more cowbell!

i have never met anyone who gets more excited about halloween than joe. he plans his costume starting about a year in advance and is just beside himself when it comes to being able to dress up and go out in full regalia. he lives for it! so i've made it a point to try to just let him run wild and free when it comes to getting his costume prepped and planning his outfit piece by piece. he gets giddy with the idea of another halloween and another night of getting to let loose that little kid inside. hey, it only comes once a year, right?

this year with that red beard in tact, joe decided to go as will ferrell's "more cowbell" sketch from SNL. if you haven't seen it, watch the video here.

here is the finished product:

i figure if he ever loses his day job, he can make a living doing will ferrell impersonations.

i'm oh so proud :)

happy tuesday!

fair friday!

welcome to the end of the work week =)

tonight, we are going to the FAIR!!! the fair is one of my absolute favorite places to go, and though i may be a little biased, i think n.c. has the best fair this side of heaven.

i like to do a little of this:

and some of this:

but mostly i go for things like these:

did i mention how much i love fall??

happy friday!

these are a few of my favorite things...

folks, we are now in full swing with fall and i.am.lovin.it.

i've decided to share with you my top 4 "favorite things for fall" list (in no particular order):

*scarves-

i love a scarf. i wear them often and probably own more than i should. but for an average $5 a scarf, who can say no to adding another lovely (and functional!!) item to a wardrobe? a scarf is a perfect item to spice up that normally drab solid tee that you'd intended to wear under that everyday cardigan (don't get me wrong...this is just about all i wear so i'm preachin to myself here). and with the weather fluctuating 25 degrees from morning to afternoon, as it does here in the south, this is the perfect piece to keep you comfortable all day long. i could keep going, but you're already falling asleep at your desk as it is (wake up! it's only tuesday.) yay for scarves!

*soup-

it is finally soup season here in the south. yes, there is such a thing. it runs from about the beginning of october to the beginning of march. there is nothing like a bowl of soup after a long day to warm the soul and relax you. whether it's poppin open a can of campbell's or going home for a batch of homemade chili or broccoli soup, it's one of my favorite fall past times.

*hot beverages-

year-round i am a big morning coffee drinker. lord, help the poor soul who sees me before i have had my morning dose (a.k.a. my roommate. she's a saint.) during the scorching summer, my afternoon caffeine fixes come from diet cokes or frappuccinos since i certainly don't need to heat my inside as well as my outside. but during the fall, i am all for a hot beverage morning, noon and night. give me a pumpkin spice latte, cup o' folgers, hot chocolate or tea with honey and i am a happy girl. and my coworkers are thankful as well.

*rich colors-

throw those pretty pastels in the back of your closet and break out the bold! with the weather getting colder and those chilly mornings making it increasingly difficult to get out of bed, throw on those rich reds, bright blues and yummy squash colored yellows and you'll be ready to go! (well, you may not feel ready and would rather crawl back into bed, but at least you'll look cute and festive.) next time you're out shopping for that must-have sweater or i-need-it-desperately jacket, put down the light pink one and pick up the orange or chocolate brown. get out there and strut your autumn stuff!

carpe autumno!

happy friday! and "discovery of the week"! and catching up from nyc...all rolled into 1

hello, blog buddies!

i hope you've had a fabulous week and are ready to enjoy a wonderful weekend =)

our trip to nyc was wonderful wonderful and i will be sure to do a post soon complete with pictures. i did a whole album of them already on facebook, so stalk away!

my discovery of the week is a magical place called "max brenner's".
i don't even know where to start with the description so i'll just start fumbling my way through while drooling at the thought.

max brenner is creating a chocolate culture and all you really need to do to be a part of it is love chocolate. and i mean love. everything on the menu is made with chocolate and the designs of the restaurants reflect chocolate everywhere.
there are max brenner locations in nyc, philly, israel, the philippines, singapore and australia.

check them out here: http://www.maxbrenner.com/

we went and had the most wonderful breakfast that i think i've had to date. i had a peanut butter-banana-hazelnut-toffee-chocolate syrup crepe. with caramel on the side. and a toffee mocha to drink.
needless to say, i was wired and had an awful sugar crash that was worth every bit of the exhaustion.

we ate our way through that city and brenner's was definitely a highlight! the next time you go to nyc, stop by for the max brenner's experience. and overnight me one of those crepes.

hello, october!

october represents all that is good and right with the world.

...so, okay, i know that's taking it a little far but i'm not exagerating by much.

october is the state fair.football.sweaters.boots.the start of "soup and chili season".and on i could go.

two of my absolute favorite october things (of course) have to do with food. really they are two of my absolute favorite things of the whole year.

this:


and this:

perfection.

i don't let myself have them until october 1st so i can savor the yumminess and have something to look forward to kicking off a wonderful month.

i obviously indulged in both yesterday and had a fabulous start to fall.

here's to goodness.

it's the late show with...kate and joe!

friday we are jet setting north for a full 4 days of tourism in the big apple.

yes, we all know that i love a plan and make lists for everything, so we have a jam packed schedule and are determined to get as much of the city under our belts as is humanly possible.

yesterday, i got a call from here:

...and they offered us tickets to monday's show! wayyyy stoked. the taping is on monday afternoon for the monday night show, so get your dvr's set and watch out for our big debut!

i'll make sure to laugh obnoxiously loud so that you all can hear and be proud to claim me as your friend.

family vacation

we spent this weekend with 18 of joe's best friends on the 4th annual "family vacation". every year since they graduated, the group has gotten together for a september weekend at a lake in either n.c. or s.c.
the "family" rents a house to sleep everyone and just spends the weekend hanging on to the last few days of summer.


the group now has people traveling from as far as alabama and ohio, multiplying each year with another significant other or two joining the crowd (i was a new addition this year!) this year, we went to lake norman and had a fabulous time.

this was the view from our back deck:

i had my first (unsuccessful) attempts at wake boarding. i unfortunately don't have pictures of my repeated face plants, but you get the picture.

we spent all of our time watching football, playing games, and having a 4 hour long one-for-the-books dance party (which obviously included Hava Nagila. necessary.) needless to say, we are already looking forward to next year!

and i'm in desperate need for a vacation from the the vacation. exhausted but it was worth every spastic dance move =)

these boots were made for...tailgating

i love nc state.
i love tailgating.
i do not love fire ants.

last year, nc state played william and mary on a very hot saturday afternoon. while tailgating prior to game time, i was bitten by about 30 fire ants. long story short, there was an allergic reaction, ridiculous amounts of unfortunate swelling, an ambulance ride,drugs,drugs,drugs, and a panic attack (though the panic attack was because i was not going to let the doctors keep me from going to the second half even though my eyes were nearly swollen shut...and i won that battle thank you very much).

this year, i decided that i'd like to make any life threatening actions at football games involve tearing down goal posts or a fist fight with the opposing fans.
i went to an allergist and found out (duh) that i'm allergic to the fire ants. and i have to undergo 5 years of immunotherapy to be completely immunized.
in the meantime, the allergist said that i have to carry benadryl, an epipen, and wear boots to tailgate. boots.

now, you all know that i'm not really a boot-wearin kind of tailgater. but i figured now that i'm workin at farm bureau and lovin the south more than ever, i might as well cross over.
this however does not mean i will start listening to country music. one step at a time.

i went and bought these boots yesterday. i'm in love with them. love. i wore them around the apt. last night in gym shorts and a pj shirt lookin real classy.

'tis the season for football. and i'm ready. epipen and all.