Bravos

Nick was the lucky beneficiary of 4 tickets for the Braves vs. Marlins. We were worried because they were in the outfield. 

After we almost started a gunfight in a lot outside of regular parking (you had to have been there, but it is no joke!), we made it in to find our seats were awesome!

Nick loved the seats!

Erin & Nick loved the free tickets! haha

We had a great night, and we were happy our lives were spared earlier!

Tattie's Paarty

July 25, 2011 marked the 25th birthday of one Erin "LeTatas" LeClercq. To celebrate, we drank, ate, and played games.

Erin played corn hole.

So did her mom and brother!

How pretty!

Happy 25th Birthday LeTatas! LOVE YOU! (don't move...)

Chicago

Work called, and I took a trip to Chicago for a little work (& a little play). While I was away, Nick enjoyed a quiet house and some dog-time. :)

First, some ladies from work went out for dinner & drinks.

Aren't Coyote's attractive?

We also took advantage of a weekend in Chicago to celebrate Kristi's bachlorette status!

Here's the bachlorette and her friend Stacey above.

Here I am with my buddy in Chicago, Krystal.

And the beautiful roommates, Natalie & Katherine.

Here's the group.

Had to show the pregaming :)

The next two pictures are a taste of what came for Kristi's bachlorette night. Just a taste!

Idina

While Nick was at home, I was fortunate enough to re-celebrate Mother's Day with two amazing mothers in our lives: our moms.

They have seen us through our good and bad (and let's be honest, the seeing us through the bad is where it counts).

The least we could do was take them out on a great night to see Idina Menzel at Chastain Park Amphitheater.

I didn't expect the show to be more than signing, but Idina is an all-round great performer, and she dazzled the audience with her stories and humor.

Here's our view:

Idina was wearing a beautiful green/yellow gown, but it is hard to see above.

And below, here we are. Sweaty & happy. Aren't our mothers beautiful???

Florence

One of the concerts on our list for the summer was Florence & the Machine. It was seriously one of the best concerts we've been to in a while--and the friends we went with made it even more fun!

We met at Publik Draft House before the show for some drinks and grub.

Here we are with Eleanor & Erin:

The girls + some:

Love:

Can't post about a show at the Fox without seeing it in lights!

Like I said before, the show was spectacular. Florence is so talented, and we enjoyed the music so much!

On a side note, these are the last pictures of long-haired Stephanie. The next day it got chopped off!!!

Grow/Woah

The novelty of having a blog wore off, and I fell off the wagon. But I'm back, so here goes...


Our vegetable garden and flower garden have been rocking! Cucumbers were the first to start kicking, but the tomatoes (cherry & traveler), jalapenos, and poblanos followed suit. The dogs also followed the growing veggies and became our prime tomato thieves.

Here's a shot of the two veggie boxes.

Most of the cucumbers were normal, but how about the weird-looking one above?

The cucumbers rocked out for a good month or so. The cherry tomatoes are still popping out in numbers!

Look how juicy!

SPICY! Jalapeno :)

The shot above is a baby poblano. Most are the size of my palm now.

One issue we have had is the lack of fruit on our tomatillo plants. They're hue, have yellow flowers, but the tomatillos haven't graced us with their presence. Any tips? 

As for the flower garden, it has continued to bloom with beautiful flowers.

Some close-ups:

Our garden has been a family affair for sure...check it out!

Wed

Wedding day came & went on June 25, 2011 for Lawson & Katie!

We started the day at the pool at the hotel (that's Nick in the pool):

We didn't take any ceremony pictures (or that many in total) because we were enjoying the day. But here is what was taken.

Here we are at the Yacht club:

With the bride & groom:

Want to see more of Katie's dress? Here it is (feather accent included):

She looked ridiculously fabulous. Her waist was teeny, and she glowed with radiance & happiness that day! We DANCED our butts off-- Lawson & Katie included. The cake was vanilla, chocolate, AND red velvet. There was awesome shrimp gumbo and tomato pie bites (hard to explain, easy to eat). It was literally a PERFECT wedding.

...and then we lit the sparklers.

No, there was no fire. BUT we did set off the smoke alarms at the Yacht Club. I think everyone was a little too lit to call the fire department and tell them "false alarm". 

So after the newlyweds left, we welcomed the finest of the city of Charleston:

The next day, we left Charleston with happiness in our hearts and M&M's in our bellies:

Congrats you two!!!

Rehearse

Like mentioned in the previous post, we traveled to Charleston, SC to celebrate the wedding of our friends Lawson & Katie. Nick was a groomsman, and Stephanie was the #1 cheerleader for the weekend. Lawson & Katie are our "BFF" couple. We have spent so many nights eating, drinking, and most importantly laughing with them, so we were so excited for them to commit to the rest of their lives together.

The rehearsal was at the same location where the reception was to be held: The Carolina Yacht Club. Stephanie got there early and took some pictures.

Here's the water next to the venue:

Here's the venue for the Saturday night reception (2nd floor overlooking the water, of course):

Look at the flowers! They're perfect!

We attempted a self-portrait (we have been working on this for 5 years...):

The bride and groom on their last night before marriage:

Nick and Lawson:

After the rehearsal dinner, Lawson's parent's friends hosted a party in the next room-- there weren't too many pictures taken (probably a good thing), but it was a great start to the weekend! We had a blast; it is so much fun celebrating the people you love!

Husk

We like food. A lot. More than a lot. We like eating it, cooking it, looking at it, smelling it, rolling in it....wait. Kidding on the last one (kind of).


We were excited that we had the fortunate opportunity to head to Charleston this past weekend for our friends Lawson & Katie's wedding (post to follow). 


Nick's friend John mentioned that we should head to a place called Husk for some grub. Little did we know it was right around the corner from our hotel.

Someone told me it is the oldest hotel in Charleston:

We walked outside of the hotel looking for food. Look what we found next door:

As their website says, "the kitchen reinterprets the bounty of the surrounding area, exploring an ingredient-driven cuisine that begins in the rediscovery of heirloom products and redefines what it means to cook and eat in Charleston." AKA-- right up our alley. 

Local, sustainable, somewhat organic:

When we walked in, there was even a board with a bunch of ingredients and where they came from that day:

We sat down, and even the table decor was ingenious (dried okra and beans in dried corn):

They're known for their cocktails (though the bar was not yet open when we went):

So we started with some rockin' cocktails. On the left is Nick's Barrel Aged Manhattan and Stephanie's Southern Screwdriver is on the right. Check out the ingredients here (we're talking house-made citrus vermouth and jalapeno macerated vodka):

For our appetizer, we enjoyed BBQ bologna sliders with cabbage and carrot slaw:

For lunch, Nick ordered the cornmeal dusted catfish with roasted red pepper sauce on top of fried cabbage with mustard and country ham crumbles:

Stephanie ordered the almaco jack with herbed butter on top of glazed (with butter) beets:

We were too full for dessert, but when we make it back to Charleston (whenever that may be), we'll be heading back. Hopefully with a visit to the bar and including dessert!

If you'd like to see the menu for our lunch (yes, the exact one they change daily), you can see it here.