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we moved over to wordpress!

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also loving this....

blows my mind

...seriously...

...that's a person...actual...
found here...you need to read about this alexa meade character...

Jefferson Theater

We've been so good at going to concerts recently! I've been wanted to see more shows, but can never bring myself to spend the money. We have been to the Jefferson Theater twice in the past couple of weeks. We decided to see Stephen Kellogg (we saw him last year at Fry's Spring Station when Charlie won tickets on the radio) and he was awesome! The acoustics and the mix were phenomenal and I was really impressed. Then last weekend, we took my little sister to see Ingrid Michaelson. Her openers, the Guggenheim Grotto, were really good and again, the Jefferson impressed me with the sound. I really like all of Ingrid's songs and was super excited but ended up kind of disappointed in the show. The energy was kind of funky. They used tracks. And the mix was off for some reason. Ingrid is still very talented and I still love all of her songs, but maybe not live.
I do greatly appreciate living so close to such a quality concert venue...

apple picking at Carter Mountain

My parents were in town this past weekend and we took a quick trip up to Carter Mountain for some apple picking, donuts, and fall air. The donuts are worth the trip alone. We did get some delicious apples too. I generally have no idea what apples I end up picking at orchards as I get so excited to find apples that are ripe, beautiful and ready for plucking, but they ended up all being delicious. We did end up with mostly granny smith apples (which are my personal faves) and I will have to make some loaves of apple bread to freeze (or eat, whichever comes first).

trader joe's kettle corn...

...is absolutely delicious and could be my new favorite snack food.

charlie and i stopped by the trader joe's in richmond on the way home from the beach and picked some groceries including this kettle corn. let me tell you that it will be bad news bears when trader joe's opens in c'ville (hopefully soon). i have a feeling our grocery bills could go way up!

fellini's

charlie has played here a few times, but neither of us has ever eaten at fellini's #9. across from skylight studios on the downtown mall, fellini's offers a non-stuffy atmosphere with really hearty pasta. 5 of us enjoyed dinner on friday night. we all opted for pasta even though fellini's also offers entrees (like salmon, eggplant, chicken, etc.). the best thing is that the restaurant offers half-portions of most of the pasta (which is more than enough). my favorite pasta of the night: Orecchiette - “Little Ears” pasta italian sausage and rapini with vodka cream sauce 14.95 1/2 order 9.95.

i've heard good things about the bar as well..so we'll be checking this little place out again!

new things all weekend

we just pulled in after a day at the beach.

a one day trip to the beach? in september? why yes, we just pulled in after a day at sandbridge beach near virginia beach.we discovered the beach last weekend. i told charlie that the day was one of my favorites. ever. it was so nice to get away - like really away - for the day, catch some sun and listen to the waves. the weather could not have been better. the beach is about a 3-3.5 hour drive east on 64. there is free parking after labor day, a public restroom and a market right nearby and i am a huge fan. charlie mentioned today that it's probably a good thing we didn't discover this sooner, or we would be total shut-in beach bums.

part of what made today so lovely, was the busy busy day we had yesterday. phyllis, a wonderful lady who works over at t&n printing (printed our wedding programs and could not be more helpful when i need something printed for work), and her husband own the korner restaurant and invited me and charlie to stop by for breakfast. the place is a little hole in the wall on the corner of 9th and cherry, that we have driven by often and never stopped in. word is they have some killer bbq, but it isn't a regular menu fixin' so you have to know when to stop by. charlie had a western omelet that was huge and came with home fries and biscuits. i could have eaten these biscuits all day, friends. they were delicious! i had an egg with some bacon, home fries, and of course more than my share of biscuits. the plates are around $5 and it is a whole lot of food. we'll have to check back for dinner. the menu had burgers, hot dogs, and sandwiches listed and we loved the vibe. i felt like an insider just being in the place!

after breakfast, we drove out to ashlawn-highland, the home of james monroe. after a $5 resident ticket fee (sweet deal and you get in for free if you bring a guest), we joined a short tour of the house. charlie says this is now one of his favorites as it wasn't pretentious at all and it felt so accessible. there are no ropes on the furniture and the tour guide mentioned that ~80% of the furniture in the house actually belonged to the monroe's.

charlie decided on a whim to swing by blenheim vineyards (owned by the matthews family - i.e. dave matthews) just to see it. our nuvi took us the back way through a very rough looking part of town, so we were extremely surprised to see the beauty of the property when we arrived. the view of the area is absolutely stunning!

being the non-wine drinkers that we are, we ended up not tasting any wine ($5 for a tasting), but instead just admired the building and view. we'll have to go back and actually drink some wine. it was pretty pathetic if you ask me!

on the way out, we passed simeon market. i had driven by the market a few times and was intrigued by the quaint little place and it's funny name (my dad's name is simeon). it ended up being quite the find and the roast beef sandwich we split was delicious! my dad will be asking us to stop by the next time he's down i'm sure.

to round out the day, charlie and i decided to check out a couple shops we hadn't been to before. we drove down 250 to the barn swallow. i had seen the place on my drives out to crozet and was always intrigued by the rustic looking building and the sign touting artisan crafts. this may be one of my new favorite shops in c'ville. they had the best assortment of pottery, artwork, jewelry, furniture, accessories...i loved it and have my eye on a few things (...charlie...).

we also stopped by ivy corner, by the post office in ivy. this place was really cute! they have some great plants (at good prices) and really nice gift items. apple trees were half price and were very tempting.

and last but not least, we finally made it to and george! i loved just about everything in the store. it felt like a luxury just to walk in and i admired every knick knack, cup, vase, candlestick, and chair in the place. i especially loved erika jack's stationery.

it was a busy weekend and i'm feeling much more in the know about c'ville!

j crew warehouse sale in lynchburg

while sitting at bodo's saturday morning, charlie and i decided to take a road trip down to lynchburg. i've been having the shopping itch (much to charlie's delight) and wanted to check out the j crew catalog store (and possibly covesville antiques). our friend dao tagged along for the adventure. as we pulled into the warehouse parking lot, my heart started to flitter just a bit at the sight of all those cars. we stumbled onto a warehouse sale without even knowing it! i'm sure charlie was cringing, but he was such a trooper. after a long wait in line and hours of tearing through boxes and boxes, i found charlie loaded down with clothes. he did quite well for himself. and dao made his first j crew purchase (not sure how this is possible). we ended up having a blast and snagged some amazing deals.


all for $120!!!


*those shoes are listed for $159.99 on the jcrew website and i grabbed them up for $30!

new friends

so i've been needing some new blog friends post-wedding. my regular blog cycle is all off since all i was looking at were wedding blogs.

here are some new friends that i'm enjoying:
swiss-miss
poppytalk
a cup of jo
dress design decor (not new but rediscovered)
coco + kelley (not new but rediscovered)
black eiffel (not new but rediscovered)

let me know if you have any that i should add to my blog roll.