5 on Friday-Link Up Party!!

Friday.....The most anticipated day of the week! I am happy to join a fun group of blogging friends with the 5 on Friday Link Up Part-AY!!

My loves this week:

{1} Fun Mail!

It's so exciting to walk to the mail box to find sweet love notes, invites, good magazines!  

 

This week a lovely Save the Date for my awesome friend and old roommate, Elizabeth, and her love, Jordan!  Love the tandem bicycle design she chose and it is very much "them"!! Can't wait for their big day this November!

 

I also received the cutest invite for my lovely friend, Jenny's son, Law's 2nd birthday party! I know his "Martha Mom and Nana" will have it decorated the cutest!

 

....and then the sweetest piece of mail was a birth announcement for an old friend, Brieanna.  May I introduce Baby Sterling!  Isn't he such a lil man with an adorable name!

{2} Fun Family Time!

Last weekend my older sister Beth came down to visit with her 3 children: Zackary, Brieanna, and Abigail.  We spent the weekend in Orlando and then they were beach bums around my house in St. Augustine the rest of the week.  Jeff and I loved coming home from work and having them with us!  Never a dull moment!  Here is a group pic of us all at the pool...I will share more of our mini vaca to Orlando in another post:)

 

{3} A New Shopping Find: HauteLook



 

While catching up on blog reads, Julie from http://www.pbfingers.com/, mentioned recently getting a dress from Hautelook for a wedding she went to!  I loved the dress so I followed her link.....It was so exciting with lots of great things and surprisingly good deals!  I ordered a pair of sandals for $16 that I am excited to wear this Summer!  Check them out!! 

 

http://www.hautelook.com/events

HauteLook hosts limited-time sale events featuring your favorite fashion and lifestyle brands at savings of up to 75% off! New events start every day at 8 AM Pacific.

 

 

 

{4} Fruit and Such

 

With the temps rising, I crave fresh fruit!  This week I made a huge fruit salad with pineapples (My fave), strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries.  It was a guiltless snack!  And who doesn't love cute fruit dishes;) 

 

 

{5} Our New Grill!!

Jeff found a heck of a deal during the Memorial Day sales at Home Depot!  Our new grill was a whopping $99!!  It even had a side burner that I wanted;)  So excited to have cookouts this Summer! Now we just have to find some great recipes!

 

 

Wanna join in on the Friday fun? You can link-up on any of our four blogs every Friday! All you have to do is...
1.)  Write  your post about five things you're lovin' this week (or any five things you want to share!).
2.)  Share the logo above on your blog and link back.
3.)  Link-up at the bottom of the post so some new readers can check out your five things and say hello!

<3~Brookley

Hello Beautiful!

I was so excited to get home from a work trip this week!  Not only was my sister and her little ones coming to visit us from NC, but our friends were opening their second boutique in St. Augustine!
Lara and Steve have stolen everyone's heart with their lovely gift boutique, Declaration, and have now opened HELLO B to keep everyone looking Beautiful! 

 

Friday night kicked off their much anticipated Grand opening!  Hello B did it right and had a DJ, Swag Bags for the first 25 shoppers, a $250 raffle giveaway, passed hor d'oeuvres, and not to mention all the beautiful...and dapper clothes! 

 

Yes, Steve has picked out the best finds for the gents! 

I loved the feel of Hello B and wanted to just sit down on their little sofa to take it all in.....but the excitement of all the pretties hanging from the racks and the sweet décor, wouldn't let me;) Jeff and I found many things we loved but both decided on T's that we had to have! 

....and here are the awesome Lara and Steve on their exciting night of a whole new adventure for them!

 

I guess it's obvious that I Heart Hello B and love that Lara and Steve have brought another unique boutique to the wonderful place I call home! 

 

Be sure to "like" Hello B on facebook to keep up with their latest looks!  If you aren't a local, they will happily package your gift in the perfect way and mail it to you!  Or even better, plan a fun shopping day to St. Augustine and get the ultimate treatment with their wonderful hospitality!  I promise shopping will have never been so much fun and you will walk away looking adorable and/or handsome!

 

https://www.facebook.com/IHeartHelloB

Rise and Grind

Over the years I have fell in love with coffee!  Every morning I want a good strong cup of Joe, or 2;), to kick off my day! 

One if the many projects for our new house was to create a mini Coffee Bar.  We already had a nice Keurig and it just needed some love.  Jeff put up 6 cup hooks from Home Depot to hang our pretty mugs.  I chalkboard painted a mini wooden sign that I picked up from Michaels for cute "coffee" talk and I found the coffee tin and flavoring containers to coordinate with the sea glass shades we have throughout the kitchen.  The wooden signs still needs to be hung next to the cups but we will get to that on the "honey do" list;)  It's the little things like this that makes me smile and makes that cup of Joe SO much better!

 

 

And this was appropriate for the way I feel today:

 

Now it's time to Rise and Grind! Happy Tuesday:)

Weekend at Home Sweet Home!

For the last couple of months, we have had company or traveled on the weekends so this past was a nice one at HOME SWEET HOME!



Last April when we 1st moved in!!

Friday night Jeff and I went to the movies to see "The Great Gatsby".  Being rushed getting there from work, we picked up a sandwich from Panera to share during the flick.  Obviously that's not permitted by the Cinema but there is a lot you can hide in a big purse;)  We also grabbed a nacho and coke combo and were good to go!  I was definitely engaged the whole time and loved the movie!  Loved the Romance, Gatsby parties and glam, and the beautiful cast!  If only Daisy wouldn't have been a beautiful little fool;)!  Here's a sneak peek if you haven't had a chance to see it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJCz3lMa4Xw&list=PL0D4742FA53C9F23F

Saturday I spent the morning admiring our new storm door that was put up Thursday while I was out of town.  We really needed it to brighten up the front of the house and let some natural light in!  I also put together a new chair for outside.  I will post house updates soon. The rest of the day I was pretty useless and enjoyed being a lazy bum with the cats and Jeff;)

Then Sunday rolled around and I had made a goal to run from our house through downtown over to Vilano Beach, so as soon as my feet hit the floor, I got dressed in my running gear!  I wasn't exactly sure the distance since I had never ran that way before but Jeff had told me to just call him when I got there and he would pick me up.  I headed out and felt good, besides the crazy humidity at 8:30 in the morning!  With no agenda and the sun shining, it was a perfect run through our beautiful St. Augustine.  Along the way I passed the lighthouse, crossed the Bridge of Lions into downtown, ran along the bay into Uptown, passed the Fountain of Youth, and lastly crossed the Vilano Bridge over to the beach.  Once I was finished, I made a pit stop in Publix to grab a chocolate milk to re-hydrate and wait for the hubby to scoop me up.  It ended up being 8 miles and will now be a weekend tradition! It's easy to run when you have good scenery!  Yes, I stop along the way to take pics to share.....

Is anyone running the Vilano Bridge 5K in a couple weeks?  I am signed up and excited about it!

When Jeff picked me up we headed to YardBird downtown for breakfast!  Good stuff and love the quaint cute lil spot!  We then made a Home Depot run to pick out new exterior lights and look at grills.  Will hopefully snatch one during the Memorial Day sales this weekend!!

To wrap up the day, we headed over to the pier for the Taste of St. Augustine Beach.  Local restaurants from the island were there including: Amici's, Beach Garden, Café Eleven, Coquina Beachside, Mango Mango's, Napoli's. Panama Hatties, Paula's Beachside Grill, Purple Olive, Red Frog & McToads, Salt Life Food Shack, South Beach Grill, and Sunset Grille.  We honestly aren't regulars at any of these spots but we enjoy going to get a sneak peek of what they have to offer.  We "tasted" Purple Olive's Beef Empanada and their Blackened Scallop over potatoes and spinach.  Both were d'lish!  For round 2 of our tasting, I chose Mango Mango's Corn Cakes topped with pulled pork and Jeff had Panama Hattie's Artichoke dip. I enjoyed mine a lot and thought the dip was mediocre.  For desert, we split a "Hot Blonde" from Salt Life Food Shack.  It was very good and we are happy to report they are opening their restaurant directly across from the pier this fall!!! We didn't hang around to see who won any "Best of the Beach" awards but enjoyed our samplings and a nice night out by the pier! 

Hope you all have a Sunny week!

Springtime fun and Seaworld!

Days keep flying by!  I feel like I am always playing catch up, but life has been busy and good!

My Mom and youngest sister, Breanna, came down to visit early April during her Spring break.  I was traveling during some of their trip but we took advantage of a beautiful day in Orlando to spend at Seaworld.  This was everyones first time, I had been actually been before but so long ago and before any rides where there plus my lack of memory, it felt like my first time.  Call me Dora;)

Sidenote: My Mom is a little obsessed with dolphins!  Her wedding (to my Stepdad) was mint and dolphin themed....they had an ice sculture of a dolphin, dolphin stamped napkins, matches.....She collects dolphin goodies, has mini anxiety moments at their sightings, ...you've got the point, She was in heaven all day! Dolphin Cove was a start to the day!  We loved doing the dolphin feedings and being able to be touch them, talk to them:) They are so sweet!

The rides! We were lucky and were offered "Quick Queue" passes from our hotel which was a front of the line pass for every ride 1x!  You can also purchase this an an add-on.  The Manta was a lot of fun, smooth, lil splash of water, and the perfect rush!  Definetely ended up being my favorite!  They also have another roller coaster, the Kraken, and it was a bit much for me, very jerky!  Breanna's fave was "Journey to Atlantis" which was a water flume/coaster:)  Oh, and we can't forget the Jazzy Jellies!  Who doesn't love to spin and go up high!

The Shows! They're amazing!

 

 

This was the Shamu Concert show at the end of the day.  It was a fun ending and here are the Shamus' waving goodnight:)

 

 

There were beluga whales, sea turtles, manatees, polar bears, sting rays, and more to see!  I love the concept that Seaworld cares for the animals and helps save and return many back to their natural habitats!

 http://www.seaworldcares.com/

 

Tips for anyone looking to visit:

• mousesavers.com offers coupons
• Buy tix online for savings
• If you stay at a nearby hotel, they offer free shuttles so you don't have to worry about parking. Also see if hotel offers quick queue passes!
• You cannot bring in outside food/snacks unless medical reason. Pack light because you do have to get lockers if going on the rides!
• Take advantage of the "all you can eat" day pass!  So worth it and all the food we had was good!

Loved our trip to Seaworld and spending time with my Mom, sister, and Jeff!  May have to be a tradition on their annual Spring visit to see us!



 

Have you been? What are your fave things to see and do?