Weekend walk and Baby's Halloween costume

Today R and I went for a nice long walk with Baby in the park.  This poor dog was replaced as top priority this fall as soon as football started!  The weather was so nice we decided to give her a day that is all about her.

 R stopped to pose for a photo.  I love this picture and plan on framing it on my desk at work.

 Baby showing a great side view of her costume as Daredevil, the headless horseman's horse.  She's has worn it a few times this week and has been a great sport about it.

 I love this shot of her costume but she looks petrified!

She had a blast showing off her new outfit and riding the horseman through the woods!

Cold treat

So these last few warm days I wanted to share my favorite dessert dinner.

Frozen yogurt from my favorite local yogurt place.....I LOVE the original tart flavor with strawberries, kiwi and mango.  I have craved this so often the past few months - R isn't even shocked anymore when I ask him to take me.   I'll probably have to find a new favorite as the evenings get cooler but I think it will definitely stay a top ten!

An evening at the fair

R and I went to the fair yesterday evening and had a great time!  Thursday was Food Lion Hunger Relief day so by bringing 4 cans of food each, we received 2 free admission tickets.  We viewed all the expos and ate a ton of free samples - hushpuppies, cotton, candy, peanuts, coke max, etc.  R enjoyed a huge turkey leg and I had a crab cake.  We both waited in the longest line ever for NC State ice cream, I got chocolate and he chose the campfire flavor (similar to smores).  I purchased some maple butter from one of the stands and I can't wait to try it on baked goods, pancakes, and toast.  I also purchased some chocolate peanut butter fudge and some maple cotton candy.  Afterwards I was so glad we didn't pick up any junk food from the grocery this week because our house if full of it now!

My Best Friend's Wedding: Bachelorette Party

A couple weekends ago we went out for my best friend's bachelorette party.  It was my job to plan it so I asked the other girls to keep our plans a secret until the very last minute.  We kidnapped the bride on a Friday evening and she didn't know where we were going until we entered our suite in the beautiful Appalachian mountains!

Gigi's cupcakes enjoyed during the lingerie shower.

 Plates and napkins for the shower.

 Bride to be opening her shower gifts.

 More shower gifts.

I planned a wine tour for our Saturday activity.  The bride had her very own tasting glass.

 Touring a vineyard.

 The first winery had a very sweet sign welcoming us to their facility.  They set up a great barbeque buffet for us for lunch.

 Wine tasting and appetizers were served under a tent in the vineyard.

Kappa Delta's celebrating with the bride.

 The whole group after a tasting.

 Here is a photo of the future bride wearing her sash.  We had dinner reservations at a swanky restaurant that was an early 1900s bank.  Our group had the bank vault as our own private area.  Afterwards we went out for cocktails (and those photos are not going on the internet).

We had a great time.  I'd recommend Travels by Wine in Hendersonville, NC to any group.  The wineries we visit don't distribute so we were able to get great local wine that we can't just buy at the grocery.  Every girl in our group bought a bottle for a gift basket that was given to the happy couple to enjoy - Western NC really has some unexpectedly good wine.

Protein Packed Snack

My most recent trip to the doctor revealed that I had slightly low albumin.  This test is not the best way to check your protein status as it is affected by many factors - illness, injury, hydration, etc., but I do intend on taking a few extra steps to make sure I get some extra protein in my diet.  I took a hard look at my own diet (because my job is to educate others on diet needs)...and I really don't get enough protein.  I love my greek yogurt but I don't drink milk because I'm lactose intolerant and almond milk is not a good protein source.  I eat beans a couple times a week and I love fish but I normally eat small amounts of meat and not at every meal.  I was in the habit of making protein shakes regularly a few months ago and I intend to start making them more often.  For the past few weeks I bought some LUNA bars - my absolute favorite protein snack to eat mid afternoon or for breakfast.

 I LOVE this chocolate dipped coconut bar!

 This was the first time I've tried the Iced Oatmeal Raisin and it's awesome for breakfast.

I also bought some of the chocolate peanut butter LUNA protein bars that have 12 g of protein versus the usual 9 grams.  I like them so far but the flavor isn't as good as some of the original ones and I wish there was a bigger variety of flavors.  I have been eating the original ones for years off and on and many of the flavors have improved, I have a lot of hope for the new high protein bars that they will get better with time.

ECU vs UNC Tailgate

Just a few photos from our tailgate.  Here is Thompson standing guard with the burger patties.

 R and Rob playing washers.  Before the game R bought these great purple slacks with the pirate logo all over them.  Katie actually had the matching skirt on at the tailgate completely unplanned.

 It was such a windy day most of our photos were a complete fail.  R and I finally got one decent shot.

 Rob and Katie.

 R warming up the grill for our tasty cheese and jalapeno stuffed burgers.

 Katie and I.  I'm not sure how she didn't freeze in that skirt.  It was so windy and the game started at 8 pm.  I was bundled in a jacket just minutes prior to walking into the stadium.

 The purple haze at kickoff!

New Fall Wreath

So many of our neighbors have been decorating outside for fall / halloween.  We had several decorations in our favorite football colors but I have been a failure at decorating for the season.  Today I changed out my garden flag for a "halloween appropriate" choice and I made a sweet new wreath for our door.  I purchased a plain wreath from Michaels for $4 and a premade bow from their fall collection for about $7 on sale and then I went to Dollar General and purchased this wooden pumpkin sign for $5.  It was quick to throw together, I just used the wire that was already attached to the sign to twist it into the wreath and attached the bow.  I love the way it turned out and I didn't have to invest a lot of time or money into it.

My Best Friend's Wedding: Preparing for the Bachelorette Party

So my bestie's bachelorette was last weekend and as MOH I had full charge of planning the whole event.  I found a sash that I loved in a local boutique but I couldn't get the color combination I wanted.  SO I got crafty :o)  I bought a "Bride to be Sash" from a local party store and used a feather boa and some ribbon from Michaels to recreate the look.  I knew Katie would be wearing a navy dress with pink shoes so I chose ribbon that would look great with her outfit.  I used fashion tape to attach some gold glittery ribbon to the back of the sash and left the ends free to tie together with the boa and some hot pink ribbon.  I'm sure R doesn't appreciate me posting this photo but he was sweet enough to wear it for me so I could tie the accents onto the sash.

 Here is a close-up of the bottom of the sash.  I used two peices of thin light pink boa and tied them in a knot.  In the opposite direction I tied some glittery dark pink ribbon that I hoped would match her shoes.

 Another view of the sash.

I'll go over the rest of the bachelorette weekend in another post but for now I'll leave you with this hint as to where we went....

It's more information than the bride had.  We totally kidnapped her and surprised her the whole weekend.  I'm not sure how 6 women managed not to spill the beans but we kept the location and plans a secret for the past several months.

Meet Thompson Greybeard...

So a few weeks ago my mom surprised me with an ECU yard gnome.  R and I could not find a place for it in the home and we didn't want to put it on the patio so  we decided we would travel with him!  We gave him a name and let him tag along to the Bahamas.  He is also attending the games with us.  We are planning to bring him on all future trips :-)

South of the Border

It was a soggy drive and we had to pull over for about half an hour.

Embarking the cruise.

Freeport, Bahamas

Towel frog on the fourth night of the cruise.

The gangway at Nassau.

You'll be seeing more of Thompson so I definitely wanted to introduce him.  He'll probably be creeping in a lot of upcoming photos.

Bahamas Cruise on the Carnival Fantasy

I have so much to post!  Russell and I recently went to the Bahamas on a Carnival Cruise and when I returned I had lots of work and maid of honor duties to catch up on.  I wanted to share some photos of our trip with my blog friends and I figure it's better late (by a couple weeks) than never.  We left out of Charleston, SC which is a tiny port.  The Best Western Downtown Charleston has a great park and cruise special where you stay the night before you embark and leave your car parked there while a driver takes you to and from the ship.  We visited Freeport and Nassau Bahamas.  R bought me the most beautiful pair of Tanzinite earrings and a matching necklace while we were in Nassau!  We also picked  up some Tortuga rum and rum cake while we were there.

 I love Carnival's towel animals and I looked forward to them every night.  The first night we had a seal waiting for us.

 We took a photo of our ship when we disembarked in Nassau.

 One night before a show R and I took this photo.  During our 5 night cruise we saw 2 performance shows and 2 comedy shows on opposite nights.  They also had some events like a Michael Jackson night, Mojitos and Cigars on the Deck, and a Mexican Fiesta night. 

 This was a beach in Freeport, Bahamas.  The land is so flat you can see the ocean for miles.  We ate at the Afterdeck Grill and had conch fritters, a lobster gyro, and sands beer (YUM!).

 These are some new friends we met on our cruise.  We all got together one night to hang out at the piano bar.  Most nights we visited a much louder bar that hosted kareoke or the casino so this was a great change of pace.

 In Nassau we did a submarine excursion.  This was a picture of the boat that led us there (please note the ECU gnome in R's backpack, I'll be showing photos of him soon).  I enjoyed it, we were able to see a shark, ballyhoo, yellow tail snapper, sergeant major fish, and other life on the reef.

 I look so pale!  It was cloudy every day we were on vacation and even rained a couple times so I didn't get to lay out as much as I would have liked.  This sign was located in Nassau by the port.

A photo of formal night.  We brought our own special bottle of wine for this.  I really enjoy getting dressed like this to go out but we rarely have the chance.  The only photos I bought on the cruiseship were two from formal night and I can't wait to have them framed.  We really had a great time.  R and I booked the cruise right after his graduation and have had months to wait for it.  I was super worried about hurricane season but we were so lucky with weather, despite the cloudiness it was perfect temperature for island vacation.