Happy Monday friends! Sorry for my absence last week, still figuring out this whole work/life balance thing but I have to admit, a bit of a social media break hasn't been awful. But my social life is also taking a bit of a hit... these days I've been so exhausted by the time I get home that I've barely made it to the gym and I'm usually in bed by 9:30 pm but I'm not complaining! The job is going great, I love the people I work with and the company and I'm sure I'll get back to my usual self soon. 

Today I'm sharing a little spot I checked out while I was in Charleston a few weeks ago, Palmetto Brewing. I know a lot of my ladies aren't huge beer fans and while I don't believe this place serves wine (but I could be wrong), they do have amazing food and a great atmosphere. It's a little off the beaten path, in fact, I wouldn't recommend walking here as it does go through some dicey areas but it's definitely worth a stop if you're looking to get away from the hustle and bustle of historic Charleston. Down the street from Taco Boy (which is another must visit while in Charleston), Palmetto Brewing is directly in between the quiet area of King and Meeting Streets. It's touted as the oldest brewery in South Carolina and has a ton of cool historic items on display in the former warehouse location. So if you're in town and looking for a quiet place to relax and enjoy some yummy bar food and a delicious beer, definitely stop by Palmetto Brewing!

*Linking up with Biana*

Happy Monday babes! So thanks to Hurricane Irma and Labor Day some of my posts are a little delayed, this being one of them. Obviously I wasn't in Cincinnati again over the weekend (I wish!) but I did want to share another brewery from Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine Brewery District, this time being Christian Moerlein Brewing Company. Moerlein Lager House is one of my favorite restaurant spots in Cincinnati so while I have had Moerlein beer before, this year was my first time to the brewery.

It's been awhile but if you remember my first Cincinnati brewery post, you'll remember I talked about Rhinegeist, which is now located in the old Christian Moerlein Brewing Company location. Started in 1853 and the first to certifiable pass the strict Reinheitsgebot Bavarian Purity Law of 1516, Moerlein brews some of my favorite beers in Cincy. The current brewery is located in the old Husman Potato Chip Factory which honestly, doesn't look like much, especially not compared to the Rhingeist location, but I mean... beer, right? If you're ever in Cincy and want to check out Moerlein, I'd suggest to skip the brewery and go to Moerlein Lager House which has AMAZING views of the Ohio River, my favorite bridge, The John Roebling Suspension Bridge, and it's located where the old Reds Stadium was so when you walk in, you can still see the spot of the former home plate. Oh and if you're there, get the Seven Hefeweizen. You can thank me later. 

*Linking up with Biana*

Oh Monday. Not again. Didn't you get the memo I wasn't ready for you yet? Oh well. I guess that's the thing with time, it never really does ever work in your favor, does it? Speaking of how quickly time goes, I had a chance to spend a few very quick days in my former hometown two weeks ago and while I was there I got a chance to check out some of the local breweries. I know a lot of my readers aren't really beer drinkers but being in the industry I'm in I've definitely really learned to appreciate the art of craft beer so I love getting to check out different place's local breweries. Since I moved away from Cincinnati before I was able to drink, I never got to check them out then so it was fun going back and checking them out now.
The brewery district in Cincinnati is pretty unique in the fact it dates all the way back to 1895 in an area called Over-The-Rhine, or OTR to locals. No, I didn't have a dyslexic moment, there were actually 38 different breweries in the district at the turn of the 19th century. Unfortunately prohibition in the 1920's brought an end to many of these breweries but recently with the craft beer boom, many of these buildings are becoming operational again. I'm a huge architectural fan so I found the history of these buildings to be extremely interesting but I'm sure you all are bored with the history lesson so let's get into the good stuff, shall we?
The first brewery I visited on my trip was Rhinegeist Brewery (which translates to Ghost of the Rhine/River) which is actually located in what used to be another local brewery's bottling plant, Moerlein Brewing. Moerlein owned the building in the late 1800's until prohibition when the plant had to shut down. The taproom is located on the top floor of the building and also has a small rooftop bar area. The taproom area is huge with lots of things to do like indoor cornhole, ping pong tables as well as other games. I only tried one beer, the Cougar Blonde Ale, but I was extremely intrigued by the Bubbles Pale Ale which was a  Rosé Ale made with apple, peach and cranberry. I mean, how amazing does that sound? 


dress {on sale for less than $20!} // sneakers // jacket // necklaces {here and here} // watch  // bracelets {here, here and here} // bag

*Linking up with Biana*

Happy Monday friends! How do the weekends always seem to go by so quickly? Sometimes I feel like I blink and it's over. We didn't have any plans this weekend so we decided to head out to a local brewery and start the Central Florida Ale Trail. You might be wondering, what the heck is the Central Florida Ale Trail?  Well, 16 different breweries in the Orlando area have teamed up to create the Central Florida Ale Trail. You start out at one (you can choose anyone you want to start and finish at) pick up a Ale Trail map and at each brewery you get a stamp that proves you enjoyed a beer at their location and when you've completed the entire trail you get a special growler celebrating your achievement. Sounds pretty simple right? That's because it is! 

We decided to start the trail at a brewery we had never been to before, Central 28 Beer Company in Debary. A bit off the beaten path, Central 28 is a cute little family owned tasting room and brewery that opened almost 2 years ago. On tap they have several of their core year-round beers; Dancing Pierre, a Belgian-Style Pale Ale, Trekker Bier, a Farmhouse Ale, Up River, an American Pale Ale, The Flying Rivera Sisters, a Golden Ale, Ms. Mary Brown, a Brown Ale, and Little Wheel, an American IPA. I decided to go with the Dancing Pierre which was an easy sipper, perfect for the hot, sunny day. If you're not a beer fan, Central 28 also has red and white wines available and it's a very relaxed environment so it's kid-friendly! 

Hope everyone has a fantastic week!

top {under $25!} // shorts // wedges // watch // bracelets {here and here} // choker // 

*Linking up with Biana and Lauren*

Happy Monday babes! I'm not going to lie, this weekend was rough for me so it was pretty uneventful. Friday kicked my butt with some sort of weird stomach thing. I woke up fine and as the day went on I got sicker and sicker and I tried to tough it out and go out for St. Patrick's Day since it's a tradition for Kerri and I but I made it through a half a beer before I was in home and in bed. Luckily I'm feeling mostly better today since I have a conference the next few days but that also means until Thursday I'll probably be absent from bloggerland. 

But being sick all weekend wasn't going to stop me from sharing another one of my favorite craft breweries here in Orlando, Wop's Hops. Similar to the one last week, this brewery is also located in Sanford in the historic Stokes Fish Market building and has a great indoor and outdoor space. We originally checked this place out on my birthday limo cycle tour two years ago but had forgotten about it because it's just slightly off the main strip of downtown Sanford so when we decided to head up there it was like finding a long lost treasure again. It was a great day to just sit outside, enjoy a cold brew and people watch which is exactly what Wop's Hops delivers. It doesn't hurt that they have amazing food too! When we were there they had 12 of their own beers on tap and a few guests breweries on tap as well so there's plenty to choose from! If you're ever in Orlando and looking to check out one of the local craft breweries, I highly recommend Wop's Hops, especially before it gets too hot to enjoy their beer garden! 

I hope everyone has a fantastic week! I'll be down at Disney tonight through Thursday at my conference and we have a FULL schedule (I'm not even going home, I'm actually staying at Disney this week) so I'll try to respond and comment when I can but I'll definitely be back Thursday/Friday!

top {under $20} // jeans // espadrilles {under $30!} // sunglasses // watch // bracelets {here and here} // necklace {old, similar here} // 

*Linking up with Biana and Lauren*

Happy Monday babes! I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend and isn't struggling too hard from the time change yesterday. It was definitely rough getting up this morning, especially since it was still dark when I left for work. But I had a good weekend with a nice mix of going out and relaxing so I really can't complain. Speaking of the weekend, one of my favorite things to do on the weekend is check out local breweries since we have so many in the area. And this weekend we stopped by one of our favs, Celery City in downtown Sanford!

Saturday, Kerri, the boys and I all headed up to Celery City for some darts and drinks and spending as much time outside as we can before it gets too hot out. Celery City is one of our favorites for several reasons. They have a TON of awesome craft beers on tap, not just of their own but of a lot of other great breweries (I mean, just check out all of those tap handles in the picture below!). They also have two wines on tap as well as a selection of canned beers and of course, champagne for mimosas on Sundays! We also love their outdoor area, especially on days like Saturday where the weather is a sunny, breezy 80 degrees. You can sit outside and enjoy playing cornhole or darts or do like we do and bring cards for your own entertainment. 

Unfortunately this weekend wasn't the best for the girl's when it came to darts. Ker and I have been reigning darts champs the past few times we've played but the boys finally beat us this weekend. I'm not too worried about it, we'll get them next time. I feel like they need a break in getting beat every once in awhile or they won't want to play with us any more, right? ;) Despite losing, it was definitely a great way to spend a Saturday and we ended the night with some fried cheese curds so you know I was a happy camper! Hope everyone has a fantastic week! 

tee // jeans // espadrilles // sunglasses // bag // watch // bracelets {here and here} 

*Linking up with Biana and Lauren*

If you've been to the Florida Keys you already know all about the sunshine, the perfect sunsets and the laid back lifestyle but what you might not know about lies nestled in between the palm trees. In fact, if you've driven to Key West in the past 2 years you've driven right by it and probably not even noticed. Just off of the Overseas Highway on Islamorada, among the palm trees in a small yellow and turquoise building is Islamorada Beer Company.

Opened in 2014, Islamorada Beer Company is home to three core beers, a few blends and an assortment of beers you can only get on tap in the tasting room.  They also have a few rotating seasonal brews you can only get there or possibly at a local restaurant in the Keys.



   

Happy Humpday loves! Fall is in full swing and with Halloween literally right around the corner you can find pumpkin everywhere. From pumpkin spice lattes to pumpkin pie to my personal favorite; pumpkin beer! Unlike a few years ago when pumpkin beer was a strictly a run of the mill "pumpkin ale" there are now pumpkin stouts, pumpkin Shandy's and even pumpkin IPA's so there really is a pumpkin beer for everyone. With all of these new options I decided to try out a few pumpkin beers that might not be your "every day" pumpkin ale and share my findings with you. Keep in mind, I only scratched the surface of the different pumpkin beers out there so just because one of these don't sound like your "cup of tea" (or pint of beer) don't give up! So here we are, in no particular order, the pumpkin beers:

1. Uinta Punk'N: With 4% ABV this was one of the lower alcohol percentages of the pumpkin beers I tried. It had a definite pumpkin smell but was spicier than some of the other pumpkin beers I tried, this one had a true light pumpkin, earthy flavor with a slight hoppy finish.

2. Johnny Rails Pumpkin Ale: This one came in at a 6.5% ABV and is a blonde based ale so it was  lighter than some of the others and a typical pumpkin ale. It had a slight hint of pumpkin on the nose and had a strong dry pumpkin flavor that was slightly spicy.

3. Traveler Jack-O Shandy: This was one of the beers I was most intrigued by. When you think of shandy's you think of summer, so I was definitely curious about how this was going to taste. At 4.4% ABV it was on the lower alcohol level but one of the sweetest as well. You could immediately tell this was a shandy and not your typical ale. It starts sweet but you can taste the pumpkin and spices with a little hint of lemon. This almost reminded me more of a pumpkin pie than anything.

4. Rivertown Brewing Pumpkin Autumn Ale Spiced Beer: This beer has a 5.2% ABV so it's about the same as an average beer. At first I thought it tasted like a lighter Oktoberfest beer but after a few sips it started tasting more like a lightly spiced water than anything. The pumpkin flavor was very light and even the spices were hard to distinguish. Definitely the lightest of the beers I tried, it was very easy to drink but didn't have a lot to remember it by.

5. Kentucky Pumpkin Barrel Ale: This was the one I was the most excited about trying strictly for the bourbon barrel aspect of it, I was curious as to how the bourbon would mix with the pumpkin and spices. At 10% ABV this was by far the highest of the beers I tried and you could immediately taste it on the first sip.It's definitely a low pumpkin, low spice flavor but you do get the spicy, pumpkin aroma with hints of oak. The bourbon taste was present with a drier finish but not overwhelming although I will say the warmer it got the more pronounced the bourbon taste got.

6. McKenzie's Hard Cider Pumpkin Jack: This is completely different from the other pumpkin beers I tried since it's actually a cider. I'm a huge fan of all the other flavors of McKenzie's Hard Ciders so I was definitely interested by the thought of a pumpkin cider. At 5% ABV it's pretty average for a cider and it definitely had the cider appearance. The cider definitely has the pumpkin pie flavor instead of the straight pumpkin or spices you got with most of the other beers.It had a smooth, mild finish. The closest thing you can get to drinking your dessert!