How The Bakers Host Supper Club.

On Sunday, we hosted supper club at our house! I figured it would be the perfect time to spruce up the house a little with Fall decorations. Fresh flowers, potted mums, and a new candle were the perfect simple touches. 

The way that we do our supper club, is that the host provides the main entree and everyone else will either bring an appetizer, salad, side, or dessert. This time, and probably every other time we have supper club, another option was to bring a signature drink! Cameron and I decided to grill pork tenderloin because they are relatively inexpensive for a large group, and with the help of his step-dad's marinade, Cameron has perfected the grilling part. 

Menu:

Beergaritas

French bread topped with pesto/ricotta spread and fire roasted tomatoes

Mini wedge salads

Mac and cheese

Butter beans and rice

Corn, black bean, avocado, tomato salad

Grilled pork tenderloin (marinade recipe found here)

Chocolate, pretzel, peanut butter bars 

A sweet moment caught between Brady and little Dallas

PS - Hiring a cleaning service to do a deep clean two days before hosting supper club was probably the best idea we've had all year! 

Can't wait for next month's supper club, which will be on Halloween! 

Bring on the couples costumes and peeled grape eyeballs! 

Friday Thoughts.

TGIF! Happy to say that this week flew by for me. Hope it did for you, as well!

What makes this day even better is that when I get home, our house will be spotless! We hired a company to come do a deep clean #1 because it needs it in a bad way and #2 we're having 16 people over Sunday for supper club. Shout out to K&L Cleaning - if you're in Charleston and need someone to clean your house, call K&L! 

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by a Cardstore.com representative who asked if I wanted to send a personalized photo card to a friend and post a review on my blog. I truly believe that sending a handwritten note in the mail can make someone's day so I accepted her offer immediately. No one deserved this card more than my friend, Tim, and I had the perfect picture in mind to put on it. The process was super easy. Below are some screen shots of the process. I appreciate Cardstore for thinking of me and am already looking into ordering some baby shower invitations for a shower that I'm co-hosting in November! 

Original setting

Card with changed color and added text.

Last week, Cameron and I went the needtobreathe concert with our friends, Jenny & Justin. This is probably my second favorite group to see in concert, behind Will Hoge. They have such amazing energy on stage and when they do some of their acoustic songs, goosebumps everywhere. My favorite song that they performed this year was off of their newest album. The song was called "Brothers" and was performed acoustically by the two brothers in the group, Bo & Bear. The song is constantly stuck in my head now.

(This isn't my video, it's just a random one I found on YouTube.)

After the show, we ran into Mary Loyal and her husband, Lash, in the parking lot! 

ML - Did you wind up driving to Clemson to see the show again?? 

Adding this dress to my Pinterest "wishlist." The shoes, too, while we're at it.

Ok, that's all my randomness for the day! 

Have a great weekend!

Light Shrimp Pasta with Tomatoes, Artichokes, & Spinach

This recipe is super simple, but full of flavor. I feel bad, but I honestly cannot remember where I found it. I know there are no real measurements, so cross your fingers, and eyeball it like I did. :)

whole wheat linguini or angel hair (I used Dreamfields low-carb pasta)

shrimp -  thawed, peeled, de-veined

grape tomatoes

red onion, thinly sliced into rings (I didn't use because I hate onions)

pre-washed bag of spinach 

artichokes, quartered

garlic, minced

lemon juice and zest

olive oil

parmesan cheese (optional, but recommended)

                  

Cook pasta ahead of time, drain, set aside.

Whisk together a few tablespoons olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, s/p, set aside. 

In a saute pan, heat a tablespoon or two of olive oil over medium heat and add garlic. 

Next add onions and shrimp. Let cook until onions are tender and shrimp are cooked through.

Add grape tomatoes and saute for a few minutes, then add spinach spinach last and cook until wilted.

Place pasta in a large bowl, followed by mixture from saute pan. Pour lemon oil mixture on top and toss. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Our Weekend {Girls Happy Hour, Ashton's 1st Birthday, Lunch with April + Camille}

Happy first day of Fall, y'all! 

As much as I LOVE summertime, I am ready for some steady temps in the 70's. Pair the (rainy) first day of Fall with Cameron feeling under the weather, and I am counting down the hours until I get home to make some tomato basil bisque for dinner tonight. 

Here's what kept us busy this weekend...

Friday after work, I met up with some friends at Republic because Savannah was in town! They have a pretty awesome happy hour and a nice patio area. It was so nice to just go out with the girls for a change and I'm sure the momma's enjoyed being out for a few hours without a baby attached to their hips. After Republic, we walked a few doors down to Rarebit because for some reason we were all craving a juicy cheeseburger. These burgers did not disappoint and they were accompanied by moscow mules all around!

After dinner, we stopped by Jeni's for a sweet treat. Emily & I split a cup and although there are a ton of crazy (but good) flavors to choose from, I went with my go-to flavor of coffee. Emily went a little more adventurous with the sweet cream biscuits & peach jam. 

Saturday, we went to Ashton's 1st birthday party! When I say that there were a lot of babies there, I mean there were a LOT of babies there. You had to be careful where you stepped because they were everywhere. haha. It was so fun celebrating Ashton and seeing a lot of people, and their babies who I had never met, that I hadn't seen in a while.  When we were leaving, we saw the most amazing rainbow! It was the brightest one I've ever seen. 

After Ashton's party, we came back to our house to watch our football games that were basically on at the same time. We had a pretty sweet set up, and yes, Cameron's game got the big screen since it was a bigger game than ours. 

Sunday was not our typical day of rest. We're hosting supper club at our house on Sunday, so we decided to tackle some projects around the house that we've been putting off. (Does anyone else love hosting people at their house just for the fact that that's the only time your house gets really clean and projects get complete? Or is that just us?) We ran to Lowe's in the morning, I cleaned up my garden area, and Cameron replaced some wood on our porch roof that was rotted. I snuck away for a little while to have lunch with April, sweet baby Camille, and April's mom at Jim n Nicks. As expected, Camille was the sweetest, smiliest, little thing. Also as expected, I got April and her mom hooked on Jim n Nicks famous cheese biscuits. :) 

Once I returned home, I was put back to work, but it's all worth it in the end when our yard and house are looking good! 

Hope you all enjoyed your weekends, as well!

Oh, hey!

It's me! Sorry to leave y'all hanging, been trying to learn as much as I can at my new job. I am loving everything about it so far..the flexibility, being a block away from King Street, a 20 minute commute rather than a 45 minute one , not having to be at work at 6:45am, and of course, my co-workers!

A warm welcome on my first day:

{welcome present from Kathryn / the office dog, Sandy, saying hi / beautiful flowers from the office}

What else have I been up to, you ask?

-The weekend after Labor Day the majority of our supper club group (14 adults, 3 babies) went on a mini vacay to Edisto Island. We rented an amazing house front beach. It was heaven. A typical day consisted of waking up, sipping coffee and mimosas on the porch overlooking the ocean, heading down to the beach where the boys surf fished and the girls lounged and played with babies, eating lunch then heading back down to the beach, come back and hang out on the porch, eat dinner, play drinking games. Repeat. We all agreed that it went by way too fast and we need to stay longer next year. 

Lane enjoying the porch swing

Got cleaned up and went out to dinner one night to Whaley's.

Their sushi nachos were on point!

-Was offered a ticket last minute to the South Carolina / Georgia game last weekend. To be honest, I really didn't think we had a chance of winning due to our previous games, so you can imagine my surprise when we actually started off the game doing well! It was a nail biter all throughout the game, but the Gamecocks came away with the W!  

Daddy and his daughters

Caroline and I staying dry during the rain delay

Our awesome seats - thanks, Uncle Jay!

 A soaked and ecstatic selfie on the walk back to the car!

-This weekend, I'm looking forward to Savannah being in town from DC for Ashton's 1st birthday! 

Labor Day Weekend {Football, Food, and More Food}

Whew, I can't remember the last time I go to fully enjoy a long holiday weekend like I did this past weekend. My last day at the Sandcastle was Friday, so that meant I had 3 days to enjoy before I started my new job. 

But before we get to the weekend, let's start with Thursday, shall we?

My mom and I - before the sweating kicked in.

Gamecock walk

I made these mini corndogs for tailgate. Super easy, and they were a hit!

 Thompson, Lattimore, Clowney

We won't even talk about the game....

Saturday morning we just lounged around the house before grabbing a bite to eat at Boxcar Betty's. This was Cameron's first time, and we both agree that while the sandwich was pretty darn tasty, Chick-Fil-A is still #1. 

Saturday night, we went over to a friend's house to watch the Clemson vs. Georgia game. I had enough fun for both Cameron and I, and paid for it ALL day Sunday. Guess I was making up for lost time working all of those weekends. 

Brady had fun, too.

Sunday I was slow to roll out of bed, but I did eventually to go on a short boat ride with Cameron's parents to get lunch. Felt a tad better once I ate a kids cheeseburger. Later that night, we went to my parents house for the epitome of a summertime meal. My dad smoked ribs that fell off the bone, my mom grilled sliced pineapple and made baked beans, and I brought a panzanella salad. SO good.

And Monday, while Cameron pressure washed the house, I caught up on laundry, dishes, etc. I did manage to sneak away for an hour to get lunch with Frankie at White Duck Taco, which you people who have been to Asheville are familiar with. My tacos were SO good and I cannot wait to go back! 

Lamb gyro on the left, buffalo chicken on the right

Alright, off to my first day at my new job! Couldn't sleep last night because I was so excited!