The Midlife Fashionista

Dinner at Carmine's

ageless style

The Marina Village in Atlantis (Bahamas) is collection of darling shops and fun restaurants.

Lively island music gets everyone in a dancing (and shopping) mood.

The boardwalk is lined with luxurious yachts. Mine is the one on the right.

The shopping is fabulous, so of course Cathy and I did a little damage. I came close to buying this bag but restrained myself. Cathy on the other hand, bought an emerald cut aquamarine ring!

The bags were amazing. The colors!!!

Shopping definitely requires comfortable clothes--after all there's a lot of bending, stretching and reaching for those bags! Wearing a loose white peasant blouse (similar HERE and HERE), light wash high rise jeans, white sneakers (love these--and on sale!) and my "go-to"Juju Bagz metallic tote.

This beautiful ring (handmade by Aileen Peters) adds a pop of color. I'm in love with her stunning jewelry collection.

By 9:00 p.m., Cathy and I were starving (shopping works up an appetite!). We could eat a huge meal....heck two huge meals!

Well our wish came true. We were super lucky to get right in at the famous Carmine's, where they're known for their hefty portions.

I can't say the waiter didn't warn us...he explained that the meals were enormous and fed 4-5 people (family style)! But Cathy and I were FAMISHED and couldn't agree on something to split. So we each ordered our own salad and dinner.

Uh oh.

As soon as the salads arrived we realized that we had made a huge mistake.

I'm in food heaven.

Then the meals came. The plates were so heavy, you needed two hands to lift them.

We felt a little silly (everyone was looking at us), but after a glass of wine we didn't care.

And WHY did I wear a white top?

Ready, set, ATTACK!

SOOOO good!!!

Here are our leftovers.

There's always room for dessert. I admit, this one was a doozy.

Uber indulgence. Feeling sick. Why did we eat so much?

Doggie bag please? Tomorrow's lunch!

Thanks for following along on our Bahamas adventures!

XO Susan

Style photos by the one and only Cathleen Trainor, corporate executive extraordinaire, top notch best friend and amazingly talented photographer.

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Affiliate links in this post may generate a small commission or be gifted. However, the content of my posts are based on my own honest opinions and are not in any way influenced by partnerships.

Thursday, May 05, 2016
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Will the real "Fish Fry" please stand up?

Bahamas

You may have heard that Nassau is the capital of The Bahamas, but did you know that it's also home to Junkanoo Beach and the infamous "Fish Fry" scam?

Cathy and I strolled through the famous "Junkanoo Beach" area which is a lively hotspot for colorful tiki bars and food stands selling fresh seafood.

The water is a cool turquoise that will literally take your breath away.

A "Cathyism"---"You've seen one conch, you've seen them all". Love you Cath.

Being the total slouch that I am, I begged for a little rest on the swaying hammock--after all it was calling out my name. With a bit of encouragement, Cathy joined me. This is the life!

But the best (and funniest) thing that happened at Junkanoo Beach had to do with a sneaky "fish fry" plot.

While walking towards the restaurant area, we were approached by a sweet young man named Elvis, who with menu in hand, filled us in about the fish fry scam. He said that there was only ONE real "fish fry" restaurant and the rest were impostors. He warned us that we would be approached by other people who would swear on their life that their fish fry was the best and they were the real deal. He even went so far as to offer us free conch fritters if we ate at his place. He seemed genuine (after all, he did call us both beautiful) so Cathy and I bought it all, hook and sinker (no pun intended).

Now meet Alvin. Within minutes Alvin rushed up to us with another fish fry pitch. He assured us that his restaurant was the "real fish fry" and that it was the best on the island. Ugh, who to believe?

Over the course of our walk to the restaurants, we were approached by several more "fish fry salespeople" who tried to denounce those before them and assure us that their fish fry was the one and only --the real deal. By the time we got to our destination, we were fish fried out.

OK, is it me or is there a chicken on this fish fry sign?

Check out this sign...Bahamian, Creole, Italian and Chinese Dishes...and of course fish fry! Makes you want to eat there, doesn't it?

We finally decided to choose fish fry #1 (that would be Elvis' dig) but as we approached it, Alvin rushed in to steal the show. I don't know about you, but I found this all to be very weird!!

Of course Cathy and I didn't have the heart to say no, so we ate at Alvin's joint. The conch fritters weren't free, but they were delicious--the salads on the other hand, not so much.

$75.00 later (total rip-off) we couldn't believe that we got sucked into the fish fry scheme.

So you might be wondering "what do you wear when going on a fish fry adventure"?

Walking around Nassau is exhausting (plus it's HOT in the sun!) so I chose a Tommy Bahama loose stripe sleeveless top from Lyn Evans , paired with rolled up denim shorts, a fabulous lightweight cross-body bag from Juju Bagz and my super comfy white leather sneakers.

Charm stretch bracelets are from Luxa Jewelry

A wide brim hat and sunglasses are a must when out in the hot sun.

Similar HERE, HERE and HERE.

Richard don't be jealous, but there is a new guy in my life.

Stay tuned for more adventures (and fashion) from The Bahamas!

XO Susan

Style photos by the one and only Cathleen Trainor, corporate executive extraordinaire, top notch best friend and amazingly talented photographer.

Are you ready to update your wardrobe?

I do distance coaching too!

www.agreatnewlook.com

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Tuesday, May 03, 2016
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The Bahama Mamas

Atlantis

When your best friend asks you to join her on an all expense paid trip, it's like winning the lottery. I mean what could be better than a vacation in The Bahamas AND five days with my bestie/soul sister?
My bags were packed before I could even blurt out "yes"!

Cathy and I have been best friends since high school, which equates to 10 years (OK 11).....OK the real number is 40 OMG. She is one of those people who excels at everything, so it didn't surprise me that she made President's List at work. However, the real surprise was that she won a trip to The Bahamas and asked me to go with her! Yippee!

We got back last Friday and I've been dying to blog about our adventures. I have so much to share with you (there are some really funny stories!), so I thought it best to do a series of blogs chronicling our trip. And of course I'll be showing off some outfits at the same time. Since Cathy is my photographer, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to do some island photo-shoots!

So without further adieu, I present to you
"The Bahama Mamas" Day 1...

It's 6:00 a.m. and I'm ready to go! No matter how hard I try, I always overpack. After all, you never know when you'll need 10 pairs of shoes for a 5 day trip--2 for each day!

Who's with me?

Here is my traveling outfit. I chose super comfy AG mid-rise jeans, a loose stripe tank and a soft knit denim jacket, a new black hat (now on sale for $22.80!) and flat J. Crew sandals that were easy to take on/off through security. The layers worked well for the transition from Boston to Atlantis.

The metallic tote is from Juju Bagz. You'll be seeing and hearing more about their fabulous bags in upcoming posts. The line is absolutely amazing. I used this bag for traveling, the beach and even for going out at night. It's SO versatile, stylish and durable!

Here's Cathy at the airport with the bags. Her suitcase is the one on the left. It may seem smaller than my red one, but don't let the size fool you. Cathy's bag actually weighed half a pound more than mine!

True story, we were joking with the Jet Blue representative about the size of our bags because Cathy was certain that mine weighed more than hers. My suitcase went on the scale first weighing in at 44 lbs. Cathy's was next.....and WOAH it was a whooping 54 lbs! The rep told Cathy that she would have to pay extra since the bag was 4 pounds over the limit. It took us a minute to figure out that it was all a joke and that the rep had her knee on the scale! The real weight was 44.5 lbs--mine weighs less yay! Love your sense of humor Jet Blue!

Selfie on the plane while waiting for take-off.

Our "flight emergency kit".

Cathy and I don't mess around when it comes to junk food!

We landed in Nassau at 12:30 p.m.

And got to Atlantis by 1:30.

What's the first thing you do when you get to The Bahamas? Have a Bahama Mama of course!

One drink did the trick and loosened us right up.

Atlantis has stunning beaches.

And amazing pools.

Around 5:00 we headed back to our room at The Coral Towers for a rest before going to the company dinner (poolside!). Confession--I've always been jealous of Cathy's petite feet. Mine look like giant's next to hers.

View from our room. This is the life.

We were a bit late for the dinner, so I quickly took some selfies of my outfit (sorry for the poor quality of the photos).

Wearing a simple navy maxi (similar HERE), flat gold sandals, a cork clutch and my fabulous Bittersweet Designs necklaces.

Thanks for sharing my trip with me! Stay tuned for lots more!
XO Susan

Are you ready to update your wardrobe?

I do distance coaching too!

www.agreatnewlook.com

For more style inspiration follow me on:

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Sunday, May 01, 2016
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