iPhonography: Life Lately

Happy February, everyone!

Aside from birthday posts, I haven't done much around these parts lately, so here's some photos from the past couple weeks---

Some of the things we've been up to:

• We got Remy! Tomorrow she will be 11 weeks old. She's a spunky miniature dachshund and she's definitely keeping me on my toes! Thank goodness she's getting better at sleeping at night because I was about to lose my mind! Marley has been doing pretty well with the new addition, but you can tell she's still wary. She has definitely become more of a daddy's girl since Remy moved in!
• We shucked oysters...outside....at night...in short sleeves...in January. January, people. This place is bizarre. However I suppose it is nice to skip the post-holiday-winter part and the grey ugliness that comes with it (though I'm extremely sad we missed the snow in Virginia). But if its this hot now, I hate to imagine what summer will be like....!
• We celebrated Joey's birthday with a lunch date to the popular Tattooed Moose, as seen on Diners, Drive Ins, & Dives. We loved our corn dogs, duck fat fries (sounds more gross than it is), and cuban sandwich! Then we headed to the Apple store to get Joey's birthday present, a new iPhone. I also made him his favorite birthday meal: meatloaf with asiago mashed potatoes and roasted asparagus, and a homemade flan for dessert!
• Once a week we go on a date, which usually means trying a new restaurant in Charleston. We have a rule for ourselves that we don't go to the same place twice so that we can try as many places as possible. This month we've tried the Noisy Oyster, Tattooed Moose, the Mellow Mushroom, Charleston Bagels, and a belgian gelato place. After eating we like to take a walk along King Street and check out the cool store fronts.

We hope everyone has a great weekend!

iPhonography: Marley Lately

Every time the printer starts up, she likes to investigate it and put her head in it || Fascinated by the moving spool of thread on the sewing machine, and of course has to lay all over Joey's Christmas present while I'm working on it || Watching Elf with us. She kept pawing at Buddy's face || Guess she had a tough day and needed a break || Most mornings we find her sleeping above our heads || The cheeky girl kept trying to sneak into the pizza box by chewing a hole in it and slipping her paw through the hole to lift the lid. And don't even get me started on how gross that pizza box looks in hindsight...

Holiday Photo Mega-Post!

Hi all! 

Well its been almost a month since we've updated anything---just enjoying the break from Power School I guess! But now we're back in the swing of things, so I thought I'd share some of our photos from the past few weeks. 

For the Christmas holiday we went to Ohio (with a stop in Tennessee), Lexington VA for a day, and VA Beach. Then, We came home to Charleston for one night, and left the next morning to spend New Years Eve in Myrtle Beach with the newly married Kara and Mike Casper! So, that all adds up to staying in six cities in four different states and driving about 2,200 miles in ten days. Boy! What a trip. Oh, and did I mention that we had Marley with us the whole time? Luckily she loves the car!

Marley is quite the traveller now! 

A trip to Steak & Shake while we were in the midwest | my puppies! | Christmas with my family

Annnnd more driving | we loved seeing the Blue Ridge in Tennessee--we missed our mountains! | Joey was so excited to see White Castles in Ohio (but apparently not as excited as the kid in the poster behind him)!

Our little bit of snow this year | A stop in Lexington VA | Marley checking out the snow at VMI

So happy to see Mallory again! Marley and Piper didn't quite agree though... | We found new ways to make sure Marley was a happy, fed, kitty

New Years Eve at the Beach! | But definitely ready to go home | Homemade chocolate sorbet with our new ice cream maker from Joey's mom | "detoxing" from holiday feasts and road trip fast food with some blood oranges and english muffins

We hope everyone had a merry merry Christmas and a great New Year! 2012 was pretty great, 

but here's to an even better 2013!

iPhonography: Weekends Lately

Dinner at Monza (we recommend the Volpini pizza, with arugula, prosciutto, and pecorino) || Birthday Date to Pan E Vino and yummy calamari (with cinnamon!) and Tiramisu || Ritzy Charleston || Apparently Joey's name is actually Jody? || Marley joins us for breakfast....and every other meal || Marscapone gelato from Paolo's || Christmas lights at Park Circle || Date at Sesame. we tried the burger with banana and peanut butter on it--strangely awesome! and another with fig and bacon jam with fontina--also good! || I'm in the market for some new glasses...

Some Photos + Some Thoughts

Last week I took Joey on one last date before Power School started---and the majority of our together-time ended. We had a beautiful, windy afternoon in downtown Charleston!

There are two culinary institutes in Charleston, and each have restaurants run by the students as part of their training. Basically, people can go to the restaurant, have a three course meal for less than fifteen dollars (a steal!), and then fill out a survey about the food and service. So we decided to try 24 North Market, the restaurant at the Art Institute. Boy it was wonderful! Talk about delicious. Joey and I loved our southern inspired dishes--perfect portions, perfect flavor, and an unbelievable price.

And for those who love her, here are some photos of our crazy Marley. 

She has a thing about sticking her head in glasses---that kitty sure has no shame!

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Like I said, Joey has started Power School, which means I have a lot of time to myself now---and its only going to increase as he gets deeper into his classes and needs to study more. And while he is my whole world and he does so much for me, any power school wife will tell you that during this time, you kind of just have to live your life on your own a little. And this ridiculous abundance of time is leaving me feeling a little useless, lost, and lonely, desperate for purpose and friendship. I am making an effort to fill that time, but those efforts haven't quite yielded a result yet. And I'm having a hard time right now. 

But for now, I'm going to focus on the weekend's arrival, which means spending time with Joey and forgetting those worries for a moment. I don't know what I'd do without that boy. He sure is wonderful.

Pumpkin Picking

We took a trip to Boone Hall Plantation and Farm to find ourselves some prime pumpkins! And yup, Joey was still wearing shorts, considering it was about 86 degrees when we went last week!

And it turns out, they sell other produce items too--we snagged six red potatoes, three sweet potatoes, an eggplant, some heirloom kale, three onions, two butternut squash, one spaghetti squash, and a handful of mini pumpkins and gourds.....for less than ten bucks! Now that's what I call a deal! Plus, we always love the chance to support a local farm.

And look! Fall is finally coming to the south! I even got to wear boots, leggings, and scarves this past weekend. I know most people wouldn't trade warm Charleston weather for chilly fall, but for a girl who's been missing her fall in the Shenandoah Valley, it has been a tender mercy and such a joy.

A Trip to the Beach

For a midwest girl, being only half an hour from the beach now is so exciting. And, though I've certainly complained about the warmer weather down here and how much I miss my sweaters and scarves (its almost November and I'm still wearing sandals!), it was a nice treat to go to the beach and be able to put my little toes in the water--it was still so warm, people were swimming! In October! 

Have a great Monday! ----And to our friends and family further north--both 

along the coast and a little inland--please stay safe and dry!

iPhonography: A Night Out in Charleston

When we moved here three weeks ago, we took a little break from unpacking and what-not to check out Charleston and have some yummy seafood. After living in tiny Buena Vista, seeing all of the shops on King Street was amazing. There was even a Kate Spade store! Loved it. And the restaurants? Awesome. Too many to choose from in fact! It was so fun to walk around and spot all of the little things that make the area characteristically Charleston, like the colonial architecture, pineapple motif, sweetgrass baskets, and general southern charm.

So what did we do?

Window shopping on King Street || A stroll through the Historic Charleston City Market || Dinner at Pearlz Oyster Bar -- and my first time having oysters! || A visit to the Moon Pie General Store || Heavenly pumpkin cheesecake at the famous Kaminsky's 

iPhonography: Life...umm,Three Weeks Ago

Just some photos from the end of September and our move to Charleston!

Brian & Charlotte's wedding in Richmond || Saying goodbye at the Blue Ridge Parkway to our Shenandoah home || One last ice cream from Sweet Things || We made it to South Carolina! || The joys of moving || Reunited with the little one

iPhonography: September Lately

Hello friends,

So.....We're moving in 11 days! Which means blogging frequency has continued to go down. But things are coming along. I'm finishing up at my two jobs, the movers come in 6 days, and we're pretty sure we have a place to live, and though I'm stressed often (I just can't help it!), things are going to be ok--no, great! Even though the power school schedule is going to be INSANE, we're so excited to move and start a new part of our life. Plus, as Debra Sowell told me, I'm going to have a Costco, so its going to be awesome. We're definitely ready to live in a bigger city, that's for sure!

Anyways, here's life lately as we try to fit in as much Virginia goodness before we leave!

Mom + Amy visited so we took them to a VMI parade || My newest cousin, Jackson Tanner Crellin! || A very sleepy Marley || Yummy pear tomatoes || Outdoor date night to welcome in the cooler weather || Newtown Bakery mini-haul || Fruit leather making || Split Banana Gelato || hooray for Warhol soup cans || Last Trip to DC, including lunch at Cava + Georgetown Cupcake for a Chocolate PB Fudge || Pitango Gelato || Last trip to the DC LDS Temple || deliciousness from Cool Springs Organic Market

iPhonography: Life Lately

Hello friends, its been a while! Life's been pretty busy, working at Montessori every day, designing new materials for Travel Study, and even doing some design work for BMW Photography--its been fun! 

Today, unfortunately, I'm out of commission with a fever and sore throat (boo!), so I have a little time to catch up and share some photos from the past week or so. 

George Statzell's Commission ceremony! || Matriculation at VMI || using up the blackberries we picked in some lemon blackberry muffins || Marley is getting so big! || proud of my Navy man || chicken biscuits made from scratch || playing with puppies in Roanoke || taking my paintings off of their stretcher bars for moving || raspberry picking at Hillside Acres

iPhonography: Life Lately

Busch Gardens with Alex and Joey's dad || Pho 78 || Georgetown Cupcake disaster (our fault) || Marley is getting so big! || our new fave: Cava Mezze Grill (twice!) || Raspberries and frozen yogurt at Pinkberry - the one that started it all || trip to the DC LDS Temple || beautiful sunset || trying new recipes || wildflowers for the kitchen || we're in love

July: Amy & Sarah Visit!

Better late than never, right?

Sarah and Amy came to visit us from Ohio for Independence Day! Some of the fun things we did:

• Blackberry picking at Hillside Acres Farm in Staunton, VA
• Jam making (with the 16 lbs of blackberries we picked!)
• River swimming at Ben Salem Wayside
• America celebrating at VMI with fireworks and funnel cake
• Ice cream loving at Sweet Things in Lexington, VA
• Kitten cuddling at the Brandt's so they could meet Marley

We loved having you two with us!