Brunch

One Nighter

Posted on Oct 28, 2012 | 9 comments

After I spent all of Friday on the couch, recovering from my mysterious sickness, I finally felt ok to shower and eat dinner that evening. It felt nice, actually, to just spend a Friday night in with a movie – Matt and I watched Nothing But The Truth, and I really enjoyed it! It was pretty fascinating.

On Saturday, we took a quick one nighter trip to Charlotte to visit friends. One of my college friends lives in Asheville, and one in Charlotte, so the three of us (plus Matt) met up for a mini reunion. We arrived in Charlotte just in time for lunch, and my friend Katie took us to a fun bbq place in her neighborhood. The mac and cheese was good, the bbq great, and the baked beans amazing.

We spent the afternoon strolling around town and catching up – I can’t believe it’s been so long since I’ve seen these girls! During cocktail hour, Katie introduced us to her bourbon collection. Impressive! I had a tiny mixed drink with ginger ale and a splash of orange juice. She even had the huge bourbon ice cubes.

Then we headed out to the artsy NoDa area to check out Birdsong Brewery. I’m not sure why I didn’t snap any pictures (maybe I was too busy tasting?) but we tried a flight of six beers. I was really impressed, and loved 4 of the 6, especially the milk stout and the jalapeno pale ale.

We continued on to the trendy Plaza Midwood, where we pushed our way to the bar at Soul Gastrolounge. We waited a while for a table, but had no luck after an hour, so we went ahead and ordered food.

Matt and I shared these herb cheese-stuffed peppers,

an amazing flatbread with pistachio pesto and truffled goat cheese,

and greek meatballs with yogurt sauce. All the food was interesting and tasty. But what was really fantastic was the fresh apple pie waiting at home for us!!

Katie made this from scratch and it was the perfect ending to a really amazing night out with friends.

This morning, we dined at Zada Jane’s for brunch.

The girls and I waiting for a table:)

I had quite the unique meal -a bed of sweet potato hash browns topped with frittata style eggs, covered with melted cheddar cheese and a big old biscuit. The sweet potato chunks underneath were huge and soft and tasted like they may have been cooked in maple syrup. Aside from all the cheese, I actually cleaned my plate, and although I didn’t feel full at the time, I’ve felt gross ever since:)

Matt and I got home around dinner time, and picked up soup and cornbread from Whole Foods because that’s all we could fit.

It was kind of a strange weekend given the sick day on Friday, but it turned out to be wonderful in the end. I really love being able to spend time with good friends!

Baby, BBQ, Brunch

Posted on Jul 29, 2012 | 4 comments

I’m back in the ATL for the final stretch, but going back to NC this weekend made me sooo ready to get back to Durham and regular life! If you are just tuning in, I traveled home to go my sister’s baby shower. She’s due in just a few short weeks!!!

I went home on Thursday night, which means I got to go wedding dress shopping with my mom on Friday!! No purchases yet, but def. found some dresses that I really like.

My sister and her MIL arrived in town on Friday evening, and we had a lazy Friday night with wine, guacamole, shrimp, make-your-own subs, and chocolate chip pie. I’ve been so go-go-go this summer that it was sooo nice to just stay in on a Friday night and relax.

Saturday was the baby shower, which was put on by one of my sister’s childhood friends. Everything was soo cute!

And the food was fabulous!

My favorites were the pimento cheese rolls,

turkey, cheddar, and apple sandwiches,

brie bites,

and the bean salad!

I obviously tried everything!

And no shower is complete without cake (and ice cream). There were two kinds of cake, both homemade by the host. The fresh strawberry cream in the middle of the chocolate cake was awesome.

We played a game where we had to guess which guest belonged to different baby pictures.

But the best part was watching the opening of the presents – it was more exciting than Christmas because they just kept coming!

The little clothes and toys are my favorite – so cute! And check out this handmade quilt.

Now we just need the baby to arrive!

After the shower, I headed to the airport and Matt picked me up on the other side 4 hours later. We drove straight to our friends’ home for a good old summer bbq. We drank Southern Pecan nut brown ale and chowed down on hamburgers and fun-fetti cookies.

And I got to watch the Olympics too (we don’t have TV here other than Netflix…)

And this morning, we brunched. I keep hearing about brunch places in our neighborhood, so I’m glad we finally got to check out the brunch at Murphys. We met a Davidson friend there (who is in medical school) and talked about all kinds of interesting things. I had the crab cake benedict with jalapeno hollandaise – tasty. I think the blueberry muffins and scores that arrived before brunch were probably the best thing though.

I’m pretty excited to get to bed tonight. These busy weekends leave me soo tired.

What were you guys up to?

Atlanta Stay-Cation

Posted on Jul 2, 2012 | 3 comments

Happy holiday week! Is anyone else having the heat wave? I’ve just about sweat through everything I own.

So, back to the weekend. I arrived back in Atlanta on Thursday with my parents, feeling quite excited about the recent development (thanks for the comments:)) Matt was working late, so I took my parents to a New Orleans oyster house. We sat outside, pretending to be on Bourbon St.

The roasted oysters were great! I hate the raw ones because I think it’s silly to swallow something whole without tasting it, but I really enjoyed these.

I also had a fantastic crab cake and ear of corn. Dinner was cheap too, so I have yet another restaurant that’s going on the Atlanta list.

On Friday, I took my parents to Leon’s for lunch! Of course, we tried the frites, this time with a mango-peppadew catsup.

I think I made a bad choice getting a salad because it didn’t quite live up to my experience at Leon’s last week. But, my parents meals were tasty and they shared.

I finally got to try something from the bakery at Cakes & Ale for dessert!

This guy was a mix between an oatmeal cookie and a muffin, with lemon icing in the middle. Quite unique and clearly delicious.

On Friday night, Matt and I actually attended a wonderful dinner that was hosted by his company, so I sent my parents out into our neighborhood for wings and beer. My dad particularly enjoyed the blues club and stayed out later than us!

The weekend became even more exciting when Matt’s parents arrived on Saturday morning. Right before they touched down though, we found out that our air conditioner was broken. The high on Saturday was 105 and our apartment was already in the 90′s when we left for lunch. Perfect temperature for hosting parents!

Luckily, we had plans to escape to the Coke museum, and after checking out Victory sandwich bar for lunch (loved it), we enjoyed the intense AC and coca-cola refreshments inside the museum.

This was actually my third time visiting, but it was still very interesting. And tasting soda from all over the world is pretty neat.

My mom is a die-hard Coke fan and wrote a personal memory of coke for the museum display:)

Despite the heat, we were still able to host a ‘pre-game’ in our apartment before walking to Murphy’s for dinner. I think all the beer kept us cool.

The food was impressive – my mom and I shared the sweet corn ravioli and the shrimp and grits.

This was a spicy tomato version with a soft fried egg!

When we returned to our apartment on Saturday night, the temperature had risen to 97 degrees. Let’s just say I didn’t get much sleep that night, and woke up soaked and cranky. We made the best of it though, by cooking breakfast in the hot apartment and then transporting it to the parents’ hotel after cold showers.

I tried a recipe for a Zucchini egg bake and it came out great! I might add more eggs next time to bulk it up – it was really flavorful, so I don’t think 2-4 more eggs would change it too drastically.

Matt contributed by baking this banana bread (from TJ’s), and we had a fruit salad and bacon. And of course, we had mimosas! They still taste just like college to me.

My parents left on Sunday, but Matt’s stuck around and his sister, mom, and I went to the mall to get mother-of-the groom ideas. We hit the 3 main department stores and found THE dress at the last store. It’s a beautiful purple one-shoulder dress and it looks great on Matt’s mom! But, you’ll have to wait until next year to see it.

Matt had to go back to work today, but the rest of us visited the Georgia Aquarium. It was huge!!!! They have one of those cool tanks with a tunnel though it for optimal viewing and we saw gigantic fish. I also really enjoyed the frog exhibit.

And at 3pm, my AC was fixed! So happy to be cool and dry again. But even happier that we got to spend a lovely weekend with our wonderful families!

Gallery of Fun

Posted on Jan 16, 2012 | 5 comments

I had a near perfect weekend in New York. I felt great, I ate devine food, I danced, I drank summer beer and mimosas, I reminisced, I indulged, and I lived in the moment. And all in the wonderful company of good friends.

[yes, that would be a mac and cheese sampler]

As my friend Liz said over a glass of wine and great Indian food last night , Happy Birthday to Marty. How did you celebrate the holiday weekend?

New Years Re-do

Posted on Jan 5, 2012 | 7 comments

On our last day of vacation, we went all out and totally made up for stomach aches and early nights. It may have been my favorite day of the trip!

We slept in, had tea, and then ventured to the famous Huey’s on the River for brunch. We obviously got the beignets. They were warm and doughy and fabulous. Totally hit the spot!

On the side of doughnuts, I got the most delicious crab cake. Seriously one of the best i’ve ever had. It was broiled and packed with meat.

Dipped in parmesan garlic grits! Twas the perfect brunch!

After brunch, I went and laid in the sun in a park on the glorious 70 degree day. It felt sooo good to be warmed by the sun. A little rest = time for beer. Matt and I split a sampler at Moon Riving brewing company. I actually liked each and every one of them!

I got the Belgian wheat in a to-go cup, so we could walk over to city market and listen to live music.

But the day gets even better! Waterfront bars and roof decks are too of my favorite things on the earth. We found both at Rocks on the River.

We chatted and enjoyed the beautiful pink and purple sunset. I live for those moments.

And then a jumbo barge appeared out of nowhere! And it got cold, so we continued on to the Pink house.

We had dinner at the Pink House long ago, on one of our very first trips, so we decided to duck into the tavern for a drink.

I had a perrrfect mint julep and we shared seafood spring rolls.

And then Matt declared that he wouldn’t go home until we located and consumed fried pickles. So I got to Googlin’ and we had some of the best fried pickles EVER at Congress St social club.

And $2 pork tacos!! They were packed with flavor. We resisted ordering 5 more.

This day will live in my memory as complete awesomeness. Tomorrow’s another weekend. Yipeeee.

Mothers and Other Lovely Things

Posted on May 8, 2011 | 3 comments

It was so sad seeing everyone go this afternoon, but this weekend couldn’t have been more perfect. And, thank you guys for your sweet comments and congratulations:)

Yesterday, we strolled around the city and ducked into the Otherside cafe for lunch to seek shelter from the thunderstorms. Though we spent the afternoon eating cake, we somehow made room for a fabulous dinner in Boston’s North End. But first, I took the gang to the Liberty Hotel because I love the atmosphere and architecture of the building, which used to be a jail. We enjoyed cocktails in the bar, where there are still bars on the windows.

I had a mojito with blueberry puree. It was quite strong!

I have heard wonderful things about Carmen and I somehow managed to get a reservation for 7 in the petite space. It was sooo cozy and charming. I highly recommend it for a date.

My dad choose a couple of Italian reds, so I’m not actually sure what I drank, but it was great. In addition to a classic bread basket and some roasted sweet peppers, Matt and I split the short rib ravioli in a gorgonzola sauce as a appetizer. It was to-die-for and we sopped up the rich sauce with the bread. Mmmmm.

For the main event, my mom and I split the seafood risotto with scallops, bacon, and sweet pea puree.

The scallops were flawless. The risotto was great too, but it tasted pretty similar to others I’ve had.

But, Matt’s bowtie pasta in a black truffle goat cheese cream sauce was probably the winning entree of the evening. Needless to say, I was VERY impressed with both the service and the food at Carmen. I’ll be so sad to leave such an incredible little Italy in Boston.

–

And for the grand finale of the weekend, we celebrated our wonderful mothers with brunch at the Union Bar and Grill in the South End.

SOOOO glad I asked for a bread basket – the cornbread and dried cherry muffins were the highlight of brunch.

I ordered probably the best cobb salad I’ve ever had. The chicken was spicy and the local blue cheese blew me away. I was a little hesitant about getting a salad with all the other delicious-sounding entrees, but I was so happy when I tasted it.

Once our families left, I took a glorious mid-afternoon nap and went to Whole Foods for a quick trip. This week is another short one because Matt and I are going to CALIFORNIA on Thursday!!!!!! Matt is in a wedding in Santa Monica, and I decided that life is too short to pass up an opportunity to go to the west coast. So, yeah, I need to get myself organized for this week.

I’m about to have one last piece of cake for dessert, and then I’m freezing the rest for a rainy day. Good night friends.