Tag Archives: Beach

04.10.13

With all this nice weather I’ve been craving the salt in my hair & sand in my toes.
Unfortunately, all I got around these parts is the Muddy Mississippi.

That doesn’t mean I can’t dream of sunshine by the sea and walk around the house in a swimsuit.  Your welcome for that mental image.

I always play it really safe when it comes to swimsuits, especially since the great weight gain also known as college.  Don’t believe me, check it. boring   This year, I am determined to step out of my comfort zone when I take a dip…maybe next year I’ll drop those fifty pounds.  There are so many colorful and fun options, here are some of my favorites. my kind of swim suit 1.  This might be the perfect way for me to spice it up.  The dash of color layered over the sophisticated stripes is the perfect mix of quirky conservative.  Just not sure about the whole “no straps on a busty lady” thang this suit has going on.
2.  Ok, this might be a little more than I can handle this year but you have to assume I am always going to gravitate to anything nautical or sailor-esque.  Wouldn’t you feel like a total pin-up strutting around the pool in this suit.  Flip flops would not be acceptable, only sky high heels.
3.  Can I help it if I love black?  I can’t imagine the tan lines that this suit would leave once the suit hits the floor, but how funky fresh amiright.  It is like spicing up the little black dress, only waterproof.
4.  I am head over heels for this suit.  It just feels like something I would see another girl wearing and think, “oh I love love love her style”.
5.  Seahorses on a swimsuit….need I say more?  If only I could pull off a white-ish suit.
6.  This looks so very flattering and slightly nautical so of course it is a front runner in my books.  I feel like I would be super comfortable in it and isn’t that the best feeling when you are half naked in front of strangers.

Now if you happen to be one of my hot, lean, toned and tanned friends (holler, I am jealous) then check out these cute suits.  Ahhhh maybe next year…time to jump on the elliptical. for you size twos 7.  Oh how I adore all the color this teeny tiny suit packs on.  Does it get any better than stripes and patterns and a top that can fly off with a strong breeze, didn’t think so.
8.  Ummm hello I need you in my life.  This whole swim suit just sings my name in a heavenly tune, it’s like they made it just for me to jump on my sailboat and frolic in.  Can’t be more in love, nope no way.
9.  I know that Emerald is the “it” color and what better way to rock it than in this suit.  The thing I love about solid colored suits is that you can go crazy with accessories.

Have you spotted any stellar swimwear lately?
Would you believe T has more trunks than I have suits?
Any swimsuit workouts I should know about?

Written by Christina and Tim
09.28.12

Okay, maybe in my dreams.
Maine was our favorite place, our dream is to have a summer home there…anyone want to donate? Maine was a last minute decision.  We basically decided, we are only four hours away…are we ever going to get the chance to go to Maine again?
Sandy told us to drive on over to Camden, Maine and get us some chowdah.  So we did.

Here was the first clue that we loved Maine.  We were driving in at night, and being from the Most Dangerous City in America we decided to ask a gas station attendant what areas to avoid.  It went a little something like this:

Me:  Hi, have you ever been to Camden, Maine?
Super Nice Man:  Yea, you goin’?
Me:  Yes, that’s where we are headed.  Are there any places to avoid?
SNM:  Blank stare.
Me:  Like, where should we stay?
SNM:  Are you talkin’ criminal?
Me:  Yes, exactly.
SNM:  Girl, you just watch out for the moose and deer okay.
Me:  Oh so it’s pretty safe then?
SNM:  You do realize you are in Maine right?

The second reason I love Maine, their accents.  Wicked awesome.

This is for you Super Nice Man, but you have to share it with my mooseaholic mama. Since we drove in at night we couldn’t really take in the sights.  Tim wanted to find a hotel room, I was more concerned with getting a lobster in my tummy.

Tim likes to make me happy, so we focused on food.
Found an awesome little bar called Cappy’s.
It was awesome.
The lobster was unreal.  And you could even catch your own and they cook it for a dollar. I would highly recommend checking out Cappys, it was such a good time.
I have no clue why our eyes are so closed…I guess we were food drunk.Sorry for the terrible phone pictures, didn’t wanna get all professional up in Cappy’s.
After we stuffed our guts we decided to find a place to stay, this is when I realized Tim is always right.

Because Camden is such a small town, all of the hotels close down at 9.
It was 9:15…bummer.
Luckily we found one place a couple miles out that stayed open until 10.

 

They had lots of lobster statues, and a hot lobster quiche for breakfast.  Winning.

We had a full morning of lighthouse viewing planned, until we woke up to this. A whole lot of Maine fog.  It was the prettiest fog I had ever seen.

We didn’t let it slow us down.  We headed to a couple different lighthouses….  we weren’t able to see any of them…but the ocean was magical.

  Maine is everything you imagine.  It is peaceful and calming.  From the gentle tide to the sound of the buoy bells, I truly believe that is where we belong. We both just sat quietly and imagined walking out to the lighthouse every morning and drinking our peppermint hot chocolate.  Maine seems like a place of eternal happiness. The other thing we loved, and I think this depends where you go….the privacy.
It wasn’t touristy by the beaches at all, we sat by ourselves most of the day. The fog started lifting a little, but not enough to see lighthouses.  We just kept exploring.

We drove through a park and there was beauty everywhere.  From the birch trees to the graveyard to these two chairs begging us to sit a while. Is this not the most beautiful graveyard ever. I found lots of treasures….including the ducks. After we finished all of our beach viewing….we went into town.      It was a great little town speckled with Bed & Breakfasts’ and charming shoppes (with an extra ‘pe’ because they are quaint).

We walked along the harbor and admired all the fisherman, what a life. Everything is prettier in Maine. We found our third reason to love Maine while visiting the shoppes…everyone is so N-I-C-E.
Like crazy nice, overly nice.
Break out a map and draw you directions nice.  It was refreshing.

Upon the recommendation of a local, we went to Graffam Brother’s Seafood Shack and grabbed some chowdah.
Then we took it to the local hideaway that he drew directions to. And there we found our dream house. Can I please get a million dollar loan.
If I can, I’ll invite you to my backyard that overlooks a lighthouse.

Oh and let me not forget to tell you about the chowdah…not chowder.
I could live on that and that alone everyday for the rest of my life, fo sho.

Do you need more convincing that we love Maine….okay.
They love dogs. Dogs were everywhere, and it was wonderful.  There was even a shoppe that had a sweet dog trained to walk you into the store.  Seriously, the dog sat on the stoop and when you googled at him he walked you in the store and left you to spend oodles.  He returned to his stoop and grabbed the next sucker.  We watched him do it at least six times.  We have some training to do.

And because no road trip post is complete without driving pictures….here is our view as we drove out of Maine. And you know how I feel about bridges. It really was heaven on earth…we can’t wait to go back. Can you believe our trip is almost over?
We will have one more post on Monday….and it’s a biggin’ y’all.

Stick around.

Written by Christina and Tim
09.26.12

Our next stop on our East Coast Road Trip was the A-C. Yeaaaa buddy for all you Jersey Shore fanatic types…we just wanted to find the gypsies.

I have to admit, we only put this in our itinerary for the laughs.  We were sure we wouldn’t blend with the juiceheads and would most likely hate it.

Boy were we surprised.

I mean what more could you ask for….besides a hotel room that was cheaper than our DC room service!

The hotel we stayed at was right on the boardwalk, with the beach right behind it.  It also had a casino, so why didn’t we come here sooner?

And get this…Timbo made friendlies with the front desk attendant.  So he gave us the “corner suite”….Why yes indeedy, those are mirrored ceilings….only in Jersey.
Don’t worry mom, we aren’t into that freaky 50 shades stuff.

So during the day we hung out on the beaches and played in the waves, until I found out I have an allergy to Atlantic City biting flies.  Seriously, I was welting up like a weirdo. The beach reminded me of Florida, lined with hotels and touristy shops…but with way less college hotties and way more gambling grannies. So after I was attacked by the killer flies and run off the beach…we spent a little time on the boardwalk. Here is where I admit that I am the annoying tourist…the one that loves the little shops with postcards and magnets.
I will gladly pay $9 for a yummy spiked lemonade just for the “whole experience” of the boardwalk.
The one that snaps a hundred pictures of every building, which is why you will see so many photos where T looks bored.
We have most likely spent all our money on junk and he’s been standing there getting harassed by homeless people while I snap away.

So I loved the boardwalk. We had a great time just strolling up the boardwalk and then back down the beach.  Giggling over the seagulls the whole time, little entrepreneurs.  Pretzels crumbs are everywhere…and they are like gangs claiming their territory.  As lame as it sounds it was fascinating to watch for two folks who rarely see seagulls.

After all our beach & boardwalk shenanigans, we went to dinner in the casino.  We figured while in Jersey, we had to have real guido Italian.
So we went to Patsy’s, which is where Frank Sinatra used to hang out.  We stuffed our bellies with the best of them.

Then it was casino time. This was one of the most fun nights we had.  Oddly enough, we had never been to a casino together….I usually avoid them like the plague.

We did everything….roulette, poker, slots, craps, and the list goes on.  I kept winning, Tim kept losing….then I would give him my winnings and he would lose them. Until later in the night….when he won big on Double Diamonds.  He then had little old lady groupies the rest of the night.

I had to shoo them off with a broomstick.  Little hussys.

On a completely unrelated note, I was fascinated by the bridges in Jersey.  I had never given much thought to bridges unless I thought they were pretty.

When you think about it there are so many different types and styles, but they all serve the same purpose.  The old covered bridge is there for the same reason that the Golden Gate is.  Interesting, no?

 

Sit and ponder bridges for a while now, mmkay.

Toodles friendlies.

Written by Christina and Tim
09.21.12

For our second day on the road, we decided we wanted to head out to Virginia.

I won’t deny that reading Young House Love and 7th House on the Left every day had something to do with this destination pick.  They just always make Richmond and Virginia look amazing.  Does that sound stalkerish?  I mean we didn’t hang out at their local Home Depot for five hours with a dream in our eye or anything.  Please understand my sarcasm….don’t email them a warning cry.

Actually, since it was Nascar weekend in Richmond we just kind of waved as we rolled through and mosied on down to Virginia Beach….but not before Tim’s charm scored us an amazing hotel deal.  I am keeping him around for all my vacations.

We did see some pretty sights on the drive.

We wanted to explore Richmond, but we were aching for a beach.  So even though it added two hours onto our drive, and we could only play in the sand for about three hours….we packed up and headed to Virginia Beach.

Worth it.

Just to get my tootsies in the sand.

Poor Tim was stuck on the beach taking business calls while I frolicked in the monster waves.  Seriously, they were large and in charge.

While he was working….he snuck some of these, maybe he really does love me.

It was totally worth the drive to sit on a beach with my man and soak up the sun.

After kicking sand at each other, we played tourist and went to all the little boardwalk shops.  It was such a great time.

It was so tough to leave, but since we couldn’t wiggle our noses, or flap our arms and land in DC we had to get to gettin.

Here we are driving off into the sunset, or something.

Until tomorrow friends….

Written by Christina and Tim