A Little More Day Tripping..

We ended our Labor Day weekend with a perfect day trip to the Outer Banks. I know there are PLENTY of beaches here (we've been to Virginia Beach a few times and we go to Yorktown Beach every day) but as a native North Carolinian, I had a problem with the fact that I had never been to such a popular beach destination.

The Outer Banks are close enough for a day trip, but not quite as accessible as the beaches here. It took us a little over two hours to get there, and it was worth it. We had a GREAT day! I absolutely LOVED the area. It wasn't as touristy or commercial as the beaches I'm used to (Myrtle & Virginia), and the best part was how pet friendly it is. We didn't take Hermione, but according to their website, pets are welcome on the beaches all year long.

 We packed up my beach bag & headed out!

We finally arrived at the beach! It was beautiful & relatively quiet. 

We found a secluded spot instantly. 

My husband is special. 

We've been together for four years, & this was actually our first trip to the beach. 

We were bored with the beach after a few hours so we decided to venture out to Cape Hatteras. We both felt like bad North Carolinians, having never seen the famous lighthouse. We had time before they closed, so we decided to climb to the top. My legs felt like jelly once we were at the observation deck (257 steps, the equivalent of 12 stories), but it was worth it. The story of the lighthouse was really interesting. It was moved in 1999 to protect it from shoreline erosion. The cool thing: it was moved in once piece! They have a museum that tells you the story, and it's definitely worth checking out if you're ever in the area. 

The views from the top were amazing!

Road trip to Dallas!

I spent the weekend of my 30th birthday away from the heat & humidity of Arkansas, and in the heat & humidity of Texas.

Graham and I had an absolutely wonderful weekend. We shopped way too much, we ate way too much, and we had so much fun.

If the rest of my 30th year is as wonderful as the weekend was, it's going to be an amazing year!

I was barely out of Little Rock when I saw a billboard for Dunkin' Donuts. Their strawberry frosted is my FAVORITE, so I drove about 15 miles out of my way so I could indulge in one...

Thanksgiving at home & Pumpkin Cheesecake =)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. If you follow me on Instagram, you know that Graham and I drove back to North Carolina with our fur kids in tow. We didn't leave until about 3:00, didn't make it to our families homes until about 5:00am. It was a long day. But our animals are cute enough to make up for it. =)

Home Sweet Home

Traffic + Boredom = Goofy Photos

Our trip didn't get off to the best start... we were stuck in horrible traffic before we had even reached the Tennessee state line.

Buddy was not amused.

Hermione wasn't amused either... and threw up.

 

Luckily she got sick right at the exit for the Memphis visitors center...

So precious.

Buddy remains Hermione's favorite pillow.

Once we got in CLT, we visited with our other favorite pups (Dixie & Mattie).

 

LIVERMUSH!!! (Had breakfast at Skyland Family Restaurant)

One of the foods I miss the most in Arkansas is livermush. I know it sounds revolting (it's actually called liver pudding, which sounds worse), but it is the BEST. THING. EVER. And I couldn't think of a better way to start my birthday than with a big breakfast at one of my favorite spots. I really love Skyland Restaurant. It's locally owned, not at all fancy, and just one of the best bargains in Charlotte. Graham had a Belgian waffle and a side of livermush, and I had scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, biscuits and livermush. For about $5.00. You can't beat that!

And breakfast was perfect. I hate runny eggs. HATE them. And these were absolutely perfect. They were just the right texture and had a ton of flavor. And the biscuit is one of the best I had while I was home. Everything was delicious, and I can't wait to go back again the next time I'm home. 

CLT area Chick-Fil-A's celebrated my birthday by giving out free cookies =)

Buddy celebrated my birthday by being adorable.

I celebrated my 29th Birthday with a black diamond martini from Firebirds.

Dinner was delicious. I'm not a fan of chain restaurants, but I LOVE Firebirds. I changed it up a little bit and started with a house salad instead of the BLT salad. It was tasty, but I prefer the BLT.

For my entree I went with my all time favorite: the wood grilled salmon, Parmesan mashed potatoes and fresh vegetables. The salmon is so delicious. It was a huge, thick piece of salmon with absolutely fantastic flavor.

Wood Grilled Salmon

Graham had one of their specials, a Santa Fe style pasta. It had shrimp, chorizo and scallops in a chardonnay cream sauce. This was exceptional. Chain restaurants usually have tiny, sad little scallops. These were huge, and perfectly cooked. I'm a sucker for the dish I ordered, but this was as good as mine.

Santa Fe Pasta

My handsome husband & myself

My brothers girlfriend, my mom & myself.

Our trip was over much too soon, and before I knew it I was back to enjoying Buddy & Hermione's epic cuteness.

Boredom + photo apps = collages of the cutest pets ever =)

The NC part of the drive is so pretty.

Our perfect, very image heavy, anniversary weekend =)

One year of married bliss has come and gone. It was an absolutely an amazing first year together, even with the six months of separation. I have loved every moment that we have shared over the past year. Since last April 23rd, we've had two weddings, adopted another fur-child, had an amazing trip to Disney and thousands of other small, perfect moments that have been so special to us. I'm so lucky to be married to someone who constantly makes me laugh, keeps a perpetual smile on my face, challenges me and makes me want to be a better person. I can't wait to see where the rest of our lives takes us.

These beautiful flowers started our long weekend off wonderfully.

I amused myself on the car ride to Eureka Springs by making goofy faces.

My husband is too cute for words =)

We walked up the steepest hill ever to get to the "haunted" Crescent Hotel.

We stopped to admire pretty scenery.

Not the Blue Ridge Parkway, but still pretty.

Spent a beautiful Sunday in Little Rock @ the Big Dam Bridge.

And took Hermione for an adventure at the dog park.

On our actual anniversary, we took advantage of a gift certificate to one of our favorite restaurants, So!,  and had an absolutely amazing dinner.

My favorite meal in Little Rock: Seared scallops & squid ink linguine.

This was absolutely delicious, as usual. The problem: the portion has gotten significantly smaller and the price has stayed high (this dish was $30). I can maybe forgive them for losing a scallop. The scallops are huge, and I know first hand how expensive they are. But I don't get why they felt the need to seriously skimp on the pasta?

Same dish; ordered in May 2011.

Primo Louis Filet

This was excellent. A perfectly cooked beef tenderloin, on top of a bacon hash-brown, topped with lump crab meat and a creamy chardonnay sauce. Absolutely perfect. The meat was so tender and delicious, and that bacon hash-brown was amazing. the texture was crunchy on the outside, creamy on the inside, and hello! Bacon! Yum =)

Key Lime Layered dessert

OH MY GOD. So amazing. The crust was actually a very dense layer of cake (kind of tasted like a very thick cookie), topped with key lime curd and then the gooey key lime pie filling. This was perfect. I could have eaten about five of these... but for some stupid reason, Graham & I decided to share this one.

We got home from dinner, and drank champagne in our crazy expensive, gorgeous Swarovski champagne flutes. This is the third time we've used them, and I adore them. It makes an already special occasion feel a little more special.

And then we fought with my camera and my need for a picture where I don't look fat to take a photo of us on our special day. This will be a yearly thing, and I can't wait to see how we change over the years.