a Florida girl in Atlanta

A couple of times a year, my mother-in-law/boss, sister-in-law, and I head up to Atlanta for Market. If you’ve never heard of Market/America’s Mart, it’s amazing! It’s a place clothing stores/boutiques  and gift stores (both large and small) find vendors and merchandise. It’s also a great place to connect with other store owners and see the latest trends. It’s one of my favorite things about working at Ashes!
Each time we go I feel like we’ve perfected our trip a little more. And while this last time we flew instead of drove (therefore we didn’t have a car to drive around town with) we didn’t necessarily need one.

I’ve really come to love this city, especially since my uncle and grandfather both lived here (and since they both passed away before I was born this is a link to them I wouldn’t have otherwise had).

So some of my favorite places in Atlanta (and please share the ones you love, because I love recommendations)!!

Tipple and Rose Apothecary and Tea Room.
We obviously love tea rooms, but since we are really one of the few left in Jax we rarely get to enjoy going to High Tea ourselves. And sometimes its nice to be able to sit an relax while drinking a cuppa. This place was fantastic. The atmosphere is unique, the food terrific and the icing on the cake was that it is woman run!!!

The Hub.
This last visit to Atlanta was the first time I have encountered The Hub and I'm super sad about that. It has so many ethnic foods all in one spot. Everything looked amazing. Plus it was super convenient being across the street from Market.

Varsity.
I actually ate at The Varsity before my Market trips. On mine and Austin's first anniversary trip we stopped here on our way to Chattanooga. Apparently my grandfather use to frequent this burger joint!

White Oak Kitchen.
One night during our stay we try to do a nice dinner where we can sit down and enjoy the city. On one of our trips we stopped at White Oak Kitchen. So, so, so good!


And of course, some photos from Market..... enjoy!

Why yes this is from a new vendor we found. And yes we are getting some of these in!!!!

A little bored waiting to leave for the airport...... and also loving my new earrings. 

We met Emiliee from My Girl in LA and we loved her and the company!! So excited about working more with them!

When the decor is this cute, you can't not play with it!

Why yes the shirt I'm wearing will be coming into the store. 

One of my favorite sites (inside Market). I just love this place. 

After waking up at 3 to be at the airport by 4:30 only to have our flight delayed by 6 hours..... coffee was needed. However the flight was so short we didn't even get a chance to finish our cup. Major booooooo. 

Well, that's a wrap on this trip. Until next time..

xoxox

a Florida girl in New Orleans

A few weekends ago Austin and I went to NOLA to celebrate our third wedding anniversary. Even though it was in the heat of summer, it was still an amazing time and an adventure since neither of us have ever been. 

It was also a pretty short trip since neither one of us could get away for too long and it is an 8 hour drive for us to get to the BIG EASY.  But totally worth it.

We did a lot of walking (because parking in French Quarter is insane) and I loved it. Sometimes I really dislike living in a city where you have to drive to get anywhere. 

For the first day/night there we mainly wandered around.  Our hotel was not even a block off of Bourbon street (which was amazing!)! 

When we first arrived our hotel wasn't quite ready and we got stuck in a massive rain shower.  We spent the next couple of hours trying to explore, but without being able to have my phone out for navigation and being completely soaked, I was not a happy camper. I was more than a little overwhelmed and my anxiety kicked in to overdrive. But once we were able to drop off our bags at the hotel and I knew where we were and where we wanted to go, I settled in and my nerves settled (the Hurricanes didn't hurt either).  

We decided for our first night to take a Haunted History Tour (which is a bit different from the ones I've gone on in Savannah and St. Augustine.  A guy that is a part of the Tour company followed the groups around with a cooler of water and beer (amazing).  And on our half way point stop we were able to visit the longest running bar of NOLA (or get a po-boy ice cream sandwich). The fact that the city does not sleep, but continuously party helped around 11 when we wanted dinner. By the way, BEST PO-BOY of my life. 

We also stopped into BB King's Blues Club for a drink and some good blues music.  I love that Austin took the time to introduce me to the amazingness that is Blues and Jazz.

During the day to escape the heat (and because we both love learning about WWII) we walked to the WWII Museum. First of all, it is enormous! We were there all afternoon and still didn't feel like we got to see everything. They've done an amazing job with that place.

On our last day, we also stopped at Cafe Du Monde (which I've grown up hearing about).  Their beignets and frozen cafe au lait was absolutely delicious. I wish I could go back for more right now.

For our actual anniversary night we went to the NOLA Ruth's Chris, which was nothing short of fantastic. Another perk to being with Austin, he has taught me more about delicious food that I probably would not have tried without him.  

This sign is from where we got brunch one day, Ruby Slippers (wow, their biscuits!) 

While there is so much about NOLA I loved, I think their architecture is one of my favorite aspects of the city. It's so different and gorgeous. I could stare at it all day. Weird? Maybe, but oh well.

Before we left,  I had to stop by NCIS New Orleans Headquarters (aka a parking lot that filming makes seem like is home to the NOLA Headquarters). I heard that they began filming the next season while we were there, but sadly I didn't run into anyone from the show. Major bummer. 

Ha. Austin thinks its odd that I posted this photo above, but honestly I was so exhausted.  It was our first night in NOLA and it was a long one. 

So all in all, a great trip. I can't wait to go back (Halloween maybe?)

xo,

kel

a Florida girl in NYC

I'll just go ahead and tell you know that this is one of my all time favorite cities in the entire world (like so many other people, I know). 

I really needed this girls trip for the weekend, more than I even knew. We spent the 4th of July weekend doing some touristy things, but mainly trying to find the best spots loved by locals. And as it turns out, just about everyone leaves the city for the holiday weekend (minus tourists) which totally worked in our favor, because traffic was better (still not great albeit) and for a lot of places we didn't have a wait (although I would still recommend making reservations for any place you go to). 

Most of the time we had a rough idea of where we wanted to go or what we wanted to do, but for the most part we spent our time exploring the city and seeing where our feet took us. 

Even though I have been to Central Park before, I've never really experienced it like I did this time. We started out on the Upper East Side and walked all the way through to Strawberry Fields.  As a major Beatles fan, this was pretty amazing for me.  The John Lennon Imagine Memorial is also right by The Dakota, where he lived and was shot outside of. 

Of course we also saw a proposal and a newly married couple taking photos. 

Man I love this city.....

The bars in New York are pretty epic as well. They go all out for their themes and every place we went had the most amazing decor or history. 

One of our favorite places was the Oscar Wilde Bar (which sadly we only found our last night). Definitely getting Afternoon Tea there next time during the day. Their Victorian English/writer theme was incredible- this may have been my favorite find/place of this trip. 

But the food, y'all! THE FOOD. 

I've heard a lot of people say that it's due to the water that the food in the city is so amazing (and seeing as how our water in JAX is the absolute worst) I'll take that explanation. I didn't have a single bad meal there. 

We of course had to have pizza (which I had two nights, because it's an all time favorite food- especially the NYC kind)!! Lombardi's in Chelsea was a great recommendation.

Being a major Gossip-Girl fan I was more than ecstatic running into this hotel, the Hotel Empire. (Chuck + Blair forever). 

We also explored the High Line, which was a first for me. Although, walking it in the heat of the summer wasn't the greatest, the sites and garden views still made it pretty memorable, 

This view of the Empire State Building was from on our way back to our hotel. I loved seeing it lit up at night and it was especially epic seeing it surrounded by fog.

Another site we just so happened to stumble upon was the Hotel Chelsea. Known for its Sid and Nancy past it was something I had always heard about, but had never actually seen. 

Ps. If I were going to give my own NYC Music Tour, this would definitely be on there. 

The second night we met up with a friend, who is a local at this amazing place- The Old Rose restaurant, which is also a part of the Jane Hotel was fabulous (and has great pizza).  It's also apparently haunted, as it was where surviving crew and passengers of the Titanic stayed after their horrifying experience. While the elevator didn't move on its on while we were aboard, it did take us to the top where there is a rooftop bar with a breath taking view. The bellhops from the Jane Hotel are also dressed like Tower of Terror cast members, which is pretty awesome and definitely added to the atmosphere of dinner where we all told ghost stories. 

Another must do (at least for me) was to FINALLY see the Carrie Bradshaw brownstone doorstop. I also had us make a quick pit stop at the Magnolia Bakery (which has my favorite cupcakes of all time). I can't get enough of these things!! 

Speaking of sweets, a friend recommended this macaron store, which definitely did not disappoint. Laduree was one of the best things we did/ate for the whole trip. I even had one in ice cream (because when in Rome.....er...NYC). 

We also couldn't go to SOHO without stopping by Harney and Sons Tea shop. This is the only brand of tea we serve in our tea room at the shop and it's also the one that made me discover how much I truly love tea (in fact I'm drinking it right now as I type this). 

The kind below is called Indigo Punch and tastes like Fruit Loops. I ended up bringing some home with me (along with a bunch of other flavors). 

Another great restaurant was the Jones Wood Foundry in the Upper East Side where we watched the FIFA, Women's Soccer become WORLD CHAMPIONS! So of course, this English Pub was pretty epic in my opinion.

The very first night we headed over to Eataly near the Flat Iron Building. That place is beyond cool. It's something I feel like only NYC could carry off. Market place + tons of restaurants, we waited the extra hour to sit on the Serra Fiorita rooftop (pictured below). And trust me, it was worth every hot, sticky minute of waiting. 

A few other places that I didn't take photos of, but want to include in my NYC list (because WHEN I go back, I need to revisit them):

The Smile- an incredible brunch place. 

The Smith- an epic Vanilla Bean French Toast (while trying to get cool in the ac here, my phone was dying, so I asked the server if he could help- I got a claim ticket and he took it to the host stand to charge it. Maybe this is no big deal- but there's no way this would happen where I live!!) 

Ess-a-bagel- The ABSOLUTE BEST BAGEL I've ever had in my life. 

The White Horse Tavern- The city's second oldest bar and known for the famous writers that infamously hung out writing there. 

Until next time,

xoxo

kel