Friday Five: 5 Ways We Survived the Charleston Snowpocalypse.

Well friends, you can rest assured that we survived the Charleston Snowpocalypse of 2014. 

Here are five ways that we did it:

{one}

Stock up on firewood if you have a regular (non-gas) fireplace.

Tuesday morning, I woke up super early and started calling around. Called both Lowe's and Home Depot and they were out. Skipped calling grocery stores because the last few times we've bought wood from those they were too wet to burn. Tried a local hardware store and they had a minimal amount left so I quickly got ready, put Brady in the car for a fun little ride, and we were off. 

{two}

Use the downtime that you have, while stuck at home, and clean! 

Believe me, after day one of doing nothing but laying on the couch, it will feel good to get up and get things done. And that project you've been putting off for months? Tackle it. 
You'll be so happy that you did. 

{three}

Start watching a new tv series.

For us, it was House of Cards. The entire first season in a day and a half.

We received an Apple tv for Christmas and have loved catching up on all of the Netflix shows we've missed without having cable. I love all of the drama in the show and love even more that Kevin Spacey's character is from Gaffney, SC (which happens to be my high school's big football upstate rival).

Can't wait for season 2 to begin! 

 

 {four}

 Stock up on snacks and junk food. And wine.
Is an explanation really needed?

{five} 

Break some rules.

Let your sweet pup on the couch for some cuddle time, and stay in your pj's all day. 

All of that preparation for this...

Luckily, we didn't lose power so the firewood wasn't even needed. It snowed/sleeted at our house for maybe 30 minutes and that was it.

I do feel awful for all of the people in Atlanta and Alabama that got the worst of it.
Nice try, snowpocalypse of Charleston, nice try. 

 

Snowpocalypse in Charleston.

Getting ready for Snowpocalypse 2014 in Charleston! 

My Wisconsin neighbors are laughing at us. 

But what can we say? We never see weather like what is about to hit us so we are not as prepared. What's especially crazy is that yesterday it was pushing 70* here! 

I took the day off today, rather than driving 45 minutes to and from work and potentially facing freezing roads and bridges. Turns out, they decided to close the building at noon, so I would have been fine. Tomorrow I was already scheduled off, so that worked out well. 

Perfect excuse to stay in lounge wear for the next day and a half. 

Stay safe and warm everyone! 

Easy Breezy Weekend.

This weekend was just what I needed. No real plans and no random camping trips. 

Friday night we decided to just take it easy and stay home. Our friends Jen and Joe came by for a few hours and we just watched a Kevin Hart comedy special. Lots and lots of laughter.

Saturday morning I went and met my friend, Frankie's, baby boy for the first time! He was so close to sharing a birthday with me! I'm talking hours away. He was born about a month early so he is a tiny little thing. The prettiest blue-gray eyes you've ever seen and is just so easy going. 

Later that day, Cameron and I decided to go check out the Holy City Brewery with Caroline and Andy.  It sure beat the home show that we were originally thinking about going to.

 Each couple split a flight of their craft beers. 

After a couple of beers and filling up our growler, we went and ate dinner at Evo in Park Circle. Cameron and I split a pizza with just mushrooms and pepperoni (our go-to), I ordered the farmer's salad and Cameron ordered the kale caesar salad. All so good and just the right amount!

Hoping this cute little beer foam heart is a sign of good things to come in my future! (No, not a baby..yet)

Sunday we lounged around all day, keeping warm with hot beverages and fuzzy blankets. Later that day, we went to Cameron's parent's house for a family oyster roast and Beaufort stew. 

Got home just in time to catch some of the Grammy's! I missed the Jay-Z / Beyonce performance that I heard was amazing, so I'm off to check it out!

Have a great week!

Match My Monogram.

Have you ever wondered what the heck you're going to do with those monogrammed items you no longer have a use for? Like maybe the ones with your maiden name initials on them, or the ones with your kid's name on them that they can no longer fit into. Or maybe you're looking to buy monogrammed items, gently used or even new, at a great price! 

Well, I have the answer for you. 

Match My Monogram solves those problems. They sell new or gently used clothing and accessories. You can even sell your items to them! 

You can search by initials, name, or letter. 

They even carry Greek items for those of you who want to show your sorority pride.

Here are some examples of the cuteness:

Brand new "Megan" bloomers

Gently used "TSM" boys button up shirt

Excellent used condition "Andrew" budoir pillow

Brand new with tags "cBr" weekender bag

Excellent used condition "aSc" john john

Match My Monogram is giving all Fried Green Pickles readers 20% off with the code FRIEDGREENPICKLES20 until February 23!

You can find them here: 
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram

2014 House To-Do List.

Earlier in 2013 I posted this list as a goal list for our house. Happy to say that some big things were crossed off the list and look forward to crossing off many more in 2014! 

-Paint front door black..it's now white and surrounded by white trim and white windows. Painting the door black will make it pop!

 -Paint interior doors that need it

-Clean out junk room..I do this and then all of a sudden, it accumulates more junk!

-Finish laundry room, which includes installing cabinets and finding a small rug

-Fix cabinet doors in hall bathroom..just a little sanding and re-painting

-Fix window screens of junk room

-Finish painting guest room wall..either finish the stenciling or paint over it

-Hang curtains in guest room

-Clean out dog pin in backyard and plant garden.

-Paint fascia and window trim
{Pretty hard to tell from the pictures, but it looks much better!}

Before (top), After (bottom)

-Clean out and organize garage

-Paint garage ceilings, walls, and floor (epoxy on floor) 

-Buy area rug for back porch

Added for 2014 in addition to above:
-Paint floor tile grout in hall bathroom.

Trader Joe's Reviews.

As promised, here are a few Trader Joe's reviews from my last trip to the store. I must have been in a really lazy cooking mood because almost everything I bought were freezer meals. What can I say? Sometimes I just like to keep things simple in the kitchen after a long day. 

Chicken Chile Verde Burritos

These burritos were our favorite item of my shopping trip. I will admit, I really didn't even know what "chile verde" meant other than the fact that verde means green in Spanish. They were filled with creamy tomatillo salsa, chicken, and veggies. I will probably always throw these in my cart from now on. 

Greek Style Chicken with Orzo, Spinach, and Feta Cheese

This dish was my second favorite of the trip. I'm a huge fan of Greek food and this dish was very flavorful. My only complaint was that the box said serving size of 2, yet there was only 1 sliced chicken breast inside. Splitting one small-ish chicken breast is not enough for me to eat and it SURELY isn't enough for Cameron. I would definitely buy this dish again, but cook an extra chicken breast to go along with it.

Beef Pho Soup

I had never tried Pho before trying this one, but after hearing about it so often on Christina's blog (she happened to do a healthy products Trader Joe's review today, check it out!) once I saw it in the freezer section, I knew I had to try it. I was pleasantly surprised that I liked it. The flavors were very good and vibrant, and there were a ton of veggies (onions, bell peppers, carrots, etc). My only disappointment was there there were literally only three pieces of beef in the whole thing. And I likes my meat. 

 Mahi Mahi Burgers

I've been wanting to try mahi burgers from Costco for a while now, but every time I go I can't find them, or I don't feel like shelling out $20-$30 for something I'm not sure I'm going to like. This 4-pack of mahi burgers at Trader Joe's caught my eye so I threw them in the cart to try. I served them on a toasted wheat bun with lettuce and some garlic lemon aioli I whipped up. They were slightly fishy to me, but I am a wimp in that department. Cameron really enjoyed them and I would definitely buy again. 

Sparkling Limeade

I was originally planning on picking up some of the sparkling pink lemonade that is so tasty, but sadly they were out. Instead, I decided to try the sparking limeade and am so glad I did! It's not overly sweet, which I was afraid of. Would be perfect with a splash of vodka during the summertime. ;)

Fettuccine Alfredo with Grilled Chicken

Fettuccine alfredo is one of those dishes I do not get to cook as often as I like because it's not a favorite of Cameron's. Well, on this trip I decide it had been long enough since I deprived myself of it so I threw it in my cart. It was pretty good for being a frozen meal, but obviously not the best I've ever had. I would buy again to keep in the back of the freezer for when Cameron has a work dinner or something and I'm home alone. 

What should I pick up during my next trip?

That Time We Went Camping...

Good Monday morning! I am seriously dragging this morning and the coffee is not helping. Last Friday, I left off by saying that we had noooo plans for the weekend. Well, somehow we got convinced to go camping on a beach in 30 degree weather. Now, that might sound miserable to you, because it surely did to me, but it was actually fun and we weren't even that cold! 

We left Saturday around 2pm so that we could have enough time to get set up before the sun went down. It was just a quick 10 minute trip from Folly Beach to the backside of Kiawah, by boat. Three couples and two dogs in tow. It was Cameron and my first time camping together and I can successfully say that we put up our tent without wanting to kill each other!

The wood that we hauled over to keep us warm. We still went on hunts for more wood throughout the day and evening.

This guy was in Heaven.

Cameron looks like it's just another day in Charleston and I look like I should be in Antarctica. Don't care though, I was WARM.

 

 The sunset was gorgeous, as usual.

That night, we grilled some hot dogs and brats on a portable grill that Andy brought, and later roasted marhmallows over the fire and made s'mores.

When the moon was first coming up over the water, it was SO huge and orange, we literally did not know what it was at first. (Could have had something to do with the adult  beverages.) I couldn't really get a good picture of it, so this one will have to do.

 

We went to bed around 1am when the firewood supply started to dwindle and I can honestly say that I was not cold at all. Waking up in the morning to the sound of crashing waves was so peaceful, too. When we got home around 11am, we got out of our stinky campfire smelling clothes, took nice hot showers, and laid on the couch alllll day.

I'm so glad we went and will not be as nervous next time someone asks us to go camping!