weekend love

This weekend was one of the best I've had in quite some time. It was the perfect combination of family, friends, and food. What more could you ask for?

If there is one thing this weekend taught me, it is to always have my camera! Although I always have my phone, which takes decent photos, there have been so many opportunities lately when I've wished my Canon was on hand. I've been eying up these Kelly Moore bags for a while now, and I think the time has come that one may be necessary :) My birthday is a few months away, but one of these will definitely be on my wish list.

{via}

{via}

They are the perfect size to fit your camera & lens, and any other accessories you may have. There are also some smaller pockets for your cellphone, wallet, and lip gloss...which lets be honest, are really the only other things I absolutely need in my purse!

So back to my weekend. It started Friday night with dinner at a lovely restaurant in the "Little Italy" of Providence with some fellow ICU nurses. Federal Hill as it's called by no means compares to the Little Italy of New York or Boston, but there are some delicious restaurants. It's so fun to meet up with friends from work outside of the hospital to 1) be able to vent about any and everything work related 2) see each other in clothes other than scrubs and 3) actually have fun! Although we make the best of our nights at work, sometimes having "fun" in our environment is just not possible. So we need these nights out...and combine good friends + delicious food + martinis...a good time was had by all! I wish I had some photos, but this just brings me back to my first point about having my camera at.all.times.

Saturday brought me my first blogger meet up! {av} from {long distance loving} is a fellow Rhode Island transplant and ever since she first left a comment on my blog, I've been looking forward to meeting her! We have so much in common, I knew we were meant to be friends. The fact that it is a reality now makes me so happy, and is just another tribute to the joys of blogging.

This smart girl remembered her camera, so luckily we were able to snap a few photos before leaving the mall. If you haven't visited her blog, you must be living under a rock!, but seriously, check it out. She is even more lovely in person, if you can imagine that, and I'm looking forward to this new friendship :)

Sunday was a day spent with the hubby. Since he had been working all weekend, it was so nice to have some time just the two of us. We spent the day antiquing, one of our favorite things to do together. Rhode Island has SO many antique and consignment shops, and we love searching for the perfect treasure. More on that later this week! In between browsing shops, we stopped in this little gourmet food shop. Cheese, chocolate, and pastries? I was in heaven. Those macaroons are Rhode Island made and are delicious! Trust me, I sampled three flavors!

We ended the weekend with my husband's family celebrating our niece's 9th birthday. A family dinner and birthday cake was in order, as it is for everyone's birthday in this family, which I love. What did she get for her birthday? A drum set! God bless my sister in law, because I'm pretty sure my almost three year old nephew is more interested in those drums than Miss Sophia is! Here is a photo of the shy birthday girl, and the nephew who certainly has some rhythm!

Hope your week is off to a great start!