Off to the Sunshine State

Tyler and I are off to Florida today! We will be taking pictures throughout our long weekend and will be sure to post everything when we get back in town on Sunday. We are looking forward to spending our first Gameday in Tallahassee in 2 years...GO NOLES!

All smiles,

Tyler and Lindsay

Peek at Halloween 49/365

Our dog Tess is the sweetest creature. She loves to be close to people! Anyone who has ever been to our house has without a doubt experienced what we like to call the "Tess lean." If you sit or stand anywhere in our house, at some point she will come and stop in front of you and simply lean her body against your legs. If she could fall asleep standing up with her head on our ankles while we lay on the couch, she would. If we would let her ride in our laps on road trips, she would be ecstatic. As it is, she tries to lay on the center console of the car so she can be as close to us in the front seat as possible. There is really only one thing I can do that makes her pin back her ears and look at me with disgust and that is take her picture...she HATES the camera! I promised her this would be quick and painless but we really wanted her to help with our Halloween sneak peek. She sat down as Tyler put the patch on her eye and after he stepped away she gave me a solid five seconds to snap two shots before she stood up and pulled off the patch with one swipe of the paw. Lucky for me, she is quick to forgive. After a tasty treat she was happy to snuggle on the bed in the crook behind my knees and go to sleep.

Treat from my Sweet 48/365

Not only did my incredible husband volunteer to go to the grocery store on his way home from work yesterday, he also brought me home a bag of my favorite candy coated dessert! He picked out our meals for the week, unpacked the groceries and had a glass of white wine waiting for me when I got home. I am a lucky girl and a lover of the little things :)

Final Fire 47/365

Sunday was the perfect wrap up to a wonderful weekend! We were up early getting things done around the house after a quick walk to the Bagel Bin for our favorite Sunday morning treat. We are having tons of friends and family up for the FSU at Wake Forest game in a few weeks and with our schedule coming up, we needed to get started on preparing the house for visitors! After lunch, Tyler settled in for a day filled with football and I headed out to run some errands. I managed to find something to wear for gameday in Florida and also pulled together most of my Halloween costume. Tyler's is coming in the mail this week...easy enough! Once I got home we settled in to watch football together, opened a bottle of wine and turned on the fire. We lit all the candles, curled up with blankets and just enjoyed the end of our weekend.

Fast forward about 6 hours. I had just finished watching Brothers and Sisters and our last load of laundry was almost completely folded and put away. Tyler was flipping back and forth from the football game to the baseball game so we could text my dad updates while he was at the ACDC concert. I turned off the TV in the den and went to turn off the fire. We have a manual gas fireplace, where the pilot stays lit and then we just turn on/off the gas to turn on/off the fire. Well, I could not turn that knob! So I called Tyler out and he couldn't turn it either. The knob was hot so we put on gardening gloves to help our hands. After about 15 minutes, we had tried every tool we could find...still, we had a full fire.

At this point we started thinking about our options. There is a gas valve in the back of the fireplace but we couldn't turn it with our hands. Tyler ventured outside to try to manually turn off all of our gas with no luck. We even called the volunteer fire department at this point. We called our gas provider and unfortunately it is impossible to get someone on the phone at 11:30pm unless you have a gas leak. Finally, at midnight, we decided that we definitely had a situation that was "emergency-ish," so we claimed gas leak to the automated system and finally got a person on the phone. After telling her over and over that we weren't smelling any gas but just simply couldn't turn off our fireplace, she said she would send someone out within the hour. About 40 minutes later, two guys show up and use a big tool to turn that gas valve in the back of the fireplace. They look at Tyler, ask "is that all," and head on their way....

Little did I know when I took this picture of the fire earlier in the evening that it really would be the best possible image to describe our Sunday! I would have taken a picture of the guys who got out of bed to help us at 1am, but they were finished faster than it would have taken me to remove my lens cap and turn on my camera :)

Stunning Sunset 46/365

The forcast called for rain on Saturday, but after some morning showers it turned into a beautiful day! We ended our day with a delicious Mexican dinner, but before that, we took in a stunning pink sunset as we drove home from the Maize Maze. We pulled into a parking lot so I could stick my head out of the sunroof and grab some pictures of gorgeous sky.

Tyler was our faithful leader as we wound our way through the acres of corn at the Maize Maze. We had a ball! The maze is HUGE and it only has one way out. You go into it with a blank map and collect the 12 map pieces along the way...and there are plenty of dead ends to make it tough! Every group carries a flag with them. These flags serve a couple of purposes. Every now and then you are asked to raise your flag so maze operators can see how many groups are still out in the maze. If someone in your group were to get hurt, you can wave your flag and have someone meet you for assistance. My favorite flag use was to help celebrate birthdays. When someone finished the maze who was celebrating a birthday, everyone held their flags up high to symbolize candles. On three the birthday celebrator would blow out the "candles" and everyone would drop their flags back into the corn. The maze changes every year and we are already looking forward to next fall so we can visit again. It took us just under 2 hours to collect all 12 pieces and find our way out. What a great way to spend an afternoon :)

After we finished the maze!

Earlier in the day Ethan came over to hang out with us. We helped him carve a pumpkin, had lunch and of course played guitar hero. Ethan's favorite part of the day was cleaning out the gooey inside of the pumpkin :)

Always and Forever 45/365

Tyler took the day off of work on Friday. He definitely deserved it after all of the traveling and events that have been filling his calendar this fall. He had a relaxing day around the house and once I got home we went out for dinner with Jeremy, Andrea and Lincoln. Lincoln already had a big experience at Brixx during the week but she was a rockstar guest at our Osaka dinner. She slept through most of the meal and we were even able to walk to get gelato for dessert before she got hungry and woke up to let us know. We finished our gelato and headed back to feed Lincoln and spend some time with her.

Tyler snapped a few pictures when we got home and we both loved the shadows of this one. These letters are on the center of our mantle and no matter what, they say it all.

Workday meets Gameday 44/365

When workday meets GAMEDAY it is very necessary to wear large garnet and gold headbands into the office :) Tyler and I went into work with our Nole gear on, both looking forward to the flank steak dinner and football game that awaited us at home. It was a slow start for the Noles, but they managed to get it together in the second half and pull out a big win in Chapel Hill. We were definitely due for a "W" Seminoles, and we hope you enjoy it so much that you repeat it again next weekend when we are in Tallahassee for the game. Until then, we are sending positive garnet and gold thoughts from our home in NC!

Happy Hearts 43/365

Since the beginning of high school, I have kept a quote journal. I write down quotes that make me smile or mean something to me at the time I read them. At this point I have filled a journal and made a large dent into a second one. One of my girlfriends asked me to find a quote about girlfriends :) and I more than enjoyed looking back through those books. One thing is for certain...I am a hopeless romantic and quotes about LOVE seem to be the ones that speak to me most. I thought I would use a quote for this picture of a heart made out of our Sport Illustrated magazine that I took on Wednesday night.

"Love doesn't make the world go 'round; Love is what makes the ride worthwhile."

Wandering in Wonderland 42/365

I LOVE it when days feel like weekends and they just happen to be Tuesdays :) Work seemed to fly by yesterday with the promise of an evening down in NoDa with friends and delicious fish tacos to look forward to. It was gorgeous outside all day and since the sunshine was so yummy, I find it only fitting to start this blog with dessert! The end of our night was spent getting lost in Amelie's bakery. We went in for Salted Caramel Brownies and left with muffins for the morning and sweet smiles. Erica and I fell in love....what an adorable place! I felt like we had walked right into Alice's Wonderland and I could have spent hours enjoying every detail.

When you walk in the front door, you come face to face with an incredible sculpture chandelier. It is made of pots, pans, utensils and gadgets and it is the focal point of the front room of the bakery. I am already excited to find a reason to go back!

I am just completely obsessed with all of the decor...it made me miss Paris!


We were good kids though and did have our dinner before we indulged in dessert. We picked up Erica and Steve and headed down to NoDa while the sun was still up. Tyler and Steve enjoyed a drink at the bar in Cabo Fish Taco where we eventually all met back up for dinner. Erica and I walked around and she kept me company while I snapped pictures of the great colors, grafitti art filled walls and vibe that embodies NoDa. We made a quick shopping stop and found some great vintage boots for Erica while we were out. Dinner was delicious and being the only one of the four of us to never have eaten there, I can finally understand the excitement! Here are a few shots of the area...

I thought maybe I would turn his frown...upside down :)

Delicious Sunshine 41/365

On Sunday, when we headed to visit Jeremy and Andrea, we passed these beautiful yellow flowers on the way. We were just running out for a quick visit and trip to the grocery store so much to my disappointment, I had left my camera at home for the first time in 40 days. When I saw the sunshine on Monday, I called Tyler and told him I would be making a quick stop back at those flowers for a photo shoot after work. I shot for about 15 minutes, pulling my heels out of the squishy grass with every step, just hoping to get one great shot. Instead...I got so many that it was hard to choose just one for the daily picture. These all perfectly explain my growing love for pictures and my abundant love for SUNSHINE!!

First Attempt 40/365

Our Sunday was spent around the house with much more napping and watching football than actual productivity :) But it was a busy weekend, so we needed it! After the Jags game we headed over to Jeremy and Andrea's to visit with them and Lincoln. The family has come and gone and now Lincoln is already 3 weeks old! It was great to catch up. We went to the grocery store to shop for the week and then headed home so I could make my first attempt at re-creating the tomato soup that we love from Jason's Deli. I can't find a recipe for it ANYWHERE so I figured I would start with the one in my soup magazine and go from there. While the soup didn't turn out anything like theirs...it wasn't a horrible first attempt. Tyler thought it tasted too much like tomatoes so I am going to have to try to figure out how to fix that :) Hopefully I can make some good steps forward on my next try, but I might have to keep buying Jason's Deli soup for Tyler while I experiment!!

Gentlemen Start Your Engines 39/365

We were able to sleep in a little on Saturday morning and we happily enjoyed waffles for breakfast :) Then we drove down to Charlotte to meet the bus and headed to the track for the day. It was a COLD day for tailgating but everyone bundled up and enjoyed it. Tyler was great enough to get us a scanner for the race, so i was really able to follow along. Listening to the drivers made the laps go by even faster.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I have to say I did enjoy my first full outdoor race experience! It was great having Tyler in town for an event and it was a fun way to spend our Saturday.

Ready Set Go 38/365

Friday was a busy day for me as I had over 70 people taking part in an event that I had been working on since the spring. The event was called "NAPA's Full Throttle Weekend." Today guests were excited because they would get to drive up to 130 mph in 10 seconds. Other guests would get to ride with Ron Capps and go up to 160 mph in 8 seconds. For those of you that have never seen a drag race in person, the whole sport revolves around split second reactions and the ability to step on the gas as soon as the light goes green.

After everyone was done at the drag strip, we went to Michael Waltrip's Race World to see how his team gets ready for NASCAR races. We spent about an hour and half getting the VIP tour through out the shop. When we got done with the tour, everyone got back on the bus and we headed to the hotel to drop people off who didn't want to come to the Nationwide race.

About half the group opted to enjoy the nightlife of Uptown (downtown) Charlotte while the other half geared up for the cold weather and enjoyed 43 cars going 200 mph making left turns. Around 10:45 the race ended and we headed home. Finally around 12:30 am, I got home and was able to call it a night.

John Hancock 37/365

Thursday was the kickoff for Tyler's busy weekend! He had about 70 people in town for a promotion event and the Welcome Reception was Thursday night at the Marriott downtown. Most of the promotions Tyler does for work are out of town, so it was a treat to have one in Charlotte. I was able to spend time with him at the reception while taking some pictures and got to see him between and during events for the rest of the weekend.

Friday's activities would include ride along and driving experiences at the new drag strip in Concord with NHRA driver Ron Capps. Ron joined us at the Welcome Reception Thursday night to sign autographs and take pictures while getting to know the guests. He talked about his sport and was a pleasure to meet. He signed hats and shirts and photos and spent over an hour meeting everyone and taking picture after picture. We told him about our project and asked him if he would mind being in our picture of the day. He smiled as we set up the camera on top of an upside down bar glass placed strategically on top of a can of pineapple juice. We explained that we had to actually push the shutter ourselves and use the camera timer in order for the picture to count. After all that I decided to use a picture of him autographing a hat for our daily shot, but I included the picture of the three of us below because he was such a nice guy and a great sport!!

Our Monkin 36/365

After buying our pumpkin last weekend, we decided to carve it on Wednesday night. We knew Tyler had a busy weekend coming up so while I made dinner, Tyler cleaned up the pumpkin. Then I traced the design we chose and Tyler used his crazy carving skills we discovered last year to complete our creation. We will not be here on Halloween weekend, but we figure we can enjoy our pumkin for most of October! Later that night we decided to call it a monkin (monster-pumpkin) and knew it had to be our picture of the day.

Boot Scootin' 35/365

What a great afternoon! After work, Tyler and I headed out to play in the beautiful weather on the train tracks in Cornelius. Not to worry moms...we were close enough to track construction that there were no moving trains in sight :) Our favorite picture is one Tyler snapped of my boots.

We had tons of fun playing on a construction site!

And on the tracks...

There's nothing like a great kung fu kick :)

Burning Love 34/365

It was tough getting back into the swing of our week on Monday, especially after such a nice and relaxing weekend. We had a yummy pasta dinner after work and after watching some of our favorite shows...I was headed to bed. I remember sleepily muttering to Tyler that we didn't have a picture for the day yet and while I was sleeping, he was lighting candles and taking beautiful pictures. I love the blur of the lights in this one...he did such a great job!

While my rockstar husband was snapping photos...I was zonked out! Now that's love :)

Perfect Pumpkin 33/365

It's official...we have found the PERFECT pumpkin! Sunday was definitely a lazy day but we did manage to be productive in picking out a pumpkin. We spent the day catching up on TV, watching football and getting ready for our week. I tried a new chicken recipe for dinner and we settled in to enjoy the end of a wonderful weekend. Stay tuned for pictures of our carved pumpkin...we can't wait!

Route 66 32/365

We woke up on Saturday morning with french toast on the mind! After a tasty breakfast, I headed to an art show that a friend was displaying at, while Tyler settled in for College Football Gameday. The art show was held in the parking lot of the Butter Bean and it was so nice catching up with Lisa! I got to see her paintings and meet the man in her life too :) It was a nice cool fall morning and I more than enjoyed exploring the area. The Butter Bean is a great little store that sells antiques and locally made crafts, food and local produce. The woman behind the register was as sweet as sugar and I met a local editor inside who talked to me about writing classes she teaches and the editing work that she does. It was such a refreshing atmosphere...a truly southern experience. I took pictures outside and in and ultimately decided on the one below for the daily picture.

After spending a couple of hours at the art show, I headed home so Tyler and I could go to the movies. We saw Couples Retreat and both really enjoyed it. It was funny and cute and it had a happy ending, which is always a bonus for me :) We came back to the house after the movie, had a quick bite, and got ready to head down into Charlotte to watch the FSU game. We received a great FSU care package from Tyler's mom and dad earlier in the morning, so we were more than excited to wear our new gameday gear!!

We picked up Allison and Tyler and went over to Brazwell's with the other Seminole fans to watch the emotional roller coaster ride that was the game on Saturday night. During the first half there were no field goals and no punts...only touchdowns. We scored back and forth and headed into halftime in the lead. Unfortunately for us, the end of the game did not look as great. After a lightning delay extended our game late into the night, we finally headed home after a sad loss. We did, however, happily look forward to a lazy Sunday filled with football! Despite the loss, we were ultimately grateful that we each have 10 whole toes :)