Wanderlust Wednesday ~ Miami

One of my favorite things about living in Florida are how many great cities that are within driving distance for a quick weekend getaway.

Back in August of 2013, four of us headed down to Miami for the weekend to celebrate my birthday and to catch a Rockies-Marlins game since the boys are Rockies fans

We were up bright and early so we appropriately cheersed to the trip with some mimosas and hit the road. We stayed at a boutique hotel called The Richmond on Collins Avenue right on the beach with gorgeous views of the water, and a great pool area. It was also within walking distance to some great bars and restaurants, so it hit all three of our key necessities for picking a place to stay in Miami.

*One must have a Miami Vice while poolside in Miami*

After some beach and pool time, we had some lunch at the pool bar and got ready to go to the baseball game. But of course not without shots and an impromptu dance party in the rooms...

We got to the game super early decked out in our Rockies gear so the boys could go down to the field for pictures and autographs. Plus it was nice to tour the new stadium which even has a Clevelander inside that turned into a club after the game.

*Post game Clevelander fun*

*Yummy midnight snack*

The next morning we had brunch across the street from our hotel at Maxine's Bistro before hitting the road to head back home after a whirlwind weekend. It was such a cute brunch spot with delicious food and cozy one of a kind chairs for seating. We has a chaise lounge, a throne, and an arm chair at our table - love!

Sorry for the fuzzy photos, they were all taken on my iPhone 4 at the time. 

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Link-up Rules:



1. Follow Kerri, Emily, and myself on Bloglovin

2. Link up your favorite travel recaps or travel related posts

3. Grab our Wanderlust Wednesdays button and link back to our blogs

4. Be sure to visit other blogs and build your travel bucket list!

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Apple Cider Donuts

Growing up in Connecticut, I used to look forward to cider donuts at Lyman Orchards after going through the corn maze. And I've searched high and low for them in Florida with no such luck, but then I found this recipe which is from another New England to Florida transplant. So I couldn't wait to put it to use. My favorite part of this recipe is that the donuts are baked not fried. Well New England... you can keep your cold weather, I'll enjoy my donuts on the patio. 

Ingredients

2 cups of flour
3/4 cups of sugar
2 tsp. of baking powder
1/2 tsp. of cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
1/2 tsp. of salt
1/2 cup of apple cider
1/4 cup of organic skim milk
2 organic eggs, beaten (I used egg whites)
1 tbsp. of melted butter

Cinnamon Sugar Topping

1/4 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of sugar
1 tbsp. of cinnamon
1 tbsp. of melted butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a bowl. Then add cider, milk, eggs, vanilla, and melted butter. Mix until combined.

If you have a donut pan (I found mine at Bed Bath and Beyond for $10, and they're only $8 with a 20% off coupon), spray with non-stick cooking spray and fill each cup about 3/4 of the way full. Bake at 325 degrees for about 10 minutes.
Allow donuts to cool and make cinnamon sugar topping.

Cinnamon Sugar Topping

Mix together sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon until well combined. Brush each donut with melted butter, and then dip in cinnamon sugar topping.

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1. Follow Emily and myself on GFC and Bloglovin

2. Link up your favorite recipes or food related posts

3. Grab our Recipe Swap button and link back to both of our blogs

4. Be sure to visit other blogs and find new recipes! 

**Don't forget to join Emily, Kerri, and myself for Wanderlust Wednesday tomorrow. Get your travel recaps and wishlists ready, and you can also link up past travel related posts as well - we love getting inspiration on where to go next! **

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Fall Wine Tasting Weekending

After a fun weekend filled with all things fall, I will be needing a giant cup of coffee to get through this Monday.

On Friday, I picked up some meats and cheeses at Trader Joes and Publix and headed home for a beautiful happy hour on the patio complete with almond champs.

Saturday was time for all the fall things! We headed over to a fall festival that included a pumpkin patch, corn maze, hay rides, and lots of fun games including a pumpkin slingshot which was much harder than it looked.

*The pumpkin slingshots were our favorite*

*Nothing but net*

Afterwards, we got some BBQ for lunch and dropped the boys off at the house and had a girls trip to a new local winery for a wine tasting.

Joining Biana and Meghan for Weekending

and

Erin for Weekend Snapshots

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**Don't forget to join Emily, Kerri, and myself for Wanderlust Wednesday. Get your travel recaps and wishlists ready, and you can also link up past travel related posts as well - we love getting inspiration on where to go next! **

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Friday Favs

Happy Friday! This week exhausted me, so I'm more than ready to ring in this weekend with bells on!

Favorite Nostalgia - The Splat! Nostalgia at it's finest! All those old school 90's Nickelodeon shows back when Nickelodeon was good - Doug, Hey Dude, You Can't Do That on Television, Salute Your Shorts, Clarissa Explains it All, etc...  are back! So far I've only watched Doug, but I have been walking around singing "Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doooo" and couldn't be happier!

Favorite Delivery ~ Roxy's favorite mail day each month is when her Chewy order arrives. This month she's extra festive with her new Blue Buffalo Health Bars Baked with Pumpkin and Cinnamon Treats.

Favorite Gift ~ My fav neighbors were in London and Paris the past two weeks, and I set up this liquor "cake" for the birthday boy comprised of his favorites as he celebrated his actual birthday in London last week to come home to. So happy they're back - I missed my spirit animal!

Favorite Surprise ~ The fabulous Emelia sent me the sweetest thank you card for guest posting for her while she was getting ready for her big day complete with a gift card for a Starbucks treat - YUM!

Favorite Posts ~ The 2015 Epcot Food and Festival has officially kicked off and Emily, Kerri, and Pamela celebrated last weekend in style.

The gals at The Sequin Notebook threw yet another fabulous party appropriately named "Queens in Queens" complete with queen themed cake pops.

Ashley's fabulous suede shirt-dress - I think we all need one of these in our closet!

Biana's review of her Samsung NX300 camera which would be perfect for all my bloggy-photos.

Nikki's stunning engagement photos - she's going to be such a gorgeous bride!

Steph's posts from her recent road trip through Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park. The natural beauty there will leave you speechless, and she did a much better job of conquering both parks than I did several years ago. I think it's time to go back and have a total do-over!

Favorite Pins

Linking up today with Rebecca for That Friday Blog Hop, April for 5 on Friday, Tif for High Five for Friday, and Amanda for Friday Favorites. Hop on over and join us! Happy Friday!

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A little help from Irresistible Me

I've always struggled with having fine hair with not much volume to it, plus it's hard to grow it out since it gets damaged so easily. So, I've always dreamed of beautiful hair extensions to help out my mane, but was always nervous they would look fake or feel weird. I was so excited when Irresistible Me reached out to me to try out their Royal Remy collection.

I ordered the Royal Remy extensions in Medium Brown with a weight of 140g and a length of 18 inches which was perfect for me as they gave me the length I was looking for without being too heavy. I loved that they blended well, and provided me with the same layered look as my real hair. I didn't even end up using all the clips they sent me, but may use them all for special occasions. I applied two of the pieces with 3 clips to the back of my head, and two sets of the pieces with 2 clips on each side to give me the length and the fullness I've always desired.

*The lighting was great outside for my "before" shots with it being overcast, but for the "after" shots Mr. Sun decided to make an appearance. No matter how much editing I applied to the photos, the "after" photos look so washed out next to the before.*

Such a fabulous line that I can't say enough great things about! I definitely plan on wearing the extensions for fun nights out with friends and special occasions like a certain upcoming destination wedding in Punta Cana - cannot wait!

Have you ever tried hair extensions? What did you think?

*Disclaimer: I was sent these extensions by Irresistible Me in exchange for my review, but all opinions are honest and are my own*.

beauty Hair

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