Dolce Vita, Sanibel Island, Fl

Two weekends ago I went to Sanibel Island in Florida to visit my parents who were vacationing there. It was just what I needed! Work has been so hetic; I needed a few days to just lie in the sun and read until my eyes bled. (I ended up reading two-and-a-half books. It was wonderful!)

For dinner one night we headed off to a restaurant named Dolce Vita, after the famous Fellini movie. When we first walked in, I realized I was underdressed. I did not expect fine dining when I packed, so all I had were T-shirts and a pair of jeans. The majority of the diners were dressed a little more formally. Still, I was not discriminated against because of my casualness. We got a table without a reservation in about thirty minutes.

We first sat at the bar after only once being kicked out of our seats by a cranky customer. (It was then fun to watch her complain as she managed to hate and criticize most everything she encountered. I hope I am not like that when I am her age!) They had no mojitos, to my mother’s disappointment, but my dad and I enjoyed a rich glass of viognier.

Ok, on to the food. Because of some work I had on my teeth, I was on a mushy diet, so I had baked ziti with sausage.Unfortunately, I could not try the sausage, but their sauce is delicious. It is very flavorful and not too sweet or salty. Any sweetness seems to have been pulled out of the freshness of the tomatoes themselves.

My mother had the oven roasted duck “au figs.” This is a crispy duck with a mission fig compote. The sauce was to die for. The sweetness of the fig blended with the smoothness of the duck. If I ever go back, I would get that for my meal.

For dessert we had the ultimate Florida key lime pie. It was excellent and not like any key lime pie I have ever had. There was no meringue on top of the pie! It was light enough to be the perfect ending to such a rich meal.

For more information http://islandwineanddine.com/dolcevita

Dolce Vita
1244 Periwinkle Way

Sanibel Island, FL 33957

239.472.5555

Charleston Beer Works, Charleston S.C.

I am sorry I haven’t been keeping up with this blog. As you can probably guess, work has been pretty crazy over the past few weeks. I have also been traveling quite a bit! I will try to be more diligent.

A few weeks ago, I went back to Charleston, S.C. to visit my friend Dolly. I was only there for a night, having arrived very late on Friday night. We went out to Charleston Beer Works, a local bar which advertises a huge amount of beer on tap and $2 pints.

After living in Northern Virginia for while, I have become used to the ridiculous prices on drinks. I found Beer Works to be very affordable with a vast selection of beer to try. It is a typical bar, but the crowd is young and energetic.

For more information go to www.charlestonbeerworks.com

Charleston Beer Works
468 King Street
Charleston, S.C.

My Apartment pt.2

Here is my apartment with all my stuff in it. Not all that impressive yet, but I'm working on it! Ten points to anyone who can pick out all the stuff in here that also appears in my blog! (I got a lot of it for Christmas.)

This is my living room. Yes, the curtains are too long, and I have iron-on stuff to hem them, but I do not have an iron yet. They will be fixed eventually! Also, I love the mirror over the couch!

This is the other half of my living room. You can barely see my coffee table/ottoman. (Yes, my coffee table is my ottoman with a tray on it.) I need a picture to put over the little bookcase and maybe a better TV stand. Chad got me that lovely TV stand and candle holder from the dumpster. That's right. We are high-rollers!

My kitchen! I did not realize that most of my counter space would be taken up by toaster ovens and coffee makers, but that is fine. I still have my island to work on! I love my pot rack over the island becasue it saves so much space. Thank you to Chad for hanging it for me! What a doll!

Also, I got those stools for half off because I bought them straight off the floor at Ikea. I just love my kitchen.

Here is my bedroom. As you can see, my bed barely fit under the light, but I made it work! I still need curtains for that window that block out the light!

This room is a bit strange for me because I basically put anything that I did not have a place for in it. There is a giant bookcase that you cannot see on the right hand wall that does not really go with the room, but it needs a place!

On another note, I love my red paisley bedspread. It makes my room feel so warm and romantic, especially with the high bedposts!

My bathroom pretty much looks the same. I did hang a hook for my bathrobe though.

Finally, because my bathroom does look the same, here is my beautiful shower curtain.

Well, that's all! Let me know if you have any ideas how to liven the place up a bit!

My Apartment

I realized that I have not posted pictures of my new apartment yet. I am sure all of you who read my blog want to see where I live, so here are some pictures. I only have empty "before" pictues right now. I'll post "after" pictures after my camera charges!
This is my lovley living room.












The kitchen is my favorite part of my apartment. I love the island and the abundance of counter space!






This is my empty bedroom.

















My bathroom.

Duck, N.C.

Just to give you all a better idea of how amazing the weather was last weekend, I am posting a few pictures from the trip. I cannot believe we were out there in the middle of January! Who says global warming doesn't exist. I want to have a word with him!

Anyway, this is me on the beach heading toward this government-owned pier. There is a research facility in Duck that we think this pier belongs to. Look how beautiful the water is! My feet were so cold though, they turned white!

This is my wonderful and extreme boyfriend walking on his hands on the beach. I think this is a pretty good shot of him in action!

That's all for now!

Fishbones Sunset Bar and Grille

Last weekend I went to Duck, North Carolina with Chad and our friends Marshall and Evan. Evan’s wife’s family owns a beach house there that they rent out during the summers. This seven-bedroom home is only a block away from the beach and has a grill, hot tub, and a view of both the ocean and bay from the balconies. We are allowed to stay there when no one is renting it. Seeing as the weather last weekend was going to be in the 70’s, we thought we would take advantage of Evan’s hospitality and take a little beach vacation in January!

Boy, that was a good idea! I sat in the sun in my bikini while the boys played in the freezing water. For food, we pretty much ate in the entire time, but we did make it out to one restaurant that we were already familiar with from a previous visit.

Fishbones Sunset Grill and Raw Bar is a brightly painted building right on the ocean. We visited the restaurant on our last visit to Duck for a delicious breakfast. I had a fruit plate with yogurt, which was good and fruity. Chad had eggs and home fries. I remember thinking the home fries were fabulous! They were greasy and seasoned well, which may not sound the best, but after a late night out, nothing tastes better than greasy potatoes!

We were eager to try Fishbones again on this most recent trip, but we got there too late to be served food. However, the bartender was still very nice and got us some salads because that was the only thing not put away yet! Maybe next time we will have better luck.

I’ll be happy to try Fishbones again!

For more information go to www.fishbonessunsetgrille.com

Bluegrass Brewing Company-Louisville, Ky

Last weekend on our way to Nashville, we stopped in Louisville, KY to visit Chad and Ryland’s friend Sarah and her husband. After enjoying a lovely meal at their home, we all headed out to the Bluegrass Brewing Company for a few drinks.

This restaurant/bar was a lot of fun. The staff wears t-shirts that read “beer-is-food” which is fitting because the company brews its own beer. There are eleven different beers to choose from which include malt liquor, meade, and ale.

We started with a pitcher of the Altbier, a German-style dark beer, which I enjoyed very much! I am a wimp when it comes to beer. I get full very easily when I drink it. This was the case with the Altbier, but it was still enjoyable and satisfying!

Next, we tried the Darby Ale, which was more bitter than the Altbier, but still quite good.

If you are a fan of beer and if you are visiting Louisville, I would recommend this place for its laid back atmosphere and wonderful brews!

For more information go to www.bbcbrew.com.

AVOID Torrent Falls Resort

This past weekend, my boyfriend Chad, his buddy Ryland, and I went on a road trip to bring Ryland’s girlfriend, Meghan back to graduate school at Vanderbilt in Nashville, TN. Really, this was just a fantastic excuse to visit the Red River Gorge in Kentucky and do some climbing.

I was writing a scathing report about the bad experience we had at Torrent Falls. The owner of the property was outwardly rude to us and we are outraged that he will only let those who stay at his Bed and Breakfast (which can set you back from $70-$100 a night) climb there.

Then, I found more information surrounding the closing of the area. I- suppose it was our ignorance of the area which caused this awful encounter. The fact that it has been closed can be found in various articles both online and in print. We had no clue.

He closed the area (which he had no hand in developing, by the way) to climbers after many were “inconsiderate.” After talking to us angrily, he did realize that we were actually being considerate by asking before climbing.

I think that this man was very rude to us and managed to alienate a group of people who would have entertained the idea of shelling out the money to stay at his place for the opportunity to climb at the crag.

Now I hear that the property is up for sale. Asking price is $900,000. To any climbers in the area, I say “go for it!” I wish I could purchase the property and open it up again, but I cannot afford it!

If you want to be my hero and purchase the area, call Bill Strachan’s voice mall at 1.888.804.1439, who will direct you to the current owner, Mark Meyer.

Dwight Schrute Bobble Head

I was so excited to give this Dwight Schrute bobble head to my dad for Christmas. We both love “the Office” on NBC. We both love the character of Dwight Schrute. This was the perfect gift.

The Dwight Schrute bobble head was such a perfect gift, that I was not the only one who thought so. My dad gave me the bobble head as well! I am so excited!

For your own, go to http://www.nbcuniversalstore.com/detail.php?p=8368.