Weekend with Alex and Meredith

We had such a fun weekend with Alex and Meredith! Nick's brother Alex and wife Meredith came all the way from Charlotte and we had the best time. The boys did a Half Iron Man Triathalon on Saturday which gave Meredith and I time to catch up and grab breakfast. Alex and Meredith are expecting so we had so much to celebrate and talk about during the weekend. Here are a few pictures from the weekend...

Mere Bulles

Nick's birthday was on Saturday and we had a great day celebrating together. We had a really great dinner at a restaurant called Mere Bulles that we had been wanting to try for a while. The restaurant is in a beautiful old house that makes the atmosphere really great. We sat near the fireplace and it really gives the main dining area a great ambiance. Here are a few photos of the outside.

Our experience was so relaxing and enjoyable. We were able to talk and really enjoy our meal without being rushed. We started our dinner with the famous Charleston She-Crab Bisque and some delicious red wine. For the main course I had the rib rolls and homemade potato chips. These rib rolls were the type of meal you want to eat so slowly and enjoy every little bite. They were too good! The rolls have shaved prime rib covered in cheddar and jack cheese and you can dip them in either au jus or horseradish. Here is a picture, it makes me hungry just to see these again!

Nick had the grouper special that came with shrimp and cheesy risotto. Overall, the meal was amazing and we had a great time. We headed home afterwards to enjoy the Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake I had picked up from Whole Foods as a little birthday surprise.

Valentines Day Celebration!

I wanted to share with everyone our super fun Valentine's Day. I had talked to Maggie recently about her beautiful drawings of homes, sorority houses, farms, etc. I think they are such a great gift and knew Nick would love a drawing of our first house since we are sadly selling it. I couldn't WAIT to get the drawing in the mail and had planned on giving it to Nick for his birthday. When it arrived I was too excited for Nick to see what a great job she did that I went ahead and gave it to him for Valentine's Day. Here is the framed drawing.

Nick planned a super secret Valentine's Day surprise for me and wouldn't give me any hints. I was super excited because we typically do a very low-key Valentine's Day (hence a very bad experience at Applebee's one year). Nick just told me what time to be ready and to dress up. So I did! Nick made us reservations at Park Cafe, a restaurant near our house that I had been dying to try. I had the fried oysters (my favorite) for an appetizer along with some yummy champagne drinks (one with Rosemary). The oysters were cooked prefectly with the best breading ever. My entree was the braised short rib, it was really yummy too!

When it was time for dessert, the waitress brought out a small box on a plate. My first thought was how she could fit dessert for two in a such a little box. Then I saw the writing on the box and I was sooooo surprised! Nick was so sweet and had already arranged for the waitress to bring out my other Valentine's surprise with our dessert. Here is a picture of the box:

Inside the box was a beautiful Citrine cocktail ring. I am so excited to get it back from getting sized. I sadly have no pictures of it yet but am excited to wear it. We really had a great Valentine's Day and I enjoyed celebrating and just spending time together.

Concert Time - OAR

Last Friday, Nick and I were so excited to get tickets to the OAR concert. We actually went to an OAR concert in Athens with a group of friends in High School. We weren't dating at the time so it made the night super fun to be together at another OAR concert so many years later. We had a group of about 12 people and had a blast dancing. The show was at Marathon Music Works which is a really cool venue I had never been to here in Nashville. We all hoped they would play their old songs since we weren't up on their newest music and they finally played "Crazy Game of Poker" as their last song. Here is a picture of us at the concert.

Coaster Project!

I have almost completed my Coaster project. I was super excited to make these cool coasters using scrapbooking paper and tile. The project is super easy and I think these in sets of 4 will make great Christmas gifts. I bought some fun yarn to tie each set and will put on a coordinating gift tag made with the extra paper. Yay for pre-Christmas craft time!

Coasters designs:

These patterns are my favorite!

I designed these with my sister in mind because she loves purple.

These are my "man" design.

These are the more traditional design with the black and white. The butterflies were chosen with my Grandma in mind, she loves them!

I will try to post some pictures of the completed, wrapped coasters.

Change Is In The Air!

Change is definately in the air....the leaves are turning, new jobs, a new city and now a new car! Thanks to my mom and Meredith for providing me with rides to make picking it up last weekend possible and to Hollie for helping me out last minute at the grocery. When I got to Nashville, Nick was sitting outside waiting on me, camera ready!

Rotiers

Last night Nick and I went on a date night to Rotier's Restaurant. The awesome thing is that this famous little dive is just down the street from us. We pass it all the time and so after hearing about the famous and award winning grilled cheeseburger on french bread, I had to add it to my list. We had a great time there, the atomsphere is my favorite part about this restaurant. The restaurant really has that relaxed local flare. We got to sit in a great booth in the back corner and had a delicious cheesburger on french bread with french fries. We also sampled the reuben and cole slaw. Here is a picture of the burger (no, not my acutal one).

The french bread is delicious and the burger had a really yummy grilled flavor. Overall, it was a great date night. Next time I am going to try their milkshakes!