My Week In Review

Last week was really great. It's not often that I say things are great or even good for that matter. But all in all, last week felt like a turning point. This is not to say that emotionally I didn't struggle, in fact this past week emotions actually ran high. It felt like a constant battle between my happiness and my battle scars.

I thought it'd be fun to switch it up a bit and report on what I did last week. Partially because I'm still so excited about my week and partially because I am too lazy to handwrite all this out! ;)

I'll start with Tuesday. I was finally able to join some friends in the Federal Hill Stroll after years and years of wanting to do it! Actually, it has probably only been two years because I think that's how long I've known it existed, but I digress. You get this button to wear and a map of all the participating locations in the neighborhood of Providence's Little Italy. Each location that participated gave out samples of food and we also had two drink tickets!

It was a gorgeous night and we definitely got our fill. Some highlights:

The cupcakes at Scialo. OH. EM. GEE. So delicious! A few months ago I went to a state cupcake challenge, Scialo beat all the ones I tried there. Just sayin'

The strawberry sangria at Andino's was perfectly refreshing. It really was one of the most tasty sangrias I've had in a while and the strawberries tasted like they had been plucked locally that day. We might have stuck our fingers in our drinks to get all of them. :)

The bolognese at Zooma had miniature gnocchi's and they were so amazing!

The burgers at Harry's on the Hill had us agreeing we all needed to go back soon.

Just Yum.

Friday I met up with a friend and we got pedicures, hooray for finally being able to wear flips without shame! We ended up at Bluewater in Barrington for dinner. We started with the most amazing fried yellow tomato appetizer, our sparkling peach raspberry sangria was super yummy and served in a mason jar, so bonus points, and my scallops and risotto had me scraping the plate. I will say I wasn't crazy about their pudding chocolate cake. I really expected pudding consistency with cake mixed in but it was a very dense rich chocolate cake. It looks like pudding, but it wasn't soft. Good, but not what I expected.

We ended the night curled up in her bed watching Pitch Perfect 2. Her husband said we ruined our chance for a night out but if you ask me the night was perfect!

Saturday a friend and I went to breakfast at a new (to me) place called English Muffin. I resisted ordering the fruit stuffed french toast and ordered just some eggs and bacon with toast. We sat outside, al fresco - my favorite! (as I did at all my other locations, too!). It was such a great spot and the time spent with my friend was so encouraging and sweet. I just adore her.

In the afternoon I shopped a local garden shop, Jacavone, I've been wanting to visit and brought home a few pots of flowers and a pot of basil. It was a nice relaxing time followed by lounging out by the pool. I even went swimming which is something I hardly ever do - but when you have the entire pool to yourself, you just do it! 

Saturday night another friend came over and we tried the new Thirsty Beaver in Smithfield. We sat outside which was wonderful until the sun went down. I'm feeling the mosquito bites something fierce today. We ordered these pulled pork mac and cheese rolls for an app. So yum! And I got a burger for dinner which was tasty but really greasy. The sweet potato fries were on par though!

Then we drove down to Providence. They were having their International Arts Festival for the first year - streets were closed off. A local art company went through and painted a bunch of buildings to bring more art into the community. Makes this girls heart soar! There were bands everywhere, food trucks, craft vendors, and on and on. Also, there was a Waterfire so we checked that out too! The city was alive. It was really awesome.

We walked around a bit and then checked out Providence G which is Providence's only rooftop bar. It was nice but a lot smaller than I expected. We were able to be seated at a table even though we were only ordering a drink. This was good because it was crowded and I don't know any girl who likes to stand at a bar and wait for the bartender to notice her. We got a strawberry drink - it was really good however I'm not convinced it wasn't just fruit juice! The place was really neat but at $11 a drink it's not the kind of place you spend the night. Plus they were closing earlier than most places in Providence. The waitress explained to us that because it's a tenement building they can't stay open later than 12. I could have done without the tiny elevator ride down with the guys who had too much to drink though (stairwells are for emergency's only and forbidden otherwise!)

Sunday I spent some time with family for my 'mom's' birthday. Then I joined up with the Rhode Explorer ladies to go on a sunset kayaking tour with Narrow River Kayaks in Narragansett. It was quite lovely! Everything was so serene, we saw a deer along the river and some cranes. The sunset was a soft sky and the water was so calm by the end that I could have sat out there until the stars came out. Just lovely!

Here's to more weeks like this. Enjoying life to the fullest. Now I just need to find a way to do it on a strict budget. I definitely went over this week but at least I can say I absolutely enjoyed myself. Feels so wonderful to be able to experience life again and in a new way. There's more freedom now and I'm so grateful for the shift I've noticed. Life is hard but it is so so good.