From Our Travels: Petit-Weekend @ the Beach

I finally got around to going through all of our beach photos from our little weekend getaway to Daytona Beach. I didn't have my camera on me at all times like I normally do, but I when I did, I just kept snapping away. I couldn't get enough of the never-ending horizon, the puffy clouds, and the glass-like water.

The water trickles up to the shore with over twenty feet of inch-deep water. The wave pans out until it's barely licking your toes and leaves the sand shimmering with salt. I've never been to any salt flats, but all weekend I was telling S, "This is what salt flats must be like." The sand near the tide is dense, flat, and reflective like a mirror. 

In the mornings and evenings we would walk along the shore, up and down the beach. Early in the morning we'd come across tiny clams like the one S is holding in the first photo. With every substantial wave, these clams would become uncovered on the shore line and as the water receded, the clams would dig themselves back into the wet sand. It was mesmerizing.

In the evenings we came upon a couple jellyfish, nothing too big. Growing up in New York, we'd go to Point Pleasant in August sometimes and it was always jellyfish season. The jellyfish we came upon down here was nothing compared to the mass amounts found at the Jersey shore in August. 

We spent most of our time in the water, not coming out unless we were hungry or thirsty. The sun was so intense all weekend that it was hard to stay out of the water for more than a few minutes anyway. 

We swam out to the sandbars and let the waves crash on us like I remember doing as a kid. Even the small waves would pull us from our anchored feet and send our bodies north. We'd have to swim against the current to get back to where we started, where the good waves were. 

We were looking for a place to eat dinner and it was happenstance that we found ourselves under the bridge that links the island to the mainland. There on the water was a dock and a restaurant with a deck. That evening was suddenly grey and chilly, perfect for enjoy some raw oysters and crab legs on the water. It was one of those places with a line out the door and a 45 minute wait so you knew it had to be good. We wanted a place to sit on the water and with the deck overlooking the coast and the docked boats, it was perfect. It was also covered so when it began to rain, it was a scenic kind of rain that we enjoyed with our lemony oysters.

S had never had crab legs before and we had been craving oysters all weekend when we got to the shore. I was apprehensive to get a large order of crab legs because I grew up with a dad who used to take us out on the boat up north with crab traps. We'd bring home the crab that were big enough and eat them outside on our porch in summer time. This crab did my memory justice and they were delicious. The right kind of meal to bring me back to growing up in New York. 

The trip was a great one, a nice little getaway to the beach for a weekend. It's not a town I would visit just to visit the town, but I'd go to that coast again to take advantage of the waves and relaxation. 

Weekend Recap of "Life Lately"

These are just some photos from around our home. I took them in between each vanilla waffle in our waffle maker. Lately we've been working hard or enjoying our time off together. This past weekend we ate Chipotle at home while watching a movie on Friday night. Saturday morning we made a simple but delicious breakfast with our New York bagels, enjoyed with champagne - because NYC bagels are a thing to celebrate here in Florida. We went out on Saturday night to see a movie (the latest Noah Baumbach movie - Frances Ha) and on Sunday we made waffles just because I wanted to eat Nutella for breakfast. 

Whenever I make waffles I make a dozen or so, enough for the freezer for a few weeks. I change up the extract that I use every so often. My favorite is the almond extract waffles, but they call for a ton of almond extract and I'd rather save that for my biscotti! Vanilla extract is an old favorite, and next time I think I am going to blend my lavender buds into the sugar for lavender-vanilla waffles. I think that just might be genius to pair with Nutella...

Below are some gifts that I have been thoroughly enjoying and that I adore so much. The first is a set of stemless red wine glasses from a dear friend. To me, it was such a thoughtful gift because she knows me so well. I've played around with the idea of getting the longitude and latitude of where S + I met tattooed on me, someplace small, just for us. But I am always undecided on placement (there are two other tattoos that I want that I haven't gotten because I can't decide on placement). Instead, my dear friend had the longitude and latitude engraved on gorgeous wine glasses for us. I swoon every time I see them, I adore them so much because the numbers are kind of a secret 

Another gift that I adore so much that I leave out for us to admire regularly is this butcher block long cutting board. It's engraved with our new last name and my favorite touch, established May 4th, 2013, our wedding date. I told S that I don't want to put any cheese/meat/olives/etc on it because I want this board to last forever. I've deemed it the bread and cracker board - which the length is perfect for. 

Naturally, I write in a personal journal as well as this blog. I've been journaling since I was in middle school and I have all of my journals from high school to this day. I still have the leather cover that I've used all of these years and it's grown soft and worn with all of the late night writing sessions. I love it, but I was gifted this gorgeous Rifle Paper Co journal and I thought it would be perfect to chronicle my first year of marriage in it. I can switch back to the plain cardboard inserts after this gorgeous one is full. 

Other than that, we're keeping ourselves busy with work. There aren't as many events in summer time, but this is the time that we do our marketing, networking, and brainstorming on how to better our department. On Instagram you can see some little snippets (1, 2) of the vendors that we've been visiting lately. I love working with the vendors in this area - they are all so nice and have such customer service. I am constantly learning from each of them about our industry that I am just beginning my career in.

Le Sigh.. The Weekend

The weekend begins tomorrow and I just have to say, yay! After our trip last weekend, I am still in vacation mode. Summer vacation mode to me is wanting a perspiring drink in my hand at all times, sunglasses on, magazines laying around, and eating whatever I want. Like those beignets up there. There's a cajun place not too far from our house and my museum. They serve beignets and Cafe du Monde coffee. This means that I can continue to drink my own CDM coffee that I brought back from New Orleans instead of drinking it sparingly because now I have a place to buy it from!

Anyway, with the weekend ahead, my minds a little lazy. Here are some of my favorite links from the past few weeks that I hope you enjoy as much as I did.

1 // This is my new iPhone case that my friend designed! I ordered it from his Society6 which has prints, shirts, and even tote bags. Have you seen this whale in a jar? Come on. Want. This is my friend who designed our wedding invitations as well as my personal business cards! 

2 // The event planner in me is loving the trend of all-appetizer menus at events. We've had events recently with choices such as chicken and waffles as a butler passed hors d'oeuvres. It's a shame I only learned about that one after our own wedding.

3 // I adore Rebecca's floral photography. My friend just got back from studying abroad in France (amazing, no?) and we've been saying for years that we will take a local flower arranging class together. This post makes me want to take one now!

4 // Hannah posted how to make honeysuckle syrup and it seriously gave me deja vu. Growing up in New York, we had a honeysuckle bush on the side of our house. Coming home from school I would smell it, playing on weekends I would smell it, and in spring and summer when the honeysuckles were in full bloom, I'd  pick them and lick the sweetness right off of the petals. It's remarkable how one scent and taste can bring me back so vividly to a place that normally feels like a different lifetime.
5 // Lastly, one of my favorite bloggers that guest posted for me while I was off getting married, and gifted us this beautiful customized pillow, has worked so hard these last few months to open up her own shop and has a sale on Fab.com! There's only one more day left of the sale so be sure to check it out before it's too late!

Contemporary Charms

I recently won a giveaway hosted by Lip Gloss and Crayons! It was the sweetest little charm necklace made by Ofina Jewelry. The giveaway was for a necklace with two charms, and just like Carly suggested, I went with a D (for Danielle/Yelle) and an S. 

The necklace came wrapped up so cute with the sweetest card of congratulations. I love winning prizes like these. Not only did I gain a necklace, but I found a new shop to buy presents from for others. A charm necklace as simple and contemporary as these are perfect for just about every girl. 

I had a hard time deciding between rose gold or yellow gold. I went with yellow gold since I have gold Alex and Ani bracelets. Rose gold is beautiful, but the yellow gold will match more of my other jewelry so that I can wear it more often!

We got back from our mini-moon (mini-honeymoon, see what I did there?) on Monday, just in time to enjoy cuddling up on our couch in the rain. The beach weekend was perfect and would not have been complete without the sunburn on my face and shoulders. I'll share the few photos that we took, considering that I really tried to be good and unplug! 

Yesterday and today have been very busy event-office days. We haven't really been in the office because instead we've been visiting some of our favorite vendors to work with! We still have a few more to reach out to, but so far, I am so enjoying seeing our preferred vendors offices/warehouses/shops. Also, it's nice to take a few minutes to chit chat with these people that we work with all the time. We get to hear about their upcoming events, both personal and professional. If you follow my Instagram, you've seen the cute and squeezable T-Rex that we've been handing out with our rack cards. His eyes pop out! So cute that I had to get one for my desk. Hope that everyone is having a great Wednesday!