Weekend || 6/26-6/28

What I loved about my weekend:

Birthday Celebrations along with Kilwins Ice Cream party

Slot car racing…. 2 laps in 47.52 seconds

Watching Top Gun for the 12745^th time #maverick #goose

Big J’s b-day dinner at Herrera Vineyards, the crab cakes were delicious and taking pictures with the “water feature”

new favorite: Pinot Gris

Visiting with friends in Winston & grabbing a bite to eat at Mozelle’s

new haircut

Relaxing and enjoying a little pool time + blue skies

xx

Weekend || Father’s Day 2015

What I loved about my weekend:

Celebrating #1 Fan, my dad!!

Looking through tons of old family photos with my grandparents that my mom has found & getting to hear stores and tall tales from when they were growing up

Looking for “the goose”

Creating a succulent oasis for my desk using the old vase from flowers from JG

Watermelon + cherries

Driving through terrible rain storms, but getting to see the rainbow

Spending the weekend in Raleigh

Letting my hair be wild due to the heat and humidity-- anybody have a cure?!

Enjoying the outdoors, grilling out, and making s'mores

How was your weekend?!?

xx

Weekend || Hot. Hot. Hot.

What I loved about my weekend:

Mellow Mushroom pesto pizza
  

First ride on The Fury at Carowinds #seasonpassholder
  

Mexican @ Maria’s Restaurant
  

JayBirds courtesy of JG
  

Not Your Father’s Root Beer floats—delicious + it tastes just like root beer
  

Sunday-funday with Hannah at the pool
  

Currently Reading: More Money Than God by Steven Leder
  

#HealthyMargaritas—is this a real thing?
  

Grilling out with JG and Alex: Steak, Asparagus, Mushrooms, & corn--- yummy!
  

xx

Five on Friday || How is it already JUNE?

ONE|Mississippi

Over the weekend Jack and I hustled down {approx. 19 hors round trip} to Pascagoula, Mississippi to celebrate the nuptials of our dear friends Drew and Madalyn. Although the ride was long we got to spend some quality time together. The wedding was beautiful and I will never forget the toast from Drew’s brother, Tanner. I guess I’m a sucker for wise words.

TWO| T.SWIFT

Monday night Jack took me to Taylor Swift’s 1989 Tour and going to the concert has been one of my most favorite gifts… Like EVER!!! As soon as she got on stage to kick the night off with “Welcome to New York” I got chills all over my body…literally. Taylor’s talent is simply amazing the way that she commands the entire stage and arena all the while making the concert feel so intimate. Our seats were great, the music was great, and spending #NationalBestFriendsDay with Taylor Swift {&JG} was something from my “Wildest Dreams”.

THREE|Carib

The bliss of vacationing in St. Martin is still on my mind… I am super ready to travel again. JG insta-tagged me in this picture of Woody + Carib earlier this week and I cannot wait to find this beer for sale in CLT… anybody know of a place who sells it?

FOUR| AIR Social

Last night I attend the June AIR Social event and had a great time meeting new people and trying new products from Charlotte Based companies. Garrett Tichy, the face of WeLoveCLT spoke about what drives him to love Charlotte and the people who live here. There was food from Fit You Meals and Roots Hummus, drinks with Three Hunters Vodka and D9 Brewing Company, shopping with Fresh Boutique and Pearl- Dentistry Reimagined. AIR Socials happen once a month on the second Thursday of the month, so come out and join me for July’s event!

FIVE| Have You Met Sara?

Meet Sara. I have the pleasure of getting to see Sara and talking with her almost every day. She shares her passion of fitness, food, beauty, fashion, and the outdoors over at Oats and Rows. She loves sharing her experiences and adventures from her point of view as she explores her new city, here in beautiful Charlotte. Sara also has a cute little Frenchie who tends to pop up from time to time named Winston. Be sure to add Oats and Rows to your bloglovin’ feed – Sara will not disappoint!

Hope that you have a wonderful weekend!!

It's Friday and I am linking up with…5 on Friday: Darci, April, Christina, + Natasha | Friday Favorites: A Little Bit of Everything, Momfessionals, + Grace and Love | Oh Hey, Friday: September Farm + The Farmer's Wife

xx

St. Martin Vacay || Part 2

After breakfast at The Green Monkey Bar and Grill we decided that to go check out the private beach. After multiple tries to get the gate open, we finally had a package delivery guy help us through. We drove the long road around the beach where there were massive houses/gates, but did not stop. We decided then to head to Pinel Island, a local spot where not many tourist visit. The island is a nature preserve and accessible by boat or perhaps a long swim. We chose option #1: Pinel Island via boat.

The day was a little overcast when we left the doc, but cloudy blue skies were ahead. Pinel Island was enjoyable and somewhat private. When we jumped off the boat Jack and I noticed a bunch of lizzards/iguanas and went to check them out. We enjoyed the beach for the entire day, with rain pouring down here and there, but it did not ruin our day.

For dinner we were headed to Mario’s Bistro. It was dark when we left our Villa and we mapped the exact amount of kilometers it would take to get from us to the restaurant.

When we got into the town of Margiot, where we though the place would be, there were people out and about and one guy kept following us around on a moped in circles and tapping on the car. We decided that tonight was not the night to search for the restaurant, and turned around. We ended up at an Italian place and honestly I was so hungry that I don’t even know what it was called.

For our last full day in St Martin, we headed to Mullet Bay. This day was the most gorgeous day we had while on our vacation. There was not a cloud in the sky and the water was so clear. Jack and I swam out a ways away from the beach and could still see the ocean floor. We also got to see multiple fish and fed them along with some other vacationers.

Since we had troubles the night before with finding the dinner spot, after leaving the beach we went to check out two places, the original Mario’s Bistro and Le Sand—which is where we ended up choosing to dine. Le Sand is an elite restaurant right on Nettle Bay Beach. We enjoyed open air seating with stunning views of the water and a gorgeous moon to top it all off. The chic décor mixed with the location and the haute cuisine menu combined to make this the perfect night to dine and celebrate our fantastic trip.

In the morning we packed up the cars and headed for lunch at 3 Amigos followed by some quick shopping and a last drive around the island. Sad, but it was time to leave.

I had such a marvelous time in St. Martin and I cannot wait to travel again soon!!













missed part 1? check it out here

xx
                                                            

St. Martin Vacay || Part 1

Vacation, as it always should, was filled with fun, laughs, and relaxation. This trip to St. Martin was extra special because it would be the first time ever that Jack and I took a trip to somewhere via airplane + we were traveling with his family. When we flew in Jack and I loved how blue and clear the water was surrounding the island.

We stayed in a Villa in Terres Basses, which is on the French side of the Island. The Villa was picture-perfect, including our own pool and a beautiful view. The main house had an extremely open concept and had barely any walls on two sides.

Once we were settled into the house, we headed to grab late lunch at Rendezous Lounge and then to Le Grand Marché {grocery}, both in Porto Cupecoy. We decided to stay at the Villa and make appetizers, kabobs, and brats for dinner and enjoy the pool and sunset.

We woke early Sunday morning and headed off to the beach, any beach, we could find… which happened to be one of the most famous beaches on the island, Orient Beach. On the way we stopped for a bathroom break and Jack picked up sweet and sour gummy alligators, a perfect snack.

Orient Beach is one of the most popular and busiest beaches on the island.  The beach has natural beauty and I loved playing in the ocean and seeing fish swimming around. We rented chairsat  Kontiki Beach Bar and enjoyed Carib after Carib. Dr. G was our host from Kontiki and he made sure that we had an enjoyable time. We also met some ladies {pictured with Jack} who were hilarious! 

For dinner we enjoyed Fat Tony’s pizza and wings.

Vacations tend to get me really excited and I want to remember every aspect. If you want to hear more about our trip to St. Martin, stop back in on Thursday for part 2 of the recap.



xx

<ETB>

Friday || Back State-side

St. Martin was ahhhh-mazing!! The island is such a beautiful place with a ton of things to do. I had the best, most relaxing, and filled with activities vacation. Next week I’ll be back with all of the fun things we enjoyed while on our trip:)

xx

Elise 

Change Your Viewpoint

I saw this quote a while back and it has really put things in perspective. When you change your outlook on life and see the positive side of a situation you see the world through a different lens. Instead of complaining about not having new clothes {a huge one for me while getting packed for this trip} I began to think how lucky I am for the clothes that I can afford knowing that I have met people through daily life,mission trips, and living abroad who could pack their wardrobe into my small carry on bag.

I challenge you on changing the filter through which you look at life-- then see how you are a happier you!!

xx

Have you Heard? || Google Photos

Google-- a new toy?!? Last week they announced Google Photos, a app that stores and automatically organizes photos-- Hooray!! Google's storage is unlimited and best of all, FREE!! The app will be available from any device and is a great way for users to privately and securely back up and share photos from one single point. 

As an added bonus an in typical Google fashion, it has a search feature. This bonus is something we are all sure to LOVE-- especially so you can find those throw back photos for #tbt. The new app will also build videos and collages for you. There will be an "Assistant" who can offer suggestions.

Pretty neat, Google.

xx

Weekeing || Still in Saint Martin

Enjoying vacation for the next few days... likely here watching a gorgeous SUNSET. Cannot wait to fill you in on all the details when I return!!

xx