Girls Getaway Weekend 2013 – Lake Tahoe Part 1

Like Allie said in her Friday post, the girls on my mom’s side of the family get together every year for an annual Girls Getaway Weekend and this was our 11th year!!  For me, this was my favorite year so far.  In part I think it had to do with the destination – I’d never been to Tahoe before and it was SO beautiful! A weekend there only scratched the surface.  But it mostly had to do with the fact that every year as a family we get closer and closer and I was excited to spend time and catch up with everyone!

So here we are arriving at the Reno airport! (Yes, I can now say that I’ve been to Reno!) Our family literally represents the 4 corners of United States: Alaska, Northern California, Southern California, Georgia, Florida, Massachusetts and Washington!

Arrival

The group: Candy, Shannon, Joann, Emily, Kim, Allison, Patty, Joan and Kelly!

grouparrivalThen it was off to Tahoe – We settled into the hotel, had lunch and went to the grocery store to stock up for the weekend.  Here is the beautiful sunset from the first night!

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That evening the cousins made fajitas for dinner and we stayed in and played some of Milly’s favorite games!  Bingo was her favorite:

bingoThe next day we took a boat cruise around Emerald Bay… This is a MUST DO!

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Snowcapped Mountains!

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Glamourpuss!

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Me & Kelly (When I was 3 I cut my own hair because I wanted it to be short like Kelly’s!  Patty was not happy.)

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Pulling into Emerald Bay!

Boatview

And this is why it’s called Emerald Bay…

EmeraldwaterBelow is picture of Fannette Island – a tiny little island in the middle of Emerald Bay.  Allie and I learned a little bit of family history during this cruise!  Both of our parents grew up in California and vacationed in Tahoe.  My mom told us that as a kid she learned to waterski Emerald Bay and my dad and his friends used to jump off Fannette Island to show off to the tourists on boat cruises!  Cute.
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Sailboat & Mountains

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Stay tuned for Part 2 of GGW – Lake Tahoe that will be posted on Sunday!

Dijon & Tarragon Salad Dressing

I look forward to the fall for so many reasons.  The summer months are just so crazy with the store, visitors and when I have a spare second I try to hit the beach!  I never have much time to do anything in between so I get excited about spending time at home and cooking!!  If anyone knows me, they know that I am not very good at relaxing.  I always have to be doing something…  I can’t even just sit and watch TV – I usually clean during commercials.  Cooking is surprisingly relaxing for me – I’m busy doing something and it’s fun!  I never used to cook.  Allison and Caroline used to joke that I couldn’t even cut a carrot.  But the long winters on Nantucket presented itself with the perfect time to learn.

A homemade salad dressing beats a bottled one hands down and it’s so easy to make!  My go to base dressing always includes lemon, olive oil, agave, salt & pepper.  I learned a hot tip from my cheffette friend Annie about adding tarragon (a very underused herb in my opinion) and dijon mustard.

Here are the ingredients: Dijon mustard, tarragon, lemon, agave, olive oil, salt & pepper.

Ingredients

  • Makes enough for a salad for 4:
  • Pull a large handful of tarragon leaves from the stem and chop – set aside.  It will look like more than you need but trust me: more is tastier.
  • Juice a lemon into a small bowl.

Tarragon & lemon

  • Add 1 1/2 TB of Dijon Mustard.
  • Add 2TB of Agave.

Mustard&Agave

  • Add tarragon and add about 3TB of Olive Oil (I just eyeball everything – trust your instincts because you really can’t mess it up!)
  • Salt & Pepper (be a little generous!)

SP&OOWhisk it!
FinishedAnd Enjoy!

Milly & Grace New Arrivals, Columbus Day Sale and Giveaway Winner

We’ve got some New Arrivals on the Milly & Grace Online Boutique!

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And in honor of Columbus Day, enjoy 20% off at our Online Boutique!

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(Sale excludes Ruanas, ends October 15th and is available online only!)

AND THE WINNER IS…

Thank you all  for spreading the word about our online boutique by sharing, retweeting and pinning our millyandgrace.com image! The winner of a Keely Smith Nantucket bracelet is Monica Flegg.  Congratulations!

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Have fun shopping and Happy Columbus Day Weekend!