Just Sayin'...

Miss ya cuz...






Stumbled upon this great memorial written to Henry online:

"I had the honor of going to high school and graduating Garner Senior High with Henry. I joined the Marine Corps a few months ahead and remember the day I hear of his passing. I was so proud when I stumbled upon an article about his Bronze Star. He was an amazing person and truly held up the highest honor and tradition of the Marine Corps. I wear a memorial bracelet in his memory everyday and I am honored to share his story of courage and sacrifice for our nation. Semper Fi Sanchez, always missed but never forgotten." --
Ryan Glenn of Kansas City, MO

And in case anyone needs a reminder of why we have this extended weekend to enjoy:



Just sayin'...

Welcome to Alum Status, Sis!

I swear NCSU made the grad attire red just so she couldn't reuse mine (which was black).

And while she may be an undergrad alum, she's heading back to NCSU in the fall for four more years. At the end of those four years and a board certification or two, you may call her Dr. Mandy and you will take your puppies and kitties to her for all their TLC and veterinary needs... when she's not taking care of the Army's animals!



If you didn't know, I'm her official part-time paparazzi. You can peruse 153 photos here :-)

PS - I realize I'm a weekend and some change late on this post, but the day after graduation she and her pals hopped on a cruise from Florida to Mexico, then she came home and hopped in a car bound for Atlantic City, and then flies back tomorrow and then goes to D.C. for the weekend... so she won't see this until next week (or today on facebook) anyways. Who knew she'd graduate and become a lady of leisure?

A New Raleigh Restaurant and New Crafty Website Addiction

Renee and I were chatting on the way to Cafe Caturra last night about how we both have sewing machines, but wish we actually knew what we were doing in that department.

Now granted, I had to take a class or two in garment construction for my TATM degree... but my awesome momma may or may not have helped me with my final project after I broke TWO sewing machines in the process. (Read into that as much as you'd like.) I can rock out a design and the pattern construction. But, the actual garment construction? Notsomuch.

Nonetheless, it hasn't kept me from stumbling upon BurdaStyle.com:



The site, "for people who sew", has patterns, projects, skills, tutorials and more. I signed up for their eNews, so let's see if Renee and I actually improve our lack of crafty skills in this department sometime this summer :-)

Oh yeah, back to the wine!



Renee and I may or may not have sampled mmm... say 5 or 6 of the wine bar and restaurant's 10 reds, 10 whites, and 5 dessert wines... many of which are seasonal which means enjoy them now, because come fall there will be some new wines to love. You can buy any of their wines in several sizes, so we opted for the 3 oz. pours, which is perfect if you don't want a large pour of wine or want to indulge in several smaller. (I'm sure you can see where this is going.)

I profiled the pre-opening of this place on i heart retail and was glad to read in TBJ yesterday that it finally opened. Renee and I just enjoyed the wine last night, but they do a full fresh food menu, so I'll be back to try the food soon. Cafe Caturra is in Cameron Village near Talbot's.

Mondays

I typically despise Mondays. Since I can't stand having a crappy outlook on anything, I'm changing the way I start my week.

I picked up Every Monday Matters a while back and decided yesterday that I'm going to start making Mondays matter... TODAY!

I'm on Week 1 - Making a list of what matters most to me!

Also in Week 1, I've made a list of things things that waste time in my life and making a plan to reduce those things so I have more time for the important stuff.

I've added this little tidbit to the sidebar of this blog so that anyone reading out there who cares can keep up with my new Mondays. I'll probably group a few Mondays together here in there so that way it doesn't take me a whole year to finish this project. If you want to borrow this book after me, just let me know!

(Just so you know, I'm definitely not a "self-help book" kind of girl... which is good... because this is not one of those books. Each week the goal is really simple and complemented by facts about why one should take on this goal and then resources for doing so. I can get behind that!)

I linked the book image above to BooksaMillion.com if you're interested in getting a copy yourself!

Happy Birthday, Niki!

Happy birthday to my hometown girl, and fellow fabulous blogger, Niki over at Single Bubble Pop!



Check out her blog to wish her a happy one and to subscribe... seriously, the girl's artistic talents and effortless style are worthy of the Google Reader addition :-)

http://singlebubblepop.blogspot.com/


{Image: From Niki's "What I Wore" Series... LOVE it!}

Pumped!

Renee and I are working on our game plan for tonight and it definitely includes City Limits Saloon for the Brantley Gilbert (sorry, it's a MySpace link) show.

Brantley is one of those artists that I have the pleasure of hearing on XM Radio, but if you're stuck listening to just local stations, you probably aren't hearing enough of this guy! He's got a voice that's a little country, a little rock 'n roll... untainted by Nashville's increasing lean toward pop.



PS - It's also NEB/the boyfriend's birthday today... so happy birthday to him :-)

PS #2 - Our local homie, Brian Davis (LIVE!), will be opening for Brantley. Now THAT'S a good lineup!

Happy First Friday, Everyone!

I love First Friday in Downtown Raleigh - it's a shame I'm usually busiest on Fridays and don't get to participate in the fun more often.

I am tonight however!

On my list:

Half-price menu at Sauced Pizza from 4:30pm until 6:30pm and $5.00 Three Olives cocktails (this happens every Friday, by the way).

Rhapsody art show at CityGate from 6:00pm until 8:00pm (don't you just love the dog paintings?).



Cupcake Shoppe for sure after.



And adding vino into that mixture somewhere :-) I haven't been to Mosaic or Amra's in ages... maybe those will be the wine destinations!

{Images: Rhapsody image via Pizer Fine Art, Cupcake Shoppe image via LusterStudios}

Local Country Music Events to benefit Nashville Relief Efforts

Two posts in one day? Looks like somebody (this girl right here) is back on the bloggin' wagon!



Just a quickie for country music fans who'd like to do something to help our country neighbors in Nashville, courtesy of local country radio station 94.7 WQDR:

Stop by tonight (Thursday) 8p-10p at the Longbranch for Throwdown Thursday. $5 gets you in to see JMC perform an intimate acoustic set and the LCI truck will be there to accept item donations. Also 100% of the door goes straight to Nashville! Also have a chance to win tickets to the Country Throwdown on May 28th and we will auction off a JMC autographed Cowboy hat from the Country Connection.

Friday night JMC will be helping Marty co-host Party Radio at City Limits! The guys with LCI will be on hand with the truck for item donations and City Limits is donating $1 for everybody through the door, so let's pack the place! Also, you have a chance to win a signed hat by JMC donated by Country Connection and qualify to win a trip to the CMT Awards!!

I will either be at Altar Ego at the NC Museum of Art or JMC's benefit concert tonight... so many worthy events going on, so little time!

{Image: examiner article "Historic flooding a true disaster"}

If you've ever had lunch or dinner with me...

... then you've probably observed that everyone who does not eat pickles will give me theirs. (Love my friends!)

I am also a potato chip connoisseur. Not just any potato chips will do. I'm a big fan of the really crunchy ones - generally known as kettle-cooked chips.

I picked up lunch from Durham's Parker & Otis the other day and found something that was made JUST FOR ME (or at least it seems).



You can order them in bulk on their website: http://www.rt11.com/cfmodules/ObjMgr.cfm?Obj=OrderHere.

So much for that eating healthy thing! ;-)

PS - And don't think that I won't take a side trip on my next DC visit to go watch them make these small batch wonders of the potato chip world. That ok with you Adrianne?


FTC blogger disclosure: I was not contacted by Rt. 11 to blog about this post or compensated. But I would SO not object to a box of dill pickle potato chips. Nom, nom, nom! :-)