New Years Weekend

New Years Eve was pretty uneventful and that is just the way I like it. The State game messed up our plans to go away Thursday night so we went straight home after work so G could watch the game. I actually really enjoyed Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve and am now borderline obsessed with "Til I See You Again by Charlie Puth and Wiz Khalifa. I even stayed up until midnight which hasn't happened the last few years so there's that. I went to bed at 12:03, but still!

Friday morning we were up early to head west. South Haven Bound! But first, a stop to drop Manny off to his best friend's house. 

We rented a house on Black River (that feeds into Lake Michigan) from VRBO and the reviews were spot on. This place was gorgeous! Large. Comfortable. Clean. Cute decorations (I'm sign obsessed so all the cute signs will have a post of their own). And that white kitchen was a dream to cook in.

Our friends decided to come up after the Ohio State game so we unpacked and walked the one block to downtown South Haven (amazing!) for lunch. We had never eaten at Taste so we were anxious to try it out. But first, drinks.

G had the high roller which was basically a lot of gin and vodka so he wasn't a big fan. But the reason he ordered it was for the stone "ice" cube in the glass that he got to keep.

I had the cosmo and it was delicious. If the cosmo is done right it's not sweet and this one was perfection.

I had the Tomato Basil Soup and it was heaven on a chilly day.

Since it was the first day of the New Year G and I decided to try new things. G was going to get the ribs (his usual) but instead he tried the Korean BBQ with a side of fries and both were incredible. He loved his choice.

I usually get the mac and cheese, but went for the scallops in a garlic white wine sauce and it was BOMB. Yay for trying new things!

We walked back to the house so G could watch the U of M game and I read a book all afternoon. Funny story: I found this book in my bookshelf and I have no idea where it came from but the inside of the book says "Merry Christmas, Love Jeff" which is hilarious because I don't know a single Jeff. But it's actually a really good book and a lot of it takes place in Ann Arbor which is fun.

Our friends arrived around 7:00 and the party began.

The boys started playing ping pong, naturally.

And the girls made drinks, naturally.

Well, Felicia did. The girl can mix a killer drink.

While dinner was cooking we made a toast for the New Year with champagne.

We ate dinner (feta quiche amazingness) and then played card games.

We ended the night with chocolate milk before bed. I know what you are thinking. We are crazy kids, haha.

Saturday morning we woke up to lattes.

Felicia got a latte maker for Christmas and brought it to the house. It's pretty amazing and I kinda want one now. She made a salted caramel latte and it was delicious. 

We talked for a while during our lattes and then got ready for the highlight of the weekend. The reason I love going to the South Haven area. Everyday People Cafe. The service is impeccable. The food is incredible. The bottomless champagne is a major perk.

I ordered what I always do (BLT with a fried egg on sourdough) and it was just as magical as I remember. Our friends loved it too. We talked this place up to them a lot so I was nervous it wouldn't live up to their expectations, but it did. Felicia said the Eggs Benedict was in her top 2 and Chad declared the dessert (creme brule) the best he ever had. Success!!

After brunch we headed the two minutes it takes to get to Saugatuck. 

Felicia and Chad had never been to Saugatuck so it was fun to show them around. Felicia was all about standing and posing with statues like I do. YES!

We stopped at Uncommon Coffee Roasters for a brew. I am obsessed with their Cafe Miel (honey and cinnamon latte). We walked around and explored all the cute shops.

We went into this spice shop and there was the sweetest rescue pup. She only seemed to like me which was so funny. She would growl at G when he tried to pet her. But for me she even rolled over so I could scratch her belly. The cutest.

We stopped into Fenn Valley for a wine tasting. I lost my picture from the tasting so here is the champagne again from our brunch. It was a fun tasting, though. We were the only ones there so we got to try lots of fun wine which led to buying a lot of wine.

Naturally I had to get a photo in this sleigh before we left.

We went back to the house and the boys played table tennis for a while and Felicia and I went to the loft (with great views of Lake Michigan) and had deep conversations. LOVE.

At ten to 5:00 we walked over to Lake Michigan because it turned out to be a gorgeous day and I was going to get my sunset!

Ahhhh so pretty, right? I'm still not over it.

I should mention the sacrifice we made to get these sunset pictures. It was so cold. The wind was whipping sand at us. Felicia went and hid in the rocks to block the wind which was a smart move.

We walked back to the house and made tea to warm up. I heated up my spinach and artichoke dip and we snacked on that and meatballs Felicia made.

We played a few games of Pandemic before calling it a night. I actually expected to hate this game because I'm not much into Settlers of Catan, but this game was really fun. We played a few times until we finally won.

Sunday morning we slept in and then enjoyed lattes. Felicia made a croissant, egg, cheese and ham breakfast that was delicious. Then they packed up and left and G and I relaxed at the house for a while longer.

We packed up a few hours later and headed to the beach one last time. It was a bit calmer today, but still just as cold. 

We still weren't hungry from our breakfast so we picked up Manny and came home to relax a bit before the work week. Manny had so much fun with his BFF. He came home and crashed hard.

It was such a fun weekend away! It just went way too fast!