TGIF!

this week has been a tough one to get through but I have so much to look forward to this weekend and next week!

after work today i'm running track repeats with the help of my stepdad. prior to his stroke, he was a badass marathon runner. and with my training schedule start date creeping up (july 8th), i figured i'd get some coaching in with him before it officially starts! then it's off to bricktops with my other set of parents before they jet off to florida for the week.

saturday morning, court & i are going to (quickly) hit up the vintage pop-up market at the fillmore before heading to the lake for the day!

one full day & one half day of work next week and then i'm murrells inlet bound to stay with the crocker fam all week!

 

{crocker girls + me }

 

and i cannot wait to see my beautiful friend laura and her brand new DIAMOND at the beach too!

 

 

{the lauras circa 2010}

 

and as always, i am over-the-moon excited to celebrate my most favorite day of the year, 4th of july!

 

have a great weekend!

 

thursday's thought.

{may 2012}          "what you have to decide... is how you want your life to be. if your forever was ending tomorrow, would this be how you'd want to have spent it? listen, the truth is, nothing is guaranteed. you know that more than anybody. so don't be afraid. be alive." - sarah dessen, the truth about forever

the fault in our stars.

{via}

the first book i read by john green was "looking for alaska." it rocked my world. this quote is one of my all time favorite things ever written.

"but i lacked the courage and she had a boyfriend and i was gawky and she was gorgeous and i was hopelessly boring and she was endlessly fascinating. so i walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, i was drizzle and she was a hurricane."

so when "the fault in our stars," came out, i couldn't wait to read it. except somehow 2012 came and went and i am just getting around to it. and once i picked it up (around 9:30pm last night), i didn't put it down until i was finished (around 1am this morning). i cried for the last hour of the book and i'm pretty sure lola thought i was losing my mind. john green did it again.

without giving away too much, this is a love story between two teenagers who both grew up a little too fast because of that ass-hole named cancer. there is a healthy kid & a sick kid & a lot of words that make your heart flutter like it did the first time a boy held your hand. this book is hard to read, painfully wonderful & beautifully tragic.

so grab a box of tissues and dive in. i can only hope you miss a whole night's sleep like i did.

"as he read, i fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, at then all at once."

a saturday for the books.

after dinner with my family at bricktops and deep cleaning my room on friday night, i crawled into bed around midnight in anticipation for a busy saturday!

 

i woke up around 7:30am and got ready for the day. katt met me at my house around 9:30am and headed up to greensboro, nc for meagan's bridal shower! meagan was my random freshman year roomie who we all quickly became obsessed with. we ended up living together our junior & senior year too. she fell in love with our friend walt who lived across the street from us in college & they are getting hitched in august!

 

meagan's shower was hosted at one of her bridesmaid's parent's house. it was absolutely beautiful! they had pictures of meggy and walt all over the house. after plenty of mimosas & a delicious appetizer, we had a yummy lunch. the menu included fruit salad, homemade biscuits, and chicken breast over an orzo salad. after spending a few hours opening all her awesome gifts, we headed back to charlotte. i was so glad i was able to make it to the shower & can't wait to see meg & walt tie the knot in just a few months!

 

 

{gamecocks at the shower // savannah, sarah, katt, meggy, britt, me}

 

after resting for a few hours, i got ready for saturday night. a couple of weeks ago i got a text from a friend of mine who is a few years younger than me asking about going out in charlotte. since i have a few years of the charlotte bar scene under my belt, they asked me to be their fearless leader on their first night out in charlotte since they turned 21. oh boy! after stopping over for a few drinks at my friend rachel's house (where my friend marilyn surprised me!), we headed to montford. it was such a fun night with some super sweet girls & we even ended up running into a few of our other cheer friends at brazwell's!

 

 

 

{rachel, me, taylor, julia, court}

 

 

{marilyn, the beauty queen, & i}

{we found lindsay!}

 

{and then we found abbey too!}

 

we woke up sunday morning and took the girls to zada janes for brunch. court and i spent the rest of sunday hanging with katie & recovering from pretending we were 21 again. we sure aren't as young as we used to be!

boyz II men, 98 degress & NKOTB.

yep, i did it. i went to their concert on wednesday night at time warner cable arena. my momma bought tickets awhile back and we have been looking forward to it ever since. every woman in attendance looked like they hadn't been out of the house in 5 years, wearing clothes that haven't been cool in 5 years. it was epic. my tweets from the evening pretty much sum it up.

we started the evening at blackfinn for a drink. mom insisted we have cosmos.

then it was off to the arena for the show!

{boyz II men}

{98 degrees}

{NKOTB}

{court & i}

{thanks for a great night, momma!}

recipe: veggie pizza.

i grocery shop too much. between earthfare, tj's, the teeter & the farmer's market, i spend a lot of money on groceries. so this week i challenged myself to use up all of the things i already have being making a trip to any store. i was digging around my fridge looking for something to throw together when i remembered food babe's recipe for a pizza using an ezekial wrap as the crust, so i gave it a go. she used different toppings, but her recipe helped me figure out how long to bake the pizzas - something i have no clue about!

 

ingredients:

organic tomato sauce (earthfare)

black beans

organic corn

1/2 red pepper, chopped

1/2 zuchinni, chopped

1/2 cup shredded raw cheddar cheese

2 ezekial wraps - i only had the mini size so i made 2!

 

 

directions:

1. turn oven on to 400 degrees.

2. thaw ezekial wraps.

3. bake wraps in oven for 3-4 minutes to "harden."

4. use a small amount of tomato sauce on the shell.

5. pile toppings on.

6. throw cheese on top.

7. bake for 8-10 minutes at 400.

8. sprinkle with a little more cheese once you take them out of the oven.

9. enjoy!

 

can't wait to make them again soon!

recent buys.

i've been on a bit of a shopping spree lately which is funny cause i really shouldn't be. but i've also been getting some super sweet deals so that makes me feel a little bit better about being a crazy shopper.

 

 

{billabong desi top}

 

{lulu lemon ta ta toper: had $50 gift card}

 

{red denim cutoffs from madewell: got these for $16 at the store - hello 4th of july outfit}

 

{currently less than $10 on amazon}

 

 

{sheer flutter tee: anthropologie: on sale for $34.75}

 

{andrew mcmahon signed konfusion 13x13 poster}

 

 

{old navy compression capris: all workout gear is 40% off}

 

happy shopping!

ammie does charlotte // weekend recap!

this weekend one of my best friends from college came to charlotte! ammie comes here pretty frequently because a good majority of our friends live here, but this weekend i had her all to myself!

she got to my house around 6pm on friday. we had dinner with derrick & spencer at kickstand before we all headed to whiskey warehouse for drinks. our friend britt met us there & it was a fun night catching up.

 

saturday morning we slept in until 10am & then met ammie's sister, amanda, and her boyfriend, brad, at toast for brunch. after brunch, i took them to the farmer's market & then to the duke mansion to look around. ammie & i hit the mall for a few hours before we all met up again to head to carowinds!

i hadn't been to carowinds in many many years. it was completely different & there were only a handful of original rides there. we stayed from about 4:30pm-10pm & got to ride all but 1 of the roller coasters. it was really fun spending saturday doing something that i used to love to much as a kid! ps. the intimidator ROCKS.

after a quick shower, we met kathleen & her sweet fiance at angry ales around midnight. i normally see a lot of people i know out on montford, but i have NEVER seen this many people i know in one bar before. it was crazy! post-bar we sat on the back porch with my neighbors and chatted until the wee hours of the night - it was so nice outside.

sunday was filled with father's day activities & errand running. always thankful for family time & am thankful to have an amazing dad & an awesome step dad who love me so much!

i love surprises! {well, surprising other people}

last week i wrote about how i had a few surprises for the weekend. well operation surprise my mom & stepdad is now complete so i wanted to share!

surprise # 1: my cousin! her & i planned her trip down about a month ago and i've kept quiet ever since. after having drinks with my parents on friday, i raced home to meet lauren who drove down from DC. saturday morning we showed up at my mom's house & everyone was shocked & so happy to see her. i love having her around - i wish she lived here!

surprise #2: these adorable little cookies i had made for the housewarming party. i contacted a local baker a few weeks ago and asked if she could make a custom cookie that looked like their house. i sent her a picture & they turned out beautifully. thanks to terry at sugarbaker's in belmont for the cookies - they were a hit!

surprise #3: spa day! i had a half day on monday from working on sunday so i scheduled a very late "mother's day/thank you for all you do for me" spa day for my momma & i. i kidnapped her around 1pm & made her guess where we were going the whole drive. we went to the fabulous ballantyne spa and lounged in the hot tub, steam room & sauna before our appointments. i got a  massage & my mom got a 50 minute facial. i loved spending the day with her & just relaxing!

recipe: peanut butter & banana cookies!

i came across this recipe on pinterest via two peas in their pod blog for gluten free vegan banana peanut butter chocolate chip cookies! i made a few adjustments, but i absolutely LOVED the outcome. like i ate them all in two days kind of love. 

ingredients:

3 large & ripe bananas

1/2 cup creamy all-natural peanut butter

1 tablespoon coconut oil warmed up but not fully melted (trader joe's)

2 tablespoons agave nectar (i used honey instead, so mine aren't actually vegan!)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups gluten-free oats (i just used oats i already head - organic steel cut)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

3/4 cup vegan chocolate chips (i didn't use any chocolate chips)

directions: 

1. turn over to 350 degrees

2. mash the bananas up with a fork. then mix in the pb, softened coconut oil, honey, & vanilla.

3. in a separate bowl, mix oats, cinnamon, baking powder, & salt. 

4. stir everything together.

5. separate into 12 cookies. (i did this with my hands.)

6. bake for 12-14 minutes.

7. let cool & enjoy! i also stored mine in the fridge just to be safe. 

{dry vs. wet ingredients}

{all mixed up}

{before}

{final product}

mom & b's housewarming party!

last summer, my mom & stepdad relocated from the burbs of charlotte to the coolest part of charlotte, plaza midwood. they found a charming 3 bed, 2 bath bungalow on a darling little street & i have loved having them so close. in january, they started doing renovations to make the house more wheelchair friendly for brian and finally finished them up sometime in april. so this past saturday, we had their "backyard garden" housewarming party! it FINALLY stopped raining & it was a beautiful evening with our friends & family!

linens: classic party rentals

tables & chairs: some borrowed from duke mansion, some from party reflections

custom cookies: sugarbakers 

dinner: krazyfish

special thanks to my cousin & my mom's bff meg for helping us get everything together on saturday!