the round up

by the way, some of the random goodness that has been happening:

We finally got a Chuy's!!! Seriously, I can't even explain how happy this made me -- delicious Tex-Mex finally to be had in North Carolina. I will eat all of their flour tortillas if you let me.  Also, look at that adorable caped corgi! I love this place. 

We won a cheese ball at trivia! We were at the Pinhook in Durham for awesome trivia and came in second and won a cheese ball! Can you even believe? Best trivia winnings ever.

Casey put both dogs in a box.  And they stood their like the good pups they are.  They weren't in time out or anything, just hanging out in a box...

 

Chloe was a party animal for Halloween.  Get it?! 

Jonathan made me many a feast, including this one -- eggplant parm, delicious! 

xoxo

cabin camping in the mountains

last weekend we went camping.  it wasn't actually camping - we rented a cabin, but I kept calling it camping, because really, for me, it's the same thing.  We got a place near blowing rock, north carolina.  Jonathan & I joined the team late on Friday due to an exciting party (more on that later). 

Saturday we spent most of the day hiking the Julian Price Memorial Trail off of the Blue Ridge Parkway. 

We managed to get some decent photos of the group in front of Casey's VW bus, which is actually challenging with 6 people & 3 dogs

 

and then we set out on a lovely hike

with lots of mini waterfalls

on the way back to the cabin we hit up the Blowing Rock Brewing Company

They (along with a handful of B&Bs) cater to a weekender/resorty crowd in downtown Blowing Rock. The beer was fine -- not the best and not the worst, but certainly refreshing after an afternoon of hiking. (btw - we could sit outside with the dogs)

We basically did nothing except for lounge and eat for the rest of the day.  On Sunday on our way out of town we stopped at two more breweries: Fonta Flora Brewery in Morganton and Olde Hickory Brewery in, you guessed it, Hickory. Olde Hickory was good with lots of choices including some fancy ones like the 11% Bourbon Honey Stout Jonathan had. The atmosphere was less enticing as it's also a pretty large restaurant. 

Fonta Flora, however, was special.  

It's housed in a charming corner building with lots of open space but plenty of seating. It has a solid local crowd that filled the place pretty well for a Sunday afternoon in the South. The beer was delicious with a decent variety for a small setup. 

It's dog and people friendly -- they were all very lovely and friendly.  A friend of the brew team stopped by to hand out cupcakes and candied bacon because she was testing out some new recipes! I mean really people, a brewery with bacon?! What more do I need? (Nothing is the answer.) 

They are also trying cool things with beer and local ingredients to make things like a beet saison! I had their irish stout on nitro and it was awesome. Hopefully, we will be going back to this one sooner rather than later.  

I (obviously) highly recommend Fonta Flora if you are ever in the area.

xoxo

well, back from the break

i'm not going to even try. it's been a long time. life is busy, but good. so,

here are some pictures from today! look at me being on top of it!

Jonathan, Jen, Evan, and Tom all ran the Merge 25K this morning like crazy/impressive people.  Because what better way to celebrate 25 years of records than by running from Chapel Hill to Durham? I know. This is why I was support crew, along with Chloe of course.  They all rocked it with amazing times, despite all the hills this area brings.  Luckily, the weather was perfect, a beautiful 75 degrees today, giving me hope that spring is actually around the corner...even though we have snow predicted for Tuesday...But anywho, some pics:

Miss Chloe stealing the show, per the usual:

Miss Olive making the best face ever:

 Some of the crowd, soaking up the sun and beverages:

Hope you are enjoying the weekend and lovely weather! 

xoxo

where the dog stops and the couch beings, pillows

And this girl! Chloe also did a lot of curling up for cuddles and naps.  

Such a cutie.  She even has her own blog!

But seriously, she and the couch match:

Did I mention she loves a pillow?

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

soon

in a few weeks, these ladies are moving in 

and hopefully, ashley will make more of these strawberry cocktails:

chloe is thrilled

xoxo

puppy love

not a cat person, here's a dose of chloe to brighten your day then:

Chloe loves a pillow and the sun:

 Sometimes we put her in her hoodie because it's hilarious! And she's such a good sport about it:

 But most of the time, she's just chilling with us, wondering why she isn't outside on a play date. 

But really, this girl has a busy social schedule with 2-4 puppy play dates a day! She's a popular girl.

xoxo

and my birthday

The day after thanksgiving was my birthday. I love being a thanksgiving baby, it feeds my pumpkin persona. 

This year was a big one too, 25. Well, bigish, it is my quarter-century mark.

Since Ashley was going to be in Texas, she made me a pre-birthday brunch before she left. Of course it was awesome in every way.

Knowing that it would be such, I did a fancy braid: one over the top and the rest pulled to the side and braided down.

Chloe was excited to be a part of this ladies brunch, can't you tell?

Ashley made pumpkin cinnamon rolls!!! I mean really people. 

On my actual birthday Jonathan and I spent a lovely day relaxing.  We took Chloe for a long walk, played ticket to ride (a birthday addition), and ate at poole's diner, which was delicious.  The drinks were fancy, the food was tasty, and the dessert was flipping amazing. 

Also, the boy got me a lovely california apron, absolutely perfect.

It was a lovely ringing-in to my next year.

xoxo

oh yeah, thanksgiving

it was epic, of course.

Mike and I hosted at the Forum for our friends and it was so delicious.  

We had Chloe who was adorable per the usu:

I made a turkey! I used the cooking method form Jacques Pepin's Steamed & Rosted Turkey

and it was awesome. Mike pulled out the gross parts, which I couldn't even find, ridiculous. 

I deviated a bit from the recipe (shocker) and after the steam session, stuffed the turkey with a lemon, apple, onion, and cinnamon stick, with some additional mixture sprinkled around the pan.

I followed the recipe for the glaze and basted twice

While the turkey roasted, we got the house ready for company.  

These boys were matching, by accident they say...

When the internal temperature was just right, I pulled out the turkey and emptied the interior parts and juice into the roasting pan and let the turkey sit on the cutting board while I made the gravy. 

Yeah, it's pretty freaking beautiful, isn't it?

For the gravy I made a roux and added the juices and bits from the turkey and cooked until thick.  Then I strained it. Seriously, so delicious. Apples + lemon + onion = perfect turkey gravy, fyi. 

And then we ate, we feasted on turkey and all the fixings.  No really, all of them, see:

Mom was actually worried there wouldn't be enough room in my house for all the food, but we made it work.  Everything was so delicious. I still dream of that meal. 

Needless to say it was a fabulous thanksgiving filled with food, football, and friends. 

Chloe was a bit bummed she couldn't have more turkey. 

Don't tell Ashley I gave her a little piece!

Hope y'all had a lovely day!

xoxo