Union Hill Farms In Denville NJ

 I took The Babe to Union Hill Farms in Denville, New Jersey to pick flowers. They have a decent sized patch filled with colorful zinnias of various sizes. They charge 35 cents a stem... which is awesome! They give you clippers to cut your flowers and you just bring them back to the farm stand to be counted. We also picked up fresh veggies on our way out!

I had to make a few stops before going home with our flowers. Some of the flowers broke. I just floated them in this heart shaped dish so that they could still fulfill their flower arrangement destiny!

Zinnias are so colorful, gorgeous and fun to arrange!

xo Lizzie

Day Tripping; Grounds For Sculpture Hamilton, NJ

A handful of places make my list of all time favorite locations. And any place that can make me feel like I am visiting one of those far away places, without the time or expense of having to fly across an ocean... well, I think any place that can accomplish that is just plain awesome!

One of my favorite places to visit is Monet's house and gardens in Giverny, France. It's an amazing & wonderful place.... and Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ made me feel like I was there this weekend. Yes, a place in NJ did that for me and it only costs $15!!! 

Lunch or dinner at Rat's is a must when you visit. If you don't have time, at least enjoy a cocktail here and let yourself be transported to France (sit outside) or Morocco (sit by the bar).

These are all sculptures- Not paintings! Seward Johnson wanted to pay homage to the classics and bring famous works of art to life.

This is a really fun place... lots of hidden gardens, covered pathways, twists and turns.

Through September 21st 2014 you can see the Seward Johnson Exhibition. Which includes his Forever Marilyn!

The yellow wall in this photo is about 10 feet tall!

Peacocks roam the property and mingle with the sculptures and guests.

This place is worth taking a full day to visit. I highly recommend eating on the property at Rat's Restaurant or bring a blanket and The Peacock Cafe will pack you a picnic that you can pick up upon arrival!

Grounds for Sculpture well exceeded my expectations... I can't believe a place like this exists in New Jersey!

xo Lizzie

Cruisers, Hot Rods, & Muscle Cars

There is something so wonderfully summery about a car show. A great show is held in Lyndhurst, NJ every Saturday from May through October at Whiskey Cafe. I have gone 3 times and it is always a different mix of cars and they always play fun oldies music from greats like Chuck Berry and The Beach Boys.

There are A LOT of cars and not just 1 of each model! I think I counted 10 Chevelle Super Sports! There are also cars that are not so old- new Cobras and cars from the 80's that have been restored to perfection. I saw a Camaro that my grandmother had in the 80's, it looked like it had just been driven off the lot. Really, it looked brand new! And the engines in some these cars are just gleaming. So clean and meticulously maintained they sparkle.

If you are looking for different date idea, this is a great one. It's free, it's sexy (have you seen the lines & curves on these cars? wow.), and the music will make you wanna hold hands.

To find a car show in your area, click here.

xo Lizzie

Day Tripping; Jersey Shore

Today we headed down the shore  for a beach day! It was our first visit since super storm Sandy. It hasn't been restored to it's full glory, but they definitely have made significant progress which made me really happy.

We relaxed on the beach at Island Beach State Park for a few hours and then drove to Seaside Heights so I could get my boardwalk fix. I have to visit a boardwalk at least once a year and my one requirement is that we play skeeball. We played skeeball (& gave our tickets to a little kid) got custard at Kohr's (sooo good!) and made a shirt at Shore Store (you know, the one made famous by MTV). 

We packed so much fun into 1 day that I really can't believe it's only Saturday! We still have another day off to enjoy! Happy weekend!

xo Lizzie

Day Tripping; Greenwood Gardens Short Hills, NJ

JT and I headed over to Greenwood Gardens in Short Hills New jersey, bright and early today. The property is beautiful and is slowly being restored to it's full glory. It has a secret garden feel to it that I really loved and I could just imagine the awesome parties the grounds must have played host to in the 1920s!

This was a fun place to visit! I recommend getting tickets for the 9am entrance because we were the only ones in the gardens at that time and at 11am we saw a lot of people showing up. It's really nice to walk through the gardens without others around.

xo Lizzie