This is officially my favorite house in ocean grove.  

 Gorgeous.  The contrasting colors, the vast number of porches. 

Love Always,

Meg

Ocean Grove Part 2

Ocean Grove is where I spent the majority of my time in New Jersey.  There was a street fair occurring, and I got to take pictures of the unique houses. 

 These little cottages must be summer houses, they are only a few blocks from the beach. 

 That is a standard two story house behind the cottages.  I love the seasonal wreath.  

 I loved the vivid blues that some of these houses were painted.

 The homeowners of this house, appeared to be having a rummage sale.  I love this picture. 

 How did they build this addition, without making it the same size as the bottom of the house?  And how can that protruding area be structurally sound?  Love it.

Gnomes, there can never be too many gnomes.

Finally, the strangest site that we saw.  A family building a sandcastle in their winter coats. 

Love Always,

Meg

Sea Bright

Update: I spent maybe twenty minutes in Sea Bright, actually on my way out of town, unlike the extended stay that I experience last year.  I did not take pictures that reflected Sea Bright as a whole, I only took pictures of what spoke to me, as an emotional composition.  I will be sure to spend more time when I come back to town and take more positive pictures. The town is truly lovely.

Sea Bright was definitely hit by hurricane Sandy.  I was surprised to see sooo many shops still boarded up.  Just last year this street had been so lively. 

Don't have too much to say today, feeling a little bit blue.

Love Always,

Meg

Navesink Twin Lights

Over the weekend we went to visit a lighthouse, which is one of my favorite things to do.  This is the Navesink Twin Lights, in Navesink Highlands, New Jersey.  Beautiful.

I literally frolicked around the park, taking tons of pictures. 

 We even climbed up to the top of one of the towers.

Not only is there a great view of the other tower, but you can see Sandy hook and New York city in the distance.  My point and shoot did not pick up the new york skyline in the distance, (which is in the opposite direction) so I couldn't include a picture.  

The view is spectacular, I highly recommend the climb. 

I also love how the twin lights are not identical, both are unique.  

Overall this was a pretty spectacular day.

Love Always,

Meg

The Beach

My grandparents moved to hilton head island before I was born, and each year growing up my family would visit.  Now every time I go to the beach, and smell the fresh air, it rejuvenates me.  I think this was why Jess and I decided to make a mad dash for Jersey.

Standing on the beach, with the salty air and cool breeze was amazing. 

 It was far too cold to go in, but we could just stand back and watch as the waves came in and out.  

 It looks like they are still rebuilding after hurricane Sandy, the day felt like the beginning of a fresh new start.  

Love Always,

Meg

Brunch at Zoe's

A key aspect to a great vacation is amazing food, and my friend Dominique did not disappoint.  Everywhere we ate, the food was amazing.  But I must say that Brunch on Sunday was my favorite. 

 It's a small restaurant, only two-three waiters, but the food was beyond amazing. 

 I loved this cool coke machine, that we got to sit next to.  I love the light blue chairs, and we all loved our food.  This is a french toast, ham and brie cheese sandwich that my pal Dominique ordered. 

 And this is my amazing brunch.  Gingerbread pancakes, bacon, and chocolate milk.  This was the most amazing breakfast that I have ever had.  The pancakes were light, fluffy, and tasted strongly of ginger bread. Yummo. 

Great food, great friends, what more could a girl ask for?

Love Always,

Meg

Ocean Grove

Yesterday my pal Jess and I decided to throw caution to the wind, and we went on a road trip.  We drove three hours to New Jersey after work on friday, I as navigator ensured that we didn't get lost.  And we ended the night with an amazing sushi dinner.

Today we wandered around Ocean Grove, NJ.  I am including some of the pictures below, but as I tend to do, I am going to continue editing my pictures all week.  I'll put them up day by day until I have another weekend to take new pictures.

         As much as everyone makes fun of New Jersey, it does have some beautiful areas, one of those is Ocean Grove.  I could have taken pictures of these houses all day.

Twins!!!!

Love Always,

Meg

Girls weekend

This weekend I went to visit one of my best friends Dominique and we had a great time.  I did not take a ton of pictures, and I didn't bring my professional camera, but I I loved some of my point and shoot pics.

We walked into an antique shop and there was an actual Shirley Temple doll, I can't imagine paying that much money for a doll...but I had to stop and take a picture.

The Antique shop had an amazing variety of antique cameras.  I loved this Brownie camera.  Maybe one day I will pick one up, but it seemed a little frivoulous as I probubly wouldn't take many pictures with the camera.

We were walking around Sandy Hook, New Jersey.  This was a great view of the river across the street from the beach.  

I love the beach, we didn't spend much time there, but I loved digging my feet in the sand.

The water was freezing, but it was just sooo pretty.

I have been pretty bad with posting in the past few weeks, but I am definately going to try to be more attentive to my blog  :  )

Love Always,

Meg

Arthur's

Both my father and my mother were born in New Jersey, so several times a year I will make the pilgramage to New Jersey, to visit with my family.  This past weekend I was visiting with my Father's sister, my Aunt Susan.

One of the main staples of our trips is Arthur's tavern in Morris Plains.

My brother and I always used to call it "The Pickle Palace," they always have a ton of yummy pickles on the table.

I love the ambiance of the small tavern.  We had a wonderful lunch there today, and it brought back a lot of happy memories.

I have had an amazing trip, and was able to visit my Aunt Patty's grave before palm sunday mass.  It's hard for me to believe that it has been five years since her death.  Today I thank god for my amazing family.

Love Always,

Meg

New Jersey

This weekend I am in New Jersey visiting my Aunt, and it has been fun to see the dogs getting along.

This is my Aunts dog Molly, she has a very regal look about her.

Here is Mr. Winks, Molly, and Marty the chocolate lab running around.  It is not the best picture, but I love how they are all in mid-flight :  )

This was not taken this weekend.  I took this last year at a dog festival in Maryland.  I love basset hounds; if I ever get another dog it will probably be a basset hound.

Love Always,

Meg