Bridal Shower and Bachelorette Party in DC

The weekend following our trip to the Outer Banks, I was off again on another adventure!  This time it was a weekend all about girls gearing up for a wedding!  My friend, former colleague, and former roommate is getting married Labor Day weekend and I am honored to be one of the bridesmaids.

Another bridesmaid lives here in Raleigh, so we were able to drive up to DC together to join Laural, her family, and her future in-laws for the weekend celebration.  With all of us getting in at various times of the afternoon and evening on Friday, and needing to rest up for a busy Saturday, we kept it low key with a relaxing dinner in the Maryland suburbs of DC.

Waking up Saturday morning, it was all hands on deck to prepare for a day of festivities.  The bridal shower started around 1pm, so we did have time to enjoy a leisure breakfast before setting up the house for the event and getting ourselves ready.  It helped that most of us stayed at Laural's sister's house together, and several family members arrived early to get things in order.

The intimate gathering of about 15 people was perfect, allowing us all to celebrate with the bride and "oh" and "ah" over all the wonderful gifts she received.  There were some very sweet moments that brought Laural to tears and few surprises to keep her off-guard.  The event was a wonderful reminder of all the love and support that family and friends can bring each other.

The bridesmaids (minus 1) hosting the bridal shower

After the bridal shower, we had just an hour or so to get ready before our driver showed up for the evening bachelorette festivities. The first stop of the night was the Mexican restaurant Bandolero.  The restaurant was a bit pricey (small tapas), but the food was very good and very filling.  Their guacamole, fish and pork tacos were the highlights of the meal. 

At Bandolero with the bride-to-be

I'm glad we decided to go to a lounge after dinner because it gave us places to sit and play some fun bachelorette games before it got crowded.  We heard good recommendations about the Eighteenth Street Lounge and the place was pretty awesome. There weren't any signs outside, and the we had to ask to make sure we were in the right place, but the inside was huge and felt like a Victorian-era home. There were 3-4 separate rooms with DJs spinning different music and a patio area. We enjoyed the music in the patio, but had to move out of the area when it filled with people smoking.

Playing bachelorette games in the lounge

The crew at the club

As the evening came to an end, the bride decided she wanted to see some of DC's monuments before going home.  Our driver, Sonny, served as our photographer for some of those end-of-the-night pictures!

One final picture in front of the Washington Monument 

While we were tempted to stop for some late-night grub (one of the three dietitians recommended it), we decided to go back to Laural's sister's house instead. There we indulged in some of the "healthy" leftovers from the bridal shower.  The highlight for me was taking off my high heels and getting into pajamas before our feast!

Overall it was was a very fun, albeit long day.  With all of us bridesmaids living all over the east coast and the bride working on her PhD, it was difficult to find a weekend that worked for everyone.  I think we all would have loved to take a bachelorette party trip to a beach location, but we'll get to celebrate the wedding at the beach instead.  I know it's going to be fabulous and I can't wait to share it on the blog!

What's the best thing you've done or the best place you've gone, for a bachelorette party?

Dining Out in Kitty Hawk, NC

On our way back from spending the week in Corolla, we decided to have one meal at a restaurant before we returned.  After enjoying a beautiful sunny day at the beach, we slowly made our way south to Kitty Hawk.  There, we decided to stop at the Black Pelican.  We became aware of the restaurant by watching the Food Network before we left the beach house.

One of the best features of the restaurant is its location. It is as close to the ocean as you can get in this part of Kitty Hawk, with the water only slightly covered by the sand dunes.  With Darwin in tow, we were seated in a covered, outdoor patio area (which was awesome except for the one guy smoking for part of our visit!).

Our patio seats had an amazing view

The food was pretty good.  We had been eating so much all week that we weren't in the mood for a big meal, so we opted to share a bowl of clam chowder, a salmon "popeye" salad, and a chocolate cheesecake dessert.  The soup was merely ok, not meeting my high chowder expectations. It was a bit watery and should have been filled with potatoes and clams.  

The salad was very tasty with the warm mushroom bacon vinaigrette giving it a lot of flavor.  The fish was also nicely cooked.

The highlight was the dessert. The rich chocolate top layer met Colin's preference and the soft moist cake layer met my preference. The layer of cheesecake in the middle and the peanut butter chunks were very complimentary and provided some delicious flavor.

I would definitely stop here again for dessert, and maybe to try an actual entree in the future.

Do you have a favorite restaurant in or near Kitty Hawk?

Away From It All in the Outer Banks

During the 4th of July holiday week, Colin, Darwin and I were able to join some of his friends at a beach house in the Outer Banks.  It was a little nerve-wracking because we had to rent a 4x4 vehicle for the week since the house was located off the beach road north of Corolla, NC.  When the car rental offices told me they couldn't guarantee a 4x4 in an SUV category, I freaked out a little bit, but thankfully it all worked out. It's good that you can reserve vehicles from multiple locations without putting down a credit card.

On Saturday morning, we packed up the Ford Escape rental and set out on the 4 hour drive. Well, the drive should have taken about 4 hours, but once we got to the northern beaches in the Outer Banks (or OBX), we were at a crawl for the 20+ miles to the very northern tip.  Since the weather was crappy (raining), we didn't feel too bad for the delay. And, we can't complain considering our friends hit that same traffic after driving over 16 hours from upstate New York!

As we drove on the sand (hoping not to get stuck), and made our way to the house, we were instantly greeted by a bunch of wild horses. They were just walking around, grazing on the grass around the house like people didn't bother them.  I didn't get any great pictures of them the first day, be we say them throughout the week and managed to get pictures later on.

View of the horses on the beach from the patio

Horses making their way towards the house

Horses almost trampling the kids!

The house was moderately sized for our group and nicely laid out. All 4 bedrooms were on the lower level and the upper level contained the living room, kitchen, and patio.  The best part, was the amazing view to the ocean from the patio. It was nice to be situated slightly away from the beach, especially with all the 4x4 trucks passing back and forth, while still being able to see and hear the ocean.

Our house was the second from the left (blue)

Our first two days at the beach weren't that great. It was cloudy most of the day and we had some rain on and off.  The first day was fine because most needed the day to recover from the long drive the previous day, but everyone was ready for the beach by day 2.  Thankfully, the middle of the week brought better weather with only scattered clouds and storms. By the end of the week, we had clear blue skies and lots of sun!  It was actually really nice to have a mix of weather. It forced Colin and I to relax and allowed us to not get burned by being in the sun all week.  I'm sure Darwin also appreciated the not-so-hot weather early in the week.  Even on the cloudy days we managed to get two long walks in on the beach.  Darwin had the experience of being good, but also not being a push-over with Colin's friends two pitbulls (one male, one female). There were a few times they got a bit aggressive with each other, and we kept them separate from each other a lot, but by mid-week they seemed to be able to hang out in the same room without bothering each other.

6 adults, 4 kids, 3 dogs couped up together for the first few days

Darwin, Luke, and Cooper getting along

One of the things that surprised me the most was that everyone was into cooking and eating good meals all week.  Our dinner menus included chicken kabobs pork, ribs steak, grouper, shrimp and lobster. We pretty much made a full course dinner every night. It helped that the guys liked to grill and the ladies helped with the sides. It also would have taken too long to drive to town, especially on the sand in the dark! I wish I had taken pictures of our dinners because they were so impressive.

One of the several beautiful sunsets

The guys grilling chicken kabobs

The only down side of the trip was that we did manage to get stuck in the sand in our 4x4. By the end of the week, the sand was really dry and some spots had really deep tire tracks. Colin wanted me to practice driving on the sand and it was pretty nerve-wracking on the way to town (we needed some groceries).  I tried the same route on the way back and managed to get stuck! The $165 tow was pretty steep, and it was a hot and miserable 45 minutes of waiting to get pulled out, but it was better than being left stranded.  Next time we will take the advice of the locals and deflate our tires to almost half and we'll drive closer to the water where the sand is packed down!

This is where we should have been driving!

I'll leave you with some pictures of our fun in the sun. I don't know who had more fun running around at the water's edge - Colin or Darwin. I will tell you that Darwin still doesn't think the waves at the ocean are fun at all.  And unfortunately, the water was pretty cold where we were for the week (in the 60's).  We'd been to the beach in southern NC earlier this summer and the water was much warmer. I don't know if we were just in a pocket of cold water, but I only went in on the last two days when it was really hot on the beach!

Colin and Darwin sprinting

Darwin fears for his life!

Darwin paddling for dear life

Taking out aggression on his leash

Happy to be back on solid group and coming to me for protection

We were close to Kitty Hawk - temps there (a little south) "low 60's"

Too cold for me!

Have you ever driven a 4x4 on the beach? If so, did you ever get stuck like me!??!

Feeling Nostalgic in Rhode Island

My third consecutive trip in June had me flying to Rhode Island to visit with friends and ended up with me feeling nostalgic.  I spent the first two days hanging out with my dearest friend from high school and my brother.  We went to the local Portuguese feast a few nights and hit up the beach on Saturday.  Even though it's been about 14 years since I lived in my hometown, there are some things that remain the same. There is a certain comfort in seeing the old familiar faces, places, and activities.

Though the ocean was much too cold for me and the cool air off the water had me wrapped in my towel by 4pm - after all I am a southerner now - I enjoyed catching up with my brother and my friend on the latest happenings in their lives.  We also enjoyed some clam cakes and fish tacos at George's of Galilee while overlooking the beach.

Clam cakes from George's

Before heading to RI, I realized I didn't have any recent pictures with my friend Juli. 
So we made sure to take a picture during the weekend.  I can't tell you how many times we've been asked if we are sisters. I think it's just the olive complexion and dark hair.


The Portuguese Social Club in my hometown brought in a famous Portuguese singer for the feast.
The picture above is Jorge Ferreira singing with his daughter.

The main reason I traveled to RI was to reunite with some friends from UVM. My college roommate invited us all to her daughter's Christening and it was amazing that everyone was able to make it!  Two girls live just north of Boston, one is in Vermont, my college roommate spends the summer in RI, and I now live in North Carolina. 2013 is our 10 year college reunion and it seems unlikely we will all make it back to Vermont for the occasion, so we opted to get together in RI. In those 10 years, all 5 of us have gotten married. During our gathering there were 6 children ages 6 months to 3.5 years and they were the most well-behaved group I've ever seen.  The newest baby was born July 3rd and another is due mid-late August.  

During our brief get-together, it was fun to talk about memories of our freshman year in college (we all lived in the same dorm together), going to Cancun for Spring Break, and all that has happened since then.  Our lives sure are different than they were 10 years ago!

Millis 2-High (plus Erin from Millis 4) 14 years later

I left RI feeling glad to have seen so many wonderful friends, but sad to leave them all. It's great to have friends living in various places throughout the US, but it would be nice to be able to see each other more than every few years, especially now that so many have expanding families and kids that grow so quickly.  This group has been the easiest to reunite with since we all have close ties to the Boston/RI area and I'm grateful for that.

Experiencing Peace in Asheville

I'll admit that I wasn't too excited to drive to Asheville just 3 days after returning from my Pittsburgh/Cleveland and Charlotte trip.  Don't get me wrong, the mountains that surround the city are stunning, the city is so pedestrian friendly and walkable, and the food is amazing. But, I just didn't want to drive 4 hours each way, by myself.  I don't mind being in the car for long distances, or driving, but it is so nice to have someone in the car with me.  It's a shame Colin couldn't join me on my trip because of a work training he was expected to attend.

As expected, the only negative part of my trip was the drive.  On the way to Asheville, I managed to get caught in a few torrential rain storms.  It made the 4 hour drive closer to 4.5 hours.  And on the way back I had to drive 4 hours in the evening after conducting a training all day.  It made for a very long day.

But I cannot complain about my visit to Asheville, it was a wonderful experience. I seemed to immediately be at peace moments after checking into my hotel.  I had never stayed at Hotel Indigo before, but I was extremely impressed that a hotel that nice would allow dogs and take the state rate.  If Colin didn't have to attend training, I definitely would have brought him and Darwin with me! Asheville is also a dog-friendly city.

This was the first view of my room - I love the privacy screen.

I really appreciated the coffee/tea area at the entrance.

The decor was so modern and tranquil.

The entire hotel was clean and comfortable, with modern decor and tasteful artwork.  One of my favorite aspects of the room was the wood floors. It just feels so much more comfortable than carpet!

I also can't talk about Asheville without mentioning the amazing food.  Since I've been there several times, and I've eaten at some of the more popular eateries like Early Girl Eatery and Tupelo Honey, I wanted to try something different.  I trusted the advice of some coworkers and ate at Modesto Wood Fire Kitchen the first night and The Black Bird restaurant on the second night.  The owner of Modesto also owns a restaurant next door called Chorizo, which serves more Latin American inspired fare. Since I was in the mood for Italian, I opted Modesto and ordered the prosciutto, fig pizza.  It was delicious and so filling!

Indulging in the prosciutto, fig pizza at Modesto

On the second night in Asheville, I went for a 4.5 mile run with my colleague from the area.  Rebecca is such a sweet person, and was a joy to teach with all day. She loves to run, and took me through the lovely areas of Historic Montford, UNC-Asheville, Jackson Park, and Five Points.  It was certainly a challenge for me with the steep hills and us talking during the run!  But it was a beautiful evening with clear skies and temperatures in the mid-70s.  

After working up my appetite, I made my way through downtown to The Black Bird. I immediately loved the large open windows and modern look to the restaurant.  I didn't know how big the portions were, so I opted for a bowl of tomato soup and the soft shell crab appetizer.  I'm glad I didn't order an entree because the appetizer was huge! In retrospect, I should have only ordered the appetizer. While the soup was tasty, it paled in comparison to the crab with tomatoes and croutons, and I ended up feeling too full at the end of the meal.  To say the soft shell crab appetizer was delicious is an understatement.  The sauce and the saltiness were perfectly combined and I savored every bite of the dish.

My tomato soup, bread and butter

The soft-shell crab appetizer

Walking back to the hotel from the restaurant, I stopped in the French Broad Chocolate and considered ordering dessert before I realized I was too full.  I also considered taking something back to the room for the next day, but didn't see anything that really appealed to me.

Throughout the two days I was in Asheville, I felt at peace with the world.  I know part of it had to do with being in the mountains, but I also think it had to do with my colleague and our teaching experience.  It is such a joy to share with people the skills to manage their health.  The training we conducted taught community leaders how to teach this type of program to their community.  And my colleague is so compassionate and an experienced leader, which made the training flow so smoothly.

I'm glad I was able to go and experience the beauty and tranquility of the mountains and the experience.  It certainly more than negates the long, tedious drive each way.

What do you love about Asheville?

A Very Busy Monday Traveling from Ohio to Pittsburgh to Charlotte

On our way back to the Pittsburgh airport from Ohio, we had time for one more restaurant. Instead of grabbing something in the suburbs, we made a quick trip to the Strip District of the city to pick up some lunch to go from the Caribbean/S. American inspired restaurant Kaya.  We ate some of our lunch/dinner in the car and some at the airport. As a result, we didn't realize we missed the box of toppings for our burger until we had already eaten it!! Oops!

Very tasty black bean dip and tortilla chips

An almost completely eaten burger.

We found the egg that belonged on the burger, just missed the lettuce, tomato, and pickles.

I forgot to take a picture of the fish tacos because I was distracted by trying to keep it all from falling apart. I thought they were really good, but Colin thought they had a strange taste to them.  He really enjoyed the burger and the black bean dip. I thought it was all delicious!

After a jam-packed 3 day trip, I had to get back on the road after our flight from Pittsburgh. So my Monday consisted of a 2 hour drive from Ohio to Pittsburgh, an hour flight to Raleigh, about an hour at home to unpack one bag and re-pack another bag, and then a 3-hour drive from Raleigh to Charlotte for a 2-day training! As you can imagine, it was an exhausting day. But, I was glad to see our friends in Pittsburgh and Ohio and meet their families!

Thankfully, the training in Charlotte was enjoyable and I met people from all over the country.  We ate a delicious dinner at the farm-to-fork restaurant Harvest Moon Grille. There were about 8-9 of us at dinner and most ordered something different off their always changing menu. I really enjoyed my pasta with vegetables and prosciutto. But the highlight of the dinner was the cheese platter with whey crackers and local red pepper jelly. The local cheeses, a brie and cheddar from Chapel Hill Creamery, and a blue cheese from a farm in western NC were AMAZING! Coupled with the red pepper jelly and the crackers, the combination was divine. Several of us at the table enjoyed it so much, and when we asked for a little more red pepper jelly to finish off the cheese, the wonderful server was so kind to have the kitchen add more cheese to our platter as well.  Overall, it was a very enjoyable dining experience which I highly recommend to anyone in Charlotte.  I didn't want to pull out the camera and take pictures, so you will have to imagine the beautiful display in addition to the delicious food.

The second day of training (Wednesday) ended a little early, providing me with some time to visit with my college roommate and friend, Michaela.  Her youngest child, 6-month-old Noelle was born around Thanksgiving and I had yet to meet her.  She was so precious, happy, and calm, even after getting her vaccinations at the doctor!  We all enjoyed a tortellini dinner, filled with story-telling and smiles. My favorite part was when we all got to share what we were thankful for.  I will always be grateful for my friendship with Michaela and the ability to visit with her and her family fairly often.

I was also thankful when I arrived back home Wednesday evening, after 5 days away.  I spent the next 3 days enjoying a somewhat normal routine before getting back on the road again!  More on that trip another day. Stay tuned!

What are your favorite restaurants in Pittsburgh and/or Charlotte, NC?

The Beginning of Many June Travels Starts With Pittsburgh!

I didn't purposely plan to travel so much this month, but fun opportunities were planned for the month that I couldn't resist.  And, a few last-minute trips were added to the mix - apparently I am in high demand! :)

On the agenda this month are 3 leisure trips and 2 work trips. The leisure trips include Pittsburgh, Rhode Island, and the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  Work trips include Charlotte and Asheville. Of the 30 days in June, I will be out of town 14 of those days!!

The first trip started on the 1st of June, with a quick (50 minute) flight from Raleigh to Pittsburgh. Colin had a work conference in the days leading up to the weekend, so I decided to meet up with him at the end of his conference.  One of my very good friends moved from Raleigh to State College, PA to pursue a PhD at Penn State last year, so tops on my agenda was some quality girl time.  We had so much to talk about since she is getting married this fall.  And, the first thing she did when I walked out of the airport into her embrace was to ask me to be her bridesmaid! I'm super excited since I've never been one before!!

We spent the early afternoon in Mt. Washington, catching up on school, work, and life before meeting up with her fiance's family. His family always gets together the same weekend in June so the guys can go to Canada on a fishing trip while the girls all hang out in Pittsburgh.

After enjoying a veggie wrap at The Grandview Saloon, my girlfriend and I went to walk around downtown a bit before heading to her future in-laws apartment.  I wish I took pictures of their place because it was gorgeous.  The apartment has very high ceilings, huge windows, and a very open feel.  It was nice to hang out, rest a bit, and get to know the family.

Though we were still full from lunch, we decided to go out to a local, sustainable restaurant for dinner once Colin got out of the conference.  We decided on the restaurant Habitat, located in the Fairmont Hotel. The elegant restaurant made me feel a little under-dressed in my jeans, but no one seemed to mind.

My salmon with brussels sprouts 

Colin's burger got cut off in the picture

I brought my really nice camera, but left the SD card in the laptop back in North Carolina. Instead of buying a new SD card, I just decided to take pictures with my phone all weekend.

Saturday night Colin and I stayed in a brand new Hyatt Hotel in the South side section of Pittsburgh. The entire area where the hotel was located looked brand new, not just the hotel.  We checked in pretty late Saturday night and left around 11am the next day, so we didn't get to enjoy some of the best features - like the full kitchen in each room, grills out on the deck, and cushioned seating and a fire pit on the deck!  I did manage to get a run in along the Monongahela River Sunday morning when Colin attended his last conference session.

Full kitchen in our hotel room

Nice, clean, IKEA decor throughout

Beautiful location with a greenway along the river - perfect for a 5k run!

On Sunday, we decided to take a trip to the outskirts of Cleveland (aka Amish Country) to visit with Colin's law school friend and his family.  They live just under 2 hours from Pittsburgh, so it was an easy journey.  I didn't do a good job taking pictures at all!  We were too busy enjoying catching up with our friends and running around with their 3 year old and 15-month-old to stop and take pictures.

I did manage to get this pictures of the Amish kids riding their horse 

and buggy to their "hang out area" while we were waiting for our friends.

As we were told, the kids have a few years they are allowed to "rebel" and not follow any rules before they "settle down and join the church."  It was interesting to see the horses racing down the street and many had their music blaring!

It was also my second experience riding in the "trunk" of a station wagon. I lost my bearings because I couldn't even remember the name of the delicious and beautiful restaurant where we had dinner Sunday night!  I ended up looking at our credit card bill to find out that it was called the Welshfield Inn.  They had a steak special with horseradish sauce that gave the entree some bite!  Overall we had a very pleasant dining experience on the back patio thanks to two well-behaved kids, enjoyable conversation, delicious food, and a beautiful day. Coupled with the amazing hospitality we received from our friends, we had a delightful visit.

Stay tuned for details about our last day in Ohio/Pittsburgh and my trip to Charlotte - yes they were back-to-back.  And, I'm traveling now (again for work), but I will try to keep the blog updated!  Thanks for your patience.

Have you ever ridden in the very back part of a station wagon before?

The first time I did was when a large group of us when to a ski cabin for a weekend in college. This time it's because there were too many car seats in the back seat!