Southland Avenue: Around Here

Showing posts with label Around Here. Show all posts

Around Here

Happy Monday guys! I swear it was just Friday. We had such a good weekend - it was full and we saw so many good friends! Friday night we attended our bi-monthly steak club! We really had so much fun. It seems like all of our friends are the best chefs and the best hostesses. Our friends spoiled the group with beef tenderloin, grilled asparagus and the best summery cucumber salad. We all had way too much wine and homemade birthday cake for dessert! Our friends came up with the most clever new game that we'll share. We all sat around the table for over an hour after we finished up dinner playing.

Saturday, we hit the road to Columbia to celebrate the engagement of one of our best family friends. His parents live on Lake Murray on what has to be the most beautiful lot on the lake - huge yard perfect for a bbq cookout, music, volleyball and games. If Virginia sees water there's no chance she's not trying to get in it. She stripped her clothes and took a little dip mid party.

Sunday, the LaRoque team came to town with their adorable LaRoque Mini Fall Show! We had the best time. Virginia picked out a few (adorable!!!) dresses and we made a few new friends over the course of the afternoon. It's hard not to enjoy an afternoon of dessert, champagne and shopping for cute kiddo clothes.

We finished the weekend with pimento cheese burgers and called it an early night. We're trying to savor these last few weeks of summer, and this weekend really felt like the perfect hot, summery weekend. Have a good week guys! Heath moves into her new house this week! eeekk!

~Mary Keller

Around Here

Good morning and happy Monday guys. This weekend was a good one. Andy and I had a really low key weekend with lots of packing. We cleaned out our pantry, made pesto with our own basil, BLT lunches, fresh and baked ricotta and snuck out for breakfast at my favorite spot too. It was equal part relaxing and productive!

MK went to Nashville for a quick visit with her college friends to shower a sweet mama and baby boy. They had a big group together to celebrate a good friends new arrival. How cute are those cookies and that table runner?!

Andy and I met JD and Virginia at the park splash pad too. She loves the water but isn't quite sure about walking through the splash pad alone, it's way more fun with dad! Overall it was a great summer weekend!

Hope everyone has a good week.

- Heath

Around Here

Happy Monday guys! This weekend was a good one and I needed it! Virginia and I pretty much did nothing but relaxed. It was truly what I needed. Friday night we walked to get pizza before J.D. left for a friend's wedding Saturday morning. Virginia was (surprisingly!) so well behaved and it was just one of those nice evenings - pizza, beer and early to bed! Saturday J.D. took off and Virginia and I went to the farmers market, got tacos for lunch, napped, played in her little baby pool, had peanut butter and jelly dinners and were in bed when it was still light outside. :) just perfect!

Heath had her annual girls weekend with her best friends from college. They pick a new city every year and meet. I think it's so fun that they've kept this up and I cannot wait to hear all about Portland, Maine. From the little I've seen, it looked amazing! She'll be sharing a recap soon!

Hope everyone has a good week!

~Mary Keller

Around Here | 4th Weekend

Happy Monday guys, and happy late July 4th! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. We stayed put this holiday weekend and it was wonderful to have a long weekend at home to relax.

Our weekend plans included having a hot dog cookout (with all the works!) Friday night and a cookout with ribs, grilled corn and tomato pie for the 4th with my parents on Saturday. Basically our weekend included indulging in all of our favorite Americana foods!

MK, my friends, parents and Andy all spoiled me with lots of delicious cookies, cupcakes, cake and a few really special gifts too. I can already tell, 30 is going to be a good year!

Hope everyone has a good week!

- Heath

Around Here

margaritas and gauc with friends | sweet Virginia and her new favorite toy | date night selfie | martinis and steaks

Happy Monday guys! Thanks goodness it's a short week! I'm seriously so excited for the 4th of July long weekend! J.D. and I went to Atlanta for the night over the weekend to visit best friends. It was a short visit - but so much fun! Our friends are expecting a baby boy, plus they just bought a new house (cutest house ever!) so we had lots to celebrate. Our visit made me miss Atlanta.

My mom and Heath were sweet enough to watch Virginia - a girls weekend slumber party! We took Virginia with us to Greenville on our way to Atlanta so she got to visit with my parents and grandparents for the day. She stripped her clothes and had the best time with their watering can, her new favorite toy. She's still talking about her "Tata" and grinning when we mention (great) Granddaddy so I think she enjoyed herself.

A good weekend, and now just a few short days before we can relax again. Heath and my mom both have early July birthdays so we'll have more to celebrate this weekend too!! Hope everyone has a good week!

~Mary Keller

Around Here | Hello again!

Virginia waiting on her Daddy to get home for Father's Day

Happy Monday guys! Heath and I didn't intend to disappear like that last week! Life is full and crazy in the best way. Last week and weekend I was in Chicago for work, and I spent the remainder of the week playing catch up. Heath was super busy with work plus some exciting personal news (will share soon!) so we never made it back here as planned.

But, it was a super good weekend and we're feeling maybe a little bit caught up J.D. spent the weekend in Atlanta for a bachelor party so Virginia and I had a few mama/daughter dates - we went to a birthday party, tidied the house and got stuff ready for a Father's Day dinner when J.D. returned home on Sunday night. We grilled and relaxed and had blue cheese burgers, wine, frozen yogurt and toasted how happy we were to celebrate Father's Day. (Actually we put tired Virginia to bed and J.D. and I toasted how happy we were and grilled burgers!)

Hope everyone has a good week! We have a fun week planned, but as always I'm already looking forward to another weekend. :)

~Mary Keller

Around Here

Happy Monday guys! Man this weekend was a good one. It's amazing how much you can accomplish when you're home for a few days! We stayed in on Friday and had a low key date night. Saturday we had a baby shower at Sugarcreek brewery. It was my first time there and it was lots of fun celebrating the soon to be parents! Post baby shower we went to ROCKSALT for oysters and cocktails with friends. Sunday we were up bright and early to play tennis, play with V and do some cooking. Overall such a great weekend!

MK is enjoying Chicago in between work events. I'm a little jealous, that city just never gets old to me! Virginia had a blast with her grandparents this weekend. They took a trip to the zoo, played in the pool and read lots of animal books.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week.

- Heath

Around Here

Good morning and happy Monday guys. So sad the weekend is over but it was a good one so I can't complain. Andy and I had such a wonderful visit with his family in Pennsylvania. We play lawn games, ate delicious food, went for long walks around their charming small town and explored their amazing garden pictured above. You can't see in the images above but they are growing everything you can think of from the standard tomatoes, lettuces and peppers to garlic, onions and asparagus AND raspberries, strawberries and blueberry. We were in heaven! Andy and I are definitely hiring his uncle to lay out a garden in our future home - seriously impressive guys!

Virginia had a birthday party on Saturday afternoon followed by a quick stop at a neighborhood block party - she's a party girl! Our steak club has turned into more of a beef club to keep the menu interesting. This month was a big success including brisket, homemade ice cream, a gorgeous table setting and some fun games to keep the conversation interesting!

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

- Heath

Around Here

Happy Monday guys! This weekend was a good one - lots of fun play dates for Virginia and lots of visits with good friends. We stayed here in town and packed in so much. We started the weekend early on Thursday riding bikes to the Knights game with friends. Love going to Knights games! Friday we walked up with our neighbors to Food Truck Friday. We laid out a picnic blanket and let the kids play while the husbands brought us a smorgasbord of food from different food trucks. A really fun (hot) evening. Saturday two of my best friends from high school and their families came in town for a visit. We had so much fun catching up and letting the kids run around in the sprinkler. Sunday we had a quieter day, went on long walks, visited with friends and ended the weekend with our favorite Pasta & Provisions at home. (Virginia went to be at 6pm on Sunday! Sweet girl was just exhausted!)

Heath and Andy had a busy weekend in town, too. They went with friends to a Friday night Knights game and fireworks. Saturday they tried out Block & Grinder (SOO good!) and visited a brewery with friends. The ended the weekend with a few homemade Moscow mules, a summer favorite.

~Mary Keller

Around Here | Memorial Day

Happy Wednesday guys! One of the best things about a long weekend is the short week that follows! We're back from the beach and getting caught up. It was a really good, little vacation guys! Seriously so much fun! Truthfully a vacation with 20+ adults, plus kids, can be all chaos and short on fun, but the weekend just perfectly worked out and I think everyone had the best time. Heath, Andy, J.D., Virginia and I stayed with my cousins from Australia and their families. We had the BEST time visiting with them and thinking about past memories with our grandparents. We almost never get to see them, and it was the perfect reunion/farewell party as one of them moves to England in just a few weeks.

We spent our days riding bikes (hello 6am bike rides with Virginia to try to let the rest of the house sleep in!), jumping waves, and playing in the tide pools. We ate picnic style lunches on the beach, and of course my mom, Andy, dad and my aunt's all fixed delicious family style dinners. On the last night, Andy and my dad smoked four pork butts for a birthday party feast. Once we got the kids to bed in the evenings, us cousins stayed up talking and enjoying too many adult beverages. Just a really relaxing, fun time.

Virginia also became fast friends with two of her second cousins, Ella and Owen! She was obsessed and would light up at their attention. (We got some cute pics of them fortunately, but I'm trying to limit how much I show of them since this is a public blog!)

Hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day! I'm think I'm now officially ready to welcome summer.

~Mary Keller

p.s. how cute are children in rash guard swim suits! My aunt was rocking one on the beach too, and I'm now obsessed! I'm lame and get cold on the beach, plus I like to cover up, so I'm thinking these may be perfect for me.

Around Here

Happy Monday guys! We had such a relaxing weekend and hope you guys did too. J.D., Virginia and I started our weekend with tacos and margaritas, and were up Saturday morning to head to the golf tournament together. Virginia didn't last long - she had a tough time understanding that we needed to be quiet when close to the golfers! We quickly decided we better get home before the tournament made that decision for us. We spent the rest of the sunny weekend going for walks, playing in the sprinkler and watching the tourney at home with friends.

I've only seen a few snippets of Heath & Andy's weekend in New York, but it looks like they're having an amazing time. They met up with friends for a drink on Saturday, made it to what I know will be Heath's favorite shop in the world and have been doing lots and lots of eating. I can't wait to hear more when they get home today.

Have a good week guys! Memorial Day weekend is almost here!

~Mary Keller

Around Here

Happy Monday friends! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. It was a great one for us. We knocked out all sorts of errands on Saturday before getting together with friends for some charcuterie and bruschetta in MK's backyard. It was so great to be outside and drinking rose with good friends. Andy and I planted our little herb garden on Sunday. We're a little later than usual but we're hopeful for some healthy plants to provide lots of flavor for meals all summer long.

MK and family celebrated mother's day on Sunday with a pancake breakfast, sweet gifts and a bike ride to Freedom park. Isn't that silhouette of Virginia too sweet! And how hilarious is her mugshot from school? That crazy hair is just too good!

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

- Heath

Around Here

Happy Monday guys - hope this weekend was a good one! We had a great one around here. On Sunday afternoon I came down with some crazy head cold, but other than that it was perfect. Friday night J.D. and I went on a much overdue date night - it was our first time at Soul and we loved it. Now we know why it's just about everyone's favorite! Saturday was the absolute best! We walked, we rode bikes, we played in the back yard, we grilled out hot dogs, we sipped mint juleps with neighbors and then we lit a fire and just relaxed into the evening. Perfect! Sunday we grabbed burgers before I had to fly out for a work meeting.

Heath & Andy visited friends in Pennsylvania. Could their baby be any cuter? She's so tiny and adorable! Looks like they packed lots into the weekend - derby celebrations, brunches, charcuterie lots of card games, strolls downtown and a visit to Lululemon! :) Visits with best friends are the best! (p.s. they scored their flights for under $90 using Kayak Explore! such a good little trick!)

Hope everyone has a good week!

~Mary Keller

Around Here

Happy Monday guys! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. MK is home from the Hamptons and her photos officially have it on my list of must dos! Her girls weekend consisted of lots of good food, shopping and a stop at Wolffer winery too. Sounds awesome!

Meanwhile Virginia had a blast here in Charlotte with her grandparents. They went to Discovery Place and took lots of walks on her favorite tricycle - with her sunglasses of course! Andy and I went to food truck Friday in Southend, did lots of errands on Saturday and ended the weekend with a yummy brunch with friends (and their sweet baby girl) on Sunday. Overall it was an awesome weekend!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

- Heath

Around Here

Happy Monday guys! Why can't we just have one more day! It was a good (crazy rainy!) weekend. Friday night Heath and Andy celebrated Andy's birthday with steak and homemade onion rings. J.D., Virginia and I had a nice, cozy pizza night in. Saturday we managed to do some productive things around the house, went for a long family bike ride along the Greenway and then met Heath & Andy at Triple C where Virginia emptied Heath's purse, tried on all her make up, and tried to make friends with a baby and standard poodle. It was a nice afternoon!

Sunday was rain, rain and more rain. Heath and Andy decided they wanted to cook a German feast and brought over the fruits of their labor - super delicious salty, homemade pretzels, vinegary potato salad and smoked pork and brats! It was super yummy and even V gobbled it up! Virginia of course didn't want Heath and Andy to leave. She even tried to make them laydown to go night-night with her when she got tired. :) Sweet girl. Hope everyone else had a good one too!

~Mary Keller

Around Here

Happy Monday guys! I really wasn't ready for this weekend to end! We had such a good time at our friends' wedding in Pittsburg, plus the weather was so nice in Charlotte once we got back in town! We packed the car and hit the road a little after lunch on Friday to begin the 7 hour drive to Pittsburg. Have you guys ever been to Pittsburg? It is such a cool city and we were completely surprised. (My friends were making fun of me the whole time because of how much I loved it!)

First, it has to have the coolest entrance to any other city out there. Your driving along the interstate passing what looks like the outskirts of any ole town (the outskirts of any town don't exactly look nice), then you drive through a tunnel cut through the mountain, and when you come out of the tunnel it's like out of no where there is beautiful Pittsburg with multiple rivers coming together and skyscrapers straight ahead. We stayed in the William Penn, a great hotel with a historic feel and it seemed like such a treat. (We all four piled in one room :) We went to an artsy part of town Friday night for a really fun dinner with friends, explored the city Saturday, found a spot for Bloody Mary's to watch the Masters, and then had the best brunch at Meat & Potatoes. Highly recommend!

That evening we went to our friends' beautiful wedding. It was in a more residential area (a beautiful area!) in a stunning old church and then the reception was full of spring flowers, drinks flowing and a really fun band. Just a really fun evening. (We didn't take enough pictures because our phones were in their purses where they belonged! :) Everyone there was having so much fun (including the beautiful bride!) and it was just perfect. Meanwhile, Virginia was back at home having a spend the night party with her grand parents and great-grandmother! They spoiled her with trips to the zoo, ice cream I'm sure, and fun in a mini pool. I was sure happy to see her when we arrived home, and spent the rest of Sunday with her cuddling/being restless on my lap as we watched the Masters.

Hope everyone has a great week!

~Mary Keller

Around Here

Happy Monday guys. This weekend was a good one! Andy and I tried Rock Salt, a new restaurant in town, on Friday and had such good oysters. I've been obsessed ever since my trip to Boston last summer so I'm happy to have a fix in town now. Virginia had her school Easter egg hunt on Friday. She found one egg with graham crackers and was uninterested in hunting for more! Afterwards they went out for pizza and unfortunately she took a little fall playing with the big kids and busted her little lip. She was a really good sport but her poor lip has seen better days!

Saturday I tested some biscuit recipes trying replicate a family recipe. I didn't nail it this time but the results were delicious and super easy. I'm hoping to fine tune it in time for our Easter brunch next weekend. We finished our day with a yummy dinner of short ribs with some friends and their kids at the Costa's. On Sunday we spent a good bit of time outside, made fish tacos and enjoyed some basketball. It was a really nice weekend!

Hope everyone has a good week!

- Heath

Around Here

Happy Monday guys! I swear it was just Friday! Did you all have a good weekend? Ours was perfectly lazy and it was wonderful. Friday night we did nothing. Not a thing. Heath and Andy met friends to watch the Davidson game, but J.D. and I stuck around the house.

Saturday was the perfect mix of productivity and fun. We rode bikes to get bbq, finally got around to getting a few things framed for the house, and then rode bikes to Triple C Brewery to meet Heath & Andy once Virginia got up from her nap. It was such a perfect afternoon with the sun finally out. All of Charlotte had our idea to head to a beer garden. We stopped by Sycamore first but it was completely slammed, so we headed down to Triple C. It was a little less packed, and Virginia had a ball watching the million dogs and kiddos play. Heath and Andy met a few friends for an al fresco steak dinner afterwards.

Sunday was really nothing special, but nice and quiet. J.D. worked and Virginia and I had a grocery/laundry/Target kind of day. We did squeeze in a family walk plus pimento cheese burgers on the grill to round out the weekend. It was nice having a low key day.

Hope everyone has a good week! Looking forward to Friday already. :)

~Mary Keller

Around here

Good morning and happy Monday guys. This weekend was a good one! Friday night we used some of the spices we brought home from Turkey last fall and made an array of grilled meats, vegetables, cacik (Turkish tzatziki) and poufy bread(that's a technical term!). We weren't sure how it would turn out but it smelled and tasted so similar it was awesome!

MK went to see some high school friends in Columbia on Saturday and celebrated St. Pat's in Five Points. So fun to catch up with old friends! On Sunday the weather was too nice not to get outside so we walked up to one of our favorite spots and had a beer and guacamole, so good!

Hope everyone has a good week!

- Heath

Around Here

Happy Monday guys! This weekend was such a good one! Really hated for it to end. We spent so much time outside - bike rides, lunches & park visits. Heath and Andy had friends in town and they enjoyed an afternoon at Sycamore Brewery, plus a visit to the park with their friends' sweet little girl.

J.D. and I had friends (plus their cute son!) for happy hour Friday night, and then celebrated our anniversary on Saturday night with a quiet night in. I cooked mussels in white wine, and we just enjoyed being at home with Virginia sleeping quietly upstairs for our anniversary celebration! Sunday, we had friends over for an impromptu warm weather celebration. We fixed a grilled cheese bar and let everyone help themselves. The night ended with smores and a fire. Just a good night, and I loved seeing Virginia and her friends run around. (Really her friends ran around, while she stayed attached to my hip! We're in a real mama stage right now and I'm secretly loving it!)

Have a good week guys! Spring is really just about here!

~Mary Keller

Pages

Around Here

Around Here

Around Here

Around Here | 4th Weekend

Around Here

Around Here | Hello again!

Around Here

Around Here

Around Here

Around Here | Memorial Day

Around Here

Around Here

Around Here

Around Here

Around Here

Around Here

Around Here

Around Here

Around here

Around Here

Search

Categories

Blogs We Enjoy

Archives