A Southern Accent

There's a new shop in Chapel Hill that and I've been dying to check out and share with you all. Number one - because of its fabulous name - SOUTH - and number two, because it's an excuse to go shopping- duh. Located in Meadowmont, South is situated right by Monkee's and Salutations (which could make for quite a shopping adventure if one wanted to make a day of it...anyone with me) and offers gifts and home goods, all inspired by southern style and culture. Love the name, love the logo, love the signage, love the theme. It's the best of the south.  Think mint juleps, men with bow ties and little girls running around in monogrammed dresses. It's evenings on the front porch wrapped in linen shawls and scented candles scattered on the deck, yummy dinners ending with made-from-scratch cakes and pies. You can find something for just about anyone on your list - including the furry-four-legged loves in your house. Baby shower, wedding, graduate, sorority celebra

                                                                                   Source: veggiebelly.com via Wendy on Pinterest We went to brunch yesterday at a local diner and hubs was considering ordering a veggie omelet. I informed him I'd be making the above for dinner, so he opted for a burger. Can't overload a meat and potatoes guy with veggies now can we? But, long story short, he ended up loving this recipe I found on Pinterest . And I'm definitely adding it to my recipe Rolodex. It was my first successful recipe using quinoa - last time, was not so good. I actually cooked the veggies on a baking tray on top of the grill.  That veggie griller thingie I never used and donated to Goodwill would have come in handy, but I improvised. Here's the recipe, from Veggie Belly : Balsamic Grilled Summer Vegetables (Eggplant, Zucchini, Tomato, Red Onion), Pearlini Mozzarella and Basil Quinoa Salad Recipe serves about 3. (you will have as much grilled ve

My across-the-street neighbor and best bud Mary Beth and I went to the Raleigh Handmade Market last week (and Trish too - shout-out - holla!) and we saw some great crafts from local vendors - more on that in another post. But, MB found a piece of art with this saying on it and said it was one of her faves. I thought to myself, what a great print it would make for the shop ! So here goes! Confession: I currently have an obsession with cute little campers. So I figured since life is a journey, I imagine taking a journey in this little cutie could be so much fun!

"You are lucky in life if you have the right heroes.  I advise all of you, to the extent you can, to pick out a few heroes,"— Warren Buffett, Warren Buffett Speaks  (2007). I know, sounds like a cheesy interview question, but when I came across this question recently in a business book I'm reading, I didn't have a clear answer. So I really wanted to think about it - who are my heroes? Who inspires me? Without responding a knee-jerk, shallow response, I really wanted to dwell on this one a little for a meaningful answer. First thing I did, was look up the definition of hero. Interestingly enough - it references a "man" - not a woman - in the actual definition. (Someone certainly needs to fix this) a : a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability b : an illustrious warrior c : a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities d : one who shows great courage a : the

Many of you may not be surprised that yet again this year, Walker requested a sports-themed birthday party. And he wanted to invite twenty children to said party, and there had to be a basketball goal involved. Seeing as I can't handle twenty 7-year-olds in my house, I had to get creative. And since two-thirds of Walker's class at school includes girls that don't play ball, I had to get even more creative. After checking every local gym, sports complex and getting approval from the Walkerman himself, I decided on Umstead park in Chapel Hill, that had a great climbing structure, creek, basketball court, picnic area and open area for all of those energetic 7-year-olds to run off that uncontrollable energy. You may remember Walker's sports party two years ago, which was similar. Luckily, I'd saved some of the decor from before and decided to give myself a break this year and hired a friend to make the cake. Target has some great plastic trophies that I picked u