Spring in Saint Augustine

Hey everyone! March is here and spring is springing up all over the place. Spring is my second favorite season (only to autumn) and I LOVE to travel during this time. The weather is beautiful in Florida February through May and wildflowers are so abundant on the sides of highways which makes for beautiful road trips. This road trip was sparked by one event in particular, a Fleet Foxes concert at the Saint Augustine amphitheater. My husband and I had been waiting ten long years to see them and we didn’t want to miss a chance to finally experience this concert in such a wonderful and beautiful city. We arrived in town and went right to the food, naturally.

Our first stop was at Salt Life Food Shack. Some of you may know that my husband is an avid fisherman and so stops like this are crucial. We had a decent meal, we were just so hungry from the journey that anything would have been great. Then we went out to the beach. I always miss the Atlantic and forget that it’s just three and a half hours away from me and the Gulf of Mexico.

Unfortunately, the waves were huge and the water was still freezing, so we didn’t stay for long. Luckily the beach wasn’t a far drive at all into town, and then to our Airbnb. We stayed at a little place on Grove Ave. which was just about a ten minute walk into town.

We got acclimated and ready for the night. I was so excited to see Fleet Foxes, but in addition, I was so very excited to go to one of my favorite restaurants in the WORLD, The Raintree. The restaurant is a stunning old Florida mansion converted into an upscale, gorgeous space. And the food is even more amazing. Our favorites are the escargot and the crème brûlée. Just look how happy we are:

After dinner we headed over to the St.Augustine Amphitheater for the concert.  This venue was BEAUTIFUL! More like an outdoor club really than a convert venue.

And the show! Let me tell you guys, I have been to a hundred concerts at least in my lifetime and I would say this had to be a top three show. If you haven’t listened to Fleet Foxes, please go give them a listen. Their music is for everyone!

The next morning I was up early and ready for some exploring. Our first stop was Maple Street Biscuit Co. YOU GUYS OMG DO NOT SLEEP ON THIS PLACE! They have a few locations and MAN this food is great. Side note, check out my Instagram @astoldbyflowers for lots of videos of the food we ate and places we saw on this trip because I didn’t manage to take a lot of photos, just videos in my Insta-stories. Next we went to Relampago Coffee Lab, which was luckily two minutes away from Maple St. This place was another stunning converted home. We had three drinks: a chai latte, a lotus blossom (black tea with lavender and steamed cream) and a white mocha lavender latte. Each drink was even better than the last and probably some of the best drinks I have ever had in my LIFE. I’m not even exaggerating, they were amazing and the barista was extremely sweet.

We started into the city and just took in the sights, hit up all my favorite shops and landmarks. I want to just leave a few of the links to the shops I love down here:

Red Pineapple

The Rosy Cheek

The Way We Were Vintage

Declaration and Co

Obscura

Among many others. Also, the antique shops on San Marco Ave are definitely worth looking into! You’re hard pressed not to find some great stuff in Saint Augustine.

After a while, we headed to Juniper Market  which is a stunning little market that happened to be right by our place!

I had the pimento and bacon grilled cheese and a goji berry lemonade. Both were to die for. It’s also a great place to pick up some items to take home!

We went back to the Airbnb for a little rest and then headed back out for dinner. We had plans to go to a few places, but there’s so much to see there that sometimes you have to just break away from the plan and have dessert before dinner at The Hyppo which is a Saint Augustine staple for me. The have the best popsicles in the world, hands down!

And then we went to another St. Auggies classic for dinner, A1A Aleworks. A beautiful place with a beautiful view, and I have never had a bad meal there. My favorites are the mango chicken and the jambalaya. It was pretty cold and we had done so much, we were plum tuckered out and headed home.

On Sunday we checked out early because we wanted to get a good seat at The Ice Plant, a vintage, prohibition style bar and eatery inside the Saint Augustine distillery. We had brunch, naturally. I had the french toast, hubs had chicken and hoecakes. This was one of my top five meals of ALL time. And for sure the best brunch I have EVER had. Everything was perfect including the service. We couldn’t have asked for a better last meal before the journey home. We heard the distillery tours were free so we hopped on board. The facility was actually really beautiful and we learned a lot. I was very impressed! And we got to sample a ton of their spirits so I was feeling GREAT upon our exit.

The tour is free, I would highly recommend it, especially for fans of craft cocktails and high quality liquor.

We headed home after, feeling totally blessed and fulfilled and full of ideas for what to do next time we make it out to the other coast.

Stay tuned next week for the much awaited SPRING FAVORITES blog post!

X0X0

Springtime Favorites and my Skincare Ritual

HELLO everyone. I am so thankful to those of you who are reading this because I have been horribly neglectful to my blog! It has been exactly a month since I last posted (woah) and before I was posting two to three times a month, so this is going to be a longer one, and a fun one! Trust me, I have missed writing very much. I have been insanely busy at work. I have been sick as a dog (for what feels like forever). I have traded my spare time that was being on writing for gardening and reading Lauren Graham’s new book about Gilmore Girls. AND I’M SORRY! Mostly.

Now that I am completely and utterly through with the holiday season and the new year, I am in full on SPRING MODE. I love spring, it is my second favorite season, next to autumn. I love the flowers, the fashions, the warm sunshine. Spring brings new life to me and everything around me, as spring time should. I have spent the past month putting in a pollinator garden, working hard on my resolutions, hosting brunches, and re-vamping my house, among other things. I also had several people request that I write about my skin care routine and share some of the natural products that I use to get my glowy complexion, so I am going to lump that into this post as well. I am so excited.

So to begin, let’s talk about flower power! For Christmas all I really wanted was a pollinator garden to make my contribution to the saving of the bees. So for the past week, hubs and I have been knee deep in dirt and flowers and herbs. We turned a sad, dead patch of land in the back yard into a beautiful space to relax and watch the bees thrive and our buds grow into beautiful blooms! We are growing edible viola (many colors), kale, lettuce, rosemary, mint, peppers, basil, daffodils, tulips, hyacinth, and thats just in the garden! We have lots of potted plants as well, but I wanted this to be a space where birds, bees and other pollinating creatures could come and enjoy the special place we have created for them.

As a happy bonus, all of my azalea’s have bloomed early this year! I have about 20 or so bushes in the back yard that make quite a spectacle of themselves this time of year.

As for gardening gear, I tend to stick to buying from Target, but in a pinch, Walmart works as well. Here is a photo of my gloves and mini watering can (and yes the gloves are dirty, I actually use them!)

Speaking of gardening, I hosted a small tea for a few friends last week. I figured I ought not to let all my beautiful blooms go to waste. I love to share tea and flowers with friends.

Next I thought I would give you all a few details about how I updated our home post-holiday! Of course a trip to Ikea was necessary (and always seems to be right after Christmas) and we got some really sweet things! We didn’t get any large furniture items, but sometimes small accents can make a big difference. Before our Ikea trip, and like every spring, we purged. Purge before you splurge is my number one home refresh tip! I try not to let anything linger around my home for too long, whether it be kitchen supplies that go unused, or clothes that go unworn. If you don’t get rid of the old stuff, you can’t make space for new!

Our bedroom is a much more cheery, bright place than it was before. I have amplified my book collection and moved all the ones I plan to read this year to my bedside table to motivate me to complete one of my resolutions, which was to make more time to read. We did a pillow refresh and got some new covers for old pillows as well as purchasing new bed pillows. It is AMAZING how much a good pillow can change your sleep and it’s a personal new tradition to replace mine yearly.

As for the living room refresh, I turned the front room apothecary table into a stationary desk/antique shelf. Written correspondence is very important to me and having all my stationary organized helps me to be more efficient with it. 

This is what my blank stationary drawer looks like to give you an example of what’s inside. I collect stationary and paper, and before my collection was sitting in old boxes in the spare bedroom. Now it is readily available to me and I can admire it any time I please.

There really isn’t any major reason for posting this photo, I just ADORE this scent. Plus it is a lovely color and fits with the calming aesthetic of our home.

I keep our yoga mats where I can see them. They inspire me to be diligent in my practice. I have found a local, free, outdoor class that I love. It has made it much easier to stick with it, and become the best little yogi I can be.

My kitchen got a witchin’ makeover! I have displayed all my herbs where I can use them for healing, among other things.

I am a serious Bourdain fan. I keep this book out in the kitchen for inspiration.

Here are some ingredients I am presently obsessed with using. I am quite the foodie, and my husband and I both love to cook. We are always trying new things. Below you’ll see rosebuds, lavender and red raspberry leaf, all very beneficial to women (and everyone) health wise. I make teas or tinctures with them. Turmeric is that yellowish stuff. It is good for literally everything and we use it all the time. And finally this local honeycomb…I am drooling just thinking about it. I am lucky to have found a grocer close by who sells local honey, fruits and veggies for next to nothing. 

Finally, what I am sure most of you will just scroll down to see, are the products I use on my face daily and weekly. I use the “Good for you Girl” face wash every day in the shower. It smells like grapefruit and leaves my skin dewy to the touch. I use the “Nourish” mud mask by Fig and Moss and the “Rose Face Mask” by Fresh Cosmetics at least once a week each. The Fig and Moss mask really gets all the grime under my skin, and the Fresh mask relaxes my skin. Especially in the past month when it has been cold and hot and cold and hot (what’s up FL?) this mask has been so kind to me. Speaking of cold, on days when it is really chilly, the luminescent face oil by Fig and Moss is a life saver! It totally hydrates me and makes me glow like a star. I use the rose petal hydration mist, also by Fig and Moss every morning I wake up and every night before bed. I am OBSESSED with this product. It smells amazing and always leaves me feeling fresh and hydrated. Finally, and yes I am aware this isn’t a skin care item, the lavender vanilla spray deodorant by the Honest Co. is amazing! It smells insanely good, it’s light on your skin, and it really does last all day. I have people who ask me all the time what I am wearing and it’s usually just this stuff. I even spray it around the room, it’s that good. None of these items are cheap, but they are extremely efficient. They are good for you, they are good for the environment and they are worth the splurge. If you’re using cheap face products, or ones filled with tons of chemicals, you’re going to notice the difference!  

Finally, since I shared my skin care regimen with y’all, I thought I would also share some of my current favorite makeup products. I recently subscribed to Birchbox and I have been loving what they have been sending me. I don’t wear makeup daily, but when I do these are always on my face. The beauty protector oil and Eyeko liquid liner are both from last month’s Birchbox and I LOVE them!!! The liner is relentless and the hair oil smells like sugar. The mascara I am currently obsessed with is Stilla’s huge extreme lash mascara. It is perfection. Finally, I am loving the Smashbox photo finish primer water. Regular primer sits heavily on my face, so I find that the water works much better. Also, can we all please take a moment to appreciate the glory of vintage embroidered hankies?

That’s it! In a couple of weeks I will be hosting a rather large brunch, a brunch strictly for the enjoyment of Southern Belle’s. My next post will be all about that. Get excited, and stay tuned!