Weekend Recap

Hope you all had a nice weekend!  Can't believe tomorrow is November 1st! 

On Friday night Kevin stayed at work pretty late so I ended up meeting him for some Mexican at Loco Lime in the Plaza Midwood area.  It was nice to catch up with him because I hardly saw him all week between all of the things going on each night. 

Saturday morning bright and early my neighbor David and I went out to the airport runway 5k run.

It was pretty chilly out there so I wore a trash bag before the race began.  This was an amazing tip from my Dad which really worked well.  Kept me warm!  They had the hanger open so you could check them out working on the planes.

The start of the race.

See, we literally ran on the runway!

David and I both had our best runs in a long time so that was good!

We went back uptown and I left right away to go do some errands.  I love Saturday mornings and getting things done early before anyone else is out!  I got home by 11am and Kevin had called and said he was out the door to just north of Columbia, SC to pick up a check for work. 

I had the bright idea to go run some more so I picked up another 5 miles and came home for a nice warm shower.  I had a treat that afternoon to get my hair cut....ahh I just love getting it done!  Best part is, the salon is a half block from my condo so I just walk right over there. 

We had a wedding that evening and that deserves a post in itself!  What a wedding it was!

Yesterday we literally did nothing.  Walking to the grocery store was the most exciting thing I did.  I made some crab bisque last night for dinner and that was delish.  ....which reminds me, I need to do a post on some of the meals I've done recently.  I'll do that this week along with the wedding post from Saturday night!

Happy Halloween!

Mountains, Halloween Cocktails and Happy Birthday

Yesterday I drove up to the mountains of North Carolina to look at some possible sites for a couple of our retail clients.  It was absolutely gorgeous and I think it could have been peak leaf season in some of the areas.  The colors were so rich!

My Dad sent me an email with a link to a few Scary Strong Cocktails.  Check them out here!  They look delicious and I may just have to make one of them this weekend!  They're called - Behind the Pumpkin Patch, The Brain Hemorrhage and Bloody Cider Punch.  How fun do they sound?!  Thanks Pops!

Today I want to wish my friend Kim (I call her Kimmy) a very happy 29th birthday!  She is expecting lil Jack any day and we cannot wait to meet him!

Yesterday I got home from being gone and had a night to myself to get things done.  Kevin went out with some of his bank friends so I always welcome the opportunity to get my condo back in order!  I switched out my winter and summer clothes (depressing!) and did some deep cleaning.  Our sweet friends Dave and Jenn stopped by too which was very fun to visit with them.  It was actually a really productive night.  Don't ya love those?

We have a busy weekend ahead including a 5k run on the airport runway, getting my hair cut and attending a wedding of some dear neighbors.  We're looking forward to it!  Happy Weekend to yall!

Wedding Wednesday - Color Palette

Honestly I have no idea what to do as far as color palette because it depends on the venue and we need to go back and look at it again.  These are some initial thoughts of just what I like.  Coral with gold.

via Pinterest Perfect Palette

I don't love these table decorations but I like the gold with coral.

via Pinterest Perfect Palette

I've also always liked kelly green too. 

Picture credit - Millie Hollman Photography

I also like navy with coral but I can't do the navy dresses with the guys in black tuxes! :)  As my friend Ashley from home always says, "black with black, brown with navy."

When Mom comes down next, we're going to go look at the venue again and decide on colors. 

How did you all decide?  Any good color combos I need to know about?

Trader Joe's Pumpkin Ice Cream

Run to your nearest Trader Joe's and get the pumpkin ice cream. 

You will not regret this decision.

Do not look at the nutritional information.

It's a treat.

Just run an extra couple miles that week! ;)

Picture Day at Work

Today is picture day at work for our company's website.  This is my picture from a couple years ago.  My hair was SO short!  And my collar doesn't look right. 

Mama helped me pick out the perfect suit to wear...brown jacket with a darker turquoise cardigan shell underneath and of course my string of pearls.  Hopefully it'll come out much better than the above!  Surprisingly a lot of people look at our website so I'm anxious for this to be a decent picture! 

Are yall on your company's website?  What did you wear?

Clemson/Chapel Hill Game

Kevin and I left Charlotte at 5:40am on Saturday morning en route to Clemson for the Clemson vs. Chapel Hill game.  Lots of our friends in Charlotte went to Clemson so they got a big ole group of us to go down.  Some of Kevin's bank buddies came too.

The theme of this game's tailgate was a Fiesta!  Complete with sombreros, maracas and tamborines.  Thank you sweet Anna Kate for letting us borrow your 3rd birthday party props!

This is what they all call "Shot Club" at TD's.  It's a series of about 4 shots per person.  No bueno but we all survived!

And we're back at the tailgate.  Jon, Wallace, Kristen and Kevin.

Flip cup was played.

And we got to see BLC on our way into the game!  What a great surprise that was!

Tara has front row tickets in the end zone.  They are perfect seats.

Yes, we were that close.  Crazy!

At half time we went out to meet up with one of Kevin's fellow Allstate agency owners.  They went through training together but have kept in touch since.  Matt's in the middle.

When we went back into the game I had a lil encounter with someone taking an airplane bottle out of my purse.  Oops!  Here are Kevin and I enjoying the game!  Poor guy wore Carolina blue under his fleece. 

Kevin, me, Wallace, Tara and Graham.

Back at the tailgate after the game, Tara had made woozie worms and boozie bears to pass around.  Have yall heard of these?  I'd be glad to share any information if you'd like to make them for your next get together! 

Corn hole was played.

And a fiesta isn't complete without a pinata!

Kevin and I.

That's our tailgate with the three tents right out front.  They know how to tailgate for sure!

Some of the ladies...Kristen, Crystal, me, Tara, Kim.

Then we went to Tiger Town Tavern and hung out too.  It was a loooong day but so much fun! 

Thanks for hosting us Clemson ladies and gents!  Yall know how to do it right!

Christmas Shopping

Who has begun their Christmas shopping?

Call my crazy but I started back in September and I'm almost finished!

How/why do I do it?

All year long when I think of something for someone, I put it in my phone in a list I keep.  If I don't have something for everyone as it gets closer, I use downtime (sitting in an airport, running, traffic) to think of gift ideas.

Then, I go shop.  Mostly during lunch since I work across the street from all the good shops and mall in Charlotte.  I do a little at a time so it isn't as heavy of a hit on my debit card in December!  Plus, it makes it much more fun!  I also find that I buy more thoughtful gifts for people instead of running out last minute and being rushed to find something.

And yall know I mostly only shop at a few places....and my main one wraps the gifts too.  Ah-mazing.  Yes, they have red and green tissue paper and ribbon now!  Maybe your local shops do too!

Those are my secrets to a stress free holiday season.  Go make your list and start shopping.  Come December 1st, you'll be glad you were done in October.

Last Weekend, This Week

Last Friday night after work, some of our neighbors and us took the train out to the Southend area and checked out some new places.  First we went to Icehouse for dinner, then Wine Loft and we ended up at Liberty.  It was nice because we got back uptown at a normal time and we weren't out too late.  Always good times with them!  Jenn and David woke up really early the next morning and flew down to Mexico for the week...lucky ducks!

 - This week, I'm trying to learn how to say no and not over commit.  I always think everything sounds so fun to do and next thing I know, the next 8 weekends we are commited to doing things.  Sometimes I need to learn that we need weekends just to do things we need to do.  Yall know what I mean?  Ahh it's so hard to say no though!

 - Got a run in at lunch on Tuesday.  It felt good to get out there during the day and the weather was mid 70's and perfectly sunny.  Those 5 miles definitely gave me energy to get through the rest of the work day and I got to run in Southpark which is back to my old stomping grounds where I used to live.  It was a nice change from uptown running!  Hilly for sure!  Yes we have a gym and showers in our building at work!

 - Kickball was canceled again last night due to rain.  It's been canceled more this season than we've played.  Bummer!

 - Kevin hasn't felt the best this week....he has come down with his usual Fall crud.  He finally listened and started taking meds right at the beginning so hopefully he'll be back to normal soon!  ;)

 - I emailed with a photographer for our April 2013 wedding this week...she is ALREADY booked.  Seriously yall, this is what we're up against in Charlotte!

Wedding Wednesday - Save the Dates

We aren't doing save the dates.

Don't hate me.

I just don't see the point.

But that's just my opinion.

If someone is important enough that you want them at your wedding, I think they'll already know when it is.  Otherwise, they'll receive an invitation 6-8 weeks in advance....that's still plenty of time.  If they couldn't come with 6 weeks notice, they probably couldn't come with 6 months notice.

Obviously if we were doing a destination wedding, my opinion would be different.

And I promise I've loved all of your save the dates and respect the fact that you may have sent them out!!!  I just don't think I need to do them.  :)

Recipes for French Onion Soup and Pumpkin Bread, House

Last night I cooked up a storm!  We had French Onion soup for dinner in the crocks Mama gave me last year for Christmas.  It was SO good (if I do say so myself!) and super easy for a week night meal.  I used EAS's recipe at Let the Tide Pull Your Dreams Ashore...click here for it!  You probably have almost everything in your pantry for it!

After dinner I decided to make some pumpkin bread.  I hadn't had a chance to make it yet this year so I made a loaf for Kevin and I for breakfasts this week and also one for a potluck at work tomorrow. 

Quick and Easy Pumpkin Bread

 - 1 1/2 cup sugar

 - 1 2/3 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cloves, ground

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup water

1 cup mashed pumpkin

2 eggs

1/2 cup nuts (optional)

Sift dry ingredients together.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Pour batter into a buttered and floured loaf pan.  Bake 1 hour at 350.  (Note: mine usually takes an hour and 10 minutes).  I take mine out and let it cool before I remove from the pan so it doesn't fall apart.

This is the house Kevin and I looked at on Sunday evening.  Ginormous right?  I have no clue what we'd do with even half of the space!  It was a heck of a bargain though so that's why we looked at it! 

Looks like it is already Conditional so someone else has snagged it.  There will be more!  Honestly I wasn't exactly in love with it anyway....I'm not the biggest fan of all those points in the roofline.  Who knows, maybe they'll grow on me. 

Anna Kate's 4th Birthday Party

Saturday morning we drove down to Pawley's Island for Anna Kate's 4th Birthday celebration.

First stop was gymnastics for her party with 17 of her friends that are her age or older.

They played and played. 

Even the little boys had a good time!

They jumped on trampolines, played in a big jump house with a slide....

Jumped in the foam pit over and over!

Then had some Barbie birthday cake!

We went back to my brother and SIL's home and she opened all of her gifts!  What fun that was!  All toys!

She played guitar for us while dancing of course!

On the back of her Daddy's big ole truck!

We went to Habenero's for dinner and sat on the patio.  Anna Kate drove us home through the neighborhood....not kidding!  We came back to watch Aladdin, have popcorn and snuggle!

The next morning I awoke to Anna Kate saying, "I can't sleep, I can't sleep...." over and over again.  Probably at least 30 times in 10 minutes.  Actually it was probably only a few minutes before this Auntie went to get her and brought her in bed with me!  SO cute, I loved it!

After breakfast out at Eggs Up, we came back and she played dress up.  Belle is her favorite, well it was yesterday.  Today it may be different! ;)  How about Kevin's pink glasses on his hat?!!!

Then she showed us how well she can swing all by herself now and how she can ride her bike...fast, of course and with a whistle in her mouth!  She also skated a lil bit on her new Barbie skates she got for her birthday!

As I was telling Anna Kate goodbye, she asked when I was moving down there.  Then Kevin came in to tell her good bye and she asked him too.  Melt my heart.

What a weekend it was and we miss Clay, Emily, Anna Kate and pups Fin already!  Thank yall for having us!

Random Friday

1.  Happy Friday!

2.  We went down to Kevin's parents home last night to have one more dinner with Brittany and Joe before their baby comes.  We got to give them our gift which was all the lil things on their two registries.  Who ever buys those ya know... but they are necessary!  So we loaded up a big ole bag full and gave them probably 10 or 15 of those things!  (Almost) family can do that sort of random gift giving.  ;)  Of course I had to stick a monogrammed diaper cover in there.  Interlocking font, white thread on white covers.  Presch.  If you haven't given this as a gift, you must.  But don't give it to any girl babies I know! :)  Anyway, Kevin's sweet Mama made chili, salad, coleslaw and garlic bread.  Delish!

3.  Ran with Tara and Lauren this morning.  Missed Kristen today but she's doing a mud run tomorrow that she's saving her energy for.  We were only going to do 3-4 but ended up doing 5.5 miles.  Why does that always happen?  Ha!

4.  SUPER excited for Anna Kate's birthday party tomorrow.  I'll fill yall in on Monday! 

5.  Tonight we have plans with some of our neighbors to go to the Wine Loft in the South End area of Charlotte.  Should be fun as usual!

Pencil Skirts and Dresses for Work

I don't think you can go wrong with a pencil skirt paired with a cardigan set or crisp white shirt for work attire.  It's classic and timeless.  I'm into the colored pencil skirts this year for some reason.  They just seem fun and something different to the usual black, brown or navy.  And for a piece that will last you forever, J. Crew is where I go.

J. Crew Blue Lagoon

I'm loving this vibrant flame redish color this fall.  I don't know that I'd put it with this sweater but....

J. Crew Vibrant Flame

And at the end of last year, I was able to pick up a Brooks Brother's dress similar to the below for only $50.  It is black, has sleeves and is lined.  It's the classic black dress that you can dress up or down and put it with so many different things.  Bargain! 

Memo Dress in Super 120's

I was thinking about it yesterday and I'm actually glad we have to dress up for work....mainly because I don't own many casual clothes that are work appropriate (aka I can't wear much Lilly or bright clothing to work!).  And since I've always had to dress up, I've just bought more dressy clothes.  But let me tell ya - after a long week, casual Friday is quite nice too! ;) 

Tell me what it's like in your workplace!  What do you have to wear?