My favorite things ~ September 21-27

No two weeks are the same around here. Each one presents new opportunities, new experiences, and new things to try, to learn, and to enjoy. Here are a few highlights of a really good week, and a few of my favorite things that I tried and enjoyed this week.
1. Girls Night and Cameron Hughes Napa Valley Triage Red Blend. I loved hanging out with the girls Saturday night. Thanks to Beth for hosting, and thanks to Beth and Senecca for filling me in on this little secret: Cameron Hughes negotiates with wineries to bring what would be an expensive bottle of wine to us for $10 to $15 or so per bottle.This was my first time trying this wine, but definitely not the last. I have ordered and am awaiting a case now.  I was reading reviews, and evidently you can't even buy this in the stores form less than $25 per bottle in NC, so I went ahead and ordered from the website. You know what that means? Next Girls Night is on me.

2. Campanelle at Molasses Grill, a flavorful combination of campanelle pasta with chevre, balsamic, and greens. I looked the Molasses Grill menu up on the web so that I could write the exact name of what I ate, along with the ingredients, but it is not listed, so it must be a seasonal item on the menu. I ordered it with chicken. It was divine. Truly. One of the highlights of my week.

3. Silly String Tag. Never heard of it? That's because I made it up. I bought Miss Courtie and her friends each two cans of silly string from the Dollar Tree, and I didn't want them to go straight through the cans in thirty seconds, so I made up a game of tag. You don't need directions. Just wing it. You can figure it out. This is good stuff right here.

4. Brunswick Stew Day. Need I say more?

 5. Pumpkin Spice Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting. Mix 1 box spice cake mix with one 15 oz. can of 100% pure pumpkin, and nothing else.  Bake at 350 for 22-25 minutes, give or take. They are honestly the ugliest muffins ever.  Add cream cheese frosting for a more aesthetic muffin and for added scrumptiousness. There are lots of boxed muffin mixes you can buy. These are the best of both worlds, though, because you have the ease and convenience of a box mix, but the full flavor and moist texture that only pure pumpkin provides. I took two dozen of these to Brunswick Stew Day (see #4), and none of them came back home with me, which is a first. I guess word got around that they were that good.

Try these. You'll thank me later.

Four out of five of my favorite things this week involved edibles. Blogging may be like going to the grocery store: Never do it on an empty stomach. I promise I did more than just eat and play silly string tag this week. I decorated a cool bench here, scoped out Disney's Frozen Halloween costumes here, and sent the summer off in style here. Carrington and his friend Alexander played outside finding sticks which they were convinced held hidden messages from the Civil War (they asked me to document such with the following photos.) 

I watched Mark coach Carrington in a game of baseball at a church picnic, and thanked God for giving me a husband who wants to spend quality time with my son, and for giving my son such an involved father. I never take either of those blessings for granted. 

 

This week is already shaping up to be good, fun filled, and interesting one. I met with a film crew this morning, have had play rehearsals, attended a meeting where I got lots of ideas that are already making my head spin, and the week is just beginning. Don't forget the Halifax County Fair is this week, starting tonight at the Halifax County Fairgrounds. Have you seen the itinerary? Anything or anybody you are looking forward to? I have one music act I am dying to see, but don't want to jinx myself. Let me get my hands on tickets first...

Until then, enjoy your week.  Set your mind to appreciation the simple things and seek the extraordinary in the everyday, mundane, ordinary tasks of life. It's more fun that way.

xoxo, Erin