Philly Visit and Prayer Request

Whoa, where has the time gone? I have been meaning to post these fun photos from Philly for weeks now. So here goes...very delayed. We extended our vacation for one night in Philly on our way home from the beach this summer. I was so excited to stay at the new Philadelphia Hotel Monaco.

The decor at the hotel is so creative. The calligraphy brushes behind the front desk are an ode to the signing of the Declaration of Independence across the street from the hotel.

That is some chandelier in the lobby foyer.

These tea pot lights were on the sleeping room floor foyers.

The guest rooms are gorgeous. I don't know how Kimpton does it, but everything works somehow together with opposing patterns, textures and details. Full disclosure, I now work for Kimpton and was a huge fan before getting my job at the Baltimore Hotel Monaco.

I especially loved the navy damask print wall paper in the powder room with bright yellow pocket doors.

The walk in shower and tub were ginormous.

The only tragedy was that we spent one night in this glorious room.

We could see where the Continental Congress met across the street out our window.

The "Rocky" robe was a such a nice touch next to the animal print one.

We had a phenomenal dinner at the Red Owl Tavern with my sweet friend Katie(cakes) and her beau Tony. The team gave us a tour of the private space which is downstairs from the main restaurant.

I can hardly believe that this trip was over two months ago. It is great to have these photos as a snapshot memory of our fun night in Philly at the end of our holiday. Wishing all of you an easy start to school and the beginning of what I'm sure is a busy work season. Feeling very blessed for our health and well being. With the Navy Yard tragedy this week and finding out my dear uncle has cancer I just praise God for each breath.  My uncle Robert's one prayer request is that God be glorified and that God will use him for His glory and to further His kingdom through whatever and where ever this sickness takes him. We are still not exactly sure what is up, but ask your prayers specifically to halt whatever cancer is in his body. It is amazing how much God has already been glorified by my precious cousin's updates. I've already reconnected with my best prayer warriors which is a gift in itself. I have no idea why tragedy seems to strike those dearest to Christ but I know He has been glorified already in the past two weeks. I often turn to the Book of Common Prayer when I'm not sure what to pray. This evening Compline prayer covers all of my bases. 

Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Then the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love's sake. Amen. 

Red's Lobster Pot, New Jersey shore

We had the most beautiful evening at Red's Lobster Pot while on vacation. We asked around and heard fun things about this casual place on the water.

While taking photos of the incredible sunset, I met a family who had just ordered lobsters for the table. Lobster red is just one of the most beautiful colors on the face of the earth, don't you think? How obnoxious am I taking photos of someone else's food? They were so nice and I'm just that girl that snapped to my little hearts content.

Our food arrived just in time for the embarrassment to cease. I had the coconut crusted mahi mahi with pina colada sauce. E. had the fried seafood platter which I was very jealous of. I'm actually trying to get away from shellfish for my little healthy heart to stay healthy. We have a whole line of family members with the biggest hearts in the world, that don't tick so well. Shellfish is off the table for me sadly. The restaurant was BYOB and I had just happened to buy a chilled white wine for later at the B&B. It turned out to be a perfect night away from the boardwalk of Asbury Park and we scored with the wine.

I couldn't get over how magnificent the sunset was the night at Red's. My mother is notorious for taking sunset photos. Her roommate from college came up to visit at Lake Michigan and laughed and laughed at the wall of sunset photos at the cottage. Rebecca said that mother had been taking the same shots since she knew her in college. Sounds familiar! Mom is such a great photographer that you can buy her cards at the little shops in Glenn, Michigan! Love you sweet Momma of my heart. This picture makes me want to fly up to Michigan for the weekend and squeeze your face. 

The Speakeatery

We found another great spot at the beach this summer for an easy lunch while on vacation. The Speakeatery had opened just two weeks before we arrived and was suggested by the gang at Cafe Volan. I can hardly believe its been over a month since we were at the beach. Where did the summer go? I keep seeing adorable kids back-to-school photos and am longing for freshly sharpened pencils and new school supplies for our office. I just love this time of year. But before I get too caught in the present I want to post a few memories from the beach.

We lucked out and found the front window seat open for us.

I am obsessed with chandeliers and the ones at this deli were made out of spoons. You can see E's knee at the window. It just started to rain as our orders came up. It was such a relaxing first day riding our bikes through the rain.

The prices in Asbury Park are so reasonable.

I ordered a Greek salad that was big enough for me and E. The bowl was ginormous.

Over lunch we admired our recent purchase at an antique shop that was going out of business. I'm in love with this frame and the light in the front window was perfect to show off this sweet little piece.

Anyone know who this person is?

All of the details at this shop "spoke" to me. Sorry it was just too easy. So much of it reminded me of my parents gourmet kitchen shop, Forty Carrots.

I could create a kitchen tool montage in about 3.5 seconds from the drawers, baskets and bowls filled with this stuff at Mom's house. This is my inspiration wall to do one of these days. I love it.

There were groceries as well as pre-made items to take to the beach. I wish we had a similar shop in Hampden.  7-11 and RoFo don't cut it sometimes. It would be awesome to have an organic convenience store open all week.

The local roaster sold their beans here as well.

Porta's, Asbury Park

We are loyal customers. If we find a great wine shop, coffee shop or restaurant we become over frequenters. While at the beach, our loyalty card was punched  three times at Porta. It opened a few weeks after our first trip to Asbury Park in 2011 and is located across from the Stone Pony. Porta means door in Italian. The up-cycled doors in the restaurant, and in the powder room stalls, were ingenious for this large space. During the day you can come straight from the beach and sit your sandy bottom down on the indoor picnic tables. At night they flip it into a nightclub. For hilarious laughs, read or follow the parody account on Twitter, @Porta_problems. For the official, way more tame account, follow @pizzaporta. 

The pizza is so good. My first bite tasted like a speed train transported my mouth to back to Italy. The brick oven char, chewy crust, simple sauce and bubbly mozzarella combined for the total pizza package. 

We also had the Octopus salad, where our bartender got snippy when I called it calamari. Rightly so. This octopus was nothing like his cuttlefish cousin of deep fried, too chewy past. 

While sitting at the massive hollow square bar for lunch one day, we looked up and counted tons of security cameras. Jersey Shore folks don't play when it comes to security I guess. We didn't go to the boom boom room, but next time I'm going to spike Charlie's coffee so we can dance the night away. My man hates crowds.

The lighting and the brick ovens were the star of the space in my humble opinion.

This sausage and jalapeno pie was our final meal before heading to Philly. If you ever find yourself in this neck of the woods, run, don't walk to this amazing pizzeria. E got a Porta National Park tee shirt as a reminder and it makes my mouth water every time I see the name!