August 4, 2010

Next stop: Quogue

Our first time catching the Jitney out to Long Island was interesting. My mom had done a great job organizing the trek, but we were rushing, just in case - we made it in plenty of time. The President was in NYC, so traffic was worse than usual, so better to be safe than sorry! Bringing all those big suitcases down 5 flights of stairs made for a workout early in the morning. We were frenzied and happy to get to our Jitney stop, and be on our way to Quogue!

Once we settled in on the bus, they handed out Page Six - this is a fun way to pass the time!
When we arrived in Quogue, Patti was waiting at the bus stop. Quogue is one of the villages on Long Island, along with Sag Harbor, Sagaponack, Southampton, etc.

Driving up her driveway is a pure treat....her yard looks wonderful and lush all thanks to Patti's green thumb.

This is Patti's adorable living room...just the coziest and most welcoming house!
Abbye and I were stoked to be able to spend our 3 nights in this precious bedroom...

And her backyard! What a dream!


Patti ushered us on the best tour of Quogue and the surrounding villages. We had lunch at her beachclub and took a nice walk in the sand.





During our drive around Southhampton and West Hampton, we passed by the prettiest vineyards.
That night, Patti, our fabulous hostess, prepared a delightful meal - homemade guacamole, cheese and crackers for apps; freshly picked corn (that Mom and I shucked!) fresh green beans, and salmon. We finished the amazing meal with a wonderful key lime pie from the local bakery.

Friday morning was beautiful, and we enjoyed chatting over coffee and danishes on Patti's porch as we waited on Holly's arrival. I had the pleasure of meeting Holly last year when my Hollie Hill and I had lunch with her; then we connected briefly in Hawkinsville, so I was excited for a little more time with her. After lunch, we took a walk through East Hampton and Bridgehampton.
Holly met up with her friend Dylan Lauren. We got to meet Dylan before she and Holly slipped off to chat, and we slipped off to her (lil) candy store for some delicious fudge and a red velvet cupcake!


With it being such a lovely day in Quogue, we dined on the Shinnecock bay at SunWater's for dinner.

Here are a few of the amazing homes along the shore...
... and a beautiful sunset to cap off a great day together.
Patti took us all to walk through Quogue and to meet some of her friends on Saturday morning before we took the Jitney back to The City. The Quogue Country Market is just one of those great little grocery stores with all of these fabulous, locally made things and a fantastic sandwich bar. When we entered the market, Tyra Banks was checking out with her boyfriend! Naturally, Abbye and I were completely starstruck. We didn't dare bother her, but we stared at her from behind a bottled water display until she left the store.

After 2 years of wanting to make this trip, we finally did; and we had the best time! We are already planning on a return trip to Quogue asap! I absolutely love being with my Mom and Abbye - anywhere I can go and hang out with them is happy for me!

August 2, 2010

The Big Apple

For the past two years, Mom, Abbye and I have been trying to plan a trip to New York, and to visit Patti at her home in Quogue. This summer we kicked our plans into high gear, and were so excited to get to see Christen now that she lives there, Jennie, and Anna along with strolling the city and shopping too!

Jennie generously gave us her apartment to use for the time we were in the city, and it was so nice to call her apartment "home" for 3 days. After a horrible 6 hour delay in Atlanta, we finally arrived in NYC. After arriving at Jennie's and putting our bags down, we headed to the restaurant underneath her building. DIVA is a cute little place that has a nice atmosphere, and good food. Right after ordering our much-needed glass of wine, the waitress spilled two glasses of Pinot Noir down my back - this photo is of the napkins that I sat in for the rest of our meal. No matter the bumpy start to our trip, we were glad to be in New York!

On Tuesday morning, we met Christen at Pastis in the Meatpacking district - great area and wonderful restaurant! The adorable Chelsea Market is up the street, so we stopped in to explore. We peeked into Anthropologie, and all found some cute things on sale!

Our lunch consisted of Banana Pudding from Magnolia Bakery - the best BP ever! And gelato from Christen's favorite spot!

Couldn't resist a pic of CDW at the corner of Perry Street!
Christen, Abbye and I on SJP's street.

Is that Carrie Bradshaw? No, wait. That's Christen on her apartment stoop!

Lunchtime gelato - delish!
Washington Square Park!
Times Square at night.

We saw Promises, Promises with Kristin Chenowith and Sean Hayes - it was just wonderful! Andrew met us for the show, and we were happy to see him!

On Wednesday, we headed to the MoMa - saw incredible Picasso and Matisse exhibits there!


On Wednesday afternoon, Mom, Abs, and I saw a matinee showing of The Fantastiks at the tiny little Snapple Theater - it was so cute! Before the show we had lunch at Applebee's - hahaha!
Lots of steps up from the street...
We passed Gracious Home on the way to the MoMa - this fabulous home design store. After the show, we took a few minutes to see what all they had - and boy, it didn't disappoint. Gracious Home has the most beautiful accessories, home decor, and everything else you could think of!
Busy streets of NYC...
We scooted back to Jennie's after Gracious Home - it took forever to get anywhere that day because The President was there and half of the roads were blocked off. After a very short meeting for a drink with Anna, Scott, Anna's mom Marty, and step-dad Rex, at the Peninsula Hotel, we had a dinner reservation at Freeman's - this great restaurant down a little alley.
The inside of Freeman's...from Google pics. I loved the rustic animal decor.
Right when we were seated, I spotted Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared at the table behind ours. She's so pretty! I didn't get a pic of her at the restaurant, but here's one from Google of her and her cute hubby. In the airport we saw a mini-celebrity - one of the models from America's Next Top Model; and there was another ANTM model at Freeman's too.
Freeman's was wonderful - the artichoke dip is to die for! It was a lovely night to spend with Jennie and Christen - I miss them both so much! And they were so sweet to plan things for us to do while in NYC. Its so nice to have friends in fabulous locales - I get to visit them!

With our tummies full, it was time to head to Jennie's for one more night's sleep - to pack and get ready for our trip to Quogue on the Hampton Jitney bright and early on Thursday morning!