Finn Michael

Last Thursday, May 20th, Finn Michael was born!  My cousin Kit and her husband Ryan are the proud parents and Maeve is the excited big sister!  They all live out in Boise!  We are so thrilled for them!  Congrats!!!  We're excited to add a boy to the family!  :)  Can't wait to see you guys in August!

Virginia and Maryland

Yesterday we headed to the Virgina Beach/Norfolk area by way of Richmond and Williamsburg.  I have some work to do in the area today and then we are driving up the Eastern Shore of Maryland to visit my parents for the weekend. 

We are looking forward to seeing them, going to the beach, boating and picking some crabs!

Have a great Memorial Day weekend! 

Tory Burch Store in Southpark

Tory Burch is opening a store in the Neiman Marcus wing of Southpark Mall in Charlotte, NC this July!  Big news!!! 

Shrimp Brochettes

I first had this recipe at a bridal shower for my friend Kelly.  They were amazing.  I made a third of the below recipe this past Sunday night for an appetizer and part of dinner.  YUM!

Shrimp Brochettes

1.5 lbs. shrimp
3.5 Tbsp olive oil
3.5 Tbsp vegetable oil
2/3 cups fine bread crumbs
½ tsp. chopped garlic
2 tsp. chopped parsley
¾ tsp. salt
Freshly ground pepper
Lemon Wedges


1. Preheat broiler to its max setting for 15 min.

2. Shell/devein shrimp. Wash in cold water and pat dry.

3. Add as much of the oil and bread crumbs as necessary to obtain an even, light, coating on all shrimp. When the shrimp are coated, add garlic, parsley, salt and pepper and mix well. Allow the shrimp to marinate for 20 minutes at room temperature.

4. Soak the wooden skewers so they don’t burn. Skewer the shrimp lengthwise.

5. Broil the shrimp no more than 3 minutes, then turn the skewers over and broil approximately another 2 minutes.

6. Serve hot with lemon wedges.

Greg and Jessica

Hope yall enjoyed your weekends.  Where did it go?! 

We had the best time in Asheville!  Here is the happy couple on their rehearsal dinner night!

Kevin and I with the mountains in the background.

This was before the wedding on Saturday.  Meagan and I went and had mimosas in the hotel bar.  The event was at the Grand Bohemian in the Biltmore area of Asheville.  GORGEOUS hotel!

Thank you all again for your help and advice on the dress.  When I talked to the other girls, I decided that the less casual one was best for this event.  But don't worry, we have 2 other weddings in the next three weeks where you'll see that other one I had posted last week!  ;)

Here are Greg and Jessica after the wedding ceremony as they are introduced to the reception!

The bride and her Dad dancing!  He was so hilarious! 

Here are the girlfriends and I.  Haha, that's what we called ourselves by the end of the weekend!  The guys hung out so we did too!  :)  Meagan and Ashleigh!

Kevin, me, Meagan and Jason.  The two guys were the best men.

Kev and I having the best time at the reception.

Afterwards in the hotel lobby!

Then we decided that going out in downtown would be smart!  This was a great place and we threw darts and had some yum beer.  It was called Jack of the Woods.

Then we met up with the wedding group at The Bier Garden.  The bride and groom! 

The girls and the groom! 

The guys...Jason, Greg and Kevin.

And yes, I got to run by J. Crew on the way out of town yesterday.  :)  Found lots of cute stuff but didn't get anything.  I was on my best behavior!  Saving up for the Lilly sale in June! 

We made a fun new recipe last night for dinner that I'm going to share tomorrow!  Happy Monday!

Brooklyn Alexis

Thank yall for your advice yesterday - much appreciated!  I'm taking multiple options and I'm going to talk to some of the other girls tonight to see what they are wearing and I'll decide from there.  It always helps to get yall's advice since you are fashionistas!  ;)

I have told yall many times about my friend Wendy who was pregnant.  Well this is a late post but meet Brooklyn Alexis!  She was born on April 25th at 6 pounds and is absolutely prescious.

Last night we walked to an uptown pizza place, Villa Francesca and had pizza with she and her parents!  We had so much fun and Brooklyn was an angel!  :)  I got to push her all the way back to our condo building - it was cool!

Today we are off to Asheville, NC for the wedding.  I'm hopefully going to sneak a trip to the J. Crew clearance store on Sunday but Kevin doesn't know that yet ;).  Ha!  Yall have a fab weekend!

Dress Advice for a Wedding!

Hey ladies, I need your assistance!  :)  We're going to a wedding in Asheville this weekend and Kevin is the best man in it.  It is going to work a little different than the usual wedding....it starts at 11:30am and then there is a luncheon afterwards....we're going out later that night to downtown.  Kevin's tux has the longer jacket (not tails per say) so I think he is going to be pretty dressy.  If he weren't wearing that, I'd probably wear a nice Lilly dress and be done with it.  But I feel like I should wear one of my dressier dresses to "match" him.  Maybe the navy dress that I wore about a month ago to Kelly's rehearsal dinner?.  It is the cotton cady from J. Crew so dressy but not over the top evening dress.  What do you all think?

Option A:

Or should I wear a silk taffeta one that is dressier?

Option B:

And the rehearsal dinner is at a quaint little restaurant that serves southern food.  Would yall just wear a sundress or something like that?  I was thinking this or something like it....

This weekend has me confused on what to wear!  I typically wear one of the J. Crew bridesmaids dresses and I'm done with it.  But this is more difficult!  Ha! 

Thank yall in advance!  :)

Cavalia

Last night Kevin and I went to see Cavalia.  Have yall heard about this?  It is sort of like a cirque du soleil but with horses.  It was pretty amazing!  They say it shows the best relationship between horse and man.  There were such talented gymnasts and athletes. 

I think the show was in Tampa prior to being in Charlotte then it goes to New Jersey near the Giants stadium.   

Honestly, I wouldn't have paid the $100 per seat but I got two tickets for $57 from http://www.charlottehalfoff.com/.  It was a bargain for a fun night out!  This is the only picture I was able to capture and it was at the end (you weren't supposed to take pictures in there). 

Have you seen this before?  Do you have plans to go when it comes to New Jersey?

Lilly Pulitzer Warehouse Sale 2010

Well friends, it is official!  I'm going to the warehouse sale on June 8th!  Suz and I are flying up there the night before the first day.  We'll get into Philly around 8:15pm-ish and we'll be up at 3am to be standing in line for the 5am opening!!!  This is something I've wanted to do for a really long time so I'm super excited!  We're going to have so much fun doing this together!  Let me know if you are going so we can all meet up! 

Beach with Kevin's Family

Hope yall had a wonderful weekend!  Hi to my fun new followers!

On Thursday, I headed down to the beach with Kevin's family!  We had a great time.  Here are Joe, Brittany, me and Kevin.  We went and hung out on the beach a little bit that night!

Aren't they presch?!

We had so much fun hanging out with them!  They would truly be our friends even if they weren't Kevin's family.  Brittany's birthday is on Thursday so this trip was to celebrate with her!

We went to dinner at Chesapeake House on Friday night for her birthday dinner!  Kevin's parents, Kevin, me, Brittany and Joe outside afterward. 

We went and lounged around the bar area afterward.  Can you tell it was humid?!!  My hair was out of control!

And on Saturday morning, my niece Anna Kate came to visit!  How adorable is she?!!!!

Oh we just had the best time!  I love that girl!!!!

After the beach and the pool, she was racked out!  There was also a DJ out at the pool and she just kept dancing...loved it!  Needless, to say, it was a long day!

We went inside and had some popcorn, her favorite!

Then we played with her Lilly paper dolls with Kevin's Mom.

My brother and Emily came and picked her up around 5.  :(  I wish she could have come back to Charlotte with us!  Then we went to dinner at Angelos - italian - Kevin's favorite!  Yum!  Then we checked out the new boardwalk in Myrtle Beach.  They had some beach music bands out there and we just walked around.  Beautiful night! 

Kev and I.

We had such a fun time.  Thank you to the G's for a wonderful weekend!!!!

Today and Weekend

Today I'm playing in a volleyball tournament with development/real estate firms all over Charlotte.  It begins at lunch and goes until 4ish.  It should be a great time full of friendly competition among 28 teams, all while raising over $30,000 for charity! 

BUT THEN!  I'm heading to the beach with Kevin's family!  We are really looking forward to some time away before his big adventure comes with regard to his work (more on that to come later, I promise!).  Let me tell yall the best part about it!  We are going to North Myrtle Beach which is 45 minutes away from my brother, sis in law, and Anna Kate.  You got it, I GET TO SEE ANNA KATE ON SATURDAY AND SPEND THE WHOLE DAY WITH HER!!!!!!!  Emily has a shower that day and my brother will be working so she'll be hanging with us!  Woohoo! 

We are going to have the best time!  We're going to play on the beach, build sand castles, blow bubbles, chew gum (girlfriend loves it) and maybe bury Mr. Kevin in the sand!  It's going to be a blast! 

We made the plans on Monday night and Tuesday morning Emily sent me a picture of Fin (their other "child").  She said he was sad he couldn't play with us too!  Look at this pic, he is so cute!

Next time Fin! 

Hope you all have fabulous weekends!  Pictures to come on Monday!

Pretzel Salad

This may be one of my favorite recipes.  It is a perfect side dish for spring and summer and all the cookouts.  I took it to Kevin's parents for Mother's Day and it went so well with everything.  It has the sweet and salty so it can kind of go for a dessert too.  I had a picture but it turned out awful so you'll just have to imagine!

 - 2 cups crushed pretzels (salted) - crush in plastic bag

 - 2/3 cup melted butter

 - 1/4 cup sugar

 Mix pretzels, butter and sugar, press in 9x13 pan.  Bake at 375 for 8 minutes.  Don't grease the pan!

 - 2 cups cool whip (i use low fat)

 - 8 oz. pkg cream cheese (i use low fat)

 - 1/2 cup sugar

 Beat cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar; fold in the cool whip.  Spread onto pretzel crust.

 - 6 oz. pkg strawberry jello

 - 2 cups boiling water

 - 20 oz. pkg. frozen strawberries

 Mix jello, water, strawberries and pour on top.

Refrigerate overnight.

Serves 12.

Abernathy Bash and Mother's Day Weekend

On Saturday night, Kevin and I and one of Kevin's friends (Brad) went to the Thirsty Beaver in Plaza Midwood to the Abernathy Birthday Bash.  This isn't like any birthday get together, these boys are crazy.  We knew it would be a good time.  I went to school with Ben (I've always called him Benny so let's do that) and Andy is his cousin who was a year or two older than us in civil engineering.  This is them blowing out their candles.  Please take note: Benny does not typically wear jorts with cowboy boots or jorts at all...ha!

This what kind of establishment this was...hole in the wall where you should drink liquor so you don't have to go to the bathroom often...they are shared among guys and girls.  NASTY!

These are part of my "country boys."  We missed you Matteo!  Brandon, Me, Benny and Mikey.  I've known these boys for about 10 years now and they are like my brothers.  They were always there in college if I needed a light in my car replaced or something broke at my house....those kind of guys.  The kind of guys who always had to approve of who I was dating and I had to approve of who they were dating.  Ha!  Speaking of which, Benny get with the program and commit to your sweet girl! 

Anyway, we had a great time as always with you guys! Happy Birthday!

Sunday we went to church with Kevin's family.  Afterward we went back to his parents house to hang out and grill out to celebrate his Mom on Mother's Day. 

We had fun playing corn hole and chit chatting.  Around 4pm, they heated up the grill and threw those massive steaks on.  The above picture is Kevin and his brother Joe - ya think they are related?!!  Brittany brought a salad and an amazing coconut cake.  I brought au gratin potatoes and pretzel salad.  I should have taken pictures of both so I could post the recipes.  Next time! 

We had a great time and love going to see them.  It always brings us back down to the basics and lets us enjoy the simple things in life.  Sometimes it is SO good to get out of uptown and Southpark and see what real life is about!  :)  Plus there is nothing better than going "home" for Kevin.  I just wish I could have been with my Mama on Mother's Day!!!!

The Pioneer Woman

On Friday night I got to meet The Pioneer Woman, Ree.  If you don't know her story, you must check her out.  She was SO sweet and humble despite being famous!  Love people like that!  First, let me give you the background....my friend from college Suz knows these girls via blogs and twitter.  She has met a few of them in real life but the others she met on Friday night when we met up to go meet Ree.  Sara was sweet enough to get 20 tickets for our Group C.  I met Heir to Blair, Kathleen, Jenny, Alena, Amy, Sally, Meredith and Emilee.  

Ree came out and answered some questions for a bit before everyone lined up.  Since we were in Group C, we didn't have to wait long at all...maybe 30 or 45 minutes. 

Ree and I.

Suz and Ree.

Our whole group.  Everyone was so sweet and nice.  I had the best time meeting some new girls.  Alena drove in from outside of Nashville and Amy came from Arkansas for the big event!  They both traveled with their little girls too!

After the signing, we went to Maggiano's for dinner.  Despite a 45 minute wait, we made the best of it and enjoyed being with each other!  Nice to meet you ladies!  Hopefully we can all get together again soon!

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Happy Mother's Day to the best mama in the world!!!  Hope you have a wonderful weekend...wish I could be with you!

Flowers

These are the flowers that I planted last weekend on my balcony.  I know this is a terrible picture!  Some of the geraniums are getting ready to bloom so I'm looking forward to that.  I went for pink and yellow flowers only.  From left to right, I have a pink geranium in it's own pot, a darker pink begonia in a smaller pot then in the large planter, there is one geranium, three yellow flowers (can't remember what they are called) and two begonias. 

I am excited to take care of them this year.  When we picked them out at Home Depot, I consulted the guy working in the nursery so he gave me tips on which plants would live with only morning sun (my condo faces east).  Mom also is helping me with when to do miracle grow and watering.  Ha, I know it sounds ridiculous that I have had to ask for help on this but I've never had flowers survive more than one week!  This is day seven of these so I am on a roll, at least I hope so! 

Tonight I'm going to meet The Pioneer Woman at a book signing.  My friend Suz is coming down from Raleigh and one of her blogging friends got us tickets.  I'm excited to meet new people and especially to meet The Pioneer Woman!  Hope yall have a great weekend!!!