Things I love: Wimbledon

I love the Wimbledon.

My father and I have watched it, and the sport of tennis, together for the past few years. I played on my high school team sophomore year and have played it recreationally since then.

Now, let's be honest. I cannot play that well. But, I think that it's so fun! (However many times I would end matches with me throwing the racket across the court and calling it quits) Either way, I like to watch the Wimbledon when it comes around.

Fashion inspiration? Yes.

(All pictures attributed to Ralph Lauren)

And the Queen always shows up! How pretty is her bouquet?

I must now return to my family. My grandmother is currently in the kitchen preparing dinner - baby-back ribs! How exciting!
Can you guess what it was last night? That's right. Shrimp and grits! MMMmmMMMM

Until then,
Cara

Florida!

Good morning every one!

Excited to say that for the next week I will be in FLORIDA visiting family at this wonderful location...


Yes, my week will include great home-cooked meals, kayaking, swimming and hopefully a tan.

However, I'm not sure how my internet connection will be down there, so I must say that this will be my last post until next Thursday! Don't worry though, I will come back full force.

Until then,
Cara

Lightning bugs

Summer Nights


where music flows
and tempers flare
and lullabies fill the air.
-Mary Hamrick

Good Company

Things I miss about high school: church camp. This might sound odd. For many, church camp is a place that their parents encouraged them to go and awkward teenagers gathered. For me, it was a place where I grew the most as a person- socially and spiritually. As another plus, I gained leadership skills that have served me well already.

Needless to say- I loved it! I found my best friends there, and even after long periods of time apart, it still feels like coming home and slipping into a huge bear hug when I see them again.

A couple of years ago, when I was a senior in high school, our youth coordinator for the diocese, (Episcopalian term for general district or collection of churches in a certain area) decided to move to Texas and go to divinity school. She was such an inspiration and a guiding light to us all and we were very sad to see her go.

But this past weekend, we were able to celebrate Kathy's ordination in Raleigh, and I could not have been happier to attend this event!


An ordination is when you are certified by the church to obtain a higher leadership role with-in the church. Deacons, priests and bishops are ordained.

It was so great to see everyone! Kathy is in green above. Also pictured is Melissa, an adult leader in the youth programs, and then Don and Molly (two dear friends) with me in the blue.

And yes- Don is wearing a completely seer sucker suit. It was amazing.

Molly had driven from four hours away the night before (arriving at my house at 4 in the morning-yikes!) to come to the service. I am sad I didn't get to see her long, because there is always so much to catch up on. But it was still good to see her even for a short amount of time.

A couple of years ago in Texas

Molly and I go all the way back to the 7th grade when we became friends at summer camp!
Don became a friend shortly after. I cannot relate to you the countless valuable friends that were not present this weekend, but it was good to see even just a few.

After the service, we all went to a local pub Tir Na Nog, just down the street. Side note: I love downtown Raleigh. I am seriously considering moving there when I am older and want to settle down.


It was there that I got a ham and brie sandwich with green apples on it! Mmmm. Tasty.

But the best part about the meal was the conversation, which lasted for 2 1/2 hours! I can't remember when I had such a long lunch!

Ahh, how I miss those camp days. And I am missing something in my life that I was so passionate about as I was going to Camp Summit.

A few flash backs!

8th grade- what a year


Cabin dodge ball tournament- against the boys. :P don't think we got very far- but we looked prepared!

Tent we built our last night at the Summit. Seniors on their last night traditionally stay up all night and watch the sunrise the next day.

Working at HUGS camp- a camp for kids with disabilities. This is Austin who loves Chip and Dale, collecting acorns and swimming!

The "trifecta"- two of my besties!

Hope everyone's week is off to a great start!
Oh, and happy OFFICIAL summer! Whoo!

Until then,
Cara

Beautiful Things

Getting Iced?

I had a post planned for today. But I am so fascinated by this topic that I must discuss it.

Getting iced.

Do you know anyone who has gotten iced?

Am I extremely behind the curve for not having heard of this until a couple of weeks ago?


It all started yesterday when I read this article that came up on my newsfeed (courtesy of Ilana) and I was amazed that this phenomenon had spread to the professional work space. This is great! People are having mucho fun in arenas of their lives that are normally uptight.

In fact, that is the best part about this whole thing. It's so spontaneous and silly and almost stupid that it's hilarious.



For those of my readers who need a formal (or informal definition) of getting iced:

As according to Urban Dictionary:

(V). The act of drinking a Smirnoff Ice on one knee as fast as you can, following the presentation of the 'ice' in a clever manner.

Basically, this is a fun joke that boys (mostly) plan on their bros. An emasculation of sorts.
I predict many more icings in the future of my social calendar.

And like any good game that fraternity boys invent, there are ridiculous rules.

Rule #1:
If you refuse to drink the Smirnoff, you forfeit the right to ever ice another bro, ever again.

Rule #2:
The only way to avoid drinking the Ice, is by "blocking" the ice attempt with the presentation of an Ice of your own.

This has gotten so popular that there was a site, brosicingbros.com, that Smirnoff took down. The dumbest thing they ever did if you ask me. Yea, sure it promotes Smirnoff ice as a girly drink. But the more that people know about this prank- the more Ice that will be sold? Correct?

Even though there is no longer a whole site dedicated to this silly prank, there are enough YouTube videos to get your fill. There is even a "how-to" video as seen on CollegeHumor.

Any time of day is acceptable. In fact, the more inappropriate the time, the better! Just waking up, coming home from work, at work, in the airport, in a restaurant- you get the idea.

Crazy.

Perhaps not what Smirnoff had originally intended...


Classier posts to come.
Watching USA v. Slovenia.

Go USA!

Until then,
Cara

Girls' Night!

So! Lately I have been kind of bored and so yesterday when I was thinking of things I could do: ah ha! Girls night! So naturally I texted bff Christiana and she suggested that we had said girl night immediately- who was I to decline?

Naturally the evening was centered around three things, the pillars of girl nights: A good chick flick and good food and good drink!

All of you non-girly girls might scoff. But chick flicks, as superficial and semi-related as they all might be, are the most carefree way to a fun night!

And none of you will be laughing when you see what our three pillars of the night consisted of.

Yes. Our good friend André came over. And yes. Those are chocolate covered strawberries!
SO GOOD!

Movie of choice? The movie with at least 6 stories of love...


Needless to say we had a fun time ogle-ing the likes of Bradley Cooper, Taylor Lautner and Ashton Kutcher. Perfect night!

Also- I made the chocolate covered strawberries. That's right ladies and gents- I got into the kitchen again and whipped up something amazing!! And it was SO easy. I will definitely be making these again.

As you can see by the first poor strawberry at the top left, it took me a couple of tries to get the consistency of the chocolate and the twirling technique down. But, after some added milk (next time I think I shall use half and half) the mixture smoothed right out!

Aren't these strawberries huge, too! It is strawberry season my friend, and the pickins are good! They are also much cheaper now since there are so many on the market. Only $1.50 per box! And with Redbox $1 movie rentals this night was a steal, if you ask me!


Mmmm. They were so delicious! Also, another tip- put them in the fridge to dry! The recipe I was looking at say they are best at room temp, but some coolage is necessary to harden the shells up!

Off for another delightful day at SoWeds!

Until then,
Cara

Epicuriwhat?

I have a new addiction in my life. Epicurious. A.k.a. the best site ever.

I discovered Epicurious whilst looking at my dad's new iPad (omgtheyaresocool) and stumbled upon this app that he has on it. Epicurious is a bank of recipes that you can search through online! You can search by main food item, health level, meal or holiday. But the best part about this recipe collection is that all of the food is AMAZING. A lot of websites the recipes they give you can be hit or miss.

Another cool feature- it gives you an ingredient list that you can either print out at home or ,if you are using the iPad, can send right to your iPhone to have in the supermarket. How clever! It also gives you nutrition information for each meal (most of the time) and provides a cooking dictionary (who knows what the difference between saté and sauté is?) and cooking videos online.

Am I a nerd for loving a cooking website? Maybe. But. Look. At. This.


You cannot deny that you want to reach into the screen and gobble all of that up!
It is Epicurious' recipe for Fourth of July Dessert. (Can we make this for Fourth of July pretty please??!) They offer holiday event planning menus! So they give you all of the things you would need for one meal.

One of the menus suggested

Grilled Shrimp Cocktail

Rib-eye, T-bone or Strip Steaks

Mashed Sweet Potatos with Banana and Brown Sugar!
Grilled Corn on the Cob

Chopped Salad

Ugh! My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Last night I put one of the menu's to the test! Grilled Shrimp and Vegetables with Pearl Couscous was what was for dinner.

IT WAS SO GOOD!

I couldn't believe it.

I was eating zucchini, red onions and mushrooms! Who would have thought?! For any one who has known me for more than a month can attest that vegetables are not always my thing. But, I have ventured into a whole new world!

For your viewing pleasure...



I will definitely be trying more things from Epicurious in the future!

Until then,
Cara

Destination: London

So I once read somewhere that planning vacations gives one almost more satisfaction than actually going on vacations. Odd. However, with my empty pockets and big imagination, I figured that it would be fun to plan trips around the world!
So here is my first destination on my imaginary trip- LONDON!


So these are a couple inspiration boards of sorts. As you all may know, I am a graphic design major and visually putting things together is just what I do! When I think of England, these are the types of things I think of!


Ah! I love it!

So of course, in planning my favorite trip I actually had to do some research and these would be some of the highlights of my trip

Travel

I would take the 20 hr. and 15 minute flight (whew!) from RDU departing at 4:35 p.m. and arrive in London at 5:50 p.m. Flying first class on Swiss International Airlines.

I fell in love with this luggage from J.Crew, which I will be carrying with me.



Lodging

I would stay at the fabulous five-star hotel 41.
It's located nearby Buckingham Palace and walking distance to most of the attractions in London. Besides how could you go wrong with an entrance like this?


You can't.

Annndd my room



Food

So next big item on everyone's mind: food! In the search for restaurants in the area, I really wanted something that would serve traditional English cuisine.
So I ended up finding this spot, Northbank, which is located right on the river, near the eye of London!


Nice view, huh? It serves traditional English food. Sign me up!

Beginning Course
Dartmouth smoked trout with horseradish cream and chives

Second Course

Suffolk pork belly with sautéed black pudding and razor clams

Dessert
Blackberry and vanilla cheesecake with milk ice cream
Mmmm.

Now you don't think I could go to England with out going to a pub do you? Now, I don't know any local favorites, obviously, but a quick search found me at this pub, The Angel.




Entertainment

And, of course, you cannot go abroad with out having some fun!
Because my hotel will be so close by, I might as well go to Buckingham Palace and see the guard change and tour the inside to see pretty rooms like this!



I thought that going to see Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theater Would be pretty amazing. Show time is at 7:30!


What will I wear you ask?
This dress from Neiman Marcus

Well, if you have made it this far, congratulations!
I know, these are such long posts, but I feel like I love it, so maybe you will too!

Off to go plan some more traveling!

Until then,
Cara

A parting gift

Things that are Southern: Porches

Porches are a fixture on many historic southern homes and I am in love with them. Even if I live in Maine when I am older, I will have a porch.

Why?
Porches are amazing for reading books, drinking lemonade, eating breakfast on and enjoying the outdoors with out exactly having to get sweaty!

Porches have a lot of charm and they add another dimension to a house that makes it become a home.

My dad and I usually eat breakfast every morning out on our porch, seen below.

A lot of times, my favorite thing about coming home for the summer is spending mornings out on the rocking chair, seen above.

Here are some more porches that I found that I think are amazing!


I love this last one!

Do you have an outdoor area that you love to use?

Until then,
Cara

Hillsborough Hotspots: Maple View

Taking my friends to the Maple View Ice Cream store is like a ritual that one must go through to truly experience the most fabulous ice cream of all mankind. At least, that is the way that I like to think about it.

Going to Maple View is also a way for my friends to get to know me better. I worked there for two years during high school and have gone there with family and friends for ages now it seems.

What is Maple View? Maple View is officially a dairy farm that is located in the rural gap between Hillsborough and Chapel Hill. Across from the farm there is a dairy store. This is where people can come to get ice cream that uses cream from the cows that they see right across the road. Isn't that cool?!



They also sell milk (in glass bottles!), local cheese, eggs, strawberries, chocolate treats, meat and soap!



There are also always really fun flavors. My favorites, you ask?

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Mango Sorbet
Orange Dream
Mint Chocolate Chip

But there are also fun ones like Peanut Butter and Jelly (don't wince, it really does taste good!), Moosetracks, Honey Toasted Almond, Banana and so much more!!!

So...
Step 1: You get your ice cream
Step 2: Go outside and choose to sit either on the porch with over 40 rocking chairs, or go out to the field where there are several picnic tables to sit upon.
Step 3: Look at one of the best views in Orange County

See how many cars are there? It's popular!

Step 4: Perhaps toss around a frisbee.

I have been there twice in the past two weeks. Perhaps three. I don't keep count. One with my good friend Whitney Davis! Who was baffled by how far out into the "country" this place was (oh, how I love you!) and then once again with "the gang" as we call it.

I love Maple View because it is so quintessentially so much of what I love about this area. It's gorgeous, simple and everything just moves a little bit slower. It's enough just to go and enjoy good ice cream and look out at a view. It reminds me of warm summer nights, star gazing and carefree afternoons.

Do y'all have anything like this near you? Or someplace that sells local goods?

Until then,
Cara

homemade dinners

Hey y'all!
Sooo this last night I had my first dinner party of the summer. This one was smaller (just 6 people), just as a sort of easing into the summer. I decided that it should be Mexican themed. (Yes, I was craving burritos, what of it?)
So my good friend Christi came over and we made tortillas (my mother's recipe that she has been using forever) , homemade guacamole (I am ashamed to admit that I had never had guacamole before last night, and it was amazing) and watermelon!
It was so nice to have people over to the house! (I have no pictures, because I am lame and forgot to charge my camera), but I WISH I had pictures because it was such a pretty night. I set up a table outside in my backyard and we all sat on lawn chairs with towels on them because they were too low... ah the simple joys of summer.
The lightning bugs were out last night too! That's when it really felt like summer! Good food and great company- what more could a girl ask for?
And one thing I noticed was that our conversation was so good. I don't know, I just always feel so grown up when I have people over for dinner and we can all just sit outside and talk with out having to have something like drinking or games or watching a movie to help move the conversation along.

There will be more dinner parties to come, and I promise that next time I will take pictures of said event! (I will first need to find my camera charger :P )

My pilates in the mornings is going well. I am ashamed to say that this morning, after a night of socialization, I did not manage to get up. I should probably learn how to just push through the tiredness, but sleep definitely has its value too, right?

Today, I have been watching Season 2 of Sex and the City. I love it! I feel like I would be so blessed to have such a tight group of friends when I grow older to experience the world with! And watching the show reminds me of all my amazing friends that I have right now that I feel like are all so unique and help me to become the best version of me that I can be.



I seriously love you girls and it's so incredible, now that I think about it, to have friends that are all such strong women and are so close and dear to me!

I will stop being sappy now.


Until then,
Cara