Charlotte, Baby Haines and Fruit Salsa

Like that for a title?  Well that’s pretty much what consumed my Saturday.  I woke up bright and early on Saturday morning, squeezed in a trip to the gym and then headed to Charlotte.  As much as I need a weekend at home, I can’t turn down a weekend with my parents and my sister plus brother-in-law and baby Haines.  Can I just say, Baby Haines isn’t much of a baby any more.  She’s growing and becoming so stinkin’ smart.

she’s a mess!

I love that little girl so much my heart could explode!  She’s so full of personality and really understands a lot.  She’s also rather vocal.  When she says “yes” or “no” – everyone in the room knows her answer.

Despite the rain on Saturday, we were able to grill.  We also had a cider tasting.  I had a pear cider a few months ago and it was one of the most delicious things ever.  I was determined to find “it” so that my Momma could try it since she’s obsessed with pear jelly belly’s.

three strikes, I’m out.

I bought every pear cider I could get my hands on and none of those are “the one.”  Boo hiss.  Oh well, we had fun tasting.

grill masters

Maggie and Brad were in charge of the grilling.  Momma had brought over some chicken thighs that had marinated in a mojito lime marinade from McCormick.  You could taste notes of mint and lime but it wasn’t overpowering at all!  And it paired perfectly with a fruit salsa that Momma had whipped up.  I don’t think she followed a recipe but I know that there were strawberries, red onion, lime juice, cilantro and a smidge of EVOO in the mix.

my plate

On the side, grilled asparagus and red onion.  Maggie also made some crock-pot mac ‘n cheese that I heard was awesome…it’s her new “go-to” dish as decided by Brad.

Such a great evening with the family!  I can’t wait to see my sweet family again this weekend.

sweet girl

Friday Favorites, Honeymoon Edition.

Oh how I wish there was a “rewind” button on life!  I want to go back and relive our wedding weekend and the honeymoon over and over and over again.  A lot of our time was spent simply laying low by the pool but we did a lot in the 9 days we were there. I promise to give a full recap of where we went for our honeymoon (Scrub Island in the BVIs) but for today I’m going to give you my Honeymoon Favorites!  And to be honest, the best part about these posts is that I get to relive the moments while posting the pictures.

Favorite View:  Waking up to this every.single.morning. was amazing.

Good morning from Scrub!

Favorite Place to Grab a Drink:  While on our honeymoon, we decided to rent a private boat and captain for a day and basically go island hopping.  And by island hopping, I mean, bar hopping.  One of our first stops was Cooper Island.  It’s easily my favorite place for a drink because there were bar tables in the ocean.  Had it been any later in the day, I wouldn’t have wanted to leave…  Wanna know the funny part about this picture?  Big Guy is the one that got the frozen drink!  Pinky’s up.

Cooper Island cocktails

Favorite Adventure:  By far, my favorite adventure of the trip was the island hopping day.  Here are some of my favorite pics capturing our day:

Cooper Island swing

Star fish at Cooper Island

Willy T’s

view from Soggy Dollar

Time to head back to Scrub!

Favorite Sunset:  This picture was taken on the ferry as we were on our way to dinner.

Beautiful sunset.

Favorite Drink at Scrub:  Sandie Split.  Sandie was one of our favorite employees at Scrub Island.  She made me this drink the first night we arrived and I had to have one every time she was behind the bar.  All I know is that there was lots of rum (light and dark) plus some orange juice.  The rest is Sandie’s secret.

Sandie Split

Sandie!

Favorite Dinner:  We ate some pretty amazing food everywhere we were, but my favorite dinner by far was our private dinner on the beach.  It wasn’t the food that made it my favorite but the company and the privacy was pretty hard to beat.  After a long few weeks of wedding preparation and the whirlwind of the wedding, this private dinner was much needed the second night of our honeymoon.

dinner for two

just us and the sounds of the ocean.

Favorite Frozen Drink:  Let’s be honest, we drank a lot of cocktails during our honeymoon.  But they weren’t one after the other – I promise there was lots of water in between each and every drink.  I mean, if you can have a drink at 11:30am on a Wednesday, why not?  The British Smile was one of my favorite frozen drinks – basically it’s a “skinny” bushwacker.

British Smile

British Smile in his hand, but no smile on this face.

Favorite Day of Relaxation:  I knew from the day we booked our honeymoon that I was going to spend a day at the spa.  Whether Big Guy was going to join me?  That was up in the air.  But he agreed and I’ve never seen that guy so relaxed in my life.  We did the full couples package and it was simply amazing.  Bonus – it was overcast that day, so I didn’t miss any of my sunshine time.

champs and relaxation

private infinity pool

relax.

Favorite Drink:  If I had to name my favorite drink of the whole trip, it would be the Kiwi Caipirinha from a hole-in-the-wall sushi joint we ran across in Tortola while killing time before dinner.  Y’all – this think was out of control.  Fresh kiwi, mint, lime and goodness muddled together.  And isn’t the color gorgeous?

kiwi cocktail

Favorite Picture:  Okay, I can’t really pick a favorite.  But I love this picture.

sandy hands

Favorite Husband:  Thank you, Big Guy, for the most amazing honeymoon I could have ever asked for.  It was the icing on the cake after the most perfect wedding.  I’ve always daydreamed about my honeymoon and my real honeymoon far surpassed anything I could have imagined.  And can I just say, it was even more amazing that Big Guy put up an email message saying he was out of the country and work wasn’t always on his mind (he got about 30 minutes a day to answer important stuff).  Big Guy works so incredibly hard every day and my favorite part of the honeymoon was having him all to myself.

Mr. and Mrs.

my favorite person

love you. (okay, done being lovey, dovey)

Charleston Eats

Wedding week is here!!!  I just don’t know how I’m going to focus on anything else this week.  I was trying to figure out what to blog about (don’t worry, I have some weekend eats (aka SALADS) to share but that can wait) and then I realized I never shared about the dining that went on in Charleston.  I love to read restaurant reviews, especially when I’m about to go to that city, so I want to write a few.  Now these reviews aren’t anything fancy – they’re just my honest opinion on the restaurant, taking into consideration the atmosphere, the staff and the FOOD.

First up, Hominy Grill.  We had scoped out several places to have brunch on Saturday morning but we didn’t make a reservation (most places don’t take ‘em for lunch).  With that being said, we made a decision in the middle of the street to hit up Hominy Grill.  On the phone we were told we were about a 15 minute walk away and there was a table for 8 ready when we were standing in front of Toast (heard great things, bottomless mimosas – for an hour, just decided not to eat there).

Hominy Grill

Well, we walked…and we walked…and we walked…and finally after about 45 minutes we made it.  We were starving.  And thirsty.  There are many things that could have gone wrong at this moment – but things started looking really nice (except to the Buttercream Queen) when we realized we could enjoy cocktails (AKA mimosas) while waiting for our table (that table for 8 had just been sat when we arrived).

beauties…hungry beauties

So we all enjoyed a drink while waiting and took lots of pictures.  We also glared at the table of 8 hoping to encourage them to eat faster (kidding…kind of).

blondies

Finally, the table cleared and we cheered.  Oh, yes we did.  A round of drinks was a must.  Obviously I went for the mimosa but I heard the bloody’s were on point (I enjoyed snacking on their pickled okra).

day drinking is necessary

After glancing over the menu, we were ready to order.  Or so we thought.  We were going to order some appetizers (that’s how famished we were) but come to find out, those are only available during the week.  Major fail.  We did order some fried green tomatoes and they were delicious (I’m going to add – I did eat gluten over the weekend.  And it was totally worth every bite.)

To eat, we all ventured around the menu, but I ultimately went with the Low Country Omelette – Charleston red rice with shrimp gravy & home fries.  Y’all!  An omelette stuffed with dirty rice!!!!  It was awesome!  I cleaned my plate, well except for the biscuit.  That biscuit saved the Buttercream Queen’s life.

Charleston Omelette

A couple of hens ordered the Huevos Rancheros - poached eggs served with black beans, rice, tortilla, fresh salsa & avocado and raved about how incredible they were.  Oh, and their jam is the jam.  Someone, who will remain nameless that was saved by a biscuit wanted to steal the jam.

huuuuevos

If you’re in Charleston, Hominy Grill is a MUST!  I totally recommend this restaurant.  Even after walking 45 minutes, waiting an hour and not being able to order appetizers, I would tell you to go.  The staff was amazingly friendly and sitting on the patio was just what I wanted to kick off the Saturday.

Post-brunch (about 2pm) we ventured to a bar/restaurant/dive called Fuel.  We obviously didn’t eat anything because we were stuffed but we did order a round of drinks while repeating over and over again how amazing the outside seating area was.  I want to go back and just sit for hours and hours and people watch.  And what do you know – I just realized it was featured on Triple D on the Food Network.  Now it’s even cooler!

Fuel

Following that stop, we ventured around Charleston and after stopping at a few boutiques and bars, we made it back to get ready for dinner.

Dinner in Charleston…so many options!  I had heard of Husk and High Cotton and ultimately we made a reservation at  two places:  High Cotton and Anson.  (I am very disappointed to say that Husk would not make accommodations for a party of 8. )  In the end, we decided to go Anson.  It was a stones-throw away from our hotel and I was impressed with their website.  (Just to note – I’m sure that Husk and High Cotton are fantastic, but I feel that restaurants that get as much publicity as they do don’t have to work as hard to get customers to return…)

hen party

Anson was perfect!  Despite having a few glitches with our reservation (the night before) I was blown away by their service and food.  I stuck with drinking Prosceco (bottles for the table!!!!) but I will be returning for a cocktail (someday, mark my word).  The waiter gave us multiple suggestions and really was honest about dishes, as far as his favorites were.

Instead of ordering a large plate, I went with a salad and small plate.  I think most of the table did the same.

To start, GOLDEN BEETS Feta Cheese, Pecans, Radish, Arugula, Banyuls Vinegar.  

The salad was gorgeous when it arrived.  It was so colorful and so perfectly arranged.  Loved the plating!

Ultimately, I couldn’t turn down the pork belly.  I just can’t.  If it’s on a menu, I’m going to order it.  That’s just how it is.

PORK BELLY Corn And Cheddar Waffle, Hot Pepper Jelly, Sunnyside-Up Farm Egg & Succotash

The pork belly was just as melt-in-you-mouth as I imagined and I loved the hot pepper jelly combined with the egg and succotash.  I must note, the waffle wasn’t my favorite (and wasn’t worth the gluten – the only thing the whole trip).  Marlo also ordered this dish – she’s never had pork belly – and is not a pork belly-iver.

pork belly

Other dishes that were enjoyed by the table:

FRIED OKRA Cornmeal Dusted, Goat Cheese & Chili Oil - to die for.

PAN SEARED SCALLOPS Avocado, Grapefruit, Sweet Onion, Citrus Vinaigrette

 SHE CRAB SOUP Laced With Golden Sherry

SEARED SCALLOPS Ragout Of Field Peas, Okra, House Smoked Pork, Anson’s Grits

The thing I”m most thankful for – everyone loves to share (and taste other people’s plates)!!!!  So I tried it ALL.  Oh, and Peaches got a steak that had the most incredible spice rub on the outside.  I need that spice rub in my life.

And finally, breakfast on Sunday.

Poogan’s Porch.

All I’m going to say about this restaurant, order the Chicken and Waffles.  Don’t even look at anything else.

Crispy fried chicken breasts, waffles, blueberry Texas Pete maple syrup…ummm, the blueberry Texan Pete maple syrup needs to be bottled and sold.  I could not keep my fork off people’s plates.  I wanted to dip everything in that syrup.  Every single bite was better than the one before – and that never happens.  Sweet, savory, breakfast perfection.

chicken ‘n waffles

So those are our eats.

Hominy Grill
Anson
Poogan’s Porch

I’d recommend them all!!!!!!

Friday Favorites! Almost no time to pin.

The key word in the above title:  ”Almost.”  I haven’t been on Pinterest in quite a while but I managed to pull myself from working too hard and did a little pinning.  I couldn’t leave you without “Friday Favorites” for two weeks in a row.

Favorite Small Bite:  Chicken and Waffles.  Let’s just say that we had an epic breakfast last Sunday morning.  Four girls ordered the chicken and waffles.  One of my friends insisted that I recreate the dish.

these bites just need blueberry Tabasco syrup

Favorite Bucket List Item:  I’ve never been sailing.  I don’t think Big Guy is a fan but I don’t care.  It’s on my bucket list as of today.

sail away

Favorite Table:  At the same place that we devoured chicken and waffles on Sunday, I fell in love with reclaimed wood tables.  How gorgeous and rustic at the same time!

reclaimed wood table

Favorite Bauble:  In one word:  adore.

make a statement

Favorite Dips:  Dips are totally different than appetizers, right?  I’ll just keep telling myself that…

Fire-Roasted Corn Dip

Favorite Grilled Cheese:  It is National Grilled Cheese month, after all.  So I think that I’ll celebrate this weekend.  You in, Big Guy?  How about we combine two of my favorites:  grilled cheese and pizza?

grilled cheese, please.

Favorite Truth:  This past weekend was simply amazing.  A lot of people would think that putting 8 girls together might cause some cattiness.  But I can honestly say there was no tears or mean words.  And that is why I have the best friends in the whole wide world!

laugh!

Well it’s my last weekend of being a single gal…so to celebrate, I think I’ll have a glass of wine and a grilled cheese sandwich.  Totally normal.

Wedding Wednesday, 10 days.

Big Guy and I will say “I do.” in 10 days.  That means we’re in the single digits tomorrow.  Holy cow.  It seems like just yesterday I was picking out my wedding dress.  And next week my Momma picks up the dress for the last time.  What an incredible journey it’s been.

On Monday we got our marriage license paperwork.  Now all we need is the pastor’s signature and two witnesses.  It’s real, y’all!

There are little things that need to be completed, but for the most part all is said and done.

My To-Do List:

• Wrap wedding party gifts
• Anything Momma Bell tells me to do

Yep, that’s it.

I have written a Wedding Wednesday for over a year now (minus one week) and I can’t believe it’s coming to a close.  Don’t worry, post wedding I’ll catch everyone up on the events leading up to the wedding the week of plus all things reception.

April 27th is going to be the best day ever.

Charleston is always a good idea.

This weekend is all about me and my ladies.  So excuse me for not posting a fun recipe or Friday Favorites but here are some of my favorite gals that I’ll be hanging out with all weekend.  I hope you have a fantastic weekend and I can’t wait to share (some of) our adventures!!!!

peaches, me and mags

leann and me

KP, marlo and me

me and nat

me and kat

Charleston is always a good idea.

Smoothie Debate

Juicing seems to be “the in thing” right now.  Everyone is drinking green juice and getting their greens.  Except me.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m still getting my greens and sometimes drinking green things but it’s not juice.  I don’t get the whole “juice” thing.  I’m more of a blender.  Smoothies are more my thing.

smooooothie

Lately I’ve been drinking a smoothie or two a day.  I was inspired by the book “The Body Reset Diet.”  But please, please, please note – I am not following this diet.  I am simply being inspired by some of his words and points (valid points) that he brings up in the book.  There is no way on Earth I could survive off 3 smoothies a day for 5 days straight.

You see, on “The Body Reset Diet” there are three phases, I won’t go into too much detail because that’s why he is selling the book.  In the first varies phases you drink smoothies, eat snacks and walk.  Walking is the only exercise he recommends during phase one and well, that’s not me.  I enjoy my time at the gym.  I enjoy lifting weights.  I enjoy spinning.

And besides, diets don’t work.  Moderation works.

So why smoothies over juice.  Well, for one, my smoothies contain the calories of a meal with a balance of carbs, fat and protein.  All three of those components are necessary and vital to our health.  Juice contains one of those components – carbs (in the form of sugar, yes, natural sugar, but still sugar).  Juice is not a meal.  Secondly, when you juice, you remove all the GOOD stuff and it gets left behind to go into the trash or compost.  That “trash” is fiber.  Which is so, so, so important.  Most American’s don’t get the recommended 25 grams of fiber each day.  When you juice an apple, you’re left with just the juice.  But when you blend an apple, you get all the nutrients, including the fiber that’s find throughout the fruit and mostly in the skin.  Also, you can blend protein and fat.  You can’t juice protein and fat.

A typical smoothie for me includes a protein (almond milk with Greek yogurt or protein powder), carbs (apples, bananas, grapes, berries – pretty much any fruit you can think of) and fat (nut butters, flax, chia seed, avocado).  I also like to add green to my diet.  Up until this week, the green was spinach.  Spinach is tasteless.  I promise!  But I branched out this week and tried baby kale.  Love!  But I would recommend starting with the spinach.  Without one of those components it’s just not a complete meal.  Smoothies run you at about 300 to 350 calories.  So if I’m drinking smoothies, I am snacking more to make sure I’m getting enough calories.  Also, sometimes I’ll leave the fat out of the smoothie and eat that on the side.

Am I trying to lose weight?  No.  The number that appears on the scale doesn’t matter to me at all.  But I do feel lighter this week.  Is it something that I’ll do for the rest of time?  Nope.  I probably won’t drink a smoothie this weekend or over the honeymoon (but I will be drinking pina coladas).

So there you have it.  That’s why I’m drinking smoothies.  And that’s why I’m not drinking juice.

 

Friday Favorites

The excitement is starting to set in!  One week and I’ll be getting ready for an epic “hen party” with 8 of my favorite ladies.  And in three weeks I’ll be getting ready for a bridesmaid luncheon and a weekend full of wedding bliss.  I honestly can’t focus on many things without my mind wandering to something wedding-related. But can you blame me?  It seems like yesterday we were 6 months away..

Here are some of my [random] favorites of the week!

Favorite DYI project:  Like I said, I have my upcoming girl’s weekend on my mind.  How awesome is this glittered champagne bottle?  I’ve gotta find a reason to do this.

pop the bubbly

Favorite non-Big Guy dinner:  Big Guy might not like salmon but I adore it.  I’ve seen this salmon recipe in my Self magazine, on Pinterest and a friend posted it on Instagram.  Basically, I gotta try Salmon with Sriracha Sauce and Lime.

Salmon with Sriracha Sauce and Lime

Favorite Stripes:  This dress is summer perfection.

s-t-r-i-p-e-s

Favorite Grilled Cheese:  In case you aren’t aware, it’s National Grilled Cheese month.  The thought of a grilled goat cheese sandwich with honey-roasted grapes and walnuts makes my mouth water.

grilled cheese, please!

Favorite Wear to Work:  I’m loving these red pants and stripes.  And that gold chunky necklace?  Amazingly perfect.

red + stripes + gold

Favorite Date-Night Idea:  Create a food passport!  Write down all the restaurants you want to visit  in a small notebook.  Throughout the year, when you can’t decide what to do, visit one of the restaurants and write down the date you went.

food passport

Favorite Honeymoon Essential:  I’ve pretty much bought/gotten everything I need for our honeymoon.  But how gorgeous is this bathing suit?

bathing beauty

Favorite Cocktails:  Every edition of “Friday Favorites” needs a cocktail…How about Pear & Bubbles?

pear&bubbles

Favorite Bedtime Ritual:  These face wipes are the best!  Not only do they take off all my makeup but their affordable (cheap) and easy to find!  Oh, and they smell amazing.

essential

Favorite Salad:  So light, so refreshing, so…avocados are involved!

Grilled Shrimp Avocado Fennel and Orange Salad

Happy Friday!  I hope the weather is warming up wherever you are so that you can enjoy the weekend outside!  I’ll be on the hunt for a LWD all day Saturday…wish me luck!

Pasta with Toasted Garlic, Dried Cranberries, Kale and Feta

Al dente [brown rice] spaghetti.

Sweet and plump dried cranberries.

Vibrant green kale.

Salty, crumbly feta.

Crispy garlic chips.

One of the most amazing flavor combinations ever.

I had all the ingredients in my kitchen when I ran across this recipe (for the 38th time) and I knew I had to try “the best pasta dish. ever.” for myself.

I couldn’t get over the flavors!  Each bite was different.  But my favorites included the garlic chips.  I see garlic chips making another appearance very soon.  Very, very soon.

Please, go get the recipe from the link above and make this for dinner tonight.  It comes together in a flash and the flavors will not disappoint.

Friday Favorites!

Can you believe Monday is April 1st?  Can you believe this weekend is Easter?  I have a fun weekend (hopefully relaxing, too) planned with our families.  I will get to see my entire family and I’m simply tickled pink.  I told Big Guy this morning that the most important task today is to find an Easter egg kit that simply lights my world on fire.  I live to dye eggs.  I’m serious.  I hope you enjoy your (hopefully) 3-day weekend and I’ll see y’all back here in April!

Favorite Chicken on the Grill: Ummm, wine in my marinade?  Yes, please.

Favorite Corner:  Simply put, My name is Emily and I adore bar carts.

Favorite Color Palette:  The planning of my wedding may be coming to an end but that doesn’t mean I can’t brainstorm for other people.

Favorite Side Item:  Fruit and Nut Slaw.  Perhaps someone will let me put this on the table Saturday night.  (Though, I’d use feta or goat cheese instead of blue.)

Favorite Cocktail:  This will probably be “my” drink of 2013:  Coconut Lime Mojito.

Favorite LWD:  I’m on the hunt for a LWD (little white dress) for my hen party coming up (read: in TWO weeks!!!!!!!!!) and I wish I could find one that looks this good on me.

Favorite Workout to Try:  This will be in the rotation next week!