Category Archives: Vacation

What about Philadelphia?

March 2, 2016

This summer Walker and I might finally be heading out to Philadelphia! We have been wanting to plan a trip for quite a while to visit some friends there but we could never settle on a time to go. Turns out Walker has a conference there for work so it’s the perfect time to make a trip out of it. I wish there was a way I could get my plane ticket paid for also. Anyone know of any shops I could visit with while I’m there to make it a business trip? Kidding, but I do want to hear of cool shops!

I honestly have no idea what to expect. I’ve heard a few stories but not quite enough to have a good picture of what I think it would be like. Luckily our friends will know where to take us but I like to be a little prepared with a few places to eat and a few fun must sees around the city.

This is where you come in! I’d love to hear any recommendations you have of what to see, eat, where to shop and any other fun thing you can think of! Let me know in the comments below or feel free to message me privately if you’d prefer. I love talking about travel and I love hearing what other people think are the cool places to go.

We are traveling to a few more places this summer within the US but mostly places I’ve been to. I’ll be sure to share some fun places you might want to head to. Don’t miss out! Make sure to sign up for my newsletter so I can send you updates. Also I have a new collection launching soon and that’s where I’ll be sharing all the details.

A few days in Porto

January 14, 2016

The holidays took over and I realized I didn’t share the rest of my honeymoon with you! I really, really loved Porto, as I knew I would, and am excited to show you some of my favorite things about our time there. First up the PORT! We had port every day we were there. We did a tasting early on at one of the markets which turned out to be even more exciting than we could have planned. As we sat there we witnessed a group of film students running through the narrow aisles making a film and soon after a band of musicians lively playing their songs. It was great to see how excited even the merchants were as the band played. They even joined in on the port tasting when they were done playing.
The next day we did a tasting at one of the port makers and a tour of the caves in the evening-followed by another tasting-like I said lots of port. The following day we went to Kopke and tried a 1983 vintage tawny port (shown above). We had a very philosophical conversation about drinking something older than the both of us and then slowly sipped it until it was gone.

We stayed one night in a room with the view above which was quite nice. The morning we checked out we were blessed with the most beautiful rainbow over the river. But when we checked into the place we were staying right on the river I was blown away! We had the best view of everything! It was perfect for people watching, river watching, boat watching, bridge watching, bird watching, everything watching! We joked that we felt like a king and a queen being up on that balcony because everyone walking by was looking up at and taking pictures of the historic buildings we were staying in. With the sun shining on our faces I could have stayed there all day (which we did a lot of but not all day).

We happened to be in the city during Halloween which I figured we wouldn’t be celebrating but when we were on
the other side of the river port tasting we ran across what looked to be Halloween decorations. We wandered in and were told they were indeed hosting a party later on that night. They don’t really celebrate the holiday but they do like to have parties so why not! My thoughts exactly. We didn’t come prepared to dress up so I wore my black top and black pants, put my black eye makeup on to look old and a bit scary, wrapped my scarf around my head and grabbed an apple and poof I was the witch from sleeping beauty or something like that. Not bad. I felt a bit silly walking back over across the river since, like I mentioned, they don’t really celebrate Halloween. The only people I saw dressed up were at the party. The party was slow to get started but eventually it started to fill up and so did the dance floor. We showed off our amazing dance skills before calling it a night.

On our last day we took a walk up to a high point in the city to some beautiful gardens. I was pretty tired by the time we made it up there but I did end up having a nice walk around. Also it was a very nice and warm day-look at all that sun! Eventually we made our way back for some lunch and took a bit of a rest.

On our last night there I insisted we head back to the other side of the river to get some chestnuts. We had them one night and I thought they were the best thing ever! The perfect amount of salty and sweet. I wish I had a bag of them right now. Once we were back in the room and all packed for the next day we just sat on the balcony and tried to soak it all up. I think it worked because if I close my eyes right now I can imagine it perfectly.

Algarve Portugal

November 23, 2015

In Lisbon we hopped on a train to Lagos in the Algarve of Portugal. It’s where all the beautiful beaches are and we knew we couldn’t take a trip to Portugal without heading here especially considering my love of water. And oh boy did we get lucky! The weather was perfectly warm and the sun was shining. When we arrived in Lagos we lugged our bags along the boardwalk just itching to lose our bag, get into our sandals, and start exploring. Since we had to wait to check in we found the beach in town so we could enjoy and also eat lunch. Once it was time to check in we headed to the place and were greeted by the sweetest lady ever-our lovely host Benta. She hugged us and ushered us around the corner. We were confused at first because we were walking away from the place we thought we were staying. She didn’t speak much English so we just went along. We met up with her son and they explained that they wanted to surprise us since we were on our honeymoon. They upgraded us to a private apartment and gifted us with flowers and champagne. How sweet is that! We were so touched.

Benta’s son had given us a rundown of the city and mentioned that we were inside the old walled city of Lagos. He also provided us with a map and showed us a walking trail to the beaches. We changed as fast as we could and headed out to see these beautiful beaches that we came so far to see. They did not disappoint. I saw many pictures before coming but truly it was so much better in person. Being able to walk the trail from above gives such impressive views of the rock outcroppings and the beaches as you come upon them. Most of the beaches have stairs that you can take down but it’s quite a bit of work going down and back up. Well worth it I’d say. That first day we mostly took pictures and walked the trail but the next day we spent more time enjoying the beaches and watching the waves crash into the shore.

On our last night in Lagos we ate at a place called Casinha do Petisco. Our host said it was one of his favorite places to eat so we knew we had to try it. We wanted the fish cataplana and it has to be ordered the day before so luckily we planned it just right. Our dish of cataplana was huge and it was full of fish and potatoes and topped with fresh shrimp and clams. We got a bottle of red wine to go with it and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. With such good food and wine in a beautiful country how could we go wrong?

On our last day in the Algarve we took the train to Faro and spent the night there so we could take a direct train to Porto the next day. It was the only place we didn’t stay at an airbnb. Instead I booked us a cheap room at a guesthouse. It was surprising lovely. The room had a balcony that overlooked the street. It’s funny how much a balcony can really sway me toward liking a place. Just before sunset we decided to take a little harbor cruise. It was pretty silly but it was fun being out on the water on such a lovely night. In the evening we did a bit of grocery shopping for the train the next day and headed in for an early night. Have I mentioned how exhausting travel can be? Ha!

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