Asheville

This past weekend, we headed up to Asheville to see our friends Reiss & Jane get married. Will & Reiss have been friends since they were really little & Will was honored to be a groomsmen. We had a blast celebrating the two of them and exploring the quirky town of Asheville. Unfortunately its a haul from Wilmington (6 ish hour drive) so we didn't get to spend as much time exploring as we would have liked. We'll be back for ya, Asheville.

I'm still learning more about photography and using the Canon 5D Mark II. Here are a few shots I took this weekend (with a few of Will's shots mixed in).

Naturally we found a wonderful, local coffee shop called High Five Coffee. I had a wonderful cup of peppermint tea & we sat outside, enjoying the mountain air.

iphone picture from the wedding-- really regretting not bringing the Canon for the wedding & reception! Everything was beautiful!

I loved all the musicians on every corner in downtown Asheville!

While waiting for brunch at Mayfels (highly recommended), I snapped this picture of Will. It's so fun traveling with him & being his date to weddings! Can't wait to come back to Asheville.

Sun-dried Tomato & Egg Casserole

Brunch has become by far my favorite meal these days. I can't lie that I find myself day dreaming about lazy weekend mornings that begin with brunch. Theres not much better than good food, friends and a mimosa!

On Easter, we hosted a brunch for a few friends. It was sort of a last minute decision, but it turned out to be a classy occasion. I pulled out a cookbook we got as a wedding present & began searching through for something hearty and scrumptious. I came across a sausage & egg casserole with sun-dried tomatoes. Since we were having a few vegetarian friends over, I altered the recipe a bit. It was a huge hit &  my only regret is that I didn't take any pictures of the finished product. 

Now don't think that I just left out the sausage completely. Oh no, that would just be wrong. Instead of putting it in the casserole, I decided to cook the sausages and finish them off with a cider-honey glaze. Not to call the vegetarians out, but it smelled so good that they too "had" to try a bite! [recipe to come later]

Sun-dried tomato & egg casserole

1/2 c. onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 c. sun-dried tomatoes
1/2 c. mushrooms, chopped
4 T. parsley, chopped

5 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
1 c. half and half
1 c. whipping cream
2 c. grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 375. Butter a 9 x 13 casserole dish (can use a smaller dish if you'd like a thicker casserole). Sauté onions and garlic. Add sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms and 2 T. parsley after 2-3 min. Spread this mixture on the bottom of the casserole dish.

Combine eggs, half & half, cream, salt & 1 1/2 c. cheese. Pour mixture into casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese and parsley. Bake until golden brown. To test, insert a knife & if it comes out clean, its ready. It took about 30 min in my oven. 

Pair it with some glazed sausage, apricot croissants, fruit salad & mixed greens & thats what I would call a good brunch! 

Life according to Instagram

Hello, 2013!

So I've been really slack about posting. You know why? Will has been OFF!! Its seriously been the best thing ever and clearly I have chosen time with my favorite person over blogging.

We had a wonderful Christmas & a friend-filled New Years. Our first Christmas together was a blast & my favorite part was cooking and hosting for family and friends.

Here's a very brief recap via pictures:

we made a quick trip through chapel hill & visited all of our favorite spots, including Cafe Driade for coffee/tea

we cooked (and cleaned) our first turkey- it was successful!

hello yummy peanut-butter apple pie:

we had family and friends over for brunch:

even patty had a good Christmas:

cast iron skillets can give 2nd degree burns, as i learned on Christmas Eve

a visit to Charlotte to see my family & continue the poppers tradition (she's just the cutest):

reunited with sweet friends:

bowling with my family where my dad whipped out his old bowling team skills:

gingerbread tradition lives on again, cottage style this year :

will enjoyed time off & scaring me with this duck:

ringing in the new year with my love:

and lots of wonderful friends:

and Will continues his outdoor adventures:

We were blessed with a wonderful Christmas and so enjoyed quality time with all of the people we love the most. Looking forward to 2013 and all that it brings!

Weekend getaway

Will's work is so demanding and the hours are crazy (14-15 hrs a day is normal). Most weeks we only see each other long enough for a kiss and a quick update on our days. Fortunately, technology helps & texts throughout the day are the way we handle it. Will is really good about setting aside intentional time for us and planning little events for us to look forward to on hard weeks. In August, he booked tickets for a concert in Charleston on October 6th for the two of us and we planned a weekend getaway. 

We stayed in a quaint bed and breakfast called the Elliott House Inn. I got super excited that they do in fact deliver breakfast to your room so you can actually enjoy breakfast in bed. It was lovely! 

After sleeping in and grabbing lunch in Wilmington, we headed down to one of our favorite cities. We had a delicious dinner at FIG (highly recommend!) and then went to the Andrew Bird concert. He is incredibly talented & we so enjoyed listening. After a nibbling on a light breakfast provided by the inn and then falling back asleep for another hour or two, we were hungry for brunch. Brunch is pretty much our favorite thing, especially a good southern one. We ate at Poogan's Porch and enjoyed shrimp n' grits and the country breakfast with hot tea (my favorite). 

We had such a blast that we hardly took time to take any pictures, which is rare for us since Will is always snapping away... but, here are a few from Sunday brunch.