RHS Chili Fest

Join the Rowayton Historical Society for their 4th annual Chili Fest next Saturday. Want to put your cooking skills to the test .... submit your best chili to be judged for $50. Not feeling the culinary talent ... $10 to enter your carved or decorated pumpkin in the festivities. Or my preferred option, come between noon and three to taste all the entries and vote on your favorites! You'll also be able to enjoy cold beer and live music. Come see who's the big winner! 

Deadline to enter chili or a pumpkin is Oct 12th - rowaytonhistoricalsociety.org 

Saturday October 18th 12-3 

The Blaze

There are still a few nights of tickets available to check out this fun Halloween event - The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze at Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-On-Hudson. Come view over 5,000 hand carved illuminated pumpkins as you walk through the grounds of the Manor. Spooky and spectacular! 

We always like to check out a fun area restaurant for dinner before we go - two years ago we visited the adorable Ocean House Oyster Bar in Croton-on-Hudson for oysters and a charmingly cozy dinner. 

www.oceanhouseoysterbar.com

This year we're headed to Red Hat on the River in Irvington to soak in the beautiful views of the Hudson river and feast on some tasty French-American fare. 

www.redhatontheriver.com

Check ticket availability here...
http://www.hudsonvalley.org/events/blaze/tickets

Boo!

Give Thanks in Style

We are communally hosting Thanksgiving this year in Chatham so we're keeping it super low key since we'll be in a rental - paper plates anyone?! But it's fun to daydream about how you'd celebrate if you were pulling out all the stops. Maybe I'll find a way to bring a few of these details up with me! Happy Thanksgiving to all! 

For the centerpieces:

I adore everything about this arrangement - especially the birch vase

Pheasant feathers always play heavily into my moms holiday decor - I think she'd love these

For the placecards:

Loving these gilded mini pumpkins - so chic!

Rosemary always reminds me of Thanksgiving {and how much I hate it}
but these placecards are too cute

Show your family you are thankful for them - I love this idea!

Use these as placecards or send your friends and family home with a party favor!

For dessert:

These just make me smile 

Mini apple pies - darling!

I would make these as my own personal dessert
as a reward for hosting :)

To remember what matters:

Start a great table conversation 

All images thinks to Pinterest - and my "Fall for Fall" board 

Run Like A Turkey!

Run like a Turkey! Get in the Thanksgiving spirit with these great Fairfield County Turkey Trots! Help raise money, gather donations or just burn some calories before you dig in for dinner! These turkeys will be trotting in Chatham for the holiday week! Gobble gobble! 

New Canaan Turkey Trot - Sunday, Nov 24th 11am
5K run/walk
http://newcanaanturkeytrot.com/

Pequot Runners Thanksgiving Day Race - Southport, Thursday Nov 28th 8:15am
5M run, 2.7m walk
Info!

Rowayton Turkey Trot - Thursday, Nov 28th 9:30am
5K fun, 1M fun run/walk
http://www.rowaytonturkeytrot.com/

Shippan Turkey Trot - Stamford, Thursday Nov 28th 9:30am
4K fun run
http://shippanturkeytrot.blogspot.com/

The Great Turkey Escape - Redding, Thursday Nov 28th 8am/9am
5K run, 1K fun run
http://www.thegreatturkeyescape.com/

Greenwich Alliance for Education Turkey Trot - Saturday, Nov 30th 9:30am/10am
5K run, 1M fun run/walk
http://www.greenwichalliance.org/events/a-turkey-trot-2013/

Dough & Co to the Rescue!

Let Dough & Co take care of all of your holiday baking needs! Locals, place your order by Monday Nov 25th and pick up your Thanksgiving treats at Flea on Thursday Nov 28th btw 10am-Noon. 

Looking for treats to send to your loved ones around the holidays, check out the items available to ship as well (my favorite featured above!)

Also be sure to swing by Flea in Rowayton to check out their adorable gifts!

Thanksgiving menu!

Treats to ship!

Juliska Party Recap

I had a great time last week at the Juliska Holiday Hostess event featuring blogger Catherine Tompkins of My Life in Parties! Tasty treats from Dough & Co. {more details on their Thanksgiving orders tomorrow}, beautiful flowers from Greenwich Orchid, great gift giving ideas from Juliska and fun paper goods by Catherine. Here are some of my favorite photos from the night! It was also really fun to finally meet Lindsay from Vineyard Loveknots! We realized we were buying all the same adorable gift tags and notecards from Catherine, see below! {I also just saw her post on this event when I linked her blog and realized we pretty much wrote the exact same thing about each other : ), hi Lindsay! Her photos are also much better so check them out}

Amazing flowers from Greenwich Orchid. I loved the elephant place cards and the mix of Julikas bamboo styles with the feather napkin rings, perfect for Thanksgiving!

Mmmm, Dough & Co cookies! {more details tomorrow}

Another great table setting, I especially loved the furry owls!

One of my favorite vignettes, the guys gift guide - such a good idea and great gifts for the men in your life. Didn't think you'd find guy gifts at Juliska right?

Christmas is coming! Love the burlap with plaid placemats, the charming Juliska holiday china and the cute pillow in the background!

Letterpress stationary - stocked up on gift tags and notepads! Available at Juliska while supplies last. 

Juliska will be putting their amazing Christmas ornaments out this week as well, a must shop! 

465 Canal Street, Stamford CT 

www.juliska.com 

The Enchanted Forest 2013

Help support one of Greenwich's largest fundraisers - The Enchanted Forest! This years theme is Celebration of Sweetness and it's sure to bring many sweet treats to all who attend. Enjoy breakfast with Santa, tea with Clara, a gingerbread workshop, sweet soriee cocktails, biding on beautiful Christmas trees and much much more!

One of my favorite events is the Friday night shopping preview from 6-9. Leave the kids at home, free entry and plenty of libations! Enjoy shopping without anyone yanking on your leg and get a jump start on your holiday gifts! There will also be early access to the trees and gingerbread houses for sale this year. 

Another highlight is the Saturday night event - always with a wonderful silent auction, signature cocktails, live band and plenty of delicious food. Grab a group for a fun night out. Last year we left with blue brothers sunglasses for all, plenty of hysterical photobooth film strips and a ski house for ten - party success! 

Learn more at www.jlgreenwich.org. All proceeds help fund the charitable works of the Junior League of Greenwich. 

Donahue's Madison Beach Grill

Looking for a fun weekend road trip to enjoy some football and tasty treats? Head north to Madison CT and the new location of an old Darien staple, Rory's, at the Donahue's Madison Beach Grill. 

A big bar with tons of great booth and hightop seating and plenty of TVs to view all your favorite sporting events - hmmm are you in Giants or Patriots territory? 

Great appetizers for sharing while you enjoy some afternoon cocktails - crab cakes, pub nachos, popcorn shrimp and the cannot miss beer battered avocado fingers {top ten most delicious things I've ever eaten!}

Start with french onion soup, chili or clam chowder. Amazing burgers, meggin, french connection or steak sandwich. Or if you're in the mood for seafood try the fried oysters, fish & chips or one of the many fish entrees. Everything is just as delicious as the original Rory's and you'll have tons of room to spread out and enjoy a leisurely afternoon!

The perfect guise to take the hubby out to watch football and perhaps you'll just stumble across the Clinton Crossings Outlets on your way : ) 

1320 Boston Post Rd, Madison CT

203.318.8362

http://donahuesmadisonbeachgrille.com/

Month in Review

As most of your know I'm trying to read 52 books this year and in order to make it I've been using almost all my free time to read - I'm on my 48th book so I think I'm going to make it! {side note I might be one of the most boring people to live with - although my husband said it's ok cause I talk less : ) }

Figured I'd do a month in review of photos to catch you up on where we've been...then on to the good stuff! 

My bestie had a baby  - HJL! <3

A great trip to Newport and cocktails at Castle Hill

My first trip to Little Lake Sunapee - so pretty!

Golf at Baker Hill in NH

Wooden Bridge hunting in VT

Lots of laughs (and bad Dispatch singing!) at the Greenwich Food & Wine Festival

Columbas Day Weekend at CBI

Gorgeous Fall golf weather at EHCC

Cheering on our friends at the New York Marathon!

Raising money for Movember!

Can't believe it's already "Movember" - this fall is flying by!

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! 

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!