Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Polka Dot Palette Painting Class

On Friday evening Cassie invited me to go to Polka Dot Palette for a BYOB painting class! She had purchased a deal on Living Social and it was the last day to use the voucher! We picked up a bottle of wine on the way and we were ready to go!

The theme for the night was "Little ______ Dress (Choose Your Color)". Before the class began our instructor, Brandon, came around, welcomed us to the studio and asked us which colors we wanted to use for our painting. 


This class was so much fun! We started with a blank canvas and Brandon showed us how to create the background and dress. We all followed him step-by-step, but every piece of art looked a little different. I am going to hang mine up in our guest room!

This is a shot of how our final pieces turned out! Mine is the blue one on the left and Cassie's is the coral one on the right. I can't wait to sign up for more classes in the future! If you are interested in attending a class like this be sure to check out Living Social or Groupon to see if there are art studios offering discount vouchers in your area!

Have you ever tried a painting class?


Monday, April 29, 2013

Weekend Recap


I have learned that the hibernation period in the Triangle officially ends on the first day of April. Even though our region gets a fairly small amount of snowfall, we still but we have been busy every weekend since the beginning of the month! There are so many indoor and outdoor activities going on in the area, we don't have weekends that are filled with opportunities for napping anymore (and we love that!)  

On Friday after work I joined my friend Cassie for a BYOB painting class at Polka Dot Palette, an art studio in Cary, NC. We had so much fun! I will post pictures of our paintings and go into more detail about our class in a post tomorrow. After our class we met up with two of our friends, Cathy and Suzanne for drinks at Rudino's on Edwards Mill Road. We were pretty much the only people in the restaurant, which was odd for a Friday night, but we didn't mind! We talked about how our weeks went and made plans for the weekend.



On Saturday Aaron, Cassie, Cathy and I went to the Spring Daze Arts & Crafts Festival at the Bond Metro Park in Cary (we have been spending a lot of time in Cary recently...) I had heard about the festival on the radio earlier in the week, and I can never pass up an Arts & Crafts event, especially when it is hosted in a park on a beautiful day! We walked around to see all of the art vendors, listened to a group of singing pirates, watched an aerialist performance, and we even spotted a baby dragon! 

Later that evening Aaron and I went downtown to the Upstairs Party Space at Centro for the Raleigh Tribe 1st Annual Birthday Bash to celebrate the first year of Raleigh Tribe programming. We had a great time celebrating with friends and enjoying tapas, margaritas and of course, birthday cake!

Hope you had a good weekend!

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Simply Saturday



Friday, April 26, 2013

Friday Favorites



This week I enjoyed watching the first episode of Ke$ha: My Crazy Beautiful Life, which is a new documentary series that was shot over the course of two years by Ke$ha's filmmaker brother, Lagan Sebert. The series takes us behind the scenes and gives access to Ke$ha's life and her coming of age as an artist and young woman.

9 Dinner Specials Created In Honor Of Game Of Thrones Characters! Food + Game of Thrones + pop culture puns, love it!

This week I decided to become a backer for Zach Braff's latest movie project, I Wish I Was Here, which is currently being funded on Kickstarter. The project launched on Wednesday and they already have over 25k backers and they have nearly reached their 2 million fundraising goal! After the success of raising funds for the Veronica Mars movie and now this movie, I am sure more and more indie film makers will jump on the Kickstarter wagon. Come-on Pushing Dasies!!!

Recently I have been interested in learning more about my adopted state of residence, North Carolina. I have been watching a few videos on YouTube and reading articles on travel websites and in the midst of my research I discovered Project 543 by visitNC.com.  

Project 543 tells the story of unique spots across North Carolina.Why 543? Because that's the number of miles from Manteo, on the coast, to Murphy, in the mountains, and is traditionally considered to be the width of North Carolina.


This group of amazing people that we have in our lives! We have known most of them for less than a year, but they always invite us to amazing events and parties. This shot is from our photo session at the JC Raulston Arboretum at NC State before our Big Kid Prom!

It looks like it is going to be a beautiful weekend! Tonight I am going to a painting class with my friend Cassie at a studio in Cary. Tomorrow and then tomorrow night we are going to the Raleigh Tribe First Annual Birthday Bash!

Hope you have a good weekend!

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Wedding Wednesday: CAKE!


1/2/3/4/5/6/7

So, I was originally planning on creating a photo collage with only 4 photos, but I have so many beautiful cake photos in my inspiration folder, that I decided to stretch my collage to 7! 

A few weekends ago when I was visiting my cousin, she told me that her friend has a cake business called Cute & Sweet Boutique, that is based out of Durham. After checking out the bakery website I sent the owner a list of our preferred flavors and scheduled a tasting appointment. Aaron and I met with bakery owner, Amy on Saturday at the Southpoint Mall in Durham. We tasted 4 Autumn flavors and talked about a cake design. This was our first tasting so we didn't agree on anything yet, except that all four flavors were delicious!


And now, here is a treat - a sneak peek at our engagment photo shoot with B Real Photo from two weekends ago at the amazingly beautiful Historic Oak View Park. We are meeting with our photographer, Suzanne next Friday at her brand new studio to look over the rest of the photos, so I will have more to share soon!


Tuesday, April 23, 2013

National Picnic Day 2013


Today, April 23rd, is National Picnic Day! 

Eating outside in the beauty of nature has been a common tradition for centuries. Our modern-day idea of a picnic evolved from Medieval feasts that were eaten in the field during hunting season as well as posh Victorian garden parties, which involved multiple courses and elaborate preparations.

My favorite memories of picnicking are from when our family would go on Summer vacation to Bethany Beach in Delaware. We would pack up a cooler with sandwiches, snacks, Mondo drinks and cookies then head out to the beach for the day. My dad would dig out a sand pit for my sister and me complete with windows, shelves, benches, and of course a cup holder for my Mondo!

When we were in college, Aaron and I would often go with our friends to pick up dinner from the Kroger in Athens and take it to Strouds Run State Park for a sunset picnic. It was a great way for us to enjoy a meal that wasn't dining hall food, and to get out of the dorms for a few hours. 

Even though we are having a few days of chilly weather here in Raleigh that aren't the best for picnicking, I hope we will get to enjoy a picnic in one of the amazing parks in our area this Spring. Happy National Picnic Day! What are your favorite Picnic foods?

Monday, April 22, 2013

Weekend Recap

Good Morning! Before I get into my weekend recap I just want to mention Google's entrancing doodle on the homepage today. It reminds me about learning about the water cycle and different types of terrains in Elementary School. Along with cloud patterns, it was always one of my favorite things to study (Thanks Magic School Bus!) Happy Earth Day!

On Friday night Aaron and I braved a massive thunderstorm/potential tornado to go to a Shabbat dinner hosted by the Raleigh Tribe sponsored by Birthright Next. The plan was to have a cookout and grill burgers on the beautiful patio outside of the Oberlin Court Club House, but the our first spring storm here in Raleigh wasn't about to let that happen. Luckily the planning committee was prepared and whipped out a George Foreman grill, so we just moved the party inside! We had a wonderful time celebrating Shabbat, reconnecting with friends and meeting a few new friends!

On Saturday we went to the Southpoint Mall in Durham to meet our potential wedding cake baker/decorator. We had a 4 flavor tasting and planning. I will post a few photos and share more details later this week for Wedding Wednesday! After our tasting we walked around the mall and outside shops for a bit. 
There is a large outdoor shopping area, which I enjoyed because the weather was PERFECT! We stopped into West Elm and spotted this amazing coffee table and an entire garden of potted succulents! On our way home we picked up dinner at The Fresh Market and spent the evening catching up on TV and reading.

Sunday morning we slept in and then made it to CostCo just as it opened to beat the crowds. After a quick trip to Trader Joe's we spent the afternoon napping and reading until our friend Christina came over for dinner. I made pasta with red sauce and meatballs, roasted broccoli florets with garlic and lemon and mushroom bruschetta. Christina is moving up to Washington DC soon, so we were happy to have her over to catch up and tell us all about her plans. Skwisgaar was very charming and entertaining after dinner.

Hope you had a good weekend!

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Simply Saturday



Friday, April 19, 2013

Friday Favorites



 
"If I Die in Raleigh" Burlap Throw Pillow created by tootyb. If you live in North Carolina, especially Raleigh, you need to have this pillow featuring Old Crow Medicine Show lyrics on your couch.

 
Yesterday was the first annual OUr Day, which is a day to celebrate the fact that you're an Ohio University alumnus—and part of the Bobcat Nation! I would love to show my Bobcat pride by wearing these amazing Ohio University Bobcats Toms Shoes created by Custom Toms Shoes by JC.

Identity-Based Habits: How to Actually Stick to Your Goals by James Clear. This is an article posted on Quora, so if you don't have an account you may not be able to read it, but I recommend that you sing up for an account. It's free and the articles are great!

We were given a NutriBullet at our wedding shower last month and I am LOVING it! I have been using fresh greens and fresh apples from our local NC State Farmers Market mixed with frozen berries and almond milk every morning to make a NutriBlast. I feel energized, my skin is completely clear, and I have already lost a little bit of weight over the past 2 weeks. I love this thing! I will post a few of my favorite recipes soon!

I know everyone is probably focusing on the events that are happening in Boston this morning. I hope that everything goes well and no one else gets hurt. 

Despite the rain storms in the forecast, Aaron and I are planning on going to a Shabbat cookout tonight with the Raleigh Tribe. Hope you have a good weekend!


Monday, April 8, 2013

Weekend Recap


Sometimes when you have a rough, emotional week, your body decides to add on a heap of cold symptoms and you spend the weekend becoming very intimate with a Neti pot.

In other news, "Can I catch a cold from my cat" is the most ridiculous thing that I have ever Googled. The answer (which I knew deep down, but just wanted to check, you know, just in case) is no, you cannot catch a cold from a cat or dog. 

Skwisgaar's cold has now gone away and I hope that mine quickly follows suit. 

Hope you had a good weekend!

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Simply Saturday



Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Wedding Wednesday: Ohio Couples Shower


Last week we celebrated the first event of our "wedding season". Aaron's mom and sister threw us an "Ohio University is for Lovers" themed couples wedding shower at a country club in Akron. We had so much fun!

We enjoyed an amazing brunch, visited with family and friends, played a 20 questions game, and opened gifts!

The entire show flew by in a flash, when we were packing up the car I could hardly believe that it was over. We are so grateful that we have and will continue to have so many opportunities to celebrate with our loved ones!

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Game of Thrones


In honor of the Game of Thrones Season 3 premier, I created a sigil with our house motto and feline icon using the official Game of Thrones Sigil Creator. Aaron and I watch the first episode last night (we don't have HBO so we have to wait to find it online) and we are excited to see what happens this season!

What is your house motto?

Monday, April 1, 2013

Weekend Recap


I guess I only took two pictures all weekend, because after our non-stop weekend in Ohio, we wanted to savor our down time and relax (haha - what's new?)

Even though we usually go out for dinner on Friday nights, to keep it kosher for Passover friendly, we decided to stay in and make tuna salad instead. After dinner we watched The Collection, an action horror film, and sequel to the 2009 film, The Collector.

After the movie we decided to use our new NutriBullet to test out a makeshift recipe for a Fruit Explosion! smoothie with frozen mango, strawberries, peaches, a banana, and mango juice. It was so good! I have been using this thing almost everyday. I bought a few blood oranges yesterday to try out.

On Saturday we did some cleaning and laundry around the apartment, dropped off a box of old cookware at Goodwill and then went to see Spring Breakers at the Raleigh Grande. I worked on organizing the guest room for a bit and then made BBQ chicken for dinner. 

Sunday was overcast and rainy all day so we set aside some time to video chat with family, write thank you notes for the gifts that we received at our Ohio couples shower, and  I tried a new way to make hard boiled eggs - you bake them in the oven! 

Sounds crazy, but it actually worked out really well. I wanted to make a large batch of eggs salad for lunches so I popped a dozen eggs into the oven for 30 min at 325ยบ and let them roast away. When they came out they were a little spotty, but perfectly cooked with creamy centers. I'm hooked!

Later in the afternoon we decided to watch the first two episodes of Bates Motel, a modern day re-imagining of the back story of Hitchcock's iconic thriller, Psycho. I really like this show already and even though I still see Charlie Bucket whenever I'm watching Freddie Highmore as Norman Bates, I think his portrayal of the character is going to turn out well.

We finished off our Sunday by watching the season finale of The Walking Dead. Since it just aired, I don't want to give away any spoilers, but I hope they really bring it next season.

I hope you had a good weekend!