A Touch of Teal | Page 2 of 253 | Washington, DC Lifestyle Blogger

10.12.20

Life Lately

Hi, friends! Hope everyone is doing well—in the Mid-Atlantic, we’re in the wonderful part of fall, where it’s still warm enough most days you don’t need a coat, but cool enough you can wear a sweater. The leaves have just started to change, but al fresco dining is still very much a reality. Since my life kind of feels like groundhog day right now, I really welcomed the change of seasons this year more than I have in the recent past. I’m also really starting to look forward to the holiday season—even though it’ll look different than most, I’m excited for cheesy Hallmark movies, Christmas music, twinkle lights, and all the other things we’ll still be able to enjoy, socially distanced style.

I’m lucky enough to have a three-day weekend, so I am enjoying a lazy Monday off work. I slept in, got my nails done, and now am finishing up Emily in Paris on Netflix. It’s really cute if you’re looking for a mindless show that has a gorgeous setting and stunning fashion. Work has been really busy and stressful lately, and I’ve found that can be extra tough in the work from home environment where there’s less separation between the office and home. I miss having a commute to decompress, and having an office to leave my work at when I’ve reached a good stopping point for the day. This time of year is always busy for us, but I am hopeful that after next week when a few of my projects wrap-up, things will feel a little bit more balanced. (That all being said, I am so, so grateful to have a job during this time!)

It’s been a while since I wrote a life lately post, so I thought I’d drop in and share a few things going on it my world lately—I hope you all are staying safe and sane! x

MY NEW APARTMENT /

I’ve been in my new apartment for a little over two weeks now, and it really feels like home! I love the location, and have really enjoyed exploring new routes and neighborhoods on my daily walks I’ve still been taking after I wrap up work each day. On the weekends, my sister and I have been enjoying exploring a bunch of the trails here in Arlington—we love taking a long route from the Bluemont Junction to the W&OD to the Custis trail. There can be sections of those trails that are scarcely populated, so I avoid going on them on my own, but if you have a walking buddy, I’d definitely recommend checking them out.

It is also so great to have more space, and I especially love having a large balcony. I’ve got my eye on some patio chairs from Target, but they are sold out and have been for a month or so. I’d rather wait and find something I really love, so I might hold off getting patio furniture until everything is restocked in the spring. For now, I’ve just been taking one of my counter stools out onto the patio when I want to enjoy that space. Since moving is expensive, and I just bought a beautiful vintage piece of furniture to use as a credenza under my television, I need to put the rest of my decorating dreams on hold to give my credit cards a much needed break. I’ve also learned over the years it’s better to take my time and find things I really love for my home versus trying to be “done” with decorating right away.

The physical process of moving is the worst—it’s not fun to pack or to do all the administrative tasks like changing your mailing address in 2893526894724 places, but it’s worth it in the end. I also think I put way more pressure on this move than I had on past moves since we spend so much more time at home now. None of my fears about moving—namely that I would regret my decision to move or not feel at home in my apartment—came true and it all worked out. I’m excited to share more about my new place and my decorating journey here on the blog in the coming months!

48 Hours in Oxford & Greenwood, Mississippi (+ A Morning at the Viking Cooking School)

I am back again to share about the rest of our LDW road trip! In case you missed it, I spent Labor Day Weekend on a road trip to Memphis and Mississippi with one of my best gals, Emma, from college. Earlier this week, I shared all about our time in Memphis—you can read that post here. We spent the first day of our trip in Memphis, then spent two days in Mississippi, and then went back to Memphis for our final day before heading home.

I get a lot of weird looks when I tell people I’m heading to Mississippi for vacation, but last year, Emma and I went to Natchez and Oxford and fell in love with the state. We knew we wanted to go back one day, I just don’t think we expected we’d get back just a year later! But, I am so glad it worked out. We decided to spend two nights at The Graduate Oxford since we so enjoyed our stay there last summer—more on that below—and use that as our home base. Oxford is home of the University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, and is one of my favorite college towns. Centered around a historic square, there are so many great restaurants, shops, and bookstores in town, and the campus is absolutely stunning. I’d love to get back one day to experience a tailgate in The Grove! I’m normally an ACC girl through and through, but Ole Miss definitely won me over.

While we were in Mississippi this time, we also visited Greenwood—a small town about 90 minutes away from Oxford in the Mississippi Delta that is home of the Viking Cooking School. (Viking Range is headquartered in town and operates a cooking school and upscale hotel there!) It was such a fun experience, and I am so glad Emma came across it in a magazine and suggested it as an activity.

We spent a lot of our time in Oxford just relaxing and enjoying some Ms. Ole Miss cocktails on the Graduate Hotel rooftop, so this post is a little less structured than some of my other posts, but I still wanted to share in case you ever find yourself in this beautiful corner of the world.

travel

10.6.20

48 Hours in Memphis, Tennessee (+ A Quick Trip to Arkansas!)

This post has been sitting in my drafts for WEEKS waiting to be finished, and I am so excited that I finally get to share the first part of our second-annual Labor Day Weekend road trip through the south with you today. Last LDW, in the ~before times~, my best friend Emma and I went on a five day road trip, hitting up Jackson, Nachez, Oxford, Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, and Atlanta. We had such a great trip—I loved being able to explore a new-to-me part of our country while eating my way through some of the best restaurants in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia.

Fast forward to 2020, and I don’t think 2019 us could have predicted the state of the world. I’ve always been a worrier, but I don’t think I ever once worried about how my life could be impacted by a global pandemic. When we planned this year’s trip, we always knew there was a chance we would have to cancel, but luckily we were able to go. We spent one day in Memphis, Tennessee, then drove to Oxford, Mississippi for two nights (you can read about that here!), and then spent one final night in Memphis. Today’s post I’m sharing everything we did in the Birthplace of Rock and Roll, and I’ll share a little bit about our trip to Oxford soon.

I mentioned this in my Charleston post, but obviously short of staying home, you can’t be 100% safe. However, we felt very safe on our trip—I honestly felt safer from a COVID perspective in Memphis than I did in DC just because there are way less people around! And the city is taking it very seriously—there’s a mandatory mask rule and places do a great job enforcing it, tables at restaurants are spaced really far apart, and stores really limited the number of people allowed in at once. There’s also a 10pm curfew, meaning bars and restaurants have to shut down then, which I think really helps people from congregating. (You tend to let your guard down after a few cold ones!) Regardless of when you choose to travel again, I wanted to share a little bit about what we did on this trip to Memphis in case you want recs for a socially distanced visit or after we (fingers crossed it’s soon!) have a vaccine.

Memphis was on my bucket list in the sense that everywhere is on my bucket list—but I wouldn’t say I was dying to go. I had pretty low expectations going into it, but I had the best time in Memphis. Staying at The Peabody was definitely a highlight of the weekend—and my summer, and to be honest, my year—and I really enjoyed our time exploring the city. If you’re looking for a spot for a bachelorette party that is like Nashville but not as Nashville, definitely add Memphis to your list: there’s great food, great bars, and a lot of fun activities to do! But regardless of whatever brings you there, if you get the chance to go, I’d definitely recommend it.

We were in town for about 48 hours when all was said and done, and I think that was enough time to do what we wanted to do, but we also could have stayed for more time and still had plenty to explore. So, without further ado, let me show you around Memphis!