Franklin, NC

Went on a lil work escapade to Franklin, Waynesville and Sylva, North Carolina yesterday which are in very far western North Carolina, close to the Georgia line. Went to look at some land that we are possibly going to develop and also check on a project that is under construction (got muddy there!). Here is the land in Sylva we are looking at - a mountain basically!


Here is the gorgeous view...

This is a picture of the little restaurant we always go to in Franklin. I'm talking down home southern cookin' where the waitresses call you sweetie and baby doll. You don't get a turkey sandwich at a place like this - it is meatloaf or grilled chicken with 3 vegetables. Vegetables are mashed potatoes, mac and cheese and they have a couple green things - salad and collards. Ha! Having a piece of pie after lunch is all part of it and required. Coconut, strawberry, fresh peach, chocolate, pecan - you name it, they have it. All homemade. AH-mazing. Needless to say, I didn't really eat dinner!

Got home later last night and went to meet Kevin out at Blue for a drink. He is leaving today to go fishing in Wilmington for the weekend with a bunch of his high school buddies. He'll have a good time. Tonight, Tara and I are going to go to the Avenue Happy Hour at my place and also the 4th Ward Porch Crawl. Basically all the neighbors in 4th Ward come out on their porch, everyone brings their own drinks and everyone walks around everywhere. It is a pretty cool "get to know your neighbor" event. Typically a few houses "host" and have some basic snacks. Should be fun! Yall enjoy your weekend!!

Clay and Emily!

Yesterday and today have been typical and that has been so nice. The Bachelorette After the Final Rose was awesome last night. I'm so glad she picked Ed - I think they make a cute couple!

Speaking of couples - today is Clay and Emily's 3rd anniversary. They are the best couple! Can't believe it has already been three years since the big party in Raleigh and before I got the best sister-in-law and a very, VERY happy brother! Below is a picture from their wedding. I can't find pictures of the two of them from the wedding but I think that is because the wedding was before facebook got popular! Ha! All of my pictures from the wedding are on my home computer. What a fun weekend though!

And here they are recently with prescious Anna Kate! They are an adorable family! :)Enjoy celebrating! Congrats yall on three happy years!

I did decide that I was going to go run at lunch today and use the facilities in our office building. There is a really nice gym at the bottom of it with a locker room and shower. It worked out alright but I just get so hot...it was difficult to cool down when I came back in. I will probably try to do this a couple times a week just for something different and to get it out of the way before I go home. It is a nice break from all the stoplights uptown! Registered for a 5K today on September 12th. My friend Kim is signed up and it is through uptown. It is part of the Blues, Brews and BBQ Festival. http://www.hogjog.org/hogjog/ Should be fun!

I'm traveling for work tomorrow so I'll be MIA. Heading to Franklin, NC. It's about a 4 hour drive one way and the only project we drive to visit. So boo to driving but it'll be good to see a deal under construction that I had a lot to do with at the beginning (as I do with most of our deals). Hope yall are having a good week!

A Mix of Everything

The weekend started with a hot date to Basil. This is us on the street in front of our building on our way back to Stoolies to meet friends.
Saturday we got to go out to 24 Hours of Booty and see Kimmy and Jeff. Kimmy rode 100 miles and Jeff rode 200 miles in this charity event to raise money for cancer. It was really fun to watch them and get to see so many bikers our for a good cause. This is their family portrait (with Tahoe!):

Here is the start and finish line on Queens Road West.

Kimley-Horn also had a team and JRoy was a part of it. It was fun seeing her too!

Jeff and Jason riding by...

We layed low on Saturday night so we were ready for the pool all day on Saturday - whew it was a long day. We always grill out with neighbors on Sunday nights so we did that with Kim, Jim, Wendy and Josh. Then we all walked over to Epicentre to get ice cream. Jim and Kim...

Kevin in rough shape after the pool ( ;) ), me, Wendy and Josh (and Bailey).

Bailey loves his ice cream almost more than beer!

All in all, a very fun and relaxing weekend. :)

It's finally Fridayyyyy!

We had a crazy night out at Alive After Five. Typically Kevin always comes up to my place around 5:45, we have a drink, then he goes with his boys and I go with my girls. It is just how we have always done it. My AA5 partner in crime, Tara, was not here this week so I went with Kevin and one of his partners from work. Started at Stoolies (of course) then went over to see The Blue Dogs. We had set a strict curfew for us to be home by 9pm. Yea, that sort of happened by not really! We left Epicentre at 9:30pm but HAD to go back to Stoolies. You know how that goes. At 11:30pm, we got back to Avenue. Ahh, we try so hard to always come in early on Thursday - it just doesn't happen! Here are some pictures from last night. It was VERY humid, therefore my hair is a fro!
The Blue Dogs.

Kev and his boy Sabota.

Walking home...
Kevin and Jim thought it would be real cute to get Kim and I shirley temples. Ha!

Tonight, I think we are doing date night at Basil which is the AH-mazing Thai restaurant at the bottom of our building (http://www.eatatbasil.com/). We have only ever gone out to dinner by ourselves three times (and two of those has been at Basil!). Craziness! We are always too busy. This is the first weekend we have had in months where we can do whatever. It's going to be great!!! Hope yall have a fantastic weekend too!

North vs. South

There is a reason I live in the south, other than the weather. People are NICE down here. Every week, it is always such a relief to come home, not have to listen to those northern accents and hear people say "please" and "thank you."

Yesterday was quite the adventure in NY, NJ and PA. Flew into Laguardia around 10am. Of course everyone else in First Class stared at me because they didn't think I, a 26 year old GIRL, in jeans, belonged up there with them in their dark business suits. Well, well!! We arrived and I waited 30 minutes for my rental car bus to pick me up. Now, you have to remember, I'm used to Newark, Baltimore, Philly, Boston - all the normal places where the Hertz bus flies through to pick you up and you're off and you bypass the counter and you're in your car. Yesterday was out of the ordinary because Hertz had no cars so i was stuck slumming it with the common people at Enterprise. :) It took another 30 minutes for them to check over the car for scratches, make me sign a bunch of junk and ask me a million questions. It's fine, I told myself. I get in and see there is no EZ Pass. Oh my. I ask the woman why it isn't in there - "Enterprise doesn't do that." Well, after this whole escapade of an experience, I now know why Enterprise doesn't keep up with the business travelers. Business travelers don't have time to wait an hour to get a car or to wait in the EZ Pass cash lines. Ahh! Whatever, I'm over it, but I'm not renting from Enterprise again at Laguardia!!!

Here is a picture of the site I looked at in Dickson City, PA!

The round trip six hour drive out and back into the City was alright but just a cluster of rude people. I don't understand why people don't let other cars over in front of them! I can pretty much hang with the best of them when it comes to driving in big cities because I have realized that as long as you are in front, you have the right-of-way. In other words, so long as you "establish position," you're typically good to go. Ha! I got to come home early last night which was a nice treat. Caught the 7:00pm flight instead of the 9:40 so i got back to Avenue at 9:30 - very nice. Met Kevin and some neighbors at Stoolies for a quick drink. While we were there, it stormed like crazy and Church Street in front of it flooded. Check this out:

Tonight at Alive After Five, the Blue Dogs are playing. They are my second favorite beach music band (second to Chairmen of the Board). Should be a good time!

Tuesday, Tuesday.

It was so nice catching up with Kimmy and Julie last night at Cantina on East Boulevard. We always revert back to old times and pick up where we left off. That is how it is when you're good friends. Very cool that it is like that! Emily, we missed you! Here we are:

Then I got to pick Kevin and his friend Jason up at the airport! The American website said they were getting in at 8:23pm all along but then around 8pm they changed it to 8:55pm. When my phone rang at 8:30pm and they already had gotten their bags from baggage claim, i was not happy with that website! Oh well, they are home and i'm so happy. The one funny thing about their flight was on their leg from Dallas to Charlotte, one of my good friends Benny was on the plane. Kevin sent me a picture of him - they were sitting one row apart. Benny was coming back from a quick trip to Vegas. Trouble! Here's the picture...

Tomorrow, I won't be able to post. I'm doing a long day trip up to NY and PA for work. Not looking forward to that! Oh well, it'll be good to get some things done up north. Until then, have a good couple days!

Kevin comes home!

Kevin is FINALLY coming home tonight. It hasn't been the same without him. To add to the fact that he has been gone and missed the engagement party, his old school Cingular plan won't let him talk on the phone outside of the Carolinas. So it has been interesting with him using his buddy's phone and with the time change etc.. No fun! At least he was able to email though!

Going to get drinks with Kimmy and Julie after work today at Cantina. It will be nice to see both of them. We were Chi O's at NC State together. A picture will probably follow tomorrow. Then picking up Kevin and his friend at the airport at 8:30pm. :)

Girl's Night and Raleigh

What a busy weekend! It started with girl's night at Flemings on Friday. It was so great to catch up with everyone. Here are a few pictures...

The uptown ladies walking over. Tara, Wendy and I.

After dinner...Beth, Koren, Laura, Wendy, Tara, Emily.

We ended up at Whiskey River... Tara, B, Laura, Wendy.

Had to get up early on Saturday for a mini trip to Raleigh. Beth, Suz and I threw an engagement party for Kelly and Brett. We had fun celebrating their special time and can't wait until the wedding! Below are some pictures from last night:

The happy couple!

The bride and her matron and maid of honor.

Evidently peach is in!

Hanging out on the back deck of Suz's home. Bride, Beth, Sue Time, Churl, Suz.

Late night picture!

On my way out of town, i got to stop by and see a friend from college, Cristin. She and her husband just got married in Memphis a few months ago and i hadn't seen their new house. It is gorgeous! Another treat was that her mom was in town so it was great getting to see them both and have a couple of hours to chat.

Back to reality in Charlotte and getting ready to start the week. Kevin comes back tomorrow night THANK GOODNESS!!!!!!! 8:30pm cannot come soon enough!

FRIDAY!!!

TODAY IS FRIDAY!!! Looking forward to going out to dinner with five girlfriends tonight at Flemings. We are going for Queens Feast so it will only be $30 plus any drinks. www.charlotterestaurantweek.com It is a good deal for a place we all typically wouldn't go unless our amazing guy friends, boyfriends, fiances, husbands or parents would take us ;). I'll post a picture soon!

Tomorrow I'll probably not be blogging because I'll be on my way to Raleigh for Bushy and Brett's engagement party. Suzanne, Beth and I are throwing it for her at Suz's home in north Raleigh. We are very excited for Bushy and can't wait until April 24th when she is walking down the aisle!

Nanny's Ring!

Last night was very productive. One of the first times in a really long time that i was able to come home, go run, iron, fix a normal dinner, do my hair, download pictures and be in bed by 10:30. What a concept! And i even got to talk to Kevin for 20 minutes which was a very nice treat!

Got a special package in the mail yesterday from Mama. She sent me a ring that was her mother's from 1936. It is a sapphire and has diamonds on both sides. Here is a picture of it:

Today after work, I'm going to Alive After Five with my friends Lauren and Tara. I typically get "overserved" at AA5 but i'm going to make sure i'm home by 9:15pm tonight! :)

Early Day

Today started early! I got up at 4am to take Kevin and one of his old BofA buddies to the airport. They are visiting San Fran for two nights and then going to Tahoe for a wedding. I know they will have a blast but I already miss him. He won't be able to use his phone to call because it will be roaming so we'll have to rely on email and his friend's phone. Mama says distance makes the heart grow fonder!

Speaking of relationships...one of our favorite couples got engaged last night! Congrats to Jim and Kim! Here is a picture of them with us from a month or so ago!

Tonight I'm planning on going to see Kim's ring, taking their reenactment pictures (they forgot to take some last night), running and ironing. Busy weekend is ahead!

Mexico in Charlotte

This past weekend we had a wedding reception for the couple's wedding we went to in Playa del Carmen in early June. We had a great time with Josh and Wendy and all of the Avenue crowd. We're so lucky to live in such a fun place! Here is the couple in Mexico (they were adorable together!):

Here is the Avenue crowd at the reception this past weekend:

Of course i had to post a picture of Kev and I :) We had the best time!

Everyone else does it!

So I am blaming my obsession with reading blogs on my friend Suz. It has led me to create one for myself. I'm looking forward to documenting what I do when time is flying by. Here is a picture of Suz (at her wedding) and Kelly (we all call her Bushy). This is after Bushy caught the bouquet and yes, she is next to get married - April 24th! These are two of my bestest friends from college and Chi Omega.