Caprese Panini, Southwest Salad & Pie Pop

I loooveeee summer's great produce offerings and can't get enough of the fresh tomatoes and basil growing right in our backyard this time of year (ok fine, my tomatoes aren't ripe just yet so this isn't my tomato- it will be though- give me another week or two) and jump at all chances to use this combo on pizzas, sandwiches, salads and appetizers. 

Perfect light summer dinner.

Finally had to put up a full coverage bird net over the garden thanks to huge greedy crows who demolished my strawberries all spring.

The net's only been up for 4 days and this handful I collected yesterday is more than the total of what I've gotten out of the garden all year... Consider yourself officially cut off birdies.

Speaking of great seasonal produce, this Southwest salad has been my go to lunch to take to work.

Spring mixed greens, fresh corn, black beans,

mini heirloom tomatoes (Trader Joe's- cutest things ever),

avocado, and a few crushed up tortilla chips

(occasional modifications: chunks of BBQ rotisserie chicken; pickled jalapenos)

If I was feeling creative, I'd make some kind of cool dressing, like a cilantro or chipotle something or another- but this week I've just stuck with good old Ranch.

This salad is amazing.

Anthony went to a work thing Sunday in Maryland and got to meet G. Love!

I've learned this week when trying to tell co-workers this tidbit,

that apparently no one really knows who that is.

Your loss losers. 

He brought me home pie pops. 

Cute- definitely. Practical- not so much. 

Family wedding: Emily & Nathan

Busy busy!

Between events and out of town travel, work has dictacted a good amount of our schedules here lately, but no complaints- life is great and fun as always!

Anthony's cousin Emily got married last weekend and we had such a fun time at the beautiful wedding! Congrats to Emily and Nathan!



my only picture of the lovely bride

I took really, really crappy pictures that night

(the 8 that I took anyways).

I'm going to blame it on some of the following:



Exhibit A: Hanky family bourbon shots





Ry & Exhibit B, Petey: instigator of said shots

 

Anyhoo... great times and next day headaches had by all!



Logan and Whitney



Mike and Rebecca

Logan was really excited about this...you can see Whit was too



Myrtle Beach 2012

Oceanfront cottage (thanks mom, dad and aunts!),
morning runs on the beach,

good books, perfect weather,

country ham and tomato sandwiches, surfing,

rocking on the porch swing in the evenings to the sound of beach music and waves crashing,

paddle boarding, circling up

= a fantastic couple of days with my awesome family.

Happy Father's Day!

not a bad view for a little work time

the fam

me and sissy catching some waves

New Bern & The Embers

Trips like this are exactly the reason why we have this blog:

to remember the awesome little trips, outings and spontaneous adventures we have.

As we've proven before with Charleston, St. Michael's, Beaufort and obviously our very own sweet little hometown, we kinda rock at small East Coast towns. They just seem to be our speed and style.

We're making a tradition out of making a stop in a small town each year on the way to or from the family SC beach vacation, so this year I chose cute little New Bern, NC for several reasons. It's small, charming and rivery (required), it's on the way to the beach so makes sense driving wise, and most importantly, The Embers were performing the night we'd be there!

nice little iPhone pic at the concert

view from hotel room

I'll take this opportunity to tell you that Anthony has pledged his allegiance to DoubleTree hotels for the rest of his life thanks to that complimentary warm chocolate chip cookie.

(I'll admit, it was an awesome cookie)

We manage to get alot in during these short trips of ours. We strolled the quaint little streets and checked out shops, enjoyed lunch and cocktails at the hotel marina and dined waterfront before the show.

I love love love beach music. We actually went to see The Embers play at a bar at the beach a few years ago with the family which was sooooo much fun, this worked out perfectly to see them again!

The show was at this great outdoor riverfront park. It was a really cute and fun event, very small town and friendly- we felt right at home.

It was a beautiful night and I can't even begin to describe how amazing night it was dancing and singing under the stars to live Embers music, cold beers in hand.

(not to mention the funnel cake truck parked 50 feet away...)

Thanks for the great time New Bern!



sitting curbside, after devouring aforementioned funnel cake