Photo Diary: Memorial Day Weekend 2015

May 27th, 2015 | 1 comment

Memorial Day weekend officially kicked off summer and to really get into it we spent the entire weekend outdoors. This year instead of traveling for the holiday weekend we settled on doing a “staycation.” With this post I wanted to switch things up a bit and bring you behind the scenes and show you how I spend my weekends.

On Saturday we drove up to a gorgeous hike just north of NYC in the town of Cold Springs. The hike we did was moderately strenuous so that we could bring the pup and we got lunch in town with friends afterwards. Cold Springs is an adorable town right on the Hudson River with tons of antique shops, restaurants and ice cream parlors. We drove up there, but some friends took the train from Manhattan and said it was very easy. Here’s a snapshot from the top of Bull Hill – Mount Taurus:

The hike sure did have us breaking a sweat and reaching for trail snacks, so it worked out perfectly that I threw together this delicious mix with all ingredients I had in the pantry. Pictured here a homemade blend of raw walnuts, dry roasted almonds, roasted unsalted cashews, goji berries, golden raisins, dried blueberries, organic dried mango, dried coconut and organic dark chocolate chips, yummmm:

Sunday was another beautiful day so we headed down to Jacob Riis Beach Park to get our toes in the sand for the first time this season. It was my first time down at this beach and I can’t wait to go back. The beach is expansive and you really feel far from the city’s concrete-filled hustle and bustle.

We also stopped by the Brooklyn Riis Beach Bazaar for some live music and afternoon drinks. Every Saturday and Sunday this summer they will have live music, vendors, pop-up food vendors and various activities — super cool! And, as an ode to my alma matter The University of Rhode Island, I had to pop open a Narragansett Shandy for the 4+ years I spent in Narragansett, RI. Ahhhh, so refreshing:

The sunsets were ON POINT this weekend in Brooklyn. Here is one from the rooftop of Whole Foods Market Brooklyn:

Monday brought an early SoulCycle class in the morning followed by a BBQ with friends in Prospect Park. Because what is Memorial Day without BBQ?

BBQs aside, we did take a few moments to remember and honor those who have served and continue to serve our great continued because THAT’s what MDW is truly about. I just loved seeing this gorgeous flag wave proudly on our way up to Cold Springs on Saturday:

And to top off this staycation we hit up a spa in TriBeCa called AIRE Ancient Baths. I had first experienced the ancient bath experience while studying abroad in Sevilla, Spain in college and I’ve since visited ancient baths in Greece and Spain. The ambiance here in NYC is so unique and calming, you really feel transported in time. The different pools at various temperatures plus aromatherapy steam room and luxurious massages was truly an unforgettable relaxation experience. I highly recommend for anyone in the area or traveling to NYC!

Hope you enjoyed my MDW photo diary as I thought it would be fun to take you behind the scenes with me. I want to do more posts like this to mix it up a bit with recipe posts(of course I have plenty more recipe posts where this came from!).