Amish Country

I took a lovely work trip to Amish country, here are the highlights!

Lititz, PA

My wonderful B&B: The Lititz House

Reading on the back porch

Wilbur Chocolate Co.

Heavenly Soaps & Scents ~ the cutest store with natural & locally made bath items!  Check out these wine candles made in old wine bottles, they all were different wine scents! Syrah was my favorite.

A Tea Affair was wonderful for a tea lover!  And the owner was great to talk to :) I came home with Provence {rose, lavender, elderberries} & Palace Marzipan {very almondy}.  They had so many delicious flavors & can't wait to order Mexican Winter {chili, orange, cinnamon, coconut & red pepper}!

Beautiful old church

I adore The Tomato Pie Cafe! I loved them so much I ate there twice!

Delicious chocolate ale at Bulls Head Public House 

Catching some Amish ladies buying shorts at Target?!?!?!

Left:  Bobbi Brown Treatment Lip Shine SPF 15 

in Pink Seashell & Orchid Pink

Right: Bobbi Brown metallic eye shadow

 in Gold Dust & MAC eye shadow in Neo

Lovely mani to wind down the week :) Essie Shop Till I Drop

 Best part of the trip home ~ Cantina Laredo in the Philly airport! 

Celebration Date

It sure feels good to celebrate accomplishments!  James did a great job of planning the evening :)  We had reservations at Melting Pot!  I have never been & was very impressed with the evening!  I will admit my prior feelings were, "They are charging us how much to cook our own food on the table?" :)

 The infamous "cheese course"

The dinner course:

Left~ my meat selection French Quarter (Cajun spices) and Right~ the Coq a Vin cooking sauce

 The dessert course ~ my favorite!!! 

I want to come back here & just eat the chocolate course!! 

We had a lovely & fun time eating here!  I will admit I was a little nervous about having raw meat & cooked meat on the table at the same time...  James did a great job of using his iPhone timer to make sure our meat was cooked enough.  I loved my meat course!  The French Quarter was great & spicy!  To make it through the Four Course Experience took about 2 or 2.5 hours!  (hmm... must not have gotten a photo of the salad course... ) It was so delicious, but we both over ate!  Yep.  Definitely reminded me of the S&TC episode where Charlotte & Harry get sick & yell "The fromage!" Haha.  If I go back I will go for Ladies Night on Wednesday (petit portions) or just for dessert. 

I am so proud of us hitting such an important goal of being out of consumer debt!  

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday always makes me miss Mamma Kay.  This is her favorite holiday & she is the queen of Easter baskets!!!

On a bright note ~ it was in the 60s! And sunny!  Truly an Easter miracle :)  Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of James & I after church...  but I got to wear a silk dress, nude heels & NO TIGHTS!  Can I get an AMEN?

Easter tulips!   Should have taken the photo Saturday, but still pretty :) 

My own "Easter Basket" aka 3 Reese's Eggs from the grocery store :)  I should have bought 300! 

Happy Easter & time of celebrating our Lord to each of you! 

Valentine's Day

So basically I am in LOVE with Valentines' Day!  I always have been.  And no m'am I was not one of those girls who always had a boyfriend on V-Day.  Quite the opposite.  I think I was single most of them.  I know the people who like to wear black & label it as "Hallmark Capitalism" ~ boycotting a happy holiday seems very emotionally stable...  I just feel that a day dedicated to telling everyone in your life you care about them is awesome.  To me Val Day isn't about romantic love ~ it's about all love.

Put your phone down, stop the tweeting, tell people you love them today.

I love you ~  to my dear family & wonderful friends.  You bring joy to my life, and I love you.

I also love STEAK so I was wonderfully pleased by James' choice of restaurant Ruth's Chris!!!!

And now to the dress decision!

Drum roll please.....................................

I picked the Kate V Dress by Nicole Miller!!! 

Inspired by one of my favorite fashionistas, the one and only Kate Middleton!

Photo Credit:  Kate Middleton Style

Ruth's Chris had a photographer to document the evening.  

I was tempted to write a letter to Ruth's Chris management.  Maybe include a little education in the form of a syllogism:

Major Premise:  Valentine's Day dates are made to please women.

Minor Premise:  Women hate looking larger than they are on film.

Conclusion:  Fish eye lenses are the worst possible choice for Valentines Day.

James contributed some beautiful flowers & I contributed some yummy dessert!  

Hope you had a fabulous day full of love!