CCD in CLT

Take lots of pictures in life!!!

2012-02-09T20:59:00.003-05:00

You'll be so glad you did!!

Projects

2012-02-06T20:13:00.003-05:00

Inspired by a friend who made a red wreath like this for Christmas:

Superbowl food:

Why I have a new iPhone

2012-02-05T06:37:00.005-05:00

Well, folks, it was two weeks ago and I was making dinner for our neighbors {and he happens to be the head chef at a local restaurant}. Yeah, you might remember when we went to their place for dinner. So I was a little nervous. I planned the menu and everything was perfect. I had made fried shallots {stupid fried shallots!!} when I put the pot of grease on a different burner to cool down. I turned on the burner behind the pot of oil to heat up water for ravioli. Went to get ready. Came back to see a smoking oil pan. Turned out I actually turned on the burner with the pot of oil.

I called Andrew over and all I could think about was "baking soda, we need baking soda" as the smoke turned into a small flame. He turned around and I saw the whole thing happen in slow motion. He put the pot under water and there was a massive, MASSIVE flame {think Hibachi dinner grill size} that reached the celing. I screamed, the lights went out and our kitchen sprinkler went off.

I was hysterical. Called 911 and 10 minutes later my TOMS shoes were floating away in our apartment. That's right... those sprinklers put out a whole lot of water. So then the firemen, our landlord and someone else came to turn off the water and then vacuum up the water. I had to leave so Andrew took me to our friend's house for dinner and where we would stay with them that night.

Needless to say, I was quite traumatized, especially by the fire. I have to say, the Lord really protected Andrew as he easily could have had third degree burns. The rest of the week we had blowers in here trying to dry up the carpet. It was a mess and with working full time, I was exhausted. I'm still recovering from it.

Anyway, what got ruined in the Great Flood of 2012 (as I like to call it), was my camera and my phone. So I guess the pictures from here on out will be taken from my iPhone.

We had dinner with a couple friends of ours last Friday night. They informed us that that they went out to buy a fire extinguisher that week. Please, please learn from our mistake and get one! :)

On a lighter note, yesterday Andrew and I went to the movies and then had dinner at Dish in Plaza Midwood. It was so yummy.

Here's my new oh-so-easy snack: get a paper bag and fill it with popcorn (1/4 cup). Fold it over twice and put it in the microwave for 1.30. Voila! Air popped popcorn. It feels like you're eating popped air, though. I add some chocolate chips for that sweet/salty treat.

Hope your weeks have been less eventful as ours have! :)

How sweet is this?!

2012-01-27T16:17:00.005-05:00

It's funny what you see when you go through Facebook albums long after they've been posted. I found these three sweet pictures of my and my sisters from Gin's wedding. I love how the photographer captured all the little details, and the happiness!

Mid-week post

2012-01-18T19:25:00.005-05:00

This past weekend Andrew's Mom gave us some pictures of little Andrew. Oh so cute!! It seems like he has always been destined to wear bowties. :)

This is also one of the things I gave Andrew for Christmas. He watched Doctor Who all summer, which was a new thing to me. His latest fall show has been Top Gear. I hardly ever sit down to watch an entire show but will catch bits and pieces. So funny! Does anyone else agree?

I'm currently sitting on the couch with a tissue up my nose and my head is about to explode. I made this chicken noodle soup last night which has helped both my sickness, and taken care of needing warm, comfort food in winter. Not much else is new. Andrew takes good care of me when I'm sick.

I guess I'll leave you with this...

Kindergartener: "Mrs. Day, your face looks much flatter today."

Me (thinking): I'm not sure what to say to that. So.. "ok!

Weekend in Atlanta

2012-01-16T20:06:00.006-05:00

We went down to Atlanta yesterday for Craig & Caroline's baby shower for baby Charlie. It was so special to be there as a proud AUNT!

Me and my sister-in-law!

Chloe and Maggie at the shower. :)

Afterwards we went to stay with Al & B!

We drove downtown in B's super cool, new Honda Element.

We went to The Porter where we all had a beer with dinner... the guys impressively ate 1/2 lb. cheeseburger each.

This is how we ended the evening. Kleenex, too, because Al's sick. :(

Oh! But we did get in some good TOBY time!! I think I only love, really love two dogs in the world: TOBY and PETALS!

Al & Toby!

The boys ended up watching a kung-fu* movie {boring!!!} so Al & I laid on their bed with Toby nestled in between. He's such a snuggly dog.

I'll end with this sweet picture. Al is so good at making a house a home. I love going to visit because there are always new touches to the house. When we sat here for breakfast it was so cozy and the perfect winter centerpiece.

*Andrew, can you please correct me if I've misspelled kung-fu? Does it have a dash? I dunno. It doesn't really interest me, and don't really feel like Google-ing it, and also don't even feel like asking you right now even though you're in the same room as me. Yes, I'm lazy. I should also say, Happy ONE YEAR since we got engaged. {I'm so thankful for you!}

Benefit, and rooftop {one year later}

2012-01-15T06:43:00.003-05:00

I'm loving this three day weekend. Last night we went to the Johnson & Wales RUF benefit. Oh my, the food was super yummy, as it should be when it's prepared by those attending a cooking school. It was fun to mingle and catch up with friends.

Ahh!! The benefit was Uptown, so Andrew and I stopped in the parking deck and headed to the rooftop to remember what happened exactly one year ago today!!

It was so special to be in the same spot a year later and to think of all that's happened since then. :)

We're headed to Atlanta today for my sister-in-law's baby shower and then to see Al & B! Hooray for long weekends, indeed!

Book recommendations

2012-01-12T21:41:00.003-05:00

I've been teaching a Kindergarten media class this fall and have fallen in love with books! It is the best feeling to read to attentive children and watch them anxiously await for each page to turn. Books are such a great gift, especially writing a sweet message in the front cover. I still have books from my aunt from 25 years ago.

If you are in need of children's book suggestions, here you go.

I got this book on sale at Anthropologie around the holidays and bought three copies of it {as you know, NYC is near and dear to my heart}. We gave it to my nieces and have a copy on our shelves for our kids. So creative and witty.

I would read this book to my kids on Long Island. NYC babies are so cool as they travel to the MET and yoga classes {as the book mentions}.

I read this book to my Kindergarteners this past fall. The first time I read it one of the boys in the front row burst into tears and couldn't be consoled. Needless to say my next lesson was on fiction vs. non-fiction books. :)

Another really cute book that I loved reading to the kids.

Ok now this book was hilarious! I made Andrew sit at Barnes & Noble with me and read it. Very popular and here's the trailer.

I just love how books create and bring back so many memories. I'm so thankful for this new appreciation for children's literature.

Weekend Update

2012-01-09T21:46:00.003-05:00

We had a fun weekend in the mountains with Andrew's parents. They have a mountain cabin near Brevard, NC.

We went hiking on Saturday at Dupont Forest. Loved the beautiful waterfalls!

Brevard is also home to many white squirrels. So weird.

Saturday I was able to see my college friend Sheila and her sweet family before they left for Turkey! It was wonderful to catch up with her and Lili. Safe travels! :)

I already posted this to Facebook, but I made this tonight which was recommended by this blog. Tasty!

Hope you're having a great week so far. I will leave you with something that you might not think as funny as I did since you don't know this kid, but one of my 2nd graders {who would fit in oh so well on the Jersey Shore} said to another kid:

"You wanna piece of me?!"

Oh second grade. :)

Happiness

2012-01-01T20:33:00.004-05:00

If you want to see happiness, here it is.... or at least for me. Look at all those beautiful people on our fridge! I LOVE to check the mail and December is the best time to do it! I think we had a card in our mailbox each day. {Thanks to those who sent us a card!!}

Thursday we celebrated our friend Laura's 30th birthday at Dresslers here in Charlotte. Yay!

I had to inform Andrew that New Years Eve is one of my most favorite days of the year. We walked to Caribou for a late afternoon coffee and talked about what the next year holds as the sun set. Then he suggested that we go get flowers. So we did.

This is how we celebrated the end of 2011: I made my traditional NYE dinner that takes forever {but so worth it} and then made a chocolate honeycake from a Moosewood cookbook. I like how a lot of her desserts have honey as the sweetener and not refined sugar.

Our home.

I have to admit that I shed a tear as we entered into 2012. I mean, 2011 was so good to me! Engagement, marriage, new apartment to decorate, new job, so many examples of God's faithfulness and provision. I did this last year, but looking back I think these small and big things meant the most in 2011:

1. My NYC friends {and other long-distance friends & family} traveling up/down for our wedding. It was and is still so sweet to me that they came. It meant so much.

2. Debt free! Oh hallelujah! I don't mention money hardly at all, but this year we paid off my remaining college debt and can now go into 2012 with no debt. It's an amazing, freeing feeling.

3. The every day life with Andrew. There are so many times when we look at each other and say, "are we really married?!". :)

Happy 2012!

Carrie

Our time in Greenville, SC

2011-12-29T08:23:00.005-05:00

After we left my parents house we headed straight to Greenville to be with Andrew's family this past week.

We met up with this lovely couple who were in town for the holiday, and who Andrew knew when he lived in Japan

We also got to spend time with our nieces! One afternoon we went ice skating which was fun.

The girls did a great job!

That night we ventured out into the windy, cold night to look at Christmas trees.

And found a baby themed tree for Baby Charlie!

Oooh yippee skippy!!!! Al & B made a wonderful last-minute decision to come to Greenville for dinner on Wednesday night. It was SO GOOD to see them! Al & I dined over shrimp tacos and beer and I'm pretty sure we didn't talk to the boys much during that time. There was so much catching up to do!

Then we went to Starbucks to fuel our stroll around town. Notice the Chucks.

Yay for friends!

Me & Al

Christmastime!

Thanks so much for coming, Al & B!!!

High School Reunion

2011-12-27T10:04:00.003-05:00

I love trying to get together with all my high school buddies at the holidays (remember I graduated with a class of 7. Yes, seven people). Here are a few of us after lunch yesterday:

Me & Alden

Today is BECCA's birthday! Happy Birthday, Becca!!

Bradbury Drive girls.

Becca & Brian!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-26T10:38:00.007-05:00

It was a lovely Christmas weekend! It is so special to be at home with everyone. We baked and cooked all weekend and celebrated Christ's birth! What a wonderful season.

I got to see my sweet grandmother and aunt!

Friday night we all drove to Floyd, VA to eat at a yummy restaurant with family and to celebrate Aunt Diane's birthday.

Then we walked to a country store where we danced the night away.

The quaint lil country store with good bluegrass music.

Merry Christmas Eve with that Ginna girl.

It was the most wonderful Christmas at home with my sisters!

Christmas tree.

Christmas morning: Petolsh waiting so patiently for her bone. I also enjoyed going on runs with her.

We added two new stockings this year!! Yay Andrew & Jeff!

First Christmas morning together!

Our traditional Christmas morning sister picture.

Presents! I gave Ginna this book and it's full of ideas!

Oh sweet Zuzie Loving!!

It's good to get what you really, really want for Christmas. :)

Someone knows Andrew very well. (Thanks, Lu!)

Oh boy. The boys got Star Wars.

Lucy got an iPhone!!!!!!!!!

Perhaps my favorite Christmas gift. Lucy gave such a thoughtful gift to all of us:

New brothers.

Mama and Mama Neel makin naan!

Men grilling

Dad and the filet mignon.

Ginna made the most wonderful caramel cake and I made this delicious recipe.

Cousin Betsey and her boys.

Family photo!

Hope you had a Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T14:07:00.003-05:00

Love,

Andrew & Carrie

Weekend Update {and a wedding!}

2011-12-19T07:50:00.004-05:00

We had a great weekend. Friday was my last day of school. I was exhausted. I stopped by Earth Fare on the way home, picked out a good bottle of beer for AD, came home and wrote on the brown bag: "Thanks for getting me through Part I", left on the counter, then crawled into bed to sleep. Hooray for winter break!!

We also had our friends Beau & Jessica over for spaghetti dinner and then we sat in hours of traffic to see the beautiful McAdenville lights. Hopefully this will become a tradition... but next year we're going on a week night.

Last night we got to celebrate the wedding of our friends Josh & Brenda!

The traditional Ashley & Carrie wedding picture.

Beautiful bride & groom.

Me & AD

Cake! They're moving to Brazil after their honeymoon!

So sweet.

Us with the happy couple!

Cake again!

Just a few of us Uptown girls...

Weekend Update

2011-12-12T06:35:00.003-05:00

We had a great weekend!

I went to Greensboro for the day on Saturday to have a morning date to the farmer's market with Lucy Lu. We watched the Duke game at my house with my parents, and then I went to sit with my sweet grandmother, Gigi, and hold her hand.

I came home just in time to make (for the first time) homemade pimento cheese, Andrew's favorite. Then we went to the Nutcracker! One of my 2nd graders was in it! :)

Last night Andrew sung in our church's Lessons & Carols. His parents came up for the occasion and it was a lovely time!

Jeremy and Julie!

Us with our friends David & Claire.

Our revised Christmas tree... the angel is an old one of me. Maybe I'll try to hit after Christmas sales for a tree topper for next year.

Merry Christmas time!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALLISON!!

2011-12-10T08:08:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday to my dearest friend, Al!!

I hope you have a wonderful day. Love you!

Christmas tree!

2011-12-08T21:32:00.005-05:00

Hello there! Thought I'd throw in a mid-week post... one that isn't overly upbeat and "I'm so happy it's the weekend", which is generally when I blog.

Anyway, here's a two week old picture of our first Christmas tree. I've since added more Christmas decorations to our lil apartment... but because it's not Saturday, I have no energy to get my camera and take pictures.

I love to check the mail all year round but especially at Christmas! Holiday cards are my favorite. Keep 'em coming!

I have realized something. After 7 months of marriage and two full time jobs for both of us, we're into a good routine. Today it hit me that by the time Thursday rolls around, I do not feel like cooking. I enjoy going out on the weekends, but the night I need a break, or to have someone else make food for me, is Thursday {and thankfully Andrew likes leftovers, which is actually what we had tonight}. Just one of those little things you learn over time. Anyone else understand?

I should also mention that since this is our first Christmas, we don't have a tree topper. Until I find the perfect one, I'm quite content with the unconventional one we have now.... yeah!

Weekend Update

2011-12-04T21:14:00.003-05:00

Whew. We had a busy weekend. Here are a couple highlights:

Secret Santa Christmas party!

One of the tables of food...

We got a picture with the newlyweds!

Beer & bowties.

Tonight we had a birthday dinner for our friend Janet.

Happy Bday, Janet!

Now I'm just dreaming of days when I don't have to wake up at 5am. Two more weeks! :)

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-25T08:20:00.003-05:00

I really, really missed my family this year. But! It was a wonderful Thanksgiving with Andrew's family.

Happenings

2011-11-23T05:56:00.003-05:00

Today might be one of my favorite days of the year. Everyone is either off work or finishing up work, people are traveling, and the busiest place in the house is the kitchen! Excitement is in the air. Or at least it was yesterday at school. Here are a few little things that have been happening around here:

The tree in front of our apartment! I missed things like this in NYC.

My failed attempt at black & white cookies. I think I over-mixed the batter. We threw most of them out. Bleh.

A couple weeks ago I got coffee with the family I used to nanny for! I love Mar's TOMS.

Andrew ate a sweet potato every night as a bachelor. I don't like soggy, microwaved sweet potatoes, so all this fall I've been roasting them in the oven, and they are so good.

We're spending Thanksgiving with Andrew's family in Hotlanta {seriously, it is hot in the South! WHY?!?!?}. I'm helping with the menu and will be bringing the food of my ancestors... well, only this oatmeal/apple/cranberry dish my mom has made every year since I was born. It wouldn't be Thanksgiving without it. I'm also making a yummy looking dessert. There needs to be more chocolate in this holiday. The third thing I'm making is a healthy salad. There should also be one of those in the middle of a carb-loaded holiday.

Hope you have a safe and relaxing Thanksgiving! :)

Weekend Update

2011-11-21T06:20:00.003-05:00

We had a really relaxing weekend. Cocktail Club was on Friday and my friend Kristy served apple martinis along with a goat cheese appetizer and these mini apple pies she found on Pinterest. Yum. I also brought this dish, which might be the world's easiest appie to CC and it was a hit. Thanks, MK & K!

Saturday I got up super early for a fabric sale: paid $1 for 4 rolls of fabric. {Nothing I was particularly excited about, though.} Got my hair cut, took a 2 hour nap, read, and then AD and I walked around the mall then came home and made homemade pizza while watching tv. I was pretty much lazy all day and it felt so good.

Yesterday we had Becca & Brian over and then our other ASU friends, including RUSH!!

Babies are so fun. He was all over the place and reminded us that our apartment isn't very baby friendly. It was a great way to end the weekend with dear college friends!

This week: two days of work (!) and then five days off. Wahoo!

Nate & Kate's wedding

2011-11-13T19:32:00.007-05:00

We attended another beautiful wedding yesterday! It was at the Quarry at Carrigan Farms in Mooresville, NC.

There's Nate walking up.

Here comes Kate... beautiful!!

The men.

Yep. Checking the status of the USC game.

Cutting the cake. It was one of the most relaxed weddings we've been to!

I had a momentary thought that Andrew and I should feed each other cake since I'm still missing Ginna and Allison when the cake is served. But that might steal thunder from the happy couple. And it wouldn't be the same. Gah.

It was quite apparent how much Nate and Kate love children. They were surrounded by their nieces and nephews and other merry little ones all day!

Just a few of us...

A pack of camels. Camel coats, that is.

Beautiful fall!

Big picture.

Nate & Kate on their way!

Look at those sweet girls with their beautiful dresses and bows in their hair! After the car pulled away, all the children ran into a field and danced. Oh how happy they were! :)

11.11.11 {so far}

2011-11-11T12:19:00.004-05:00

Hello there! Wow, I am ridiculously happy today. We don't have school and it was absolutely glorious to sleep in past 5am. Andrew surprised me with a tray of coffee:

And he went out to Starbucks to get a NYT for me to read!

What a guy.

I'm still debating on my $4 purchase from Goodwill (hanging on the right). I saw it and loved it. We don't have much wall space in the apt, and it's a bit big for that wall. but not sure, though, if it looks a little granny-ish? Kathy, help!!

Andrew is working from home today so we went out to TOAST for brunch. They opened their new restaurant in Dilworth and the atmosphere was energetic with yummy food. So far the coolest thing we've done today was to tip our waiter $11 on 11.11.11!! So fun!

Trip to Nashville

2011-11-06T15:16:00.007-05:00

This past weekend Andrew and I went to Nashville for the wedding of our friends Colin & Katie.

The drive there was beautiful!

So was the church where they were married.

They had an acapella group sing as she walked down the aisle.

Married!

Me & my man

Katie sang a song for Colin- it was so sweet.

Everyone who came from Charlotte for the wedding.

Wished Gin & Al were there to eat cake with me. :(

Me & Laura

Me & Ash

Colin and his awesome band from Cali

Oh, wait, we have to check Sports Center for the latest scores.

Our hotel was right near Vanderbilt's stadium. I think this picture has something to do with USC vs. Vandy in football.

We ate at this fun little restaurant called Fido. (We were going to eat at Pancake Pantry, but I got a better "feel" from this place.)

Tasty food, too!

Andrew fought a dragon on the way back to the car.

Yay! We then went to see my friend Suz who I used to work with in NYC. I finally got to meet her husband and sweet baby boy!

It was so wonderful to see her and visit for a while.

He is quite adorable!

Another view of the drive home.

We stopped in Asheville and were hoping to eat at Tupelo Honey Cafe, but the wait was too long. Boo! So we settled on this little place.

Have a great week!

Wonderful weekend

2011-10-30T20:55:00.003-04:00

We went up to my parents this weekend for rest, relaxation and to help Lucy Goosey with her many mini photography sessions. She did such a great job!!

Petolsh.... Petals... Petolshh

The sisters playing on Dad's iPad and new iPhone. Lucy was so funny with Siri and asked her ridiculous questions and her responses were hilarious!

My Dad also became an elder this weekend at their church. It was so special to be there for that!

Love!

After we left, we went to visit with my dear grandmother, Gigi, who has Alzheimer's. It means so much to see her even if she doesn't know who we are nor can say much in response. Even so, there's something just special to sit with your grandmother.

Have a great week!

Oh my gosh.

2011-10-24T18:32:00.005-04:00

Ok, so our neighbors are unbelievably awesome. He's the head chef at Good Food on Montford {a really good restaurant here in Charlotte and right down the road} and she's a waitress there. Um, yeah. We had planned a week ago to walk up to Yoforia for frozen yogurt but she texted me in the afternoon wanting to know if we could come over for dinner.

Yes.

He and his sous chef/friend made the most beautiful, flavorful dishes throughout the night. It was an 8 course meal {I forgot to take a picture of the foie gras appetizer} for 7 people. Oh my gosh, so yummy and to them, it was no big deal. Oh and they told me that Claire Danes had been to the restaurant the night before.

I mean, really. Look at this food:

Their sweet little girl wasn't too sure about the cooked fish {baked in a salt crust}.

It was unbelievable and soo much better than frozen yogurt.

The last few weeks {and lot of pictures}

2011-10-23T06:48:00.015-04:00

Here's what we've been up to:

The Hamilton Lake girls back in 2001.

(picture taken from Allison's blog)

Hamilton Lake girls in 2011.

We had a girls weekend a couple weeks ago in Sparta, NC!! These are my oldest friends and I love them dearly. Oh and we went to a corn maze in the country.

It was the most relaxing weekend! Thank you so much, Mich!!

Me & Al.

The next weekend that Ginna girl came to Charlotte with Nascar tickets {which she got through work}! Wahoo! It was our first Nascar race and I know Kathy is proud of me. You can tell we're pumped up! Oh, and when Ginna was waiting for us, someone told her she was too dressed up for a Nascar race. It was true. Race shirts, jeans and old tennis shoes seemed to be in vogue.

It was quite loud so we had to get earplugs.

I was amazed at how fast the cars went around the track. {duh, I know... but really, they went real fast}

Jeff informed Ginna that this is the world's largest HD television!!!

This was fun!

We also got a tour of the pits.

Crazy how close you could get to the cars and drivers!

What a fun night... thanks Gin!

The next day Ginna and I enjoyed a walk to Brueggers Bagel and tried a bagel a client of hers {who lives in NYC and ate this in NYC} said was the best breakfast she'd ever had: an everything bagel toasted with cream cheese and bacon. Let's just say that it's probably much better in NYC.

Later that afternoon, Andrew and I went hiking at Crowders Mountain with our friends Beau & Jessica.

The weather was perfect!

There's the Queen City in the distance.

I love fall!

Later that night we went to our friend Will's bonfire birthday party and ate yummy s'mores!

Last Sunday we went to Greenville to meet Demelza, one of Andrew's friends and a missionary we support in England.

Then had a relaxing dinner with some of Andrew's family along with beautiful music by Presley.

This past Friday night I went to a shower for my friend Katie {center} who is getting married in two weeks! Here she is with the shower hostesses.

Everyone at the party!

Me & Katie.

Last night we threw a shower for a friend of ours who is getting married in December. His fiance is living in Brazil so we Skyped her in. Definitely a first to have one of the guests of honor join us via Skype.

I always have a hard time finding appetizers even though I've made so many over the years. I ended up making Smitten Kitchen's cheese straws and her brownies, also had toasted salami with a dip on top and then a bean dip with chips.

Everyone.

Being silly. Oh and I love the bunny ears on Luke!

So, yeah, that's about it.

Coming soon...

2011-10-20T21:29:00.002-04:00

A massive update on the last few weeks including this fabulous weekend:

A 5:30am post

2011-10-08T05:42:00.007-04:00

Well good morning!

It's 5:30something and of course I'm wide awake. Actually I've been awake for quite sometime now. My body is used to getting up at this hour during the week. Oh, and we've had the windows open a lot (with the screens in) but there was a cockroach in our apartment last night and I kinda freaked out. Andrew killed it but I didn't sleep well. Bleh. I hate those things.

We have wonderful news to share with you... Andrew's sister and brother-in-law, who already have three girls, are pregnant with a BOY!!! Wahoo! We found out this week and I can barely contain my excitement.

It was a really good week... I think I've got the hang of school now and I don't come home completely drained. It's my first time in a school setting and I've learned these two things:

- I hate loose teeth. I try not to actually look when a kid wants to show me their tooth hanging by a thread.

- Read to your kid and teach them about money and time before they start Kindergarten.

In other news, I had to go to the mall to get a shower gift for a friend when I passed by the Apple store. I thought it was sweet that there were flowers in remembrance for Steve Jobs.

Last night we had a date night at our favorite place, Providence Cafe. I ran into a teacher friend and I think that's when a city feels like a home... when you run into people you know.

Afterward we went to Starbucks to split a Pumpkin Spice Latte since we had had a big dinner. Then we drove around the city looking at the big city lights and singing Redeemer Presbyterian Church's doxology {which I love... words below}. So worshipful!

I told Andrew that we need to take more pictures because you're only newlyweds once and we'll want to remember this first year. This is what he posed for me. Goofball! :)
And now, I must go because not only do I get to hang out with some of my dearest, oldest friends/sisters, but ALL of my bridesmaids!! The Hamilton Lake girl reunion weekend is today! :)

All ye who are of tender heart,

Forgiving others take your part.

Sing his praises, Alleluia!

Ye who long pain and sorrow bear,

Praise God and on him cast your care!

O praise him! O praise him!

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Let all things their creator bless,

And worship him with humbleness!

O praise him, Alleluia!

Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son,

And praise the Spirit, Three in One,

O praise him! O praise him!

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Two, Three, and lots of food

2011-10-02T15:39:00.006-04:00

Two:

Two years ago yesterday I moved from NYC! I was at the grocery store and bought a B&W cookie for the occasion. Also, Kathy happened to call and leave a message, in it she said: "By the way, the Upper East Side says hello"!!!! Ahh, made my day! :)

Three:

I missed the actual day, but here's to three years of blogging! Oh how I sometimes miss being CCC in NYC. :)

Lots of food:

It's been a really relaxing weekend! Andrew and I went to Common Market on Friday night but it was packed so we got our sandwiches to go and went to the top of the windy Target parking deck. The cool, crisp air and awesome view took my breath away. We then got drinks at a ridiculously expensive wine bar but we won't be going back there.

Saturday was for football, long walks and Smitten Kitchen! If you haven't been to her site, go!

I made her Apple and Honey Challah Bread which was tasty (although I think I'll leave out the apples next time...). Wishing Mirabelle could come over for a slice & some tea! :)

Then I made the Roasted Tomato Soup with Broiled Cheddar. It was good but the soup turned out to be more like a marinara. (p.s. Allison made these placemats and gave them to us for a wedding present!)

Have a beautiful week!

Birthday Bash

2011-09-27T18:22:00.002-04:00

Last night we had MK & Kurt and Jen & Lide over for dinner! We've been meaning to have a triple date for quite some time. I was also really, really excited to make this cake for MK as it's the one her Mama made for her growing up. MK's bday was back in early August but better late than never! Also, Kurt and Lide have the same birthday which is on Thursday.

The birthday trio blowing out the candles.

MK trying the cake!! She said it tasted just like her mom's... wahoo! Also, we had everyone guess the secret cake ingredient. No one guessed it.

(answer: beets!!)

Me & MK. I miss seeing her every day and watching The Golden Girls together. :)

The rest of the weekend

2011-09-25T20:28:00.003-04:00

Oh dear weekend, why do you go by so quickly?!

Last night we had a wonderful time at our friend Ashley's birthday party. She's also the one who sang 'The Church's One Foundation' as I walked down the aisle. I cry every time I hear that song!

Today we checked two things off the bucket list we haven't made yet.

We rode on the Light Rail!

To the PANTHERS game!

This was before the rain.

We got the tickets from one of the ladies we had brunch with yesterday. They couldn't make it to the game so we went instead. They had club seats and we definitely took advantage of the air conditioning and lounge rooms when the rain came.

Speaking of rain, on our way home we drove by the river near our home... wow! It was a pretty awesome sight!

It's definitely not supposed to look like this.

Hope you have a great week!

Cabin weekend & family gatherings

2011-09-24T15:36:00.002-04:00

I'm sitting on the couch with a box of kleenex. Yep, I have a cold. So thankful for the weekend.

Last weekend we were in Boone with friends. This is what our mornings looked like:

This is what cute doggies look like:

"I wanna play with Chauncey Neel"

(is what I assumed Toby was trying to say halfway through his yawn.)

We walked through ASU's campus and it was so fun/weird to be back! A lot has changed in the 7 years since I've been there.

It was really fun to take this picture in front of our old dorm, Eggers. We kept wondering how we lived in such a TINY space! Never again!!

ASU football game!

Go App!

Today we had a cousin get-together with my grandmother's sister and their family here in Charlotte. We had a lovely lunch at Providence Cafe and it was great to meet them. Actually the lady in black is named Ginna! Same as our Ginna!! :)

Oh how we love our Gigi!!

Last night we "celebrated" the anniversary of our first date. Because I was (am) feeling horrible due to this stupid head cold which I got from some second grade runny nose kid, I didn't feel up for doing much. We ended up walking over to Nolen Kitchen as we had a gift certificate. I didn't dress up and we left at 5:30 for dinner. Wow. A lot has changed after that first date where I spent a lot of time getting ready and we were out all night. I'm ok with that though. Sleep is good. So are soft Kleenex.

Happy Birthday Ginna!!

2011-09-15T21:59:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday to that Ginna girl!!! I hope you had the best day ever and I can't wait to snuggle with you this weekend in Boone!! :) I love you!

Remembering

2011-09-11T15:31:00.003-04:00

Remembering those who were snuggled with their loved ones ten years ago yesterday. I can't even imagine.

I love today

2011-09-10T13:22:00.009-04:00

Saturdays are my favorite! It's the day I catch up on sleep, errands and spend a lot of time cooking/baking. Today I'm making Iced Pumpkin Cookies! I already have a chicken tortilla soup in the crock pot (thanks, Al!) for tonight's dinner. Andrew will watch football in a few hours and life is good.

Last night we went to the Greek Festival here in Charlotte with our friends the Lowders. I LOVE Greek food. We also ran into a couple from church who was there with their 5 day old baby! And we even left before they did! It's cool to see that life doesn't have to "end" when you have a baby.

Oh and I also love being married! He's so good to me!

Have a beautiful weekend and go USC!

Life lately

2011-09-07T17:46:00.003-04:00

I know. It's been a while. I'll blame it on my new job (!) and the fact that I am exhausted at the end of most days. But what a wonderful August it was! Here are a couple highlights:

Atlanta to visit Al & B!

I was so excited for this trip because I hadn't seen their new house and it's adorable. I also was super happy to see Toby, their dog. I think I only love two dogs in the whole world and he's one of 'em.

Here's the pre-breakfast table. Breakfast was yummy (of course!).

We met up with Julie for lunch and then did some shopping!

The next day we went to Winston-Salem for my Uncle Hunter's last day at his church. They had a lovely farewell lunch at a cool venue downtown followed by a band with dancing for after the service. The flowers were beautiful.

Uncle Hunter!

Some of the cousins in town for the occasion!

Now we're gearing up for a busy fall with football (I'm now a Gamecock fan!), trips, hanging out with friends and getting back into a schedule. Oh, and fall weather. I just got back from a run and it was pure bliss! Yes it was. Try running in 95 degree weather and 100% humidity to 70 degree weather. Yippeee!!

I'll confess...

2011-08-18T19:42:00.004-04:00

...I did it. Our apartment looks way better than I presented it. You'll find out one day.

But what's wrong with Michael Jackson, at least in the 80s. Sure, he got a little interesting in his later years, but to paraphrase Dave Chapelle, "The man did Thriller!"

And, I just pulled these out of the oven. Wish you were here!

Beauty

2011-08-17T07:43:00.006-04:00

Oh! Get ready for some beautiful pictures!

Yesterday I went to visit my dear friend Michelle and her husband Aaron Ray. They live in the beautiful countryside of NC and I couldn't get enough of it. It was a two hour drive from Charlotte and I arrived around dinner time.

Their house is absolutely adorable!

We sat out on the front porch with our tea/lemonade and visited. Doesn't that sound delightful?!

Me & Malart!

Mich & Aaron Ray!

This was taken on their driveway.

One last shot on my way home. It was a wonderful, quick trip and thank you so much for a delightful stay!

Also, you can see below that a certain husband of mine got hold of the blog while I was away. I'll have to give you a proper apartment tour at some point because this is not how it usually looks. ;)

Jolly makes a move

2011-08-16T21:00:00.006-04:00

So after all this discussion of decorating on the blog, Andrew and I have revisited what percentage of our decorating input comes from him versus me and we've agreed on more of a 50-50 arrangement, instead of the 95-5 agreement previously in force. It was one of those things where we were hanging out on Monday night and both just decided it was time to re-arrange things a little bit. Let me know what you think!

Andrew is redoing his bureau as a shrine to Coke. Not my favorite, I'll admit, but it's one of his only spaces so I'm going to let him do whatever without comment. At least my lamp managed to stay!
Andrew had this "St. Andrew's Ale" bottle that he'd left sitting around for a while now, and I thought it would be fun to have next to one of our wedding pictures. Ignore the hammer. That doesn't live there.
This one took a little more thought but after much debate, we decided that MJ could sit on the nightstand on my side of the bed. I mean, who wouldn't want Michael Jackson watching over them?
I like what Andrew did here. We moved one of the plants we got as wedding gift to a different spot in the room and are using one of those big glass jugs Andrew brews beer in as a new accent on the couches (which are to the left of this picture). I'm still not sure what I think about that sword he put on the bookshelf. It's still under discussion. But at least he let me put the dolphin clock on our "mantle" overlooking the kitchen. This was one of our favorite shower gifts and it's taken a while to find the perfect place for it.
I'll admit, this one took me a while. I mean, I liked the Jolly Roger just fine in the laundry room. This whole idea of this being "our home" is very true and all but I'm not sure I want a skull looking down on me while I sleep. Michael Jackson, sure, pirate flag...maybe not. This one may not last too long.
And in honor of college football starting off soon, we've broken out the USC blanket Andrew has for the loveseat. If nothing else, it's really warm and will be great for snuggling during Gamecock victories in early winter!

Weekend Update

2011-08-16T13:21:00.003-04:00

Last week I had the lovely Lindsey and Cameron over for a visit! It was the first time I've seen my sweet ASU friends in a long while!

Last Friday night Andrew surprised me with a date night: we went to Cabo Fish Taco for dinner. I love the Charlotte skyline.

Then we went Uptown to see King Lear.

It was a 3 hour production.

Saturday we went to a pool party with some friends and while I didn't take any pictures there, I got one of Lake Wylie on the way home. Ahh, I love summertime.

Saturday night we went to visit and have dinner with the family I used to nanny for! It was so fun to hang out and spend time with them. Mar Mar Chickadee is getting so big.

Have a great week! :)

Happy Left Handers' Day!

2011-08-14T12:55:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was national Left Handers' Day! Since Andrew is a leftie, I thought we should properly celebrate.

We started out the day by writing a note to each other (me with my left hand):

And Andrew with his right hand.

(I know... we're so weird. Actually I'm just weird because I made Andrew do all this.)

Last night we had a beer from Left Hand Brewing Co.

Left thumb up.

Yay for silly holidays! :)

Meet Jolly

2011-08-12T16:28:00.005-04:00

Well Andrew's post below made me want to talk about decorating a home after you're married. I think I had this idea that I would get to decide/pick out/choose everything we did to our home. Oh no, no. While 95% of our home is "my taste" and decorated by me, Andrew did have his opinions and things he brought into the marriage that he didn't want sent to Goodwill. I mean, this is his home too so I met him halfway.

Here's where I introduce you to Jolly.

Andrew had this Jolly Roger (pirate flag) hanging in his old house and wanted to put it up in the apartment. Our apartment. You can only imagine my reaction (coming from a house with sisters and female roommates). I gently told him that there was no way this would be hung in our living room. So he hung Jolly in the laundry/storage room and here he is:

I never, ever would've done this but actually I've become fond of Jolly and we call the storage room Jolly's room and we like to think that he's watching over the place when we're gone. This was a good lesson I learned in marriage: learn to pick your battles. ;)

Two can play at this game

2011-08-12T15:43:00.006-04:00

Some of you will recall the last time I invaded this space to discuss the great sense of loss I had at fine art from my swinging bachelor times coming to unfortunate ends in the course of daily life in marriage.

Life, my dear readers, as they say, has happened again. This time, alas, I have nowhere to lay the blame but squarely on my own shoulders. Behold, this glorious artifact from my youth, now quite literally cut off at the knees. I give you あしたジョー, or "Tomorrow Joe" for those of you without Japanese language translation software.

This particular glorious piece of Japanese sculpture requires a bit of digression into my life back in the gloriously early 2000s, circa July 2001. I, being an up and coming summer missionary wannabe and imagining myself to be a bit of a Japanese scholar, signed up for a 2 month stint in Tokyo with SEND International, an organization that my family had had some positive relationships with going back before my time. That summer, beyond being the time of my adopting hair-dos not seen since the era of Billy Idol and Joey Ramone, also proved to be a time for learning about all things Japanese high school, as seen through the eyes of an uncomprehending white guy who's language ability extended about as far as "Domo arigato..." etc. You, no doubt, are familiar with the song. But I digress. Towards the end of the summer, I, along with a smattering of counselors and other staff, descended on a camp for 3 weeks of high school camps. For me, this amounted to sleeping in a cabin with about 10 Japanese high school guys, pretending I knew what they were saying, and repeatedly muttering my catch phrase of the time "しばくぞ、ボケ!" (roughly translated, I'm going to beat you down), though in this case it was a rough term of affection between myself and the aforementioned high school guys. Fast forward about 1 month to the big send-off party for me and my fellow summer missionary. One of the high school guys from my cabin that summer found me in the crowd (admittedly, not very hard, being the only white guy with a blond mohawk there), and gave me the late Tomorrow Joe as a parting gift.

That dearly beloved bobble head has stayed by side these 10 years, most often residing on the night stand next to me. His devil-may-care grin has watched over my sleeping form ever so faithfully, never allowing Bison, Tyson, or any other real or imaginary boxer to interrupt my Zzzzs. It was this loyal companion who I so ill-treated this morning, as you can see above. In a moment of grogginess, reaching blearily for my phone cum alarm at 6 am, I severed Joe from his feet. Shed a tear, or three, and then take a moment of silence for this poor piece of statuary, so slighted by his master.

Joe, I'll miss you. We'll see if superglue can make you good as new.

Weekend Update

2011-08-08T13:27:00.003-04:00

We had a pretty fun but low-key weekend! Friday night had friends over to watch a movie (The Prestige... wow, intense!) and then Saturday we ran errands then hung out around the apartment til we met some of Andrew's college buddies for drinks. After that we went to a going away party for our friend Jeremy. He wore a kilt to his party. It was a good time.

Yesterday we went out with some friends after church and then had pizza and game night with two other couples. We've stayed mostly indoors except for when we exercise. I would say that I'm wishing for fall weather but I've been working on being content with where I am/life's circumstances. So, I'm trying to embrace the heat although Andrew and I went for a walk yesterday and I think I was so hot at one point I cried. Anyway, here's to being happy with life as it is now!

Oh, I also volunteered at Levine Children's Hospital this morning (where I've been for a year & a half)... here's a little plug for those of you who live near a {children's} hospital: this is a great time to donate school items such as scissors, construction paper, crayons, etc. to hospitals.. especially if you're out of school but still want to go back-to-school shopping! Even old magazines, movies (not R), and toys are welcomed!

Have a happy week!

MarDo Staycation

2011-07-31T17:24:00.003-04:00

After two weddings this year, my parents (MARshall and DOrothy) decided to have vacation at home this year. Hence, MarDo Staycation. So we all drove up/over to Oak Ridge and enjoyed a wonderful and relaxing weekend with family.

We celebrated my mom's bday and I tried to make this cake and while it's a hideous mess, it tasted pretty good. Sometimes I don't have patience for baking, especially when there's ice cream and travelling involved. Oh well.

The next day they surprised us by renting a van and driving up to Chateau Morrisette Winery in Virginia. It was beautiful!

We enjoyed being together!

And drinking wine, of course.

In the gift shop there was a picture of this dog. It was especially funny to us because we named our cat Zuzu and dog Petals!

Beautiful sunflowers!

First attempt to get a family picture on the camera's timer.

I LOVE them!!

Me & that Ginna girl.

This morning we went to hear Uncle Hunter preach at Redeemer. Then we went to a pub for lunch in Winston Salem.

Ginefferson.

Family!

It was a great weekend! We had yummy food, enjoyed the beautiful country, watched home videos which made us laugh so hard we cried, snuggled with the sisters, enjoyed our MarDo Staycation goodie bags (complete with a whistle dad put in the girl's bags... you know, to put on our keychain in case of an emergency. Dad's always think about these things.) , read books and sat on rocking chairs on the porch. Ahh, tis the life!

Thanks, Mom & Dad for a great vacation!

Another one bites the dust!

2011-07-18T19:45:00.007-04:00

As every newlywed husbands knows, or at least quickly finds out (especially if he has a peculiar, shall we say, taste in decor), there are certain material things that he brings into the marriage that don't fit into the interior decorating plan devised by the two newlyweds. What said unsuspecting gentleman will also soon discover is that such items have a tendency to break, disappear, or otherwise fall into unfortunate circumstances that bring about their demise.

There was one such item of mine, a little, cheap, ceramic figure I'd brought back from Japan about 10 years ago of a number of cheery Japanese racoons on a boat. Imagine a 100 yen ceramic version of the below:

Now, imagine my surprise, when I come home one day to my tearful wife explaining how the boat had inauspiciously plummeted from its home on the back ledge of the stove to the tile floor, where needless to say, it found itself in a completely unpresentable state, so I ceremoniously consigned it to the garbage bin. This occurred some weeks, or maybe months ago.

Well, today, another unfortunate event has occurred. If any of you were at our wedding, you will perhaps recall this lovely arrangement.

The large centerpiece was one that I had purchased on a lark when we were looking for vases for the reception. Let's just say that post wedding, it hasn't seen much of the light of day, and I've complained not a whit since honestly I'm not sure what we'd do with the thing. It was quite probably the largest champagne flute ever devised, and useful for drinking one whole bottle of the bubbly, at minimum. Alas, gravity has struck again and my giant drinking vessel is no more.

Now, for certain, I would ascribe no ill motives to my wife, since gravity does indeed often strike with importunate regularity. That said, there does appear a curious correlation between things original to me that she does not find fit for public display in the apartment and ones that end up in an unpresentable state, while I'm not around to prevent their departure from this mortal plane

So...to my intrepid reader, what's next? My probably not original pressing of Thriller, by Michael Jackson? My Jolly Roger, which gleefully watches over our laundry room? I confess I know not why it falls to these specific articles to meet an early demise, but there is certainly a haunting of some sort about this place, and it has no taste for the silly eclecticisms of a bachelor.

Weekend Update

2011-07-18T10:15:00.008-04:00

Our weekend started out a little early on Thursday when we had my old roomie MK and her boyfriend (!), and our friend Kurt over for dinner. Michelle also joined us because she was flying out of Charlotte the next morning and I have to say, we had a blast! Oh it was so fun and Mich & MK had me cracking up!

The next day I met Lizziepie at the Clt airport and greeted her with Chick-Fil-A! I feel lucky enough to have gotten to see her on her way home from 2.5 years in Romania! Ooh, so wonderful to catch up!

That night Andrew surprised me with a date night (I made him knock on the door to pick me up) and he surprised me with flowers, too. Aw.

We went to Vintner's Wine Market with a Living Social coupon... go coupons. Dinner was so delicious and it was a great way to start the weekend.

Oh and the next day he also surprised me by having bought seasons 1-8 of FRIENDS on EBay. I had to go around the house to find them all. Wahoo!

Saturday night my sister-in-law and her three kiddos came to stay with us. We had tacos and then I needed lots of help making chocolate chip cookies so Adia & Jacques helped me. :)

Souley was content just giving Uncle Andrew high fives.

So cute!

Yesterday we went to see my parents to return their truck which we borrowed to get a double bed for the guest room (come stay with us!) and a hutch we bought in Charlotte. It was a leisurely afternoon watching the Women's World Cup and looking for snakes in the yard as we took this picture with our wedding sunflowers. Yeah my mom killed a snake on Friday. She's amazing. And so brave. {I am not brave.}

Eeek!!! Petals (or as I say, Petolshshshsh!!). So cute and so sweet and so lovey!!

Documenting the every day

2011-07-11T16:49:00.004-04:00

This has been one of my favorite things to do since we got married! I first got the idea from this blog and started it by getting my 5x7 index cards (which I cut in half), a stamper (I found one at Office Depot for $3...) already had an ink pad, and asked for an extra berry container at my farmer's market. I started it on May 7th, the day we got married. I usually take up three lines and just write what we did that day or if the day is special (which it is... YAY Al & B for TWO YEARS today!!) or anything else that I find would be fun to remember the next year(s). It's a really easy way to document life and I'm sure it will be cool to look back after 4 years or so.

Sunflowers and cake

2011-07-09T09:09:00.004-04:00

One of our wedding favors was a sunflower seed packet (that we ordered here) and I had hoped everyone would go and scatter their sunflower seeds. Yesterday I visited the family I used to nanny for and they had done just that!

They even put this stick in the garden. :)

Last night we had some friends over for Andrew's birthday celebration. I saw this amazing looking cake on Design*Sponge and just had to make it.

Anyone want to come over for cake? We have so much left over!

The celebration continues

2011-07-07T21:01:00.004-04:00

Tonight we went to Providence Cafe for Andrew's birthday dinner. It's turning into our special occasion dinner restaurant since we first went there the night we got engaged and then for my birthday. Afterwards we went to the top of the Target parking deck for a rooftop view of the city. Ahh, it was beautiful and the weather perfect. Now Andrew is drinking a coffee stout and watching Doctor Who. Anyone else watch Doctor Who?

Oh and Andrew got a new birthday bowtie that we ordered from our friends! Check out their website for awesome bowties!

That concludes July 7th! Also a huge birthday shout out to Andrew's birthday buddy, Miss Anna who is ONE today! Hooray!

Happy Birthday Andrew!!

2011-07-07T07:44:00.006-04:00

Yay! This post is mostly about Andrew (and food) because today is his BIRTHDAY!! Wahoo! It's been fun celebrating him. I often think that your Birthday Eve is much better than your birthday night (kinda like Christmas Eve vs. Christmas night). Anyway, here's what we've been up to:

I know guys really aren't into flowers. But I am. Life is more festive with flowers.

Ok, Andrew is the healthiest eater I know. During his bachelor days this is what he would eat every night for dinner: a spinach salad with carrots, a sweet potato from the microwave (eaten plain), peas and boiled noodles. Well I cannot take such monotony in my cuisine, so the only thing that continues on is the spinach salad. At first I thought it was weird but now it's a staple. See below.

The easiest decoration EVER. I found them on here and they make me so happy hanging from our chandelier. It feels quite festive in our little apartment. (Oh, note the curtains I recently made!)

Balloons hanging from the light fixtures are not uncommon when it's your birthday.

Since Andrew lived in Japan (and is fluent in Japanese and totally throws me off when his friends call him and I have no idea what they're saying) he often requests an Asian fare for dinner. I thought his Birthday Eve would be the perfect night to whip something up. I was recently reading through a cookbook (am I the only newlywed that does this?!) when I found a recipe for Japanese Stuffed Peppers in this cookbook. Well I went all over the Queen City yesterday looking for dark sesame oil, straw mushrooms and dry sherry among a long list of ingredients.

This feels like a really intense picture of me but maybe I was super excited because 1. I don't usually like mushrooms, but I really liked this dish; 2. I finally made a Japanese something for Andrew; and 3. IT'S ANDREW's BIRTHDAY EVE!!

Beer. Of course.

Since we're having a dinner party with two couples on Friday and I'm going to make a surprise cake for Andrew then, I thought he still needed to blow out candles. So I made a chocolate chip cookie cake from this recipe. I loved how petite it is. I put just a little in a 9 inch cake pan (froze the rest) and iced it. Voila. I sent him to work with the rest of it. It will be a perfect snack for all after he gets the Panda Bear Singing Telegram I had sent to his office. ;) That would be so funny!

Wow, what a guy to put up with my cheese. After I made him a breakfast of blueberry ebelskiver pancakes I then had to take a picture of him leaving for work on his birthday, complete with a birthday balloon. I originally had the balloon on our front door for when he came home from work yesterday. However he reminded me that we wouldn't want to give our neighbors the wrong impression. Good thinking.

Happy Birthday my love!!

Guess what...

2011-07-04T20:34:00.004-04:00

Weekend Update

2011-07-04T08:30:00.006-04:00

On Saturday I went to my friend Margot's baby shower in Greensboro! She was a nanny in Connecticut when I was a nanny on Long Island. We would often meet in the City and go to Redeemer, shop and eat NYC pizza. :)

Her baby shower was so cute. Charlie will be born in about three weeks!

Me & Mar

We stopped to see Erin & Dave and HENRY in Raleigh!

It was fun to visit!

Then we went to hang out with the Neels! We had a fun time doing a dance game (what's it called again, Gin?) and made a yummy dinner from all the veggies Ginna got at the farmer's market that morning.

Hope you have a happy 4th! We're enjoying a lazy extended weekend hanging the curtains I made (!!), finishing decorating the apartment (thank you Goodwill and spray paint), eating homemade waffles and anticipating fireworks!

I'll leave you with the following conversation from breakfast:

Andrew: *something something something* "...it came out like a damp squib."

Carrie (not having had a complete cup of coffee yet): "Like a WHAT? A damn squid??"

Ahh, just another day in the life...

Tonight's dinner

2011-06-28T19:48:00.009-04:00

I can't remember the last time I posted a picture of food or something I've made but you have to try this.

Homemade focaccia + caramelized onions + thin apple slices (I used granny smith) + sliced mozzarella cheese + thin turkey deli meat + the world's most amazing basil mayonnaise on a panini press* = AMAZING!

Our philosophy when it comes to dinner is to eat our typical go-to cheap meals: beans and rice or some kind of pasta. We typically go vegetarian just because we both enjoy meatless meals and it's relatively inexpensive. I'll mix it up every now and then, like tonight or when we have guests over. I spent a lot of time on this meal but it was well worth it.

*This is one of our favorite wedding gifts! We didn't register for it but our friends who got married about a month before us gave it to us and we love it!

I would also like to clarify for the picture below that this was posted by Andrew and we DID NOT smear cake on our faces. He was reminded for 3 months leading up to the wedding that there would be no smearing whatsoever. :)

Correction: Amended favorite picture

2011-06-27T15:14:00.002-04:00

My favorite picture is actually the one catching Andrew just before he covered my face in wedding cake.

Favorite picture & favorite wedding decision

2011-06-27T10:05:00.006-04:00

The week of the wedding, and actually the wedding day itself was very stressful. There were so many decisions to make and by the end of 3 months of making decisions, I was so happy when it was over. There was one I had to make and that was to go with clear or color for my nails. I went with color! I knew my hands would be seen in a lot of pictures so I really debated about this but I hate to waste a manicure on clear polish, so I went with a beautiful Esse pink. I'm so glad I did!

Also, this is one of my favorite wedding pictures of my dearest sisters & friends. I absolutely adore my MOH's and Bridesmaids! Aren't they beautiful?!

Weekend in Greenville

2011-06-27T08:59:00.005-04:00

We had a lovely weekend in Greenville with Andrew's family. They threw us a wedding reception having inviting a lot of their friends since we had such a small wedding and couldn't invite a ton of people.

We enjoyed hanging out with our nieces and nephews. They put on fabulous plays!

Me & AD in front of the spread. Yummy cupcakes. (and yes, I'm wearing the same outfit that's in the previous post.)

Caroline and I made a million cupcakes and spend hours on Saturday decorating them.

Chloe with a cupcake. :)

Ahh, my parents came!!

Caroline, me, Andrew & Pete

Peter & Andrew with the kiddos.

Adorable Souley with Grandpa's hat.

On Sunday we went for a trolley ride in downtown Greenville.

Yay for a fun time with family!

Life lately and the longest day of the year!

2011-06-21T09:06:00.009-04:00

Oops! Sorry it's been a long time since I've posted anything. I blame it on marital bliss, oh and the fact that my computer screen went blank and I've yet to do the whole backup hard drive however that works blah. Computers stress me out. Thankfully Andrew is letting me use his computer and just this morning I uploaded a ton of pictures and will now share for your enjoyment. I'll let most of them do the "talking".

Happy Summer!!!

The Parkers and Neels came up for Memorial Day Weekend! They were our first overnight guests and we had so much fun!

We've also enjoyed spending time with Andrew's niece and nephews as they've been staying with Andrew's parents some this summer. Upon having them over, I quickly learned that our apartment is not kid-friendly. So when the kids asked for juice, yikes! we don't have juice!... I squeezed all the lemons and limes we had, made a simple syrup and voila! lemonade.

I got to visit with my college friend, Kate and her adorable little Rush.

We've been enjoying wedding presents, like this vacuum pot coffee maker. Andrew LOVES it. I have yet to figure out how it works, but it is pretty entertaining.

Summertime means parties! We went to a goodbye party for our friend Lauren this past weekend. Here are some of my Charlotte friends: Katie and Laura (and Bryan cheesing it up in the background).

My love and I.

Lauren! Soon to be leaving for Morocco!

This past weekend Ginna, Lucy and I traveled home to celebrate my Dad! We surprised him with a porch swing! It was a blast to be home and with the "original five". I adore my family and we just have the best time together.

Yay Dad!

Haha, Gin, Lu & I had a sister date that night when we went into Greensboro for dinner and frozen yogurt. This picture cracks me up every time I look at it. Sorry, Ginna. It's just too cute!

Today is the first day of summer which means it's the longest day of the year!!!! It's my favorite!!! And always has been!

Andrew and I have a double date tonight so we wouldn't be able to watch the sunset. Last night we went to get Yoforia at the mall and then went to the top of a parking deck to watch the sunset on the second longest day of the year.

It was so pretty and fun to start traditions with him. :)

It's about time...

2011-06-10T13:12:00.003-04:00

...for a party at my house...
--MxPx

While my lovely wife continues to be away from the proverbial keyboard, I thought I'd sneak in a second guest post.

First things first. I was instructed to explain a couple of peculiarities regarding the way I blog. The first being that I intro every post with a song lyric, usually whatever's stuck in my head or what I'm currently listening to. Second, I always end my blog posts with "Crazy kids and their crazy (fill in the blank)". These are quirks carried over from my previous blog. In case you were wondering, that's what those starting/ending things from my previous guest post were. Old habits die hard, and these are pretty well ingrained.

In other news, Carrie told me on I believe Tuesday that she was taking me on a surprise date on Thursday. Now, usually, one doesn't tell the intended target of a surprise about the surprise, but we'll let that slide. The activities of said date were indeed a surprise, especially since she rushed home after babysitting and we wolfed down a quick dinner of quesadillas and salad and decamped for parts unknown in the space of 30 minutes or so.

Once we were underway, she told me that our date was to drop off some recycled engine oil at Autozone. I saw through this pretty quickly, and surmised our approximate destination, Carolina Place Mall in Pineville. Initially, I guessed we were going to see a movie there, but when she demurred on that option, the only thing I could come up with was that we were going to Bed, Bath & Beyond to pick up something she had ordered earlier in the week. She's quite the actor, because she had me convinced I'd gotten it right at this point. Then, once we got to the mall, after driving by BBB, we did indeed end up at the movie theater, where she revealed that we were going to see Fast Five, the aptly named fifth film in the unlikely street racing saga. She even had popcorn and Skittles. And great fun was had by all, though we've established once and for all that action movies are my forte, not hers.

The movie itself was probably the best in the series, though that admittedly is based on a very low standard. Being the avid F&F fan that I am, I caught all the little references to past films and goofy quirks only obvious to the observant and well-studied viewer, and, yes, I did enjoy the Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson dust-up about half-way through. Overall, I give the movie two thumbs up for being a fun, summer action flick, and I learned some valuable lessons along the way, namely, that the best way to clean up corruption in law enforcement is to lead a troop of corrupt cops on an absolutely ridiculous car chase across town, preferably while dragging a large hunk of steel behind you.

Crazy kids and their crazy furiouser car rides!

Is anybody there?

2011-05-29T13:27:00.003-04:00

Does anybody care?
--Pink Floyd

So I convinced Carrie to let me guest post occasionally on the blog, now that it's officially CCD and all that, not that she knows I'm guest posting today...

She's noted a few things about living with boys that were, if not earthshattering, at least eye-opening. The same could be said for living with girls, or a girl in particular.

All I can say is, bobby pins and the question of where I should put them.

Crazy kids and their crazy invading the wife's blog!

Wedding

2011-05-24T08:32:00.006-04:00

We're starting to get pictures posted on Facebook from our wedding. Our good friend Tiffany took some the day of our wedding and they're just so sweet. I briefly looked over them on our honeymoon, but two + weeks in, I'm just now really going through them. I can't wait to debrief on the blog and share about our wedding and what I remember of it, what was most special, etc. I just love this picture of our beautiful flowers with my simple, little engagement and wedding band. So, over the next few weeks I'll post more about it all.

Living with a boy

2011-05-19T09:16:00.004-04:00

Living with a man is real fun. Oh but we're so different. Andrew is the more predictable, disciplined and level-headed one and I'm the more emotional, free-spirited and whimsical one. He likes to do things and make quick decisions while I need time and have to "feel" it before I make decisions.

Andrew talks fast (real fast) and eats even faster. I realized this had affected me one day when we had a couple over a month before we got married. I served dinner and 5 minutes in it hit me that both Andrew & I had completely finished our meal and our guests still had lots of food on their plate. Oh my gosh, I thought, I'm now a fast eater too! This was fully realized when we went to Cowfish last Saturday (if you live in Charlotte, go! it's a sushi & burger place. so good!). We had the waitress bring out a sample of their fried pickles (Welcome to the South!) and there were three on the plate. We each took one but mine was still super hot, I put it down. Andrew ate his and then after a minute picked up the last one and ate it. I was like what?!??! That's when it dawned on me: eating with Andrew is the survival of the fastest. I had one of those "ah-ha wife moments".

He also watches Sci-Fi and I told him to give me a year to like it. Although I might need longer. ;) There have been a few times when I have more of those "ahhh, I'm living with a boy" moments and I usually tell him. One day I asked if he had any living with a girl moments and then he immediately said, "Yes! Your bobby pins, hairbands and earrings that you leave all around the house! I don't know what to do with them and I don't know where they go!!" Haha... oh good times. :)

We're back!

2011-05-17T12:57:00.002-04:00

Hello there! It was so nice to honeymoon, especially after a week (or few months) of wedding stress. I'm just now getting back in the hang of answering phone calls, emails and Facebook after I turned my phone & computer off for a week. {which was heavenly!}

Andrew & I went to Charleston, SC for part of our honeymoon and then to Boone, NC. Oh it was a perfect combination of beach & mountains. We stayed at the Market Pavilion Inn in Charleston, complete with Nitrotinis, an amazing dinner at Grill 225, rooftop pool and bar. We went to the beach one morning and I went for a little swim, then for a walk. The weather was wonderful!

I loved Boone! We stayed at the Mast Farm Inn (go stay there if you're in the area... so quaint!) and perhaps my favorite part were the bunnies they had in those cages behind us, to the left of the picture below. Oh how cute!! I also enjoyed showing Andrew around campus and where I used to live.

I'll try to post soon about the wedding and other recent events.

Much love!

Wedding week

2011-05-02T10:16:00.006-04:00

Welcome to the wedding week! Where "Just Married" signs are to be made (I HATE hot glue guns), pew decorations are to be figured out, directions & programs printed, still need to find that something old and something blue, and finalize those sweet little touches to a wedding. There's a lot to be done still, but I want to remember it all and enjoy every minute!

I hope our wedding ceremony will be worshipful and slow. I want our bridesmaids to walk slowly down the aisle and then for us to take a moment to look at those gathered together. I want to enjoy it. I want our reception to be not a wedding reception but a party, where people sit and talk and we can spend time with our small crowd of family and friends. It's a little hard to be the center of attention. I feel much more comfortable celebrating others than receiving it. For those coming, it means the world to us. Truly. {I can't wait to see you, Kath, LA, Erin, Mirabelle, Katiebug!}

I've also felt pounded by the weightiness of the recent news events. The tornadoes in Alabama were so devastating and left me to remember that our hope shouldn't be in the things of this world, but in heaven. As a bride who is humbly receiving the gifts others want to bless us with, I need to remember that it could all be gone in a flash. The royal wedding got me so excited about ours, and thankful for our small guest list. :)

What joy there is knowing that we will soon be married and then life can resume. Andrew and I will make our house (apt) a home and have people over and the news of the day will be work at the office and my care will be what to make for dinner.

Until then, I'm going to savor each of my last days as a single girl, and as CCC.

Update in pictures

2011-04-28T07:10:00.009-04:00

The last month...

Shower in Greenville, SC
Me & my Mama

Families :)

Last roomie outing!

When wedding planning is too stressful, just grab yourself a spoonful of Bisquick and enjoy!

(an MK favorite!)

Easter dinner @ Nate's loft

So beautiful!

Me & AD

Shower with our life group!

Me & Cate

Forde telling a really scary story. Not kidding. I couldn't sleep last night.

Me & Jess (and baby Britt!)

Oh we're gettin married!

Engagement pictures

2011-04-21T07:30:00.006-04:00

The one thing about a short engagement is that you have to squeeze a lot in. Andrew and I had our engagement shoot right after my first bridal shower and in my parent's front yard. Simple.

Our photographer was.... my sister!!! Lucy is such a wonderful photographer and it was fun to see her at work. Here's her website so you can look at all of her amazing pictures.

Me & AD

This is one of my favorites.

Thanks Lucy, Lu!

Color

2011-04-17T23:57:00.004-04:00

I have to say how fun it is getting to know a man! I mean, I grew up with sisters so this world of x-boxes (or is it a GameCube, Andrew???), zombie movies and everything else boy is all new to me! We see the world differently, which is a good thing because we balance each other out. So when I saw this, it just made sense. :) credit from this website... one I happened upon while blog hopping.

oh, and Perralove, I'm sure you're going to LOVE this! :)

Let them eat cake

2011-04-13T23:37:00.020-04:00

It's no surprise that Al, Gin & I LOVE wedding cake. It might be the one thing we look forward to most when going to wedding receptions. It's quite unfortunate that we've just recently started this tradition of feeding each other wedding cake because we've all three been to many weddings together over the years. I'm sure in the beginning people thought we were nuts but hopefully we'll continue the tradition because it's one of my favorites!

Sara & John's wedding (2009)

Nina & Mark's wedding (2010) and clearly feeding each other wedding cake can be quite funny

Ginna & Jeff's wedding (2011)

Yay cake!

Meant to be...

2011-04-12T07:39:00.001-04:00

We were at the Anthropologie store in Greensboro when I saw this...

Alpacs, Malart & CCC

2011-04-12T07:18:00.003-04:00

Here are a few favorite pictures of Al, Mich & myself over the years:

At Allison's bridal shower

At Michelle's bridal shower

At Ginna's wedding Yay friends!

Gin & Jeff are married!!!!

2011-04-09T22:05:00.002-04:00

What a wonderful weekend! That Ginna Girl got MARRIED!!!!!! My little sister was a beautiful bride and everything was just so sweet! Have fun in Mexico!

Wedding in the Queen City

2011-04-03T11:38:00.003-04:00

Wow, I am so far behind. I have so many pictures and things to write about so hopefully I can get to that soon. Yesterday we felt quite lucky enough to celebrate with our friends Craig and Janet! They got married at Uptown Church and then had the reception at the Ballantyne Country Club. It was such a fun time with friends! Their cake was beautiful and the lady who made it is doing ours in just 5 weeks!

Me & Jess at cocktail hour. It was really windy and cold but thankfully Andrew, being the sweet Southern gentleman that he is, let me borrow his jacket.

There they are! The Lowders!We had a yummy dinner followed by dancing. This one of Andrew and our friend Ashley cracks me up!

Laura, me, Jessica & Ashley

Me, Andrew, Craig & Janet!

Love this of Janet.

Next wedding is Ginna & Jeff's!!!! I can't wait!!!!

Wedding update

2011-03-22T13:52:00.005-04:00

Ahhh! I am dying to show you our wedding invitations. I've decided not to post anything wedding related (invites, favor idea, the dress (duh), reception ideas) until after the wedding just to leave an element of surprise for our dear guests. I have finally crossed off 'invitations' on our to-do list. {I think} they are beautiful and so very "us". I can't wait for family and friends to get them today (tomorrow, the next day, or in two weeks... Lizziepie!)

Here's a link to our lovely graphic designer who did our invites.

46 days! (but only because Andrew told me this morning... he's the one who keeps track of sweet things like that!)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T08:15:00.002-04:00

Love,

Carrie & Andrew

Pi Day

2011-03-16T13:15:00.002-04:00

It's not the prettiest pie I've made, but these days I'm lucky if I have enough time to bake anything.

Hope you had an awesome pi day (3.14). I made a chocolate pie for the kids and then an apple pie for Andrew & his brother who was in town. This is still one of my favorite pi day stories.

Good morning

2011-03-05T06:11:00.004-05:00

You know you're a bride when you wake up, on your own, at 4:30am on a Saturday morning to do wedding planning. My goal is to have everything planned and ready by the end of March. The month of April will be for setting up the apartment and relaxing. We'll see how this goes.

I should be getting the invitations next week. I can't wait to see them! I've been working with a graphic designer and will have them printed here in Charlotte. Yippee!

Andrew's roommate is getting married this weekend so we went to the rehearsal dinner last night. He's just so handsome in those bow ties! ;)

I also adore this picture of Margot. My latest nickname for her is Mar Mar Chickadee. They grow up so fast!

Hope you have a great weekend, and are getting more rest than I am!

P.S. Big game tonight. GO DUKE!!!

Lately

2011-02-24T07:48:00.007-05:00

Life in pictures...

Wedding dress shopping in Atlanta with Allison! (photos by Al) She needs to go into business. These dress cookies were too cute! Thanks for helping me try on lots of dresses and being there when we found "the one"! :) Actually, for some the dress is a big deal. I like my dress but truth be told, I think I'm much more excited about the invitations.

Valentine's breakfast with the roomies! (photo by Cait)

Back to Atlanta for a weekend with Andrew visiting family & friends!

We met Al & B at Piedmont Park for a lovely afternoon with them and...

TOBY!

We stayed with his sister and her family. What adorable nieces I (will) have!

The next day we went for a walk with Al & B and then had fish tacos at their apartment. Al & I LOVE fish tacos so we recreated the meal we had the week before. Thanks for the yummy food, Al!

One of many pictures together...
Then we came back to Charlotte and Andrew moved some of his stuff into our new apartment! Wahoo!

Still here...

2011-02-21T23:13:00.002-05:00

Planning a {small} wedding in 3.5 months is quite stressful and I'm afraid a blog post often falls at the bottom of the to-do list, but for now, I'll list in bullet points some of the favorite moments of late and hopefully post something this week with pictures.

Favorite Moments...

- moving some of Andrew's stuff into the new apartment (I won't move in until May 7th). And trying to figure out which cabinet will hold our dishes and our plates and our everything.

- being called Aunt Carrie by his nieces

- thinking I only have 1 week left until I talk to Mom again (have fun in China!)

- watching the Bachelor in my wedding dress!!!!

- finally coming to a comprimise about things we disagree on (perfect example: my soon-to-be husband thinks his Jolly Roger (pirate flag) would look great above the mantle. His soon-to-be wife thinks this wouldn't look great. At all. Compromise: the flag gets to hide, err, hang in the laundry room... ).

- walks with Andrew

- double dinner date with the Parkers! The boys played Halo while Al & I cooked. While drinking sangria. How it should be.

- My dear roommates as they get to see all of the wedding details unfold and share in my excitement. {thank you!}

- knowing that at the end of the day on May 7th, we'll be married

ROYGBIV

2011-02-07T08:26:00.003-05:00

Here's Mar's rainbow cake! It was quite the project, but really fun to make. :) If you look closely you can see her fingerprints from where she licked the icing.

p.s. 3 months from today we'll be getting married!

Boggle & baking projects

2011-02-03T09:32:00.003-05:00

I really try to do a few baking projects a week with the kids to make sure life doesn't get into a dull & boring routine (homework, driving to & from, etc.). So I decided to make homemade pretzels from a Smitten Kitchen recipe and while the dough was rising, Wil-man and I played a game of Boggle. I love playing word games with him because he's so smart and even in every day life he'll pick apart words and their meanings. After Boggle I gave the kids the dough so they could create their own pretzel shapes. I was busy getting the next steps ready when he showed me that he made an 'M' for Mommy. I was about to put it in the oven when he said, "Don't forget about the line!" Because he had made a line for under the 'M'... just so mommy wouldn't be confused if it was an 'M' or 'W'.

It's just the little things in life!

CCC -> CCD

2011-01-31T22:53:00.006-05:00

Hold on. Let me come out from beneath the pile of wedding magazines, to-do lists, bridal gowns and wedding details to say hello! Today was the first day in two weeks that has felt somewhat normal. Yesterday I went to Oak Ridge to do some planning with my Mama and boy was it good to start on the master to-do list, which grew to many, many pages. It's the beauty of a short engagement: you don't have much time to plan so you have to make quick decisions.

We did set a date: May 7th! Our plan is to have a very small wedding with family and close friends and then parties this summer in our respective hometowns along with a housewarming party in Charlotte and another one in NYC. It seems like it will work and really fits our personalities.

I should mention this... and open up the floor for discussion. Back in December when Andrew and I decided we were going to get married, one of my first thoughts was: I'm no longer going to be CCC!! Of course I cried a little and have been savoring every moment being CCC until I become a Day in May. My family has had a fun time thinking of all the names we should name our children, like Happy, Sunny, etc. :) I need to think of new names for the blog, and while I have one that I'll most likely use for after we get married, I'm open to suggestions and creative ideas.

Hopslam & wedding plans

2011-01-24T08:37:00.003-05:00

Yesterday my fiance and I took a break from apartment/house shopping and stopped into Earth Fare to pick up beer for a double date we had last night. Right as we walked in Andrew ran into one of his good friends who told us to ask the guy at the cheese counter for a bottle of Hopslam. He told us in a quiet whisper to do this. Apparently it's a little hush-hush as this beer is in high demand and you basically have to know someone to get a bottle since very few were brewed. Now, please know that I am in no way a beer snob. I am marrying a beer snob, but I generally can't tell the difference between hops and malts and stouts and the like. However, when there's a secret beer to be had that no one else has, I'm on it!!

So, we walk up to the guy at the cheese counter and I ask in passing (in a quiet voice), "Do you have any bottles of Hopslam?" He responds with a quick "no". We then walk to the beer section and wouldn't you know that a minute later he comes over with two bottles of Hopslam. He tells us that they only got a case and if we want we can have two bottles. We then spend a good five minutes talking about the beer and leave the store with one in hand. While it was a good beer, I like the story better and knowing I'm one of the select few in America who enjoyed Hopslam.

I'm sure you really don't care about beer and might be wanting to know more wedding stuff. Truth be told, this wedding planning is quite the project! I think I've always dreamed about marriage more so than my wedding, which is why I'm glad I'm marrying Andrew who is great at planning events so we're doing most of this together. We're still trying to finalize things and the guest list is a bit tricky, but we're shooting for May 7th of this year! More details to follow! Happy Monday! :)

Surprise!

2011-01-17T23:35:00.003-05:00

Well what you might not know is that I wasn't completely surprised when Andrew proposed. He had made reservations at a nice place for dinner, taken me to Starbucks and after refusing my suggestion to watch a movie for driving "aimlessly" around Charlotte until we got to a parking deck... I kinda had a clue. It was still wonderful, don't get me wrong.

This morning after reading Proverbs 31 (!) and a few John Piper articles on marriage, I went over to his house for pancakes and then we went to the Levine Museum of the New South, a coffee shop and made our way back to his neighborhood. At this point I was starving. There's a comic book store right next to Crisp, where we were going to have lunch. I have no interest in comic books and therefore I was completely uninterested and wondered why we had to spend so much time in this place when I was ready for lunch. So we finally go get in line at Crisp and I turn around to tell him something when I see him walking out the door and leaving. Gone. I was so confused. Then he comes and says that he has someone he wants me to meet. I walk with him and see my MOM, LUCY, GINNA, and JEFF in the parking lot!!!! And then comes ALLISON!!!! Ahh!! What a surprise!!

I had no clue! Everyone drove to Charlotte just for lunch and just so we could all be together. They all gave me the sweetest engagement bucket of bridal magazines, a 'D' mug and wall hook, and so many other wonderful things. It was truly one of the best surprises and it meant the world that they drove to come see us. THANK YOU!

I continue to feel quite loved by all the texts, tweets, fb posts and calls. I am hoping to respond to them all tomorrow. Thanks again for everything!!

Engaged: Me & Andrew!

2011-01-17T01:14:00.006-05:00

Hooray! I'm getting married! We're getting married!

I can't sleep and can hardly contain my excitement! (And I might use a lot of exclamation marks in this post... beware!!)

If there was ever a picture to show for tonight, it would be this one:

Andrew all calm and collected and me bouncing off the walls and trying to call everyone. Time got away from us and I was afraid to call people late into the evening, so I'll make round 2 phone calls tomorrow.

But, seriously, what a day! What a past few months! Our first date was September 24th and we went to Festival in the Park and then got Yoforia and talked for hours. One thing I mentioned on our first date was how much I missed rooftop parties and rooftop views of NYC. On our second date, a week later, we went to a gallery crawl, then to a fun place for dinner, Starbucks on East to get a pumpkin spice latte, and then... he took me to the top of the Target parking deck for the rooftop view of Charlotte. How thoughtful! We had 3 more dates after that before making it "official". Those first few dates were key, though, as he put a lot of time into each one. It really is the little things that mean the most to me.

So tonight we went to Providence Cafe for the first time... it was sooo good. Al, you would love it! Then we went to the same Starbucks to get coffee and afterwards, we went to the top of his parking deck at work, a place we'd been to before in the daytime, and that's where he got down on one knee, with the beautiful skyline in the background, and asked me to marry him. Yay!!

The ring is beautiful. We actually went looking for rings a few weeks ago. The ring itself is a bit unconventional, but we're starting to realize that we both are unconventional about a lot of things. It's a simple, small band of diamonds. When I was browsing through rings on Tiffany's, I came across this one and among all of the other huge diamonds, I would just tear up every time I saw it. It's beautiful, simple, sparkly and I can't stop looking at it.

Maybe I'll post more tomorrow. Thanks for your love and support!

photos taken by MK, Caitlin and Al, respectively.

That Ginna Girl

2011-01-14T12:24:00.004-05:00

This weekend is Ginna's bridal shower in Oak Ridge! I am just too excited I can barely contain myself. Seriously, I'm ready to hit the road and let the festivities begin! My little sister is getting married!!!!

Ack! Look at Gin's funny face and Jeff's belly laugh!!! (photos by Lucy Goosey)

Golden

2011-01-06T09:00:00.005-05:00

Margot, my little chickadee, has a birthday coming up. And it's not just any birthday, it's her golden birthday. She'll turn 5 years old on the 5th of February. Hooray!

I've been talking about it with her for quite some time and when I saw this cake, I knew it was meant to be.

A number of my friends have made it and it's just the cutest thing ever.

I'm thinking I'll get a big balloon with the number 5 on it so it can be the "gold" at the end of the rainbow.

I can't wait for Margot's birthday this year!!

cake photo credits

My 2010 Christmas card

2011-01-05T05:53:00.011-05:00

Well hello there! Happy New Year! I meant to do a lot of things in 2010, sending out Christmas cards being one of those things. Oh well. So here's my 2010 blog recap for you in lieu of a card. (for the record, I totally loved receiving cards, so thanks to those who sent them, especially the ones from the NYC girls... Pam, LA & Perr... too cute!)

I absolutely loved being in NC (when I finally lost the NYC homesickness around May), which meant that I had many frequent trips visiting friends and family. I enjoyed working on our house (inside and out), talking to Allison *almost* every day, expanding my cooking/baking recipe collection, and becoming more involved at my church. Overall it was a great year, and looking back, these following things are the first to come to mind:

proudest moment: when my friend Michelle became a vet. It was overwhelmingly special to be there and celebrate with her on this day, especially since I remember back when I first met her in the 7th grade (how old is that?! 13?!) when she said that one day she'll become a veterinarian. I am so, so proud of you, Malart!

happiest day: honestly, there have been so many, but the one single happiest day, where I could hardly contain my excitement and thought I'd burst with joy was one day this past summer. I had just gotten back from a wonderful trip to Maine with my friend Tammy. I said goodbye, drove to Huntington, Long Island and went to my favorite restaurant for dinner. Then I drove across the causeway to see my little boys. There's just something about Long Island, the house and those kids I raised that reminds me of a time in my life where I grew up and really learned who I was. Ah, I can still feel the excitement from that day.

biggest blessing: my Aunt Diane became my life coach this past fall and looking back I couldn't imagine life without her. She is insightful, very wise and helped me sort through career and life paths. We had a coaching session for an hour each week and her guidance, support and encouragement meant far to me than she'll ever know.

biggest surprise: Andrew was honestly the biggest and most wonderful surprise in 2010. Oh good gracious, he is amazing. I won't go on and on (although I could) about how incredible he is, but I definitely had given up on dating and relationships this past summer so when Andrew came along in early fall I was totally surprised. The Lord is good. He knows when to give good gifts and I have nothing but thanks for this relationship and the glory belongs to God. *this is actually our first picture together, taken on Halloween :)

Christmas at home

2010-12-31T09:53:00.006-05:00

I love the holiday season. There's just something about driving home and spending time with family that is so incredibly special. Christmas Eve we all piled in the car and drove to Grey Gables, where Ginna is getting married in 3 months! Along the way we sang Christmas hymns and songs and drove merrily along.

We baked cookies! Look at that Ginna girl. So proud.

It was a white Christmas indeed.

Andrew came to spend the week with my family and we had a blast! I took him on a tour of Greensboro and introduced him to lots of friends.

We also went to the Duke game and witnessed history!! Congrats to Coach K for surpassing Dean Smith and becoming second place in all-time wins!

Andrew is becoming a Duke fan. :)

Here are the sisters. I can't remember the last time we've spent a solid week together at home. Oh how I love them.

*pictures taken on Lucy, Ginna & Carrie's phones.

It's the holiday season

2010-12-23T11:54:00.002-05:00

For some reason this holiday season seems like it's been much busier than in recent years. Perhaps it's the 8 parties we had or being super busy with work, but I am very thankful for time to rest within the next few weeks.

It's been a really fun December with Andrew as we've enjoyed driving around looking at Christmas lights, going to see the Nutcracker, singing Christmas hymns (he brought over his guitar!), watching movies, reading Luke 2 and making dinners together. Not to mention attending a tacky Christmas sweater party. My camera hasn't been working, so thank you to my friend Michelle for the pictures below. Oh! This past Sunday I got in my car and something didn't seem right. Yep, flat tire. Of course I can be so dramatic about these things, but luckily the boyfriend saved the day and changed the whole thing! Ahh, it was awesome.

I'm leaving Charlotte tomorrow and can't wait to be at home with my family. Hope you have a very Merry Christmas.

Cookies!

2010-12-17T00:12:00.003-05:00

I could not go to sleep without telling you about this amazing kitchen tool. I use it often when baking and it's such a lifesaver! Seriously, go get one of these and you'll have perfectly round cookies. I love it. I had to made cookies for a Christmas party tonight and they were so little and cute. If you need a good holiday cookie recipe (not that you do... there are so many!), try this one. We've had/have a total of 9 holiday parties. Whew. I've also been sick with a head cold but thankfully that's on its way out. I'm very much looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow and relaxing this weekend after a busy, busy week.

I'll leave you with these verses that I love and I've been thinking about lately:

'For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart.' -Jeremiah 29:11-13

Happy Birthday Michelle!!

2010-12-12T23:29:00.007-05:00

Happy Birthday Malar! We've been friends since 7th grade and this picture was taken this past summer at one of our old stompin grounds: the Juice Shop at Friendly Center. Mich, you are one of my dearest friends and I hope you have a fabulous birthday!! :)

Happy Birthday Allison!!

2010-12-10T07:08:00.003-05:00

It's my best friend's birthday! Yay! We've been friends for a long time:

This might be the oldest picture we have together.
About to leave for Jamaica where Al will meet Brian!

Many fun visits in NYC.

Happy Birthday, Al! Hope you have the best day! Thanks for being a wonderful friend!

Weekend Update

2010-12-06T08:06:00.002-05:00

Wow, I had an awesome weekend! Andrew & I went down to Atlanta to visit with some of his family and for him to meet Allison & Brian! It was definitely a great way to start the holiday season. :)

Turkey Day

2010-11-25T23:03:00.003-05:00

Another Thanksgiving goes by without actually eating turkey. Even when I made the turkey for our FG Thanksgiving Feast in New York I never tried it. I'm a strange bird, I know.

We had about 26 people over to my parent's house today. Most everyone brought something and I signed up to do an appetizer (thanks for the recipe, Al). It's so simple: brie with the top cut off, topped with cranberries, walnuts and thyme baked at 350 for 20 minutes or so. Go for it.

My Uncle Hunter grilled venison that he killed last weekend and I actually tried a small bite. I think I overheard my cousin say, "We go for Bambi" and I was done after that. Here are some of the men grilling:

Oh cousins!
How I love them!

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-24T08:23:00.004-05:00

I'm packing up and about to head home for Thanksgiving! This has to be one of my favorite weeks out of the year. I love hanging out with my family and us cousins can be kinda crazy so I'll leave you with this video from last Thanksgiving. Case in point...

All about the Mar

2010-11-23T10:07:00.003-05:00

Last week I went to Mar's school for their Thanksgiving feast. I'm a little biased, but I think she is the cutest girl in the whole world.

I love this picture of her!

I would hate for you to think that I only post pictures of the children all calm and collected, so here's a little bit of real life for ya: