There are many great things about living in Connecticut.  Depending on where in the state you are in, you can get to either New York City or Boston in about 2 hours.  You can enjoy the country life and then travel to the city for the day and not miss a thing.  One of my favorite reasons for living here is the fact that I can get in my car and in an hour, I can see the Ocean, hike up a mountain, climb waterfalls, sit in a field of alfalfa, or sit outside and be able to see a night sky full of stars and fireflies. Although some may not be a fan of living in Connecticut, If you appreciate the beauty of nature than its impossible not to. 

One of my favorite places to visit is the Ocean. There is something about the sand in your toes and salt on your face from a cool breeze across the water that gets me every time.  I like being next to the ocean, or on the ocean.. but not so much IN the ocean. As I may have mentioned before, I'm not a fan of ocean creatures, sharks being my least favorite.  Now, I know the probability of me being attacked by a shark is like, one in a million, but I just can't bring myself to understand that. So! I will enjoy the beauty from the shore, or a boat! 

Yesterday, my love and I had a day off together. This is RARE lately!  We took full advantage! We headed to one of our favorite places, Mystic Connecticut. If you are from CT and you haven't been, then shame on you! I'm not sure what kid in CT didn't go to the Mystic Aquarium on a field trip at some point, but its never too late and you are certainly NEVER too old! There is so much to do in this adorable seaside town! 

Although two of the bigger attractions are the aquarium and the Seaport, We decided to check out the villages and shoppes instead! 

Our adventure started off at the Seaview Snack Bar.  As we were pulling off the highway, Andrew pulled out his cell phone to check to see where we could stop for lunch.  I immediately told him, that was unnecessary.  Two seconds later we pulled in to our destination. Not only is this place worth if for the yummy fresh seafood, but the view is what makes it.  We ended up both getting Fried clam strips and were not disappointed! 

Next up.. Olde Mystic Village! Its actually right next to the aquarium. It is the cutest little village perfect for all ages! There are tons of shops, restaurants, snack shops with ice cream and cupcakes, a park with ducks and even a movie theater! There is tons to do here! You can stay all day, or run in for an ice cream and run out! 

A completely unexpected part of the little shopping area is the The home of Gloria the Goose and Lulu the Goose.  They have many little and big duck friends as well.  We got there just at feeding time so Gloria wasn't too into a photo shoot. But LuLu was willing! 

 

As we were walking through, we stumbled upon the Bleu Squid. Its a Cupcake and Cheese shop. Now I know that sounds like a weird combination, but I assure you, they make it work.  I just happen to love cupcakes and one of Andrew's favorite foods is grilled cheese so It just happened to work out really well for us! As it turns out, they were voted By Connecticut Magazine as the Best Cupcake in 2012. I'll take one of those please!!  I came home with a Chocolate Coconut cupcake which was AMAZING. Andrew ordered the Lobster Grilled Cheese. I mean, if your going to be in a grilled cheese cafe in Mystic, You MUST try it.  It was pretty scrumptious!  A definite MUST STOP BY kinda place if you find yourself in Mystic. 

This was the.. "I'm eating a sandwich and your going to try and take a picture of me?" look.  Yes, Yes I am. :)

This sandwich was FULL of lobster, not small little pieces. The bread was soft and slightly grilled and buttery. So Yummy.

   After we left the village, We headed to Historic Downtown Mystic.  There are more shops to look through downtown, but thats not all! The view alone is so worth the stop.  You can eat at a number of restaurants on the water. Lots of boats and kayak rentals for some on the water activities.  Or my personal favorite.....

Mystic Drawbridge Ice Cream!

 

Also voted one of Connecticut's best, on the 25 top places for homemade ice cream, Drawbridge is the "I MUST STOP HERE BEFORE I LEAVE MYSTIC" place. It doesn't help that my all time favorite dessert treat is ice cream. I could literally never eat cake, pie, candy ever again, but to give up chocolate ice cream? You are NUTS! The ice cream is so tasty and fresh, but also, we had a private dock (not always the case, we just got lucky).  

This was the view of the drawbridge from my ice cream seat!

It was starting to get chilly and late.. so we decided to head off to our next adventure. Just 20-ish minutes away, towards home was Mohegan Sun Casino.  As were were getting ready to leave, the sun was setting on the casino and it looked awesome. I drove up to the roof deck of the parking garage to get this shot!  Sorry, I got side tracked. 

Back to the story! So, Andrew had a craving (how, after all that food i'll never know) for Pepe's Pizza!  Although, the original is in New Haven, Mohegan was more on our way home.. So we drove there.  If you haven't tried Pepe's, its brick oven thin crust pizza. There is a lot of history behind Pepe's, but all you really need to know is its good stuff.  

All together, it was a pretty great day.  Lots of stops and photos along the way, but really.. with me on the trip, do you expect anything less?  

*LOVE*

CANCER.  six harmless letters from the alphabet, but when you put them together, boy, do they have impact.  It is probably one of the scariest words in the world and you'd be hard pressed to find someone who has not been effected by it. There are of course many different ways in which it can effect one single person. They could be a survivor, currently battling, helping and supporting someone with, or one of the hardest, anyone who has lost someone to the battle with cancer. Fortunately, there are people in this world who believe we can make a difference and are willing to do all they can to try and make that happen.  For those people, I thank you.  I have lost three people very close to me from this terrible disease and know others who have suffered. Any support, no matter how big or small can be such help with the fight against cancer. That alone means the world to many people.

On Friday, June 1st, I had the privilege of being a part of the Butterfly Affair.  Although it was held in a small town in CT, don't underestimate us! The event was a success! Tons of people came out to support the cause and we had a little fun along the way! Yummy snacks, all you could drink and
prizes galore!!! I was honored to be asked to come hang out at the event and take photos.  It was FUN! meeting a bunch of new faces and seeing some familiar ones as well!  A HUGE thank you to Jonathan for inviting me to be a part of this and putting on a such a great event!!!

We started the evening with a "red carpet".  You could walk through and stop on the red carpet for a photo op. Not everyone was ready and willing for a photo shoot (that is foreign to me, I just assumed everyone loved picture time) :) but for those of you who did.. here you go! 

One of the best parts of the night was the butterfly release. Whoever wanted to could purchase a butterfly and then at 6:35 everyone released their butterfly at the same time. 

STEVE DUNN BAND!!!

And people won prizes!!

 I had such a good time at the event and hope to be a part of it next year!!!  

*LOVE*