Talking Football Already?

What's that you say? There are less than 2 weeks until college football starts?

How did this happen??

(And where did my summer go?)




GO PACK!

PS - For those who are wondering, I did not renew my season tickets this year. Our schedule is kind of lame, honestly. Between the games at UNC that Nick has season tickets for - and Thursday night games usually being hard to get to in a timely fashion - it just didn't make sense. But I'll be buying some single game tickets, as available!

Currrolina Saturday Night

The words are actually "Carolina Saturday night", but Sunny Ledfurd sings it with a drawl. Sunny has been a fixture in the NC bar rocker scene for quite sometime (especially in Charlotte, but also in Raleigh at City Limits Saloon) and I am SO glad to hear him on XM Radio's "Nashville" station now!

Check out the new video for "Pontoon Boat". I would like to dedicate this to my pontoon friends...


(Above: That was the boys' "cursed" boat via Summer 2008. They called it "cursed", I called them "rookies". I still love them all, though!)


(Above: The entire "Buckhead Saloon and Friends" crew celebrating Kite's birthday out at Falls Lake... circa Summer 2008.)



My sister and I are heading to the beach this afternoon for a mini-vacay... see you suckers next week!

And PS - While pontoon boats are a NC lake fixture, I'd be lying if I said that I have not asked Nick if we can take a pontoon boat out in the ocean. ;-)

Yee Haw, Y'all!

I found out about this because I am subscribed to Eric Church's RSS feeds for his upcoming tour dates. When I saw he would be playing Raleigh at TWC this summer, I clicked through to see who he was with. The Country Throwdown Tour is DEFINITELY on my calendar!

May 27th in Charlotte, May 28th here Raleigh!

You could say I was pleasantly surprised. Just check out these details

I <3 MG, Jack, EYB, the Trailers, and Heidi. I can't wait to see what other talent they add to this kick ass lineup!

See y'all there!

For My Green Thumb Readers...

I've noticed many of you (with blogs that I read... drop me a comment if you've been lurking and we haven't connected yet) have mentioned starting up your own backyard produce farms and/or gardens, so I thought I'd pass along some great tips from yesterday's Toxic Free NC Spring 2009 email newsletter.

Organic Gardening from Scratch

Here are a few tips for starting a new garden from Toxic Free NC and Tom Mekus, owner of Native Elements Landscaping in Raleigh.

Plan for too little (and too much) water
Keeping your garden within a hose’s length of an outdoor tap is always a good idea, but it’s also wise to consider installing a rain barrel. Just one-quarter inch of rain onto a 300-square-foot section of roof can yield nearly 50 gallons of water!

Resources for gardeners
Free soil testing by the NC Dept. of Agriculture
Call your County Extension office for more info, or visit http://www.agr.state.nc.us

All about composting from the NC Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources www.p2pays.org/compost/
919-715-6500I thought I'd just pass along some tips that were maintenance related, since many of you have already started (and posted) some of your great results. Be sure to read the full post for some even better all-around tips.

Want to make your own rain barrel? That's definitely something I'm going to be tackling this summer... especially after previous summer droughts here in central NC.

Here are some links with how-to guides:From the EPA - Build Your Own Rain Barrel (pdf)
YouTube - How to Build a Rain Barrel (video)
YouTube - How to (On the Cheap) (video)Get creative! Add a screen to keep out leaves, etc., add a monogram (for the particularly preppy garden), whatever floats your boat... knock yourself out. (As pictured above, I'm not above putting a monogram or some cute embellishments on a rain barrel!)



{Images: Clockwise from Top Left - Zedomax, River Falls Rain Barrel Program, This Old House, Arlington Village Green Team. Embellishments by yours truly.}

A Throwdown of Epic Proportions

How crazy is it that it's been almost a year since sweet tea vodka was making its first introductions into the lives of Southerners everywhere? (Albeit, it took quite a bit longer to make it to every county in the closed states.)

Well it just wouldn't be summertime without tailgates, cookouts, and days on the water with sweet tea vodka now and it looks as if it's going to get quite interesting this year. I can't wait to try some of this myself and see if it lives up to the hype!

Anyone else had the opportunity to try Firefly's newest competitor in the sweet tea vodka arena?



Many thanks to my good friend Tyler for the scoop!

PS - Maybe I should've titled this post "The Sweet Tea Smackdown"?

More Beach Music - With Better Parking

I always get a little confused when I hear people complain about Raleigh and say "I can't wait to move away. It's SO boring here."

Ummm... some people just must not know where to look, because my calendar is full!

Music on Main
live music. great food. lots of fun!

Free Admission!

Time: 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Place: Main Street, Downtown Garner

2009 Season Band Schedule
May 13th: The Fantastic Shakers
June 11th: The Band of Oz
July 9th: The Embers
August 13th: Holiday Band
September 10th: Craig Woolard Band
Yay, I love summer!!


{Image: Music on Main website.}