Cheshire Cat Gallery

If I'm in Raleigh's Cameron Village and I have a minute, I'm stopping by Cheshire Cat. It's an antique spot with lots of little booths - my new favorite being Trunks Up Vintage.

I scored this bright pink wooden pineapple on Saturday that I just love. Avery's booth is full of unique finds and lots of bright colors. Yes, please. Confetti by ASWN.

Bin 54

If you're looking for a great restaurant for a special occasion, Bin 54 in Chapel Hill it is. Hank and I dined there with his grandparents for Hank's birthday, and we loved all of it.

I enjoyed their house cocktail Perry’s Terrace-Tini: citrus vodka / pama pomegranate liqueur / fresh squeezed lemon juice / muddled mint leaves / served up and topped with sparkling wine. The sparkle does the trick.

We apped it out with their tuna tartare and salt and pepper calamari. The calamari was where it was at with sweet chili sauce. 

For dinner, I had the little filet and oh. those. sides. The Brussel sprouts with house cured bacon were ah-mazing. In a close second, the truffled four cheese macaroni and in third, the sautéed spinach. 

Love that photo of the birthday boy with his grandad.

And for the final finale, the banana pudding with bourbon pecan cookie and that meringue... My goodness. That was my favorite dessert, but we also had their spiced rum creme brûlée, and that was pretty great too. Hip hip hooray for a fantastic dinner with sweet family.

Free and Fab: Shuck & Sip

My friend Cara and I have been enjoying 'Free and Fab' evenings where we find fun local events that are... Free. Our first event was an evening at Flywheel. Our second event - an oyster roast downtown. Here's Hank and I enjoying free beer, music and oysters at Ramble Supply Co.'s grand opening party in Raleigh.

We had fun with friends in a super cute space - under twinkle lights - so all was well. We found out about this event through the app Offline 'Avoid Average Weekends.' Another avenue is following your favorite local businesses on Instagram. For example, The Cupcake Shoppe posted about Stag's Head's grand opening party this Thursday with light bites from local restaurants + beer tastings - so there's that. Here's to keeping it local and free.

The Mad Popper

I love The Mad Popper in Durham - right near Southpoint Mall. It's the tiniest nook, but you walk in and are surrounded by the most colorful of popcorn in an array of flavors.

Forget the candy this Valentine's Day - seriously - bring on the popcorn. The prices are amazingly reasonable (i.e. cheap!), and you can concoct some pretty fab mixes - whatever your heart desires - no limits. Right now I'm loving: green apple, white cheddar and caramel (my power sour, salty and sweet mix). I added  in some birthday cake (complete with sprinkles) today, and it was a true delight. Aside: The Glass Jug in Durham offers The Mad Popper as a snack option, and they're always down with a 'so good pair it with a beer' worthy mix: buffalo, ranch and maple, for example. It was pretty sidelines perfect - think easy Super Bowl party snack perfect. Oh, and The Mad Popper ships to all of your friends.

Recipe: Winter Veggie Trio

Oh! These veggies are delicious - I went back for seconds delicious.

Toss:

1 1/2 cups chopped parsnips, peeled (love these!)

1 1/2 cups chopped carrots 

2 - 12 oz. bags Steamfresh Brussels sprouts, cooked as directed and halved

1/3 cup sliced shallots 

3 Tbsp. olive oil 

Salt and black pepper 

Whisk:

6 Tbsp. white wine vinegar 

4 tsp. Dijon mustard 

2 tsp. thyme 

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Toss parsnips, carrots, Brussels sprouts and shallots with oil; season with salt and pepper. Roast vegetables on a baking sheet until fork tender, 25 minutes. Whisk together vinegar, Dijon, thyme and walnuts. Mix vegetables in with vinegar mixture. Enjoy!

Heart It

Hearts here, hearts there. Loving my framed Heart Snapshot Mix with gold foil from the always delightful Minted. Almost four years later, and I'm still finding new ways to display our wedding photos. Thanks to the oh so talented Neil Boyd Photography for the best photos of my life. And that ASWN confetti - sprinkling it all over the house once I'm home.

Free and Fab: Flywheel

Friday night I went to my first #triFABB (Triangle Bloggers) meet up at Flywheel in Raleigh (thanks to Meghan over at Champagne and Suburbs for telling me about it). They put on an awesome event, and Flywheel is straight up cool. My friend Cara and I toured about, got sized up for our shoes and filled up at the water bar. 

I brought along a favorite gift from Santa - my Fuji Instax (aside: check out this awesome album you can get for all of your photos here). We were suited up, shades and all, ready to fly. 

The bikes are set up stadium style, the room is dark, and the music is LOUD. You work hard, you race each other for a song or two, and near the end of class, you do arm weights. 

Afterwards we mingled and enjoyed delicious bites from Faire Seafood & Steakhouse. 

Those little burgers plus an open bar from Bartending Unlimited including Big Boss brews AND that speckled macaroon above all made for the perfect after workout treat. 

We were gifted swag bags on the way out - always a favorite - and just had an overall awesome first 'Free and Fab' Friday night. I highly recommend all of the above - so. much. fun. 

Sunday Livin'

This past weekend was great, and simple, and purposeful. While I didn't totally give up social media for the weekend, it was greatly reduced, and it made all the difference. It allowed me to just do me, and I like it like that.

Sunday morning church launched me happily into the week, per usual, and pairing that with brunch downtown Raleigh with new friends made it an A+ morning. We brunched at The Morning Times, and it was delicious. I dined on corned beef and chard {house braised beef, Swiss chard and collards, sunny side egg}. As for Sunday sermon takeaways, here's a few notes from my phone:

1. Don't be so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.
2. Push out the negative - whether it is someone or something - to make room for the positive.
3. Reduce discontentment: don't continue to do the wrong things to be content.

I can't believe we're already into the second full week of January. Here's to continuing to consume less, and be more. Cheers!

Greek for Dinner

Just returning from St. John (recap coming soon), and my first home-cooked meal of the year is my go-to pasta salad, Greek tortellini. Get the recipe from my previous post here.

This salad is great because there's always leftovers which makes for a happy lunch. Here's to being back in the kitchen and cooking my way through 2015 (except for on Fridays and Saturdays as those are foodie days).