Weekend Recap

Hello from c-c-c-cold Rochester, NY.  It's hard to imagine that just this past weekend I was galivanting around Charlotte without the need for a jacket!  Now I'm all bundled up with a pashmina, my big pea coat, and leather gloves.

Friday night after work, Ian and I headed to Midwood Smokehouse for some good ol' barbeque.  We shared bacon-wrapped jalapenos and a sampler platter that had pulled pork barbeque, chicken barbeque, beef brisket, and ribs.  Oh, AND collards and slaw.  And a few hush puppies thrown in for good measure.  It was absolutely delicious and we had a really nice time together.

Saturday, Ian was under the weather so he stayed at home to recoup while I went to a beautiful wedding.  I checked in on the patient from time to time, but I did have a great time hanging with some of my girlfriends who also went solo to the wedding.  The bride, Liz, looked just stunning.

Moira and me



Mr. & Mrs.



The girls!

Amazing band from ATL

Bride's bouquet and the Chapel Hill basketball book for guests to sign

So the fun thing is, these girls and I met when we were all newly out of college and living in the same apartment complex.  In the eight years since then, we've seen engagements, marriages, babies, and even some moves away from Charlotte.  In fact, none of us even live anymore at that apartment, yet we still find time to get together and hang together as a big group.  I love that we can all get back together though and party like we were 22 again!

Charleston: More, More, More

Since my birthday is on New Years day, we always celebrate big the night before and then do lots of relaxing on the 1st.

Point in case:

So this year, with us waking up in Charleston, we began my birthday by eating some breakfast and driving down to the Battery.  This area features the most beautiful views of ornate antebellum houses you've ever seen.  The Battery played a large part in the Civil War, and now the park has many monuments honoring those who played a part in the war. 

I had my peppermint tea in hand, and we strolled by the water and I was as happy as a clam.

The weather was blissful, as evidenced by the fact that Ian wore short sleeves.  I was more than a little warm in my sweater.

Rather than doubling back, we took a winding way back to the car which took us through all of the little side streets.  These are some of the most gorgeous homes you've ever seen -- rich with history.

My favorite one being this teeny, tall, narrow pink house.  Have you ever seen anything more adorable?  It's even tucked back behind 2 other homes.

We took our time winding down the little roads, even stopping for a while on Tradd Street and sitting on a stoop to pull up a story on my phone about a very strange crime that occurred at a home on that very road.  Creepy!

So, we decided we want to retire in Charleston, and I will spend my days preserving our historic home and working on my windowboxes.  Yep, that's pretty much perfect.

We had a fun drive home where SOMEONE got a champagne headache and SOMEONE got mighty testy about needing an Aleve and a Wendy's #1 with fries and a diet Coke.  Hmm.  Okay, it was totally me.  Feeling much better now.

Later that night, I did a lot of sitting down and admiring my new boots that Ian gave me for my birthday!

Pretty little things, right?
It was the absolute best way to spend my 30th.

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy

I love cooking with citrus, but sometimes my crazy travel schedule can be a bit challenging with keeping fresh fruit in the house.  I try to always have at least one lemon around, but sometimes I just find myself in such a pinch.  I recently received this email from Aunt Karen (you've also seen her creativity with Ian's stocking and her wine cork wreath). 

It's so ingenious, I don't even know what to do with myself.

The writing in italics is from my Aunt Karen's email, and the pictures are mine from when I put her advice into action this past Monday evening.

You mentioned substituting lime for lemon, as you just wanted to use what you had in the house. I have a trick I use that you might find interesting. 

I buy lemons and limes in bulk at someplace like BJs. So much cheaper!

First I zest all the fruit and put the zest in little bunches--like two teaspoons worth each--into the compartments of a mini ice cube tray. I use the rubber/plastic kind. On top of the zest I add enough water to fill the compartment (I use water so as not to waste the juice).  

After zesting, I juice the fruit and add it to the empty compartments. It also measures out to about two teaspoons per compartment.

Into the freezer they go. Once frozen, you can put the cubes into separately marked freezer bags--one for lemon, one for lime.

When you need juice or zest, you always have it on hand. No running to the grocery store. No lemons or limes turning hard or fuzzy and having to be discarded. Everything gets used. The juice and zest can quickly be defrosted in the microwave. I dry off the zest with a paper towel and continue on with my recipe. You can't tell the difference.

Both a frugal and elegant solution to a problem we all run into from time to time.

Love, AK

How smart is that?!

And a quick note from me: I used this Williams-Sonoma zester and a Cuisinart juicer.  My silicone cube molds came from Marshall's.



Etsy Treasuries

I love perusing people's Etsy Treasuries.  They are the best little gatherings of some of the coolest Etsy items that you might not necessarily find on your own.  It's an incredible way of finding great sellers and maybe even some items that you didn't think you needed, but that you DO!  :)

Recently I was honored to be featured in not one, but two treasuries related to little baby girl items.  Both treasury curators added my Pretty In Pink baby bracelet to their gorgeous collections.

The first one --

And another --

If you've never perused Etsy Treasuries before, you can find them here.

New Years Day Dinner

I've actually never partaken in the whole collards & black eyed peas tradition for New Years Day before, so I figured we may as well give it a try.

Since we'd gone all out the night before with a 4-course dinner and (ahem) quite a few adult beverages, I decided to keep dinner simple, clean, and healthy.  We absolutely loved this soup.

I put together a soup in the Crock Pot using turkey sausage, collard greens, tomatoes, chicken broth, and a cut-up jalapeno for a little kick.  And the peas -- well, if you are really curious, they are not black eyed peas.  They are field peas.  There was a run on black eyed peas at the grocery store, ya'll!  By the time I was there, around 5:00 or so on New Years Day, not a single can or frozen bag of BEP's was still in existance.  I went with the field peas instead since they are a close cousin.

So perhaps in 2012 we will have so-so luck (peas) but be rich (collards)?
Hmmm.

Also, can I sing the praises of the slow cooker liners?  These things have changed our lives.  Our Crock Pot is extremely large and it doesn't get very clean in the dishwasher.  We always dread the hand-washing of it.  With these liners, we just whipped out the liner and trashed it when done.  Easy (black-eyed) peasy.

NYE In Charleston

I'm still beaming about our fantastic New Years Eve.  We decided to go down to Charleston, South Carolina -- just Ian and myself -- and ring in 2012 (and my 30th birthday!) at a wonderful restaurant. 

We stayed right in the historical section, and upon our arrival in Charleston on Saturday afternoon, we walked up and down King Street just taking in all of the sights and popping our heads into some of the great shops. 

Strolling down King Street

An ECU Pirates fan through & through.  YARGHH!

The market

Yep, need a turquoise wrought iron gate someday.

Gorgeous church in the sunlight.

That's it, I vow to improve my green thumb.

I must have a house someday with this painted address plate.

Charleston renewed my interest in putting window boxes on our house.

King Street

We stopped for an afternoon drink on the rooftop bar of Market Pavilion, my favorite.

Later we grabbed one more drink on the way back to the hotel at Closed For Business.  Then back to the room for beautifying and a little energy!

And on our way we were.

That evening we had dinner reservations at Carolina's and they were offering a 4-course prix fixe meal.  It was fantastic.  We had a little more wine and some of my college girlfriends sent over a bottle of champagne for us to drink to celebrate my 30th birthday on New Years Day.  It was such a sweet gesture.

My view: handsome husband

His view: champagne-guzzling wife

I had the most wondeful fish for my entree

Almost midnight!

There she goes again

The countdown is on - seven minutes to go! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR, YA'LL!

Hopped a pedi-cab home to the hotel -

Best wishes for 2012!