California Trip

I have been so busy lately, that I haven't been able to take a few minutes and relax.  A lot has happened in the last few weeks.  My house FINALLY broke ground after all the drama, the pulled offer, and the scramble to find a new one.  I honestly could not be any happier with how every has turned out! Not only did I get that all figured out, but I also went out to California for a short trip.

I look forward to flying across the country to California every year.  It is my home away from home out there.  There is nothing better than spending a week just hanging out with family.  It sucks that it goes by so fast, but I like to make the most of it while I am out there.  This year, I was also very excited because my little sister, Katherine, has been living out there with my Aunt and Uncle while she interns with Comcast at Universal Studios. She is pretty much living the life out there, meeting celebrities and enjoying a summer full of family time.

I was only out there for 5 days this summer because work has been so busy, but I made sure that I enjoyed every minute of it.  The weather was absolutely perfect the entire time, which made for a perfect Fourth of July.  Nothing beats the sun, family, grilling out, and being in California over the summer.  I wish I could have stayed for another week, but I will hopefully be planning another trip out there soon or even better, have all of our West Coast family come and explore the East Coast next summer!!

The pictures do not do it justice of just how pretty it is out there!

 Universal Studios for the day!

I really don't think the view from Nana's house could get any better! I could have laid out here all day!

The wild peacocks that are in my Nana's neighborhood are absolutely gorgeous. I wanted to steal a feather so badly!

4th of July with the Regele clan at Karen's house

Jello shots with the girl cousins in the pool! Happy 4th of July!!

4th of July jello shots that Steph and Sarah made! So good, but so strong :)

Some of the cousins taking jello shots with Nana!

I could have spent all week doing this...wish I didn't have to leave and go back to the real world and rainy South Carolina

The memorial in Downtown Glendora in memory of my Papa, Carlye O. Regele!

WWII Purple Heart Veteran

Glendora War Memorial

You can't go to California without enjoying some delicious In-N-Out.  I don't even eat burgers, but always have to splurge when I am in California!

One of the many scrumptious grilled dinners we had!

Little Aiden! What a cutie :)

I could go on and on about California, but I will spare you! These are just a few of the highlights of my trip.  Hopefully I can get back out there sooner than later...it is so hard living that far away from family!

Hope you are enjoying your week :)

Sweet Treats

Happy HUMP DAY! Enjoy some sweet treats and a nice glass of wine, you deserve it!

After a very fun weekend with my best friend, I stopped in at my parents' house in Charlotte on my way home.  It is always so nice to spend some time with my parents.  Now that I don't live in Charlotte I really cherish those moments that I get to spend at home.

Whenever I go home, it is always stocked with baking supplies.  I decided to whip up a few treats to bring back to Greenville.  One of the recipes is a favorite of mine...super delicious and so easy.  The other was a new recipe I decided to try and man was it worth it!  I didn't feel so guilty making these because I used Splenda instead of sugar...just trying to convince myself that a few dessert aren't so bad.

Miss Susie's Almond Shortbread

Line 8x8 pan with foil, including sides then spray with Pam

1 1/2 sticks butter, melted, over stove not in the microwave

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups flour (not self-rising)

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp almond extract

Mix and press into pan, sprinkle some sugar or sprinkles over top lightly

Bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes or until golden on top

(the longer you bake, the denser it becomes), be careful not to burn the bottom

Take from the oven, cool 15 minutes then take out of the pan, cool again.

Remove the foil, cut off outer edges and cut into cubes.

This recipe is beyond easy and you will have a delicious treat!

Chewy Oatmeal Cinnamon Butterscotch Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cup quick oats
• 1 cup cinnamon chips
• 1/2 cup butterscotch chips

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line several cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Set aside.
3. Using an electric mixer and a separate bowl, cream the butter and both sugars together until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes.  *Don't cut the time short here.
4. Add the vanilla extract and eggs to the butter mixture and beat to combine.  Then slowly add the flour mixture until just combined.
5. Scrape the bowl and beat on low, adding the oats and baking chips.
6. Using a tablespoon, drop the cookie dough in 1 1/2 tablespoon portions onto the cookie sheets.  Make sure they are spaced 2-3 inches apart for spreading.
7. Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are golden, but the centers still seem soft. Cool completely on the baking sheets before moving.

These would make a perfect hump day snack! I hope that you enjoy them :)

TGIF

THANK GOODNESS IT'S FRIDAY! This week has been rough.  It has been a long week at work and we got some pretty devastating news about our house. After waiting to have it built for almost 3 months now, we drove out there because they were going to finally start.  When we saw the lot, we were in shock.  It looked completely 100% different than it did the last time we saw it (and not in a good way).  Where there used to be a little slope between our house and the neighbors was now a 20-25 ft. mountain.  Needless to say we were not very happy.  After discussing our options, we decided that it would be best to look for something else even though we were in love with the house.  I am very grateful for supportive parents, both Rusty's and mine, and our realtor.  We definitely made the right decision as hard as it was to say goodbye to the house that I had fallen in love with, but I know that I would not be happy when we moved in and our backyard turned into a swimming pool! Now, we will start back at square one and hopefully find a new house in the next couple of months that we can call our own! I am thinking positive (for once!) and know that this all happens for a reason and it just wasn't meant to be.

I have learned a lot this week and this whole process of buying a house is definitely a big eye opener.  I feel like such a grown up! My goal is to purchase my OWN house before my 24th birthday, so let's hope we are in before September 2nd.  We better be or we won't get any moving done until January, since my birthday weekend is also the start of football season!

After this long week at work and dealing with the craziness of the house, I am so happy that I have nothing to do but relax all weekend, and of course I will be searching for a new house every second I can get! I am ready to start my weekend with a much needed date night with Rusty and a LARGE glass of wine!

Happy Friday!

Darius Rucker & Brew in the Zoo!

It seems like for the past couple of weekends we have packed them full of fun and I cannot complain!  This weekend, we continued the fun starting on Friday night.  We went to the Darius Rucker concert with Justin Moore and Jana Kramer.  It was a perfect night for an outdoor country concert! We had a lot of fun once we FINALLY got there.  The traffic was absolutely insane to park.  We joked about how we had made it to Columbia for an Eric Church concert in less time.  We did end up missing most of Jana Kramer, but got to enjoy the rest of the concert! There is nothing better than an outdoor country concert with an ice cold beer :)

I love summertime.  It seems like there is always something going on in Greenville. The best part is that it is usually outside so you get to enjoy the beautiful South Carolina weather.  On Saturday, the Greenville Zoo hosted Brew in the Zoo.  I was so excited about this! I mean how fun does it sound to sample a bunch of beers and get to walk around the zoo!  It was a great deal and I would LOVE to do it again.  I think they are having a wine one later in the summer that I will definitely have to attend.

My older sister, Kelley, and her roommate came down from Charlotte to go with us, as well as my Jackie, my best friend since kindergarten.  We also went with Kira, my new coworker!  Rusty and I had so much fun and he was such a trooper for going with 5 girls :)

I didn't realize how many animals would be at the zoo, although it was small they still had a bigger variety than I thought they would.  They also had several different beer samples, live music, and different food vendors.

The monkeys and giraffes were by far my favorite! I had to snap pictures of everything :)

It was such a perfect weekend.  Now I am enjoying a lazy, rainy Sunday after we beat the rain and were able to take the dogs on a long walk in the park!

Happy Sunday!

Memorial Day Weekend!

So happy that summer has unofficially began!

If this past weekend is any indication to how much fun I will have this summer, then I cannot wait!  Rusty and I had a pretty busy weekend! It was so nice to finally be in town for a weekend.

It was so nice out on Friday, that we decided it would be a perfect evening to take the dogs on a walk through Downtown Greenville and stop at one of the many restaurants that had outdoor seating.  I am still in awe at the fact that you can bring your dogs to any restaurant that has outdoor seating...I mean how cool is that!?  I had been craving sushi, so we decided to try a place downtown.  It was pretty good and the dogs definitely loved ALL of the attention that they were getting from everyone that was walking by.  It was such a nice evening and after dinner we strolled up Main St. to where they had live music and lots of beer vendors.  I just love how there is always something going on downtown, its so nice to find something new to do each night down there!

Saturday, we enjoyed more of what Greenville has to offer.  They have the Farmer's Market every Saturday on the streets of Downtown.  Several local vendors come out and set up tents for everyone to browse through.  It is still early in the season, so not all of the vendors have all of their produce ready, but it was still so packed.  Rusty and I were able to find some delicious goodies and sampled from several different vendors.  We ended up buying this awesome Black Bean and Mango Salsa, Jalapeno Pimento Cheese, and Rusty picked out some Habenero Chutney. I can't wait to go back in a few weeks when they have some more fresh fruit and to buy some of the fresh fish and homemade pasta that they have.  When we finished walking around the market, we decided to try out the new bagel restaurant, Sully's Steamers.  It was seriously delicious.  I definitely suggest that you try it out if you haven't already

The fun didn't stop there.  Every Memorial Day weekend, the Greenville Hospital Systems sponsors the Aloft Festival.  They have hot air balloon launches, festival rides and game, fair food, and concerts.  On Saturday night, we went to go see Andy Grammer and Corey Smith play.  Rusty and I had the best time.  I loved seeing all of the hot air balloons get filled off and float away into the sky.  There had to be about 50 of them! Both of concerts were great and it was the perfect weather to enjoy it.  I also experienced a first, FRIED OREOS! I don't know why I waited this long to try them, but oh my gah were they delicious.  I didn't just stop at the fried oreos, I also got to sample some red velvet funnel cake (also amazing) and some fried green tomatoes with chipotle mayo from a local restaurant.  Overall, it was a perfect night :)

We spent Sunday at our friends' pool and cooked out with them. It was so nice to enjoy the sun and some good friends! Monday, was a MUCH needed day off after all of the excitement of the weekend.  Rusty and I were both exhausted, but we did manage to sneak in a little fun and went and saw Hangover 3.  It was a lot better than the second, very funny! Now it is back to work for a few days before we have another fun and busy weekend ahead of us!