Outdoor Fall Decorating/ Life Lately

To every person who reached out to me through comments/emails/texts after my post last Friday, thank you. It means the world to me that you are here and while my world and story aren't always picture perfect  I am so thankful to have each and every one of you here for it.

On a lighter note today I'm sharing what we've been up to lately...which honestly isn't much! Are you still laying low where you are? In some ways it seems like things are a little more back to normal because I feel more comfortable going into stores, school has started in person/hybrid here, and it just feels like life is a little more normal. However, on the other end of the spectrum everyone is still in a mask all the time, I still work from home nearly all the time, and we don't have a lot of plans besides being around the house! I love being at home so I truly don't mind that part of it, but it leaves me with not too much besides house updates!

This past Saturday my papa and his girlfriend Vivian stopped by to visit us (well mostly Sophie) and it was so nice to have some visitors! Sophie was fairly well behaved and loved being fed a million treats and gaining a new toy. While they were visiting they mentioned stopping at a farm and once they left Tim and I decided to head to a local farm to pick up some outdoor fall decor. We love going to Shickasheen Farm and if you are in the South County area they are a great side of the road farm stand with awesome prices! Our friend Emma and her husband run it along with their family and we loved getting the chance to chat with Emma a bit and pick up a pumpkin and a couple of mums for our front steps. Emma mentioned that they were going to have some more pumpkins soon, so I will definitely be back for some more decor soon!

I love having a bit of fall sprinkled on my front steps. I also recently replaced my front door mat and bought a new buffalo check mat for underneath as well. Both were purchased on Amazon and I love them! Quick question for you, how often do you replace outdoor mats? I am finding that mine wear out super quick, but they are exposed to the elements (no overhang) so I suppose it makes sense. I just assumed they lasted a bit longer, but maybe I just paid no attention when I was younger and living at home!

Oh, football is back! Thanks Soph for the reminder! 

We have been busy drafting fantasy football teams and watching the first week of games. I was quite pleased that the Patriots won on Sunday afternoon and even more pleased when Tampa Bay had a terrible game. Brady and Gronk weren't looking great and I selfishly enjoyed watching those traitors suffer. If you've been around for awhile, you know I have always loved Gronk so I feel a bit betrayed by him. Brady I think all of New England is angry with but I don't know what he expected to happen.

It's nice to have football back on for another bit of normalcy since Tim and I spend most of our Sunday with football on the tv!

We are still going on a lot of walks around here! Tim said to me the other day that no other dog in the neighborhood seems to be getting two walks a day...but this girl does! I have been doing a healthy living program lately and I will talk about it soon, but it is definitely encouraging me to get out and be active every day! 

So that's what's been up around here lately. Let me know what you've been up to!

 

3 Rhode Island Vineyards To Visit This Summer

Today I'm sharing three Rhode Island vineyards that you should visit this summer!

We visited all three this past Saturday and wanted to share with you guys.

Nickle Creek Vineyard is in Foster, RI and is such a cute place! With a view of the vineyards from the grassy area where you can enjoy a picnic it is a peaceful and relaxing experience. They provide complimentary tastes if you are purchasing a glass of wine. Between the peach and the blueberry their fruity wines were the rockstars.

There are a ton of options so really something for every kind of wine lover and definitely a great place to hang out and relax.

Mulberry Vineyards in Chepachet, RI is a family owned vineyard which truly feels like visiting a family home. In fact the owners children were playing on the lawn the entire time which just made it feel so homey. The owners were friendly and we enjoyed chatting with them about their background. No fruity wines here just your basics but definitely visit and check out their offerings!

The last vineyard is Diamond Hill Vineyard in Cumberland, RI. Honestly the atmosphere is amazing. I always feel like I'm in the south when I sit on this porch! The family who owns this vineyard is so sweet and offered us a complimentary tasting while they are usually $3. We tried several wines but my favorite remains the blueberry!

We had such a great time exploring three vineyards and I would love to visit more in the future!

Megan and Josh's Belle Mer Wedding

Happy Wednesday friends! So sorry I missed Mondays post- this weekend was a bit busy since it was Megan and Josh's wedding weekend! If you've been following along forever you'll know that Megan was my college roommate and we have stayed friends despite her move across the country! Since the wedding was long distance for Megan and Josh they planned a full weekend of activities for all their wedding guests and we had the BEST time! Tim and I took part in whatever we could and enjoyed every second- we came home on Monday saying how much fun we truly had. So let's start with Friday shall we?

On Friday night Megan and Josh had welcome drinks planned on the roof of the hotel where they were staying. The hotel is The Viking and the bar itself is called Top of Newport. There were lovely views of the sun setting over the Newport bridge and it really was the nicest place for everyone to gather, catch up and just hang out.

It's always a treat to see my other roommate from college, Laura, as well! She is making a big move soon for her job and it was great to hear about her decision to do that and how excited she is.

Always so happy to see these ladies!

And I'm always so glad to have this guy by my side. He is the kindest human being and quickly makes friends with everybody at events like this.

After spending a few hours on the roof hanging out we headed home since we knew we would be back the next night for more fun!

While waiting for everyone to get to Bowen's Wharf we stopped at Diego's where we had some tropical drinks and dinner.

My drink came in a plant pot which was strange but the drink was so good- it was called "getting tiki with it"

I also enjoyed some crack fries which were amazing! I ate almost the entire plate by myself.

Once everyone else arrived we headed over to The Wharf Pub where we were able to chat with family and friends of the bride and groom. We took over almost the entire bar.

We also closed down the bar with the bride and groom!

Tim and I never stay out this late so it was definitely a victory for us!

Sunday was wedding day! We first dropped off our bags at the Mainstay where we booked a room for the night and then headed to The Viking to pick up Laura.

Once arriving at Belle Mer (the wedding location) we learned that the ceremony was moved inside due to the weather. It had been raining on and off and we truly hoped it would stop since Megan wanted to get married outside but unfortunately the weather had plans of its own.

We took our seats and enjoyed a beautiful ceremony where Megan's mom read a poem, her brother and sister sang "I See The Light" from Tangled, Josh's father performed a Celtic Knot ritual and Megan had both her father and grandfather walk her down the aisle. Its was beautiful and short and sweet.

We then were guided into another building where cocktail hour and the reception were held. I loved Megan and Josh's travel theme and the way they incorporated it into their table numbers and seating chart. The cocktail hour had passed hors d'oeuvres, a small band that played and an open bar. We had a great time chatting with friends and taking pictures outside in front of the gorgeous view.

I took a picture below of the area where the ceremony was meant to take place so if Belle Mer is a place you are interested in for an event you can see how beautiful the outdoor area is.

There are also gorgeous fire pits that would be so much fun to hang around outside. We have another wedding here in November and I'm crossing my fingers for a warm November day so we can get outside during the wedding!

For their guest book Megan and Josh had a Polaroid Camera set up and we were able to take pictures and stick them in the guest book. It was a fun thing to do during cocktail hour and kept us busy.

When the hour was up we were ushered into the reception room and found our seats. Once Megan and Josh along with their parents and bridal party were introduced we were able to grab a quick picture with the bride and talk to both her and the groom about how beautiful the wedding was.

They had a band instead of a DJ and it was such a fun change for a wedding! We danced all night long and had the best time. The dance floor was packed the entire night.

Just a quick peek at the room set up!

My place card read The Future Mrs. Gooding! (From today it's 87 days away!)

Megan (like me) is obsessed with Beauty and the Beast and her wedding decor reflected that. She had a yellow rose inside each container with a gold plate underneath. The yellow rose petals and twinkle lights added the effect and it was so gorgeous!

As our favor we were each given a postcard. Very cute to go along with their travel theme.

The father-daughter dance and a view at the other side of the room. Megan started off dancing on her dads feet! :)

I also wanted to quickly share the food with you, The salads we had were delicious (probably because they were covered in cheese)

The steak was incredible and the mashed potatoes were amazing, The vegetables were good, but didn't compare to the rest!

Overall we had an AMAZING time at their wedding and capped it all off with a quick brunch on Monday morning to say goodbye. We were all feeling a little rough by that point but lucky for me I'll be seeing Megan and Laura in just a few short weeks for my bachelorette party!!

Have a great day everybody!

Life Lately: Soccer, Sandals, Puppies and Dance Recitals

I am terribly behind with my life lately posts...and pretty much all my posts if I'm being honest. There's so much to tell you guys and not enough time to share it in. 

Tim and I went to his nephew's (and my soon to be nephew) final soccer game of the season. Is there anything cuter then seeing little ones play soccer? I love when they all chase after the ball.

He was so unbelievably thrilled getting a medal.

And his older brother was so proud of him! So sweet!

I've been getting a ton of use out of my Kiki Sandals from CocoBelle. You can buy them here  and if you have no idea who Kiki is you HAVE to check out TheBlondeAbroad- check her out on Facebook, Instagram or on her blog. She is an amazing human being and I am obsessed with her!

Tim and I also had a lovely date night at a restaurant in East Greenwich called The SafeHouse. I had a chicken lasagna sandwich and I thought it was great but the fries were even more delicious!

Tim had a short rib sandwich which he said was delicious as well.

The real star of the show was the macaroni and cheese we shared. Absolutely amazing!

If you are ever in East Greenwich definitely head there and check it out! We sat outside on the patio and I definitely want to go back and hang out there with friends for drinks sometime. There are couches and a fireplace so it would make the perfect place for a weekend night!

I was able to spend some time with my dad on fathers day but he always evades my camera. My nephew Kai however loves to sit for pictures (Briefly... he's pretty fast!)

He's such a good and happy boy!

I also attended the recital of my cousins a couple weekends back. Annabel is in numerous numbers and Cailean (unpictured) performed a hip hop routine and they both did great!

I hope you are all having a fabulous day!

TipToe Through The Tulips

Last Thursday after work Tim and I headed up to Johnston, RI to visit a local tulip field called Wicked Tulips. Despite the rush hour traffic getting there it was a fairly quick trip and I finally was able to snap some pictures with my Canon Rebel! My mom had told me about this field last year so I had my heart set on going this year and Tim always aims to make me happy :)

One thing to know about Wicked Tulips is that they sell out VERY quickly! I signed up for their mailing list and received an email letting me know that tickets were on sale a day sooner then they were available to the public. Within that first day the entire first weekend was sold out and three of the four weekdays were sold out. They only open for a few weeks so if you are interested in going you better get your tickets online quickly!

I love the variety of flowers they have- there are so many different colors! They have two different sections of the tulip field. One is the show garden where you can see all the different types of tulips. They are marked with signs and it's a great place to take pictures! There are professional photographers who come here to take pictures too which would be a fantastic backdrop. 

Aren't these the most unique tulips?!

I personally love the pink tulips! I think they are gorgeous and photographer really nicely as well!

I was very excited to bring my Canon Rebel out for an adventure! This winter I didn't take my camera out very much so I'm ready to play with it a little more and learn how to shoot in manual. If anyone can give me any camera tips I would love to hear them!

Pretty Princess Tulips!

After taking pictures of tulips in the show garden we headed over to the next section where we were able to pick some to take home!

I decided to pick 10 to take home. Since they were $1 a stem that allowed me to have a nice bouquet but didn't involve me spending a fortune.

These tulips might be my absolute favorites from the entire field.

Since we went around 5:30 on a weeknight there were far less people then during the weekend. I would highly recommend going during the week if you can make it work with your schedule. We found there was plenty of room to take pictures and still plenty of flowers to choose from.

As I was setting up my camera to take self-timer picture a girl walking by offered to take a picture for us which was incredibly sweet. I love how this turned out with all the colorful tulips in the background! We returned the favor and took pictures of her and her family. 

Remember if you are in the area and interested in going to Wicked Tulips I would grab your tickets right away! You can check them out here. 

Have a great day everybody!