back on track

Happy New Year! 

I hope y'all had a lovely holiday season! 

It's been two months since I posted, which is beyond terrible.  Last semester was super busy for me but I have now successfully defended my dissertation proposal! Which really means I just have to finish my dissertation to be done, yeah! 

I've never been one for resolutions, but I do promise to go back to blogging this year! Don't worry, you can expect a lot of recaps of what did happen in the second half of last year. 

So here's to a new year with 2014!

xoxo

ps. here is another great license plate from NC:

peachy keen

Early fall was still hot in NC, which called for tequila.  I mixed this craving with peach and lime juice and it was delicious! I've been using the Dixie Peach juice from Trader Joes. They still have it so you should probably pick some up while you still can.

hmm, let's call it

Summertime? Madness 

just for jake! ;)

***

1 part tequila

2 parts peach juice

dash of lime juice

on the rocks.

Keep your spirits up! 

(see what I did there?)

xoxo

the cat won't let me

it continues to be a super busy fall, or year i guess, making for slow blogging.  but i think we know who is really to blame...

yup, always trying to stop me from working! 

even now, as i type this he's laying in between me and the computer. 

ridiculous!

xoxo

nc craft beer tour: what we are doing & stop one

Jonathan and I have decided to do something a little crazy: visit all of the craft breweries in NC.

Whoa indeed people.  I don't know when we decided this was a good idea, or how we would get it all done, but we did. And so now, a new journey has begun.

Step one was deciding what was a craft brewery.  There are varying reports, definitions, and lists.  After some serious research and review we settled on a list of 97 establishments in the state.

That's right 97 craft breweries in 31 counties. 

Curious who made the cut? Explore our list here. 

We have previously visited nine of these places before we started this little project, but we decided that we would revisit those guys along the way. 

So our first stop was in Asheville, on the way to Arkansas in June. 

We went to the Asheville Brewing Company, which was one of the places we had gone to previously, so it seemed like a good place to start. 

It was delicious, again and a nice way to begin the tour. 

More updates to come.

xoxo

to new adventures: tour de fat

So the biggest thing that happened this summer was Tour de Fat. 

If you are unfamiliar, Tour de Fat is an epic event hosted by New Belgium in a few cities across America every summer. It's like a carnival with beer and games and lots of bike love.

The focus of the event is presenting the city with their bike trader.  A bike trader is a badass individual who gives up their car (donated to charity) in exchange for a new bike with the commitment to live car-free for a year.

Sound familiar now? Ashley was the Durham trader last year and has been chronicling her adventures here. 

And this year, Jonathan took the leap and said goodbye to the echo and hello to a jamis.  His blog (yes he's blogging!) is here. 

So in June, New Belgium came to Durham and we celebrated the bike! 

Even Chloe made the trip:

The day's events: 

The crowd:

The stage:

Jonathan being presented:

Jonathan post presentation: 

A jumbo game of connect-four:

And just general hanging out:

 

A couple of days after the event Jonathan went and picked out his mate -- a brand new jamis from the great team at oak city cycling:

(this was his test ride - he of course, always wears a helmet!) 

Thanks New Belgium for this incredible adventure! 

xoxo

family fun

Also this past summer, jonathan and i made our way south to the great state of Arkansas for some time with my family and friends, and to celebrate America! 

On the drive we stopped in Nashville, one of favorite cities I've decided, and explored some neighborhoods and offerings for the night.  

Of course, we had to go to Prince's and get some Hot Chicken.  

If you don't know Hot Chicken, you haven't lived -- it's fried chicken that has marinated in a cayenne bath and then has a cayenne breading too.  Served over white toast with pickles. 

 

Per the usual it was delicious. This skin was hot and crunchy and the meat was tender and juicy.  Incredible. 

But that was just first dinner.  After a bar with a delicious porter (yes it's july, yes we don't care), we had second dinner at Chuy's my favorite maker of tortillas. Seriously, I don't know what they put in their tortillas, (though I have a guess I just don't want to confirm it) but they are the best. So of course, I ordered a side of them. And I'm super pumped that Raleigh is getting their own location in October!

 

We headed to the lake the next day and hung out with the family for a few days and enjoyed all the usual fun - swimming, eating, playing cards, and more eating.

Then we went to Little Rock to meet up with the gang and take over Jake's house.  Emmy was pleased.

 

We celebrated the Fourth and America at Jake's parent's house with some solid pool time and grilling. 

It was a lovely vacation with my people and time away from work for a whole week!

xoxo

p.s. did you see this American can? epic. 

a walk in the park

I was terrible this summer with blogging. really terrible. things were quite busy and haven't really calmed down, but it's time to be better. 

A lot of fun things did occur along with the work, including a trip to dc to see our favorite duo casey & ashley. 

We walked around the city, sampled a lot of bars, ate some great food (including tacos!) and biked to a micro-brewery. 

And yes, biking in DC is ten-times better than NC -- there are no hills.

The main event was exploring the Theodore Roosevelt Island, which was a great walk around through some un-manicured trails to a peaceful (and shaded) memorial in the center.

Obviously, Chloe had a blast:

As did the rest of us.

The big man on campus if you will:

It's a great escape to nature and from the traditional DC stops if you are looking for something new.

xoxo