🍂Holiday Season

Happy Sunday lovelies!

🍁Fall is a spectacular season. The colors (especially in Tennessee) are stunning each year. I was thrilled when Nathan and I made a quick trip back up to Knoxville a couple weeks ago, because we were able to see a decent amount of Fall colors in the mountains! The weather was chilly and dreary, but it was still beautiful. 

I stopped by The Consignment Shoppe in Farragut to do some shopping while Nathan worked at his observatory. The entire store was decked out in Christmas decor! I finally felt more excited about the upcoming holidays while looking around! 🎄

I ALWAYS find the most one of a kind, unique items at The Consignment Shoppe. I looked over the store about 6 different times, and kept finding things I didn't see before! The prices are insanely terrific. No matter what you are looking for, I bet you will find it at this shop!


It was a short trip to Knoxville, but I was glad we were able to see some friends and enjoy our quick visit!

Our furbaby sure was happy to see us when we got back home! He did not want to leave my lap!

Thanksgiving was so wonderful! We spent Thanksgiving at my Mother's this year; my brother and his family came up to visit as well. I had a blast spending time with my adorable nephew, but sure missed seeing my niece! There was a plethora of food (naturally), and the leftovers filled us up for days! 😆 My favorite Thanksgiving dish is green bean casserole! It is delicious! Our day was spent with too much food, hanging out with family, and just taking it easy.
I rarely participate in Black Friday shopping (I've worked retail and know how it goes) but Nathan and I did stop at a store to pick up a gift that we got a great deal on. Score!

Snuggles with my nephew!💕

Thankful ❤️

Pumpkin Pie!

Walking off some calories, to make room for more food!

With Thanksgiving officially over, we put up the Christmas decorations! It was quite strange not putting up my own decorations in my own home, but I am incredibly grateful that my Mother let me help her decorate her home! The Christmas music was blasting while we decorated, so now I'm even more excited for Christmas! 🎄

I hope everyone else had a fantastic Thanksgiving as well! 😊

QUESTIONS

* What is your favorite Thanksgiving food?

* Do you go Black Friday shopping or shop online?

* Do you put your Christmas decorations up before or after Thanksgiving?

Goodbye TN, Hello SC!

Goodbye Tennessee...Hello South Carolina!

We have MOVED! 

All I can say about moving, is that it is a pain in the ***! 😂 A few months ago, my husband accepted a job offer that required us to move down to Charleston within a two week time span. We didn't hire movers, we did it all ourselves (and with the help of some amazing friends)! Ultimately, Nathan ended up having to go down and start work, while I stayed to finish my last days at work, get new carpet installed in our house, and finish packing/cleaning. The hubby came back up on the weekends to help move our stuff either into a storage unit, or to take items back down to Charleston. Luckily for us, we only moved 6 hours away AND we are staying with my Mother while we look for a new home.

We hired a property management company to help us rent out our home in Tennessee. Within a week of putting a "For Rent" sign up in front of our home, we had a tenant in place to move in!
I've heard plenty of horror stories when it comes to renting out homes. I'm praying that this experience will be a pleasant one, and not turn into a disaster. 🙏🏼

Now we are both officially living in Charleston, trying to get settled in! For those who don't know, Nathan and I met, fell in love, and were married in Charleston, SC ( Magnolia Plantation ). 💕
Charleston has grown tremendously since we left nine years ago. The housing market here is quite tough right now, so we're really taking our time figuring out which area(s) we think would be a good fit for us, as well as a smart investment.

Since we've been back in Charleston for a few months, life has been GO-GO-GO! With the Holidays approaching quickly, life won't slow down for at least a few more months. Who else is freaking out about Thanksgiving NEXT WEEK?? ✋🏽

Of course, we have made some time to revisit old hang outs, as well as check out places we had never been to while we lived here previously.

Searching for seashells on Sullivan's Island (that's quite the tongue twister)!

Colonial Dorchester State Historic Site

Hampton Plantation State Historic Site

The Oak tree was saved from being torn down by George Washington. (Hampton Plantation)

George Washington Oak Tree at Hampton Plantation.

Charleston is beautiful city rich in history, art, amazing restaurants, entertainment, and much more! I am looking forward to sharing more of my adventures while living in this gorgeous city!

QUESTIONS

* Have you ever visited/lived in Charleston, South Carolina?

* Have you ever moved to a different state?

* Any recommendations of places to visit, or restaurants to try in the Charleston area?

Baby, It's Cold Outside ❄️

❄️

Brrr...It is a cold start to this Sunday morning! A chilly 24 degrees outside right now!

I LOVE this cold weather! Knoxville actually had some decent flurries on Friday!

Chilly days call for hot cocoa!

This past week has been a lot of fun. I've been able to do a little exploring around Knoxville and check out some places that I have been wanting to go to for a while now! Here's a recap of this past week!

First off, I'm super excited that I can finally make smoothies again! I got a Ninja blender for my Birthday last week, and I've been making a smoothie practically everyday!

To get my chocolate cravings in, I've been making more banana, chocolate smoothies. I add the ground flaxseed because of the health benefits, but mostly because it helps keep me fuller, longer. 

1 banana, chocolate almond milk (about 1/2 cup) , 1/2 tablespoon ground flaxseed, and ice!

Speaking of chocolate cravings...

Last Monday was NATIONAL COOKIE DAY!!

I picked up these gluten-free cookies from Aldi! The brand is Live G Free, and these cookies were double chocolate brownie. Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprising, the cookies tasted really good! I liked how soft and chewy these cookies were. The only downfall is how tiny they are! 2 cookies = 120 calories. Two cookies isn't bad though when you just need a little bit of dessert!

Cat cuddles!

Now, for the exploring Knoxville restaurants/shops bit:

I enjoy my days off with the hubby, especially since it doesn't happen often enough. I was ecstatic when we had Thursday off together.

Nathan and I have a nice long list of restaurants we want to try out. 

We decided to go to Tandur Indian Kitchen for lunch!

Tandur Indian Kitchen was sooooo yummy!! I certainly love Indian food, so when I heard about Tandur Indian Kitchen arriving in Knoxville, TN, I was extremely excited! When you enter the restaurant, I was greeted by the friendliest staff, offering to explain the menu. I already knew the majority of the menu, so I ordered right away! 

I love Saag (creamed spinach), so I ordered it with chicken. My meal came with either basmati rice or brown (I ordered brown rice), and regular Naan bread.

We ordered vegetable samosas to start out - the mint sauce is delicious! I have to learn the recipe!

Samosas!

Saag with chicken, brown rice, and plain naan!

After an incredible lunch, the hubs and I needed to walk it off. Just down the road is Bearden area, and there are so many local shops that I haven't been to yet!

Fig & Co. is one of the many places that I had been really wanting to check out. I can't believe it has taken me this long to go into Fig & Co.! They had the cutest home decor and very reasonable prices! This is the place to go to get your Christmas presents for everyone!

The staff was extremely friendly, as soon as Nathan and I walked in, we were offered to try some chocolates (we were too full from our lunch), and they also gladly answered any questions we had! I really appreciate genuine customer service; that's exactly what you receive at Fig & Co.!

I bought an adorable fox trinket box, a little "puzzle" reindeer! I plan on going back very soon to get some more Christmas gifts!

Right next door to Fig & Co., is another interesting boutique/shop - Ironic.  Ironic had really one of a kind pieces that I absolutely adored! This advent calendar was super cute (move the mouse to each day of the month)! At Ironic, there was home decor, clothing, some jewelry, chalk paint, and more!

Since we were still in Bearden area, we went into Nadeau (furniture with a soul).

 The staff was also extremely friendly and inviting! 

There were SO many pieces of furniture that I just wished I could take home with us! The prices were surprisingly reasonable for the majority of the pieces of furniture!

I will certainly go back after the holidays, and pick out the beautiful pieces of furniture I want/need for the home!

It's always exciting exploring new restaurants and shops. I have a list of more places so it won't be long till I check more places out! 

❄️

Oh, apparently, the Nutcrackers couldn't handle all the nuts...😂

QUESTIONS:

* Do you enjoy snow?

* Have you had snow/flurries yet?

* Have you finished your Christmas present shopping?

Some Fun Around Town

Happy Wednesday! We are getting closer to Fri-yay! Plus, we're coming up to a 3 day weekend! :)

Although life has been crazy busy, but I have been able to check out a couple new places around town lately!

Nama:

Recently, my friend Jamie took me downtown to have sushi for dinner at Nama! It was my first experience at Nama. The food was spectacular, but I learned not to order the apple sake ever again. Something about the sake was way off, but the FOOD was on point!

Instead we each ordered a glass of wine, split three appetizers and then split a soy joy roll and sesame beef. 

For our appetizers, we split the pork dumplings, cali roll (sweet crab, avocado and cucumber), and spring rolls.

Pork dumplings, cali roll, and spring rolls

Soy Joy

For the main course, we had the Soy Joy roll and sesame beef dish. The soy joy roll is spicy tuna, seared albacore, cucumber, tempura crunchies wrapped in soy paper, topped with fantasy sauce, eel sauce, wasabi mayo and scallions.

Jamie and I had such a fun time, and I will definitely go back for the incredible food! 

Breakout:

This past Saturday, we met up with our friends, Don & Dora, at Calhoun's for dinner, and then went to a place called "Breakout." 

Breakout is an extremely awesome, unique, and fun experience. Basically, you and your friends (family, coworkers, etc.) are in a certain themed escape room, where you have to try to solve riddles, puzzles, and more, to break out of the room in less than an hour. 

We did the Museum Heist! 

It was our first time trying it out and we all did really good as a team, but if we had just a little bit more time, I think we would have escaped! We were close! 

I was impressed at the level of riddles, codes, etc. that you had to figure out to find more clues. 

I highly recommend going to Breakout in Knoxville!

I absolutely had a blast and can't wait to go try out the other escape rooms!!

Check it out here - Breakout Knoxville 

QUESTION TIME:

* Do you like sushi?

* What is your favorite thing to do or place to go after the workday?

* Have you tried anything like "Breakout?"

Weekend Recap!

This past weekend was awesome!

Saturday, I received my Young Living Essential Oils starter kit! I'm extremely excited to announce that I am officially an independent distributor!
I cannot wait to begin this journey and share my experience with you!

Saturday night, my friend Jamie and I went out downtown! She got free tickets to a performance at the Bijou Theater and kindly invited me to go with!

We decided to go to the Sunspot restaurant for dinner. I had never been and she wanted to show me just how incredible the food is there. I ordered the roasted chickpea salad with grilled chicken, and Jamie ordered the catfish! Jamie was right, the food was insanely amazing! My salad was massive, but I ate every last bite! I gotta admit it, it is hands down, my new favorite salad!

After dinner at Sunspot, we headed on over to the Bijou Theater to see GO! Contemporary Dance Works performance of "In the Shadows of Pine Mountain - The Scottish-Irish Exodus from Ulster to the Hills of Appalachia." 

The performance was incredible and the dancers were phenomenal! I'm really glad I had the opportunity to check it out. I will definitely go to another performance! The artistic directer is Lisa Hall McKee; You can check out their website at: GO! Contemporary Dance

During the 20 minute intermission, Jamie and I headed upstairs to check out a handmade jewelry display/shop!! As you know, whenever I hear "jewelry," I have to go check it out! Of course, we left with a few items!  ;) The local jewelry artist is Heather Eggleston and her company is Blackbyrd Jewelry. Not only was the handmade jewelry gorgeous, but it was very affordable! I didn't cringe when I saw the prices!
Check out Heather's etsy site here: Blackbyrd Jewelry

I ended up leaving with two bracelets and a pair of earrings!
The green beaded bracelet also has lava rock beads, which can be soaked in essential oils! Now I have to figure out which oil I want to use on my bracelet!!

How cute are those earrings?!

After the show, Coolato Gelato was our last stop for a late night decadent treat! I can never say "No" to gelato! I had the raspberry truffle and Jamie had the tiramisu! Yum! It was a perfect end to such a fun night!

Sunday was dedicated entirely to baking, a little dog-sitting, running errands, and preparing for the Super Bowl.
Of course, food and beer are a must for football games, especially the Super Bowl!
I set up a ton of snacks to last us the whole game. Veggies, ranch dip, cashews, pistachios, pickles, olives, etc. I also made us some buffalo fried chicken legs to dip in the ranch! It was perfection! I didn't get the chance to make the fried pickles, but I still plan on making them sometime this week!!

Air fried buffalo chicken:

Yummy!!

The Denver Broncos did a great job defeating the Carolina Panthers!! However, I thought the commercials and even the half time show was underwhelming. Overall, it was a great weekend!  :)

Question Time!

* What did you do this weekend?

* Are you glad the Denver Broncos won the Super Bowl?

* Which commercial was your favorite?

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the Young Living Essential Oils! I can't wait to tell you more about them and why they are so wonderful!   :)

February!

Hey y'all! Happy February!

Yesterday was Groundhog day! Apparently, Punxsutawney Phil did NOT see his shadow, which may mean we will have an early Spring!
We haven't had much of a winter anyway (in Knoxville, at least), so we will see if we will indeed have an early Spring or not!


Nathan and I had some time together, so we took advantage of the day and ran some errands. Adulting is awesome, isn't it?

First we stopped at McKay's. McKay's is a used bookstore that also sells used dvd's, games, electronics, and much more. We had a ton of books, movies, and games to drop off and trade in for credit. I love getting credit to the store just for bringing in old books, etc.! With our credit, we ended up buying some blu-ray movies that we haven't seen yet!
I love that McKay's had an adorable tree made out of books! They should keep it up all year round!

I convinced Nathan to stop at The Southern Market! The Southern Market is amazing! It is full of cute and unique interior items/decor. Every single time I go, there is something new I fall in love with. The store is massive, and they have items by local artists/vendors.
Whenever stopping by, it is mandatory to grab up some goodies made by Sugar Mama's Bakery!

Sugar Mama's Bakery 

New Eve Jewelry

I cannot believe I parted with the coffee tumbler that says "Ain't Nobody Got Time For That!" I think that will be a must have the next time I stop in the store! :) OR, if you go first, grab it up for me! Hehe!

Ashley Brooke Designs

Ahhh...the honey cookies by Sugar Mama's Bakery are SOOOOO scrumptious!

Sometimes you gotta treat yo' self!
    

;p

Lately, I've been slightly obsessed with New Eve Jewelry! The artist is Megan Craig, a local jewelry designer.  Some of her gorgeous pieces are sold at Southern Market, and I found a necklace that I could not part with. Actually, I wanted to buy them all, but unfortunately I could only purchase one.
You can find more beautiful handcrafted jewelry on her etsy shop or on the main website!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/newevejewelry
http://www.newevejewelry.com/

Below is a beautiful turquoise wired ring which pairs well with any outfit! This ring is by jewelry designer, Danielle Kimberly Robinson - DKR Jewelry. You can find more info on her etsy shop as well!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/DKRJewelry?ref=pr_shop_more
or on www.southernmarketshops.com

Isn't it gorgeous?!

I can't think of anything better than Starbucks coffee and shopping on a rainy day! :)

Recently, I finished reading Mindy Kaling's newest book - "Why Not Me."
Her first book, "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?" was hilarious. "Why Not Me" was quite funny, but overall enjoyed her first book much more!

Questions for y'all:

Do you think Punxsutawney Phil is right? Will we have an early Spring?

Do you have any favorite local artists?

What books are you currently reading?