Wilmington for Birthday Weekend

My Birthday Getaway

Hello Everyone! My birthday was on May 5th - Sunday this year! (Cinco de Mayo!) Patrick took me to a river front town called Wilmington in North Carolina. Wilmington is small but beautiful and is right nestled on the Cape Fear River. When we arrived it was lunchtime on Friday so we went straight to the hunt for food. We found this cute little place right on the water called Riverboat Landing - It has nine private balconies that all seat only two! 

Riverboat Landing on Front St. in Wilmington, NC (night view)

 We ended up walking around the downtown area after lunch and doing a bit of shopping - there were so many cute little shops and boutiques to explore. One in particular that was my favorite was appropriately named, Dang. It had all sorts of things - jewelry, sundresses, flip flops, home decor, etc. A lot of the theme of the store was nautical theme (since it is a river city after all) I purchased the cutest little knot bracelet with a gold anchor on it - I am sure it will show up in some of my upcoming pictures! 

Nothing better than finding a cake shop with an Iron Man 3 cake in the window - I am sure Patrick would be thrilled to have this lovely spectacle as our wedding cake . . . not going to happen.

There was an Ah-Mah-Zing fudge/ice cream shoppe downtown as well. We stumbled in due to following our noises to the delicious scents. We got a tiny sample of two rich pieces of fudge - then we shared a chocolate covered pretzel... later to come back and get coconut ice cream....and later to return and get a carmel apple - yes, we were addicted to this place. I found this little box o' chocolates in the shape of golf - perfect for Patrick - unfortunately he is not into chocolate enough for me to get him these, although its pretty cute ;) 

Here is me standing in front of a beaded wall near our hotel - My dress is from Ross - and it was under $10 - I know, score! It's actually more of a beach/pool coverup but since I am short I can pull it off as a sundress. My jean jacket (my go-to for spring) is from Marshalls. You can see my new nautical knot bracelet - if you look really, really hard! 

Apparently, Wilmington is the Hollywood of North Carolina! We were out later that night to dance and in walks Hank from our favorite show, Breaking Bad! We totally went a little star struck and asked for a picture ( I also got a sloppy kiss on the cheek!) 

End of the weekend =( but happy to be home having a family bday dinner at my Aunt's house. This is us right before we dive in to this delicious Mint Chocolate Chip Coldstone Cake! 

Nom Nom Nom.

xo

H

Engagement Photos!

Engagement Photos have arrived!

Purple Dress - Banana Republic  |  Black Pumps - Colin Stewart
Gingham Shirt - Target  |  White Shorts - XXI  |  Flops - Target
Cream Dress - Urban Outfitters  |  Strappy Wedges - Bamboo

xo

H

Easter Weekend Up North

Hello All! We are back finally from our Easter Vacation up north =) it was a lot of fun - see below for some pictures from the trip! 

 Here is Patrick and I on the plane - We just landed in DC waiting to get to our layover. We were so exhausted - practically delusional at this point!

We've arrived at his parents house by noon and someone needed a little power nap (a power nap that lasted 3 hours!!) I hopped myself up on coffee so I couldnt sleep - as Im sure you already can imagine - we slept well that night! 

 Night before Easter and we are all dying eggs! The Riley's do Easter really well - Patrick, his sister Amanda (pictured) and I are all in our mid-twenties yet we not only dyed eggs, we had an egg hunt, AND had a scavenger hunt!! It was so much fun! 

Out of all the eggs I dyed - this one was my favorite =) 

Caught Patrick off-guard while dying his eggs.

Easter Morning after Church - Patrick, his dad (pictured) and I went to Aunt Sheryl's house for breakfast! It was a chilly Easter this year.

 The Riley's have a big Easter Party every year at their house - this year Patrick's Dad rented 6 baby chicks for the party (just look - no touch) I got to pick one up though before the party guests arrived. 6 days old and soo fluffy! 

 

 Our last night up north - We went to Harvest on the Hudson (a restaurant in Westchester) with my family from NY - It was a beautiful place and even more so, delicious food! Here, Patrick is being a goofball while posing for pictures.

 Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the pictures - comment and let me know how your Easter holiday went! I'd love to hear all about it. For now, I'll leave you with the lovely face of 'Precious' - Patrick's Mothers Dog - laziest peanut I've ever met - all 3 lbs of her.

xo

H

Welcome to Villa Alphie!

Hello! 

Thank you very, very much for stopping by! Welcome to Villa Alphie - my new blog all about my addiction to fashion, my lack of funds to support that addiction, and all the lovely little things in between.

First off, you should know Villa Alphie is another way of saying Alphie's house - who is Alphie? My precious pup of course!

Alphie - 3 yrs old - Broken Coat Jack Russel

I have a feeling that he will be making many a frequent appearances in future various posts on this blog - considering my world revolves around this little guy. 

Another guy that could very well show up often is Patrick - my fiance! We just got engaged in February and are very excited to see what lies ahead in our future! 

Here we are the night we got engaged - I was a happy girl in the photo (as you might tell)

Here we are on vacation in FL doing a little dancing for my Birthday

I am starting this blog because, frankly, I have found myself with a lot of time on my hands as of lately- Patrick and I moved to North Carolina from New York this past January and I am having EXTREME difficulties in finding a job! I have been applying to jobs constantly and - yes have had interviews - but people move slowly down here, or dont follow up and Im frustrated. Regardless, all the better to take out my frustrations with writing a blog - no?! 

Well, I hope you enjoy it! Please feel free to leave me comments and suggestions - You can contact me personally at hmdunne@gmail.com

H