hiking to a secluded beach

The best kind of hike is a birthday hike! I didn't think we would be doing any hiking this year since we spent my birthday in Martha's Vineyard, but I was surprised to learn that there are a lot of great options there. So after a morning bike ride to a lighthouse, we headed off to spend our afternoon on a quick 3 mile hike to a secluded beach. Of course we got a little lost along the way, so those 3 miles quickly turned into 5! 

Biking Martha's Vineyard

One of my absolute favorite ways to explore a new city is by bike. How could I not love that feeling of the wind in my hair and the prettiest sights coming into view? And with Martha's Vineyard being so picturesque, ferrying over with our bikes was a no brainer, especially since Husband just attached this pretty new bike basket to my bike.

 Biking though the Vineyard was at the tippy top of my wish list, so on our first morning in Martha's Vineyard, we hopped on our bikes and pedaled our way through scenic Edgartown. 

surprised....with a NEW CAR!

If you follow me on instagram, then you already know that I rolled into this week in a brand new car! 🚙 Of course, I wanted to document this crazy sweet story of how this all happened because it was a complete SURPRISE to me and there is so much gratitude and relief around this.

Let's start out by talking about my old car. I had an 11 year old Honda Civic, but you would think it was even older than that. In fact, I've completely lost faith in Honda (even though I had 2 other Honda cars prior to this one that I loved) after my experience with constant problems with this car over the years. Lots of things were falling apart that are beyond the normal wear and tear. But there were a few big issues that have become major problems. 

gingerbread cottages

Yes, this house is that pink!

 All the little gingerbread cottages that dot the town of Oak Bluffs are equally colorful. While we were celebrating my 29th birthday in Martha's Vineyard, visiting these was at the top of my list. 

And we managed to find them. Rows and rows of these bright-hued whimsical little cottages. 

The Aquinnah Cliffs

While we were celebrating my 29th Birthday in Martha's Vineyard, I had the opportunity to visit the gorgeous Aquinnah Cliffs. When heading over to the Vineyard, the ferries dock on the Eastern side of the island. Since Aquinnah is on the western most part of the island, it's a side of the Vineyard that many people don't have the chance to see. 

But we knew ahead of time that we wanted to explore as much of the island as we possible and had ferried over with our car. It was a little over an hour drive, but so worth it to spend the last few hours of my birthday in this gorgeous place.

the last year of my twenties

I feel so lucky that I got to celebrate my 29th birthday in Martha's Vineyard. It was a weekend filled with beach-combing, biking, hiking, lighthouses, lobster, time with my husband, and all the pink rhododendrons.

 Twenty-nine honestly feels like such a monumental year as I approach the end of my twenties...the end of a decade. I thought I would dread this age, but instead I'm looking forward to it. I may have picked up a few extra pounds and a few bad habits in my twenties. But more than anything, I've picked up the best experiences. I traveled the world. I found the best cutest sweetest pup that a girl could ask for to call my own. I hiked all the miles and camped in the best places. I found the love of my life and was lucky enough to marry him. I earned a B.S. in Biology and am so close to earning my doctorate degree and achieving my life-long goal of becoming a dentist. I've been selfish and made my twenties all about me. I gave myself a whole decade to do nothing, but accomplish my dreams. So I'm very much looking forward to this last year of my twenties and all of the adventures that it will bring before this next stage of life. Happy Birthday to Me! 

29th birthday in Martha's Vineyard!

I’m THAT girl who loves birthdays. Everyone’s birthdays. A whole day dedicated to just you. Oh, and let’s not forget about the fact that there is cake involved. Yes…Please! I don’t even care that I’m getting older. I’m just so happy to celebrate and I think I rang in the last year of my twenties the right way. 

When I realized that my birthday was on a Friday this year, I immediately took the day off from the dental school clinic. I will have to make up the missed day, but it was worth it to have a 3-day weekend for my birthday. Why ADULT on your birthday if you don't have to? I flew into Boston late that Thursday night to reunite with Husband for the first time since our Easter Trip to New Orleans. Between that and my birthday, we had so much to be grateful for. Also, how amazingly perfect is this "OFFICE" themed birthday card that Tom got me? He knows me too well. 

Boston Broadway :: WICKED!

Boston Broadway Belated Birthday

Say that 5X fast

One of the best parts about Tom being in Boston is that, well it's Boston. And being so close to New York-"the home of broadway", means that we've gone from never having seen a broadway show to having seen 4 together (The Lion King, The Book of Mormon, Chicago, Aladdin) and now lucky #5 with Wicked!

older & wiser

I love birthdays, I always have. 

The idea that every person has a special day-all their own. Over the years, I've been so focused on the fun of celebrating birthdays that I hadn't really noticed how much older I was actually getting. But I recent marked my 28th birthday and for some reason, this one felt like a milestone. It was the first time in a long time that I've really reflected on the decisions I've made these last 28 years and how they'll impact my future. But more than ever, I felt my age this year. I had grand plans to visit Martha's Vineyard, but ultimately decided against it and decided to relax and catch up on sleep in lieu of going on some grand adventure. I have this contest fear of missing out, but in this case catching up on self-care was so much more important. It feels like I've completely shifted my focus of where I want my future to go and what what I hold most important as I gotten older. 

husband's birthday in a box!

The hardest part about being in a long distance relationship isn't that we miss out on daily dinners or morning kisses goodbye. It's missing out on the special occasions…that's what I hate most. Yesterday was my husband's birthday and I couldn't be there to celebrate him. And while I am thankful that I will get a chance to see him this weekend, there is nothing like being celebrated on your actual day. So I sent Tom this "birthday in a box" filled with a few small gifts and treats. 

Camping in Acadia National Park

Wanderlust Wednesday-Week 26

a wanderlust birthday

Wanderlust Wednesday-Week 16 

This year, I had a wanderlust birthday. I told Husband that I wanted absolutely no "physical" gifts. The only thing I wanted was the gift of amazing experiences. Lucky for me, he came through. On my actual birthday, we played hookie and spent the day in Cape Cod. First we did a birthday tea in Sandwich, then off to Provincetown. Then the next day, we took off for a 3 day trip to Maine to visit one of my big wish list items: Acadia National Park.

This may not be everyone's ideal birthday gift, but it was certainly mine. Can't wait to share more on both of these experiences soon.

Birthday Tea

Over the years, the husband and I have gradually started to move away from giving each other traditional gifts. This year, I told him that I wanted absolutely no presents for my birthday. Instead I wanted to celebrate with experiences. 

We're already celebrating with a trip to Maine later this month, but on my actual birthday, Tom took me to Provincetown Cape Cod (more on this soon). I knew we were headed to Provincetown, but first we made a surprise detour. We stopped in the cute town of Sandwich where there's a 250 year old traditional English tea house. Seriously adorable.

Tom knows that I love "going to tea" and I even have my own collection of tea cups, so this was the perfect birthday surprise. And this spot was too cute.

Who needs birthday cake when you can have a whole tray of treats? Looking forward to the rest of this month and all the birthday treats. 

Husband's 27th Birthday

Hubby turned 27 on Monday and we are headed off to New York {1st trip of 2016} in a couple of weeks to celebrate in the Adirondacks and Lake Placid. With this new adventure on the horizon, I had to fight the urge to go completely overboard on his birthday. Let's save some of the fun for our trip. But in the meantime, we still had to celebrate on the actual day.  

Because Tom's Birthday was on a Monday this year, most of his day had to be spent at the office. Not the funnest thing to do on your birthday, but that's reality. I thought waking up him up with a homemade donut cake would be a nice little pick me up {aka sugar rush} so I made these while he slept. 

{recipe here}

Later that night, we headed out to dinner at a new to us Italian place. Boston really does Italian food well, especially lobster ravioli. 

After the most amazing dinner, it was home for presents. Can you guess what his favorite color is? I tried to use hints of green throughout. 

But first we opened gifts from family! 

We had lots of phone calls and thank you's to make after. 

And by then, we were ready for cake.   

Husband's cake this year was an ice-cream cake….chocolate cake with oreo cookie ice cream.  

Can I be honest? This was my first attempt at making an ice cream cake and I wasn't sure how it would turn out. The cupcakes were meant to be a back-up just in case the ice cream cake didn't work out, but it did so then we had both! 

Ice Cream Cake + Cupcakes = A Very Happy Birthday 

Time for more presents with gifts from me. Tom and I are moving away from giving each other gifts, but I did pick up a few things that were needed including J Crew goodies for the office and a ski bag…hopefully there is lots of fresh powder in Lake Placid! 

I also gave Husband a sentimental gift…this artwork of our pup PJ. He loved it! 

The other night he was going on and on about how he would save PJ during the Zombie Apocalypse {yes this was a real conversation} and I was just smiling to myself knowing I had this ready for him.  

In the past, we haven't always been able to be together to celebrate birthdays {#ihatelongdistance}, so this birthday was extra special. I loved spending time with him and making so many treats for his birthday. Cannot wait to continue celebrating in the ADK and Lake Placid. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOM!

linking up with stuffthingsetc.//thinkingoutloud

Birthday Donut Cake

Kicking off the B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y celebrations bright and early this morning!
There is nothing fun about having a Monday Birthday. But at the very least, I think waking up to this donut cake makes today extra special for Husband. He loved my Apple Cider Donuts last Fall, so when I was thinking up a special birthday breakfast to make, I knew homemade donuts would be perfect. Since traditional birthday cakes are either vanilla or chocolate, I decided to go with a combination of both…vanilla donuts with a chocolate glaze. And I figured, why not cover everything in sprinkles while I'm at it?  

 These donuts are the simplest things to whip up. I didn't even have to break out the stand mixer, which was important since Husband was still sleeping while I baked. I needed to be extra quiet as not to ruin the surprise. 

INGREDIENTS 

For the Vanilla Donuts

1 cup flour 

1 tsp baking powder 
¼ tsp baking soda 

¼ tsp nutmeg 

1 egg 

⅓ cup brown sugar 

¼ cup milk 

 ¼ cup vanilla greek yogurt 

2 tbsp melted butter 

1½ tsp vanilla extract 

For the Chocolate Glaze  

(the best part) 
½ cup chocolate chips 

2 tbsp butter 

2 tsp dark corn syrup 

2 tsp water 

jimmies/sprinkles

Cooking Tools 

Donut Pan OR Mini Cupcake Tray 

DIRECTIONS

Yields 6 donuts or 15 donut holes

1.) Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a donut pan OR a mini cupcake tray {to make donut holes} with a non-stick spray. 
DONUTS 

2.) In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and nutmeg together. 

3.) In a separate bowl, whisk egg, brown sugar, milk, and yogurt together. Slowly whisk in melted butter and vanilla extract. 

4.) Pour the wet ingredients from Step 3 into the dry ingredients from Step 2. Whisk to combine.  

5.) Pipe batter into donut pan, filling ¾ full

6.) Bake ~10 minutes 

While the donuts are baking, it's time to make the glaze…with sprinkles on top!

GLAZE

7) In a medium bowl, combine chocolate chips, butter, corn syrup, and water. Melt in the microwave for 30sec increments, stirring in between. 

8.) Dip warm donuts into chocolate glaze and then dip directly into sprinkles 

 These donuts are quick and easy for a breakfast on the go. And as an added bonus, they are baked (instead of fried), which means not having to feel guilty about eating so many of them. But most importantly, they made for the best birthday surprise!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUSBAND 

Linking up with blovedboston//morepiecesofme 

26th Birthday!

There's nothing like a birthday to make you feel special. I'm kind of in love with the concept of birthdays and I normally celebrate mine all month long, but with everything going on right now, I had every intention of making 26 a low key birthday. I failed miserably, but I couldn't be happier about it! This year's birthday celebrations involved lots of sweets and a whole lot of pink. It was kind of perfect and I really don't want it to end. Maybe I can convince Husband to celebrate half birthdays...

♥NANTUCKET♥

 Oh my goodness, Nantucket you are beautiful! 

Your cool breeze and your breathtaking views makes you the perfect little New England Town and the best place to celebrate my 26th Birthday! 

Balloons and Bows

It's my B-I-R-T-H-D-A-Y!

♥♥ Husband's Birthday Weekend

No matter how busy dental school keeps me, husband is always my top priority so this past weekend I visited Tom to help him celebrate his 26th birthday. I left the warm embrace of the South and headed to the snow-covered ice-capped city of Boston. 

Boston Birthday Brunch

Hello From Boston! 

Today is Husband's 26th Birthday. Birthdays are a big deal around here and this one was no exception. I really miss Tom when we are apart, which gives me even more reason to make today extra special. And what better way to celebrate a Sunday Birthday than with Brunch? 

This morning, we headed to Boston's Financial District-home of Cafe Fleuri at the Langham Hotel. The Langham is right in the center of the action as it used to be Boston's Federal Reserve-a little fact that I thought my Finance PhD candidate husband might appreciate. It's all in the details right? 

I need to paint my car this color!