Running around Asheville

Last weekend I had the chance to get together with all of my favorite girlfriends for my bachelorette in Asheville! It was a packed full weekend which is totally my speed. We stayed in the most charming little house in West Asheville which was fun to see the residential areas while we were there. My sister was the party planner and had everything planned out perfectly! Here's a photo recap of our jaunt around Asheville...

::Friday::

• Waking Life coffee shop - BEST nitro coffee pour! You don't even need milk.
• Hike around the Folk Art Center - beautiful views on the way up the Blue Ridge Parkway
• Walking brewery tour - Wicked Weed, Green Man Brewery, Twin Leaf Brewery (my fave!). All of the breweries had a great indoor/outdoor open breeze. It was a gorgeous day to enjoy beers around Asheville.
• After a great day out, we came back for happy hour and to my surprise a cocktail themed shower! So sweet, and so fun!!
• Dinner and drinks at Cucina24 and MG Road - great atmosphere and right in the middle of everything

::Saturday::

• Breakfast and coffee at High Five Coffee - I'm still dreaming about the smoothie I had!
• Gorgeous walk around the North Carolina Arboretum 
• Lunch at Rhubarb - don't let the double burger fool you - it's small and amazing especially with pimento cheese. We followed that up with beers at One World Brewing
• We started our night off at the Grove Park Inn Sunset Cocktail Terrace and it was beautiful! The best view all weekend, plus the peach and basil gimlet can't be topped.
• Dinner was at Rezaz where we had the chef's table (see picture above - right in the middle of the kitchen action) for a 5 course meal with wine pairing. It was absolutely delicious!
• We couldn't get enough of the Grove Park Inn so we headed there after dinner for more fun and drinks. And if you can't tell we ended the weekend on a high by spotting Kate Upton on a girls weekend!

The entire weekend was thought out perfectly and hit all of my high notes for what I imagined in Asheville! It was the perfect way to kick off the festivities for Mr. B and I since we are quickly closing in on 10.17.15!! Next up.... bridal portraits!

Happy Friday!

Office Space

Like most people who work in an office we can all agree that Office Space was way more hilariously accurate than we can even give it credit for. As I'm writing this now I'm sitting with a very unfashionable headset on in a cube listening to "work arounds" and "regroups" and acronyms that mean nothing outside of these four walls. I'm thankful to be inside from this summer heat wave we're experiencing in NC, but the self tanner that I was forced to apply this morning from lack of sun is permeating. It's only a matter of time until one of my cube mates tells me the smell has set off their allergies (true story). 

As the 30 year mark continues to close in (only 4 months away), I have a nagging feeling that there is nothing natural, sexy or intentional about spending your days locked up at a cube...670F to be specific. If I had to tell my younger self one thing it would be to pay attention to your Myers Briggs! Follow what makes you tick and what really feeds your soul. If I had paid closer attention to what really feeds my personality way back when I probably wouldn't be faced with this meltdown at almost 30. "Meltdown" is clearly intense and dramatic, but I'm trying to refocus my efforts back to being intentional and thoughtful and aligned with why this blog was originally created. This year has been a year of growth and change, and I'm stretching and reaching to finish it out with even more of both.

My conference call has ended, and we've concluded we'll need another regroup... but I'll leave you with this little token.

Friday Wedding Fun

Today marks exactly 3 months until Mr. B and I are only another 24 hours away from sitting on the beaches of St. Lucia... as husband and wife! Since Friday's are usually dedicated to my top 5 favorite things of the week I thought I'd do a wedding edition in honor of being only 3 short months away from the big day. First, let's get this straight though. This isn't my wedding, but lots of my favorite things when I first started planning that I wish someone else would do!

::one::

::two::

 

::three::

::four::

::five::

I literally can't wait to see our true vision come through on Oct 17th.  I'm praying we have a beautiful clear blue sky kinda day that makes people fall in love with the North Carolina coast that time of year.

Treat-Yo-Self

I hope everyone had a fantastic July 4th holiday! Mr. B and I had a low key weekend in the country. Other than the grassroots fireworks show we watched the real highlight was my homemade ice cream!

DRUM ROLL please....

Coffee Buttered Pecan. Enough said. Coffee is by far my favorite flavor, but come pumpkin pickin' time I love a good buttered pecan. From a farm stand. Behold the mash up. It's amazing and you should definitely give it a whirl!

2 tablespoons salted butter
1 cup pecans, roughly chopped
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/8 cups sugar
3 1/2 tablespoons instant coffee (or 1 small box Folgers instant coffee packets)
3 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Melt the butter and add the chopped pecans. Toast them up for 4-5 minutes. Strain any leftover butter and chill the nuts. In a medium bowl, combine milk, sugar and instant coffee. Mix on low speed until sugar is dissolved. Stir in heavy cream and vanilla. Turn the ice cream maker on, pour in mixture, and let mix until thickened about 25 minutes. Add the chopped pecans to the mixture during the last 5 minutes of freezing. Transfer ice cream to airtight container and freeze until you're ready to enjoy!

Next up... Lemon Basil Sherbet

The only picture taken all weekend. Waiting for the fireworks!

until next time...

Life Lately...

So, it's been more than a month since my last post! I didn't intend to drop the blog like a hot potato, but it's been hard finding time to sit and focus. In an effort to catalog the craziness here's what's been up...

We'll start with Memorial Day Weekend which I'll call Buffalo Trip #1. My family started out Friday afternoon trailing a Uhaul to Buffalo, NY to move my sister's family. It was a jammed packed weekend, but what I learned is that the further north you go into Western NY the more farm lands you see. Which for some reason really surprised me, and it was actually really pretty. My pictures don't do it justice so I'll spare you!

Exploring the Village of Williamsville

After that, as I mentioned before, my sister's family stayed with Mr. B and I until last weekend. We spent the last 5 weeks grilling, running the museum, going to the park, eating dim sum, serious attempts at juicing (read this article for a laugh) and general fun-ing around the capital. My niece was the perfect helper watering our plants*, and providing endless entertainment. We all thought 5 weeks sounded like forever, but in reality it FLEWWWW by! Sadly.

*Our plants look amazing! We're so proud of our very small produce haul!

Perfecting the BBQ

Callie being very tolerant!

Saying goodbye... for now

Goodbye party with all the girls!

This doesn't look like much, but this pretty much brings us to the present. Last weekend Mr. B and I made Buffalo Trip #2 for the final goodbye. After 30 years of basically living in tandem it's time for my sister and I to spread our wings. It was a sad goodbye, but we already have plans on the calendar for the next several months. Until then, we'll stick with FaceTime. 

With all the action early on, the summer feeling has set in hard for me! If there's any such thing as senoritis for grown adults I have it! With our wedding and honeymoon on the horizon I can barely stayed focused.  

We're on the go again this weekend to the beach to finalize our wedding menu. I'm really excited to see what they have in store for us!

Until next time...

#FlashbackFriday

Several weeks ago Mr. B and I took our engagement pictures with our photographer. She's so cute and petite I could put her in my back pocket. The day was pretty cloudy, but the sun came out for a few minutes just for us. In no way is this blog turning into a photo montage of our engagement and wedding pictures, but just this once I thought I'd share a tiny taste. And by tiny I mean 2. 

Happy Friday!

The Low Down

The short of the long for today...

1. I had just pulled out of our neighborhood heading to work this morning feeling fabulous in a pair of skinny black pants and wedges when I noticed a hole in the side of my pants. I sat there debating all the alternatives and decided that turning around and going back home was the best option compared to my pants splitting down the leg in the cafe at work. So, back home it was and since I was home I changed my entire outfit. Go figure.

2. Today marks my first day of a 2 week free trial of ClassPass. Have ya'll heard of this? It sounds pretty cool. It's basically 1 pass for unlimited fitness classes at participating gyms in your area. The only catch is you can't go to the same gym 3 times in a month. I think that might be tough, but I'm going to see how the next 2 weeks go. Maybe I'll find a new favorite gym!

3. As mentioned previously, I have some exciting work news. I've accepted a new position at work and will be officially starting next Monday. Wooohooo! This opportunity couldn't have come at a better time, and I can't wait to get started!

4. Lastly, our lil' urban garden is growing in leaps and bounds. Last week I decided to use our basil (which looks award winning by the way!) to make a quick sauce to go over chicken. It's definitely in the pesto family.

This has been adapted from Giada:

1 cup fresh basil

2-3 garlic cloves

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Blend it all together and gradually add in 1/3 cup olive oil

Use it on everything! It's lemony and basily (not a word, but ok) and delicious!

Happy Wednesday!