Remember this one...

Do you remember this little project we did? Well Lindsey @ Better After featured it on her blog! Check it out!

Thanks so much for the kind words Lindsey - You hit the nail on the head I am definitely a member of the "ItsmydresserandI'llpainthowIwantto Camp" - always have been - always will be. It's your home - do what makes you happy!

If you haven't checked out Better After before it's a great blog! Showcasing all kinds of before & afters. Tons of ideas and inspirations!

What a great way to start the weekend - some inspiration for "to-do" projects. Do you have anything on your list this weekend. I do, but we'll see if we can get to it. We also have a wedding and birthday celebration on Sunday so the weekend seems to already be packed! Isn't that always the way! Anyhoo - however you spend it hope it's a great one!!

A day in the life of Beaufort

On our way home from Fripp Island, we thought we do a little sight seeing. 

Our first stop was at Huntington Beach State Park to check out the lighthouse.

It was a HOT day and there were lots of steps but once we were at the top the view was totally worth all the sweat!

It’s a beautiful state park with beach access and camping sites.

Then our next stop was in Beaufort SC to enjoy a little history and some yummy food.  Downtown Beaufort is beautiful and full of great shops.  We were both starving so our first stop was for lunch.  After a little research on Tripadvisor, we decided on Nippy’s.

A cute little spot with yummy seafood.  We had a shrimp roll  - fresh fried shrimp on a New England hot dog bun.  Simple but so good!  Joe had a flounder sandwich with lettuce & tomato.  The tartar sauce was good stuff too!

So once our tummies were full it was on to shopping!  They have a mixture of home & gift shops to clothes, to books, to art.  Lots to look at!

My favorite shop was M Interiors.  Check out some of the great things she had!  Oh and I apologize for the quality of the shots my phone doesn’t take the loveliest pictures.

 

   

 

Cool stuff, right!  She doesn’t have a website or I would share it with you.  I loved the feel of the shop with the sisal wall to wall carpet.  The sand colored walls and the mixture of rustic and sleek items was really nice!

I want to show you some of the beautiful homes of Beaufort – and there were lots – but this post is getting lengthy so another day, promise!

Have you been to Beaufort?  Are there any fun little towns that you have found some great shopping?  Do tell…

The best of times

Our vacation was an amazing getaway with our family. It was an opportunity to spend some good quality time with our nieces that we don’t get to see often enough!

Check out these beautiful sweet girl!!

Aren’t they adorable!!! We did so many fun activities – riding bikes and the golf cart, sunning at the beach, playing games and just hanging out together.

Check out that shrimp Caroline’s holding. She’s not scared of holding anything slimy like her Aunt Katy is!

We are so thankful that they shared their vacation with us!

We love you guys so much!!

Shrimp Tacos

While down in the low country this week, we had to have some fresh shrimpies!  So off to the dock we went.  Jon came back with a fresh catch of 21/25’s shrimp.  (Do you know what those numbers mean?  I always have a hard time with it, but Joe keeps me straight.  The numbers represent how many shrimp per pound you’ll get.  So that means you’ll get on average 23 shrimps in 1 lb.) 

We had decided to make tacos so our toppings were: avocado, tomatoes, cilantro, and crisp cilantro slaw.  The slaw was the pièce de résistance!  (See the recipe below.)

  Gotta love some fresh avocado and the cilantro always gives a bright finish touch.

For the shrimp we peeled and de-veined them.  Seasoned them with salt, pepper, garlic, old bay and chili powder and lime juice. (Just a dash of all of that.)  Heated the pan up – added olive oil to the pan and cooked them until they were not translucent any more. Be careful not to over cook – they’ll be chewy if you do.

Throw it all together on a tortilla and it’s time to eat!

Now this is the goodness I was talking about above – cilantro slaw.  We literally threw this together but boy we were loving it.  This is what really made the whole taco make sense.

Cilantro Slaw

1/2 head cabbage, sliced thin	2 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
1/4 Vidalia onion, sliced thin	2 tbsp Honey
1/4 bunch cilantro, rough chopped	Salt & Pepper to taste
1 tbsp olive oil	1 jalapeno, diced with seed
Juice of 1 lime

Mix together and let marinate.  We actually made this the day before because we had planned to have our tacos on Sunday but there were no markets open to buy our shrimp – so we ended up having it on Monday.  We were just pulling items from the pantry – you could always add red cabbage, carrot and maybe some jicama would be nice too!

We love anything that suggests Mexican food.  This was a pretty healthy option and it tasted soo good!  It probably had a good amount to do with the fresh out of the water shrimp!

Let me know if you try the slaw would love to hear what you think!!

A little Que

If you’ve followed ED&D for any length of time you know that we love some BBQ. And on our first night of vacation my brother and sister-n-law took us to a cool little joint on James Island (right outside of Charleston) for some true Smokin’ BBQ!

We ventured out to Smoky Oak Taproom. This place is laid back goodness. You get out of the car and the smell of hickory pulls you in right away. When you walk into the restaurant, it is filled with smoke – reminds you of the horrible days of a cigarette smoke filled dive – but this isn’t stinky cigarette smoke – this is piped in smoke from the kitchen. Literally piped in! They have large duct work that brings in the wonderful aroma from the hardwoods working their magic in the back.

Obviously their focus is real BBQ – authentic sides – and the beer. They had over 40 craft beers on taps. They even have a special “layered menu” – check this out -

It’s called Black & Blue – Guinness & Blue Moon.

The menu had all kinds of yummy options. We started with the Carnita Tacos = Pulled pork, cilantro, diced onion, and lime. Simple and delicious. They have 4 different BBQ sauces to choose from on the table – sweet tomato base, chipotle smoky, mustard base and vinegar base. All really, really good!

There were so many options on the menu it was hard to decide which way to go. They had wings, sandwiches, BBQ plates, ribs, and even wood fired pizzas. I really don’t think you could go wrong with any of the choices!

Needless to say we were a happy bunch! Beginning vacation & eating great food with awesome company – it doesn’t get any better!!

Green Eggs & Pancakes

So..  has anyone else been hearing about this grill – The Big Green Egg??  One of our friends and my brother have just gotten this bessy.  And it’s all they can talk about! 

So this is how Big Green Egg describes themselves:

Welcome to the Big Green Egg, the Original American Designed Ceramic Cooker. Derived from an ancient clay cooker called a "kamado," the modern Big Green Egg has undergone many improvements since it was introduced in 1974. Especially significant is replacement of the clay used in early models with durable space-age ceramics developed specifically for Big Green Egg to make the EGG® virtually indestructible under ordinary cooking conditions. The EGG is a unique barbecue product, with unmatched flexibility and capabilities that surpass all other conventional cookers combined. It is a smoker, a grill and an oven and you can cook literally any food on it year around, from appetizers to entrees to desserts.

Sounds pretty snazzy, huh?!  I have been seeing pictures of different creations from my brother, Jon and our friend Eric via FB & texts.  So when we were in Charleston for the night @ my brothers I knew I wanted to see how this Big Green Egg worked!  The only meal we were  at the house for was breakfast so that’s what we did!

Jon has the Big Green Egg Cookbook

So we flipped through the breakfast section and decided on a Roasted Vegetable Frittata

AND – An Apple Upside down pancake… 

This is a shot before we flipped that beautiful pancake out.

And after the flip - Is it time to eat yet?? Look at the steam just rolling off.

Yummy, huh! And here we are enjoying! 

So now I see what all the talk is about! It was fun to experiment and see what all the buzz is about.  Do you have an BGE?  Know anyone that does? Would love to hear your thoughts on it!

VACATION!

We are finally on vacation. A little time away. A little time to take a deep breath. Enjoy the scenery.  Eat A LOT.  Soak in the sun.  Good quality time together.  A beverage here or there.  What else says vacation – oh yeah = NO WORK!!!

photo from here

We are in Fripp Island – 20 miles south of Beaufort SC.  Gorgeous landscape.  It just makes you want to take a deep breath. 

We’re having some great food that I will sharing with you.  And hopefully I’ll be able to share some pictures of the surroundings as well.

We’re off to explore the island!   

Coming soon!

There's a CB2 coming to Atlanta! They are planning on opening in August. For those not so familiar with CB2, they are "affordable modern" for apartment, loft and home. They have some great pieces and a lot of them at great prices!

Check out a few of my fav's:

parlour oatmeal chair $699.00

eden pendant lamp $49.95

I'm loving this! And for only $49.95 - I'm going to make it mine. John & Sherry at Young House Love used this in their dining room as well! Super cool!

formosa swoon tray table $49.95

stainless steel balls $14.95 - $29.95

peekaboo clear coffee table $249.00

This is one of my all time fav's. Who doesn't like a little lucite??

So as you can see all kinds of great stuff! I look forward to going to Atlanta to see it in person! My sweet friend Cindy has been talking about planning a trip that way. Now we have another reason to go!

Any new exciting shops coming to your area? What stores would you like to have at your door step? Are you a big box shopper or support the locals kinda of gal? Do tell!

Lynn’s Paradise Cafe

I made a recent trip to Kentucky for work and I always say why not try to mix some fun in with the work!  So when I remembered seeing this spot on TV, I thought it would be a lot of fun to swing in for a meal. 

You know I love to try out new spots.  So I heard some good reviews regarding the food and then you add in a quirky design - I’m THERE!

Quirky design is a understatement!  There are trees hanging from the ceiling.  Pajama pants seated above the window.  A lamp for each table. And so many other things you may get sensory overload.  Needless to say, it’s has a fun atmosphere!

Food was good but overpriced.  I guess with all the hype from Bobby Flays’ Throw Down, the Today show, etc. they have gotten very proud and their prices reflect that.  The Fried Green Tomato BLT was tasty just not $10 bucks worth.  It was still a fun spot to try – I just wouldn’t be going back often if I lived in Louisville because of the cost.

So… have you been to any cool spots on your summer trips that we need to know about? 

Happy 4th of July

 

Isn’t this gorgeous!  I’m hoping to make this for the party we are going to today.  I hope you and yours have a BLESSED day of Independence.  I am so thankful we live in this country where we are free.  Thank you to all the men and women who give their lives for my freedom. 

We can never say thank you enough!  God Bless the USA!