CHANGE

Recognize this tree from a few posts ago? Well this is what it looked like today, in all its blooming glory. We've been blessed with some beautiful weather this last week (most of which was spent inside working). The weather isn't the only thing changing around here. We've been doing some things to spruce up the apartment (more to come on that) and hopefully some career changes will be happening in the near future (for me) but I don't want to jinx anything so I'm not spilling yet! 

MASTERING THE ART

One of my favorite movies is Julie & Julia. Its about a woman living in Brooklyn who cooks her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking cookbook. I, of course, was inspired and had to get the cookbook right away! Well a few months ago (after owning the cookbook for over a year) I decided it was time to crack the spine and try a recipe or two. One morning Austin and I were craving Eggs Benedict so I thought why not have a go at making Hollandaise sauce. It was a little touch and go at first but eventually the butter decided to cooperate and it turned out amazing!

SNOW

This is a snapshot of what it looked like outside our window yesterday. We had snow that actually accumulated. I think we got a whole TWO inches! And to think just the day before it was 60 out... apparently the weather here is just as indecisive as Vermont. 

ONE YEAR

Pre dinner shots... Austin was too hungry to let me snap some of him!

As of sunday Austin and I have officially lived in North Carolina for ONE YEAR (hence the name of the post )! Unfortunately we had to work on Sunday ( boooo ) and were too exhausted to do some proper celebrating when we got off. So last night we decided to hit up our favorite spot in town... a lil place called CPWs ( the bar tenders know us by name now and i'm ok with that... ). We started off with some southern drinks, I had a georgia peach and Austin an Abita purple haze. Then we munched on cajun crab dip (YUM). And to top off our southern feast we ordered shrimp n' grits.... which was a first for the both of us, oyster stew... which was an experience let me tell you, and crab and crawfish cakes. Needless to say we waddled out of there with our bellies quite content. North Carolina has been good to us... its even starting to feel a little like home. ( que appropriate country song )

AND THEN WE WENT TO THE BEACH

Sometimes you just need to get away (even if its just an hour away). Atlantic Beach is the perfect place for that. Especially when its February and no one is on the beach. We packed our coziest blankets a few good books and hunkered down for a relaxing afternoon. Our usual lunch spot was closed... just our luck (but really I've never heard of a restaurant being closed ONLY on wednesday). Never the less we managed to find a new place with a waterfront view and get our seafood fix... crab mac n' cheese anyone? YEAH. fried oysters? OK! she crab soup? WHY NOT?! I think the day was a success :)

HOME IMPROVEMENT

Over the weekend we got crafty and decided to make a bench for our tiny entryway. I saw the idea on pinterest and thought it would be simple and cheap. Luckily Austin happens to have a knack for building things. 

                           

What do you think?!

TWENTY THIRTEEN

Two thousand thirteen has been a good/busy year so far. We made it back to Vermont before the big snow storm... we got our Christmas wish for a white Christmas! It was great spending time in Richmond and Stowe with our families. We miss being able to see them so often! We celebrated the new year with friends in Burlington before jetting back to the South. As much as we loved being in the snow/cold we were surprised how happy we were to get back to reasonable temperatures... since we've been back we've been working a lot and doing a few home improvement projects... more to come soon!