Things I Love Thursday // 8.31.17

The stories pouring out of Texas of those who are going above and beyond ~ Many are showing up and doing whatever they can to rescue, support, feed, and clothe people in need. "Mattress Mack", Zachary Dearing, neighbors, first responders, officials, doctors and hospital staff... The examples go on and on.  Siblings ~ This is a picture of my brother, Bobby, Greg's sister, Jessica, and Greg at Jessica's baby shower last weekend. Isn't she beautiful?? Greg flew out to Portland to attend and beforehand he had lunch with Bobby. Then they all got to spend time together at the shower and celebrate the pending arrival of our newest nephew. Yahoo! Out of the Black ~ I heard this song during...

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Recipe Review | PLATED Creamy Garlic Spaghetti Squash

Our first Plated box arrived in early November, 2015. At that time, several friends had already tried meal delivery subscription/services and I was definitely intrigued. I enjoy cooking and I even enjoy grocery shopping (most of the time).  This service appealed to me because I often get hung up on generating ideas. I don't remember exactly what made me chose Plated over the other options but we've been really happy with the weekly options, the portion choices, the beautiful and easy-to-read menu cards, and the flexibility with ordering (skipping weeks on end because of calendar conflicts). One of the best things about Plated is the "globally inspired" menu. Every week there are 16 recipes...

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Things I Love Thursday // 8.24.17

Marte Frisne "Raquel Tassel Bangles" ~ I've been coveting one of these babies for quite some time but cannot justify the price (£165.00). Then, I found this one when Greg and I happened upon a Club Monaco sale in Charleston (I blogged about that last week). It's similar enough to make me exceedingly happy and for the price (on sale for $19.00), I can easily justify more than one color! I will say that my wrists are on the normal/small side and the cuff fits snugly.  Eclipse-watching with these three ~ Charlotte enjoyed 98% totality. I considered making the normally short drive to Columbia to be in the path of totality; however, the news outlets had me worried about traffic and crowds....

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Queen City | USNWC Paddle to Table

Living in Charlotte, we are quite lucky to be so close to the US National Whitewater Center. The USNWC is an outdoor recreation and training facility situated on 700 acres beside the Catawba River. Activities at the USNWC are plentiful: whitewater rafting, kayaking, canoeing, rock climbing, mountain biking, running trails, and hiking. The center serves as an official olympic training center for whitewater slalom racing. They also have zip lines, ropes courses, evening concerts, summer camps... A full activity schedule is available here. A few weeks ago, I spent an exceedingly enjoyable evening at one of the Center's regular events: Paddle to Table. Paddle to Table is an "Adventure Dining"...

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Things I Love Thursday // 8.17.17

It's been ages (okay 2+ years) since I compiled a list here of the things in my life that are bringing me joy. It is really nice to spend some time and attention considering those (sometimes small, sometimes big) moments, experiences, things, and people who add happiness or positivity to our days--especially in times when there is so much to feel overwhelmed, saddened, and even sickened by. Even taking the events of our world out of the equation, I think that often, I feel caught up in all of the things to do and places to be that it's easy to miss a lot of the very good stuff. So here's my list today. I hope it's a nice distraction. Geneva's watercolor ~ I took a fun watercolor...

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Queen City | Liberate Your Palate (Italian Aperitivos with Luca: Modern Italian Kitchen)

Charlotte's got a lot. Lately, I've been doing more to explore the variety of fun social/learning opportunities in our city. Last night I had the pleasure of attending a cocktail class presented by Tamu Curtis and Liberate Your Palate. From their website: "We have a passion for cocktail culture, we live it, love it  and have a burning desire to share it with you." Based on the time I had last night with my friend Anne, this thesis absolutely captured the evening. LYP offers their #ShakeStirSipSocialize classes in addition to cocktail catering. I imagine any event would be elevated with these passionate people on the job. Our class, "The Italian Aperitivo," was taught...

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Gallery Wall Refreshened

Revision. Refreshen.  Update. Enhance. I enjoy changing things up, especially in the house. Sometimes it's super easy --as with throw pillows on the couches and cushions on the porch rockers. Depending on the season, things go from bright and cheerful to warm and cozy. Even art pieces, books, plants, and candles are fairly easy to manipulate --giving our spaces an economical freshening up.  After going through pictures from our recent trip to Paris and London, I knew I wanted to incorporate some personal reminders of this family time together into our everyday living. There were so many great shots to choose from and I had a lot of ideas. Ultimately, I decided to make some...

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Camp Pick Up Tradition: Sierra Nevada Brewery

Camp pick-up day might just be the best day of the year for me. These squirrels are absolutely exhausted from packing in so much: horseback riding, kayaking, hiking, capture the flag, tennis, swimming, ceramics, painting, and so much more! They have so many new friends to introduce me to and so many special places at camp they want to show me. And the HUGS! Have I mentioned the hugs when we first see one another?? The goodbyes are heartfelt and the tears are sweet. And when they tuck in for their first night back at home, they both sleep heavily (one for 13 hours and the other 14, this year).  Before all of that sleeping though, our tradition is to wrap up camp with a stop for lunch...

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Christmas Eve-ish Feelings (and some thoughts about The Omni Grove Park Inn)

Today is the last full day that the girls are at camp. I spent the day checking little things off my to-do list, stocking the house with foods they like (including a box of "sugar" cereal *gasp*), and thinking about how amazing those hugs feel when we first see one another at pick up. Two weeks isn't a very long time but I swear it feels like ages ago that we dropped them off and checked into the Grove Park Inn for a 2-night stay. The first day they were away was as tender as this last day has been. I relaxed, read my book, laid at the pool, and sent them postcards. Asheville, North Carolina is a beautiful place. The Grove Park Inn, in particular, is a fantastic spot to just be quiet. The...

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