Summer Dreamin'

I hope you'll forgive me, but I'm about to skip over a season. I'm excited about spring, I really am. I sort of like it more than summer, to be honest (no humidity!). But for some reason, today I'm dreaming about summer. It doesn't help that Urban Daddy wrote about the dreamiest-sounding summer getaway ever, The Graham & Co. It's in Phoenicia, NY in the Catskills, where I once spent an idyllic weekend in a slightly creepy cabin. The Graham & Co. sounds like it could improve upon that already wonderful weekend by removing the creepy cabin quotient.





Bonfires, movies on the lawn, floating down the river in an inner tube...sign me up. Although not for a few more months, it's supposed to snow tomorrow.

(A Weekend in Hudson) Weekend in Pictures

{welcome to hudson!}

{stripes and critter pants in my room}

{accidental ombre coffee}

{bread at cafe le perche}

{cafe le perche}

{pretty warren street}

{strolling}

{navy and turquoise}

{fall}

{heart-ish ivy}

{almost ombre}

{how much is that doggie in the window?}

{sold out!}

{trick or treat}

{a little lion on safari}

{looking out over the hudson}

{drinks at swoon}

{hurrying home on the train before the hurricane}

{bye hudson!}

This past weekend two friends and I skipped town and headed north to Hudson, NY in the Hudson Valley. It's a great little town with a long main street, lots of shops and some yummy restaurants. Plus, with it being Halloween weekend, there were trick-or-treaters out. (Check out that little lion! He was my favorite.) We browsed lots of shops, had some great meals, and also had plenty of lounging time in our cute little townhouse (we watched Clueless and lots of SNL clips). Also, some dancing:

 

Here's some of our Hudson favorites:

Cafe Le Perche A cute little French place with great pastries. Try the apple cheddar scone!

Swoon We had a great dinner here. Lots of local, seasonal ingredients. We each got our own dessert and were pretty reluctant to share, they were so good.

Lili and Loo  Lovely housewares. We cleaned up in the Halloween decor section, lots of skeletons :)

Front Street Guest House Close to the train and an easy walk to Warren St. We stayed in their Half Moon Suite, which is less of a suite and more of a townhouse. It was the best of both worlds - a little bit like a hotel, a little bit like renting a place to ourselves.

(A World Away) Weekend in Pictures

{catching the ferry to fire island}

{ocean beach}

{at housers for a boozy lunch}

{the best bloody mary}

{private beach}

{so many red wagons}

{napping in the sun}

{a deer! in a front yard!}

{the perfect day at the beach}

Determined to wring every last drop out of summer, which I feel like only just got started, I headed out to Fire Island for the day with a friend. (New Yorkers, the LIRR has some great deals on day trip packages!) We took the ferry to Ocean Beach, a cute little beach town with no cars and lots of red wagons. It was a dream of a day -- cocktails by the water, wandering past pretty homes and cats sleeping in the sun, lounging on the beach, a perfect breeze, ice cream, and a ferry home just before sunset. I think it was as much summer as you could squeeze into a day! Hope your weekend was summery!

(A Day Trip) Weekend in Pictures

{celebrating a friend's new job with chili margaritas}

{headed to grand central}

{classic meeting spot}

{10 minute rainstorm}

{the old croton aqueduct trail}

{the hudson river from dobbs ferry, ny}

{salty paws sailboat}

With no plans and an entire summer Saturday ahead of us, my friend Nicolle and I hopped on the train and headed north. There's tons of little towns to visit within an easy train ride of NYC, but it's not always easy to get from the train station to the town. Last summer we walked a mile of sketchy roads in New Haven, CT before getting to anything worth seeing.

This time, we chose the Rivertowns (we started in Irvington) which are all an easy walk from the train. They're all connected by the Old Croton Aqueduct Trail, which winds through lightly wooded areas and past big beautiful homes. We had a lovely day getting lost (like, actually lost), rained on for a bit, and imagining who might live in the houses. How was your weekend?

(Woods + Pups) Weekend in Pictures

{a chilly morning, somewhere in new jersey}

{nature & sunlight are pretty darn good for the soul}

{fall footwear}

{giant campfire}

{creepy traveling companion}

{making new friends}

{perfect fall weather in brooklyn heights}

{impromptu coffee & cookies}

Have you ever had a weekend that was simultaneously incredibly restful and incredibly exhausting? That was my weekend. The retreat was just perfect - a little break from the city with a great group of people, talking about loving God and loving people. 

We made it back to the city Sunday morning, with just enough time to for a shower and quick brunch before heading over to the Brooklyn Heights Association dog show where my friend Derek was one of the judges. After watching a boisterous Golden Doodle win Best in Show, we took some italian pastries and coffee to a friend's apartment to refuel before church. It doesn't sound like that much written out, but I was in by 9 p.m. Sunday night, which is nearly unheard of for me. Was your weekend relaxing?

(Vacation) Weekend in Pictures

{hilton head island, sc}

{boats, marsh, dusk}

{where we ate our weight in shrimp & hushpuppies}

{touristy, but nearly deserted}

{alligator!!!}

{just before sunset}

{sea oats}

Not pictured: all the seafood we ate, a pod of dolphins swimming near shore and the way they caused a middle-aged man to run down the beach to make sure his wife saw them, a bright green bicycle that gave me bruises, the eerie, we-might-be-the-only-people-on-the-planet walk on the beach with my sister at midnight, the giant bottle of whipped cream-flavored vodka that some strangers gave my mom.

Ok. Vacation over. Time for sweaters and apples and pumpkin-flavored everything, finally.