Savannah Part Two

Hey y'all, now for the rest of our Savannah girl's trip! After some time relaxing at the hotel and freshening up, we headed down Bay street for dinner. A barista from the coffee shop had recommended Treylor Park for southern comfort food, but by the time we got there there was probably about an hour wait! It looked so good and next time I'm in Savannah, I definitely want to try. After enjoying a park in front of the Cotton Exchange near city hall, we settled on Tondee's Tavern for dinner. Yummy fried pickles!!

{top: Abercrombie, jeans: American Eagle, shoes: Converse}

The majority of our choosing Tondee's was strategic as it was where our haunted pub crawl we had booked for the evening started! We knew we wanted to go on some sort of historical or ghost tour as Savannah is said to be one of the most haunted cities in the country. It was a fun night hopping from bar to bar. I absolutely loved all the history that seemed to come along with every building! We stopped at Tondee's, Moon River Brewing Company (loved their Belgian Wheat), Planter's Tavern at The Olde Pink House (we all ordered the delicious Pink Lady), and The 17 Hundred 90. 

I'm not going to lie to you, I was truly convinced the slave pens by River Street were haunted when our tour guide made us take out our phones to see if we could get a few orbs in the photo... until I realized my "scary ghost orbs" were nothing more than a reflection of the lights haha! Also, the women's restroom at Planter's has a seriously creepy back story. 0/10 would not recommend unless you want to be spooked like I was!

Sunday morning we took it easy and enjoyed a delicious brunch at the Funky Brunch Cafe. I am a self-proclaimed sausage gravy snob (probably because I'm spoiled by Maple Street Biscuit Company) but I was impressed by my biscuits and gravy breakfast! This place was super busy and had an hour wait, probably because you can also make your own pancakes at some of their griddle top tables. If you want to check this place out, I recommend arriving early!

After brunch, we strolled down Broughton Street to get back to our hotel. So many beautiful buildings! We hopped in the car to drive around and look at a bit more of the city. Our original plan was to spend a little more time at Forsyth Park (I really really wanted to see SCAD's Magnolia Hall, talk about porch goals), but it really started to pour so we decided to drive back down to Jacksonville to escape the rain before it got too bad! 

It was such a wonderful trip with my besties and I can't wait to go back again! Maybe when it's cooler haha. I'm so thankful to have had these girls as friends as long as I have. Love them to death! And Savannah now too!

Savannah Part One

Ah, Savannah was so fun! This weekend, my best girlfriends and I took a girl's trip to Savannah, Georgia. I've been close with these girls since 8th grade and I'm so thankful for our amazing friendship all these years. We kinda justified the trip to celebrate our 21st birthdays altogether and since Emily will be headed off to dance on a cruise ship for a few months real soon! Savannah is only 2 hours away from Jacksonville so it was a great little getaway and I had never been so was super excited to explore the city with my girlies :)

After driving up, we got to our hotel on Bay Street around 3 and immediately changed and headed out for food! Yes, we made matching shirts. Yes, we are extra. #SavannahSquad 

Our hotel was super close to City Market which was so convenient! The moment we booked our trip to Savannah I asked family and friends for any and all recommendations. I'm so thankful for that as we really enjoyed many of them! First on our list was Vinny Van Go Go's pizza, yum!

Next we stopped at the Wet Willie's in City Market, a fun frozen daiquiri bar. I got the Pina Colada mixed with Strawberry Daiquiri, so good! How cute is the little swirl the bartender made in the shape of a heart haha :')

We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping around City Market and down Broughton Street. One of my favorite finds were these brown suede wrap up sandals from Fabri'k. I wore them out that night and they were so comfortable thanks to the short heels!

{romper:Tobi, sandals:Fab'rik, earrings:Francesca's}

Saturday was a hot one but we spent the day exploring (and taking lots of photos clearly)!

{top and shorts:American Eagle, sandals:target(old), necklace:Altar'd State}

We had multiple people recommend we check out The Coffee Fox and we were down considering we are all coffee obsessed and it had great yelp reviews. Well, we were a little disappointed. The coffee was bitter, but maybe if you're a real coffee connoisseur you'll find something you like from their overly hipster-fied menu. I will say though, it was very cute in that little coffee shop! I think we would have been more pleased with one of the many other simple coffee shops we passed along our walk later in the day. For lunch, we ate at Molly Macpherson's Scottish Pub and Grill. We went at an off time so it was very quiet but we all loved our food! I got the Scottish Highland Toastie which had brie and cranberry so obviously I was happy!

We also visited Paris Market to drool over home decor. Their little coffee corner was so cute and it was fun to look at all the eclectic stylings in the store. My favorite was all their table and bar settings, including that awesome oyster chandelier. Hello, I need it. 

 To end the afternoon, we walked all the way to beautiful Forsyth Park! We stopped along the way in a few of the shops around SCAD. We all agreed, that this area of Savannah was our favorite with all the big shady oak trees and old homes! We spent a while walking around the park and then thunder sent us booking for the hotel and thankfully we made it in time before the rain. 

And that's all for part one, I'll be sharing part two on the blog this Friday so stay tuned!

P.S. Checkout my bestie Jackie's blog who'll also be posting about our Savannah trip! Her posts are just as cute as she is, you'll enjoy them I promise!

Anna Maria Island 2016

Happy Friday friends! My extended Fourth of July weekend was so wonderful in Anna Maria Island, a small island of Florida's west coast near Bradenton. I'm so thankful to have such an amazing family and framily to spend my days with, plus this island is absolutely beautiful! We arrived Saturday and first had lunch at this awesome burrito place then enjoyed some pool time and the first, and most gorgeous, sunset of the trip! 

This weekend was extra special because my brother Nick and sister in law Rachel joined us for a few days. We figured out this was Nick's first time on vacation with the whole family since he was a teenager and we had so much fun!

Sunday morning we headed out for breakfast at a greek place and were happily surprised to find cuban coffee on the menu haha! We spent the rest of the day at the beach just down the street from the house we rented. Later, we grilled some burgers for dinner and I tried out this awesome jalapeno popper corn salad which I modified a little by adding black beans and canned, fire roasted corn to make it easier!

 Of course, we headed back to the beach to watch the sun set over the pretty blue water and enjoy another one of God's amazing gifts! I also had a major mermaid moment in that sundress. Two of my favorite things about Anna Maria ended up being that you could walk to so many great places from where we stayed (the very north end of the island) and the pastel colored, beachy houses. Like hello, when do I move in?

{dress: Altar'd State, bikini: Victoria's Secret}

If you know me at all, you know fourth of July is my absolute favorite holiday so I'm so sad I got so few pictures from Monday! In the morning, we toted some beach chairs down to the main street on the north of the island, Pine Ave, to catch Anna Maria's Fourth of July parade! I actually thought it was very cute for such a small town parade, so many happy little faces :) We spent the rest of the day hanging by the pool and ventured to the beach later to catch the fireworks. Fireworks are definitely supposed to be illegal on the beach, but they completely surrounded us which was so pretty to see just after the sun had set!

Ah and then Tuesday, my last and most adventure filled day! Victoria and I woke up early in an attempt to avoid the crowds at one of the most popular spots on Anna Maria: The Donut Experiment. Our family friends had gone on their own Sunday morning and waited in line for an hour and a half for these puppies.We had much better luck however and our wait was probably only about 30 minutes, well worth it at such a cool place! I may do a post on places to eat in Anna Maria later on because I have about a million pictures of food from the weekend, but basically you get to design your own donuts here. They make the fresh cake donuts right in front of you, then you can choose from delicious frostings and toppings! I loved our maple bacon and chocolate coconut creations, as well as their house iced coffee.

Later, we headed to the beach and also enjoyed lunch at the Sandbar Restaurant. Very, very good! Please order the spinach dip for me, it was such cheesy fondue goodness! Also amazing seefood, I got the salmon, my sister got shrimp and scallops, and my friends got the grouper sandwich.

{hat: Brandy Melville}

Victoria and I left the beach a little early to look around some of the shops around Pine Ave. If you're looking for boutique shopping, I definitely recommend Shiny Fish Emporium, Pink&Navy, and The Island Cabana (hello Lilly goodness!!). 

{clutch: Lilly Pulitzer}

Sadly, after dinner back at the house I headed back to North Florida. I loved Anna Maria and can see myself coming back again and again! I have been to a few other islands on Florida's west coast before, but AMI was by far my favorite because of it's more relaxed and quiet feel. I hope you all enjoyed your Fourth of July as well, sending you some salty, sandy, and sunny vibes!