first weekend in florida

This collage could not be more descriptive of our return to Florida!  We had a wonderful first weekend here complete with temperatures close to 100 (my car was in the sun when she hit 113), palm trees, and afternoon storms.  As crazy as it sounds, there is something so comforting to me to know that everyday at 4:00pm, a storm will roll through to cool things off...

While I wish I could say we did something over the top and crazy on our first weekend back, most of my weekend was spent staring at my computer screen.  I start my bar review class this week, so I had some pre-work to catch up on that took most of my weekend.  I did have a beautiful view of the river and loved seeing so many boaters whiz by enjoying the gorgeous weather.

my current desk set up...moving to a larger desk tomorrow!

For study breaks, we snuck in some visits with family and friends.  We are still adjusting to the fact that we are in Florida for good now and that we don't have to squeeze everyone into a few days or weeks.  We have lots more friends to catch up with, and we need to schedule some extra time with my family, but all in all, we have loved getting time with our Florida people.

quick visit to our new house for some measurements and planning with rebecca, mom, and josh

dinner with claire and ed at basil thai...and an amazing mango sticky rice dessert

family dinner with nieces k and b

Though I don't have a picture, we got to have dinner with Russell and Simmons earlier this week and Simmons introduced me to a fantastic wine.  This was the perfect red for summer- light and delicious and available at Total Wine!

cloud break

Hope you all had a great weekend!  Trying to get back into my routine of blogging now that we are in Florida but with bar classes and another move into our house on the horizon things might get a little crazy again.  Thanks for bearing with me!

xo,

life via iphone

Good Morning!  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  Ours was spent in the midst of boxes, bubble wrap, and packing tape, but we are making great strides in packing up.  The most surprising thing has been the amount of STUFF we have.  We have a little house and I am pretty vigilant about purging often, but the number of boxes just keeps growing.

All that to say, I don't have too many fun weekend adventures to share, but I have taken a few iphone pictures over the past few days that capture some of the highlights of the past week.  So, without further ado, here's a quick recap through the lens of my iphone...

dress up with our sweet nephew jake....future JD?

paint your pet/house night for jake's birthday

turned in my LAST paper EVER...officially done with law school!

a little graduation photo shoot with lauren's new puppy,  raleigh

packing peanuts and boxes

making progress

brixx pizza and wine...sunday night tradition coming to an end, but a great moving meal

xo,

weekend scenes

After my post last Friday about using the weekend to knock some things off the "to do" list, I am thrilled to report that I made a dent!  Worked on my bar application, almost finished my financial management project...check and check.

The best part of the weekend was that I had time to ENJOY it.  It was one of those weekends where you just take a deep exhale because you are staying home for the first time in a while.  It was one that I hope will recharge me for this week.  

Here are a few of the highlights:

Had to leave the house for a few hours for our buyer to come through with a contractor.  Perfect excuse to try out the new bakery in town...Rise.  It was delicious and as you can see, we had a tough time making a decision.  Since I am trying to "limit my sugar intake" (something I do such a great job of as you can tell), we literally tried a bite or two of each and then called it a day.  Worth the sugar rush for sure...but I still couldn't tell you which was my favorite!

chocolate pudding with toffee :: pineapple with basil cream and pistachios ::  apple turnover :: chocolate coffee cake

After we hit the bakery, we still had some time to kill so I ran into Target.  All I can say is run don't walk to your nearest store- they have these shirts in lots of colors- can we say splendid knockoff?  I got the yellow, but I am thinking I will go back for more- you know me and buying things I love in a variety of colors!

don't mind the look of intense concentration...still trying to master the art of photographing myself in a mirror!

Saturday night we headed to Raleigh for dinner with our newlywed friends Orla and Dara.  They just moved into an adorable house near downtown and we loved getting to see a little bit of their new life.  We had a delicious dinner and got caught up... AND we even found a new crowd-pleasing white wine- definitely worth a try.

orla and annie

kim crawford :: sauvignon blanc

Sunday after church it was cold and raining and Josh and I decided to treat ourselves to brunch.  We finally got to try the french restaurant we tried to go to a few weekends ago and it was excellent.  Sunday brunch is definitely the way to go- sweet and savory options, good coffee, and fresh french bread means you can't go wrong.

crepe breton with egg and goat cheese

All in all it was a great weekend.  My Barbri books did come in the mail and as I mentioned in an instagram post...no filter in the world can make these look better.  To temper my dismay at how high the books stack, I grabbed these chocolate bars at Fresh Market.  Chocolate makes everything better and these just might be some of the best I have had in a long time- snag some next time you are in the mood for a treat (and then email me to ask how my cutting back on sugar is going!)

no caption can make this look better either...

yum

How was your weekend?  Did you do anything to help you recharge for the week?

xo,

last spring break

Good Morning.  Last weekend was a big one...my last spring break as a student...ever.  I think it's finally safe to say I will be done with my schooling when I graduate in May, so this really was my last random break for the time being.

image

While I can't say I spent my break living it up on a beach somewhere, I had the most wonderful week and I am so thankful for the time I got with dear friends.

As a quick recap of the last week:

• Put our house in North Carolina on the market...went under contract the first Saturday of break
• Spent time in Florida with friends and family
• Spent lots of time in Florida house hunting
• Spent time in the mountains with law school friends

outdoor fire / mountain sunset

The last part of break was a great time to hang out with the law school friends we have made over the past three years.  While all of us will be in different states after we graduate, I am confident that we will remain close friends.  (The bonds formed during weeks of an 8:30am class and the stress of exams are quite enduring.)  

As a quick recap of our weekend celebration:

swiss mustard batons / saturday night dinner / beef tenderloin / tuscan chickpeas and grilled bread

We ATE, ATE, and then ATE some more.  As a result, salads and veggies are going to become VERY prevalent in our household over the next few weeks.  Check back for recipes soon.

wine tasting / whiskey tasting / a new find

Josh organized a blind wine tasting on Saturday night.  Each couple brought a bottle and we blindly tasted and ranked each.  While it was a close race, a malbec won the day.  The boys (and a few girls) were also so excited to do an "irish whiskey tasting" at the Old Edwards Inn in Highlands.  I'm still not sure how we talked the hotel into opening the tasting to us non-hotel guests, but we were thankful and the boys loved the free whiskey.

hiking

After all of our eating, we attempted to be active with a hike up Whiteside Mountain.  I can't say I am in the best hiking shape, but the views (and friends) made the climb worth the trip.

shopping in highlands / pj quadruplets / out to dinner / hiking

I couldn't help but post this collage of "girl pictures."  We laughed all weekend that we must all be friends - we kept showing up in almost identical outfits (including the pjs featured in this post.)  Great minds think alike ladies!  In all seriousness though, I am so thankful for all of you- the last three (and two KK) years would have been a much different adventure without each of you.  Love you all!

Last, I have to leave you with this picture of our mountain pup.  He was so happy to spend some time in the mountains and let his ears fly free!  Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

mac

xo,

weekend randoms

Good Morning!  I hope you all had a fabulous weekend.  We had a wonderful weekend with some sunshine (finally) and cold temps.  While this sounds pitiful, I had the greatest time on Friday...stuck in traffic.  I know, I know- this is what life has come to!  BUT, I found a great station on the radio, didn't have any phone calls or pressing emails, and just sat by myself for about twenty minutes in traffic.  It was heavenly!  Call me crazy but y'all it made me so happy.

Friday night we reconnected with friends we hadn't seen in FOREVER!  We had a fabulous meal at Crooks Corner- a Chapel Hill favorite- complete with banana pudding and homemade ice cream for dessert.  Delish.

the best banana pudding...with meringue on top!

AND, after dinner, I did probably the "hippest" thing I will ever do...I went to a bar...with no sign on the door.  Honestly, it was a little bit of a let-down though.  It has been hyped up as the next great place, but I wasn't too impressed with the drink selection and it almost seemed to be trying too hard.  I can check it off the Chapel Hill bucket list though!

literally... this was the front door

a little dark for a picture...but in case you can't tell...this is a vodka apple juice.
not my first choice, but very authentic apparently

Saturday and Sunday were dominated by school work.  (My class outside of law school doesn't understand the concept of just having a final at the end of the term...mid-term papers what?!)  We did make it out to Bull City in Durham to catch up with more friends we hadn't seen in ages.  Thirty Rock references dominated the conversation...always makes for a good night.

"I don't drink hot liquids of any kind.  That's the devil's temperature."
-Kenneth Parcell

AND, I have to share this picture from our "sunday supper."  I really think he tried to blow out the candle for a good 3 minutes...adorable.

and...how cute are my sister-in-laws heart plates for valentine's day?  target...get em' quick!

Finally, I want to leave you with an excerpt from the book I am reading, Happier at Home.  When making big decisions, the author has developed five questions she asks herself.  I loved this and thought you might like it too:

Love to you all and as always thank you for reading.  I might be a little less frequent with the posts this week...big school event on Thursday!  Hope you had a fabulous weekend- I'd love to hear about it in the comments section.

xo,