Panic Attack

Friday night Jimmy and I went over to his co-worker, Scott's house to have dinner with him, his wife, Hannah, and their adorable kids Emma and Lauren. Dinner and company were both great! At about 8pm, Hannah's sister came over to watch the kids so the grown-ups could go to Panic Attack haunted attraction near downtown Wilmington. It was two huge warehouses of scary people jumping out at you. A couple times you got lost and had to crawl and push through obstacles. I screamed the entire time and clung to Jimmy. It was both totally terrible and fun at the same time...

Long Time No Talk

Sorry for the lapse in blog posts! Let's see, what have I been up to... I have to look through my camera for visual evidence...

I made a great chicken pot pie worth mentioning. It's Barefoot Contessa's recipe and it was very good. I made the pie crust/top from scratch and I generally stink at baking, so I was proud of myself.

My sister and I went to Boone to visit my Dad this past weekend. It was cold and crisp and the leaves were beautiful - despite it being just past "peak". We did some touristy things including visiting the Orchard at Altapass and the Woolly Worm Festival. Because I'm sure you don't know the history of the Woolly Worm Festival - why would you? - here's a quick recap.

In the American Northeast, it is believed that if the woolly worm has more brown on its body than black, it will be a fair winter. If the woolly worm has more black than brown, the winter will be harsh. Every year on the third weekend of October a festival is held where they "race" contestants' woolly worms and people gather for food, music and vendors. The winner of the race predicts 13 weeks of winter (to correspond to the 13 bands in the worms coloring). Below is the forecast for this winter based on the winner from Saturday. 


The High Country Forecast for the 13 weeks of Winter are as follows: 

1 - Lt Snow & Cold

2 - Cold & Snowy

3 - Cold & Snowy

4 - Cold & Snowy

5 - Lt Snow & Cold

6-11 Normal Cold

12 - Cold & Snowy

13 - Cold & Snowy

Fall foliage

First Day of October

We woke up Saturday morning to refreshingly low temperatures. It will inevitably get warm again, but it was still a nice Fall teaser. Jimmy had a bunch of school work to do so I walked Malloy, did some yoga and then joined my mom and family friend, Buffa, for a day trip to Southport.

We did lunch at the Provision Company on the water and hit up some shops, including a great Christmas store. I'm now way too excited for the holidays.

It was a tiring day trip, so Saturday evening it was just dinner, big drinks and fire dancing. Yes, fire dancing. I don't have pics to prove it, but there was a young woman at the Fat Pelican dancing with chains soaked in lighter fluid and set on fire. Weird, I know.

Looking back at old posts from weekend recaps, all I can say is, man, I love my mom and all, but we need to get some friends our own age! Sure, we have a few in Wilmington, including Mike and Brittany, who we're doing crabs and beer with tonight. Should be fun!

South Carolina Classic?

Friends from work, Lauren and Dave, took me on Friday to taste one of their favorite eats - the South Carolina hot dog at Haley's hot dog stand. Haley's sets up outside the bars downtown on the weekends, but Friday at noon it was at Home Depot. Classy.

The South Carolina hot dog is peanut butter, a little mayo and raw onions. Strangest combo I've ever heard of, but surprisingly very good. Once the peanut butter hits the steamy hot dog it starts to melt and drip all over the place. I can't say I'll eat another one anytime soon, but only because it's the opposite of good for you. Anywho, Happy Saturday!

Happy (Early) Birthday Jimmy!

Presents galore...

Filet with gorgonzola cream sauce, homemade french fries and a big salad...

Chocolate cake to boot...

Charleston

Happy Hump Day! Now for a recap of our anniversary weekend in Charleston...

The weather was...terrible. Completely gray/overcast and cold - record lows. Not at all the warm, even sweltering at times, Charleston I know and love. Anyways, it was still very fun. The only real letdown was that we dragged our paddleboards all the way to Charleston thinking we'd get a good paddle in at Shem Creek, but Jimmy couldn't have paid me to get in a bathing suit. Anyways, the weekend included...

...a bottle of champagne courtesy of my mom (and Malloy & Mikey - our pups - per the card our resort included). 

...a great glass of wine at the Market Pavilion bar. We tried to do the rooftop bar but it was way too chilly!

...a great dinner at Husk - Charleston's best chef and best new restaurant 2011 and Bon Appetit Magazine's Best New Restaurant in America. To follow: Husk sign and exterior; amazing-don't-know-what-was-in-them-but-they-were-delicious rolls; the happy couple on our way out...

...after dinner drink at the Blind Tiger Pub.

...an attempt to eat breakfast at the newly expanded Hominy Grill but the line was too long.

...coffee and muffin and some window shopping on King St.

...incredible burger at Poe's Tavern on Sullivan's Island.

...appetizer and drinks at Coast.

...and, lastly, two more appetizers and a vegetable for the table at FIG. FIG was a really cool, low key place - Jimmy had had enough of my picture taking :)

So thankful for the weekend away with my Jimmy!

Happy Anniversary Jimmy!

Happy two years sweetheart! Here's to many, many more to come - each better than the last.

Post on our Charleston weekend to come. But first, one of my favorites from Sept. 19th 2009...