Tag: jackrogers

Some Florida snaps during Blizzard Stella….

On By careofmonIn Fashion, TripsLeave a comment

A couple weeks ago was the school vacation week in New Hampshire, so I took some time to run away to Florida and see my lovely parents. They are a bit outside of Tampa, living the retired life! Now I am sitting in my living room watching the blizzard through the windows definitely missing the sunshine and warmth! Besides spending some time in Tampa and at my parents’s house, we also spent some time in Tarpon Springs and Clearwater.

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One of my favorite things to do at my parents’s house is just walk around or go for runs to enjoy the nice weather. The birds are so pretty down there, and so are all the flowers and plants. My parents have a couple palm trees and beautiful hibiscus flowers in their yard. Their backyard is actually the golf course, and it makes for some fun people watching from the lanai.

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I wore this outfit for a luncheon with my mother and some of her friends. Lilly Pulitzer shirt is sold out but this one is similar. White jeans here from Vineyard Vines and sandals are here from Palm Beach Sandals!

Tarpon Springs is a coastal city on the Gulf of Mexico northeast of Tampa. It is an important location for harvesting natural sponges and the historic sponge dock area has fun shopping and Greek restaurants. Tarpons Springs has the highest percentage of Greek Americans of any city in the US.

It was so nice to be near the water and all the sponge boats. My past few visits to the water had been pretty cold compared to this one 🙂 Walking around Tarpon Springs, there are lots of decorated bikes. My favorite was the one above decorated in sponges. They started appearing in the spring of 2015, and they are truly art. Warren Gregory is the artist behind the bikes. He was inspired by many years living in Amsterdam. From Tarpon Springs, we headed south to Clearwater for some beach.

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The Clearwater Beach sand is very fine, so soft on your feet. I love all the palm trees and the dunes here.
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Clear water indeed!
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The hotels along Clearwater Beach are so colorful
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Dress from Mahi Gold// Hat from Vineyard Vines// Sandals from Jack Rogers// Bracelet from Kiel James Patrick

Watching the snow fly and blow around outside, its hard to believe I was ever in warm Florida. I have gone down every February since my parents moved down there, and it really is such a nice winter getaway. Hopefully anyone else affected by this winter weather is staying safe and warm and maybe, just maybe, my pics will help get you through!

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Memorial Day on Lake Winnipesaukee

On By careofmonIn TripsLeave a comment

Jon, Mizpah, and I spent Memorial Day this year on beautiful Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. Memorial Day started out rainy and dreary, but by noon, the weather cleared up and we were in for a gorgeous day! A couple of our friends just recently got a boat, so we headed to Alton Bay to meet them. We grabbed some Richardson’s ice cream at Stillwells and hung out in the sun before heading to the boat.

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The old grandstand, not used anymore, in Alton Bay
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Hangin out on the docks with some mocha chip and the Mizpah

Their boat was at a friend’s house in Gilford right on the lake. Lake Winnepesaukee is the third-largest lake in New England, behind Lake Champlain in Vermont and Moosehead Lake in Maine. There are many towns on the lake including Wolfeboro (which I love), Meredith, Moultonboro, Center Harbor, Tuftonboro, Gilford, and Laconia. Weirs Beach is a very popular spot on the lake in Laconia, also the home of Bike Week.

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Views on the Lake
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My most patiotic KJP bracelet for Memorial Day!
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Sleepy little boat derg. My skirt is an oldie from J. Crew and the shirt was an impulse buy from Walmart for $9! My silver Jacks come out a lot in the summer. They are my classy beach/boating footwear. 
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Checkin out the bow!
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Welcome to Governor’s Island, Gilford, NH. That home is probably used for maybe 2 weeks out of the year hahaha
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Lovin it! Wind in her ears!
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Scenic views on the lake 🙂
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So beautiful. I love the New England coastline, but there is something about the lake surrounded by hills and mountains.

It was such a fun day catching up and motoring around. We did hop off the boat and do a little swimming, but the lake is definitely still a little cold!!  It was a perfect relaxing day after our hike on Sunday. Mizpah was so well behaved and calm on the boat, I was really proud of her. This week is a really exciting week full of activities for the seniors at my school. The prom was last night, and their big awards night is tonight. We are in the homestretch with the last day of school on June 24th, summer is almost here!

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Aiken SC Part 1: The Willcox & Steeplechase!

On By careofmonIn TripsLeave a comment

Aiken SC….its sorta a horsewoman’s paradise. The town was/is referred to as the “winter colony”, a place where the wealthy northerners like the Vanderbilts would come play- especially during that gilded age. Summers in Newport RI, winters in Aiken SC, what could be better? The trifecta of activities was polo in the morning, golf in the afternoon, and foxhunting at night….leisure activities only please.

This past weekend I headed down to Aiken with some friends from the barn I ride at for the 50th running of the spring Aiken Steeplechase (they have one in the fall too)! We got in Friday night for tempura asparagus & key lime martinis (the best) at Tako Sushi and then headed over to the The Willcox for dinner. The Willcox is a hotel with an amazing restaurant. The architecture of the building, decor, as well as the beautiful pool area makes you feel like you have been transported to a time when women carried parisols, and really dressed for dinner. You can almost hear the clip clop of hooves pulling well appointed carriages and their well appointed passengers for dinner. We ate in the lounge area with a piano player. We had wine, chicken liver pate & port wine gelee with toasted bread  (which is amazing), the mystic melville cheese with cranberry preserves and crusty bread, sauteed brussel sprouts, and the pasta of the day which was a delicious pasta primavera with shaved parmesan. I can’t say enough good things about the food. Here are some pics from The Willcox!

The entrance of the beautiful Willcox
The gorgeous lounge where we ate dinner
I love a good oldfashioned staircase
Gorgeous equine/farm themed collection in the hallway
Steeplechase history
Call me maybe?
Leave your polo mallet at the door please.

From there we went out to Harry’s Local Oyster Bar, called ‘Locals’ by the locals. This place is a really fun sorta dive bar, really laid back, super fun staff. We stayed out way too late, but needed to get our Locals fix because Locals was closed Saturday for the Steeplechase and Sunday!

Saturday, we were off to the Steeplechase. We had such a fun day. We got tickets to be in the guarantor tent which included great parking, an awesome buffet lunch, a live band, a spot right at the second fence to watch, and an open bar! If you have never been to a steeplechase, it is a race ran on grass usually, and there are jumps! The buffet lunch included some southern comfort food like fried chicken and a cheesy hashbrown casserole, a great salad, fresh fruit and cheese, quiche, and grilled asparagus. It rained intermittently throughout the day so we were very thankful to have the tent to run under!

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Our spot to watch was right at the second jump! Wearing my Lilly Pulitzer (old) and Palm Beach Sandals!
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Palm Beach Sandals & Jack Rogers, Lilly Pulitzer and Sail to Sable

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Stewards out on the track
The lovely brunch buffet
Guarantor Tent was the way to go!
Centerpieces at all the tables
Beautiful photos up for auction

It was such a fun event despite the rain. Everyone was dressed smartly, I have never seen so much seersucker and Lilly in my life. Lots of brightly colored pants and fun bowties for the gentlemen, Lilly prints, bows, and hats for the ladies. We went to Malia’s for dinner that evening and then met other friends out at the Aiken Brewing Company for a drink before heading back to the farm. Malia’s was delicious, but I will say that Willcox was my favorite 🙂

Tune in for part 2 of my Aiken trip about the farm that my friend stayed at this winter AND our awesome polo lesson!

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Barn wedding weekend & Great LLBean Story

On By careofmonIn LifestyleLeave a comment

Today I definitely had a case of the Mondays ha. I had an amazing weekend as a bridesmaid for one of my best friend’s weddings. She got married at her family’s horse farm. She came in to the ceremony next to the family’s beautiful antique farm house on a carriage pulled by a chestnut morgan with her father and met her groom under a trellis in front of a beautiful old oak tree. Her child, aka her horse, was in a paddock nearby for pics afterward, absolutely stunning. The reception was down in the cross country field under a tent. The decorations and lighting were magnificent. The food was delicious and we drank Veuve Cliquot out of the bottle and our favorite Barefoot chardonnay while we danced all night long. It was truly a magical night and I was so happy to be a part of it. Work this morning was a harsh reality after living in a fairytale all weekend 🙂

This morning I heard a great story about one of my favorite companies, LLBean. Leon Gorman passed away on September 3rd. I was actually up in Freeport that weekend! Leon was the grandson of the founder L.L. Bean and served as CEO from 1967-2001. He was on the board as chairman after that until 2013, and then served as chairman emeritus until he passed away at 80 years old. By all accounts, he was an amazing man and is credited with much of the success LLBean now has. The flagship store in Freeport is open 24 hours/day and closed on Sunday for 4 hours so that everyone could go to Leon Gorman’s memorial service. The doors don’t even have locks so they draped a rope through the handles of the doors. The flagship store only closed 2 other times, when JFK was assassinated, and when L.L. Bean himself passed away. I just thought it was so nice that the company realized that celebrating Leon’s life was more important than any sale they would make that morning. Truly, I have often thought I would love to work for LLBean when I retire, because its such a great company.

You can read the story about the store closing here: LLBean remembers Leon Gorman

Here are some pics of the amazing wedding 🙂

Veuve cliquot for the head table, so good
Veuve cliquot for the head table, so good
The centerpieces were beautiful fresh flowers in horse show trophy cups. Metallic sandals were the bridesmaid shoe of choice- here are some of our Jack Rogers taking a break while we danced!
The centerpieces were beautiful fresh flowers in horse show trophy cups. Metallic sandals were the bridesmaid shoe of choice- here are some of our Jack Rogers taking a break while we danced!
My fiancé sent this as a snapchat, ha, too funny, but honestly, the tent was stunning.
My fiancé sent this as a snapchat, ha, too funny, but honestly, the tent was stunning.

It was truly a magical weekend with all my best friends from the barn, so nice to see so many of the riders dressed up and dancing together. I hope you all had lovely weekends too! Its starting to get cooler and darker earlier, we have to soak up whats left of the nice weather here in New England!

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Prep Craze: Jack Rogers/Palm Beach Sandals/Alternatives

On By careofmonIn FashionLeave a comment

Today I splurged on a pair of Palm Beach Sandals for my wedding day. I bought the monogrammed Aubrey in white on white with my new monogram in platinum stitching. PBSandals is in the midst of their $25 off sale til the 12th though, so I think I made a good choice getting them now 🙂

What are Jack Rogers and Palm Beach Sandals you ask? Well, a long time ago, a very influential woman we all call Jackie O went to the island of Capri and bought herself some sandals. She liked them so much she came back to the US and brought them to her personal cobbler in Palm Beach, FL. I believe his name was Stephen Bonanno. Some people that really grew up wearing them called them Bonannos. From here the Palm Beach Sandal was born. I read somewhere that Jackie O and her friend Lilly Pulitzer only bought their sandals directly from the factory in Palm Beach.

PBSandals are the original, made in the US, made only of leather with a nice thick footbed. They come with either a small stacked heel OR a wedge. Jack Rogers makes a very similar version, some synthetic materials, made in China, and the footbed is thinner. They are of comparable price ($110-$150ish), BUT Jack Rogers are sold in Nordstroms, CountryClubPrep.com, Zappos.com, and they have branched out into other footwear styles as well. Jack Rogers is extremely popular among bloggers like KellyintheCity, Carly’s TheCollegePrep, and the crew from KJP (Kiel James Patrick). Vineyard Vines and Sail to Sable models also appear to be wearing them. The hashtags, #lovemyjacks (22k posts) and #jackrogers (51k posts) far outnumber #palmbeachsandals (2.5k posts) or #pbsandals (100 posts). Why? They are similar in price but Palm Beach Sandals are much nicer in my opinion.

There are alternatives to these- so many actually! Palm Beach certainly doesn’t have a monopoly on leather whipstitching.

Here is one for $39.99 from Nautica that can be found at Famous Footwear Nautica La Plata Sandals

Here are some for $89.95 from Soft Surroundings Palm Beach Sandals

A good one if you like tan for $17.99 from LuLus Tan Whipstitch Sandals

Nice ones from Nieman Marcus on sale $39.50 Gabriel Whipstitch

These ones from Target are sold out, good deal though Merona Enid Whipstitch

Bottom line, if you see your favorite preppy instagrammers wearing Jack Rogers and you want to join in on the fun, know that there are options. Another world all together is Etsy. People hand paint these sandals in all prints, Lilly prints are very popular on them. Those are usually in the $50 range. Read reviews, some people with wider feet have struggled with this style of sandal. Some people don’t like the piece of leather with the three holes on the heel that the some of the Rogers and PB sandals have. It’s the end of summer so a lot of sandals are on sale, buy them now for your spring/summer occasions to get the savings!

Below is my little collection from over the years! I threw my Lilly McKims in because those are nice too for $88. I splurged for my wedding shoes, but trust, in the future I will checking out some of those more affordable options, got to save those pennies!

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Clockwise: Jack Rogers Georgica Jellies, Jack Rogers Hamptons in silver, Lilly Pulitzer McKims, Palm Beach Sandals in navy with white, Palm Beach Sandals in platinum with gold

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