Nights of Lights Date Night

One of my favorite things to do at Christmas is visit St. Augustine's Nights of Lights and ride the Holly Jolly Trolley! Which I found after a google image search makes me an old lady...

(image from a google search found here)

I'm fine with being an old lady because I love the Christmas trolley tour! They give you those super rad glasses (shown above) that make all the Christmas lights look like snowflakes! You also get apple cider and a sugar cookies with your ride at one of the stops. This year they have added a stop at some new candle light walk through tour. Believe me you want to get off at this stop. 

Why you ask? Because at this stop you can buy spiked cider and cocoa! There is also a coupon on your super awesome snowflake glasses that will get you BOGO s'mores kits at this stop. 

For dinner we ate at the most adorable little outside restaurant called The Gourmet Hut. 

Don't quote me on this but I read on a yelp review that the menu changes daily because they buy all their ingredients at the market daily, but again that's what a random yelper said so who knows? They did bring the chalkboard menus to our table which is adorable! 

This place is literally a little hut on the side of the rode. The food was delicious! Both my boyfriend and I ordered the bacon topped filet mignon and were pleasantly surprised with how wonderful it was!

This is it! The entrance to the cutest little restaurant ever! There are two little tables inside and the rest are in a beautiful little garden. We chose to sit inside because it was Florida freezing out and their only heater was at the inside tables (you can see it a little behind me), so of course we chose to sit as close to the fire as possible! 

Since I've been talking so much about him, meet my handsome lovie, Ben. I asked him to smile pretty. He's not one for pictures so you probably won't see many of him. It's a rare event when I'm able to capture a photo of this dashing fellow. It's like getting a picture of the loch ness monster, rarely does it happen. 

I'm not a very good picture taker, especially when I'm freezing and trying not to look too much like a tourist, but this is the darling garden where you can dine under the stars when it's not coat and scarf weather. It's a deliciously magical little place that I would highly suggest putting on your list! 

For dessert we walked over to Cellar 6. We needed a little break after having such a yummy meal! Cellar 6 has amazing dessert and martinis and I believe they have live music almost nightly! 

Earlier in the evening we popped into one of my favorite little shops in St. Augustine, Declaration Boutique. It is a simply splendid shop filled with the most adorable gifts and treats. We picked out the cutest little ornament for our tree while there. If you are in the area it's a 'must stop' kind of place! 

Nights of Lights doesn't end until February 2nd, so you have plenty of time drop a few hints to your lovie! 

Merry Christmas dolls!

xoxo Ashley 

Colie's Stocking Stuffers for Her

Stockings are one of my favorite parts of Christmas. My mom, um I mean Santa still fills my stocking with lots of little things every Christmas! In case you need help letting Santa know what you want in your stocking, or what you want him to put in your bestie's, daughter's, or mom's stocking here are some sparkling stocking sized goodies that any girl would love! 

Chevron Stocking - $13.95

Get it here! 

Let's Get Cozy Tights - $13.00

In store at Colie's

Chloe + Isabel Crystal Square Stud Earrings - $24

Get it here! 

Chloe + Isabel Organic Teardrop Earrings - $28

Get it here!

Starstruck Clutch in Lovestruck - $15

Get it here! 

Chloe + Isabel Pave Initial Charm Pendant - $38

Chloe + Isabel Sculpted Feather Pendant Necklace - $28

Get them here!

Swedish Dream Sea Salt Soap

In Store at Colie's

Here are a few little saving hints for all you savvy shoppers! 

• There is FREE shipping at www.shopcolies.com on orders $30 or more with code 'december' all month long!
• Today is the LAST DAY to shop our Chloe + Isabel collection at 25% off using code 'friend' at checkout!  Shop the line here!
• There is always FREE shipping on Chloe + Isabel orders over $100. Remember that C+I purchases are not included in the code 'december' discount.

Don't forget to enter our huge Holiday Giveaway for your chance to win a Alice + Olivia Starbucks mug plus lots more! Total prize pack of over $100! 

Holiday Giveaway!

Friday night my boyfriend and I went to Target for some saltine crackers, christmas lights, and the Alice and Olivia Starbucks tutu mug.

(picture from www.starbucks.com where they are sold out!)

 After looking at absolutely everything in Target I went to the Starbucks in the front of the store while Ben waited to checkout, and to my devastation there were no more tutu mugs!!! All gone. Just a day before that there were four of them. We then popped in the Starbucks that is right in front of Target. I will never understand why two Starbucks are necessary in the same parking lot but whatever. Again no more mugs. 

The next morning on the way to work I decided to stop by the Starbucks on the Island to see if they had any left and to my delight they had FOUR left! I swooped one up and swiftly sent my mom a text to let her know I found one. Five minutes later she was facetiming me to show me that they had found one and purchased it too! Well now I'm in a happy dilemma, I have two tutu mugs! What's a girl to do? Well give one away of course! But I couldn't just give away the mug, no, I must give away lots of fabulous sparkling things to go with it! So here is a complete list of everything you could win!

• 1 Alice and Olivia Starbucks TuTu Mug
• FREE COLIE'S SHIPPING FOR 1 WHOLE YEAR
• $25 Colie's Credit
• $25 Chloe + Isabel credit toward a $75 purchase
• 1 Starstruck clutch in Golden Starlight from Colie's
• 1 pair of Colie's gold square pave crystal earrings
• 1 Golden Chevron bow handmade by Colie

You can enter this fab giveaway valued at over $100 by using the wonderful Rafflecopter below! You have until December 30, 2013 at 11:30pm to enter! You can enter more than once and receive multiple entries for some things like pinning on Pinterest or sharing on Facebook! All entries must be entered below so if you share don't forget to enter it here, if you do it won't be counted and, well, we don't want that! 

Remember this month everyone gets free shipping on Colie's orders of $30 or more with code 'december' at checkout!

I hope all you sparkles have fun with our giveaway!

xoxo, Ashley

<a id="rc-7b53485" class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/7b53485/" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

Polyvore Halloween Roundup

For the last maybe 5 years I've been a cat for Halloween. Sometimes I've been something other than a cat because I had to attend two parties, but without fail I was a cat at least once each year. Not this year dolls, oh no, I saw the cat ears this morning and said 'well black cat ears, it's been a good five Halloweens, it's time for you to retire.'  Let's not get crazy though, cats do have nine lives, those ears have a good four more years! 

Here are some of my fave Polyvore costume sets. A little inspiration if you have a party tonight and waited till now to think of a outfit! Oh, and I'm going as one of these sets to my friends party tonight! Can you guess which one?

Wonder who I'll be this year?

xoxo loves have a fab weekend!

Ashley

Aztec Fall

In Florida we have to take what we can get when it comes to fall. I've been really jealous of all the people wearing fall scarfs on instagram, petty I know, but still. Yesterday I wore a scarf and shorts... that's Florida in the fall for ya! 

That's why this is currently one of my favorite dresses. I loved it all summer and now that it's semi-fall it can be transitioned so easily! I only have a few left and you can snag one here.  It pairs perfectly with boots, tights, and a sweater, and when it's warm out the back has a cute triangle cut out. More importantly how about those Tory Burch boots? I need those on my feet.  I also love dainty necklaces with this type neckline, and Chloe + Isabel's Coral Branch Pendant Necklace and Fox + Feather Long Pendant Necklace pair perfectly with this ensemble. Plus they have a fall vibe and you can layer them with necklaces you already have or wear them alone! Big cocktail rings are my absolute favorite. This one by C+I is so classic and versatile, it's really a must have for anyone who loves rings. 

In other news there are some new arrivals coming to Colie's this week that you are going to love! Chloe + Isabel is also debuting new additions to their jewelry line this week! Make sure you're following me on instagram - @hellocolie_  -  to keep up with all these new goodies! 

later loves - Ashley 

Aztec Fall by hellocolie featuring Tory Burch boots

Pinned It + Made It: Better than Takeout Chicken Fried Rice

Pintastic or Pinstrosity

I don't know about you but I am always a little nervous when I start a Pinterest project. I mean they have whole websites now devoted to how badly a Pinterest projects turn out! It's called Pinstrosity and it's pretty hilarious. I am happy to say that my latest Pinproject was not a Pinstrosity! I love chicken fried rice, so when I saw a pin that claimed to be "better than takeout chicken fried rice" I just had to try it. 

It looks amazing right? I mean who wouldn't want to try it after seeing that pin! Then to my dismay I realized my pin took me to some bull crap picture website! Don't you just hate that? But gladly I was able to track it down. The pin is from a website called Bakerette. 

Better Than Take-Out Chicken Fried Rice

 

Save Print

Author: Bakerette.com

Recipe type: Main Dish

Cuisine: Asian

Serves: 5-6

Ingredients

• 4 cups brown rice, prepared
• 2 cups rotisserie chicken, chopped or 1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts cooked
• 1 cup frozen peas and carrots, thawed
• 1/2 white onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 eggs
• 3 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1/4 cup soy sauce

Instructions

1. Prepare rice per package directions and set aside. I like making mine in a rice cooker but if you don’t have one, no worries! The stove top works just fine.
2. In a large skillet heat sesame oil and sauté onion until transparent. Add the garlic, peas and carrots. Cook until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.
3. Crack eggs over the vegetables and stir throughout the vegetables while scrambling the eggs.
4. Add the chicken, rice, and soy sauce. Stir until soy sauce is well incorporated.
5. Remove from stove and serve hot.

Notes

This rice can also be frozen and reheated in the microwave. It tastes just as good.

The recipe makes enough for 5-6 people as do most recipes I find online. My problem with that is I'm making it for 1-2 95% of the time. So I simply cut the rice down to 2 cups, and that was enough for Ben to have two bowls for dinner, one fore myself, and enough left over for me to have it for lunch two days in a row! It also calls for already cooked chicken, so I googled 'how to make moist chicken,' because no one wants dry chicken. I found a recipe that went basically like this:

• Heat olive oil on the stove
• Add chicken and turn on each side for about 1 min
• Turn stove on medium heat and cover the chicken
• Let sit for 10 min
• Take off the heat and let sit for 10 min
• And Ta-Da! It's ready!

Here is the actual recipe for moist chicken. I love cooking with chicken cutlets, they are thin, cook quickly, and I can eat the whole thing unlike a huge chicken breast! So as you can see I skipped some of the steps like pounding out the chicken. I followed the rest of the Chicken Fried Rice recipe cutting back a little here and there, and I must say it was fantastic! It turned out perfectly and much better than any of the fried rice I've tried at numerous places around Amelia Island and Jax! 

I'm a messy cook so there is sesame oil and rice everywhere, but oh well! I happily give this pin my pintastic approval! Follow me on Pinterest to see what I might be cooking up next! 

Have a fab Wednesday loves!

xoxo Ashley

Chloe + Isabel

For a long time now I have wanted to offer a wider variety of jewelry to my lovely clients. I love the fashion jewelry that I currently carry, but I wanted to offer something better, something that clients will enjoy for years to come and possibly even pass on to their little fashionistas one day.  With that said, ladies I am happy to introduce you to Chloe + Isabel.

"Chloe + Isabel was founded based on the concept of two best friends united by their passion for style and self-expression. 'Chloe' is a trendsetter, fearless with her fashion choices, while 'Isabel' has a classically chic and refined style." - C+I

What drew me to C + I was not only the fashion forward style but more importantly their mission to offer high quality jewelry and a lifetime guarantee!

• C + I offers a lifetime guarantee on all pieces
• All Jewelry is hypoallergenic, nickel-free + lead safe
• All pieces are designed exclusively in the C + I New York City Studio
• Each item is branded with signature Chloe + Isabel closures
• All jewelry is packaged in keepsake pouches perfect for gift giving

What makes this even better for you is Chloe + Isabel's hostess program! You can host a C + I pop up anywhere, even online and earn FREE jewelry!

 If you or someone you know are interested in hosting you can email me at coliesboutique@gmail.com anytime! Want to see what all C + I has to offer? Visit my online shop with them by clicking here.  If you are ever on their website make sure to shop with Colie's by searching for me, Ashley Phinazee, in the 'shop with a merchandiser' tab in the top right corner! You can search by name or my zip code, 32034.  You can also go directly to the boutique from the C + I tab at the top of www.shopcolies.com or by going to www.chloeandisabel.com/boutique/hellocolie

I hope you all love this new line as much as I do! Treat yourself to something fabulous!


xoxo - Ashley

 www.chloeandisabel.com/boutique/hellocolie