How To Spend A Lovely Day In Hilton Head.

Sunday we had the whoooooooooooooooole day in Hilton Head to do whatever we wanted.  I love that!  We all had breakfast on the patio at my parent's new teak table.

Greg was sorry he missed this...

His favorite- crossaints with Nutella and a shush of powdered sugar.

Plus a side of fruit salad.

Okay, Greg might not have liked this as much, since he doesn't like melon.  Weird, I know.

A little view of the backyard.  My mom has a green thumb, a talent I didn't inherit.

After a lovely breakfast on the patio, my dad and brother headed to golf course and the girls (plus Clyde) headed to the beach for a walk.

Walks on the beach just never get old.

Clyde is starting to enjoy the beach as well.

There were lots of jelly fish washed up on the beach that I had to steer Clyde away from.

We spent about an hour and a half walking on the beach before heading in.

We met the guys back at the house for lunch, consisting of Boar's Head turkey sandwiches (lettuce, tomato, avocado, and mustard on rye), ruffled potato chips, a pickle.

Post lunch, my mom and I did a little damage at the outlets.  My mom had told me a couple weeks ago that for my birthday she wanted to take me shopping.  Um, twist my arm...  I hit up my favorites: Banana Republic and Ann Taylor Loft.

The loot:

Two tops.

Two dresses.

A fun floral purse, a drapy black cardigan, and two pairs of shorts (one unpictured).

Pretty successful trip!

Next up, dinner with the fam.  A joint effort :)

Surprise Times 2 and Wine Times 4

When I was little I couldn't really keep a secret that well.  It's well known in my family that if I got someone a present for Christmas and got excited about it, I would probably tell them what I got them before Christmas and blow the surprise.  After 30+ years of having this reputation, I'd like to think I've redeemed myself by helping to pull off one of the best surprises in my family ever- my mom's 60th birthday party!

There were actually two parts to the surprise.  The first was that my brother and his wife flew down for the occasion, something my mom was completely unaware of.  A few weeks ago I told her I would come down to Hilton Head to spend her birthday with her, but she had no idea my brother had booked plane tickets and would be coming as well.  Mark and Ashley flew into Charlotte Friday night and Saturday morning we all packed up my car and headed to Hilton Head.  When I got to my parents house, my mom was actually on the phone with my aunt, so I had them wait outside for a few minutes, and then finally when she was off the phone, I went out to the car to "get my stuff" and had them follow me in.

The look on her face was PRICELESS :)  So fun!

It was about noon by the time we got there so we regrouped then took my mom out to lunch at Bistro 17.

The restaurant is located in Shelter Cove, which is kind of a boat harbor with little shops and restaurants.

Bistro 17 has outdoor seating, so we dined al fresco.  It was lovely!

My brother and I with the birthday girl!

Ashley and Dad.

Yes, as you might have guessed, Greg was flying and missed the fun :(  I believe he was in LA on Saturday.  It's the life of a pilot's wife...

I ordered a bistro salad topped with a crab cake for lunch.  Yum!

After lunch we headed back to my parent's house and then changed into bathing suits and went to the pool for a float.  Temps were around 90 degrees, and the water felt great!

My dad and I were kind of watching the clock, and were careful to make sure we got everyone out of the pool with plenty of time to go back to the house and get ready for my mom's surprise party.

At one point, my mom asked what we were doing for dinner, and I told her my brother had been looking online at new places to try (which sounds like something he would do), and found a new wine bar that looked like it would be fun to check out.  She agreed that would be fun, and our plan was on track.  We even convinced her it would be fun to dress up when Ashley and I told her we were wearing dresses.

*insert evil laugh...muahahahahaha*

We arrived at Wine Times 4 right on schedule, at about 6:15pm (everyone else got there around 6pm).  We headed in and were greeted with about 25 of my mom's friends yelling Happy Birthday and surprise!

Second surprise of the day accomplished! 

I had helped plan the party along with my mom's friend Lois over the course of the last few weeks.

She was blown away :)  I loved it!

Mom and my brother.

Wine Time 4 is a unique wine bar.  When you get there, they give you a card that you insert into slot above bottles of wine hooked to a machine.  You choose which wine you want to try and can choose one, two, or three pours in your glass, then the price/amount is recorded to your card.  At the end you turn in your card and you pay the amount you have racked up based on which wines and how much you had. 

It's cool because it enables you to try many different kinds of wine. 

Along with the wine, we ordered a plethora of appetizers.

Party time!

We drank and mingled, and then it was time for cake!  We got my mom a chocolate, almond, raspberry cake from Signe's Bakery, just like my wedding cake.  My mom and I constantly rave about how good it is, so I knew she would love it.

SO DELICIOUS :)  We actually had a ton leftover so I got to take some back to Charlotte with me.  Yum!

Then my mom opened presents!

My mom is not really a dog person, but kind of loves Clyde, which a lot of people know, as evidence by this doxie purse gift!

I got my mom an engraved bracelet with her initials on it.

It was so much fun!  We don't really do surprise parties much in my family, so I think that made it extra fun and special.  I'm so happy we were all able to come together to celebrate her birthday and keep the surprise from her!



I Chowed Down Uptown At The Food Truck Rally

Sorry I've been MIA!  I am currently in Hilton Head for the weekend, because we had a surprise birthday party for my mom, which involved a surprise visit from my brother and sister-in-law, about 30 people at a wine bar, and CAKE :)  More on that later! 

Thursday night I met Diana and Kelly at the first Chow Down Uptown, a food truck rally held on 7th street in a parking lot. 

I'd heard via Twitter this was happening and that a bunch of other Charlotte bloggie friends would be there.  Fun!

Kelly had the right idea and bee-lined for the cupcakes at The Southern Cake Queen truck right off the bat.

Kel got a chocolate cupcake that looked delicious.  Diana and I had planned to come back to the cupcake truck after checking out the other food options for dinner.  This ended up being a big mistake because we later came back to find them sold out of cupcakes :(  FAIL!

Oh well, we first headed to The Roaming Fork truck, and decided to split an order of fish tacos.

It was a really wise decision to head to The Roaming Fork first, because later the line to get food at this truck was insane!  Our fish tacos were cooked to order, and were flavorful and spicy.

After devouring my taco and mingling with other food truck foodies and bloggers in attendance ( Hi Julie and Tanya!), we headed to The Harvest Moon truck.

Diana and I chose the quinoa cake, again splitting it. 

 It was great to have a buddy to split things with!

Quinoa, sweet potato, and onion topped with asparagus puree and yogurt sauce.

Really unique.  Kind of sweet tasting and mild.  I'd like to try making a version of this at home.

We also shared a local brewed root beer that was tasty and refreshing in the heat.

At this point we were going to get a cupcake, but when we found out that was not an option, we ended up heading back to The Roaming Fork truck for something we were hearing about from many other rally attendees: the fried deviled eggs.  Now, I am not a huge deviled egg person, but I'm glad I went outside of my comfort zone and decided to try these.

They were like dollops of egg salad, breaded, and fried and the definitely lived up to the hype they were getting.

I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised at the quality and yumminess of the food options at this event.  I don't think of gourmet, local, awesome food when I think of a food truck, but the stuff I ate at the rally was awesome! 

Lessons learned? 

1.  Food truck food can be healthy and delicious.

2.  Do not wear your 2-3 inch heels right from work.  I WILL bring flip flops next time!

3.  Going with a buddy and sharing things works out great!

4.  If there's something you are dying to try, DO NOT wait!  Get it ASAP or it might be sold out later!

5.  Be adventurous and try something you haven't had before.

Apparently they are planning on making this event a regular thing!  Guess I need to go back for a cupcake!