day trip to asheville

one day last week, scofield had the day off, so we decided to get out of town and take a short drive up to asheville. it was a beautiful day - perfect for a drive - and there were a few places i wanted to try. scofield just wanted to relax with a cup of coffee and a book, so we decided a day in asheville would be perfect.

our first stop was biscuit head in west asheville. i am a sucker for biscuits. it's my guilty pleasure. scofield even tried to nickname me 'biscuit' once, but it didn't really stick...anyway, i got the fried green tomato biscuit sandwich. brie cheese, fried green tomato, sliced red tomato, topped with a poached egg and salsa. so good.

scofield ordered the chicken biscuit - fried chicken, cole slaw, sweet potato spread, and a poached egg. i think one of my favorite parts of the restaurant was their toppings bar. i tried the rosemary garlic butter, and oh my gosh, it was heavenly. they even have gluten free biscuits. this places gets a double thumbs up. another favorite restaurant in asheville is white duck taco, if you're interested.

we of course had to stop by the chocolate shop and try a few truffles. i was in love with the dark chocolate mojito truffle.

and scofield got his coffee shop + reading time in at izzy's coffee den. 

we finished off the day with a giant ice cream cone and a movie. scofield convinced me to see godzilla [i got to pick the last movie we saw, so it was his turn]. i wasn't excited at first, but it actually turned out to be really good. my husband has converted me into an action movie lover...what is happening!?

memorial day on the lake

hello! hope you had a great memorial day! we spent the day on the lake with friends and soaking up the sun. i can't remember the last time we went out on the water. it was a wonderful and relaxing change of pace. as my friend mallie says, "the sun fixes everything." yes, it does. and yes, it did. 

 ^ those freckles...sheesh, i love them!

i'll ski all day on the lake, but one thing i refuse to do is ride the tube. these friends are brave. and adventurous. i guess neither of which i am if it involves pulling a tube behind a boat. it was really funny to observe the difference between the girls and the guys - the girls were constantly requesting the boat slow down and for a slow smooth ride. the boys (and by boys, i mean my husband) yell, "faster," and "see how fast you can throw us off." the difference between testosterone and estrogen...

lake, you are always so good to us. thanks for a fun day!

meet blakely grindrod of 'blakely made'

meet blakely, the artist behind blakely made. 

blakely lives in charleston, and her art truly captures the beauty of living by the sea. i don't know about you, but i am a sucker for colorful art, and i love all the color she uses. 

 ^ her paintings are acrylic paint on wood panel

 ^ oh, and she's getting married soon :) [congrats, blakely!]

blakely, you are lovely, and so is your work. 

--

shop blakely's art here

photography by caroline ro

we went walking. i took my camera.

last sunday was a cloudy, rainy one. after spending all day indoors saturday with a grey's anatomy marathon, and doing that half of the day sunday, by the end of the day we were dying to get out. the rainy day turned into a delightfully sunny, but cool, evening. so we laced up and headed out. nothing to end the day like a sunset walk. 

two years.

it is so hard to believe it's been two years since our wedding. sometimes, it feels like we've been married forever - like we've never known another way - and other times, it feels like it was just yesterday. time really does fly when you're having fun. and these two years have been the most fun two years of my life.

below is a little video i put together of our wedding day. our original wedding video is 20 minutes long...rehearsal dinner speeches included! now i'm sure you'd love to sit through 20 minutes of our wedding and walk through each detail, piece by piece and emotion by emotion, with us ;) ... but just in case, i took our raw footage and compiled a shorter video. song by holly maher.

happy anniversary to my best friend, my love, my person. there's nothing more wonderful than being your wife!

--

oh, and if you'd like to see our wedding pictures, you can find them here.

charnise mangle - global studies teacher

a few weeks ago i took some pictures for my good friend, char. she just landed her first full time teaching gig as a global studies teacher in the fall, and i couldn't be more excited for her. in the meantime, she's planning, branding, and preparing a killer website for her future students.

her students have no idea how lucky they are going to be to be in her classroom. she's the best. plus, she's got that whole 'cool teacher' thing going for her ;)

congrats, char!

lemon poppyseed muffins

lately, i've had this strange craving for lemon poppyseed muffins. i mean, gosh, i probably haven't had one since elementary school. and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, i couldn't kick the craving. maybe it's the nostalgia of going with my dad to get one at the bagel shop when he picked me up from school as a kid, or maybe it's the refreshing flavor of lemon that is so satisfying with this crazy carolina heat.

lemon poppyseed muffins

ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp. poppy seeds
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• juice of two lemons
• zest of one lemon
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup non-fat, vanilla yogurt

for the glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 3 tbsp. lemon juice

preheat oven to 350 F. in a bowl, combine the flour, poppy seeds, sugar, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. stir until fully combined. in a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and melted butter. add the lemon juice, zest, vanilla extract and vanilla yogurt. whisk until you get a smooth texture. pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix until just incorporated [do not over mix]. spray cupcake molds with cooking spray or line with cupcake liners. fill each compartment 3/4 full. bake in the oven at 350 for 10 minutes. reduce heat to 325 and bake for another 15 minutes. remove from heat and let cool.

while the muffins are cooling, prepare the glaze. mix the powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth. pour the glaze over the muffins, and devour!