Zeppole Me Please!

I was beyond excited to see one of my favorite restaurants, nessa in Port Chester, is opening an Italian Coffee Shop, specializing in zeppoles....mmm I'm sold!

A favorite of customers, the warm little Italian doughnuts with vanilla, nutella and buttercream sauces certainly warrant their own shop! However they will also offer their famous coffee, hand cut and pressed paninis, healthy salads and wine on tap!

Highlights include half price wine Wednesdays, local catering, delivery and serving breakfast, lunch and dinner 7 days a week!

Check out their menu, hours and more details at zeppoleme.com

Zeppoleme
321 North Main Street, Port Chester
(directly next door to nessa)

Fall Pickin's

This post from last October was all about pumpkins but Pick-Your-Own is already in full gear for the fall! September is prime picking season for raspberries, apples, pears, peaches and squash with pumpkin season starting soon. These next few weeks are perfect picking time!

Check out the below list of locations and find more than just fruit - corn mazes, hayrides, golf, wine tasting, delicious baked goods, and of course cider and donuts! Combine these with some of the CT Wine Tour stops mentioned in our Watch Hill Road Trip! A perfect fall weekend!

Pick-Your-Own!

Flashback to some September 2007 berry picking at Bishops Orchard!

90 degrees and pumpkin ready! 

Pick your own raspberries = eat your body weight in berries!

Beautiful bounty! 

Rowayton House Tour

A great local event for all those those fellow window peepers out there - love driving around Rowayton and glimpsing a peak inside all the most beautiful homes around town? This is your chance to get a real look around!

The Rowayton Civic Associations 3rd Annual September by the Sea House tour is sure to be a crowd pleaser, focusing on the coastal charm of Rowayton. An opportunity to visit six of the most beautiful waterfront homes in two gorgeous associations - Pine Point and Bell Island. Sure to give you wonderful designs ideas and enviable water views! And finish the day with a lunch at Roton Point Club.

Friday September 20th from 10am-2pm.

House Tour Parking at Roton Point Club, 15 Pine Point Rd - the tour is designer to be a walking tour however there will be shuttle service available if needed.

Advanced tickets $50 ($65 with boxed lunch), tickets the day of $60.

For additional information or to purchase tickets visit www.rowaytoncurrents.com

The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze

It's crazy to start thinking about Halloween already but there's a great local event that starts in October and it sells out quickly every year {many sessions are already sold out today!} so it's already time to start thinking pumpkins! The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze at Van Cortland Manor is the tri-state area's biggest Halloween event with more than 5,000 individually hand-carved, illuminated jack o'lanterns in an elaborate walk-through experience. I'd never heard of this event until last year and I'm so glad I learned about it. It was a truly amazing display of pumpkin art! A perfect night to get you in the mood for the spooky season! This year it will be running for 25 nights, Oct 5-6, 11-14, 17-20, 24-31 Nov 1-3 and 8-11. Each ticket is assigned a time range however they were flexible about when we came in. We wanted a tasty dinner before the event so we stopped at the Ocean House Oyster Bar in Croton-on-Hudson for a delicious seafood feast! They offer an assortment of seasonal oysters on their blackboard in addition to their traditional menu with great wines and a wonderful cozy atmosphere. 

www.oceanhouseoysterbar.com

49 N Riverside Ave, Croton-on-Hudson NY

Buy your tickets here! 

http://www.hudsonvalley.org/events/blaze/tickets

No reservations so be prepared to wait! 

Nightly oysters 

A little sneak peek at the Blaze! 

Tunnel of Pumpkin Love 

I don't want to share too many photos and give away the cool surprises at the event! A really fun outing for kids too however I would recommend going after dark if they can stay up late enough!

Watch Hill Road Trip

We'd been doing so much traveling this summer that when the hubby's bday rolled around we knew we couldn't go away for the weekend again but I wanted to do something more special than a usual weekend at home. So we hit the road for a fun day trip to Watch Hill! This would be a great fall trip with the amazingly clear days, I already want to go again less than a month later. Here were the highlights!

We wanted to make a stop on the way up before lunch so we looked into local area vineyards. We came across Saltwater Farm Vineyard in Stonington which had the most beautiful grounds and looked like the perfect first stop! We loved soaking in the sunshine and the gorgeous river view while tasting their five local wines. 

saltwaterfarmvineyard.com

349 Elm St, Stonington CT

The amazing river views from the deck 

Next stop the Ocean House in Watch Hill for a delicious porchside lunch. We loved touring around the property and seeing all the stunning areas of the resort - amazing dinning rooms, patios, pool, croquet court and gorgeous water views! 

www.oceanhouseri.com

1 Bluff Ave, Westerly RI 

The vista from our table 

The Verandah lunch menu

Delicious clam chowder to start off lunch 

Amazing warm lobster roll - a ten!

Spying on Taylor Swift from lunch

One gorgeous hotel! 

After a great walk around downtown Watch Hill it was sadly time to head for home. Not ready for the trip to end we decided to make one last stop at Chamard Vineyards for wine tasting and their weekend live music series. Another perfect spot with a newly opened outdoor barn offering full wine tastings in addition to a light menu, live entertainment and a great low key vibe! 

chamard.com 

115 Cow Hill Rd, Clinton CT

Setting sun over the vineyards 

View from the tasting barn 

Time to get road tripping! 

Fall Fashions

Fall is finally here and I'm ready to dive in head first! These are some of our very favorite weeks of the year - beautiful crisp clear sunny days and cozy chilly nights. I still feel torn between the beach and the mountains, continue the endless summer with a beautiful September weekend in Nantucket or fully embrace Fall with a fabulous VT road trip...either way in order to get in the mood for the new season I always love to add a new favorite piece or two to my wardrobe!

Here is my new favorite fall outfit!

www.jcrew.com