Charlottesville Weekend

Happy Friday friends!

Hope you've all had a great week!

Today I thought I would share the first of many fun-filled weekends we've had this summer!

We have been traveling like crazy, and in fact, this will be our first weekend home since I finished the school year.  I am relieved to be staying in Richmond this weekend, but also have a packed schedule planned!

The first weekend of summer we headed to Charlottesville for my friend LJW's wedding.  She and I were in the Curry School together and she always had a special way of brightening up classes.

Being that the wedding was in one of our favorite cities, we decided to make a mini-vacation out of it!

Friday, I drove down before Bryce and stopped to visit the 2 boys I babysat for while I was at UVA.  It was so good seeing them and I can't believe how big they've gotten!

Later that evening, Bryce arrived and we munched on cheese, crackers, and Prosecco while getting ready for our dinner reservations at Maya.

I had never been to Maya before, but had always wanted to try it and was impressed!  It was delicious, Southern comfort food!

I thought this date night was the perfect occasion to wear my Olivia Moon Maxi Dress!

We of course started with a cocktail.

I cracked up when I saw that they had a drink called "Allie's Driving"

I went with the Peach-Tini

Next we enjoyed this duck appetizer special...it was to die for- the perfect mix of flavors!

As we were working on our first appetizer, we saw the Pimento Cheese Fritters on another table and knew we had to have those too...

Again...to die for!

For my entree, I had the trout with a side of greens and mac-n-cheese!

Y'all, I could not remember the last time I had enjoyed some good old mac, and I ate every bite of it that night!

For dessert, I enjoyed a mojito...

After Maya, we walked down to the corner, the local UVA hotspot, and did a little barhopping!  I felt very old, being served by a cute, but very baby-faced bartender at the bar, Trinity!

Saturday we woke up with big heads and decided to head to West Main for some brunch.

I had even more mac-n-cheese as well as hash browns and an egg sandwich...it definitely was a needed hangover cure!

Next, we made our way to Keswick Vineyards.

My favorite part of our tasting was their red wine chocolate sauce!

After the tasting I had a glass of their Viognier.

This cute pooch joined us on the porch as we sipped our wine!

After our tasting we headed to Ivy Nursery, a place both Bryce and I had been wanting to visit for a while.

It was the most beautiful day to visit the nursery!

I have never seen orchids as beautiful as the ones at Ivy Nursery!

I couldn't get enough of the large orchid arrangements!

The gift shop was absolutely beautiful and full of even more orchids.

This may have been my favorite...

I brought home one of their Tocca candles in the Colette scent!

After visiting the nursery, we had to hurry back to the hotel and get ready for the weekend's biggest festivities- LJW's Wedding!

I thought a June outdoor wedding was the perfect chance to wear this Esley seersucker dress I had bought in the spring.

LJW and her hubby met as counselors at Triple C camp and the wedding was held at camp!

the pretty bride!

Loved these flowers at the end of each row!

I loved the last part, it reads:  "DINNER AND DRINKS ARE JUST UP THE HILL.  STAY FOR DANCING, CAKE, CORNHOLE, AND S'MORES!"

Canoe as Cooler

All of the wines were from Charlottesville vineyards!

I thought this was such a special detail-- notes from LJW's students!

"Husbin"

There was also a photo booth during the cocktail hour!

KTM, another Curry friend, and I enjoyed the boas and mustaches!

Before heading in for dinner, I had to snap a picture of these cool stepping stones!

Dinner was in the camp's main lodge and was a smorgasbord of Southern comfort foods, including, yes, you guessed it...more mac-n-cheese!

Curry Friends

ABE, LJW (bride!!), KTM

The rest of the night was quite the party!

Cornhole was a big attraction!

I loved the decor in the pavillion!

cake time!

ABE & BAC

I wanted to take this little cutie home with me!

The bride and bridesmaids all wore sparkly, purple Toms!

LEJ changed into a little lace shift which enabled her to dance the night away!

You can tell we did quite a bit of dancing by looking at the state of my hair...

I wear my sunglasses at night....!

Sunday morning, we headed home early for Father's Day!

Daddy and I after brunch!

Have you had any weekend getaways this summer?  Been to any weddings?

Have a great weekend!

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Patriotic Popcorn

Happy 4th to all my fellow American friends!

I hope you're all doing something fun to celebrate this special holiday!

I am writing this post en route to the rivah!

I'll be back to regular posting next week but will leave you with an easy recipe I made for the 4th this year: White Chocolate & MandM Popcorn!

Ingredients:

1.5 bags UNBUTTERED Popcorn (I just got the microwaveable "natural, simply salted" version)

12 oz bag White Chocolate Chips

12 oz bag M&Ms

Directions:

Microwave Popcorn and put into bowl

*Make sure to get rid of all un-popped kernels

Melt white chocolate chips

*I used a double boiler method- don't have one? Me neither! Just put some water in a large pot, bring water to a boil and place a smaller pot on top!

Be sure to stir constantly to avoid melting chocolate!

Add melted chocolate to popcorn and coat the popcorn.

Add desired amount of MandMs (in festive colors if you so desire!) and mix them in.

Place on a baking sheet covered with wax paper and allow chocolate to set.

ENJOY!

Have a great 4th, firecrackers!

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Happy Hump Day, friends!

I hope you're all having a good week so far!

I am trying to get into a summer groove.  I planned out a summer schedule for myself, but haven't quite gotten it together yet.  Movers are coming to move all the major furniture at my parents' house bright and early on Friday, thus meaning I have to get my room packed up by Thursday night.  It shouldn't be too bad given that I've already moved out and taken lots of stuff, but it's proven more difficult than I thought.  I think I'm a bit in denial and thinking "If I just don't pack up my room, the move won't happen, right?"  WRONG!  I just need to suck it up and pack, no matter how hard it is to say goodbye to the house I grew up in!

I am hoping that once this week is over I will get into my routine and would really like to post 2-3 times per week during the summer.  We'll see how it all goes, though!

Today I wanted to share a DELICIOUS cookie recipe with you!  I posted these cookies on Instagram way back in April and have been meaning to share the recipe with you for quite some time.  So without further adieu, here is a recipe for banana chocolate chip cookies!  The original recipe can be found here, at Sarcastic Cooking!

Ingredients
1 c (2 sticks), plus 1 tbs unsalted butter, softened
1 c granulated sugar
1 and 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp molasses
1/2 c packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 and 1/4 c all purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 and 1/2 c walnuts, chopped (I left these out!)
2 ripe bananas, diced

Directions
1.  Brown one stick of butter and one tablespoon of butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.  This will take about 5 minutes...you want the butter to be golden brown and to have little brown bits floating in it.

2. Remove from heat, pour into bowl (making sure to scrape the brown bits into the bowl) and set aside to cool.

3.  Cream remaining stick of butter along with the granulated sugar, about 5 min at medium speed until light and fluffy.

4.  Add vanilla and molasses.  Beat until incorporated.

5.  Add brown butter and brown sugar.  Beat for 2 min until incorporated.

6.  Add the egg and egg yolk, beating for one minute after adding each.

7.  Whisky together flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda in separate bowl.

8.  Add flour mixture all at once to the butter mixture.  Beat on low until almost fully incorporated.

9.  Fold in chocolate chips and banana by hand (this would also be when you fold in the walnuts, if you choose to include them).

10.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in fridge for half an hour.

This is what the batter looked like!

11.  Preheat oven to 375F.

12.  Remove batter from fridge and roll into tbs sized balls.

13.  Bake 12-14 minutes, until slightly browned on outside, but still chewy and soft on inside!

Finished product!

I cannot rave enough about these cookies!  They were so delicious and the banana caused them to stay nice and chewy for days after baking!

Have you baked anything yummy lately?

Have a great day!