Sangria

We had a bridal shower this past weekend for my beautiful friend Amanda. Not only was the company perfect, the food delicious, but the white wine sangria was amazing. This sent me on a mission. I became a lover of red wine sangria while I was drinking studying my way through Spain one summer too long ago to even admit. What I failed to learn in Spain was that white wine sangria can be (and is) just as delicious. 

My quest to find the best white wine sangria recipes the web has to offer landed me here.  The simplicity of the recipe won me over.  Shari also has a ton of other amazing recipes you can thumb through that are almost effortless.  

For Shari's New Zealand Sangria all you need is:

1 bottle of white wine (Sauvignon Blanc)
1 orange, sliced
1 lemon, sliced
1 lime, sliced
3 Kiwis, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups ginger ale

Pour the wine in a pitcher and add all of the sliced fruit wedges along with the sugar. Chill overnight. Add the ginger ale just before serving.

I'll be trying it out myself this weekend. 

Cheers!

Skyy (not vodka)

I love all things related to the sky.  If I had to guess, I'd estimate that I have over 100 photos on my phone of the sky alone.  It never looks the same twice and I can appreciate that.  I prefer pictures to words.  Always have.  Picture books are ah-mazing.  Oooh, and pop up picture books are even better.  For your viewing pleasure, please enjoy some of the million photos my phone and I have created over the last few months.



Yeah Right

The boys will be sure to follow this rule.

Dear Mr. Power Company

Dear Mr. Power Company,

Thank you so much for providing me electricity 365 days per year 98% of the time for a minimal fee (I am only one person, the fee is pretty minimal).  However, on those days that the power is not working, I rarely question it.  Storm, power line down, breaker issues, act of God, etc.  This morning, Mr. Power Company, when I called to report the power outage I was given no reassurance that the power would be on any time today.  The very polite customer service representative only indicated that you have absolutely no idea why 300+ houses have no electricity this morning.  She's not quite sure what y'all are going to do about it.  Mr. Power Company, I ask you to only do one thing... fix it.  For the love of people who have to see my hair disheveled, my clothes wrinkled, and my attitude sub par, just fix it. 


Thanks,
Me

Brains & Beauty

My friends are all kinds of amazing. I kid you not. They scream fun, talent, ambition, determination, fun, loyalty, intelligence, fame! I sort of feel sorry for all of you out there who are not blessed to know such fine individuals. Unfortunately, we're not accepting applications for new members at this time.

Need an example of this amazingness I am referring to? My pleasure.

Meet the brains and beauty behind Mark Potter Photography. If you, anyone you know, or some random stranger on the street whose conversation you happen to be eavesdropping on is in need of an extremely talented, dedicated, transformational wedding photographer you'd be incredibly stupid not to use this duo. Yes, they are my friends, best buddies, comrades, but they are damn fine photographers too.

These two are very devoted to their work and to top it all off they are super easy to work with too. Allison has even agreed to be a camera holding bridesmaid at my wedding, no bouquet necessary.

                                             
            

                      

Still questioning my sanity? Don't take my word on it, click here to see for yourself.


Photos stolen borrowed from MPP. Is that illegal?

Juror Number 4

I have quite an extensive bucket list.  As many of you know I was thrilled to mark through one of the items on that list, to do my civic duty and serve on a jury.  Federal court at that! Everything I know about buying, transporting, and selling cocaine was learned almost two years ago, in six days, as juror number four.  I was fascinated by all of the ins and outs.  I mean, drug trafficking is no joke. 

Today, I congratulate Carol Shepherd for being chosen as juror number 10.  Remember, the prosecution has to prove their case.  Innocent until proven guilty.  


Disclaimer: I do not purchase, transport, or sell cocaine or any other illegal substances.   

Five Years

This past June I celebrated 5 incredible years with my organization.  In honor of my commitment to excellence, I have been provided a booklet of gifts to choose from as a 'thank you'.  I'm pretty impressed with the selections and have narrowed them down to the following:

1. Brinkmann Headlamp for all the camping trips and excursions that I go on at night.

 2. Sterling Silver and Freshwater Pearl ring just in case I need to pretend I'm engaged to deter creepers. 

3. Travel speakers.  Need to ensure I can jam out at any time, in any place.  

4. Bocce Ball Set.  ONLY if they are guaranteed to arrive prior to Mandy's Bachelorette Party (three weeks girls)!!

5. High Sierra Wave Hydration Pack.  Another good option if shipping can be guaranteed prior to my beach trip with the girls.  Expecting the need to rehydrate often.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions. 

Holy Gasoline

I manage my money fairly well.  I don't spend more than I make but I often spend all of what I make.  I've decided that I can do better than this and I need a budget.  Thank God my besties are not only super fun but super smart.  My friend, Meg has an awesome budget.  Seriously, down to the amount of money you should save per pay check to cover your salon visits and she has agreed to help.  My role in all of this is to simply write down all of my monthly expenses.  Easy enough, right?

WRONG.   I've got car payment, grad school loans, Tucker expenses, groceries, etc. covered.  That part was easy, I know what I spend on those things.  No shock there.  Holy guacamole the amount of money I spend on gas.  Gas! 

Get ready for it.  On average I spend $267.09 per month on GASOLINE !!!  This is a five month average, so pretty dependable.

To all my friends out there, it was nice knowing y'all but I'm on a budget now. 

Canceling trips to... who am I kidding... I'm not canceling anything.  See y'all soon!

Weekend Bliss

Dear weekend, you never last long enough. 

On Friday, as a fair well to caffeine I treated myself to two venti soy lattes, one on the way to work, and one on the way home.  $10.30 later, I still don't regret it.

In celebration of "national treat yourself day"* I indulged not only in double lattes on Friday, but a manicure.  I don't regret that either. 

Saturday was full of excitement.  One of my besties, Ashley made the trip from Raleigh and we spent the day sunbathing, boating, and swimming with my brother Chris and his family.  There wasn't a more perfect day for adult beverages in adult sippy cups, tons of laughter, fabulous company, and failing terribly at our multiple attempts to get multiple people on a single kayak.  I'm grateful we do not have photos of this and that I'm still alive to talk about it. 

On the other hand, for your viewing pleasure, feel free to watch Ash's impressive attempts at tubing.  I was amazed with how long she held on, especially with Chris behind the wheel.  He's relentless. 

Thanks to Tervis Tumbler for keeping our bevs cold and the weather gods for perfect weather.

I'd be lying if I didn't confess that Ashley and I passed out shortly after the sun set Saturday night and woke up many, many hours later.

Sunday was spent watching Lifetime Movie Network.  Saying I have an addiction to this network is an understatement.  Someone please tell me if Colby's mom was able to rescue him from Korea. 

p.s. I love that it's completely appropriate to go grocery shopping in your swimsuit.    

Today is officially day three of my caffeine free lifestyle. We'll see how long this lasts.

*Disclaimer: National Treat Yourself Day was made up to make myself feel better about double venti lattes and manicures

little ones

There is nothing sweeter than a photo blog of my adorable nieces and nephews at the lake, I'm sure you agree.  ENJOY!

Tristan and Noah

Little Miss in her "ballerina swimsuit"

Teddy playing

Lydia, Tristan, Noah, and Austin

Will's first trip on the boat = quickest way to nap time

How a 4 year old sleeps on a boat

Hawke "driving" the boat

Jewell, tubing superstar

(not so) Fancy Chicken Salad

Our Daily Bread on King Street in Boone, NC is one of my favorite sandwich shops.  My favorite item on the menu... chicken salad.  It is all kinds of delicious.  When I moved off the mountain I had to start making my own chicken salad.  It's so simple yet delectably scrumptious. 

Anytime I have guests coming to play for the weekend I make a big bowl (a lunchtime specialty).  It is so easy, yet will make people think you spent quite a bit of time perfecting it in the kitchen. 

Directions:

Boil three chicken breasts.  If you're in a rush you can buy a roasted chicken at the grocery, just be sure to peel the skin off, use only the white meat, and get rid of the creepy veins (seriously).  Chop or shred the chicken after it cools. 

Chop 1/3 sweet onion. 

WASH and then halve two handfuls of grapes. 

Chop 1/4 cup of walnuts.  Many of you have fancy choppers.  I prefer to take it back to the basics and use a sandwich bag and hammer.  There is no reason to complicate things.

Add all ingredients to include a dollop of mayonnaise.  Now, this is really important.  If you want to make true, southern chicken salad only, I repeat ONLY use Duke's mayonnaise.  My family is so serious about this that we've been known to ship this delicacy up the eastern cost to Maine, and across the Atlantic to Ireland. 

Serve either on a bed of lettuce (my preference is romaine lettuce with balsamic vinaigrette) or croissants.  Trust me, it's a hit!

BB14 Prediction

OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: The winner of Big Brother 14 will be FRANK




The son of a former WWF wrestler with hair like that, how could he lose? 

Counting Chickens

On most days I count on the way home from work. There are tons of stressors in healthcare and this must be some subconsious way to decompress.  I'm not OCD or a freak or anything.

What I've noticed on my drive this week.

Between Salisbury and Albemarle there are:
93 fire hydrants (I'll recount these to be sure but I'm impressed by the number)
9 cemetaries
2 wig shops
23 churches
2 chicken statues that stand 12-15 feet (I too am surprised there are not more)
3 restaurants that feel BBQ and Seafood are good combinations (I disagree)
11 corn fields
0 houses for rent
7 bridal boutiques

The last one really surprised me.  You're telling me Winston Salem (the fourth largest city in North Carolina) has fewer bridal shops than the stretch of roadway between Salisbury and Albemarle.  This makes no sense.  On the other hand, for those of you who are anticipating marriage in the near future, just turn onto 52 south at Salisbury and take your pick. 

Oh, and lets not forget 23, the number of times I had to throw the stick into the lake before Tucker finally tuckered out.

My favorite number today... one... the number of bottles of wine I consumed after the long, exhausting, and challenging day I had at work.

Salud!

from Bernese to Swiss

Tucker had a grooming appointment yesterday.  His fur is matted because I'm not brushing him regularly he swims almost daily.  So, after much consideration and $97.00 I decided to have him shaved.  

Tucker the Bernese Mountain Dog

Tucker the Swiss Mountain Dog

A big shout out to the PetSmart Grooming Crew in Salisbury, NC for giving Tucker a great report card.  They have, by far, the friendliest staff of any PetSmart I've been to.  So, if you're in the neighborhood and your pup needs a little scrub give them a call.  Most importantly, give me a call because if you're bringing your dog to Salisbury to be groomed and not hanging out with me, we have a serious problem unless I don't know you.