Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Shop til You Drop

As it is the holiday season, everything interesting that comes across my desk these days seems to be about shopping! Here is another great Pop Up store joining the ranks in Darien. Everything Is Rosey was formerly located where Spree now resides, and also had a great booth at our Junior League Holiday Boutique. Some of the hits of the show were her decoupage buckets, adorable tunics, rubber ballet flats, trinket trays, and much more! Be sure to stop by tomorrow night for some wine and snacks with Rosey, she's a sweetheart!


EVERYTHING IS ROSEY 
POP UP STORE


1015 BOSTON POST ROAD 
(pink house next to Griebs)
Rosey will be here for the holiday season!!
~~lots of great gifts for 
everyone on your list~~
Grand Opening is Thursday, December 1st 
at 7pm~~join Rosey for wine & nibbles
Soft Opening is Wednesday, November 30th from 10 am to 5:30 pm

Monday, November 28, 2011

Periwinkle Trunk Show

I've emerged from my post Holiday Boutique stupor - I honestly wasn't even that tired after my own wedding - to realize that there are only 27 days until Christmas! Eeks. Good thing a lot of my shopping was done already. If you need a jumpstart then be sure to check out this great trunk show. As you know I love Periwinkle, Carrie's stuff is so cute and there are lots of items that would make fab gifts. So get shopping...only 27 days left!  


Periwinkle Trunk show
 
Tuesday, November 29th
5-7 pm Sipping and Shopping 
and
 Wednesday, November 30th
9 am to 4 pm 

at Whitney Lancaster's
88 Half Mile Road, Darien


Just in time for the holidays!  
We have TONS of new things that you can only see at the show! The best silk dresses ever, gorgeous jewelry, divine holiday dresses, tunics, chic totes and handbags, sweaters and everything mother-in-laws, teachers and husband gifts galore!  Almost everything can be taken with you...something for everyone special on your list!

I will be there and hope to see everyone...Hope you can make it!  Friends welcome!
xo, Carrie


Friday, November 18, 2011

It's Finally Here!

I feel like it's Christmas morning - the big day has finally arrived! (What I really want to say here is that the newest Twilight move is out!!!) But what I'm actually talking about is The Junior League of Greenwich Holiday Boutique opens today! After months of hard work everything comes down to the next three days so PLEASE come out and shop for a great cause. We have so many fabulous vendors and so many great events throughout the weekend. We hope to see you there!


The Boutique is also open Saturday from 9-5 and Sunday 10-5. 

I'll be celebrating being a free lady again by going to see Twilight on Monday : ) 

Thursday, November 17, 2011

BYOB Bistro

We enjoyed a great dinner this weekend at Nicholas Roberts in South Norwalk. The sister location to Nicholas Roberts Fine Wines in Darien, this cute 24 seat cafe serves contemporary American cuisine while you bring your own wine or beer. Corkage fee is $5 a bottle but if you buy your wine at Nicholas Roberts Fine Wines there is no corkage fee. No reservations and cash only, everything about the restaurant says casual bistro.

On our order was the Rosemary Sauteed Fresh Shrimp with radish and watermelon salad; Arugula and Parmesan Salad with pancetta, olive and lemon vinaigrette; Organic Chicken with potato latke and sauteed spinach; NR Cheeseburger with caramelized onion, mushrooms, bacon, cheddar and (AMAZING) french fries; Mustard and Herb Crusted Pork Loin with Maker's Mark mac & cheese and brussel sprouts (4 of us had this and everyone left with a clean plate!); and lastly the homemade Coconut Crusted Carrot Cake -mmm!

Their breakfast menu also looks amazing, I definitely plan on heading back to try that soon. BYO mimosas? Yes please!

www.nicholasrobertsbistro.com 
75 Main Street, Norwalk
203.229.0035

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Pop-Ups are popping up everywhere!

Two new holiday pop-up shops are now open in FFC.

Flamenco, located at 188 Sound Beach Avenue in Old Greenwich, will be in town from November 15th thru December 15th, Monday to Saturday 10-5. They offer fun one of a kind novelty clothing from Spain. www.flamencochic.com 

They will also be hosting an opening party tonight from 6-8 with vino, tapas and music. All welcome!








Next in South Norwalk you can visit SCOUT by Bungalow's first ever pop up store. Located at 136 Washington Street they will be open only for the holiday season so be sure to get there before they're gone. Offering over 2,000 square feet of SCOUT you're sure to find some great gifts for everyone on your list! 


For your favorite techy

For your wine loving girlfriends

For your lunch toting coworker

For your favorite overnight guest 

With Christmas just around the corner it seems to be all shopping all the time at FFC 411! 

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Happy Shopping New Canaan!

One of our favorite New England stores is coming to New Canaan, with a grand opening party tomorrow night! Island Outfitters has stores in all the towns you'd like to visit - Newport, Osterville, Watch Hill and Edgartown. And now there will be two in Fairfield County, one at 1189 Post Road in Fairfield and their newest location at 80 Main Street in New Canaan. 

Be sure to stop by on Wednesday from 4-8pm to help welcome IO to the neighborhood! 


Monday, November 14, 2011

Chic Bridesmaids Jewelry

When I thought about the bridesmaids dresses for my wedding I decided to be practical - can we all be honest here, no one ever wears a bridesmaids dress again, period. No matter how cute it is, how trendy the style, how fabulous the color, once you wear it in a wedding you'll always look at it and think 'bridesmaids dress'. So instead of agonizing over finding something I could kid myself into thinking they would rewear I decided to pick a simple dress and gift them with awesome jewelry instead! Because let's be honest, they will wear these again. One already wore hers to another wedding, one looked darling wearing hers at work, and ones already loaned hers out to friends to borrow. So do your bridesmaids a favor and treat them to something special from Olipant Designs to thank them for putting up with your bridezillaness : ) 

Cara from Oliphant was amazing to work with. We brought her the swatch of our dress color and she created custom necklaces for us and helped us find the perfect earrings to compliment them. I even added extra earrings to thank my sister in law and reader. They make the perfect gift! 

Cara's jewelry also makes a fabulous holiday gift! She'll be at our Greenwich Junior League Holiday Boutique this weekend at the Hyatt and she is always one of the most popular vendors. Come check out her beautiful pieces in person or send your husbands on Friday night from 5-9 and we'll help him pick out something you're sure to love! 

Visit oliphantdesign.com - she just updated her website and it's darling! You can see alternate color options of my bridesmaids jewelry under her 'wedding' section.









Thanks Cara for this special addition to our wedding! xx

Friday, November 11, 2011

Save the Date!

A great event is coming to the Greenwich area and you're invited! The Junior League of Greenwich is hosting our annual Enchanted Forrest Nov 18-20. Yours truly is co-chairing the Holiday Boutique this year and we have so many fabulous vendors joining us! If you can only make it to one event I hope you'll join us Friday, Nov 18th for our Sneak Peek at the Holiday Boutique! From 5pm-9pm we will have complimentary admission (usually $10), passed appetizers, a signature holiday drink, massages courtesy of the Equinox, music and a fabulous drawing!! Enter to win a day of pampering - including a haircut and tan from Warren Tricomi, a manicure from Coco Nails, a $200 gift certificate to Togs boutique, earrings from Oliphant Designs, a bracelet from Devon Baer Designs and more! 


You can also shop with us Saturday from 9-5 and Sunday 10-5. For more information please visit our website. Here is just a "sneak peek" at the vendors who will be joining us. Hope to see you there!

ASHA, Baby Box, Bird Dog Bay, Carrie Dunham, Chalk Talk Sports, Devon Baer, Diana Kelly, Diane James, Elizabeth McKay, Francesca Joy, Liquid Flow, MIJA Jewelry, Oliphant Designs, Robert Redd, Small Field Papers, Smathers & Branson, Tracy Negoshian and many more! 

Thursday, November 10, 2011

vineyard vines Friends and Family!

Exciting news for all you vv lovers out there - our Friends and Family sales starts today! With promotional code adkihq you'll receive 25% off everything on our entire website. This is the most all encompassing discount we'll be offering between now and the holidays so it's a great time to stock up on gifts for your friends & family! Feel free to share the love. Offer expires Monday at midnight. 


Happy shopping! 

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

PK's Turkey Chili

With snow in the forecast we figured it was time to break out the hubby's chili recipe. I didn't think I liked chili - I would never order it by choice or eat it at someone else's house but I figured if I helped make it and knew exactly what was in it I might get on board. And low and behold it was delicious! 


Serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips and corn bread! I had to use the old staple - Jiffy corn bread mix. Cook according to directions, then spread butter over the top of the corn bread and let cool. Yum! In all honestly, I think I really just liked the chili as a vehicle for toppings and sides : )

Turkey Chili 
Serves Four:

1 lb. ground turkey
1 garlic 
1 sweet onion 
1 red bell pepper
1 box of sliced mushrooms
1 tbsp chili powder
1 can whole tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
1 bag frozen corn 
1 can black beans 

Brown 1 lb. ground turkey, drain and set aside.
In a large heated pot, add olive oil, salt, pepper and lots of garlic (we used 1/2 a garlic). Saute a couple of minutes.
Add 1 slice of jalapeno pepper (we used chopped jalapenos), 1 chopped sweet onion (we used 1/2), 1 chopped red bell pepper and a small box of sliced mushrooms. Saute over medium heat for five minutes or until soft.
Add 1 tbsp chili powder, and cook another five minutes over medium heat.
Add turkey, 1 can of whole tomatoes with water, one small can of tomato sauce, and (one small can of tomato paste…optional.) and cook for a few minutes over medium heat.
Add a bag of frozen corn and 1 can of black beans (drained) and a handful of chopped parsley, then add salt and pepper to taste.
Simmer for 20 minutes
If you like it soupy add one cup or more of chicken broth.
If you like it hot add more jalapeno or hot sauce.


Enjoy! I got too excited about eating it so this was the only picture I got...


Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Hunter Habit

Even though the old ones are pretty much indestructible I've been finding it a necessity to add a new pair of Hunter boots to my collection every fall. They're so versatile and I've gotten so tired of ruining all my nice shoes when a sudden rain shower pops up or a muddy lawn gets in your way. This season I'm in love with the Hunter Regent Carlyle. How cute are these? They totally look like they could be Tory Burch and at $195 a much more reasonable price. I love my Quilted Regents from last fall, a slimmer slightly chicer version of the Original Hunter, so I know these will be a hit!



Available online at Zappos

Also call the following stores for availability 
Darien Sport Shop - 203 655 2575
Saks Fifth Ave - 203 862 5300
Shoe Inn - 203 227 9246

Friday, November 4, 2011

Pikme Papers

Another fabulous component of our wedding was the wonderful custom paper products from Pikme Papers. After contacting Kirsten at Pikme and letting her know the theme we were working with she painted the most beautiful watercolored scallop shell. It was the perfect icon for our wedding! We went on to use this beautiful shell on our welcome bag tags, stickers, drink cards, escort cards, menu cards and our thank you notes. We were worried it would be shell overload but her beautiful painting really added so much to our big night. It made all the details seem to tie together in a perfect way. And Kirsten was a doll to work with, putting up with what seemed like hundreds of emails and questions. Her beautiful line of paper products are available to view at www.pikmepapers.com with tons of images to choose from. But if you don't see exactly what you're looking for contact Kirsten and she'll be able to work with you to create just what you need!

Pikme Papers
Essex, CT
860.767.7440
pikmepapers@gmail.com

Gift tags for our welcome bags 

Stickers for our chocolate cranberries

Cards for our signature drinks


Escort Cards


Menu cards


Thanks Kirsten for this amazing addition to our wedding! xx

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Tipsy Trunk Show

Join two of my favorite small business owners - Tipsy Skipper and Soundview Millworks - for an event tomorrow night at Tiger Lily's. The perfect time to get a jump start on your holiday shopping! All the better while enjoying treats from Lolita and China White. 

Friday, November 4th 
6-9pm
154 Prospect Street, Greenwich 


Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Cashmere for All

The Cashmere Sale is back in Greenwich for the holiday season! Running from now until December 20th, they will be offering beautiful cashmere items all under $200. A fabulous place to pick up gifts for your friends and family - sweaters, scarves, blankets, wraps and more! 

Conveniently located at 125 Greenwich Ave (previously Kate's Paperie)