Charlotte’s Symphony in the Park

If your like me, your always looking for cheap, but romantic date night ideas, people always say you should go to those summer concerts, and while there have been quite a few signs around it took me most of the summer to get to one this year. It wasn’t until I read about Charlotte’s Symphony Series; The Summer Pops that I really wanted to go. At first, I will admit, I thought it would be hard to convince Rich to go sit in the park for a few hours, listening to classical music even with an awesome picnic. So I decided to be super sly about which concert I picked. Luckily each week at the Pop’s is really different, highlighting lots of types of music and I was able to wait until I found the perfect one, it was music that he just couldn’t refuse. July 17, Selections would be from Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Geek Bibles if there are any! He was more than convinced when I showed him, he was even excited!

So I knew I was going to have to pack a pretty stellar picnic if I was going to keep us both happy and cool all afternoon, but for some reason, procrastination maybe, I left it all to that day. Honestly I was pretty exhausted after baking up a batch of my Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookies, and packing up fruit, Irish Cheddar Cheese, and Nasturtium Butter on Spiced Bread, white wine and water the day of the symphony. Next time I promise I’ll be proactive and make all the food ahead of time.

Our little picnic didn’t even begin to compare to what the average Pop’s goer brought, while their were more casual goers, quite a few had pretty insane set ups. Low wooden tables that sat on top of beautiful blankets that were strewn with pillows, some even had tablecloth’s, vases of flowers, and candles. People definitely came prepared to impress.

Then finally after waiting about two hours the music started. The conductor seemed a bit nervous, but he did a really wonderful job. The music was powerful and all of these pieces from such dichotomous sources came together to form a beautiful whole. The crowd really was silent, drawn in by the symphonies beauty; the music could be heard throughout the entire park. Even the little kids around me sat still and listened. This Tuesday they will be playing their last concert for the season called Celebrate America! In honor of the 4th of July. I really hope that everyone who can, goes and see’s the symphony for their last summer concert. I know I will be there.  Bye!

You can buy tickets on their website or at the event with cash or a credit card.   http://www.charlottesymphony.org/summer.asp

Taste of Charlotte

Last weekend Rich and I went to the Charlotte food festival, The Taste of Charlotte. We’ve gone almost every year since moving to here in 2007. It’s a great way to try out local eateries without dropping a lot of cash. I have to say my favorite food to try is always the BBQ and the bakeries. Charlotte has so much great BBQ and every year I like to try a few brand new restaurants.  My favorites from last year were Mac’s Speed Shop and Amelies French Bakery, two of Charlott’es most delicious destinations, so I was really looking forward to see what tasted great this year!

Food is in order of how it was eaten not how great it was.

1. Garland Jack’s Secret 6 BBQ Sauce
Even though this BBQ sauce is sold in grocery stores it is actually one of the best sauces I’ve had. It’s sweet and rich with a wonderful molasses undertone and comes in six different varieties. We both tried different flavors and they tasted great!

2. Polka Dot Bakery
The Polka Dot Bakery was my favorite shop of the day! Their portion size was perfect, the cupcakes left you feeling full, but without a crazy sugar high. We started out with the Red Velvet cupcake. It’s light and fluffy with just the right amount of richness. I really liked that they weren’t dyed to brightly and that the flavor was what stood out.  Then we moved on to the amazing and I really do mean amazing strawberry cupcake. The strawberry icing tasted like a freshly picked strawberry with a wonderful rich smooth consistency. The cupcake was studded with real bits of strawberry and had a wonderful light flavor. These are definitely my new go to cupcakes!!!!

3. Hickory Tavern
You could smell the Hickory Tavern Sliders all the way down the street. The meat had a wonderful spice blend mixed into it, and I loved the simple use of fresh sliced onions, ketchup, and mustard on burgers served a perfect medium rare!

4. Carolina Ale House
We decided to try the wings from the Carolina Ale House after seeing another couple munching on them; they just looked so good, and they were not a disappointment. The outside of the wings were spiced with herbs, not with heat, but rich wonderful flavor, and the creamy dipping sauce made for a wonderful accompaniment. The wings were extremely juicy and defiantly warranted the included wet wipes. Rich loved the Go Get Messy logo and made sure I got it in the picture.

5. Artisan Munchies
Artisan Munchies have been a long time favorite of mine. The have sugared cashews, and pecans, but my favorite is always the hot almonds covered in warm brown sugar, they melt in your mouth and are absolutely addictive. I ate the entire paper cone in about 20 minutes!

6. Sauceman
Sauceman’s chopped pork was wonderful, it was flavorful and rich and the accompanying coleslaw was creamy and light with the slightest bite. They specialize in authentic Queen City BBQ that is smoked for hours over a mix of hickory and oak wood to create an amazingly rich flavor in their pork. I can’t wait to check out their restaurant in Historic Southend.

Southern Spring Home and Garden Show: Part 1 of 2

This seasons Southern Spring Home and Garden Show was by far my favorite out of the last three years. Each year the main room, the Belgard Gardens Showcase is given a theme to work with, something to bring all of the different vendors together, while still challenging them to create their own artistic expression around, this years theme was “Rhythm in Bloom.”

Charlotte Home A Rama Post 6: The Oldfield House By New Old Homes & Design

The beautiful facade was highlighted with window boxes.

The warmest and most unusual of all the houses at this years Home A Rama was The Oldfield House. the layout was much more modern in feel, with less unused space, and more common areas for family to interact. A wonderful design element found within the home, was reused barn wood that framed the large living room space, and was also picked up in the rustic kitchen stools. This house was by far my personal favorite, and had the most in depth interior decoration, thanks to the wonderful shop Nest Furnishing.

American Farmhouse: SQ Feet 3,612
Builder: New Old Homes & Design
Interior Design: Mary Ludemann / Nest Furnishings
Home Design: Robert T. Foster Design Studio
Landscape Design M2 Planning & Design

Beautiful seasonal flowers and creative landscaping made this house a standout.

Rustic and earthy dining room ready for Thanksgiving Dinner.

The large sideboard in the dining room.

The living room and dining room and open to each other.

The living room is rustic with lots of textures and colors.

Large bright rustic kitchen.

I love the extra storage at the end of the island and at the tops of the cabinets.

What an amazing spot for breakfast!

The morning room is right off of the kitchen and looks like a wonderful place to read a book!

There are two of these desks on either side of the hallway, making for a wonderful work area!

I love the use of this small hallway as a work space!

This awesome family room is off the kitchen, but well away from the bedrooms so you wont wake any one up when you decide to watch a movie in the middle of the night.

The screened in porch is really large and pretty.

I really love the industrial lights that can be found throughout the house.

Upstairs Landing

The upstairs landing had storage and opened up to the laundry room and bedrooms.

Prettiest laundry room ever.

The boys room had a wonderful fishing theme, with industrial lights and fishing rod curtain rails.

Beautiful ocean themed guest bedroom.

This is the girls bedroom, and it is one of the sweetest rooms I have been in, in a very long time.

The master bedroom continued the ocean theme.

The most beautiful room in the house was this amazing symmetrical bathroom, with claw foot tub and large white shower.