Where to start?

Are you wondering what fabulous (no wi-fi) island  I moved to for the last…ohhhhh…maybe almost 2 months? Hopefully you will forgive me, life is pretty fantastic and we have a lot to catch up on.

June and July kicked off the summer; a Napa trip  on the tail end of a work San Fran trip plus 4th of July weekend at my childhood beach, New Smyrna.

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August started with a trip to San Francisco for work and an induction into the Whiskey Wednesday club.

Cheers to having colleagues and cousins you love as best friends.

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Then we had the most relaxing and perfect week-long vacation with family at a gorgeous rental house in Islamorada. We spent our time boating, fishing, lobstering, hanging out in the pool, cooking delicious food, paddle boarding, and drinking lots of Sangria.

 

After the keys, we spent a quick night at home in Miami and I finally went to Hakkasan. I know, I know! It seriously makes no sense that I hadn’t been! I’m Asian cuisine obsessed. We did the Miami Spice menu plus dim sum and it was incredible.

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The next morning we jumped on a flight to Los Angeles, where we lived for 4 years, and hadn’t been back in 3! What!? I’m still not sure how that happened, but it did and I couldn’t have been more excited to finally fly back for a long weekend. It didn’t hurt that we got free upgrades to 1st class and an ocean front suite when we checked in.

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We stayed at the Beach House in Hermosa Beach and rode beach cruisers along the Strand to our old neighborhood, Manhattan Beach. I really missed the Pacific Ocean breeze, the buzz of bikers and runners along the Strand, our MB friends, and all of our old local hang outs (the circuit) and restaurants.

To top off the most relaxing vacation ever, on the first night Peter and I walked down to the ocean by the Manhattan Beach Pier after finishing dinner at The Strand Houseand he asked me to marry him! 

Afterwards we walked around Manhattan Beach, reminiscing and talking about the future all at the same time. We met up with friends for celebratory champagne at the Shade Hotel and ended up making it a late night full of stories and laughter. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the future!

It was such a memorable, romantic and unforgettable weekend with my love and great friends. Now it’s time to plan our wedding! Woo hoo!

 

Labor Day weekend we flew to Boulder, CO to see my best friend who I’ve known since I was 5 years old, Nicole, get married and become Mrs. Hugus at Lonehawk Farm. We also had the chance to have brunch at Foolish Craig’s and catch up with my cousin Trace. It was an intimate, love-filled weekend with old friends and family that I never wanted to end.

nicole's wedding

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Somehow we even squeezed in the new Bimini Superfast Cruise in Miami during UM’s bye week. Gorgeous sand crystal clear water and a bit of gambling, made for a great day cruise.

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In between it all, work has been busy and great as always. This weekend we are headed to Orlando to check out wedding venues and spend time with my Dad and sister.

Now you know why I’ve been missing in action, well at least on my blog. I have actually been cooking during all this craziness and I have some great new recipes and tips to share with you soon.

I’m also dying to know, what did you do all summer? Tell me, tell me!

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keely marie

Sunny San Francisco

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Holy gorgeous weather SF! I’m flying back to Miami from a San Francisco work trip today and I can’t even put the gorgeous the weather into words. Just look at that! Not a cloud in the sky and 70 degrees.

My week was mostly all worky work work, but I was able to fit in:

Sunday brunch at Mission Beach Cafe

relaxing in Dolores Park

and a delicious home cooked meal with lots of wine at my cousin Taylor’s house.

I feel pretty spoiled that I get to visit such a great city for work so often. I’ve been traveling there for work for the past 5 years.

Have you been to San Francisco? What are you favorite restaurants and things to do?

 

 

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::: keelymarie :::

 

 

48 hours lost in Venice in pictures

I have such fond memories of Venice.

One second you are in the hustle and bustle of tourists and shops and the next you turn down a small alley to find a quiet restaurant tucked into a courtyard waiting for you.

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Cassoulet with Lots of Vegetables

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This cassoulet was a great recipe to delve into traditional French cooking. It is also my recipe choice for this week’s Food Matter’s Project!

Cassoulet can be made into a week-long project like Julia Child’s recipe or you can choose to conquer this quicker version by Mark Bittman. It is more of a fall/winter dish {not so much April in Miami} as it is extremely hearty and filling, but Bittman makes it lighter by omitting the “cassoulet typical” pork rinds/goose fat and adding more veggies. We served it at a dinner party with our close friends last night and it was a hit!

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Hong Kong ::: 吃 eat. 饮料 drink. 店 shop. 发挥 play.

The first week of October I had the opportunity to travel to Hong Kong for business for 3 days. Such a short trip to travel all the way to Asia, but I am so grateful I get opportunities like this for my career.

From the minute I landed I fell in love with Hong Kong. The layout of the city is built for walking around and everyone was really friendly if you do happen to get lost. Hong Kong just feels massive- the lights, the herds of people, the very lengthy escalators, the busy markets. Did you know there’s almost twice as many skyscrapers in Hong Kong as there are in New York?  {eh emmm… thanks HSBC}

Continue reading “Hong Kong ::: 吃 eat. 饮料 drink. 店 shop. 发挥 play.”