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!!