on Block Island

We just got back from Block Island last night and I'm still getting organized. Even after just a two day trip it seems like I have so much to do. The fridge was empty and needed filling, Ezra was running low on clean underwear, and it looks like a small toy store exploded in our living room. I've tackled a few tasks today, but I wanted to share a few photos from our trip before I forgot.

We visited this guy at Abrams Animal Farm as well as alpacas, goats, a half zebra/half pony, and lots of other exotic animals. Ezra loved feeding them from his hand, and seemed oblivious to the ducks trying to eat his fingers along with the feed.

Of course we had to visit Mohegan Bluffs and the Southeast Lighthouse. We biked there from the house we were staying with my parents, and once we arrived we trekked down over a hundred steps to walk along the ocean.

Although we had a nice couple of days there, it's definitely better to visit during the summer if you want a good selection of restaurants and to be able to shop. We ate at Mabel's and the Mohegan. I look forward to visiting again. Have you ever been to Block Island?

a visit to a New England cider house

A couple years ago Matt and I went to Mystic for a long weekend and visited an old-fashioned cider mill and I just realized I never shared the pictures here. It's called B.F. Clyde's and you can watch the whole process, from the avalanche of apples tumbling off the truck to the clear brown liquid being poured off the press, all inside the little cider house for free.

The press is powered by a small steam engine, the oldest in the country. I love having so much history right in our backyard. It's one of the best things about living in New England, in my opinion. 

You can stand (elbow to elbow with everyone else) inside the cider house while the press is run by the sixth generation of the Clyde family.

Be sure to stop in shop afterwards to get yourself a steaming cup!

reasons why I love the farmers market

One of my favorite things to do in September is visit the farmers markets near our house. There's a really good one about ten minutes away from us in East Greenwich that I try to go to each week. (We went yesterday, but these photos are all from last week.) I took a few shots of everything we went home with, all from Barden Family Orchard in North Scituate.

candy colored cherry tomatoes - perfect sliced in half, sprinkled with sea salt, and on top of cottage cheese

white raspberries - a novelty! We ate them all before we even left the market.

yellow peaches - delicious in a smoothie or just as they are

A few more things that make me love this market in particular:

1. There's a playground on the other side of a big grassy hill from the market, so after we shop Ezra can play for a while.

2. Tallulah's Tacos, a food truck selling, you guessed it, tacos! Made with ingredients sourced from Rhode Island farms, of course. Might I recommend ordering the carnitas taco. 

3. Seven Stars is there selling all manner of delicious baked goods. I picked up a baguette last night for a special lunch I plan on making this week.

Do you have a favorite farmers market I should visit?

tea with Rose | Teas and Javas

We interrupt your regularly scheduled Paris program for this important message: the tea tour continues! Hillary and I went out for tea in August just before we went on vacation, but we didn't get around to posting before we left so this is a bit of old news. However, it's still totally worth sharing! We checked out the (then) brand new Teas and Javas, a new venture from the people at Alex and Ani, on Wayland Avenue in Providence. We both loved the atmosphere and thought the place was really cute and well decorated, and it was especially nice that the store front was open to the sidewalk. Sidewalk seating is so Parisian :) Anyway, we ordered our tea (iced this time - it was a scorcher!) and sat for a few minutes while we waited for it to brew.

The tables were dark granite and the walls were covered in white subway tile which contributed to the overall feeling of calm. Hillary and I ordered peppermint alfalfa tea (by Irie Tea) as we both tend to stay away from caffeinated teas and the herbal offerings were somewhat limited. That was kind of disappointing, but I did really enjoy the peppermint alfalfa - it was cool and refreshing. Ezra probably drank half of it even though I got him a cup of water. 

There was a case full of yummy looking cupcakes and cookies, and my friend Karissa said she and her husband went for lunch one day and they loved the roast beef focaccia. After perusing the menu online, it looks like I'll have to go back to try the French brie sandwich... we'll see how it measures up to all the brie baguettes I enjoyed in Paris!

Don't forget to check out Hillary's post about tea tour stop six right here!

sail away or just stay | vacationing on a houseboat

Let's talk houseboats. Have you ever even given them a second thought? I know I haven't, but last night while looking for a retreat location I came across a really cool option... there are a couple of houseboats docked at the Fox Point Marina in Providence! Unfortunately, they don't provide enough space for our retreat, but how awesome would it be to vacation on a houseboat? Now I can't get them out of my mind. Even a one night stay would be super fun... talk about a cool date night! Check out this one or this one if you're in the area.

images via Thrift Candy from Houseboat

camping 2012 | a recap in words and pictures

It's the Monday after our camping trip and although we've been home for a little more than twenty-four hours I still feel like I'm in recovery mode. Camping creates so much laundry! How was your weekend? Filled with fun things, I hope. Even though it's a lot of work to prepare for a camping trip - making the reservations, shopping, planning meals, packing, etc. - I'm always glad we go because it really is a lot of fun. Here are some highlights from our weekend...

no shoes inside the tent! 

 venison stew for dinner (thanks, Tom!)

 enough wood for nonstop fire burning

 long afternoon naps 

 the annual bocce ball tournament

(My friend John and I won! We unseated the two-time champions, Matt and Matt :)

 dinner prepared al fresco (and babies in diapers) 

 a visit to the playground

I didn't take as many pictures as I should have so there is a lot missing - volleyball, home run derby, ultimate frisbee, wiffleball, and lots of lounging around the fire. It's hard to believe but I'm already looking forward to next year's trip!

tea with Rose | Teavana

Our tea tour continues, this time at Providence Place. We'd been to Teavana a couple times before and knew we had to include it here... with so many choices there's something to please everyone. Just look at all those tins!

As I've mentioned before, I almost exclusively drink herbal tea so when the girl working at Teavana asked what I'd like I told her that I wanted something caffeine free. She informed me that rooibos tea blends don't contain caffeine, and that she had actually just brewed a new blend for one of the store samples - citrus lavender sage combined with opus rouge rooibos. One sip and I was sold. 

I forgot what http://telloandrose.wordpress.com/ chose, so you'll have to read her take on Teavana right here. 

After we made our purchases we had to stop at J.Crew to do a little shopping. Ezra and Hillary hid out behind some pants while I browsed above them.

While these Vans were a little big for Ezra, he definitely proved that he can rock them. 

Note to self: will have to pick up a pair when he's a little bigger.

All in all, this was my favorite stop on the tea tour yet. I may even head back to Teavana to get myself a couple ounces of tea to brew at home, and at about $10 an ounce, that's saying something. I'm already looking forward to our next cuppa.

brownies and bananagrams | date night at home

Hello all! How was your weekend? Ours was nice - not too hot like last week, but now we're getting hit with a major thunderstorm. Matt was supposed to shoot an engagement session but it has to be rescheduled, so I'm thinking an indoor date night is just the thing for us to do tonight. Here's what we'll need...

a candle for mood lighting / cream soda / music, preferably Little Broken Hearts 

bananagrams / brownies, the most important thing of all (besides Matt)

How do you make a night at home special?

go fly a kite | Brenton Point, Newport

Have you ever flown a kite? I only have a few times but Matt and I want to find a great kite flying location so we can go this summer with Ezra. Brenton Point in Newport is one of my favorite picnic spots and it's always full of tons of people flying kites. There's even a kite festival there every summer... I think we'll check it out this year. We'll be the ones flying a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles kite :)

image by Paul Octavious via 20 x 200

tea with Rose // Tealuxe

Hillary and I decided to go to an old favorite of ours last week for our tea tour - Tealuxe. It's probably the most well known place to get a cup of tea in the state so of course we had to include it in the tour.

We met up on Thayer Street at about 9:00 and placed our orders - I chose an iced papaya and pineapple and had to wait a few minutes since it was custom made. Not a problem as I took the time to poke around the cafe while Ezra sipped on water.

I was tempted to get the 'half & half' but I decided that drinking tea blended with lemonade would be cheating since we're supposed to be on a tea tour. I refrained. 

The papaya pineapple was a bright blend of fruity flavors that almost tasted sweet even without the addition of sugar or honey. Getting it iced was a good call because the day was already warming up and we headed to the playground after so Ezra could run around. It was the perfect refreshment for sipping while I watched Ezra climb and jump and pick up every piece of litter he found. I'm not kidding. He picked up every piece in sight and wanted me to lift him up so he could reach the trash can. Someone get this kid's college application started because he's already doing volunteer work. Anyway, I would definitely get the papaya pineapple again. I might even buy some loose tea so I can make it at home. Maybe it will be the official beverage of summer 2012.

As you can see, Ezra snagged my tea and downed the last inch or so. I think he felt pretty cool drinking it, although he did add a few wood chips later on. Wouldn't be my first choice for a garnish but then I'm not eighteen months old. Read Hillary's post about our trip to Tealuxe right here, check out our other stops on the tea tour, too!

P.S. Hillary used instagram to capture this shot of Ezra looking all moody. I kind of love it.

tea with Rose // Felicia's

Felicia's Coffee in East Greenwich was the next stop on my tea tour with Hillary. We headed south because Hillary was on her way to drop off some merchandise at a shop where she'll be selling some of her jewelry.

I ordered a medium blackberry sage tea as soon as we arrived (it's by Republic of Tea) and was disappointed to find out it was black tea after taking a sip. I think I've mentioned it before, but I don't drink anything caffeinated so I was expecting an herbal blend. I added some lemon and that helped, but also masked the flavor. Bummer.

Despite the black tea disappointment, we enjoyed our time at Felicia's. It has a real neighborhood feel and people were constantly streaming in and out the doors throughout the hour we spent there. The noise level was on the moderate to high end - always good when you have a toddler with you. Ezra didn't bother any one since his babbling and shouting just blended in. I think.

It took all my will power to resist a raspberry chocolate chip cookie at 9:30 in the morning. I'm thinking I should have caved...

Read Hillary's post about our morning right here. 

tea with Rose // Coffee Exchange

It's our second stop on the tea tour around Rhode Island, and while a place called Coffee Exchange doesn't sound like it belongs, I can assure you that it does. 

Hillary and I met up on a Thursday morning and sipped our tea slowly as we talked and I tried to keep Ezra contained. (There was only one highchair and it was already in use.)

I enjoyed a cup of echinacea sunshine tea, an organic herbal blend of echinacea, lemon, lemon verbena, ginkgo leaf, rosehips, and spearmint. It was a refreshing start to my day and I know I reaped the psychological benefits of drinking an immune booster. I felt healthy all day! They were all out of Hillary's favorite, peony white, so she ordered a green tea instead, jasmine amber.

I've been to Coffee Exchange lots of times in the past, but this was the first time I had been in the morning. The shop was pleasantly busy and the service was good in spite of the hustle and bustle at the counter. Ezra loved the music and ended up grooving with a little girl at the next table. Another successful tea drinking adventure in our tiny state. Read Hillary's account of the morning here. 

tea with Rose // Brewed Awakenings

My friend Hillary and I have recently decided to guide ourselves on a tea tour of Rhode Island, sampling steaming mugs of the stuff all over our little state. We started a couple weeks ago at a place in Johnston called Brewed Awakenings, somewhere I used to go all to all the time in high school and college. It's a great place to meet friends, catch up on some reading, hear live music, and of course, have a cup of tea. They also serve lots of pastries, breakfast sandwiches, wraps, and even cheesecake from none other than The Cheesecake Factory. I'll admit it - I was tempted to have a slice for breakfast.

We ventured out early on a Thursday morning and Brewed was pretty busy with lots of people crowded at the tables, lounging on couches, and standing at the bar. Ezra and I arrived a little earlier than Hillary so I placed my order - a small spiced chai - and it was ready by the time I had Ezra buckled into a high chair and situated at a table. My chai was really good, but I must confess that it turned out to be made from one of those mixes. Boo. Hillary got there soon after (she chose ginger peach tea) and we talked about lots of blog type things - ideas for posts, gaining readers, what our husbands think about our online ventures - stuff that most people aren't interested in, so it was nice to have someone to relate to. I'm looking forward to the next stop on our tea tour already.

Be sure to check out Hillary's post today over at tello & rose...