DeVotchKa

Last night, Harrison and I were at the Orange Peel in Asheville to see one of our favorite bands, DEVOTCHKA. The opener, Kopecky Family Band was also really good. Here’s a photo from the concert and a link to their music video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb-i3a_TMxg I can’t say enough good things about DeVotchKa. The description of DeVotchKa, per Wikipedia, reads “a four-piece multi-instrumental and vocal ensemble that fuses Romani, Greek, Slavic, Bolero, Mariachi music with American punk and folk roots.” They’re gypsy punk/indie folk. The lead singer, Nick Urata, plays theremin, guitar, bouzouki, piano, and trumpet; Tom Hagerman, plays violin, accordion, and piano; Jeanie Schroder, sings and plays sousaphone and double bass; and Shawn King, plays percussion and trumpet. They played almost all of our favorites and really got the crowd going. They infused the performace with two lovely aerialists that hung from cloth ropes in the ceiling and did all sorts of skillful acrobatics. I can’t wait to see them in concert again!
Here’s a link to some music:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pfi1UQ_PKQI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3bfhqQKq-s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knsDmfmOnas

Kiss me, I'm IRISH!

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! This day makes me reflect on my Irish heritage and my trip to Ireland several years ago. My dad is quite the genealogist, and he’s followed our family history, tracing back our ancestors for decades. When I was about 15, he traced our Irish ancestors and contacted ones that are still living in Ireland! In 1890, my great-great grandfather came to America and none of his American-born descendants (3-4 generations) had ever traveled back to meet up with the Irish relatives. They (a few separate families) invited us over and we took them up on their offer in June of 1999! Just my dad and I went, and we had a great father/daughter overseas experience!

We landed in the Dublin airport and stayed a couple of nights in Swords. We visited the bustling city of Dublin, checked out the lovely eastern coastline, and ate a lot of beef and potatoes!
Over the next few days, we headed northward up the coast. We stopped off at beautiful castles and landmarks while checking out the counties/cities of Drogheda, Killcurry, Dundalk, Newry, and Armagh. We had to travel in a little rental car. Of course, in Ireland, your driving on the opposite side of the road, opposite side of the car, and if you have a manual drive, you're switching gears with your left hand! I think dad hit every curb on the round-abouts! The picture below is not of us, I just found it on the web so that you get the idea:
This is an ancient burial mound near Drogheda: Newgrange Passage Tomb (photo found on web)
http://www.knowth.com/newgrange.htm It is thought to be one of the oldest man-made constructions on Earth!

Near Newry, in County Armagh (town: Cladybeg), we met up with several extended cousins over a couple of days (The Cunningham’s: Eileen Cunningham Renaghan, Mary Hearty, Julia Cunningham Lennon, Mary Cunningham McArdle & her husband, Tommy, son, Sean, and grandchildren). We went to our great grandfather’s birthplace and had afternoon tea and scones with the family! They were delightful. My cousin, Sean, a rally car driver, took me for a ride in his rally car. Rally car racing is like Nascar for the Irish, except the racing takes place on either private or public roads! He sped around all of the curvy roads in the Irish country side and I thought I was going to die! I was so happy to make it back to their home.

We also met up with our family, the Mara’s, south of Dublin (County Wicklow, town of Rathnew). We shared a wonderful meal with them and enjoyed sharing our lives. My family still keeps in touch with our Irish family. I wish them and all of you a very Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! Also, Happy Anniversary to my mother/father-in-law, Esther and Perry!

Temporary pescetarians

We're only two days into Lent, yet Harrison and I are happy so far with our decision to give up meat for these next forty days. While first and foremost keeping in mind that we're making a small sacrifice in appreciation of Christ's sacrifice for us on the cross, we also have some other benefits we hope to achieve from our temporary pescetarian lifestyle. It will be nice to save some money. Sirloin roasts, pork tenderloin, etc. don't come very cheap. We're also looking forward to opening our eyes to unfamiliar vegetables, spices, seafood, and meat substitutes. Finally, we hope to lose a few pounds! It seems like the holiday weight never said 'goodbye.' For lunch yesterday, I had cheese tortellini and for dinner I made a scrambled egg and cheese burrito. Harrison made a combo of brown rice, corn, black beans, and salsa. He added some cheese and made a very yummy burrito. Today I made some vegetarian chili with Morning Star crumbles (meat substitute), and I think it turned out ok. I really liked the dinner that I cooked up tonight: Italian Portabella and Roasted Edamame (for recipe, see the tab: For the love of food). In the next few days, I'll probably be making Smoky Cheese Black Bean and Rice Casserole. Please leave a comment if you have some good vegetarian or fish recipes for us to try out!

Mini getaway to Charleston, SC

Harrison and I were in Charleston this past Thursday through Sunday. He was on Spring Break and I was going to attend a medical conference. We had such a nice, little weekend getaway.

Thursday night we had dinner at Hyman’s Seafood. They claim to have the best seafood in the southeast, but we weren’t very impressed. It seemed like a tourist trap with average food. Harrison had the stuffed grouper and I had the shrimp scampi. On Friday I headed over to the conference that was put on by MUSC at the Doubletree. I walked into the large ballroom with 150 MDs, NPs, and PAs. I sat at a table and started chatting with the people nearby. It turned out that the woman next to me was an NP that used to teach clinical skills at Auburn. She taught me my very first nursing 'skill': how to make a patient’s bed! After more talking, I found out that she had moved to Gadsden (my hometown) 18 months ago and now is in the same social circle as all of my parent’s friends! We had such a fun time reminiscing and talking about all of our commonalities.

At lunch, I met up with Harrison and we had lunch at Jestine’s Kitchen. It was a cute little diner downtown. Our entrees were just okay, but the Coconut Cream Pie dessert was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I had to go back to the conference after lunch, which was followed by a nice wine and cheese reception. Harrison and I met back up and headed out to the Rooftop Bar at the Vendue Inn to watch the sunset. It was a lovely view of the city!

Afterward, we headed to McCrady’s. It is a very nice restaurant/bar that has a neat place in history. You have to reach the entrance from a cute little alleyway. The bar was too full, so we actually didn’t stick around. We had dinner at Sermet’s Corner and Harrison had pork tenderloin that was to die for! To top the night off, we ended up at Club Habana. This was such a cool cigar bar with really great atmosphere and drinks. We were a bit smelly when we left.
On Saturday, I was in the conference until noon, then Harrison and I met up for lunch. We drove out to Sullivan’s Island and Isle of Palms and ate at Coconut Joe’s which overlooked the beach. The food and drink was pretty standard. We took our chairs onto the beach afterward, but we had to stay bundled up.
We had drinks at the Boathouse which was really exciting for us. Harrison and I had our rehearsal dinner at the Boathouse in Asheville. Our guests were the last ever to eat at the restaurant before it closed for business due to the economy in 2008. Harrison and I also sampled the clam appetizer, which was fabulous. Neither of us have ever had clams apart from chowder.

Next we headed to Vickery’s, and had a drink on their outdoor porch. It was a cute place with a tiki bar feel to it.

Afterward we went back into downtown Charleston and had one last drink at the original Citadel (now an Embassy Suites).
When Sunday rolled around (and so did we with all of the food that we'd eaten), I had one last half-day of conferences. I really learned a lot and I highly recommend primary care conferences by MUSC. It was very organized, they fed us well and kept an endless supply of coffee available, and the presenters were fantastic. It was a great way to earn 15 hours of continuing education. Eventually, Harrison and I headed home, sad to end our mini getaway.

- A special thanks to Elizabeth, Harrison’s sister and former Charleston resident, who recommended almost every place I mentioned above.

Atlanta for the weekend

Harrison and I spent this past weekend in Atlanta with Joey and Erin. We had a blast! Friday night, we had dinner at Cafe di Sol and then headed to Limerick's in Virginia Highlands. On Saturday, we ate FANTASTIC food at Rhea's Bluebird Cafe. It's this cute little 'hole-in-the-wall' that is known for amazing pancakes. They were name 'the best pancakes' by the NY Times. I had the strawberry pancakes and I have to agree with the Times! We practically rolled out of the cafe and headed over to a very neat historical cemetery. There were so many old, elaborate crypts. We saw the grave of golf legend, Bobby Jones. Fans leave golf balls on his grave in his memory.

Saturday night we spent the evening in Decatur. It is such a quaint neighborhood with wonderful restaurants, shops, bars, and people. We had dinner at an old converted garage called Leon's. The food and beer selection was wonderful, as was the atmosphere. I highly recommend it. After dinner we walked over to The Brick Store and spent several hours there. It's a cozy pub with great ambiance and a never ending selection of beer. I enjoyed the Belgian wheat beer and Hefeweizen that I ordered.

Afterward, we headed over to Twain's, a bar full of all sorts of fun games. We played foosball, darts (Cricket), and pool. Joey and Erin beat us at everything! We had a great time with them as always.

On Sunday we had brunch at The Flying Biscuit. It was even more incredible food! I had an omelette with chicken sausage, cheese grits, and a biscuit with almond butter. I felt like I should have worn sweatpants after having eaten so much.

After saying goodbye, we went to Nate and Kellye's house to visit with them, our niece, Paige, David, and my parents who had come into town. It was a great way to finish up a fantastic weekend. I just wish I had taken more pictures!

Battery Park Book Exchange

Harrison and I have a FAVORITE bar in Asheville. It is a library, where you can sip on tasty wine/beer/champagne and browse all of the book collections while lounging in comfortable, fine furniture. Harrison is quite the book-collector, so he often brings his prized possessions into the venue seeking appraisal. All of the books are for sale, and we almost always leave with more than one purchase. We bring all of of family and friends here when they visit:

Harrison's sister, Beth, IS a true librarian:

Tonight, I met him here (I'm on their Wifi now, blogging) after work. They don't serve meals here, other than desserts and cheese platters, so you're welcome to bring in your own take-out. You are also welcome to order from the menus they keep at the bar from the restaurants around town. The staff will go out and pick up your order from your restaurant of choice, bring it back, and serve it to you using their flatware and china! Tonight we had takeout from Havana's. It's a Cuban restaurant nearby and we love their Cuban sandwiches and fried plantains. Harrison comes here at least once a week to study, appraise books, look for gifts, etc. This is our favorite place for dates! We lounge in one of the big Chesterfield sofas, sip on our Italian Sangiovese, and browse through countless books on architecture and interior design. We're ALWAYS designing our dream home!

Ring this little bell at your table, and the waitress will come for your order!

A Sunday outing

Harrison and I were homebodies this weekend. He had a few big school projects that were keeping him busy, and I still wasn't feeling 100% after having had the flu all week. Today we slept in and then headed downtown for brunch. We went to a cute new place called Tingles Cafe. It was decorated in an adorable 40's-50's style. Unfortunately, our brunch was just average.

Afterward, we strolled through Asheville's lovely Montford district. Harrison and I love to go for walks all around where we live to get ideas about the kind of home that we want someday. Montford is full of the Arts and Crafts style that we love, but also some of our other favorites like Dutch Colonial, Federal, Victorian, etc. We were only able to get in a short walk before it started raining, but I took a few pictures anyway.

Birthdays, guns, & Valentine's

The last few weeks have been kind of stressful on me. Harrison noticed how I was feeling and he surprised me with my favorite flowers (Circus roses) a few days before Valentine's Day. The month of February is also significant because we've now been together for EIGHT years!

Saturday was Melissa's birthday. What better way to celebrate than by rounding up all our friends and taking a 45 minute drive out to near Hot Springs, NC to shoot guns?

Melissa, Christen, Caitlin, Ellen, Adam, Harrison and I arrived at Fowler Farms around 4pm, so we didn't have much time to shoot before Harrison and I needed to get back for dinner at the Walden's. I wasn't feeling very well at all, but I was just happy to shoot my gun again. It's been a year since I used it last. Fowler Farms is a beautiful piece of property in the NC mountains. The owners are very kind and have a Sporting Clay course set up in the woods behind their home. They even rent out their nice guns for $5 apiece! As we went from station to station, we munched on birthday cupcakes, sang Happy Birthday, and carried our shotguns in tow. I didn't do very well this year; Harrison beat us all (but I beat him last year). After shooting, Harrison and I headed back to Asheville to have a nice dinner at The Walden's. Brad and Emily were there also. We enjoyed a fantastic dinner of pork tenderloin, spinach/artichoke souffle, gourmet mac & cheese, and an incredible double layer chocolate cake! I was starting to feel a little sicker as the night wore on, so we went home a little early.

On Sunday, Harrison and I planned to celebrate a big (early) Valentine's Day. We had reservations at Posana's Cafe and concert tickets to see a famous French composer, Yann Tiersen at the Orange Peel. I didn't think I was going to make it to either event. I rested all day and Harrison made me drink a lot of hot tea. By dinnertime, I felt strong enough to tackle the evening. At dinner I had a great hot toddy made with Brandy, cloves, lemon juice and zest, and fresh ginger. We shared fried quail for our appetizer. I had the most amazing pork tenderloin encrusted with various nuts and a brown sugary glaze!

After dinner we headed to the Orange Peel to see Yann Tiersen's performance. I was expecting the relaxed sounds of his solo piano, accordion, and violin. Instead, he had a five person band with him and they rocked it out! He is a fabulous artist, and I think he just wanted to showcase a side of him that most of his listeners are not familiar with. I approve; I just wanted to hear a little more of him by himself.

After the concert, I was in desperate need of my bed. I was not feeling hot, but apparently I was...100 degree hot. What was I thinking going to that concert? I'm so stubborn. I didn't want to flake out on our big plans, but I suffered because of it. Here I am, blogging on Monday night, sick as a dog. I haven't even gotten out of my pajamas today. My Valentine has been to the pharmacy for me, the grocery store getting me soup, and boiling hot water for my tea. I love you, Valentine!

Paige's Christening

Our sweet niece, Paige, was baptized this past Saturday in Marietta, GA. Harrison and I stayed for 1/2 the weekend and we had a wonderful get-together with my entire family. Paige is growing so fast; she's three months old now. After the christening, we enjoyed a wonderful reception at Kellye and Nate's home.

Paige was baptized in the gown that Kellye's grandfather wore at his christening! It was lovely.

After saying our goodbyes to family, Harrison and I headed back to Asheville. We stopped at the North Georgia Premium Outlets and shopped for a few hours. It was worth it! We found some great deals. I spent $60 in Banana Republic on FOUR shirts! We finally made it home so that we could be ready to throw a Superbowl bash the next day with all of our friends.