A little weekend getaway!

We just returned from a nice weekend in Eastern NC. We went with my family to ECU's family weekend to visit my sister. Since Ben is now a Pirate we've had it on our list to go to a football game this year.


All hotels were booked, so my dad reserved us rooms at a Bed & Breakfast in New Bern. I love New Bern and it's always been a favorite city of mine, with Camp Seafarer so close. We drove down Friday night with a quick dinner stop at Kings BBQ in Kinston. I'm pretty sure we were the only guests at the Harmony House B&B Fri. night. The breakfast was delicious...egg strata, coffee cake, fresh fruit, and homemade toast.



After breakfast we drove to Greenville with my parents. My sister, Sara's sorority was hosting a parent's weekend brunch of their own. We spent the rest of the afternoon tailgating with spread of food. I was so stuffed from 2 breakfasts and lunch. I didn't check the weather right before we left and thought it'd be cool...the temps were in the high 80's and we were sweltering! And being that it is almost Oct. I never thought about sunscreen. So hours in the sun resulted in a nice farmer's sunburn for me. Other than the heat and the Pirates losing, we had a great time.





After the game we headed back to New Bern to find a place for dinner. It wasn't hard to settle on Captain Ratty's. Ben and I shared the biggest mug of Clam Chowder...it was so thick and creamy. For our main course I ordered the catch of the day, blackened salmon on a big salad and Ben got the Cobb Salad. Both we were huge and amazingly fantastic, but we really should have shared.


The day was exhausting and after a quick shower, Ben, me, Sara, Laura and Lillie were fast asleep by 945 in our suite.

Sunday morning's breakfast was even better. The owners, Sookie and Ed, had made homemade french toast casserole with homemade blueberry syrup, coffee cake, homemade granola and fruit. Nothing was open at 1030 when we left, so we took a quick drive by the waterfront and through downtown. I love New Bern and it was really neat to see how much it's grown up since I've been there last. Ben loved it too and mentioned on our drive home how he'd like to go back and stay at the B&B again. I wish we had time to browse all the fun shops and visit the old drug store where Pepsi was born, but we can save that for our next visit.

Girl's Weekend!

I'm a week late getting around to updates! Last weekend, my college roommate, Meg and her mom came down from the DC area for a long Girl's-Mother/Daughter weekend. We made it to our beach house by late afternoon. After a quick a few glasses of wine and a walk on the beach we ordered the best pizza ever from Basil's. It's a very small authentic NY style pizza place right across from the beach. Without any boys to please...we ordered a white pizza with spinach, mushrooms and shrimp. Delicious! We topped off the evening with a little McDreamy and watched Made of Honor.

Saturday I went for a run while everyone else walked. I was quite proud of myself...I did 4.13 miles in 40 minutes! After our morning exercise we literally shopped 'til we dropped! Most of the day was spent shopping at the outlets. I scored quite a few new tops, dress pants and a very comfy and versitle black jumper. Coach was having an awesome sale and my mom got a great new work tote. We ended the night at T-Bonz with a glass of their new Octoberfest which they had just tapped. And the night wouldn't be complete without another chick flick...Baby Mama.

Meg has never been to Charleston and since Charleston is one of our favorite day-trip places, we decided to go Sun. The day was beautiful and very pleasant. We started our trip off with lunch at 82 Queen with sandwiches and their famous She-Crab Soup. We wandered through the market, in and out of the side shops, had a wine tasting and ended with dinner at the Noisy Oyster. My uncle had just arrived in town on business and treated us to dinner. We all ordered Shrimp and Grits...we were stuffed by the time we headed home.

It was a great weekend with the girl's and I was sad it ended so quickly. Meg and I go months and sometimes a year between seeing each other, but we always pick right back up where we left off. We did promise it won't be a year before we visit again...hopefully we can get up to DC in the early spring...possibly for another girl's weekend!

Happy Happy Anniversary to US!

Yesterday Ben and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary! I can truly say I have the best husband ever! He always puts me first and thinks of anything and everything to make me happy! Since we've planned a late fall trip to Asheville we decided to keep it low-key. For weeks we made plans to go to PF Change on Monday night one day early, where we had our very first date over 4 years ago.

Us before dinner at PF Changs!

When I came back Mon. afternoon from a girl's weekend at the beach, I could tell Ben had something up his sleeve. He could barely hold it in any longer and told me my surprise...For weeks he's been planning on cooking dinner at home on our actual anniversary. He took off the night from work and planned and cooked the entire dinner.


Ben made the most awesome Angus Barn worthy dinner: NY Strips with blue cheese, crab meat and homemade hollandaise sauce on top, twice-baked potatoes and asparagus. We shared a bottle of one of our favorites wines, Hayman & Hill Cabernet Sauvignon. I had picked up cheesecake for dessert on my way home from work. We both had so much fun remembering the details of our wedding and reception will eating by candlelight on our china.



The 2nd anniversary gift is cotton. I could not come up with a memorable cotton gift for Ben. This weekend I found a t-shirt dyed with beer and said "Will Sell WIFE for Beer." As a last minute gift I got him a pair of Lucky jeans he's been eyeing. Ben got me the most beautiful flowers and a new robe from Victoria's Secret.



We can't wait to continue our anniversary celebration in Asheville over Thanksgiving weekend!

New Recipes

I've been meaning to post these recipes...just two new ones I made last week and they were delicious!

I was in the mood for a non-traditional salad and saw Chicken and Couscous Salad featured on MyRecipes.com one day. This was perfect for a quick dinner, but even better for lunch almost everyday later in the week. It's very versatile and I added whatever veggies I had on hand. In addition to what the recipe called for, I added shredded carrots and substituted tomatoes for the radishes. We had fresh chicken breasts, so Ben grilled those. But you could easily buy the prepared chicken breast slices in the deli and they'd be grea too and even quicker! This recipe definitely goes on my quick go-to dinner and spice it up lunch menu!

Chicken Couscous Salad (Cooking Light)

Salad:
1 1/4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 (5.7-ounce) box uncooked couscous
1 1/2 cups cubed cooked chicken (about 6 ounces)
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/2 cup diced radishes (about 3 large)
1/2 cup chopped seeded peeled cucumber
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted

Dressing:
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons extravirgin olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced

To prepare salad, bring broth to a boil in a medium saucepan; gradually stir in couscous. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Spoon couscous into a large bowl; cool slightly. Add chicken, onions, radishes, cucumber, parsley, and pine nuts; toss gently to combine.
To prepare dressing, combine vinegar and remaining ingredients, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle dressing over salad; toss to combine.

The second recipe is Orange-Sesame Noodles with Grilled Shrimp. It's another featured recipe on Myrecipes.com, but from back in the summer. I never got around to making it, but wish I had made it sooner. I think Ben was impressed I used peanut butter for the sauce...he's a PB freak! The orange, sesame and peanut butter made for some interesting flavors...very thai!

Orange-Sesame Noodles with Grilled Shrimp (Cooking Light)

1/4 cup fresh orange juice
3 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
3 tablespoons peanut butter
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
10 ounce soba noodles or spaghetti
1 cup snow peas
1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
1 1/2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

Combine first 7 ingredients in a large bowl.
Boil noodles according to package directions. Before draining, add snow peas and carrot. Let cook 30 seconds.

Drain pasta, peas, and carrot, and toss immediately with orange juice mixture. Set aside.
Brush shrimp with sesame oil, and grill over medium-hot coals 3 to 5 minutes.

Arrange pasta on serving plates, and top with shrimp.

Grown Up Furniture

After getting settled in our new house over the past few months, we decided we'd officially start furniture shopping for our living room. We've been window shopping for a while and narrowed down our style. Today we found some awesome pieces and finally bit the bullet for some quality funiture...no more Target particle board! And even better we were able to find Ben a leather "Man Chair" that we both loved. I had strict rules that it can swivle or rock! Hopefully he'll still love it in 10 years! We brought the man chair home today, but the sofa, loveseat, cocktail table and end tables will be delivered in about 3 weeks.

Here is Ben enjoying the big Panther's win over San Deigo today in his chair with a beer.

And our other stuff that we can't wait to get. We purchased a sofa and loveseat in a Khaki microfiber suade. And I love the tables with plenty of storage. Our tables are slightly dark in a Java Cherry finish. I can't wait to start decorating and pulling together our hodge-podge living room!

Dark Chocolate Cherry Brownies

I absolutely love chocolate and cherry combinations. In fact, I can devour an entire box of Queen Anne's Chocolate Covered Cherries in Liquor at Christmas and my concerte of choice at Goodberry's is chocolate with bing cherries. So when I saw this recipe in my newest Cooking Light I had to make these! Delish! I probably added a little more cherry preserves than the recipe called for, which I think made them even more moist.

I made these to take to my brother's for a little dinner party since my Unk was in town. We had a great time and it would have been better if this annoying cold wasn't dragging me down.


Dark Chocolate Cherry Brownies (Cooking Light)

Cooking spray
3.4 ounces all-purpose flour (about 3/4 cup)
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cherry preserves
1/3 cup water
5 tablespoons butter
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 large egg white
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Powdered sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°.

Line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper; coat with cooking spray.

Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, 1 cup sugar, unsweetened cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Combine cherry preserves, 1/3 cup water, and butter in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Add preserves mixture to flour mixture; stir well. Add egg and egg white; stir until smooth. Stir in semisweet chocolate chips. Scrape batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool in pan on wire rack. Garnish with powdered sugar, if desired.

Yield 16 servings

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 155(31% from fat); FAT 5.4g (sat 3g,mono 1.4g,poly 0.2g); IRON 1mg; CHOLESTEROL 23mg; CALCIUM 10mg; CARBOHYDRATE 25.8g; SODIUM 168mg; PROTEIN 2.2g; FIBER 1.1g

Thanks to Hanna!

This weekend we had plans to go to the beach and meet up with my college friend, Maryellen and her family. We haven't seen them in over a year and were really excited. Until Hurricane Hanna decided to make landfall. While the weather won't be terrible, we didn't want to chance driving to the beach IN the hurricane. So, change of plans...we're staying home! Maybe I can convince Ben to rip out the tile above the oven in the kitchen and start prepping the walls for a new backsplash and microwave. But a nice rainy day spent being lazy sounds good too!

One Last Summer Hoo-Rah!

As Labor Day is typically considered the last weekend of the summer, we celebrated it at the beach! We still have a few more weekends planned to the beach. Next weekend is one of them if Hurricane Hanna decides to make a sharp right turn and head back out to sea.

Both Saturday and Sunday turned out to be incredibly nice, although a little hot. We started Sat. morning off early with a run. My best 5k ever! I did 3.14 miles in 31:23. The rest of the day included the beach and pool. Then dinner at our usual favorite beach place...T-bonz. It didn't take much convincing, but we ended up at the Chairmen of the Board concert at the House of Blues. This is my favorite place to see them and this being the 6th time I've seen General Johnson, it was probably the best. I'm sure the drinks Ben was handing me all night had nothing to do with that. My uncle and my mom ended up on stage, so I guess you could say we had a great time!

Sunday was a lazy day. We spent most of the day by the pool and then headed in to pack and head home. I had to work today, Labor Day. It wasn't all that bad and I get an extra vacation day for working the holiday. I came home at 230 and Ben and I have been tidying up, doing errands and now finally relaxing!

Until I flipped the calendar to September, I was sad summer is almost over and nowhere near ready for fall, but now I can't wait to buy new fall decor and start decorating our new house. I can't wait to set out pumpkins on our front porch.

I Finally Feel Like A Runner...

After weeks and weeks of making all kinds of excuses for my bad runs I finally came to terms that it's probably due to inconsistentcy. I never seem to have the week nights free to run and running is the first thing to get put on the backbunner. And besides if I want to really train for the half marathon in Myrtle Beach, I need to find time to run.

With daylight savings time coming to an end in a little over a month, I decided I should start doing my runs in the morning before work. Luckily, I don't have to be at work super early. So last night I made up my mind I'd run this morning. Before I went to bed I laid out my running clothes and shoes, put a glass of water and some Cliff Blocks on the nightstand and set my alarm for 6:09AM. It was still a little dark, but I got up anyways and by 6:25 I was heading out the door. Of course it was raining then, which I didn't notice when I got up...good thing I didn't or I definitely would have gone back to bed for another hour of sleep. At this point I was already up and dressed and told myself to just run.

This morning's run is interesting compared to my other runs when I've been up for at least an hour before starting. Normally I start off at a faster pace, then taper off to my normal pace. Today I started off sluggish and then I got up to my regular pace. It wasn't that bad and hopefully I can keep up the morning runs. It's nice to know I had run 3 miles before 7am and I was done with today's work out.

As I was looking for tips on running in the morning, I found an interesting article about running and circaidan ryhthms. It's quite interesting how different times of the day are different for everyone.

Peak City Grill

Saturday my parents came over to our house and had appetizers and champagne and then took us out to dinner at Peak City Grill. I have been dying to try this restaurant since so many people have given it great reviews. Plus I'm in love with downtown Apex and how convenient it is to us...less than 2 miles from our house!

We enjoyed raw oysters with cocktail sauce, cream cheese with pepper jelly on crackers and champagne. I was excited to use the serving plate, dip bowl and spreader that Jessica gave me for my birthday. She knows me well and my love for unique serving peices for entertaining.

It was so nice to ride the quick 5 minutes downtown. Peak City Grill is located in the old historic section of Apex. The interior has the high ceilings, exposed brick and wood bar area. I don't think I'll ever get tired of eating here as the menu changes monthly. They have different specials daily as well as monthly events like a couples dinner, dinner with wine pairings, live music and Sunday brunch.

I can only review one appetizer and one main dish, since that's what we all ordered. Dispite the appetizers we had just finished we couldn't reist an order of Firecracker Shrimp Hush Puppies. The special of diver scallops, burgandy wine risotto and spinach and roasted tomatoes sounded amazing, which we all ordered. The scallops were huge and very rich and buttery. My only complaint was I didn't get any greens. Ben shared and they were very fresh and delicious. We skipped dessert, but next time I think I'll order it. The Orange Creamsicle Creme Brulee was very tempting.

Please Stop the Music!

I never thought I'd be one to run without music. Lately I've been having several bad runs which I've been blaming on the high temps, getting overheated and being dehydrated. Even Saturday mornings run when the temperature was in the low 70's I had my most horrible run. I had to take a break after the first mile and only completed 2 miles total.

So this morning, I was determined to try it again. Less than 1 mile into my run I started getting annoyed with my music and just turned off my Ipod. I thought I'd get bored, but once I could finally hear my breathing and concentrate it made a world of difference in my endurance. Maybe it was a fluke and it was just a good day, but I did my best 5k in several months!

I'm trying to find a decent race in mid Sept. to run. I only have one weekend this month, so it'll be a tight squeeze to find a race. I just need something to keep me on track until training for the half marathon starts.

Pecan Crusted Tilapia

While unloading my groceries from a quick trip at the grocery store one evening, I found a pound of fresh tilapia in my bag that I did not purchase along with cocktail sauce. After double checking my receipt and realizing I was the only person in line when checking out, I figured it wouldn't be worth driving back to the store to return something I didn't purchase. And besides we love tilapia. It just wasn't on my list that day! But, it must be destiny since I searched for a new recipe to make with my free tilapia and we could not have had a better meal! This was super quick and using the pan with a small amount of oil gives it a fried taste without all the fat and calories. This goes into the dinner rotation and definitely became a favorite of ours.




Pecan Crusted Tilapia (Cooking Light)

1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons finely chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 (6-ounce) tilapia or snapper fillets
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, divided
4 lemon wedges

Combine first 5 ingredients in a shallow dish. Combine buttermilk and hot sauce in a medium bowl; place flour in a shallow dish. Dredge 1 fillet in flour. Dip in buttermilk mixture; dredge in breadcrumb mixture. Repeat procedure with remaining fillets, flour, buttermilk mixture, and breadcrumb mixture.

Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 fillets; cook 3 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Repeat procedure with remaining oil and fillets. Serve with lemon wedges.

An Update!

I haven't made many posts lately because it just seems like we aren't doing anything very exciting. Since we returned from the OBX and had Ben's graduation, we've been enjoying relaxing in the new house before all the craziness of fall starts. This past weekend we spent the weekend in North Myrtle Beach having a lowkey weekend before Ben starts classes with his new program at ECU. I have started making a few new recipes, which I'll post later along with all the yummy ones from the OBX vacation.

From the looks of our calendar, the fall has filled up rather quickly! We'll be spending this coming weekend at home. Then heading to the beach for the Labor Day and the weekend after that to see our good friends Maryellen, Russ and their cute little girl, Ally. I think we're spending just one weekend at home in Sept! I've also planned a girl's weekend with my college roommate, Meg and her mom and my mom for a long weekend later in the month. That is surely going to be a fun filled mother-daughter weekend with drinks by the pool, delicious dinners, happy shopping and long conversations.

Since we've planned our 2nd anniversary trip for November, we''ll celebrate at home and maybe go to PF Changs where we had our very first date over 4 years ago. We'll round out Sept with a weekend in Greeneville at an ECU football game for Family weekend with my sister and the rest of the family.

That brings us to Oct. where we've got plenty of things planned already including the Michael Buble concert, the Beerfest, Kim and Jeff's wedding, the Heartwalk, and another girl's weekend trip to Williamsburg for me. Before you know it Christmas will be here!

Our Fall Vacation...

It isn't much, but just a perfect little weekend getaway to Asheville. Ben just booked us a weekend in the Pisgah Paws at the Cabins of Asheville in Candler, which is about 20 miles west of Asheville and looks over the Pisgah Mountains. After our recent vacation we enjoyed doing nothing but relaxing and that's exactly how we intend to spend most of our long weekend in the mountains.

Technically this is our anniversary trip, but we aren't going until the end of November. For 2 years we've wanted to take a trip to the mountains and find the perfect Christmas tree. This year we're doing just that! And even better, Freddie will be joining us! He'll definitely need his winter vest for this trip. We also plan to do a little beer shopping at Bruisin' Ales, take several brewery tours possibly through the Brews Cruise, and have lunch in downtown Asheville. But mostly relaxing in the hot tub, cooking dinner and reading by the fire is on our must do list.

For anyone looking to get their choose and cut Christmas tree, I recommend the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association to find a farm. We're hoping to make this a tradition!

I want my Baby Back....

RIBS! Ben insisted on having ribs today. It was the first time since we've moved in and since we got our new gas grill he's used the old charcoal Weber grill. Wow! He's really perfected the art of smoking. He smoked 2 racks of baby back pork ribs for almost 6 hours, then basted them in honey chipotle BBQ sauce. They were quite spicy, but we love spicy! A perfect ending to the laziest weekend in our new home history!

Great Divide Oaked Aged Yeti Imperial Stout

This beer will blow your mind!! Ratebeer.com has this beer rated off the chart!! This beer has long lasting head retention that is dark brown and has a dark chocolate taste with a hint of coffee. With 9% alcohol it has very strong punch to it!! I love the balance this beer brings to the table, and they did a great job in bring the flavor.

The Master Bedroom

While almost all of our boxes are unpacked (over 2 months later), we've slowing been completing decorating. Getting rid of the college look, we've finally almost finished our master bedroom. Two of the last items on our list to purchase were pictures for over the bed and something for the corner near the dresser and nightstand. After months of hunting we finally found the pictures. I never knew shopping for pictures would be so difficult, but finding the right color, frame, size and overall look was pretty challenging.

At first we thought we were going for a beach/seashell theme. After buying to pictures today it seems to more nature with shells, trees, flowers, etc. We've yet to find something for the corner, but have finally narrowed our search to a vase with some woodsy branches for height. Either way we enjoy it and it's by far our best decorated room.

We put our pictures on Rate My Space, so we'll see how well we fair with the critics over there. I guess all that matters is we enjoy our bedroom and are proud of it.

Heavy Seas Peg Leg Imperial Stout

For being an imperial stout, it is very light and sweet. Normally, I would say this would be a negative, but some how they pull it off. It looks dark as night and thick with a good head on it, that pores a light brown. This beer in itself is great, but as an imperial stout, it lacks the thick malty taste, you normally get with an imperial stout. Two things come to mind when I drink this beer: one smokiness and two brown sugar. Both I love, and both I have tried in some of my home brews, but Clipper City Brewering Company balanced these two flavors very well. After drinking one, you might be inclined to drink the whole six pack but watchout, this big boy has 8% alcohol. It might taste light and sweet but it will get you messed up if you dare.

Congratulations to the Graduate!

This past Sunday, Ben officially graduated with the first part of his degree in Network Technology. After 3 years of working full time and taking classes, I couldn't be more proud of all of his hard work.

We hosted a celebration brunch for our families on Sunday morning. Everyone had a great time and Ben received a ton of wonderful gifts. Thanks to everyone who brought food...everything was wonderful we appreciated all the help since we just got back from vacation. But, mostly we appreciate all the support you give us.

Now, it's onto the next phase at ECU...all of the hardwork will be worth in the end!

Back From Our Vacation

...And we're a little sad it's all over. The week went by way to quick and I'm already itching to plan at least a little long weekend getaway soon since it was so nice to relax and do absolutely nothing!

We ate way too much and enjoyed everyone's cooking until we were stuffed to the gills. We also got the chance to eat out for lunch several days. Tortuga's is always our first stop for lunch before check into our house. Monday, Sara, Adam, Ben and I went to Awful Arthur's in search of Oysters...they were delicious. On Tuesday, we drove up to Corolla and Duck and ate at Fishbones and more oysters and crabcake sandwiches. My dad also took us to a cute little mexican inspired seafood place called Chili Peppers.

Other than eating, we lounged by the pool, sat on the beach, went for a couple of early morning runs and read a ton of books. It doesn't sound that exciting, but it was exactly what Ben and I needed after the past few hectic weeks. We didn't even mind the rain for almost 2 days. Sitting on the deck, even during the rain, was relaxing.

Saturday, on the way home, we stopped in Greeneville to check out the ECU campus. Ben will be starting a IT distance program in August, so we toured the campus and stocked up on our ECU paraphernalia then had a BBQ lunch before heading back home.