite meal was probably at the Crane Cottage. So yummy: We had such a great time on our little getaway. Thank you Michael for surprising me with this amazing trip! Be back soon with updates on our home decor. Have a great evening!

Bathroom Reveal!

Our bathroom is finally finished! It has actually been complete for about a month and half, but I've been waiting for my window treatment to share pictures. We gutted the entire bathroom, but we did keep the vanity/countertops that we had purchased right when moved in, so everything else is new. Goodbye, disgusting linoleum floors! Without further ado...

Another view:I looooove our monogrammed shower curtain. We were also able to keep half of the original built-ins, which was a huge plus:Our little shower nook for all of our bathroom products: One of my favorite parts - the showerhead and faucet!

I love having a bathtub SO much. I'm definitely someone who enjoys a good bubble bath. I think the new bathroom goes well with the Craftsman style of our house, so we're very pleased. Let me know your thoughts!

Yummy Mushroom Pasta

I have been craving some sort of mushroom pasta lately, so I found a recipe on Cooking Light. Oh my goodness - this is one of our favorite recipes now. I thought I would share this deliciousness since it's so yummy and healthy!

Farfalle with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Ingredients
1 pound uncooked farfalle (bow tie pasta)
1 tablespoon butter
12 ounces presliced exotic mushroom blend
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup finely chopped shallots
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup dry white wine
2/3 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Minced fresh parsley (optional)

Preparation
Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain. Melt the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, onion, shallots, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper; cook 12 minutes or until liquid evaporates and mushrooms are tender, stirring occasionally. Add wine; cook 2 minutes or until liquid evaporates, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Add the cooked pasta, whipping cream, cheese, and 2 tablespoons parsley, tossing gently to coat. Stir in remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt. Garnish with minced fresh parsley, if desired. Serve immediately.

{Recipe and image from Cooking Light}

Tara's Wedding!

I spent an amazing weekend in Greenville, this past weekend, for one of my very best friend's wedding! Tara and I were college roommates at Furman and it was SO fun to go back to Greenville for her wedding! Picture overload ahead...

We got a sneak peek at all the flowers on Thursday night...they were breathtaking!

Tara and I at her bridesmaid's luncheon. The weather was beautiful all weekend:

The rehearsal dinner. AMAZING:

Kaci, Tara and I after the brunch the morning of her wedding!

The most stunning bride! Her flowers were absolutely gorgeous...

Our bride on the trolley ride to the ceremony: Bridesmaids before the wedding. How flattering were our bridesmaids' dresses?!

Furman girls at the reception:

My parents attended, which was so much fun:

Apparently I did not take one picture with my husband at the wedding. Ooops. He was there, I promise! Proof below:
I'm so jealous of Tara's honeymoon right now. I want another one!

The Current State of our Bathroom

And this is actually progress! We are finally renovating our master bathroom and I could not be more excited.

We are pretty much gutting the entire thing, except we are keeping our vanity because we bought that new last year. We had this awful pre-fab shower stall (and that was our only shower/tub), so that was ripped out (would have liked to have taken the sledge hammer to that) and a bathtub has been installed. Praise God! I can't wait to have my bubble baths back.

Plumbing and electrical are basically finished and drywalling should be done tomorrow. Hopefully tiling will start Thursday!

Michael and I are SO tired of showering at the gym, so I'm hoping we only have a week or so left. I'll post pictures as soon as it's finished. Have a great week!