Time travel...

It's been a busy week here in Athens, Minneapolis... ahh yes, I'm in Charlotte. We have been working long hours so by dinner time, I'm ready for something simple and a glass of wine. Soooo, it's perfectly acceptable to take you back in time to when I was in wonderful Minneapolis!

In a past post, I mentioned that a few people gave me some great ideas of where to go in Minneapolis and beleeeiiighve me, these recommendations did not disappoint! The last place I went while in Minny was called Chino Latino and it was wonderful. However, I don't recommend going there if you're alone for happy hour. It's more of a fun, group outing but I definitely enjoyed the food and drinks... I was just jealous [not uncommon] of all the girlfriends out together drinking wine and munching on apps. Here's a few shots of Uptown [please keep in mind that it was a cold and dreary day]...

Uptown - way cuter in person

Spicy Tuna Roll

My first time with Swordfish! Innnnteresting....

I've got waaaay more past travel stories/pictures/videos/etc so stay tuned! Also, I'm making my way to IKEA for the first time while I'm here - I've heard amazing things and I am so excited!

Vida Cantina

As promised in my last post, I went out solo on Saturday night in crowded downtown Charlotte. While sitting between two fairly new couples at the bar would have normally sent me into a downward spiral, I was fearless last night. I sparked conversations, made a few people laugh, and got more than buzzed from one skinny girl margarita [I'm a light weight these days].

Anyway, back to the good stuff...

Vida is located in downtown Charlotte and is apart of the EpiCentre. They have a Howl at the Moon, Strike City [super fun bowling alley], Asian restaurants, Mexican, American, Italian, Steakhouses, etcetera!

I switched my normal glass of vino for a Skinny Marg. It was delicious but too stout. I think I'll stick with my wine from now on, but I'm glad I branched out. Even though one glass got me so buzzed that I slammed my own foot in the car door. Soooo yeah, sticking to my faithful wine.

Staying true to my new found vegetarianism, I ordered mushroom quesadillas and was surprised when they came out looking like enchiladas. It might have been the marg but I SWEAR it said quesadilla. Either way, it was fab and life as a vegetarian isn't looking so bad!!

Seesterly Bonding

Last night, after a long day at work, I made the trip to Gastonia to see my baby sister [whom I haven't seen in what feels like forever].

She took us to one of the many chain restaurants in Gastonia. We went to Applebee's. Now, I love to try new restaurants... perhaps a restaurant that has a cool story or interesting concept. So, I wasn't super pumped to end up at Applebee's --- HOWEVER, I found out that this Applebee's was famous! Yep, this was the EXACT Applebee's in the film "Talladega Nights"! I'm pretty sure I was sitting in Will Ferrell's seat..

After a delicious, meat-free dinner at Applebee's, Sally and I made a 20 minute drive to catch a late night showing of Something Borrowed! 

She's a sport because I really wanted to see it and I could barely describe what it was about because I didn't want to give anything away! It worked out great though because she really liked the movie and so did I! I'm pretty sure she got sick of me whispering, "Ooh, I know what happens next" or "That WASN'T in the book!" or "I love John Krasinski!" Either way, we were the only ones in the theater so we has some good old fashioned sisterly bonding time :)

Mmm :)

As for my new lifestyle as a vegetarian, I'm 4 days in and doing good! I had tomato soup and green beans for lunch and I plan to go to Vida Cantina tonight for dinner! There's plenty of fish options and even completely meat free options! Stay tuuuned :)

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

Okay so I've never done the whole "WILW" thing before but I'm just loving so much today, I thought I'd share!

Here we go...

Ms. Middleton (Jill not Kate) introduced me to this color by Essie and I am OBSESSED! This is the color all of us bridesmaids will wear for her wedding and I am fully prepared. It's called Fiji - get it.

  

 I read Something Borrowed and then Something Blue within a span of about two weeks. If you're judging the books by their cover, shame on you.. and why would you do that, that's like the oldest rule ever. My point is, these books look like cute little beach reads but they are both also hilarious, witty, touching, smart, and the list goes on. Read them. It'll take you like 5 days tops and you seriously won't want to put it down. Now I'm just trying to decide what I should read next...

Before....

 ... After!

That is my quilt in this picture so I plan to completely decorate my room this way! I absolute love this and new gray bedside table. LOVE!!!

Random but I just love this :)

My new cute Thank You cards from Target!

This is just.. awesome. But now I can't get that song out of my head... worth it!

Hope everyone had a fantastic Hump Day! 

Comfort

After an excrutiating 4 am wake up call this morning, I finally made it to Charlotte. Like most of my Mondays in a new city, I am exhausted. I can't wait to fall asleep in about one hour and I'm sure it'll be a struggle for me to wake up in the morning. Also, it's silly to admit but I was a little down today. I miss my boyfriend, even though I just saw him this weekend and will see him in two weeks. I miss my girlfriends, even though I just finished a string of three weekends seeing a lot of them. And I miss my family, even though I know I'll be seeing them soon.

I had a fairly rough day today [not nearly as bad as some of my days in Minneapolis, that's for sure]. Either way, I was frazzled and it was 2pm and I hadn't eaten since 5:30am. Someone in the office suggested a Japanese place so I decided to check it out. I was planning on getting sushi but then I saw a plate go by... with teriyaki chicken... with a side of... wait for it...

                                                    WHITE SAUCE!!!

If you went to Western or even have a friend that went there, you know about white sauce. I ordered it on the spot and instantly felt better. It's weird how your senses can take you back... I had my chicken bowl with my white sauce and I was home. It's also sad to admit that food can make me feel so comfortable and can bring me back to neutral. A plus in this fatty situation is that I wasn't able to eat all my food like I would have in college... those were the days of chicken bowls, egg rolls, sushi, and saki... just the chicken and white sauce today ;)

Of course I took a picture so don't be too jealous! What's your comfort food? :)

Jilly's Bach Party!

It's been over a week since Jilly's bachelorette party but I have to post some pictures.. if only to show you the amazing food we had over the weekend. Whether it was at a nice restaurant or whipped up Mrs. Amber Diz Graves, it was fantastic. Here's some of the fun from Princess Middleton's Chaaaalston getaway!!

Steger's fantastic suggestion, Coast

 Bacon wrapped scallops!!! I'm going to attempt to make these this weekend.... stay tuned for that disaster.

 Fried green 'maters. Amber and Brit split these and I stole a bite.. or three.

Yummy Tilefish - my first time with the fish and it was amazing! Served with grits and topped with tomatoes and a mushroom sauce. 

 Mrs. Diz making our delicious meal for our cook out.

 Some of Jill's lingerie gifts!

 Fresh Flowers! I'm only assuming this is also courtesy of Diz ;)

Cake, strawberries, champagne and red wine... mmm :)

 I want to go back!

 Princess Middleton...

...And Princess Poundsy

Dani and me with the beautiful bride! So happy for you Jill!

Adventures in the Twin Cities!

As promised, I did some exploring today! I found out today that there was a 2 story Target in downtown Minneapolis so I just had to check that out. Also, I had quite a few things I needed from there so it was a win-win. Here's some fairly dangerous pictures I took while driving - I don't recommend doing that. 

 Target!

I have talked to a few people who are familiar with Minneapolis and they've given me a list of places I have to eat while I'm here... so I'm planning on slowly working through the list!

Zelo just so happened to be right across the street from Target so I went there for dinner! It's exactly my scene... swank and modern. They've also got some pretty friendly people there!

Ahhh... Ahi Tuna... I couldn't resist...

 ... and that's not a big pile of wasabi... it's wasabi MASHED POTATOES!!! I was in heaven :)

Cute little outdoor seating.. if only I had friends here to join me......... depressed. 

I mentioned in my last post that I did some research regarding where I should go during my stay here. I came across a picture of a giant cherry resting on top of a giant spoon. Obviously, I had to go there immediately.

How cool is this?! It's called the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden and it's actually a park where people actually go to run and walk their pets. It's also one of the largest sculpture parks in the country. And before today, I didn't realize that sculpture parks were a real thing. 

Tomorrow, I'm heading to the very famous Mall of America (uh oh) and I'm going to check out the new restaurant that opened today called Soul Daddy. If you watch America's Next Great Restaurant, you'll be familiar with Soul Daddy because that was the winning restaurant! I sure hope SD serves Chicken N Waffles because I'm dying to know what that's about.

Until then, cheers!