Have you ever had one of those weekend’s that make you say, “Man… I needed that!”

That was me this past weekend after Cercone Brown’s Summer House on Nantucket island. It was absolutely-positively incredible.

Cercone Brown developed a genius idea when it came to connecting editors with brands and products — bring everyone together in a relaxed, fun atmosphere… and let the experience take over. The formula is a perfect equation and I had the amazing opportunity to experience it first-hand this past weekend (and honestly, I didn’t want the weekend to end! I had that great of a time!).

I had never been to Nantucket in my life, crazy since I’m from Rhode Island and have been to Cape Cod about a zillion times in my life… so I was extremely excited to be checking out some new “local” territory! I was greeted with a beautiful view as soon as I got off the ferry on Thursday afternoon…

It made me smile from ear-to-ear, and a peaceful and uber-relaxed feeling came over me. It was the perfect start to a perfect weekend!

And then I saw the house I’d be staying at – otherwise known as the Summer House for the weekend! A gorgeous 6 bedroom house in Nantucket with a Pool House… unreal.

And then I met my housemates for the weekend, and it was perfect. I don’t know why I was nervous about meeting everyone… I think I was more or less thinking that everyone was going to know everyone else, so it was nice to see that many of us were meeting for the first time. Everyone was super nice, cool and just FUN! My actual roommate Lisa, the only other mom in the house with me was the perfect person to spend the 2 nights with. But the beauty of the weekend is that Cercone Brown brings in brands and companies to sponsor certain sections of our weekend. You actually get to have a hands-on experience… first up for me? Pure Dark Cooking Demonstration and Lunch. It was off. the. hook. GOOD! Every part of our lunch incorporated the Pure Dark into it… my favorite was the goat cheese rolled in Pure Dark niblets… DELICIOUS!

The best ice-breaking activity was on the first afternoon… we had to take a cut-out of Buzz Aldrin and take 6 photos around Nantucket’s downtown. We each paired up with our roomie for the activity, so Lisa and I ran around downtown Nantucket in the pouring rain capturing Buzz in different shots!

We ended up winning the activity! 🙂 And we celebrated over delectable Rustic Pizzas and the most relaxing Mary Kay massage/facials! It was the PERFECT way to end our first day!

Our next day kicked off with a bike ride… but it wasn’t just a bike ride, it was a hardcore fashionably decked out bike ride (that I swear, made my husband’s life to see me in bike gear!). We got to wear Pactimo gear – which was super cool because they are the leading provider of Elite Custom Cycling Apparel and Accessories. I have to tell you, I was scared to bike because I’ve never done anything like this before in my life… but the shorts and shirt were VERY comfy and super cute!

And when I saw this view from our bike destination, it made it ALL worth it…

One of the reason’s why I loved the bike trip so much was because we all did it together. It was so much fun chatting on the way and getting to know everyone a little bit better. It’s one thing to be sitting around a table… but it’s a WHOLE other thing to be sweating and peddling away on a bike ride, all motivating each other and cheering each other on. It was one of my most favorite things to do this past weekend.

When our ride was done, we fueled up on a Sabra lunch, where we sampled foods made with all Sabra products – my personal favorite was a DELICIOUS pasta salad! I inhaled it! I’ve been a lover of Sabra hummus for a long time, but I had never known that they made so much more, too! I had zero clue about salsa and guacamole. I’m not kidding, I was practically licking the bowl clean! And we got to cool off (or warm up, depending upon what you wanted) with the Kuerig coffee car after lunch! 🙂 I was obsessed with the Kuerig Coffee machine (I mean, OBSESSED!) and the iced coffee it was producing!

Ahhh… and then the perfect way to end the day – we got all dolled up for our sunset sailing trip with Helly Hansen and Sebago on the Endeavor! It was AWESOME!! I’ve never been sailing before, so I had such a fantastic time! And when they called for volunteers to help with the sails, I jumped!

When our sailing excursion ended we all headed over to the beautiful Vineyard Vines store and had the opportunity to shop for a bit. I bought myself a gorgeous strapless dress – the Ocean Blvd for my upcoming 10 year anniversary this week…

… and then we all went out to a delicious dinner with Lizzie from Vineyard Vines. I had a bowl of clam chowder that was literally out of the this world! So good!! It was wonderful being out with everyone because we had had so much fun together throughout the day at all of our various activities, that it was nice to sit and chat over a glass of wine and a fabulous meal! I have to admit, when we finished dinner around 11PM, the only thing that was calling me was my bed… Lisa and I (the mama hens) crashed into our beds when we got back to the house and didn’t move until 8AM the next morning!

Renee Balconi came to the house to give us a morning workout… and that she did! 🙂 Renee was one of the most passionate, driven and dedicated people I have ever come across in my life in trying to inspire and keep people moving in a healthy way. She was absolutely fantastic and gave us a bootcamp that my body is still recovering from! And I say that with a smile because I’ll tell you, I needed it… and she made me realize even more than I need to keep myself moving and active! Plus, we all got to train in her signature Balconi hats!

We then finished off our weekend with a laid-back lunch by tasting different Olive Oils. And I got the chance to head down to the beach and dive on in! I had been wanting to do that all weekend, and finally the weather gave us some SUN on Saturday afternoon – it was perfect beach weather and I totally took advantage of it!

I just had the most incredible weekend! I cannot wait to share with you all the brands I met and go into deeper depths of some of them, everything was just amazing. It was three beautiful summer days on Nantucket among the hottest products for 2011/2012. There weren’t any distractions, there wasn’t any competing of products. Just the editors getting to taste, touch, smell, test, review and write based on real life experience.

Can’t wait for the next event!!