Girls Weekend in Hilton Head Part One

I arrived in Hilton Head around 12:30pm on Saturday, ready to for lunch!  The weather was gorgeous and my mom thought we should go somewhere we could sit outside and bring Clyde.  Even though we've been there before many times, The Boathouse is a great choice for outdoor seating right on the water and delicious food, so we opted to go there.  There was a bit of a wait since everyone on the island seemed to have the same idea as us.  We goofed around on the nearby dock.

How cute is she?

View from the dock....

By the time we got seated and got our lunch it was about 2pm, and I have to admit, I was a tad too famished to remember that I should take a picture of our meal.  My mom and I split a Thai shrimp salad and a cheddar burger with sweet potato fries.  I have been DYING for a good burger for like 2 weeks now, and it was heavenly. 

After lunch we headed to the beach and took an hour long work.  It was seriously the perfect day: warm, clear, and sunny.  Again, I'm a slacker and left the camera in the car, but if you want to see Hilton Head beach scenery, check out these posts.

I had told my mom that she should plan some things to do that my Dad isn't into since he's away.  She is an adventurous eater, while my dad is not and loves a certain tapas place on the island that my Dad doesn't really like (because the food is a tad adventurous for him), so we opted to head there for dinner. 

We went to Wise Guys.

We decided on some wine flights to start with.  I got the Pinot Noir wine flight and Mom had the "Interesting Reds" flight.  We kind of split them both so we could each try all six wines.  The came out on these awesome wine glass "trees".

The stand-outs were a Row Eleven Pinot Noir and a Super Tuscan.  Mmm.

We got an unpictured salad with tons of gorganzola and the split two "small plates".  We chose the filet mignon stuffed mushrooms and the shrimp and lobster risotto.

(Sorry, the lighting was horrible!)

Everything was great :)  The filet stuffed mushrooms were kind of our second choice, and they were actually awesome.  That's happened to me a lot lately- the food I choose on a whim as an after-thought ends of being my favorite!

Back at the house later we broke into the cupcakes I brought from Cupcrazed.  We split the oreo cheesecake and the strawberry shortcake cupcakes.

Excellent girls weekend :)  Stay tuned for a recap of our trip to Savannah!

Foiled Plans

It's the WEEKEND!  Are you as happy about that as I am?? 

I went to OM for a power yoga class Thursday night, and even did a hand stand (sort of), when my teacher made me at the encouragement of my teacher.  I do not have much upper body strength and I think it's something I'll really have to work on if I ever want to feel comfortable attempting hand stands.  I don't know how you guys feel about it, but for me upper body work-outs have always felt like a lot of work for not much "result".  My case and point is that in high school I took weight training for an entire term (season), and by the end I could kind of do ONE pull-up.  I also don't feel like I ever get those really defined "Michelle Obama" arms or anything, so it's not like I even have visual results.  It's not to say I don't think upper body weight training is important, because I know that it is.  I just think for me, I have to put in A LOT of work and don't see a huge result.  On the other hand, when I'm running a lot, I feel so accomplished seeing the miles tick by and I can see definition in my legs.  It's just more rewarding for me in that way.

Anyway, I plotted out my weekend and here was the plan.  Greg was supposed to come home again last night, just for one night.  So far the company is giving him a random day or two off here and there because he kind of doesn't have a set schedule until next month.  With the random days off, all he can do is try to come home at the last minute, which is proving to be a challenge.  I'm hoping things get easier next month since he's got a set schedule then, but we were looking at it last night and I think it's going to be challenging as well...  blah.  Welcome to the world of a commuting pilot household.  Sometime I'll go into why we choose not to live where Greg's based, but that's another post for another time.

My plan was to stay home Friday night, hang out with Greg, and then leave for Hilton Head today to spend a girls weekend with my mom.  My dad is up in New England visiting my grandfather, so I figured I'd keep my mom company and take the opportunity to do some girly things we can't do when the guys are around.  About mid-morning yesterday, Greg finished his trip and checked the flights to come home.  No go.  They all looked terrible, and he decided he shouldn't risk not being able to get back since he has a flight scheduled Sunday.  :(

I almost went to Hilton Head last night instead of waiting til this morning, but then I talked to my mom and we both decided I'd just stick with the plan and come today.  I hadn't packed yet anyway, and I actually got a lot done last night. 

I ran some errands...

Buying cupcakes is an errand, right?

I ran four awesome miles in the gorgeous mid- 70 degree temperatures!

Plus, walked a mile with Clyde while I cooled down.

Then I made stir-fry for dinner with:

red pepper

onion

kale

peanuts

carrots

soy sauce

ginger

Seeds of Change Quinoa/brown rice

Yum :)

Ok, I'm off to pack and head to paradise for the weekend :)

Sushi Coma

Last night I took my friend Michelle (my marathon buddy) to Cowfish so she could experience it for the first time.  It was also to celebrate her birthday and so I could use a Living Social deal I had purchased.  I was almost to the restaurant when Michelle called me and said that she had gotten there and found out that the wait for a table was an hour and a half!  Yikes!  She put her name in anyway and left her phone number so they could call us when a table was ready if we decided to go.  We debated waiting or not and started driving around while brainstorming a back-up plan.  About ten minutes later, as we were pulling into a nearby parking garage to seek other options, Cowfish called and said they had a table for us!  We quickly high-tailed back over and were promptly sat.  Phew!

Michelle was overwhelmed at the menu, just as I was the first time I went.  We decided to start with the ever popular and always delicious Crab Rangoon Dip.  It's soooooo rich and velvety :)

I was feeling a little frisky and decided on a martini to drink.  

I went with the Parmatini: Pomegranate liqueur, vodka, cranberry, with a splash of sour.  

It was perfect, not too sweet and a little bit tart.

For dinner we chose two specialty sushi rolls.  

We got the Crabcake Roll:  Salmon, cucumber and avocado, topped with lump crabcake mix and baked, with cream sauce.

And the Miss Moffitt's Roll: 

Spicy tuna, scallions and crispy tempura flakes rolled inside, topped with thin slices of fresh avocado, then drizzled with sweet eel sauce.

I have to say, I had been eying the crabcake roll when I saw it on the menu, and the Miss Moffitt's was kind of a last minute decision.  Both were awesome, but the Miss Moffitt's was the perfect combination of flavors and textures for me.  The crunchy flakes mixed with the mushy tuna and the creamy avocado and even the eel sauce (I don't even like eel!) just take this roll over the top.  Now I want another one...

Michelle was impressed with Cowfish, and so was I (again)!  There is so much to try on the menu, you could eat there every night and not get bored.  I swear next time I go, I'm going to try a burger!  The sushi just pulls me in every time!

I was in a sushi coma by the end of dinner, but a few hours later I decided I had room for chocolate and broke into my Girl Scout cookie stash.  I had two Thin Mints. 

I bought three boxes of Girl Scout cookies from a co-worker who's daughter was selling them: two boxes of Samoas and one box of Thin Mints.  Samoas are so unique, I just have to get them every time and I have to get two boxes, because Greg will eat one by himself in like a day and leave me with none!  The Thin Mints were kind of an impulse buy.  I basically think that the Keebler Grasshopper cookies taste almost the same, so they're not as special as Samoas, but they're still yummy and since I never buy Grasshoppers either, I figured I might as well get some.  Did you buy Girl Scout cookies this year?  What kind are your favorite?

Awesomely Bad Love Songs

Hey everyone!  I hope you all had a great Valentine's Day.  Mine was spent with my pup Clyde, since the hubby is still away.  I definitely thought of Greg while eating a yummy cupcake though, and he's coming home tonight!  Yay!

Last night I went for a 3.62 mile run.  I had to take advantage of the beautiful day outside.  My temp gauge read 70 degrees on my commute home!  The run went okay, but was a little tough, because I hadn't done a run in over a week.  I've kind of fallen off the running band wagon as of late, in favor of walks and yoga.  But last night I had some steam to blow off and knew I needed something more high impact.  Running did the trick!

Back at home I assembled this super quick and delicious Mediterranean-style wrap.  I grilled up some strips of eggplant, red pepper, and some onion, and threw it in a Flat-out wrap with some spinach and goat cheese, with a side of cottage cheese.  Yum :)

I watched "The Kids Are All Right", which is kind of a weird, but interesting movie about lesbians with two kids who find their biological father (sperm donor), and chaos ensues. 

It's been up for some awards, and I've been wanting to at least watch some of the movies that are, even though I've failed miserably at seeing most of the nominated films this year.   Have you guys seen any??

So this is belated, since technically Valentine's Day was yesterday, but I thought I'd compile a little list of some of the "love songs" (I say this loosely as some of them are not necessarily love songs) that have been part of my life in honor of the lovey holiday.  Your welcome. 

• My Love- Lionel Richie  The man can do no wrong.  Love me some Lionel, even as a kid.
• Through The Years- Kenny Rogers  I think of this as my parents' song.  :)  My dad would play this really loudly on weekend mornings all the time when I was growing up.  Actually, he still does this sometimes when I'm at their house for visits!
• Right Here Waiting- Richard Marx   Probably one of the first songs I associated with a crush.  This might be  the stalker national anthem.  I cringe at the teen angst I felt...
• If You Needed Somebody- Bad Company  Holy junior high crush batman!  
• I Wanna Sex You Up- Color Me Badd  True story- my best friend saw them in concert and wore an "I wanna sex you up" T-shirt to school in 7th grade.  The principle made her turn it inside out.  Awesome.
• I'll Make Love To You- Boys II Men  I loved all things Boys II Men in high school.  How inappropriate is it for a 15 year old to love this song though??
• Every Rose Has It's Thorn- Poison  It's just a hair band classic ballad.  I still like it.
• Can't Fight This Feeling- Reo Speedwagon  In what will forever go down is one of the most embarrassing things I ever did, I wrote a love letter to this guy I had a crush on and included "I can't fight this feeling anymore" in the note.  Ugh!  I can't listen to this song without thinking about that and wanting to slap myself.  PS- the letter did not work, I was rejected, and felt like the biggest dork ever.
• What Might Have Been- Little Texas  What might have been?  We'll never know.  First boyfriend/breakup.
• The Power of Two- Indigo Girls  Reminds me of the summer I was 17 and the guy from New Zealand I was dating.
• Jump- Van Halen  Yes, I know it's not a love song for most people.  I'm not going to explain this one, but it's forever associated with a certain boy.
• Before You Walk Out of My Life- Monica  Pretty much feeling the loss of my first love, all summer long.
• Let Me Let Go- Faith Hill  I actually still love this song.  It does remind me of a guy I dated though and how I felt more for him than he did for me.  That's always fun, right?
• Romeo And Juliet- Dire Straits  This time the guy liked me more than I liked him.  He told me this song reminded him of me.  The timing was always wrong, but so was the guy.
• Why We Said Goodbye- Tim McGraw  Same guy as the Faith Hill song.  I was in a country music phase at this point.
• On Your Side- Pete Yorn  This is still probably my favorite song of all time.  SO GOOD!  Learning about Pete Yorn from the guy I was dating at the time was really all I got out of that relationship.  Thanks man!
• Waiting In Vain- Annie Lennox  This is Bob Marley song that Annie Lennox redid.  It's on the Serendipity Sountrack and I listened to it a lot in the fall of 2001.  Good stuff.
• I Don't Know How I Got By- Edwin McCain  This one is from the movie, The Family Man (Nicholas Cage), and it's the first movie Greg and I ever watched together, so I think of him when I listen to it.
• Push- Sarah McLachlan  Mine and Greg's first dance song at our wedding.  Describes accurately how he puts up with me and my crap.

And there you have it.  What are some loves songs that impacted you and the reasons why?

No Golden Corral

I met some friends for brunch this morning at Bistro La Bon.  It's located in the Plaza Midwood neighborhood in an unassuming strip mall, oddly placed next to a Family Dollar store. 

Inside, it's beautifully done though and you would not know you were in a somewhat sketchy strip mall.

Hello Katie and Stew!

The restaurant has a buffet style brunch with many delicious options. 

As my friend Josie put it, it's no Golden Corral!

Here was my plate.  Well, round one anyway.

I had ham and orzo salad, sweet potato hash, roasted veggies, mozzarella wrapped around pesto, scalloped potatoes, fruit, and a cranberry orange scone.

The restaurant also brought scrambled eggs, bacon, french toast, and chocolate waffles to the table, all of which I sampled.  Everything was SOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!

I also had this awsome coconut macaroon...

Some of the gang, including Kelly!

I loved that they called the meal, "Adult Smorgasbord"  LOL!

I would say Bistro La Bon's brunch has to rank among the top breakfast/brunches in all of Charlotte.  I was totally impressed and will be back!

I headed out to enjoy the glorious day.

I took a long walk with Clyde.  We actually did this yesterday too because it's been GORGEOUS weather here all weekend- low 60's and sunny :)

We got back and Greg called.  He asked if I'd gotten a package on the front porch, but I said no, there was nothing there!  He got all frustrated and said, "What???  They said they delivered it!?"  I checked again, and then noticed a box on one of our rocking chairs.

Does my husband know me or what??

CUPCAKES!!

Oh yes!

I had a couple bites of the coconut one before heading off to yoga.

I had a Mexican inspired dinner.  Yellow rice with sauteed onion, mushrooms, pepper, tomatoes and black beans with chili, cumin, and cilantro.

Topped with plain yogurt and shredded cheddar.  Mmmmmm :)

I just polished off the rest of my coconut cupcake, and I'm ready to relax and enjoy what is left of this day.  The weekend has gone by too quickly once again. 

How was your weekend?

Cooking and Eating at Upstream

Thank you guys for all the concern about my neck.  I'm happy to report that it feels pretty much normal again.  Thank god, because that was a miserable couple of days! 

As you can probably tell, the neck issues threw me off my game this week.  There wasn't much note worthy stuff to report unless you guys want to see pictures of the cereal that I ate for dinner and self portraits of me lying on the couch with my neck propped up under pillows, which was basically what I did while in neck agony.  Yeah....

Anyway, I was absolutely psyched to get out of the house this morning and do something fun.  I had an invite to go with some girls to Upstream in South Park for a cooking class!  I joined Cindi, Jen, Ashley, and Sabrina to experience a Valentine's Day themed four course meal. 

Jen and I were armed and ready with our cameras...

We were given a menu complete with recipes and instructions for all the courses they taught.

First up was the Chilled Lobster Crudo.

Our chef had us laughing as he explained picking out and taking home a lobster and the subsequent preparations involved.

The class wasn't hands on.  We just watched and listened and then were fed a plate of each course.

We all loved the vanilla and lemon vinaigrette on the salad, and the lobster was buttery and delicious.  I also really loved hearts of palm, and want to go buy some and throw it in more salads at home.  The black stuff is caviar, if you are wondering, which tasted salty.

There was also a wine pairing, and the first was Cusamano Insolia (white).

It was kind of dry, but light.  I really liked it.

Next up was the course I was most afraid of, the Pickled Blue Point Oysters.  I'm not a big clam/mussel/oyster person, but I decided to just go for it. 

It was actually really delicious and I didn't mind the oysters when blended with the other flavors.  I loved the golden beets too, wow!

Our second wine was a Chateau Haut-La-Pereyre Blanc (unpictured).  It was kind of like a Reisling in my opinion.  A little fruitier than the first selection.

Our third course was Togarashi Seared Ahi Tuna with cabbage and sweet potato puree.

Loved it all.  The sweet potato was incredible.  How could it not be with all the butter and cream it was drowning in!  The tuna and cabbage were kind of spicy, but delish.  The tuna was seared perfectly. 

With that course we had a Antugnac Pinot Noir.

Then it was time for dessert....drumroll...... Chocolate Almond Tort!

I really wanted to lick the plate...

We had a Annalisa Moscato with it, which resembled champange only I think I liked it better!

At the end they did a drawing and I won this bottle of wine!  Score!

I loved the class and would happily do this again! 

The Harpers Group offers classes at Upstream, Zink, and Mimosa Grill.