Blog Swap--Cailen the Lifestyle Maven

hi there!  my name is cailen, and i write over at lifestyle maven, which chronicles my quest to be effortlessly fabulous : )  i share my experiences, as well as techniques, recipes and shorts cuts for achieving fabulousity.  so, why am I here today?  cole and i decided to swap blogs for the day to give some new readers a look at “a day in the life” of a blogger.  so, without further ado, here is a day in my life…
disclaimer: this was not a typical day for me, but a very fun one!  craig, the husband-to-be’s, birthday was last week and our 1 year of engagement anniversary was sunday…so we had reason(s) to celebrate : )
a lovely april saturday
7:21am – up and at ‘em
8:48am – breakfast of yummy overnight oats (recipe {here})

9:33am – hit the road.  on our way to meet with our wedding cake baker and sample cakes!
10:54am – arrive at classic cake.  enjoy some coffees and settled in to taste some desserts.

me browsing drooling over their cake portfolio

11:02am – let the tasting begin!  i loved that the majority of their cake offerings are pound cakes – much more rich and dense than typical sponge cake.  pound cakes sampled: vanilla, marble, lemon & vanilla chocolate chip.  icings sampled: vanilla, chocolate, mocha & raspberry buttercream and also chocolate fudge.  combos selected: bottom tier – chocolate chip pound cake with fudge icing; middle tier – lemon pound cake with vanilla buttercream; top tier (anniversary cake) – marble pound cake with either chocolate buttercream or fudge…

11:57am – craig (my fiancé) needed sustenance...in the form of a turkey sandwich.  then we hopped back in the car to head over to meet with the florist.

ben franklin bridge.  hello philly!

12:32pm – arrive (very) early for our 1:30pm appointment, so we wandered around the northern liberties section of philly.  very cool up-and-coming neighborhood – organic grocers, cute eco-boutiques, community piazza with (huge) outdoor tv screen…

see the big outdoor tv?

1:21pm – time to talk flowers with beautiful blooms.

2:15pm – leave for center city philadelphia.

2:39pm – park car and wander.  (walking around the city on a gorgeous day is one of our all-time favorite things to do.)  popped by valanni, a potential rehearsal dinner spot, and then walked to the rittenhouse square area for some afternoon spirits at village whiskey.
3:51pm – enter spa and check-in for massage appointments.  60 minutes of some much-needed down time.  ahhh…
5:42pm – drive to washington square to meet mom, dad and hannah (my sis) for cocktails at chops.

6:56pm – walk over to the cooperage for dinner to celebrate craig’s bday with my family.  the food: pesto & tomato paninis dipped in beer & cheese fondue & fried calamari for appetizers.  dinners included fish & chips, 2 burgers, homestyle mac n’ cheese and a crabcake sandwich.  good homespun comfort food.  dessert?  omg.  fried oreos with vanilla bean ice cream (i’m a dessert fanatic, and these did not disappoint) and complimentary chocolate mousse (because they were out of the molten cake…)  oh yeah, and in case that wasn’t decadent enough, i ordered a s’mores coffee which was amazing.

9:28pm – roll out of the restaurant and set our sights for home.  fun (but long) day : )
11:04pm – good night all!
well, thank you for letting me stop by and share a bit about me.  i hope you’ll come visit me sometime over at lifestyle maven…and that’s where you’ll find cole today!

~Note from Cole~

A special thanks to Cailen for initiating this swap! I hope you'll all head over to her blo to see what my typical day looks like and stay tuned for my weekly roundup at 3!