Remember that mysterious day I left out in my North Carolina recaps? Well, I was waiting for the pictures from my sister’s camera and now I have them for you! So here’s a very belated recap of my Tuesday in the mountains of North Carolina.

If you’d like to catch up first:

• N.C. trip Day 1
• Blogger Brunch & Fish Tacos
• A Carolina Birthday BBQ

That morning we headed off to Boone to explore since we’d been on the outskirts but never in the actual town. It was packed! Their was tons of traffic but we managed to park and explored. It’s a very cute little town!

After exploring a bit we got pretty hungry and found a really cute cafe called Melanie’s.

I sipped on an unsweetened raspberry tea.

It turns out Melanie’s is a vegan-vegetarian friendly restaurant that also has meat options(cooked away from vegan & vegetarian items) which was perfect for our larger group! I ordered their homemade veggie burger with some crumbled blue cheese and a side of their coleslaw.

I’m not a slaw kind of girl but this was marinated in a vinaigrette and was light and refreshing!

The burger was super delicious! I enjoyed ever single bite and loved leaving lunch feeling energized and not weighed down.

After a few more hours of exploring, my sister and her boyfriend jumped in our car and we went to the Mast General Store. We first ended up in a smaller version of their store which was mainly a candy shop! Adam and I chose some goodies for the roadtrip home…and for right at that very moment!

Chocolate, whipped cream center with coconut. Yum is an understatement.

After we explored the general store we headed back to our side of the mountain and almost immediately jumped on the ATV’s and headed back up.

Can you believe this view?? Maybe it’s being a Florida-born girl but the mountains truly captivate me. Hopefully, one day, I’ll live very close to mountains. I’m done with flat land.

I snacked on a few more blackberries straight from the bush.

We headed back down only to find that they were driving the truck back up the mountain, we decided to stick with the ATV’s. SO much fun!! I mentioned in an earlier post that I hadn’t been on an ATV before this trip.

As the sun was starting to set we hung out in the bed of the truck and sipped on some beers.

Leo hung out too.

We ran back to the house to grab our things because we were going to be staying at a different house on the last night. We actually rented the same cabin that we had stayed in a couple Christmas’ ago! I love that cabin. I grabbed a banana for the road.

Then we had a feast! The guys grilled bratwurst, chicken and corn while my mom made some potatoes with peppers on the stove.

I ate most of this plate. It was all SO delicious!

We lounged, ate, laughed and enjoyed some peaches over ice cream. Just add sugar to fresh peaches and let reduced on the stove. Another delicious ice cream topping!

It was the my idea of a perfect day and a great way to end our weekend away in North Carolina. It was the best feeling knowing that it was only the first of many trips to that piece of property! It’s also weird to think that one day, my children will be playing on that land. Not for a while, of course, but someday.

I’m excited for tonight! We’re meeting one of my mom’s very best friends(she was there when I was born) for dinner at her hotel near Disney! Lord knows, I love me some Disney.

Tonight, I came home to a clean house and dinner being prepared. My husband is so wonderful! I was thrilled and ready to relax.

Adam prepared some bruschetta with tomatoes and olive tapenade.

He made them both simply with a little EVOO and seasonings. I love how versatile bruschetta is!

Dinner was a salad with spinach and butter lettuce topped with a bit of shredded gouda and sauteed shrimp.

I drizzled a little olive oil vinaigrette on top.

It was light, filling and just perfect after a week of very little veggies other then soft, canned peas! I’m so grateful for FOOD!

We opened a small bottle of Cheer Wine and split it in half. I had a glass and it was SO good!

After dinner, I really wanted something good and sweet. We had vanilla ice cream but I need a topping, so I decided to take matters into my own hands. Also, if you’re wondering, I donated the leftover brownies to Adam’s office. It’s just better for everyone if those are out of the house!

My favorite desserts include anything with cooked bananas. You name it, I love it. Banana spring rolls, banana tempura, bananas foster, grilled bananas, you get the point! I decided to do a little spin on bananas foster. We have some rum from the last time we made bananas foster but I decided to eliminate those extra calories and mixing things up a bit.

Brown Buttered Bananas A La Mode

. Serves Two .

You Will Need:

• Two tablespoons real butter
• One tablespoon brown sugar
• One large banana, sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
• Pinch of kosher salt
• Vanilla ice cream

What To Do:

• First, place a saucepan on medium-high heat.
• Add the butter, cook down and stir lightly as it starts to bubble.
• Make sure to watch the butter as it will bubble for a bit and then very quickly turn brown.
• The second you see (and smell..mmmmmm) it caramelize into a beautiful, brown color add the brown sugar and stir.
• Turn the heat to low then remove from heat.

• Add sliced bananas and toss in mixture then place back onto the burner.
• Stir the bananas as they cook down a bit on the low heat.
• Stir in the vanilla and kosher salt.
• Scoop the ice cream into your serving bowls.
• Once you see the bananas start to “melt” around the edges and get very soft, spoon the mixture onto your ice cream.

• Serve and enjoy!

It’s decadent, but oh-so-yummy!

What’s your favorite dessert?

Hey, friends! I’m working at the office today but took a moment to tell you all about the rest of my Sunday!

As it turns out, Adam and I love adventures be they big or small ones. Whether we’re on the hunt for brownie mix or exceptionally old trees. Yesterday I was feeling pretty down and ended up falling asleep on the couch. When I woke up Adam presented me with a fun option for our afternoon. We were going to hunt down the seventh oldest tree in the world(don’t worry, no trees were hurt in the making of this post). We quickly headed out to check out this oldie but goodie, which is about 30 minutes away.

Check out those skies! What a beautiful day to go tree hunting, eh?

I don’t know if other states see this as much, but Florida has this thing I like to call “walls of rain”. You can be sitting, completely dry, at a stop light and look less than a mile down and see torrential downpours. If you look towards the middle of the picture you can see it!

You can try and avoid it all you want. The wall is going to get you.

I was still feeling pretty groggy from my nap so we made a pit stop that is essential in any great outing..

Oh yes, some DD iced coffee where we discovered that whole milk is the perfect addition for us. Half-n-half is good but sometimes feels heavy and skim milk is just not enough. Whole milk is just right. Just call me goldilocks.

We finally made it to Big Tree Park! Yep, the place that holds the “big tree” is called Big Tree Park. What can I say?

When we arrived it was still raining pretty hard so we drove around a bit before heading back.

We decided that the weather wasn’t going to get much better so we ventured into the rain to check out “The Senator”.

I’m not going to lie, walking through a very wet and foresty area during/after a rainstorm wasn’t the most comfortable experience. I just expect gators to be in any area that looks like this!

It is Florida after all..I kept my composure (or clung to Adam) as we made our way through.

Until..ta-da!

We arrived! Howdy, senator.

That there is one big(and OLD) stinkin’ tree!

Luckily we didn’t have to go “log leaping” to check out this cypress.

We drove home from our little adventure and plan to go back on a clear day when I can bring my DSLR out(she doesn’t like water so much).

Church youth group has started back up and I’ve been volunteering as a leader so I headed over for the first meeting of the semester. When I got home, dinner had arrived. Oh yes, I finally got my pizza! Don’t worry, there’s some green on it!

With green peppers, black olives, mushrooms, and BACON! Yes, that’s right, bacon. I went there. It was delish and you can bet I had leftovers for lunch.

Accompanying my pizza..

Pumpkin beer is back!! I liked this beer, it had a good flavor and slightly hoppy finish. I’m still excited to try Shipyard’s pumpkin ale though.

I just wanted to say a quick hello to any new readers out there! You can subscribe to my blog here or join me on twitter if you have a twitter account to keep up to date with any and all of my adventures. Thanks for reading!!

Today is my sister’s birthday.

Yes, I’m a baby and she’s about 6 in this picture and my head is as big as hers. Moving along..

My sister is many things..including beautiful!

She’s strong, independent, and has always been there for me! She even helped teach me how to read when I was just a youngin’.

She lives in NYC and I miss her a ton!

Growing up so far apart in age was definitely a challenge, but in the last few years we’ve grown so much closer and I couldn’t be more thankful for that!

Jennie, I was I was there to celebrate with you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! I love you and I hope your day was amazing!