Northern Michigan

As a girl who enjoys traveling so much, it always surprises me when some of my best weekends are spent playing tourist in Michigan. For some of the spots I continuously visit, I am going to try and come back and edit posts to include new spots I have tried. Hopefully, this will be a continuous edit of all the amazing times I have in Northern Michigan.

For my mom’s 50th birthday in April, she naturally wanted to go to… a water park, haha! She likes to say she is 18 with 32 years of experience and my goodness the woman has not slowed down yet so I believe her. The Great Wolf Lodge up in Traverse City seemed to be a good fit, however I wanted to still have adult time and sightseeing without always being surrounded by screaming wet children, those days will come for me eventually. We decided instead to do some touristing plus a half day evening pass at Avalanche Bay, Boyne’s waterpark.

As we are avid skiers/snowboarders, we are growing familiar with the town of Petoskey as it the halfway point between Boyne Mountain and Boyne Highlands. Usually, we spend a long day on the slopes and then my dad drives full speed straight to the Polish Kitchen which will never disappoint you or leave you hungry. Since that is a little further north, we decided instead to try out downtown Petoskey. 

We chose City Park Grill as it has live music on the weekends starting at 10pm. It was pretty good food, nothing extremely special, but having a table for when the music started was a good idea. We learned quick there’s not much action in downtown Petoskey so if you have a seat stay in it.

I much preferred our stop at Pour, my ideal place. A super trendy cocktail/wine bar with an Asian fusion menu and comfortable classy seating. (me+sushi+wine=bliss)

Other amazing stops were Petoskey Farms Vineyard and Brewery -view explains it all:

And my new hidden favorite gem, Barrel Back right on Walloon Lake. The food and location here was amazing with nearly every seat in the place having lake views.

Traverse City: 

My husband and I had the best time together on a December ski trip gone warm, which left us exploring wineries and Traverse City, and then just two weekends ago we did a couples weekend with our core group of 8 during cherry fest.

Hotel: The West Bay Beach Holiday Inn Resort was a ton of fun for our group to stay at. They have a really fun outdoor area right on the water where they had live music and the walk into downtown traverse is short and easy.

We enjoyed some great lunch on the rooftop patio of The Franklin right downtown which I would recommend:

Another light, upbeat option our group enjoyed was the Little Fleet Bar parking lot of food trucks. This was nice for everyone to split up and grab grub/drink of choice and relax on the picnic tables with everything from BBQ/pizza/grilled cheeses/sushi rolls (of course me)/specialty tacos

Keeping to the math I discussed earlier about me and sushi and wine… I obviously loved Red Ginger also right in downtown Traverse. This is a nice place for a more dressed up pan asian meal, and their 3 roll chef special sushi platter for $38 was delicious.

Continuing a more low key classy night, Low Bar is an intimate and dark speakeasy below 7 monks taproom that serves up excellent cocktails. Our husbands also enjoyed Nolan’s Cigar bar for some man time while us girls turned the hotel’s not so busy dance club into our own scene from Sex & the City.

My husband missed his seafood pick of Traverse, Apache Trout Grill, which we both enjoyed the last time we were in town. We found this to be a much better option in terms of price and quantity of food than the Boathouse restaurant up in the Peninsula. On Friday and Saturday nights Apache has crab and crab/prime rib specials that made my husband drool.

Wineries we have been to (all on old mission):

• Chateau Grand Traverse (amazing views of the entire peninsula)
• Brys Estate
• Bonobo Winery (love the inside of this place)
• Bowers Harbor (some of my favorite wine, such warm employees)
• 2 Lads Winery (great views, hip place, good sparkling wines)

Fun group activity:

We did a 3 hour tubing trip down the Platt River, which was about a 40 minute drive from Traverse. Since there are no ubers in the area, we opted for a private van rental for four hours to shuffle our group of 8 back and forth. The river is wide and beautiful, with an ending right into a bay of Lake Michigan. Price point wise this was about $30/person, with the van rental being an additional $400 plus tip total.

Phew! That is all for now, until next time Northern Michigan 🙂

*please leave me any good recommendations in the comments

❤ Sarah

 

Washington, DC

Another city I have had the pleasure of visiting twice in the past two years is Washington Dc. Both times have been for work purposes, but I have managed to also have some fun and experience this neat city as well. This past May, I was there for three nights, and my good friend Bailey was able to travel up from Richmond to play tourist in the evenings with me. She documents her travels via video so feel free to check out this one here.

Hotel: Washington Marriott at Metro Center was a great hotel for both event space for a work meeting/conference as well as being in prime location for those wanting to do all of the cities historic sightseeing.

Food: My favorite spot that I have discovered in Washington DC is The Hamilton: Designed to capture DC’s creative renaissance and a food-savvy audience that draws influence from every corner of the planet, the restaurant delivers a contemporary dining experience that’s as eclectic as the talent in their music hall. Not only do they host regular concerts, but on the weekends live music can also be found in their upstairs bar. Bailey and I shared their french fries/sushi rolls/roasted cauliflower/risotto as just the pure definition of how unique their menu is- all being delicious!

Right across the street from The Hamilton is the W Washington DC hotel which is seriously jaw dropping in terms of the design and modern/upscale beauty, not to mention amazing views of the city. They have a bar on the rooftop that has a dress code at night, but a neat upscale swanky place to take a hot date for sure.

We also found an amazing little Mexican spot that had a counter bar with open air for prime people watching over Margaritas… but I have lost the name completely.

I especially enjoyed spending time in Georgetown for the shopping and restaurants, especially those in the Washington Harbour. This circle on the water has many delicious lunch and dinner choices with plenty of outdoor seating to enjoy the harbour. The seafood especially looked amazing at Tony and Joes. M street in Georgetown has all the shopping a woman could dream of, even being able to end at the famous Georgetown Cupcake shop.

Nightlife/Bars:

We were recommended to check out the U street corridor and 14th street to hit up the more happening bars and restaurants for young professionals. We dabbled in a few as we walked up and down, none of them that I remember as being blog worthy so would love more recommendations on good night life spots! I am linking this site I found for future neighborhood bar/food scouting.

Group Activity:

We had our closing reception at the H street country club and everyone really enjoyed it. This space has an enormous covered roof deck with plenty of seating and lounge space, other areas you can rent for events, and various games (mini golf, shuffle board, skee ball) that adults can play while drinking or watching a sports game. H street around this area also has several fun bars and restaurants to check out.

Hope to be able to add more to this city as I am sure I will be back!

❤ Sarah

 

Orangetheory Fitness Review

So, in my bio I mentioned that on top of many things that I am, a band wagon gal is definitely one of those. If there is a popular trend going on, I like to jump right in and try it (after of course, thoroughly researching it and discussing it with anyone who may listen). Since 2015 I have been on a losing/maintaining weight train that has really strong highs of intense workouts and clean eating, and lows of too many summer cocktails on patios while sampling the best cheese bread I can find. So basically, I consider myself “fittish” with a long way to go still.

Anyway, during my time with Title Boxing Club last year which I will review at some other time, I did a drop in class at the new Orange theory fitness studio that opened in Grand Rapids, MI. Safe to say, I had never been more out of breath or sweaty in my life, so this year when I was considering a change up, they are the first place I went.

I have been an unlimited member there now since April, and I can honestly say if you put in the work in the studio and in the kitchen, you will see results. The first two months there I really worked to clean up my diet as much as I could and attend 3-4 sessions per week and was rewarded with losing most of my pre-wedding stress/all inclusive honeymoon fluff. Not only that, the girl who hates running more than anything was sprinting at an 8.0 pace and completing miles under 9 minutes. However, the minute life got super busy and my eating habits started slipping, I instantly stopped seeing results even with killing myself there 3-4 times per week.

So what is it? It is an hour long class that is HIIT based. (high intensity interval training) most classes are about 25-30 minutes of treadmill jogs/runs/sprints and then another 25-30 minutes of full body water rowing as well as floor exercises that use body weight as well as weights/trx bands/bosu balls. The orange part of the name comes from being hooked up to a heart rate monitor that is posted up on a tv screen so you can make sure you are exerting the right amount of effort to get your heart rate up to that ideal zone to continue burning calories for 36 hours after class is done.

The Pros?

• Burn 400-500 calories in one hour
• Schedule classes with a convenient app, as well as see previous attendance, calories burned, etc.
• Tough cancellation policy that charges you when you cancel a class within 8 hours forces accountability
• good music/atmosphere
• full body workout, really no need to supplement with anything else besides maybe some stretching/yoga
• not too invasive or social for those weary of group class settings, it is pretty independent
• classes are built for you to be able to feel your body improving over time
• you can go to any studio once you have a membership (although sometimes a premium charge does apply)

The Cons?

• The price is outrageous (to me) since 1 month of unlimited classes can be $150-250 depending on your metropolitan city
• The steep cancellation price of $12-20 added on when you are in a bind and have to work late or cancel is tough to swallow
• The classes, while they do their best to make each one different, can start to get repetitive after a month or two
• Might be too intense or hard for someone not looking to go 100% for a full hour

Overall, I will probably continue this workout for another few months then drop back to something less intense such as boxing or les mills. While I enjoy feeling the results, the price point and the strain from the treadmill on your hips and body are a little too much for me at this point of my journey.

❤ Sarah

 

Sydney, Australia

The post that has taken me a long time to write as I wanted to be able to curl up with a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and reminisce over each and every moment. Many times people will ask me where I could see myself living from my travels…. Sydney. Sydney. Sydney. I still have honest moments of withdrawal missing this fascinating city and sitting below the Oprah House soaking it all in.

Sydney, Australia has an amazing history as being a city built by convicts. The aim was not to build an amazing city but to establish a prison settlement for British convicts. When they served their time, they were given a bit of land and put to work to make a life for themselves. An area of the harbor known as The Rocks shows where convicts made a life as best they could building rough little homes, and the streets are still crooked and look as if they were built piece by piece. Pretty soon other free settlers arrived, and as more convicts earned freedom- schools, churches, stores, theaters and a library appeared. The economy was driven by industries and transportation of convicts from Britain ended in 1840.

lyndeymiller.com

As you can see from the photo, the Sydney Oprah house and bridge are landmarks to see the beautiful Sydney Harbor, with ferries transporting workers and tourists to other islands to work or play, and a smaller, darling harbor on the other side. You can spend hours just strolling the edges of this magnificent place, learning more of the history. Or, you can get lucky and have an angel of an NPAworldwide member (Roxayne) pick you up and take you to tour the other areas/neighborhoods of Sydney. Forever grateful ❤

Favorite spot in the Rocks: On my first day of touring about downtown Sydney/The Rocks I found The Glenmore Hotel rooftop where I sat for an hour with some chardonney and edamame with views of the Oprah House.

Our first stop in the car after touring through some fantastic unique neighborhoods was the infamous Bondi Beach at the Icebergs Club pool, which is an amazing site in itself. Bondi Beach is home to many surfers, and the Icebergs Club you can access as a guest to have a meal (and more wine) up in their restaurant that overlooks the pool with water flooding in over the edges from the ocean. In June it was their fall/winter so with 60 degree weather I did not take a dip in either, but there were those that definitely did not hold back.

Next we strolled the infamous Bondi beach to Coogee beach pacific trail, only a small part of it as we did not want to run out of daylight, but this amazing trail along the cliffs of the pacific ocean is one you do not want to miss. October-November they do an amazing “Sculpture by the Sea” art competition where the entire trail is covered in various art pieces.

We then headed into Watson’s Bay with a stop at Gap Park, “The Gap” which is the opening of the south pacific ocean into Sydney Harbour is a stunning cliff walk and sadly infamous for the suicides that occur there. After a walk on these cliff’s we found a lovely spot to share a bottle of wine at Doyle’s in Watson’s bay. The next day we took the manly ferry over to the amazing beach town of Manly, which is a fantastic option as way to tour the beach town and spend time on the sandy shore.

The hotel: As this was for our work conference in Sydney, I stayed at the stunning Radisson Blu in downtown Sydney, that well, made me feel like a princess, and had an amazing location to all you needed to walk to in Sydney to play tourist.

The second day instead of the famous Taronga zoo where many rave about the neat air car ride over, I wanted to snuggle some marsupials so we traveled out to Featherdale Zoo which is a bit of a hike, but well worth it to be able to feed and touch the kangaroos and koalas (for me at least). This is a bit smaller of a park, so those wanting to stay in the city and have the bigger experience plan on Taronga.

Restaurant favorites:

Mr. Wong : Favorite restaurant by far. Mr. Wong pays homage to classic Chinese influences in a contemporary style. The Cantonese-style menu features over 60 dishes as well as an unrivalled dim sum selection.

Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel: The oldest pub in Australia, we held a large group small event here and really enjoyed the atmosphere and ability to watch the match on TV.

Cruise Bar Sydney: We held our final conference event here on their rooftop with amazing passed appetizers and an open bar overlooking the Sydney Harbor. Amazing, and also fantastic for night life/dancing on the weekends.

Pontoon Bar: We rented the upstairs room for a dinner event, and had the most amazing rooftop view of the Darling Harbour fireworks. This also transfers to a really fun nightclub/dance club on the weekends.

Outside of those favorites, I would say any grab and go food option underneath the Oprah House was my all time favorite. The ability to get some amazing asian inspired food and wine and look up at the Oprah House was stunning.

Probably the most spectacular part of my trip was the fact I visited during Vivid- an incredible light show that occurs once a year in Sydney where the entire city and harbors and building are lit up in lights, and the oprah house puts on a graphics show each night featuring moving aboriginal art work.

While I was only able to soak in a few days and stolen moments through our work conference, I plan to take my husband back soon and add on a trip to New Zealand as well. The overall vibe and history has made me a lifetime fan.

-Sarah

 

 

Portland Work & Fun

As part of my work doing business development for a global recruitment network, each year we host one large conference and several smaller meetings that I have the pleasure of attending. This past week, Portland, OR was the location, and since my good friend Kelsea is also my coworker, we decided to add on two days to get a little bit more out of the trip. Here is our mini trip from Wednesday-Monday.

Traveling: Portland has a great public transportation Max Light Rail that can get you all over the city for a $23 pass for the week and many of our members used this with ease… Kelsea and I combined had nearly 180 lbs of luggage (Southwest spoils you into thinking you can pack it all) so we took a taxi downtown for about $50 with tip thanks to our sweet Chicago member we picked up on our flight! We ended up ubering back which was only about $25. If you are a skiier/boarder which I am but had no time, Mt. Hood is about 1.5 hours from downtown, and the hike through the popular waterfalls that we did is about 45 minutes from the city.

Hotel: Our conference was held at the beautiful Nines luxury hotel in downtown Portland. This hotel was super swanky and had two amazing restaurants that are highly rated, the farm to table Urban Farmer (get the dungeness crab omelet) located in their lobby/atrium, and Departure which is an asian fusion lounge on their rooftop.

Lobby/Urban Farmer

Departure

For any meeting planners who have stumbled on my blog, this hotel was an awesome spot for our 150+ meeting. We were able to have multiple rooms open on the same floor for our breakout sessions and lunches, and the ballroom was able to expand to hold everyone, or be closed off to allow more intimate rooms. The food was delicious, and the staff does an excellent job of accommodating to the needs of your group.

Food and Brews: Upon realizing we could not quite check in along with a few members, I instantly asked the front desk where I could find seafood and a happy hour stat. From someone in line I got the fantastic recommendation for Southpark Seafood, which has the largest selection of oysters both raw and baked in Portland, and brussel sprouts you’ll dream about for days. We split their salmon burger here as well, which was maybe a 7/10- but the vibe of the place, good happy hour, and oysters would definitely have me recommending this as a must stop.

Next we shopped and brewed up the streets a bit, we were going to rent bikes using the Nike Biketown app, but were not sure how many places there would be to lock up the bikes- turns out there is a ton, so definitely consider that option if you want to be a little quicker on navigating the city. It was not in service yet, but I had found this great hop on/hop off trolley I wish we could have done, and looking back- the stops to get you around the town were great. If you plan a trip, make sure it is June-September if you aren’t looking to be in a constant drizzling rain state the entire time. My fashion/hair/makeup game was quite crabby in a city where seemingly every 15 minutes you get a drizzle or downpour of rain & umbrellas are “uncool”.

We had flights of beer at Deschutes brewery, 10barrel brewing co, and Rogue. While 10 barrel came in third in terms of the beer, we did share their steak and gargonzola potato chip nachos that were phenomenal. They also have a great rooftop patio, and are just a skip away from the REI store which we made a stop at for “buzz management” 🙂 Deschutes definitely had the best beer out of the breweries we went to. The Pearl District is super fun to bop around on, with Patagonia, Lulu lemon, Athleta, and other shops to check out while you eat/drink.

Knowing we had a long couple of days of meetings, we made a 9pm stop out to Whole Foods for some sushi and kombucha and curled up in our hotel robes and slippers for the night to catch up on The Arrangement on Bravo TV.

With 7am-7pm meeting days, our only blog-able moments were the dinners out at Portland City Grille and Bamboo Sushi SW. I picked both of these places for their high ratings and they did not disappoint, you will need reservations in advance. Portland City Grille is located up on the 30th floor with all glass windows highlighting the city views, and Bamboo Sushi has three locations in Portland and is honestly some of the best sushi I have had ever in terms of fresh flavor. I tagged the brunch menu from PCG because although I didn’t have it- I think it would make for an amazing stop. The brunch we did go to that is also highly rated is Mother’s, which is a must while in Portland, but be prepared to wait, it is worth it.

Another little spot I enjoyed a ton was the Pine Street Market, which is a large building that houses about nine different food concepts in a large, open seating casual layout. A group of us went there and were able to get what we wanted (aka delicious ramen bowls or potato chip ice creams) and all sit down happily enjoying the casual feel.

Bars/Nightlife: I really did not find Portland’s night life to be up my alley as I am definitely a live music or dancing kind of gal. Departure lounge at our hotel had a nice rooftop scene, but with only one tiny bar out there, it took forever to get a drink, and they closed fairly early at midnight during the week and 1am on the weekend. It seems most of the night life is just more breweries or “chill” bars which was fine to be tucked in bed during the meeting, but if I came with a group of girlfriends or my husband I probably would have searched out something a tad bit more high energy. Our closing event was at Pips and Bounce, a ping pong bar across the river, which was neat if you are into ping pong, otherwise it wouldn’t be on my list to do. I did enjoy a place out of the way called Swift Lounge, which is super tiny but had a delicious menu of mason jar cocktails and food and had a hip hop dj there.

Activities: As I growled about earlier, March is quite a rainy, cold, and windy time to try and see Portland. My friend Kelsea’s sweet family attempted to take us on a beach hike along the Oregon coast at Canon Beach, which was beautiful to see, but our hike lasted a whole 15 minutes of being pelted by rain and wind before we all took off the fake smiles and made a mad soaking wet dash back to the car. The little town looked like a super cute way to spend a warm summer day though, and it is about a 1.5 hour drive from downtown.

Our main activity we did was a 5 hour bike and hike tour through Pedal Bike Tours.  This tour was $99 per person, but for the transportation out of the city, the bike, the knowledge of the guide, and the instagram worthy stops of the 6 beautiful waterfalls it was an excellent way to get in some activity (about 9 miles total biking/hiking) and feel like you got to see some of Portland’s natural beauty, including of course Multnomah Falls.

Also for my “healthies”, this amazing yoga studio called Pearl Yoga is right downtown and connected to a delicious cafe called Prasad that has everything a kale loving, juicing, yogi would dream about. I had their granola bowl with coconut milk and their juice with wheat grass as a morning detox before flying home.

We did also try to make a morning of heading to the Portland Saturday Market which is open Sat/Sun from 10-4 and features tons of outdoor tents selling various food and crafts and items, however with the rain and cold we skirted through quickly. If the weather is nice though, I could have grabbed a coffee and easily made an hour or more of this.

If I ever do make it back, I would love to take on Mt. Hood, more hikes, and also see some of the wineries I have heard make delicious Pinot Noir. 🙂

Phew! That was a lot, let me know if I did anything you also love in Portland or any places I really missed out on ❤

-Sarah

Dear Brides,

Oh goodness how I love addressing a letter to brides NOT being one anymore! If you are a post bride you know this is way too true. As someone who loves planning group events and activities, I thought this role would be my absolute dream. Well, if you gave me a million dollars and all emotion was taken out it would have been. At the end of the day and year of planning, I got an amazing husband, so I take nothing back… however I do have my top five items I want to let brides and future brides know to focus on, and what to not give a damn about 😡 These are not all things I did, just overall thoughts.

Focus On/Spend Your Money On:

1. Your Budget. Hey, this is the one that will hit you in the face the most as soon as that beautiful diamond falls on your hand, be ready. Before setting a date, falling in love with a venue, etc., ask both families openly/separately if they would like to contribute to the day and how much. Have options to pay for things individually if they are not prepared to write a check out, but be happy for any contribution. After that, sit down with your spouse and determine what savings you have towards the wedding, and then come up with a figure to stick to. If you have under $20,000 to work with, I would label yourself tier 1, 25,00-40,000 tier 2, and over $50,000 tier 3. Past the 75,000 point you are probably chilling with a crazed wedding planner and don’t need any advice from me. If you are a tier 1 or 2- remember that. Tell yourself that often as you search for a venue, photographer, music, flowers, etc. If you are tier 1, you get a tier 1 flower arrangement, and so forth. Live within your budget, the people will come and drink and celebrate you regardless. Stop comparing yourself to Sally Jones from high school whose photos you drool over, and make YOUR wedding the best you can. Wedding wire has an amazing budget planner breakdown where you put in your budget and they break it up realistically for you. We stuck to this pretty much to the dollar, spending more or less per category accordingly to what we felt passionate about. Side note: Save about $2500 for the week of “put it on my tab” costs that come up. They WILL come up.
2. Photographer. Regardless of their experience level, meet this person in advance for coffee or lunch, know their work, prepare them with a full itinerary of what the day will look like, give them the scoop on family situations, and show them at least 50 photos of what you dream will be taken on your wedding day. This is also a budget item I would not skimp on, the photos last forever even when the day fades away. Side note: ask what happens with the photos after the wedding- do you get a print release or do you have to order through them, etc.
3. Music. Regardless of a band or dj, as a bride you need to have music prepared. If you have a DJ, go through the song list extensively to make sure you are happy with what is being played, and if you have a band, also go through “breaks” to make sure  your dance floor is kept to your liking. For all events leading up to the wedding, make sure you know how music is playing and who is keeping an eye on it. As a bride, silence or a horrendous song WILL drive you crazy, I promise.
4. Your Groom. Hey, you know that guy with all the funny jokes and comments about not having to plan anything? He can be pretty useful given the proper tasks. Give him the job of making sure the immediate family and bridal party knows when/where they are supposed to be, their food/drink needs, and how they fit into the day. Also give him the honeymoon planning and logistics of day before/day after wedding travel. These are all jobs you really don’t want, and keeps him far from the sighing over cakes and flowers.
5. Reception Venue. If you pick a reception venue you do not really love, or go into thinking “oh we can make this pretty” you are signing yourself up for a lot of stress, and money spent on flowers/decorations. Choose a venue that looks great on its own, and remember that as you stress over charger plates- the place does NOT need much. Keep telling yourself that, add it to the chant list… “that place does not need much”.

The Things You Definitely Need To Stop Worrying About:

1. The Booze. Is it there? Is it free? Done. Stop worrying about the fact that Uncle Bill only drinks Jim Bean or Dad loves Oberon… whatever is there, 95% will drink. I personally think going with a strict wine and beer only is great for a budget cut, and a consumption based package will also end up surprising you on low cost. Remember, not everyone drinks as much as Uncle Randy or your college roommates. It’s also a short night at the end of it all.
2. Cake. I have a photo of my cake, it was pretty. At the point we were going to cut it… it had already been chopped up for dessert and we took a photo cutting into a slice of it feeding each other, did it matter to me? Not in the slightest. Cakes I think are on their way out, being held onto tightly by mothers and grandmothers alone as needing to be big and present. I would personally invest this budget item into something such as a dessert bar/donut bar/carmel apple bar/ cupcake etc.
3. Invitations. Similar to the above, are they there? do they give the correct details? done. Postcard RSVPS cut down on paper and postage, and even hipper is the new wedding website with online only RSVP. Grandma figured out her Iphone after grumbling about it 3 years ago-the times have changed, they can handle the online rsvp, I promise. You will end up chasing down people regardless, save the postage money and send a pretty, clean looking invitation with a link to your website. Post it to facebook a week before you need the RSVPs back- mission accomplished. We caved and did both, and had amazing turn out with the online option, with many comments on how easy and convenient it was.
4. Favors. If you are following along with the free booze and good music, you are all set on guest happiness. Make a donation to a local charity and skip the $400 on “mint to be’s” If the idea of skipping a favor makes you cringe, name me the last 3 wedding favors you received AND still have or used. If you were able to, then invest the time to actually have a good and memorable favor. My friend Hannah had mini maple syrup jars for her fall wedding- that was a favorite of mine. I don’t remember any others.
5. Anything other than you and your groom’s love. Ah, last but not least, number 5 is the one I want you to really work at. When you find yourself chatting about any wedding topic that is causing tension- drop it. Immediately take the time to refocus back on your relationship, the overall fact that you are getting married to the love of your life. Take the time to revert the topic over to what you are excited about, what you love about one another, and most importantly- thank each other for the work and stress being put into this day.

And remember- once all the major things are planned you will be amazed at how easy it feels until about 3 weeks out. It is normal to feel like an insane person from then until the wedding. Keep a good stock of wine and know the end is soon. ❤

-Sarah

Nashville, TN

So everyone who knows me personally knows I had the unique opportunity to head down to Nashville, TN for two weekends of insane fun with my beautiful best friends and brides to be, Kelsey and Danielle within 6 weeks! As this is a top spot right now, I thought some may benefit from our planning 🙂

Each group had about 10-15 girls with us, so airbnb or vrbo was the best option we thought to secure a house we could all fit in, while being only a 5-10 min uber ride from downtown Nashville. These sites are both really easy to search out a good spot depending on price and location. I would personally stay more towards downtown and away from Opryland if the bar scene is what you are after. One of our houses had a pool- and it was an amazing way to spend hot mornings and afternoons as we rested up to take on the nights. Feel free to message me personally if you want our booze/grocery list breakdowns, but about $30/person gets you a very solid selection of group alcohol, breakfasts, and snacks.

The bikes. Loved doing a pedal tour of Broadway for each one of these bachelorettes. We did a day trip on the Sprocket Rocket for one, and a night option on the Pedal Tavern for the other. I personally loved the Sprocket Rocket because we had our own personal bartender on board who danced and kept the drinks flowing. We didn’t stop except for one potty break on this one. The pedal tavern was good for groups who want to stop/get off and check out a low key bar or two. In our case, we skipped the bars and drank the booze we brought, still a ton of fun, but this bike’s mission is not as strong as the sprocket rocket.

Food. M Street is a Group of Restaurants in Nashville that I absolutely died over. With the first Nashlorette we had a private dining room at Virago– an asian inspired sushi restaurant that was amazing, and the second trip we tried out their Mexican restaurant next door, Saint Anejo. Both perfect locations that take reservations, are young and hip, moderately priced, and in good location. Saint Anejo was really nice out on the patio. Would definitely try more from this group.

Another good recommendation for groups who need reservations is City Fire in the Gulch, home of the $14 bottomless mimosa. Great brunch and overall lunch menu. There is an adorable clothing boutique next door that also makes for a cute stop, and an instagram photo op of the Nashville angel wings is also right here! Nice little escape from Broadway. Was not anything to write home about deliciousness, but fit the bill for the Maid of Honor resting easy knowing we had the reservation set.

A food stop that was delicious but definitely a wait was Biscuit Love in the Gulch. This is a bright, spacious offshoot of a food truck known for locally sourced Southern breakfast & lunch fare. It was jam packed, and you placed your order at a counter to then sit and wait a bit, but one bite of their fried chicken and gravy and it was all worth it.

Bars and Booze. Before I name my Broadway favorites, I have to give a shout out to Demonbreun St. This little street has a couple of super low key bars that have fun games such as outdoor massive jenga, cornhole, etc. A small group of us had so much fun on this little street waiting for others to arrive in on their flights. I am always up for activity drinking, so on any of my posts please feel free to share favorites that you can do that.

On Broadway, the bars rated for me are: (mind you, i’m not at all a smokey, dingy, tiny bar kind of gal)

1. CrazyTown
2. The Valentine
3. Rippy’s Rooftop
4. Honky Tonk Central
5. Tootsie’s upstairs/outside
6. Acme Feed & Seed

In my opinion, none of the others bars are really worth spending a ton of time at if you’re looking to get a group into a place and dancing/singing. Eliminate the constant moving, pick one or two of the above per night and get wild.

Since I am on the topic of Nashville, I might as well include a few favorites from my now husband and I’s mini trip there the previous October…

We are golfers, so we absolutely LOVED golfing at the Gaylord Springs Golf Links. The course is pretty difficult, but very fancy with GPS controlled golf carts. We spent right about $100 for the two of us to play 18 holes. We took an uber/lyft down and it is about 18-20 minutes each way.

Our favorite meal we had there was definitely at Merchant’s right on Broadway. The deviled eggs and southern comfort staples had us drooling just looking at the menu.

We stayed right downtown at the Hilton Nashville Downtown and even with all my travels, our king suite was one of the top rooms I have been in. They have a massive lobby with an evening pianist, and the location can not be beat, it just comes with a hefty price tag and no free breakfast.

One of our little lists we like to tick off is Stadiums, so we took the opportunity while there to visit LP field, home of the Titans. This field is amazing because it is just a quick walk over the bridge from downtown, and from the completely outdoor field you have an amazing river/city view.

We also took a day to tour the Vanderbilt/Parthenon which was cute couple’s trip as something to do outside of drinking on Broadway, but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you are really looking to kill some time. However, that journey did lead us to The Slider House restaurant in Midtown, which we both loved for their outdoor patio, drinks, and of course, delicious sliders.

Last but not least, one of our little favorite things we did was the Music City Rolling Jamboree bus. My husband groaned when he first heard we were doing this, but after cracking a few beers and settling in for the comedy/singing, he was belting out “Wagon Wheel” louder than most on the bus. It was a great way to make the most of a mini trip by learning about music city, some of the ghosts, neighborhoods, and of course relaxing with a beer while taking it all in. It took about 2 hours in total, but we were sad when it ended.

WOW, I did not realize I had lived so much life in that city until writing this post, and I am sure I will make it back as well, so please feel free to comment any MUSTS or opinions on any of my travels. 🙂

-Sarah

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mini Trip: Denver, CO

It has been a busy few months! Going to try and relive my trips from March-now… Here we go….

Denver, Colorado stole my heart back in 2011 when I was able to travel there with two of my best friends to help a friend move out there. I instantly fell in love with the views of the mountains peeking around the city, and the sunshine was full force nearly every single day. I also had a work conference out there last March but was stuck in central downtown/hotel land and just needed to get back out there. Still to this day writing this post, it is the only place I have been that I could pack up and move to instantly.

This past October my fiance’s sister moved out there permanently and bought the most stunning home ever. Now, there is nothing better than getting to travel with a free place to stay- que trip adviser and air fare watch dog price alerts…

The stars aligned and we were able to snag $156 roundtrip tickets from DTW to Denver through Spirit (major groan) but with that price we shared a suitcase and took off! Here is our little mini itinerary arriving Sat. night and staying through Tues night.

Sat Evening: As we arrived late in the evening we really only managed to head out for a late dinner, and my fiance after a day of travel demanded some wood/coal fired pizza. We hit up Larimer St in the Ballpark district (fun street with plenty of little bars) and settled on Racca’s Pizzeria Napoletana  you can see from the menu- delicious. Highly recommend if you are looking for a specialty pizza place with a slightly upscale feel to the environment. Skinny- opt for the Mele Fresca Salad, Splurge- EMILIA ROMAGNA Pizza:  Smoked Bufala Mozzarella, Walnut & Pine Nut Cream, Roasted Zucchini, Pecorino Romano, EVOO.

Sunday Funday: Our first stop was Viewhouse in the Ballpark district, and this may be one of my favorite bars ever. Give me a rooftop and some games to play while drinking and I am quite content. Just look at this place:

 

The downstairs is covered in grass with a huge volleyball court (they run a tournament on Sundays) corn hole, and tons of comfy furniture to sit around some fires. Perfection. We didn’t try any of their food, but the drinks were good and really you come here for the environment. If you want a rooftop without the games- The Tavern is right across the road, and features a huge rooftop with views of Coors Field. They have a solid happy hour too.

We decided to further explore the neighborhoods by checking out the newer neighborhoods as Denver is in an extreme state of expansion. For those that are first timers, strolling down 16th st is the best option to ride the free bus, get in some shopping and also eating/drinking along the way. For me, my goal was to find a sour brewery, and Heather delivered. Located inside The Source, River North Art Districts’s (RiNo) acclaimed artisan marketplace, Crooked Stave brewery had the best sour beer, and the entire marketplace is a sight to see:

 

After a long day of exploring and day drinking, we got back home and relaxed for a bit with some sushi before retiring early for our active day in the mountains…

 

Monday:

We started the day with the most amazing brunch I think I have ever had… Sassafras has two locations in Denver, and both offer comfort food influenced by Southern American cooking traditions.  They create dishes using locally-sourced and organic ingredients, and it is heaven.

After full happy bellies we rode 15 minutes to get to the amazing Red Rocks Amphitheater:

 

image courtesy of thousandwonders.net

We opted to take the 7 mile hike that led us down and around the entire park, and the hills were definitely  a great workout! I have heard that the concerts here are beyond amazing so I would also highly recommend that when you are planning a trip. Our next journey was supposed to be to find an amazing hot spring location and this was pretty much a fail… I have heard fantastic things about the hot springs out in Colorado but unfortunately many are quite a far distance from Denver, and not easy to add on as a quick activity… we found a small town hot spring (Indian Hot Springs) that still felt amazing on the body after the hike, but was not quite the mountain springs I had pictured… more of a really old family resort:

 

 

If anyone has a good recommendation on this let me know! We are planning to take a ski/snowboard trip next year and my mission is to find an amazing hot spring.

When we got back to the city, we were craving Italian food and hit the jackpot with Angelos, which on Mondays offered up $5 heaping bowls of mussels, made from scratch pasta dishes, and oysters- yum.

We ended the night with a trip to the Punch Bowl Social in Denver, and if you have a group of people who want to do a fun night of drinking that is not high heels and dancing, this is the spot. They have great food and drink, but also tons of games like bowling/darts/pool/shuffleboard, etc. all in an amazing hip bar setting:

We bowled and drank all night having the best time.

Tuesday:

Before heading off to the airport to go home, we got to stop at the new swanky neighborhood of LoHi, which offered up really cute boutiques and places to eat. We chose Linger for their happy hour and awesome environment.

 

Until next time, Denver! ❤

Couples Trip Itinerary: New Orleans!

The reason for finally getting this blog running is my recent trip to New Orleans. As a researcher and planner, I was mildly stressed about how to prepare for a 6 person (3 couples) weekend trip where we got to see a good chunk of what the city had to offer without spending a ton of money, or feeling like we were jam packed every minute of the day. I think we did a darn good job, so here is what our trip looked like for anyone else looking to gather up some ideas. Side note: we are a group in our mid/late twenties.

Flight & Hotel Planning: As one of my friends works in the hospitality industry, we were able to get a wonderful discounted rate on hotel rooms, however we did have to stay in two separate hotels. The Double Tree on Canal Street was one, and the Hampton Inn on St. Charles was the other. If you are considering one of those, the Hampton Inn was by far the better option. The decor and overall style is much more updated, and the location is prime for hopping on the streetcar to visit the sights. The Double Tree is also in a great location (really can’t go wrong with hotels in New Orleans on location), but the hotel could really use a facelift- the pictures online have some serious filtering I think because nothing was gleaming quite that way when we stayed there. The service was wonderful however, and they had complimentary warm cookies at arrival, and were very friendly with any assistance we needed.

For the flight we took Spirit, and it was a running joke as to what we could get charged for next, I honestly and openly hate Spirit airlines. Due to a storm in New Orleans, we were unable to land the plane and had to refuel in Houston and then head back… so we were about 4 hours late into New Orleans when we finally landed. During all this, I could not even get a bottle of water because they had to charge my credit card for it, and due to us flying low no purchases could be made. If given a $75-100 price difference on booking a plane ticket, I will definitely pay more to fly Southwest or another airline. Flight tips: About 10 months prior to your trip, set up flight alerts on every major site you can, paying attention to which airlines do not show up in searches on kayak/tripadvisor, and listen to them on their advice to wait or buy, this will definitely help get the best price.

Since we had 6 people, before the trip we researched some of the top restaurants and made “just in case” reservations for lunch and dinner each day. Opentable is a great website for this- and it is free. Our first night we had reservations at Emeril’s, however with the flight delay, we missed it, and had to fend for ourselves at about 11pm for dinner. We were directed to St. Lawrence, which is good to keep in mind as it is one of few places that serve a full menu until 2am. http://www.saintlawrencenola.com/documents/Food%20Menu.jpg

The softshell crab blt and fried chicken dinner were both delicious, and the spring greens salad was great as a light option- do NOT get the caeser salad- you will be disappointed. This place has good drink prices as well, we stopped by on a walk during the day for Sangrias and Bloody Mary’s.

That first night we attempted to go to Frenchmen Street, which is advertised as being the spot the locals go to hear good jazz music without the crazy spring break intensity of Bourbon Street. I had been there on a work trip the year prior, and loved it. Go on a Friday or Saturday though, as during the week many places are not open. On the weekend this is also the site of the Frenchman Art Market, which is really fun to walk through.

We had planned to hit up Sobou that next morning, since on Fridays from 11:30-3pm they have 25 cent martinis (limit 3 per person) but we missed our too early reservation so we decided to hit up the popular brunch spot, The Ruby Slipper Cafe. If you are putting together a list and you only take one place from me- take this one. You will need to get there anticipating at least a 45 minute wait, but go up to the bar and order their bloody mary or mimosa. The bartenders talk while their heavy hand never stops pouring the liquor- you get your money worth for sure. http://www.therubyslippercafe.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/RSCMenu11-29-14.pdf Everything was delicious- get out of your comfort zone and order from their specialties!

We took the rest of the day to be tourists and travel on the streetcar (the St. Charles line is the oldest continually running street car system in the U.S) up through the Garden District (amazing homes) and visit the Lafayette Cemetery. We decided to forgo the tour options and do this ourselves, and it was really quite easy, and costs $1.25! Have the hotel front desk give you a map as to where to get on/off the streetcar, and ride away. When we got to the Cemetery there was a lovely woman starting a tour and let us hop on for I think $15 total for our group, this was worth it because she was able to explain the above ground grave concept as well as show us some of the famous plots that would have been hard for us to find alone.

Since I can’t remember where we ended up doing dinner this evening- I will throw out a recommendation from my work trip- and that is Red Fish right on Bourbon Street. http://www.redfishgrill.com/menu_display.html?id=52 the Alligator Boudin Balls are so delicious, and I had the Red Fish on the wood fired grill and loved it. Great place for some seafood options, I joked that I could have eaten there every night.

Saturday morning we did a rushed brunch at Saint’s & Sinners, which is Channing Tatum’s restaurant, and the only reason we had to go. It was good, but nothing spectacular. They do however have a crawfish boil platter that looks very good if you are on a hunt for that, otherwise I think just stopping by at night while on Bourbon Street will fulfill your Magic Mike desires.

The reason we were rushed is to make it for our Airboat Swamp Tour. This was so much fun. The bus picks you up from your hotel and it’s about a 40 minute ride to get to the swamps. You can bring any food/beverage you wish, but it will be hard to manage on the actual air boat, these things go fast and they are very loud. During the 2.5 hour trip they will wind the boat into populated areas where gators actually come up to the boat after being baited with marshmallows and meat, and it is crazy how close you get!

We actually got caught in a horrible rain downpour shortly after this, so our trip ended very wet to say the least. They do bring on a baby alligator to pass around and take photos with, which is a fun touch that really makes the whole experience come to a close. This was such a nice way to get out of the eating/drinking routine that takes over in New Orleans, and I would definitely recommend it if you have the time.

For dinner the final night we chose to do it up big at G.W Finns, and it did not disappoint. You will need reservations a few weeks in advance here, but the food was so delicious and the entire atmosphere is lovely. http://gwfins.com/menus/daily-menu/ the menu changes a bit each day, however if the blackened swordfish is on there, you will not regret it. My boyfriend, who always picks the best dishes of course ordered it.

We decided to take on the Carousel Bar at the Hotel Monteleone this night, and we loved it. The bar itself is a large carousel that you sit at and it very slowly, spins in a circle. The atmosphere outside of the main bar is classy and relaxed, with a band usually playing. We were able to secure a nice spot on a sofa to have drinks and listen to the band, and then ended up dancing the night away to the music. Perfect ending to a great weekend in New Orleans.