Summer 2016 in Pictures

After two difficult years, this summer has made up for time I thought I already lost. 

It was the first summer that I wasn't either living or spending an extended period of time in Rhode Island—I thought I was going to be stuck in suburbia, perhaps make the occasional trip to New York City. I was concerned that it was going to be a bore. 

I was wrong.

Caught up with friends who I haven't seen in a while. Finally went to the Westport Duck Race. Found a speakeasy in New York City while celebrating Cara's birthday. Flew to the West Coast for the first time to visit Steph in California. Read a few books. Tried new restaurants. Spent a few weekends in Rhode Island—not just in Newport and Narragansett, but also Watch Hill with my family. Went sailing. And probably tried every Pimm's Cup and prosecco cocktail between New York City, Westport and Newport.

Effy's Kitchen | Spanish Harlem, NYC (blog post)

Fashionista Hosts Garance Dore (blog post)

Bottomless Brunch in the West Village (brunch)

The Ocean House & Watch Hill Inn

California Central Coast | Big Sur

How to Spend 72 Hours in California | Part 2 (blog post)

How to Spend 72 Hours in California | Part 3

How to Spend 72 Hours in California | Part 4

Fishers Island Lemonade, the Next-Level Hard Lemonade (blog post)

Tusk and Cup Opens New Location (blog post)

Find of the Week | 40 (blog post)

Rothbard Ale + Larder (blog post)

The Starboard Sea (blog post)

BXL Zoute | Flatiron District (blog post)

Looking through these photos, I am grateful for having amazing friends and family that have made this summer—and the rest of seasons—an absolute dream. There are a lot of moments that are not captured in pictures, but I try to take snapshots of the best of them.

Time to switch from Pimm's Cups to spiked hot ciders...

How to Spend 72 Hours in California | Part 4

Once Steph and I left the foggy San Francisco Bay area, the California sunshine followed us to Napa, the final leg of our weekend trip.

We took a few back roads away from the bumper-to-bumper traffic to enjoy the scenery, since everyone else in the state of California decided to head to Napa...

I chose to go to Domaine Chandon in Yountsville—Moet & Chandon's California sister—for our only wine tasting. As much as I wanted to check out other vineyards, we had to spend our time (and money) wisely. Walking into Domaine Chandon's Tasting Room perfectly fit our schedule.

Enjoying our Prestige Wine Tasting while leisurely strolling around the beautiful terrace couldn't have been further from a hardship...

We grabbed lunch at R+D Kitchen down the road. Steph and I didn't order a glass of bubbly at Domaine Chandon, but we made up for it by ordering the brut at the outdoor bar. I loved my spinach and goat cheese omelette. 

It also happened that it was National Iced Cream Day, so I asked the bartender where I could fulfill my craving. She told me that the restaurant owned Kelly's Filling Station and Wine Shop next door and they served a good vanilla iced cream.

What the bartender refrained from sharing was that this vanilla soft-serve was also organic and locally made...

California has shown me that it really is possible to get everything you want.

It's not all about the destination—the journey is just as important.

As hokey and cliche as it sounds, every drive Steph and I took on this trip was equally as exciting as the places we visited.

Whether it was pulling off to the side of Highway 1to decide if a wave was a whale or a rock, or talking about our true life goals, we made every moment worthy of memory.

One of the things I will always remember about Steph are the random, short weekend trips we took in college—I'm happy to add this 72-hour-MontereyBigSurSanFranciscoNapaValley extravaganza to the list of memories post-undergrad.