Tea Time!

I have had this day marked on my calendar all month!

Yes, I know that is strange, but come on I am from the south and you know what that means....

I love my sweet tea, especially when it is FREE!

That is right, you do not even have to purchase a meal for a free sweet tea at McAlister's Deli! I did have lunch there, so let's not talk about the carbs they are serving up!

If you don't have dinner plans stop in and get a yummy dinner and free sweet tea.

I love my sweet tea with a big fat lemon,which some call and Arnold Palmer.

How true is the second line of this?

Happy Sweet Tea Day to all the Southerners out there!

The Queens Feast-Restaurant Week

It is Restaurant Week in Charlotte, one of my fave times of the year.

This is where local restaurants participate in a special

"3 for $30" menu.

You get an appetizer, entree and desert.

I usually choose my restaurant based off who is offering Creme Brulee.

This year Capital Grill had it on the menu so we made our reservations in advance.



You need to make them early because we still did not get in until 9:30pm.

We started dinner off with a Pineapple Martini!

Cheers!

I had the Filet for dinner and it was by far one of the BEST I have had in a long time. In fact it puts Ruth's Chris to shame. It was served with natural au jus which was amazing. I prefer some juice and flavor, but that's just me.

Bryan and Shannan were great dates!



Happy Monday!



A Day at Discovery

A few weeks ago my Mother and Father In Law came to town with our neice and nephew.

We took my neice out for the day to Discovery Place.

We rode the train in to Uptown

And stopped for lunch at Newks. This was my first time dining there but I loved it.

Then we headed on for some fun at Discovery Place.

It really was a neat place, even for adults.

You will need to store up a lot of energy though!

Afterward we met up with the guys for a great dinner at Bucca Di Beppo

This is by far one of my favorite Italian Restaurants.

We usually go here on "Date Night" alone and since it is served family style we only get to try one thing. Going with a group was great because we got to try three or four different entrees.

My favorite is still the Baked Rigatoni, which Keith has mastered at home. 















Move over Coarl, Make Room for Leopard

If you have been out and about this season you know that Leopard is popping up everywhere.

This will be a "must have" for the fall!

You could go ahead and start incorporating it now with a cute pair of shorts or skirt while it is still warm. 

My favorite leopard accessory is this adorable belt. It even feel like real hair. It really dresses up any outfit.

My mission is to find these shoes, however a lot of the leopard items have not even hit the racks yet.





I am waiting to use a 40% coupon on this bad boy at Banana Republic. 

Another small way to spice up your outfit



Leopard is even the in thing to do for a Baby's Nursery!

My Sister In Law is doing hers in the Jungle Theme so of course her cake had to match.



This was my latest master piece but I was thrilled to throw that animal print in there!

 Have you seen any leopard must haves?



Gender Reveal Cake

I was thrilled when my neighbor Dee over at

 Dee's Adventure's

asked me to do a Gender Reveal cake for her.

I was even more excited when she said she was not going to find out what her baby would be until she cut the cake herself.

This was pretty exciting and I felt honored to know this intimate detail before she and her husband even did.

I came rushing home the day of to a sealed up envelope. My husband and I hovered around it betting on what we thought it would say!

I admit, I was wrong. I just knew it was a boy but it said "It's a Girl"

So we set out to make a pink cake!

She and Brad were sharing this special moment with their family on July 4th so she wanted a Patriotic theme so we went with an American Flag in pastel blue and pink rather that red and blue.



Here is Dee's presentation at her family gathering!

Adorable!

Congrats Brad and Dee, we can't wait to meet our newest neighbor!

July 4th...........A little late!

We had such a nice and relaxing (travel free-which was a nice change) Independence Day!

We spent it with some new neighbors and friends!

We hung out at the pool and grilled out over and Mike and Seda's.

Hope you had a great July 4th!!!!

Mexico Beach

Some of our very dear best friends purchased a home in Mexico Beach a few years ago.



We use any excuse we can to make the trip to visit with everyone from our old 'Hood in Georgia.

This year we celebrated New Year's there and the BIG 3-0!

They have since added a "Sunset deck"

We always have so much fun lounging on the beach, eating too much and staying up late chatting!



The Kiddos

Kelly and I in our matching outfits and NO we did not plan that!

Our favorite part of the day!



The famous Emma Lu!



It doesen't matter where we are as long as we're together!