Wedding on the Ashley River

After my trip to Kansas City, I flew back to South Carolina to meet Daniel and attend his cousin's wedding in Charleston.

If you've never been to Charleston, go now. The architecture is so pretty, and the city has so much culture and history!

The wedding was at a mansion on the Ashley River, and the ceremony took place on the front lawn.

After the ceremony, we all moved inside for the cocktail hour and reception.

Daniel has so many awesome cousins! It was kind of overwhelming to meet almost the entire family all at once, but everyone was really nice.

(By the way, I love my red ruffle shoes!)

This is my new favorite picture!

The views of the sunset over the river were absolutely gorgeous!

The newlyweds left by the light of sparklers. Clearly I was excited about this...

It was a beautiful wedding, and I enjoyed attending it with Daniel!

Poppyseed Chicken

Here's another recipe I made while Daniel and I were at the beach. This has always been a favorite in my house, and I think Daniel really liked it too!

Poppyseed Chicken

6 to 8 boneless chicken breasts

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 8 oz. can of sour cream

1 stick of butter or margarine

1 box of crackers

1 can of poppyseeds

Boil chicken until cooked and then slice into small parts. Mix in a bowl with the soup and sour cream. Put into cooking pot or casserole dish. Melt the butter and mix in crushed crackers. Put this on top of the chicken. Sprinkle poppyseeds on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Serve with salad and rolls.

Note: I usually halve this recipe, and it feeds 4-5 people.

Let me know if you try this out!

A Little Me: A to Z

Here's a little more about me!

A. Age: 25

B. Bed size: twin

C. Chore you hate: washing the dishes

D. Dogs: Pepper and Shelby

E. Essential start to your day: coffee

F. Favorite color: purple

G. Gold or silver: silver

H. Height: 5'5"

I. Instruments you play: violin, piano, mandolin, pennywhistle, guitar

J. Job title: strings teacher

K. Kids: none

L. Live: Greenville, SC

M. Mom's name: Teresa

N. Nicknames: Em, Emma, Emmaline, Emmy

O. Overnight hospital stays: the ICU for a few days when I was an infant

P: Pet peeve: when people I don't know invade my personal space

Q: Quote from a movie: "You have bewitched me body and soul." ~Pride and Prejudice

R. Righty or Lefty: lefty

S. Siblings: younger sister, Elizabeth

T. Time you wake up: around seven

U. Underwear: um, I wear it

V. Vegetables you dislike: cabbage, collard greens, cooked carrots

W. What makes you run late: oversleeping

X. X-rays you've had: teeth, spine

Y. Yummy food you make: blueberry pie, poppyseed chicken, coffee cake

Z. Zoo animal favorite: penguins

I Think It's Odd That Kansas City Is In Two States

Back in March, I traveled to Kansas City for the first time.

(Yes, I know this post is long overdue.)

I went for a few days for the American String Teachers' Association National Conference. (Say that really fast.) The conference is always a fantastic time to catch up with friends who are now spread out across the country and gain extremely valuable string teaching skills and ideas.

It's also a fun time to explore new cities. The conference last year was held in Santa Clara, California, and I had the opportunity to visit San Francisco and the west coast for the first time. The day we got there a friend and I checked out the Power and Light district with its cute coffee shops and adorable boutiques. (Yes, I did a little shopping. Oops!)

Our trip coincided with St. Patrick's Day, so we found an Irish Pub that night in the Power and Light district. I, of course, ordered fish and chips and a Guinness. It was all delicious!

On the way back to our hotel, we stopped in a huge grocery store, and I of course managed to find the bakery. And a very large selection of chocolates. And if you know me at all, you know that I purchased one (ahem, quite of few) of these...

Now, knowing that Sandy of Sandy a la Mode lives in Kansas City, I asked her for some suggestions for places to eat. She suggested Oklahoma Joe's Barbecue. So we all piled in a cab and made our way there. Y'all. It's basically in a gas station. So when we drove up I was a little apprehensive. Surely Sandy wouldn't steer us wrong, right?

We go inside, however, and I run into this sign.

Ok. Good. In the end it was some of the best barbecue I've ever had in my life. You can see that by the time we left, the line was out the door!

So yummy!

New to Etsy

Despite being so busy, I added quite a few items to my Etsy shop during my blogging break. I added new hairpin colors, a new necklace design, and shoeclips!

I love all of the colors!

Are there any other colors you would like to see?



Blueberry Pie

I made this blueberry pie while Daniel and I were at the beach, and it was a huge success!

Homemade Blueberry Pie

2 pie crusts

2 pints blueberries

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar (or splenda)

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons butter, cut in small pieces

Egg wash:

1 egg

1 tablespoon milk

Prepare the bottom crust. Combine washed blueberries, flour, and lemon juice. Add sugar and cinnamon. Put into pie crust. Top with butter pieces. Brush rim of crust with egg wash and place other pie crust on top. Trim and crimp edges. Decorate if desired. Brush top with egg wash. Cut slits on top. Bake for 20 minutes at 425 degrees. Reduce to 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Let cool.

Enjoy!



Ocean Isle Beach

The week after graduation, Daniel and I headed with his aunt and uncle to their beach house in Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina. It was an absolutely glorious week of swimming, reading, eating, and being completely lazy.

The view from the beach house was amazing.

Daniel's aunt and uncle brought along their two dogs, Chap and Toto.

We ate extremely well at the beach. Daniel often likes to play with his food and was creepin' me out a bit one morning with his talking grapefruit.

One night we had burgers, grilled corn, hand-battered shrimp, and homemade blueberry pie for dinner! During the week, we also made coffee cake, strawberry shortcakes, pasta, poppyseed chicken, and a chocolate pie.

We went putt-putting, and we both got several hole in ones.

I was also introduced to crabbing. I was skeptical. I told Daniel that he was getting punched if I got pinched by a crab. Alas, we caught nothing. But I did stand in the water with a chunk of meat hanging from my string.

After crabbing, we went over to Sunset Beach to visit my great aunt, where we had a yummy low country boil. I was also basically hazed during this visit. I was forced to dump a live crab into boiling water. And the poor bugger fought back.

This was the view for dinner.

It was a fantastic week! I got to unwind from the stress of the semester, and of course I loved spending a whole week with Daniel!

News: Daniel is moving to Columbia, South Carolina in July! That's only an hour and a half away! Yay!

A Little About Me

Since I have some new readers I thought I would share a bit about me. I found these questions on the back of a bookmark in a book I borrowed from my mom.

Author you love? Jane Austen

Best friend? Daniel

Can't live without? Chocolate

Dream destination? Santorini, Greece

Embarrassing moment? Forgetting to tune the orchestra

Favorite food? Chocolate

Greatest achievement? Masters degree

Hometown? Greenville, South Carolina

Innermost fear? Disappointing others, failure

Just finished reading? The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Kindle? Yes

Love to read? Yes, very much

Makes you laugh? My friends

Number one movie? Pride and Prejudice

One wish? A cure for cancer

Pizza topping? Pepperoni

Quote that describes you? It is your duty and also your entitlement as a human being to find something beautiful within life, no matter how slight.

Reading now? The Postmistress

Siblings? Elizabeth

Texted last? Daniel

Understands you the best? Daniel, Elizabeth

Vanilla or chocolate? Chocolate

Worst habit? Procrastinating

X-rays you've had? Teeth, Spine

Your favorite song? On A Night Like This, Dave Barnes

Zodiac sign? Capricorn

:)

Greenville Is Awesome

After graduation my mom and I headed to downtown Greenville for Artisphere, an annual art and music festival. It was so fun to walk down Main Street, gazing at different booths and enjoying the beautiful weather.

Afterwards, we headed up to Coffee Underground for some iced coffees.

I know in this picture it looks like I chopped off my hair, but it's just behind my shoulders. Part of me wants to cut it, but part of me loves my long hair.

What do you think?