Hi, dear readers! I didn’t mean to disappear for a month, but life has been hectic. Between travel, work, toddler needs, and life, time just got away from me. Let’s catch up, shall we?

Travel

At the end of September, Nick and I traveled to California. It was a dual-purpose trip: My best friend was getting married in Carmel-by-the-Sea and asked me to be in the wedding on September 29th, to which I couldn’t say yes fast enough, and then, because her wedding was two days before our own wedding anniversary on October 1st, Nick and I decided to head up to San Francisco for a few days to celebrate our own wedded bliss.

The wedding was stunningly gorgeous. I’m so jealous of how beautiful everything was but I’m honestly not surprised because it simply matched the beauty that is my best friend, both inside and out. I was so busy helping with and prepping for the wedding that I didn’t get to take many photos, but I can’t wait to see the photos that the photographer took. I have a feeling they’re going to be top notch. In the meantime, here are a few that I managed to snap when in the little bit of downtown we had.

Big Sur, California. This was basically the background of my friend’s wedding!

Happy bridesmaid!

Obligatory Golden Gate Bridge picture

Fashion

In North Carolina, we had about a week of “false” fall in mid-September where the temperature cooled down to a beautiful 68-75 degrees, but then quickly heated up again. In California, it was “true” fall with temps in the 60s-70s every day. I think that was my favorite thing about California aside from the wedding. Anyway, NC’s false fall allowed me to wear a few fall-like outfits, which was exciting. You can find them on my Instagram and I shared them on Nikki by example’s Facebook page, but here’s a recap.

Fall outfits, finally!

Outfit 1: Blouse: Loft Outlet | Cardigan: via Stitch Fix | Jeans: LOFT | Shoes: H&M | Necklace: Old Navy 
Outfit 2: Sweater: ModCloth | Jeans: Wit & Wisdom via Stitch Fix | Shoes: Banana Republic (old) | Necklace: J. Crew Factory
Outfit 3: Sweater & Trousers: Banana Republic (old) | Shoes: H&M | Jewelry: Target | see outfit post here.
Outfit 4: Sweater: ModCloth | Jeans: LOFT | Shoes: Madden Girl | Necklace: J. Crew Factory | Belt: Target

Family

In mid-August, Sebastian started potty training and he’s really been rocking it! We’ve gotten super lucky in that many of his friends at preschool are also potty training so I think he picked up on it really quickly from seeing them go to the potty at school. He’s very good about peeing on the toilet on his own and is slowly overcoming his fear of pooping on the toilet. This is pretty common with kids from what I’ve read and heard. I feel like it has been incredibly easy learning/training process, and that for that I am eternally grateful! This kid is truly the best.

The “baby potty” as Sebastian calls it.

Work

I just accepted an offer to work as a research coordinator in the Department of Population Health at one of the large universities in the area and I start next month. It’s a welcomed change that will come with more responsibilities and more pay, so I’m really excited to start this new career journey. I will miss working in adolescent sexual health but the time has come for me to move on and move up in my career. And don’t worry – the building also has a big mirror in the restroom so you’ll still get regular outfit updates 😉

I will soon be a university employee

I think that’s it for now. Lots of stuff going on and many changes to work through, but overall, life is great! I hope all is going well for you, too.

It’s time for this week’s Friday Four, a fun survey I’m doing so that my readers can get to know me a little better. This week I’m talking about four places I have been.  Nick and I love traveling and seeing new places, and I try to write about it as often as I can. Two of our favorite traditions are 1) to take daycations, or small vacations that we can do in one day and 2) when we take long road trips, we research restaurants en route that have been featured on Food Network, Travel Channel, Cooking Channel, etc. and make sure to stop at them on our way. If you’re a new reader (or a regular that missed some of these earlier posts) please check out the following pages on my blog!

I just wrote about our Mini Vacation to Savannah, GA so I won’t include that one here, but be sure to read about it if you haven’t already.

1. Middletown, RI.

My first flight ever was for a daycation to Rhode Island to eat at Flo’s Clam Shack. This is the trip that started it all and you should read all about it and even watch my videos here. It all began because my job was sending me to a conference in Denver, CO, and I had never flown before; I’d never even set foot in an airport – hard to believe, I know! I was so scared about taking a 3-hour flight for the first time all by myself, and Nick suggested we take a short flight together before the conference so I would have some experience. He found some really cheap tickets to Rhode Island and off we went. It was a fun and exhausting experience but one I’ll never forget.

This blog post was when I first started blogging so please excuse the different sized photos and weird pull quotes; I was still trying to figure it all out.

2. Atlanta, GA.

I’ve actually been to Atlanta several times but most recently was almost two years in August 2013, right after I started graduate school. We wanted to take a daycation before I got so busy with school and we couldn’t do anything for a while. We went to The Little Tart Bakeshop for breakfast, then explored the Historic Oakland Cemetery, followed by chocolate at Cocoa Atlanta Chocolate Shop, and finally lunch at Bone Garden Cantina. Read all about it here.

3. Illinois.

Nick is originally from Illinois and still has a lot of family that lives there. We’ve taken several road trips to visit for various birthday celebrations, weddings, etc. I documented most of the last trip we took to Illinois and the different places we stopped along the way. The first was the Parkette Drive In restaurant in Lexington, KY, and then we stopped again in Champaign, IL to eat at Fat Sandwich Company, where they put everything but the kitchen sink in their sandwiches and they’re so good! Read all about it here.

4. Puerto Rico.

Nick and I went to Puerto Rico for our honeymoon in May of 2012 and I fell in love with the ‘isla de encanto’ or island of enchantment. For the past three years, I’ve been working on a page about it but I barely have enough time to get outfit photos up so it’s been really difficult to finish that post. I’ll make that my goal for this summer! Anyway, we did so many fun and amazing things like take a walking food tour, swam in the ocean in a spot that only locals knew about and then ate at a delicious road side food stand, we explored a beautiful cave, climbed a waterfall and zip-lined back down, played in the bioluminescent bay, and explored the city. I loved every single thing about Puerto Rico and I cannot wait to go back.

*All photos by me.

Where all have you been? What is/was your favorite place to visit?

Warning: there’s lots of text in this post because we had a fantastic time!

We’re back from our mini Savannah vacation! We had a great time and I can’t wait to go back; there were so many things to do that we didn’t get to fit it all in to our few days there. So, this post has made me realize that I’m not the best blogger because I get so caught up in the moment that I’m not able to multitask by taking photos and being present at the same time. In fact, I lugged my nice camera with me but didn’t take a single photo with it and all I have is a few of the best phone photos to share with you. But the important thing is that Nick and I had a good time and got to spend some quality time together 🙂

I snapped a few pics during our travel. I tried to convince Nick to stop at South of the Border in South Carolina but he didn’t think it would be very fun. Maybe next time.

Historic Savannah is beautiful. I love all of the architecture and plant life; the Spanish moss-filled trees are magical! One reason we chose Savannah for our trip is because I visited over the summer for my best friend’s bachelorette weekend (because she used to live there) and I thought it was so pretty and romantic and I couldn’t wait to come back with Nick. Another reason is because I read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt and was very intrigued. I also made Nick watch the movie so that he would be “in the know” with some of the things I wanted to do and see.

One of our first stops was breakfast at Clary’s café. They have THE. BEST. chicken fried steak I’ve ever eaten. We ended up going to Clary’s two out of the three mornings we were there. When we find something we like, we tend to stick to it. And did you know that they filmed some of the movie in the café?

After breakfast, we did a lot of walking around the area. I think the squares in Savannah are amazing. They’re so pretty, like little mini parks in the middle of the street. I wish we had them here in Durham.

This is the only photo I got of my outfits and everything but the pants was in my packing post. I ended up switching out the pink sweater for this pink tee (because it was supposed to be really warm) and I added an extra pair of jeans because a friend of mine made a good point that I might spill something green on my white pants so I should take a backup pair. Apparently, St. Patrick’s Day is a big deal in Savannah, but we left before most of the activities began. 

This is Nick in Franklin Square. He wanted his photo with this particular statue because he is proud of his Haitian heritage.

This is us doing some shopping. #truelove

We were at the Paris Market and I made Nick try a Rose Granita, which is  semi-frozen dessert made from sugar, water and, in this case, rose flavoring. He did not like it. He said he felt like he just chewed on a rose petal. I said that’s exactly why I liked it! We got him an Elderflower granita, and he liked it much better.

Afterward, we took a stroll down Riverfront Plaza. I loved the worn look of the buildings. I kept imagining what life was like back when shipping and boats were the main form of travel. That kind of thing really interests me.

I love walking through beautiful cemeteries and all of those in Georgia are absolutely beautiful. For reference, see our last Daycation to Atlanta where we ventured through the Historic Oakland Cemetery. We were very close to the Colonial Park Cemetery so we took a quick stroll through it.

I feel like I wouldn’t be a good public health student/professional if I didn’t acknowledge the Yellow Fever Epidemic!

Normally when we travel, we try to find restaurants that have been featured on Food Network or the Travel Channel or one of those other foodie TV shows. This time, however, we kind of stayed off the beaten path and it was great. We had dinner at Wall’s BBQ, which was literally in an alley/lane and we would have walked right past it if we hadn’t been using our GPS. The food was great, probably because it felt like we were in grandma’s kitchen.

photo source

If you should know anything about me, it’s that I LOVE ghost stories so I also look for ghost walks and tours when I travel. This trip was no different, except I was able to find an awesome tour that not only incorporated the haunted history of Savannah, but also took us by the Mercer Williams House and Museum, from the book (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil). This is a photo of Mercer House where the infamous murder took place. I wanted to go to the museum, BUT I found out that only a few rooms on the first floor were open for visitors and they wouldn’t answer any questions about the murder/book/movie, so I didn’t think it would be very fun. They also filmed the movie here. There were a lot of other spooky stops on our tour, but this was the best photo I got from it all. I really enjoyed hearing the history of all these places as much as hearing about the ghosts. I also didn’t realize how big voodoo was in this area back in the day. Fascinating!

I mentioned that we missed most of the St. Patrick’s Day activities but we did get to see them turn the fountain green in Forsyth Park. It was drizzling and we got there a little late so we didn’t get a very good spot but it was a nice experience nonetheless.

We stayed inside most of our last day there because of all the rain and we got up early the next day to head back but we still managed to make the most of it.

I can’t wait to take another trip!

If you’re interested in any of the things I’ve mentioned, here are some links:

Clary’s Cafe
Paris Market
Riverfront Plaza
Colonial Park Cemetery
Wall’s BBQ
Ghost City Tours Savannah
Mercer Williams House Museum
Forsyth Park

*All photos by me except for the one of Wall’s BBQ storefront, which has a link to the original photo source.

Let’s hear it for Spring Break!

This week is my last spring break ever, which is awesome because that means school is almost over forever. It also means that Nick and I are heading to Savannah, GA tomorrow for a nice little four-day vacation. I’m really excited to get away for a romantic week with my lovey dovey. It’s been a really long and difficult two years of graduate school for us because I’ve had to spend most of it away from home, commuting to school (which is almost 2 hours away). This trip will give us a few days to ourselves, without having to worry about school or work or who is going to load/unload the dishwasher after an exhaustingly long day. The only thing I’m NOT looking forward to is packing because I’m a notorious overpacker. For as long as I can remember, I’ve overpacked for every single trip I’ve taken. I’m not even joking. One time we went to the beach for a week and I had at least three different bags full of clothes. As I’ve gotten older, however, I’ve gotten a little better at planning out a full itinerary so I will know what we will be doing and can pack/dress accordingly.

This trip is no different. We’re planning to eat at yummy restaurants, go on a nighttime ghost walk, see the sights, do some shopping, and possibly take a moonlight riverboat cruise. That all sounds easy enough to pack for, but the one thing throwing me off is that it’s supposed to rain all week. Boo, rain! Anyway, I’ve challenged myself to pack light for this trip. Everything has to fit into this weekender bag I purchased from Target:

I’ve chosen four shirts, two pairs of pants, and two pairs of shoes. I’ve only decided on one accessory (for now) which is a scarf. I’ll throw some jewelry in there last-minute, like usual

I also plan to pack my rain gear (e.g. trench and/or rain coat and rain boots) and a skirt or dress in case we make it to a fancy dinner or that riverboat cruise, but I haven’t decided on which dress yet because I still have to get my spring clothes out of storage.  Here are some of the outfits I’ve put together with my chosen items so that I have some options and can work with the rain.

I know these photos aren’t exactly Pinterest-worthy, but I took them  as I was putting outfits together and figuring it all out. I think they serve their purpose. Maybe next time I’ll be a little more organized and get better photos. I will say I’m actually really glad that I decided to post about this because it has helped confirm some of my choices!

Yes, that is my dog, Mia’s little butt/leg in the corner of this photo!

I can’t make any promises that I won’t add a bunch of stuff at the last minute (my brain is already screaming at me, “oh my gosh, you forgot to include a cardigan in case it’s a little chilly!) but I will do my best. I’ll try to get lots of outfit photos while I’m there so you can see how it all came together. I hope everyone has a great week and you all are enjoying the great thaw 🙂

Shirts: Pink sweater: Banana Republic | Gray tee: Target | Striped tee: Old Navy | Beige sweater: Banana Republic
Jeans: Both from Old Navy
Shoes: Canvas sneaks: Target | Cognac flats: Old Navy
Scarf: boutique from Wilmington, NC
Necklace: Stitch Fix

To celebrate the end of summer and the beginning of school – I just started the first year of my graduate program in public health – Nick and I decided to go on another foodie “daycation.”  The first, and only other, daycation we had was to Middletown, Rhode Island in 2010. This time, we decided to go to Atlanta, Georgia since it was close to home (only an hour-long flight) and relatively cheap.

We started our daycation at The Little Tart Bakeshop in Grant Park, which was featured on Anthony Bourdain’s ‘The Layover’.

You can see Nick’s reflection in the window to the left!

It was absolutely wonderful. We got there around 9:30 am and ordered a little bit of this and that to share. We had a ham and Gruyere cheese croissant, local sausage, potatoes and collards turnover, and a Cinnamon-Sugar bun.

Ham and Gruyere cheese croissant, turnover with local sausage, potatoes and collards, and Cinnamon-Sugar bun.

The building was very industrial with exposed brick walls and ceilings, and lots of metal and wood accents. The windows along one wall had little poems written in the corners.

Ain’t no sin to take off your skin

A few of our favorite poems that were too high up to get good photos were:

there are times when silence is a poem

if you think you can see with just your eyes you are mad

i had some dreams they were clouds in my coffee

After breakfast, we decided to explore the area around the building and discovered a beautiful cemetery just across the street, the Historic Oakland Cemetery. We wandered in and were amazed at how lovely it all is. We wanted to stay longer, as they were giving tours, and there was much ground that we didn’t get to cover because of the sheer size, but we decided that if we ever get a chance to come back, we’ll definitely spend more time there.

Before lunch, we stopped at Cocoa Atlanta Chocolate Company in Buckhead to sample some sweet treats. We’d heard about this place on Unique Eats and were excited to try some high-quality , pure chocolate that was made in-house from the roasted beans from cocoa pods they have delivered regularly from the Dominican Republic. We also made sure to grab some extras for gift to our family.

For lunch, we visited the Bone Garden Cantina from Travel Channel’s Mexican Food Paradise.

The first thing you’ll notice as you walk in is all of the Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) decorations, which was pretty cool, because I happen to love Day of the Dead in Mexican culture. Lots of colorful sugar skulls and playful skeletons everywhere.

According to their website, their food is made from scratch in small batches, using fresh ingredients. We had some tacos, a shrimp empanada, and a shredded chicken tamal, and it was all so yummy! The tamal was the best I’ve had so far.

Chicharron (fried chicken skin, top) taco, carne asada taco at bottom, and chicken tamal (wrapped in a banana leaf). And lots of yummy salsas!

Barbacoa de Chivo (goat bbq) taco, taco al pastor (pork) and shrimp empanada

We also got an amazing queso dip with chorizo, which I’ll be definitely be trying to replicate at home. We ended up stuffing ourselves because we wanted to try as much as possible. Afterwards, we headed back to the airport and the flight home was a full and happy one.

Have you ever taken a daycation?