Cork Wine & Martini Bar

After weeks of traveling and little exploring, I finally decided to get out and explore this little town! I'm in Hattiesburg, MS this week and I believe I stumbled upon a little gem here. It's called Cork Wine & Martini bar and it is my new spot, people. There are cute little couches, big tables and an awesome bar. What more do you need??

Here is a link to their menu... but they were out of almost everything. So I ended up eating this bad boy....

Yep, I ate something called Crawfish Pie. It was actually amazing! It was like New Orleans style comfort food.

Oooh I'm so hipster and artsy. I thought the wine/martini glasses hanging were pretty cool.

I spent a lot of time in Portland, OR so I'm partial to the wines that come from Willamette Valley. And let me tell you, the King Estate Pinot Gris was unbelievable. I've kind of been off white wines lately... I'm a red lady. But not last night... I'm buying a case of this for my family for Christmas.

Safe travels this week! I'm so excited to see my family and just relax for a bit. I miss ole Greggy but he'll be back in less than a month!!! That's enough of a reason to celebrate!

Casa Burcham

I can't explain how amazing it's been to have a friend move to Charlotte while I was here for 5 weeks! I never have friends to enjoy happy hour with... I'm always that broad alone at the bar... BUT NOT IN CHARLOTTE, PEOPLE --- KATIE BURCHAM IS IN THA HOUUUSSSEE!!!

However, it should be said, when Katie and I got together we've never actually left the apartment to explore Charlotte. I am completely okay with this because in these random cities, where I know no one, I feel the need to explore and entertain myself. But with Burch here we get to catch up, talk about life, relax, enjoy very delicious (yet affordable) wine and eat yummy food whipped up by Chef Burch. I've enjoyed every second of it and I can't wait to come back and visit Burch and maybe we'll find our way to an actual restaurant or bar next time :)

In the mean time, here's a few shots of our time in together (please know that all I did was show up and occasionally bring wine and chocolate)...

Caprese Salad - YUM

I'm pretty sure that was goat cheese in there... can't remember but it was delish!

 The chef being so modest about her amazing cooking skills ;)

Not the best picture of us but I love it anyway! 

Veggie Pizza!! I have a feeling I'm going to be craving this... a lot

Sexyyy!

Perfect Summer Beer - Saranac - Lager & Lemonade

Katie introduced me and I am obsessed!

Nothing like a night cap at Casa Burcham :)

Kathryn and I have our last date tomorrow night and we're trying to make our way OUT... stay tuuuned!

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!

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!

A Visitor in Athens!

You never really appreciate girls nights and happy hours with your friends until you're far from home. Shannon understands that because she moved to Atlanta to live with her boyfriend last year and her girlfriends are at least 4 hours away, if not further. Let me preface this by saying we're not those girls... you know the type... obsessed with their boyfriends and don't care to have girlfriends. No big deal if you're like that but it's just not how either of us roll. And since I'm only an hour away from Shannon, for the time being, she jumped at the chance to come visit me for a night during her spring break! I can't express how much fun we had. And now, Shan is a fan of Athens ;)

When she first arrived, I drove her around UGA's campus and we got to reminiscing about college and how much we miss it. We thought about getting out of the car and warning all little college students about grown up world but we refrained. Here's a shot of me and Shan on the the infamous day that the DREAM TEAM was created.... GFU DREAM TEAM '07. Damn, I miss college.

I took Shan to all the cute little shops in downtown Athens and we were both looking for dresses for wedding related activities. Shockingly, Shannon left the shopping situation empty handed and I was the one that spent a fortune. Gregg, if you're reading this, I needed it and just got my tax refund so back off. :)

Once we were exhausted from shopping, we made our way to a restuarant that I hadn't tried before. Shannon can't have gluten so I looked up restuarants that would hopefully make adjustments for her. We went to East West Bistro on Broad St. and they easily turned Shan's entree into a gluten free meal for her.

Shan got the Salmon Gratin and they tailored it so it would be completely gluten free!

 I got the Tuna Kaiser and it was soooo good!

After our delicious dinner, a bottle of wine, and lots of people watching on a patio, Shan and I came back to my hotel for a slumber party!! We played Sex and the City trivia and gossiped for hours... throw in toenail painting and pillow fighting and you've got a true girls night.

Shannon and I talked a lot about friendships and relationships and what is important to us now, compared to what was important to us when we were in college. We talked about the people that we know will always be in our lives and about some who have slowly faded away.

'After all, things change, so do cities, people come into your life and they go. But it's comforting to know that the ones you love will always be in your heart... and if you're very lucky, a plane ride away' - SATC

Love you Shanny and thank you so much for visiting me!

ALERT! I found another swanky place to eat in Harrisonburg!

Helllloooo, this is very important! I found another super cute restaurant in downtown Harrisonburg! It truly is a miracle! It's right near my other favorite restaurant, Clementine's!

They have a great happy hour with $4 wines, so you know I was there. I got the Tuna Tartare and it was delicious! Their happy hour is from 4 - 7 and there are some great deals.

Check out Beyond!

Harrisonburg, Virginia

Sorry for the lackluster name of this blog entry but that's really all I can think of. I've driven all around this town and I've searched high and low for something to actually do during my time here. I tried to go shopping and it was the saddest thing I've ever seen. The best shops were Spencer's and Claire's. So... I decided to wind down and grab brunch and I found the best place in Harrisonburg! It's called Clementine Cafe and it's on the square in Downtown Harrisonburg.

Clementine's motto is Food + Music + Art and it makes sense... There's unique art all over the walls and they have live bands every weekend. The music ranges from DJ's to Jazz Bands and on certain nights they even have trivia! If I lived in Harrisonburg, first of all, I might die, but really if I lived here, I would be a regular at Clementine's. Their brunch was amazing and they had great drink specials. There are couches so you can lounge and there's also a balcony area with tons of seating... so you can get a birds eye view of the band! P.S. This mimosa was amazing and it was $5. Suck on that.

This is what I ordered and it was AMAZING! It was shrimp and poached eggs with grits. Probably the worst thing for me but I didn't care. I'm actually surprised that I was able to snap a picture before I ate everything in sight. Ahh so tasty. It is literally the only thing I recommend doing in "The Burg". Just go there and eat and drink and listen to music and play trivia. There's nothing else to do so get ready spend a lot of time there.

San Antone :)

While in San Antonio, I haven’t been able to explore all that much. First of all, I’m sharing a car with a coworker. Second and most important of all, we’re opening a new property in San Antonio so we’re working really hard and by the time I want to explore, I’m exhausted. However, I’ve done two rather fun things here in SA! One of them is for my body and then other is for my sanity.

Bikram Yoga (or Hot Yoga) in San Antonio is the craze. I’ve been to both locations and they just opened one closer to where I’m staying so my coworker and I are checking it out tonight! So far, I recommend going to the Alamo Heights but I’ll let you know once I go to the new location. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a big fan of Hot Yoga. It’s pretty intense but once you get the hang of it, it’s so much fun. Don’t be afraid to try it out, even if you go by yourself. NOBODY is watching you or cares how well you do your poses. It’s actually a pretty vain form of exercise… you are encouraged to just stare at yourself in the mirror and work on your own strength.

The other place I’ve checked out here is Kona Grill. Kona is the place to be for young professionals. They have happy hour, which you’ve probably heard of, and then they have REVERSE happy hour! Regular happy hour takes place in the bar and on the patio and it’s from 3 – 7. And reverse happy hour is from 9 – 11. I’ve been there twice now and their sushi is AMAZING! There are Kona’s all over Texas so let’s just hope they expand and bring their deliciousness to Nashville!

The boyfriend is going to be here before I know it and we're going to explore this great city! We've got a few things to do and that includes the Riverwalk, Six Flags, SHOPPING (he doesn't know that), and plenty more. Our relaxing week together will likely turn into anything but that. Stay tuned!