Adventures in the South: Part One

A few weeks ago, Daniel came to visit and traveled with me to my half marathon in Jacksonville.

After a performance with the Augusta Symphony, we stopped in Savannah on the way down. I had never been to Savannah and was really excited to explore!

There was the obligatory stop at Waffle House. Yes, I ate all of that. Don't judge.

(I was following the advice to up my carb intake before the race very seriously...)

Our first stop in Savannah was pizza at Vinnie Van Go Go's, which was recommended to me by Lindsay of Paint Me a Picture. Thanks for the awesome suggestion Lindsay! As you can tell from the picture below of me stuffing my face, we really enjoyed it!

We then explored the City Market and meandered in and out of several candy shops, munching on free praline samples.

I kindly offered to taste test this vat of chocolate, but the shop owners turned me down.

On River Street, we strolled along, peeking into shops and admiring the huge riverboats.

We bought some chocolate in one candy shop and decided to make our own chocolate and beer pairing at the pub next door. It's not as weird as it sounds my friends - it was actually quite good!

Our pairing? Butterfinger bark with Black and Tans.



Cutest picture ever?

We took a ride on the ferry at sunset and watched a gigantic ship go by.

The night ended with fish and chips, Shepherd's pie, and drinks at an Irish pub with a gorgeous view of the river and live Irish music. It was so nice to relax, listen to music, and enjoy each other's company!

:)

Making Memories

While I was in Milwaukee, Daniel and I visited Alterra, the coffee shop where he works. I, of course, walked out with a pretty cup and saucer and a t-shirt.

The bag they were placed in had such a pretty design that I didn't want to throw it away, and it was a fun keepsake from my trip. However, I didn't want a random bag just sitting around in my room.

So I decided to make it the background for one of my favorite pictures from the trip!

I bought an inexpensive 5x7 frame from Target and cut the portion of the bag without writing to fit. I then printed the picture from my computer slightly smaller, glued it to the bag, and put it all in the frame.

Here we are at The Bean in Chicago!

:)



The Little Things

My new reading, coffee-drinking, and knitting corner makes me smile.

:)

Hiccups Is A Silly Name For A Bear.

Meet Hiccups. Ups for short.

He and a gorgeous vase of purple flowers arrived at our table at Paula Deen's restaurant, The Lady and Sons, on Monday!

His name comes from the hiccups that ensued after stuffing my face with fried chicken and mac and cheese. Our conversation went a bit like this:

Me: I have the hiccups.

Daniel: Ha, that would be a good name for the bear.

Me: That's ridiculous. I'm not naming the bear hiccups. Yeah, no.

And then, of course, the name grew on me.

;)



The Onyx Trio

Remember the Brahms post I did awhile ago?

Well - my piano trio, The Onyx Trio, gave our graduate chamber recital on Friday night! While I was nervous, I also had a lot of fun!

Of course there was some pre-recital backstage silliness...

...and some post-recital trio goofiness...

...and a bit of seriousness.

Well, only a little bit...

Before the recital, Julie Anna and I decided to make our own dresses - the one-shouldered ones! Now, despite receiving a sewing machine for Christmas, I was reluctant to do any of the actual sewing. I'll admit it - I was scared. So Julie did the sewing, and I think she did a fabulous job!

I did, however, make a pretty group of satin rosettes to sew on to the waistband of my dress...

...and a cute bunting sign thanking our professors for working with us.

:)

Loop Yarn Shop

Remember how I told you here that Daniel and I visted a yarn shop while I was in Milwaukee?

I think it's a good thing that I didn't have very much time to shop or very much room in my suitcase...The shop was bright and cheery, with all of the yarn stacked on shelves by weight and color. 

(Loop Yarn Shop)

Ah, so pretty! I love it when things are arranged by color! I actually bought some of the yarn in the picture below in light blue.

And the shop is right next to an Alterra coffee shop - what could be better?

(What could be better - or worse - is that I just discovered they will soon have an online shop!)

While there, I also bought some yarn to knit a scarf for Daniel. I think this is how the deal went down*:

Me: (while admiring a chunky cream scarf and some bulky weight yarn near it) This is really nice!

Daniel: It is. It looks really warm!

Me: I could make you one like it, but I don't have any needles big enough for this size yarn.

Daniel: I could make you some needles...

Me: Really?!? Ok. If you make me some knitting needles, I'll knit you a scarf.

Both: Deal!

Done.

Yep, Daniel made those for me. Isn't he the best?

The yarn is fifty percent wool and fifty percent alpaca and extrmely soft. I had so much fun using my new needles to make the scarf, and I can't wait to give it to him!

:)

*I just made up half of that conversation, but that's basically how it went.

How To Waste a Gallon of Milk

During my trip to Milwaukee, I decided to try my hand at latte art.

(Yes, I just linked to Wikipedia. Don't judge. You know you use it, too.)

Daniel works at an Alterra coffee shop in Milwaukee and is learning how to make latte art. Here's one of his mocha creations...

...be still, my heart.

I wanna learn! So learn I did.

We used a gallon of milk, some old espresso beans, and Daniel's new Presso espresso maker.

My first attempt? A major fail.

I think I'll call this "blobby-bent-spoon-thing."

Just let me tell you now that I am a perfectionist, and I don't like trying something new and failing. I was determined to make something pretty. I think Daniel was amused by my eagerness to keep trying!

Attempt number two:

Sigh...more blobbiness. (I just decided that's a word.)

I turned to the internet for a little help and watched this video about ten times in a row.



Attempt number three was a little better...

...a blobby heart.

I watched the video a few more times, put my game face on, and moved on to attempt number four...

...SUCCESS!

Isn't it pretty? :)

Daniel can tell you that there was much squealing and jumping up and down after I made this one.

(I did try one more after this, but let's just say I should have stopped while I was ahead.)

Here's one of Daniel's from the night:

:)

p.s. More on the yarn shop later...I know you guys want to hear about it!