Heading to My Happy Place

I couldn't be happier that this time tomorrow I'll be in my total 'happy place'.

Where is my happy place???

The mountains!

This comes as no surprise to most of you who have been reading this blog for some time now.

Tomorrow, my bff Kelli and I are heading to the Highlands, NC!

It's about a 4-hour drive from Charlotte so we plan on leaving early.

The Highlands is south of the Smoky Mountain National Park and very close to the Georgia state line.

We're staying near Main Street in downtown Highlands where we'll hit up all kinds of shops and restaurants.
But, I'm also excited about seeing the beautiful waterfalls around the area.

Like this one..

I've visited the Highlands twice.
Seven years and then when I took my nieces 5-years ago.

I'm overdue!

Of course, aside from seeing the waterfalls one of the main reasons for our trip is to hike!

That shouldn't surprise you!

We'll also be celebrating Kelli's birthday that is next week!
Should be a fun, relaxing weekend!

Can't wait!

And, speaking of birthdays...
Our niece, Hannah, turns 18 on Saturday!

This is a picture of us in the Highlands area back on her 13th birthday!

Oh, how time flies!!

Happy Birthday Hannah!

Until next week....

Hope you have a great weekend.

Unwanted Visitor

In case you're new here, I spent a majority of my life living in South Louisiana.

Baton Rouge to be exact.

But, I moved on in 1998 and never moved back, all while my brother and his family stayed.

For the past few years he's lived on the Tickfaw River in Springfield, you might recall we spent Thanksgiving there this last year.

It's cute, fun, and LOADED with wildlife.

How many of you have watched Swamp People?

Well, Troy Landry doesn't live too far-off from Springfield.

Anyway, on to today's post.

My brother called Sunday night and said he had an altercation with a gator that was hanging out on their boat dock.

He was pretty excited about the pictures he caught of it all, but not about the gator being so close to their house!

Here the gator is swimming by the dock!

Making his way out of the water.

And, onto land.

My brother said he was HUGE!! Like twice the size of me in height even though the photo doesn't look that way.
He and his neighbor threw rocks at him to try and get him to leave along with other tactics.

And, from there I'll let your imagination run wild as to what happened!

Not cool having gators hanging around your boat dock when you have children, dogs and cats!

I guess that's life living on the Bayou!

Fresh Flowers, Wine, Cheese and More!

It is no secret that some of my favorite things are fresh cut flowers, wine and cheese.

This past weekend, before meeting our friends for dinner we popped into an old Charlotte market, that just moved to a new location under new ownership.

I was a big fan of the old Reid's Fine Foods in Uptown, but they closed over a year ago to much dismay.

Since then, the owner sold it and they've relocated to Myers Park off Selwyn Avenue.

When we pulled up to the shopping center we noticed the wine bar inside.

When we walked in I was instantly IN LOVE!

All of my favorite things displayed so beautifully!

Fresh cut Spring flowers for purchase.

Nothing better than a bouquet of hydrangeas!

Huge selection of beers from all over for purchase.

Cheese!

Their selection is awesome!
Truly!

An incredible selection of wine!

Reid's has always been know for their wine selection.
Their former owner, Chuck, prided himself on it. He even helped us with a few tours here and there on Brad and I's first trip to Napa.

Click here.

We're told Chuck still stops by the store on a regular basis and of course he's remembered throughout the store.

When the old Reid's Uptown was closing they sold a lot of their wine at discounted prices.

I went crazy in there!
I must have bought a case!
The new location has just as good of a selection.

Including a bottle of Mt. Veeder Cab.

Brad and I bought a 1997 bottle of this on said trip above, and proceeded to drink it a couple of weeks later when we got engaged.

Click here to see that.

There is also an assortment of deli meats and fresh meat for sale.
You can find all your ingredients to put together an entire gourmet meal by stopping by Reid's

And, as I mentioned it's all beautifully displayed.

The staff is something to behold too.
A true neighborhood market!

They even offer cooking classes just like the old location!
Brad and I would LOVE to do something like this.

Their next one is Springtime Hors D’oeuvres.

Click here for more information. 

$65 per person for a class from 11am to 2pm

So, if you're ever in Charlotte or live here stop by Reid's.

I PROMISE.PROMISE you won't regret it!!

Weekend Recap in Pictures

Our weekend was fun with nothing major planned.

I'm getting use to that. It's sorta nice!

We had dinner each night with friends.

Perfect.

Friday night we met up with my friend Amanda and some other people at Nolen Kitchen.

Of course, with UNC playing that night the entire restaurant was going crazy as they barely won.

Always fun to get out.

We had planned on going somewhere else in the Myers Park area after dinner but we knew it was going to be super crowded so we headed back to our neighborhood instead.

Saturday morning we woke up and did our usual errands.

Farmer's Market  is one of them.

I love that the flower people are out and about again.

Pretty tulips.

On Saturday we also cooked a new breakfast Brad had seen on Dr. Oz.

It's the belly fat buster sandwich.

Poached egg on top of an english muffin that has avocado, swiss cheese and tomato on it.

Pretty tasty and good for you!
We only used half of the muffin instead of the whole one.

We both agreed it's a little labor intensive to prepare on work mornings.

We will be doing it again though.

Saturday also brought some crazy, nasty weather to our area.

When getting ready for a dinner party at a friend's house I started to hear what sounded like ice pounding against our windows.

This is what I saw when I looked outside.

An, all out hail storm! It looked like it was snowing!!

Here's what our deck looked like afterwards!

I also spent part of my day making Easter cookies for our nieces and nephews.

The ones here in town, and in Louisiana(I'm shipping theirs today).

All of my baking lately makes me wish I had registered for the stand up mixer after all.

I didn't because it was expensive and I wasn't sure I would use it enough to justify.

But, after mixing the royal icing for 10-minutes straight I wish I had one.

Maybe I'll put it on my list of things I want/need?

This was really just a test run.

I'm going to attempt to make the bunnies look real next time with tails and faces.
We'll see how that works out.

But overall, they don't look terrible.

We took the Easter goodies out to the kids yesterday and they were in full play mode!

Reed had his first soccer game of the season and was excited.

I had to get a picture of him in his full uniform.

Uncle Brad helped him warm-up all while telling him how he was the MVP on his team when he was the Reeder's age.
I had to remind him that was almost 30-years ago!

HA!

We had planned to go to his first game but Brad decided we might let him get one game under his belt before we overwhelm him.
So, next time!

He seemed eager to say the least!

And, that was our weekend!

We ended it with dinner at Buca di Beppo last night.

Not great for our diet but we're back on the wagon today!

How was your weekend?

Are You One of 'Those' People?

The one and only time Brad ever visited my office, his remarks were, 'Oh, Geez, you're one of those people'.

He was talking about all the personal photos I have in my cube.

This is nothing new.

I've been like this everywhere I've ever worked.

Even, when I shared a desk in a newsroom.

It makes it more homey in my opinion.

It's also no secret that I totally love taking pictures and looking at them.

And, the obsession didn't start when I started this blog.

I've always been that way.

So, here's a little tour around Dee's work cube.

This picture frame is probably 12 years old.

I think I put it together when I lived and worked in Vegas - hence the casino and bar picture.

They're some of my best friends and I love seeing their faces during my day.

From left to right -- Cathy and I sipping apple martinis back in the day, Jodee and I after she hit a jackpot, and my best friend Rebekah and her hubs Rob.

 Which leads me into the next picture.

Yet, another one of Rebekah when we were in our friend Alicia's wedding 5-years ago.

 Then there's the montage that I switch up from time to time.

The one with the bow is all my Aunts.

Since then, we're one short.

 Then, there's a wedding picture and of course a framed picture of Buddy.

There's also a beagle statue that a co-worker gave me.

 On the other side a picture of Kathleen and I from this past September.

 And, when you're walking up to the cube de' Dee, you'll see our ski picture from our anniversary trip to Park City.

That's not it, as you can see in the background there's an entire display to my alma mater, LSU.

I did an entire post about my LSU shrine when I first started this blog but can't seem to find it.

Just take my word for it. I represent.

HA!

Ridiculous or what?

I've never had anyone say anything to me about it though.

My cube is always tidy despite personal pictures everywhere.

Tell me, are you one of those people to?

What are your thoughts on personal stuff at work?

Oh the People You Can Meet!

Oh the people you meet on the internet!!

I would go on to say that I never would have NEVER thought I would have met cool people on the net, but that's a lie.

I did an internship in college with MTV when they first started their online site(1995) and I met some pretty cool people I actually kept in touch with for a long time.

Anyway - you can meet cool people through blogging which was evident tonight at a blogger dinner that A. Liz organized.

Wow, oh wow! I think our waiter was overwhelmed!

12 of us!

Here are a few of the pictures.

Annie, Sarah, and LuLu

Sara, Me and Katie

The entire group of us!

Maran, April, and Michelle

Christina, Kate and Jordan

We all drank and ate.

It was fun and fabulous.

(not to sound cheesy)

We all went around and introduced ourselves and shared our favorite blogs.

Of course, I had to mention blog bestie's site.

I Do Declare.

We also shared our Twitter handles.

Love me some Twitter!

Find me at @DeNanner

Can't wait to get together again soon!

Great way to spend a Wednesday!