~Comfort and Joy~

Lucky for me, Patrick had work in Charlotte this month which meant that I got to come to North Carolina for a lonnggg visit this holiday season!  I spent the weekend of the 16^th-18^th in Charlotte and got to see so many old friends there before coming to Cary the following Monday.  Charlotte has two new stores – the SoBo Loft and Boutique and the Boulevard at South End, both of which have adorable home décor items and fun other gifts for anyone who is doing last minute shopping today ;)
 

I took the train for the first time since I obviously don’t have a car when I come home which was kind of fun!  It’s actually cheaper than driving since the $27.00 ticket beats filling up a tank these days.  You can check up to three 50 lb. bags for free and then get to relax in a fairly spacious seat and watch the world go by or read or catch up on email your whole trip.  They even have two outlets in each aisle so you can charge your phone/computer etc.  It’s not quite as cool as getting on at platform 9 ¾ and heading to Hogwarts, but it’s still a great way to travel and I highly recommend it!

After four straight days and nights of parties and get-togethers in Charlotte, I spent the first two days in Cary relaxing at home.  Tuesday night I went with a few girlfriends to Café Caturra which was so much fun, and good for the soul (you just can't beat old friends!)  A wine and tapas restaurant, there is a huge wood burning fireplace inside that we sat next to while we caught up (not that we needed the heat in the 70 degree weather…but the ambiance was nice!) Kudos to Cary on having such a fun, trendy spot!

There really is nothing like being home for Christmas… being with family and friends that are like your family really do bring the most comfort and joy J  I hope all of your final preparations are coming together and wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

~The Life of a Housewife~

As someone who, until September, has never been married and never without a job since she was fourteen, “housewife” is definitely a new role for me!  While I am looking for a job and have a few prospects on the horizon (cross your fingers for me!), I am, for the time being, a housewife…weird. 

Maybe it’s my new found love of Mad Men, or maybe it’s the fact that I’m finally taking the advice of so many friends, but the last few weeks I’ve tried to let go of my impatience regarding the lack of bringing home a paycheck and actually enjoy this time (easier said than done).  I admit it's not exactly my first choice, I’m the type of person who's at a loss when she doesn't have a million things to do, but... I know as soon as I start working again I'll be wishing there were more hours in the day!  So I’m using this downtime to read, run, actually stay on top of things like wrapping gifts and mailing packages on time, cook, and of course spoil Sadie with lots of play time/long walks/etc ;).  Since I’ve been cooking so much, I decided to share a couple recipes I’m loving right now.

Our friends Ryan and Ashley are coming over tonight for dinner and I’m making wine stew.  I wanted to share this recipe because it’s perfect for chilly weather and takes no time at all.  I’m a huge fan of crock pot recipes because you can throw everything in and leave it for hours while you go to work (or you know, continue your job search and walk the dog..whatever). 

Ingredients

2 lbs. stew meat (find it in the beef section of the grocery store, already cubed)

1 can tomato soup

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can sliced mushrooms

1 envelope French onion soup mix

1 cup burgundy wine (I didn’t have burgundy and didn’t want to buy it just for this recipe, so I’m using Cabernet instead, which I always have on hand, naturally)

Instructions: combine all ingredients in crockpot.  If you’ll be around the house, put on high for one hour then low for several hours.  If you’ll be gone all day long, just put on low all day. 

Serve over rice… easy!

And for dessert… Pumpkin cake balls

YUM.  I love, love, love pumpkin bread this time of year however, my recipe makes so much that I had a ton leftover.  Enter pumpkin cake balls.  Easy, cute, and easily adapted to whatever your personal taste (I made two versions).  Basically take half a loaf of pumpkin bread (or chocolate cake or whatever you want, really) and combine with about half a container of icing, mixing together well.  I used half a loaf of the bread with cream cheese icing and half with coconut pecan icing.  Put the mixture in the fridge for a while to cool it down so it’s easy to form balls.  Once cool, form small scoops out of the mixture and place on parchment paper.  Put a toothpick in each individual ball then freeze. 

After freezing for a few hours (or overnight, it doesn’t matter), microwave your preference of baking chocolate squares in a small bowl.  Be careful as you do this, go for about a minute and a half, stir, then heat again in small increments of time to make sure the chocolate doesn’t burn.  Once chocolate is melted, dip the balls in the chocolate holding the toothpick and place back on parchment paper.   The chocolate will set almost immediately since the cake balls are so cold but if you’re quick and so desire, you can have a second bowl with finely chopped nuts or sprinkles that you can dip the ball in while the chocolate is still setting. 

And that’s all!  You can keep in the freezer right until about ten minutes before you want to serve, they thaw quickly.  It’s different and I think would be great at a party because you can grab a toothpick for a bite size of dessert instead of having to balance a piece of pie on a plate…. Enjoy!

~Thankful~

Well, it’s obviously been a looonnngggg time since my last post.  I don’t really have any excuse; there’s been a lot going on, plenty to blog about and I just.. haven’t!  Early New Year’s resolution: blog more? ;)

            I write now as Mrs. Emily Agnew (yay!)  The wedding and honeymoon were in a word; unbelievable.  Fabulous, perfect, and (in discussing places on our honeymoon) breathtaking also come to mind.  I suppose everyone has this mentality but our wedding weekend was everything we could’ve asked for and more from our vendors to having SO many of our friends and family there with us to celebrate, we both agreed that we’d do everything again exactly the same way in a heartbeat.  The honeymoon was perfect, having my husband (still get a kick out of saying that!) to myself for two weeks on a Mediterranean cruise with no cell phones, verrryyyy slow and limited internet and lots of great food, wine, and sightseeing is something that we’ll cherish forever.

            And now, somehow, it’s the holiday season!  Don’t know where this year went, but I am happy to celebrate my favorite time of year!  We decided to spend our first Thanksgiving as a married couple in Texas and headed to South Padre Island for a long weekend.  South Padre is about 5 and a half hours from Austin, but we were told that being from North Carolina and used to “beautiful beaches” that we should make the trek as it’s the nicest beach in Texas.  We were not disappointed!  I used vrbo.com (check it out for all your vacation rentals, love them!) and found a one bedroom, dog friendly condo right on the beach with a pool/hot tub, kitchen, and for a bargain.

            While it was definitely strange in a way to be away from NC and not with my family for the holiday, our weekend was amazing.  The weather was perfect, 80 – 85 degrees all three days we were there.  Our condo unit ended up being right next to a classic beach bar, the “wanna wanna”,  with the islands best shrimp, great drinks, and pretty awesome people watching ;)  We had a buffet Thanksgiving and consumed wayyy too much of all the traditional turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes etc and loved the raw seafood stations included.  (No broccoli casserole which is my fave, but it probably couldn’t measure up to my mom’s anyway!).  Sadie proved that yes, she really is our “daughter” as she loves the beach as much if not more than we do!  Between taking her for walks, fetch in the ocean, not worrying about cooking, and just relaxing, it was an absolutely wonderful Turkey day!

~our beyond happy puppy on the beach~

            We got back in town yesterday afternoon to beat the traffic and went to dinner at a place I’ve been meaning to blog about for some time: Garage Mahal.  If you like Indian food, you HAVE, have, have to come here if you are in Austin.  It’s technically one of Austin’s many food trailers but it is a full service restaurant instead of a trailer where you order at the counter.  There’s a huge tent set up in front of the trailer and there is plenty of outside seating as well.  Heaters are on no since a cold front has finally come through to Austin and the place is always crowded.  They serve amazing naan and truly excellent curries.  To add to the restaurant’s appeal, it’s bring your own alcohol, so you bring whatever beer or wine you’d like to accompany your meal and the waiters are happy to bring glasses and an opener J  Patrick is obsessed with Indian food and since discovering this place, I am too so we’ve been here several times and each time have walked away amazed at how fantastic it is.

            I'm definitely overwhelmed with gratitude for all that has happened and that we've experienced this year.  I hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving and are ready to jump into the Christmas craziness!!  I don't have room for two trees this year and have no fireplace in our Texas house, but I spent the day decorating and one tree is up, the stockings are hung (on the wall!) and my Yankee “Sparkling Pine” candle is lit… what a wonderful start to the holidays!

~ShOwErEd with lOvE~

So I woke up today with an email from the hair/makeup girl for the wedding saying that she won’t have enough time to provide services for everyone listed and she will “try and find an assistant to come and hopes they aren’t all booked”  this is after I reached out to her to touch base after already giving her this information in late May… total stress/frustration.  On top of the fact that work continually throws new projects my way that I can’t physically complete without working wayyy overtime (which frankly, I’m not motivated to do considering my last day is supposed to be August 31^st).  The same work that hasn’t even started interviewing my replacement which I’m afraid means they’ll want me to continue working… which I really can’t do full time because I have a million other details to finish for the wedding… AHHH!!  Why is it that no matter how far in advance I try to plan things, how on top of it I try to be there are ALWAYS  things that come up?  Life I guess??

Okay, venting time is over, time to remind myself that I am SOOO lucky because I have so many people in my life that are helping and making this entire experience (of getting married) even more exciting and special than I could imagine. 

I’m finally getting around to posting photos of the last few weeks and here are a few from the stunning shower a week and a half ago.

 I am lucky enough to have a mom who is a great planner and friend and even luckier that she has a circle of close friends that are literally like second (and third and fourth and ninth) mom’s to me.  These are women who’ve known me since birth and it means so much to have them be a part of the celebrations. 

~My mom and I~

~The four amazing hostesses~

I adore formal events and love any chance to dress up so the bridal shower was perfect!  The shower was held at McGregor Country Club and was just beautiful from the flowers and candles to the menu cards, to the adorable petit fours for dessert.  I was spoiled with gifts and showered with love!

 

~Last Fling before the Ring~

I spent 10 days back in North Carolina for my Bachelorette weekend, wedding planning, bridal showers and lots of family time.  I was definitely missing Patrick and Sadie while gone but there really is no place like home, especially when you’re home for such fun events! 

We went to Charleston for the bachelorette weekend and it was SUCH a perfect one.  I honestly can’t imagine being any luckier.  It’s been so long since I’ve gone to Charleston without having an agenda and to be able to spend a week in this charming town with 13 of the people closest to me was so incredible!  My sister did have an agenda however, and did such a phenomenal job organizing everyone and planning just enough for our time there while leaving the majority of the time for catching up.  The best part of the weekend was seeing everyone, but there were some other highlights as well:

Irvin House Vineyard and Firefly Distillery

As a surprise on Saturday, we piled into cars and headed about 25 minutes west to Irvin Vineyards, the only domestic winery in Charleston.  They grow the grapes, harvest them, make the wine, and bottle our wines on the property.  It is run by a couple who met while already semi-retired and when they married, decided to follow their dreams and passions of making wine (for Jim) and gardening (for Anne) and planted the grapes in 2001.  Pretty inspiring to take on such a project in retirement and definitely my idea of a retirement plan!  The woman running the little store/gift shop and conducting the tasting were incredibly gracious, so excited to host our group, and just lovely people.  Also helping in running the show are three dogs; Chloe, Cassie, and Harry Potter J. 

On the same property is the home of the Firefly Distillery, which also has a tasting room.  Jim is the co-founder of Firefly and they also have done an incredible job keeping this product local.  For $6.00 you can purchase a flight of six of the ten different varieties of the vodka (including Raspberry, Mint Tea, Peach Tea, and Lemonade) and then purchase what you’d like (the lemonade and spiced rum are only available here for purchase and I’d definitely stock up on the lemonade if you go!).

Dinner at Blossom: YUM.  Dining in Charleston is really always delish, and Blossom was no exception.  I highly recommend the she-crab soup, the yellow fin tuna Carpaccio, and the shrimp and grits (no I didn’t actually eat all of that; best part about going out to eat with 13 girls is sharing!).  We also had amazing BBQ and mac and cheese at Jim N Nicks and a fabulous brunch at High Cotton, which features a jazz band in it’s beautiful bar.

Between the food, cocktails, and best friends anyone could ask for, it was such an incredible weekend and one I’ll forever have wonderful memories from.  *But while it might be last one before I'm an Mrs., it better not really be the last fling - LOVE these girls ;) 

 

Weekend on the Water (and with Harry Potter ;)

SUCH a great weekend!  Our friends Avery and Luke were in town so I got to play hostess J.  This was amazing for two reasons; One- I LOVE LOVE LOVE when people come visit and entertaining (hint to anyone reading this!) and Two- it forced me to get unpacked last week ;)  They didn’t come in until Saturday so Friday night I convinced Patrick to go see the final Harry Potter with me - such a good fiancé! ;) It was a little easier to twist his arm, however, when I explained that we’d be seeing the show at the Alamo Draft house.  The Alamo is a chain of movie theaters in Austin that double as a bar/restaurant.  Between each row of theater seats is an aisle for servers to move between and in front of the seats is a wooden counter/bar.  So before and throughout the movie, you can order whatever drinks you’d like from their full service bar and/or food from their pretty extensive menu!  For some of the bigger movies (like Harry) they even have special event menus with food and drink items associated with the film – yes they were serving Butterbeer!  Check out the menu on the link below to see.  Once Patrick realized he could eat and drink beer while watching, it wasn’t too difficult to convince him to go with me. 

http://drafthouse.com/austin/south_lamar/Lamar_our_chef_menu/

Saturday we went with Luke, Avery and another couple Kacey and Kyle to kayak on Lady Bird Lake.  This is not an actual lake, but a huge river that runs through the middle of the city and extending outward from the middle of downtown.  There are several entry points to the water at which you can rent kayaks, paddle boats, or paddle boards.  $15 will get you a kayak for two for an hour and you can bring your own cooler as well if you so choose.  We ended up spending two hours paddling down the river and looking at the magnificent houses boarding it, sometimes getting a great arm workout, sometimes just floating along.  There are rope swings and little cliffs you can kayak out to and play on as well.  The best part is that there are literally people out enjoying this aspect of Austin All. The. Time.  Seriously, anytime you drive over the bridge into the city you will always see people out taking advantage of the gorgeous scenery and jumping in the water to cool off. 

After the lake, we went out to dinner and hit up several bars downtown.  The best thing about the nightlife in Austin is the abundance of rooftop bars and patios and naturally, the weather that allows you to enjoy them.  It’s definitely hot during the day, but the lack of humidity at night means that after dark, it’s perfect weather to enjoy being outside while out with friends.  Sunday we walked to brunch, discovered an old fashioned candy/soda shop with a generous serving ice cream for $2.17 (also within walking distance), and headed to Barton Springs for a little more sun and cooling off in the water (which is chilly!).  Grilling out that night was the end to a perfect weekend.  I made some (pretty amazing) white sangria too, recipe is below if interested. 

1 bottle of White Wine (Pinot Grigio)

½ C. Peach Schnapps

¼ C. Sugar

¼ C. Sprite

¼ C. Vodka

Cut up mango, peaches, and half grapes.

Prep: Stir all ingredients together, toss in fruit and let chill for several hours or overnight.  Add additional sprite or vodka/water to taste (depending on how strong or how sweet you like your sangria).  Serve over ice… and enjoy the fruit!

~Puppies and Produce~

We're here!  We left Charlotte last Sunday and drove three days, arriving in Austin Tuesday.  Since then, it’s been hectic!  There’s been a lot going on with the movers coming with only half of our items, unpacking, and starting to explore our neighborhood and city while also taking care of our new puppy! 

Sadie: 

10 weeks old, 16.8lbs, and the cutest dog I have ever seen.  I know I’m biased, but she is absolutely adorable.  We picked her up before even getting to Austin because I couldn’t wait any longer to see that sweet face.  She was born in Troy, Texas which is in the middle of absolutely nowhere and was part of a litter of 11.  Immediately sweet and cuddly in the car, we thought that maybe the transition from her farm to our house would be seamless…  NOT the case.  The first night she cried allll night long, whined when she saw her reflection in the oven because she thought it was her sister that she missed, and wouldn’t eat.  But since then, she’s gotten better every day, and now has a routine where she goes out around 2 or 3 a.m., and then wakes up at 6 a.m. and other than that sleeps through the night.  I think she is going to be high energy but she is so loving and follows one of us around everywhere we go.  She knows her name, and yesterday we discovered treats at this local dog store that she will do anything for!  We also had her first vet visit yesterday and she was incredibly well behaved.  I also realized if we ever have daughters, we are in trouble because Sadie is a total Daddy's girl and has Patrick wrapped around her little paw (he is sitting next to me with her and just told her that "Every day is Natinal Sadie puppy day because she is the most beautiful puppy ever" ha!  After 5 days, we already see her as such a gift, and are completely in love with her.

Whole Foods: 

We went here yesterday and I have to blog about it.  For those who don’t know, Whole Foods was started in Austin and the flagship store is in the middle of downtown.  Patrick and I went yesterday and it is simply awesome.  I have never seen a more beautiful, upscale, enormous grocery store!  They have produce you wouldn’t believe, each section of fresh poultry, meat, or seafood is bigger than all three combined at a normal grocery store.   They also have two cheese sections with wheels of every kind of cheese imaginable behind the counter.  There are counters scattered throughout the store (I counted 4 and I couldn’t even take everything in) with ready to eat items (vegetarian? There’s a counter with all white bean and spinach salads, quinoa, veggie and gluten free lasagna).  There is an olive bar with 20 types of olives to pick from.  Fill your own container stations with various types of nut butters (peanut, almond, cashew you name it) and olive oils and vinegars so you can pick your size and try away.  Spices I’ve never even heard of.  Two separate wine tasting stations and a huge selection to chose from (including racks of eco-friendly wines and local wines from Texas).  A desert bar where you can select truffles, candy covered apples, anything chocolate covered from their chocolate fountain they have running.  It is truly insane and somewhat overwhelming! 

Adding to the greatness of this Whole Foods is that they also serve food here at three different sections throughout the store.  I saw sections serving sandwiches and salads and sections serving amazing looking pasta dishes, you can come here for lunch or dinner and have a variety of options to choose from.  There are bars at the sections as well and one main bar in the middle of the store.  All were PACKED!  We were there on a Friday around 5:45 and it seemed like the place to be, tons of people enjoying their happy hour at the grocery store… amazing.  There is a section made to be a coffee bar like setting as well, where several people were finishing up their workdays on their laptops and sipping lattes or smoothies.

All in all, I’d say we’re going to love this city.  We’re slowly but surely getting everything unpacked (all of our stuff didn’t fit on one truck which we didn’t find out until the day before the truck got here so the rest of our things arrived Monday – the movers have been the low point of this move).  Our house is starting to look like a home; we adore our new addition to the family, and can’t wait to explore more!  A friend of mine from college and her fiance moved here recently too and they're coming over before we go to dinner tonight so hopefully I'll get everything else unpacked today and will upload pics of the house soon.  Have a fabulous weekend everyone!