July 27, 2011 life

The Ocean House Hotel in Watch Hill, Rhode Island

The Ocean House Hotel in Watch Hill, Rhode Island

In the middle of last week, in the middle of the summer, in the middle of a heat wave, Mr. Zhush, (as he’s fond of saying) called an audible.

With the forecast showing triple digits for the tri-state area, plans to head into New York City for a mini-vacation were eschewed in favor of scoring the last room at the newly renovated (and new to us) Ocean House Hotel in Watch Hill, Rhode Island.

A short two hours later and we were in breezy, beachy heaven.

The guest rooms were lovely and impeccably clean, the world class service, quietly attentive and the beach, divine.

Heading out to explore the small surrounding village proved just as satisfying…

Ditto the excellent cocktails and fresh oysters on the veranda.

Watch out Watch Hill…we’ll be back for sure!

Update: Several years later, as of 2020 we now own a beach house in a nearby coastal Rhode Island town!

beach restaurant at the Ocean House Rhode Island

There were so many different dining options, including this adorable beach shack.

croquet greens and rocking chairs Ocean House Watch Hill Rhode Island

surrounding watch hill Rhode Island area

Ocean house hotel overlooking the atlantic ocean

The fine dining, the beachfront location and the uncompromising service had us wondering why we had never been here before, several times!

fresh oysters on the porch of the Ocean House

Enjoying cocktails and oysters on the seaside terrace of this grand Victorian hotel.

PS: See more of the signature suites of this beautiful and historic hotel!

July 25, 2011 Home Decor

Ice Cream Social

These fun and bright garden chairs from Anthropologie took me right back to my childhood. Growing up, there was this amazing ice cream parlor, not too far from our house, known as Farrell’s. Graduations, report cards, birthdays…we’d look for any excuse to celebrate at this wonderful old timey spot complete with singing waiters, a candy store and the world’s largest ice cream sundaes! While it’s no longer in the part of New Jersey that I remember as a child, I was able to locate a Farrell’s out in California. They even had some vintage photos of the franchise, from back in the day. And, sure enough, I spotted those whimsical seats, albeit not in all these fun, “rainbow sprinkle” colors.

awww… I miss Farrell’s!

July 18, 2011 life

Insta-Addict!

our neck of the woods

A recent bout of insomnia had me looking to my i-Phone for a bit of mindless activity in a futile effort to fall back asleep. Like most cool and techie driven things, I’m admittedly late to the Instagram party here. But, late or not, I’m now fully addicted and somewhat obsessed with my new handy app, pulling it out at any given moment and then putting all the fun little filters to full use. I adore the image I took in my back yard (above) almost as much as I love using the “Nashville” feature, which gives all my photos that funky seventies Polaroid vibe. I would love to know if you too are using this great little app, and what other highly addictive ones am I still missing?

from my garden

our hydrangeas


my rural ‘hood

real deal honeysuckle pink

The Zhush

The Ocean House Hotel in Watch Hill, Rhode Island