peaches & dream

the lady vanishes

hello, my sweet friends. allow me first to apologize for disappearing for so long - i never intended on taking such an extended hiatus but sometimes life gets the best of us, oui? things got hectic once again in our world and - although it's far too much to explain in one post - i will say that we spent time in new york for the dreamboat's stint at cmj and it was so much fun!

now, onto another adventure - a couple of weeks ago we took a day trip down to salem to wander around and get in the halloween spirit.

we popped into boutiques, ogled the gorgeous old architecture, toured count orlok's nightmare gallery (as a horror movie buff i have to say this place is one of my abslute favorites!) and walked down to the waterfront holding hands.

we ate $4 mediocre cinnamon buns. we posed for total tourist photos (see above) - the dream was obviously way better at putting on a happy face for it than i was. we had the most perfect weather.

i so love day tripping and adventuring with my sweetheart. and i'm so glad to be back!

dreamy outfit - kelsey's croatia essentials

good afternoon my darlings! i am so happy that more and more of you have been writing for style advice... and so so so flattered! today's post is for my friend kelsey who is going to croatia for 12 days at the end of the month! so exciting... needless to say i'm totally jealous! here's what she wrote:

"i've been looking online without any luck for a cool retro bikini (high waisted) that would be flattering on me...  i also need inexpensive dress / top options that i can get more than one wear out of. we'll be on a sailboat but stopping in various places to go out. so i need to be boat casual but ready to dress up a bit for dinner and drinks..."

kelsey also told me she has a budget of (around) $250... well my dear, this is what i came up with! i hope it helps...

 

1 whirligig dress by velvet, $69.95 via anthropologie

2 braided chain duster earrings, $4.99 via urban outfitters

3 lace-trimmed chiffon blouse, $19.99 via urban outfitters

4 ruched bikini top & bottom, $48 & $46 respectively via j.crew

5 geo stone ring, $16.99 via urban outfitters

6 ecote gladiator wedge sandal, $14.99 via urban outfitters

7 featherknit asymmetrical tee, $34.99 via j.crew

8 cone post earring, $14 via urban outfitters

9 mixed stones stackable rings, $9.99 via urban outfitters

some important things to note - 1 while the bathing suit is from j.crew and might not be locally available, i find that their suits run a bit small but mostly true to size and their shipping is super quick to new england because they have a shipping warehouse in western mass! 2 i love the velvet dress because their stuff packs & travels so well. the fabrics they use are super lightweight and easy and this design is perfect to dress up or down. 3 overall, i'd say bring things that pack easily and pack tons of accessories - it is the easiest way to dress up any outfit from day to night.

helene m. work party - chebeague island, maine

wednesday afternoon all of the girls from helene m. (well, most of us!) drove up to yarmouth, maine and took a ferry out to beautiful little chebeague island. it's such a picturesque, lovely place where helene (the owner of our company) and her husband rent a summer home! the house was totally dreamy - a huge wraparound porch, steps from the beach and hydrangeas growing everywhere! the island was small enough that we walked to the other side (with our glasses of champagne in tow). after appetizer's at helene & michael's house we walked over to the chebeague island inn for dinner. it was so magical sitting on that huge wraparound porch overlooking the harbor... i definitely want to take the dream back there for a weekend away.

 

viva deli - asheville, nc

hi, lovelies! i am back from vacation and in the real world (ho, hum!) and already missing my marissa like crazy! friday night we had dinner at this little jewish (non-kosher) deli called viva deli. marissa had the italia sandwich (prosciutto, sweet soprasetta, provolone, marinated artichoke hearts, tomato, & onion on fresh-baked ciabatta) and i had the francaise (oven-baked turkey, melted brie, tomato, red onion and raspberry mayo on foccacia) - so yummy! super cheap and quick, too. i also tried cheerwine for the first time which was created in salisbury, nc and is cherry soda, ALSO SO YUMMY! see here...

sunny point brunch & the dreamiest stuffed french toast ever!

so on saturday morning marissa and i went for brunch at sunny point cafe in west asheville. she first brought me here when i last visited 3 years ago and insisted that i try the savory stuffed french toast. needless to say, i have literally been dreaming about that stuffed french toast for the past three years. it was (aside from visiting marissa and meeting asa) the one thing i was seriously excited about doing while i was here. we thought we would have to wait a while before eating but it only took about 5 minutes to seat us... and it was a good thing, because we were pretty dang hungry.

marissa sitting outside of sunny point before breakfast

"the savory one"... the stuff dreams are made of...

THE TOAST, THE MYTH, THE LEGEND

marissa's lunch, the "b.l.a.t."

yummmmmmms!

see that face? THAT IS MY EPIC NOM FACE. dreamiest breakfast face. EVER!

that was so worth the three year wait. it was so delicious i can't even tell you. i need to try and convince someone around these parts that it would be the best idea to make this kind of delicious dish for me pretty much every weekend. any volunteers?

if you get to asheville at any point PLEASE visit sunny point and PLEASE try the savory stuffed french toast - i can personally promise you you will not be disappointed.

mela indian lunch buffet!

i just wanted to post a quick little update (again)! marissa and i just had lunch at the most delicious indian restaurant i've ever been to called mela. it's right on lexington, smack dab in the middle of downtown. i ate here the last time i was in asheville and it is just so totally yummy.

beautiful lunch date!

yummy delicious!

i made her try beets! this is the face she made afterwards... poor marissa!

after lunch i wandered into a little artist cooperative and found myself in a booth full of handmade mirrors... and i fell totally head over heels in love with one! i'm going to save up some money and have marissa purchase it for me & send it to me! it's in the shape of a banner and i think it would look so perfect above the dream's & my bed...

so so so so SO DREAMY!

and then i turned around and saw a wall full of bird mirrors! it immediately made me think of this post from my dear eva. they're all different shapes and sizes and were very reasonably priced, ranging from $28-$48. so sweet!

as for now, i'm off to do some more shopping with my bestie! enjoy your weekends!

dreamy boutique - honeypot in asheville, nc

hello everyone! how is vacation? vacation is AMAZING! it was raining last night so we went out for bbq dinner at luella's which was so super delicious! i had the chopped pork bbq sandwich with fried okra and mac&cheese... yum!

today marissa had to work and it was 90 degrees outside! it has been raining and/or cold in new hampshire for the past week(ish), so i jumped on the chance to soak up some sun (with plenty of spf slathered on, of course) and explore downtown asheville!

while wandering around downtown i walked into a totally adorable vintage and high-end consignment shop called honeypot. they have such amazing inventory... among their many delightful treasures i found teal sequined miu miu maryjanes (not in my size OF COURSE), an orange leather handbag that i couldn't find the price tag on (boooo!) and a bunch of plaid shirts that i'm tempted to go back and snag for the dreamboat. so many beautiful things and the merchandising was impeccable! the manager there was nice enough to let me snap some photos... enjoy!

i'm so in love with everything in this shop! if you're ever in asheville, pop in and visit - they're so sweet!

quick update!

hi hi hi! i'm having such a blast in asheville! yesterday after marissa picked me up at the airport in charlotte we stopped at ikea and it made me miss living close to one... there were some great curtains in the as-is section and some gorgeous lights and vases that i wanted so badly to take home with me! alas, no room in the suitcase.

then we drove back to asheville and took it easy since i had been up since 5 am (after getting only 4 hours of sleep... eesh!), ate yummy bbq and sat on marissa's front porch watching the rain fall. it was perfect! here are a few photos from my trip so far... enjoy!

marissa and her boyfriend asa

total noms!

pretty mural downtown

lunch today was a smoked tofu & avocado sandwich from rosetta's

beautiful best friend & lunch date!

mj street art

dreamy living - packing for vacation

i'm so excited! i feel like jessie spano when she discovered the magic of caffeine pills. why's that, you ask? well, because i'm going on vacation! i'm heading to asheville, nc to visit my beautiful best friend, marissa. it's been a whopping 3 years since i visited her down there (don't worry, she's made trips up here since then) and i am so excited to be going back. asheville is a really beautiful place!

as a person who doesn't do much vacationing (i need to work on this big time), i'm not the most seasoned suitcase-packer out there. the last time i visited i opted not to pay the extra $50 or $75 or whatever to check a bag and instead took just a carry-on, which was the worst idea ever. this time i'm flying jetblue, so my first checked bag is free! yay, more room to pack things! yay, more room to bring things back with me! yay, yay, yay! and to top it off, i found the most adorable yellow hard-case vintage american tourister suitcase at the thrift store for $5. happy traveler, right here!

let's see... sunscreen, three pairs of shoes (four including the pair i'll be wearing tomorrow!), a pair of shorts, a bathing suit, makeup, hair straightener, hairbrush, toothbrush, unmentionables, plenty of t-shirts, a maxi dress, a little dress to wear if we go out dancing, a belt, tank tops, an extra pair of sunglasses... what am i forgetting? if only jessie spano were here to freak out at me...