Fun!

We had such a fun weekend! It started off by taking a look at Kevin's new condo he bought at 4th Ward Square. They are still working on upfitting it but this will be his view to the soonly converted salt water pool. Don't worry, he isn't moving there....he's going to rent it out.
Downtown Dan (one of Kevin's buddies who told him about this project) took us back to the Avenue in his 1965 Rolls Royce, very cool ride. He said he does about 85 weddings a year in it.

Saturday morning, Kevin ran his first 5k race which started at Brixx uptown. His co-worker was there and took a picture of us. I'm very proud of him and I think he had a good time running it and being out there with a bunch of runners. He could have probably done about 5 minutes better on his time if he had really known what to expect. (ucky pic but whatever!) That night we met his parents down in Fort Lawn, SC at the Catawba Fish Camp. Talk about country - whewwww we! Down home southern style. This place even had a drive through.

Talk about some fried food - ha!!! Craziness! Definitely learned some new southern lingo for seafood. Let's just say it is quite different from a crab house on the eastern shore of Maryland - ha!

Here we are leaning on the back of Kevin's Dad's pick up. All part of the experience!

After dinner, we headed up to Ballantyne for my friend (and sorority sister) Courtney's finace's birthday party at her house. We had so much fun catching up with everyone! Thank yall for a great time! Ahh, I wish I had taken some pictures there. Grrrrr.

Sunday we did our normal errands and then one of Kevin's buddies Brad came over to grill out. He stayed until about 9. We watched football and I cooked them dinner. It was a good time and just what we all needed to end the weekend!

Tonight is Monday Night Football. Go Panthers! Avenue is throwing a party on the 10th floor with a free keg and wings.

I'm out for a couple days in NJ. Talk to you guys later this week!

So Special

Last night I came home from kickball and Kevin had put together a nice lil treat for us. One of his partners just got back from Germany and brought all the guys some German chocolates. Kev put them on a plate with some cheese, grapes and wheat thins and poured us some wine. It was super cute. We went out on the balcony to enjoy it and chit chat. It was SO nice to chill out there with him and it was so thoughtful of him to think to put it together. :) We talked for about an hour and then he went to his "dorm room." Ha, Avenue is such a dorm sometimes. PS for anyone who doesn't know - we live one floor apart and cady corner - it's how we met!

Kevin, if you're reading this (probably not) - THANK YOU! :)

Clay and Emily's Visit

Clay and Emily came up from Pawleys for a visit to Charlotte. They hadn't seen my place yet or been to Charlotte in a couple of years so it was fun to show them around. They brought Fin so here he is chilling on my bed being an Uptown Dog. Anna Kate didn't come up this time but she will next time when things are going to be so chaotic at Aunt Beth's. She was lucky enough to stay with one of Emily's friends.
Here is SIL Emily and I on the balcony. We had a condo crawl in our building that night and Kevin and I hosted at my place. It was a blast. We were stop #2 of 7. It was football themed so we did the Redskins.

Here are some of my Ave girls. Jen, Me, Wendy, Kim. Wendy shared with us that she and Josh are expecting in April. We're thrilled for them. They also hosted and represented for the Steelers - that's why she has the cute shirt on that says, "Brewing a future Steeler fan."

Fin could mostly do what he wanted at Aunt Beth's. Here he is on my bar drinking some water...

Kevin washing Fin's paws. Kev thought it was so funny because one he had had some beverages and two because I always ask Kev if he has washed his paws. Guess you had to be there...

Em and Clay dancing out at Whisky River.

SO cool.

Riding the bull.

Kev told Clay - "if you ride that bull, i'll get you a shot." Clay said, "i want a bud light." PS - this is try #2 for Clay - his sunglasses being on didn't help him much the first time.

The four of us...we had a blast!

Yall come back again soon!!!!!

Margaritas!

Margaritas. As promised, here is the recipe:
Serving Size: Pitcher
12 ounces of tequila
6 ounces of cointreau
48 ounces of jose margarita mix

Rim, with honey, dip in salt. Squeeze lime slice, pour in mix.

LG's

UPDATE - I'm participating in Kelly's Korner Show Us Your Life Friday! If you haven't been to her blog yet, you should check it out! http://www.kellyskornerblog.com/

Went to Lauren's for dinner last night. Shannon started a lil get together for three of us to have dinner once a month, rotating homes. Lauren made the below Taco Ring which she got from my friend Claire Brinkley. It was SO good! Thanks for having us over LG - always great to catch up with you and Shannon!

Taco Ring
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1 (35 g) pkg. taco seasoning mix
2 tablespoons water
2 c. cheddar cheese, shredded
1 (8 oz) can refried beans
2 (8 oz) packages crescent roll dough
1/2 head lettuce, shredded
1 large tomato, coarsely chopped
1 c. salsa (or more if desired)
1 c. sour cream (to garnish)
1 c. guacamole (optional)
¼ c. black olives (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cook ground beef and onion. Drain grease. Add taco
seasoning mix and water. Simmer for 5 minutes.
On a lightly greased pizza pan, arrange the crescent
triangles in a circle, with the larger sides of the dough
overlapping each other a bit in center, and the points to the
outside (you should have a 5-inch diameter circle in the
center). Spoon a small amount of meat mixture, cheese
and beans over rolls. Fold points of triangles over the filling,
and tuck under base at center (filling will not be completely
covered). Bake 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.
Add any topping you wish (lettuce, tomato, salsa,
guacamole, and olives).

Fun Weekend!

We had a great, supposively relaxing weekend. We started Friday night by doing errands then coming home and making margaritas. They are sooo good. Instead of coating the rim of the glass with lime juice to make the salt stick, you coat it with honey. YUM.

Here is a picture that Kevin took of me right before the Hog Jog race started. I did terrible but it was probably because of the margaritas and a late night at Stoolies. They overserved me again! Oh well, it was still fun to get out there early and run. Kevin came with me which I really appreciated!

We went to the Bloody Mary/Screwdriver contest afterwards which was cool. As part of the race, you got to participate in it. It was five different restaurants and each one had both drinks. We had to rate them. It was nice to be able to taste what you like so you'll know next time you go to one of the places. The race was also part of the Blues, Brews and BBQ festival so we walked around that too.

Had a few people over then went out to Town Tavern on Saturday night. Here is Tara and Emily.

Tara, Kevin, B, Steven.

Kevin realllllly wanted to stop by the Greek Festival on Sunday before the football began. We ran over there and walked around for an hour or so. I wouldn't say we would go back next year but we had fun being cultural and walking around. We saw some of his parents friends so it was nice chatting with them.
Kevin made me get this picture taken with this guy. He said, "oh your parents would love this picture of you - go jump in there." ahhhh.... so here you go mom and dad... PS - the guy told me to do mean face - how do you do that?!!

Bushy!

Bushy was in town last night for work so we got to have dinner. We went to Cantina on East Boulevard and talked and talked and talked until we felt badly for keeping the waiter's table so then we went outside and talked 45 minutes longer in the parking lot. It was SO nice to catch up with her. We talked about everything wedding related for her big day! So fun!

Yes, I fully realize that my shirt looks like a bag on me. ;) It had been a long day, okay?!!

I'm in town this weekend and can't wait. It is supposed to be great weather so we're planning on doing lots of fun outdoor activities. Laying low tonight because we have a big day tomorrow - running a 5k tomorrow morning and included in it is a bloody mary contest - yum! Then i'll shower up and we're going to a cookout for a new condo that Kevin is buying. My friend Tara is also getting one so she is going too. The Blues, Brews and BBQ festival is uptown this weekend and that's what the run is for so we'll walk around the festival too tomorrow night. Sunday we may try to get by the Greek Festival then the Panthers play at 1 so tailgating is a must. Hope yall have a fab weekend! :)

Double Date

Last night we had dinner with Kimmy and Jeff at our favorite place, Basil. It was great to catch up with them. We need to do it more often!!!

Charleston - Labor Day Weekend

We had so much fun just hanging out the two of us and having no obligations other than one dinner reservation! :) Thank you again Kevin for such a wonderful weekend.

When we got into town, we walked around a bunch and had a relaxed inner at the Noisy Oyster.

Saturday we beached it at Isle of Palms. That afternoon we went back to downtown Charleston and walked around some of the shops.
That night we had a fancy dinner at McGrady's. It was awesome. Best piece of grouper ever and Kevin loved his beef tenderloin. We had a good time.

This is after dinner at the Pavilion Bar. It is on top of the Market Place Hotel. I highly recommend visiting this if you go to Charleston. Gorgeous views and such a fun place to grab a drink. We liked it so much, we went back there the next night!

This is the house we picked out on Sullivans Island. :) If you look closely, you can see through the bottom of the house to the water. It may need some new garage doors but whatever...;).

We went down to the Battery before dinner on Sunday night. It was kinda cloudy so the pictures weren't the best and my hair looked terrible but we still had fun enjoying the view.

Then we walked up to the Market Street area and went to Hanks for dinner. We were lucky to get seats at the bar. Typically it takes a long time to get a reservation there so we were happy when we just walked in and sat down when another couple was getting up.

On our way back, Kevin said we HAD to stop in Columbia at Maurice's BBQ. Oh my, what an experience. It was good! Needless to say, we didn't exactly eat dinner Monday night. ;)

Tara's Birthday and Panthers Game

Emily who is one of Tara's very good friends from Clemson, organized a surprise get together for Tara's birthday. We all met at Bentleys on 27 for drinks then everyone went to dinner. I had to skip dinner because Kevin and I had Panthers tickets. We joined back up with everyone for some late night beverages. It was a blast! B, Lauren, Emily, Tara, Emily, Kelly and Kristen.
Kevin and I at the Panther's game. We also sat with his parents who were very close to the field. These were the free tickets Kevin got from work. We enjoyed being able to see the plays they were running.

All the ladies at Blackfinn. Blackfinn and I are in a fight today. They overserved me AGAIN!

Kev and I are off to Charleston for the weekend. We plan to go to the beach all day then go to fun restaurants and bars at night! We are SO excited!

GO PACK!

NC State's home opener is tonight versus the Gamecocks. Go pack!
We are heading to the Panthers preseason game versus the Steelers tonight. Either way, football season is here!!! FINALLY!!!!!!!!!