What's Up Wednesday?

How y'all doin'?  What's up with you?  "What's up with me, you ask?" Find out below:

Today I'm playing "What's Up Wednesday" along with one of my favorite fashionable mamas, Ms Sheaffer from Sheaffer Told Me To (formerly Pinterest Told Me to).






What we're eating this week--EGGS and veggies!

What I'm reminiscing about--Tattooed Moose  What?!  You don't know about the Moose? It's a great restaurant/bar on John's Island (the original is on Morrison Drive in Charleston).  Do NOT pass up the duck fat fries and "Mike's Famous Duck Club"!

THE Duck Club

What I'm loving--The longer, sunnier, spring days!

What we've been up to--Um, hanging around on our partio (it's a party patio; partio for short).

What I'm dreading--Contractors in my home and the "destruction" they will create :)

What I'm working on--Cleaning out my closet! So many clothes that I never wear!

What I'm excited about--SUMMER!! 

What I'm watching/reading--Lately, I've either been glued to the tv watching non-stop news or watching the backs of my eyelids aka sleeping.  Anyone have a good fluffy, cotton-candy book to suggest?

What I'm listening to--Pandora's set to Summer Hits of the 80s.  Does anyone see a theme here?

What I'm wearing--Cute new (summer) sandals!

What I'm doing this weekend--Spending time with the mister.  We'll planning a little tailgate before a college baseball game, a trip to farmers' market, and who knows what other fun we'll find.

What I'm looking forward to next month--April 15th Tax day.  GOTCHA!

What else is new--Hopefully, next month we'll have a new updated kitchen, new bath tile flooring complete with a warm floor system, and a new barn door for the barn we live in.

Come back and join me on Friday!  Another installation of Fearless Friday is on tap.  There may be a video:)

Fearless Friday--Field trip

It's another Fearless Friday!  This time we're taking a little field trip, down the road a bit, to Hilton Head.

First, confession time--Most people who know me IRL know that once I get on Seabrook Island I don't care to leave the island except maybe for rations and supplies :)

What folks don't know is that as I've gotten older I've grown more skeered (that's Southern for "scared") of heights.  Blame it on my mother.  She is deathly afraid of heights! Oh, and apparently she's passed it on to at least one of her grandchildren (you know who you are--"the weeping like a baby while hyperventilating" all while in a tethered hot air balloon kiddo!)

On to the field trip.  Someone (*cough* me) got the brainiac idea to test her  "height" limits along with her daughter's with a zipline.  And like every good girls' road trip, we had an accomplice (who is NOT afraid of heights or anything else life throws her way).

Zipline Hilton Head was our destination.  Eight ziplines with heights of 75 feet.  How hard can this be, right? It's going to be fun, right?  Here are our smiling faces BEFORE we got suited up in our zipline Hilton Head gear:

Look at those BIG smiles!

Oh.My.Gosh!! Zipline Hilton Head was fun!  Ok, maybe it was a little scary at first. And, maybe my hearing is just now coming back due to the screaming of "someone" in our group :)  But I'm ready to go back and take the mister.

Here's what you need to know about Zipline Hilton Head:

• The zipline adventure lasts approximately 2 hours.
• Make your reservation online.  Plan ahead.  Times do sell out.
• Dress properly.  Close-toed shoes that tie eg sneakers, hiking boots.  Comfortable "fitted" clothing.  You'll be outfitted in ziplining gear that is made of webbing.  Longer, tighter shorts are better than short loose ones.
• Arrive early.  You'll fill out paperwork before being suited up.
• Bring a good attitude!

Other tips include hydrate before you get to Zipline Hilton Head; Apply lots of sunscreen; Leave hats, sunglasses, and phones at home (or in the car. You don't want to take a chance losing those while your flying through the air on a zipline!).  Next time, I might consider wearing cargo shorts IF they have a good side pocket for my phone.


Here's a video from Zipline Hilton Head that will get your heart pumping! ZipLine Adventure

BTW, I can't show you our AFTER photo.  Just imagine BIGGER smiles, messy matted hair, and maybe some "glistening" skin (you know, we Southern women don't sweat, we glisten.)

Wine Wednesday!

Y'all, I have a new favorite place to tell you about. And since it's Wednesday it must serve wine ;)

Fortyeight (48) Wine Bar recently opened at Freshfields Village out at the crossroads of Seabrook Island and Kiawah Island.  This place is pretty amazing.  Every day they have 48 wines available by the glass.  Yes, that's 48! EVERY DAY!  Fortyeight Wine Bar also has 48 craft beers available (right now these are only available by the bottle or can).

Round up your girlfriends, your significant other, or go by yourself (heck, I went one afternoon while my daughter was getting a massage at Urban Nirvana.  We both won that day! :) ).

Here's what you need to know before entering Fortyeight:  Have your credit card ready.  You will swap out your credit card for a WINE card.  This magic wine card is used...to get your wine.

The wine is stored in these really cool dispenser kiosk-thingies (yeah, technical words).  Like wines are stationed together--whites/roses, reds, and the "high dollar" wines.

example of wine dispenser

After deciding which wine you'd like to sample, grab a clean wine glass, insert your wine card into the dispenser kiosk and place your glass under the "tap".

At this point, you will have to decide if you'd like a 1) tasting sample-1 ounce pour; 2) a half glass- 2.5 ounce pour; or 3) the full glass--a generous 5 ounce pour!

I highly recommend starting with the tasting sample.  There was a wine I *knew* I'd love, only to discover it did not taste good to me (Remember the best wine is what tastes good to you!).  Thankfully, I can chug an ounce of wine easily.

If you like your tasting sample, feel free to dispense the full pour on top of the sample size (yeah, you know I did that a couple of times too.).  Oh, remember to get your magic wine card out of the dispenser.

With your filled wine glass you're ready to enjoy the company of your SO, friends, or just hanging out by yourself.  If you get hungry, Fortyeight can fix that right up.  The menu runs from nibbles, salads, and light entrees.

The afternoon the mister and I stopped by Fortyeight, I ordered up the pimento cheese trio appetizer.  Here's the thing, the mister doesn't like pimento cheese so I knew I'd have that trio all to myself.  I did share the spicy pretzels with him.

Pimento cheese trio-Yum!

Fortyeight Wine Bar has seating both inside and out.  With the nice Seabrook/Kiawah weather, I'm betting folks will take advantage of the outdoor patio.

One last tip--Fortyeight Wine Bar occasionally offers a HAPPIER HOUR (usually 4pm-6pm).  Wines are offered at a 20% discount.

Now I'm off to pour myself a glass of wine.  Cheers!

First Day of Spring!

The calendar finally says "Spring" though the weather at Seabrook Island has felt more like summer the past couple of weeks.

Summer can not come quickly enough for me.  Lazy summer days including beach time with friends are my favorite! Life slows down; my soul gets renourished.

If you haven't yet booked your Seabrook Island or Kiawah beach vacation, you'd better hurry.  Coastal Getaways of SC represents approximately 150 properties on Seabrook.  They have several properties on Kiawah, too.

Pam Harrington Exclusives has plenty of Kiawah beach accommodations with a number of Seabrook Island homes to choose from.

If you have questions on where to stay when you visit Seabrook Island or Kiawah, don't hesitate to ask.  I love sharing my little slice of paradise with others.

Fearless Friday

As I now have half a century of life behind me (wait, does that make me an antique? Or vintage?), it's time to start living.

To a certain extent,  I've allowed fear to paralyze me.  I was afraid of posting something new on this blog (hello, the last post was almost FOUR years ago!). I've been afraid to start a project for fear it wouldn't be "perfect".  Today, I say "Peshaw!" to fear and perfectionism!

This Fearless Friday I took on real poached eggs. You know, those fancy-schmancy ones at finer restaurants. The ones you drop into boiling water.  A quick google search lead me to this recipe: Poached Eggs Caprese .  Great!  I had almost everything on hand ( I did substitute a different cheese).

A couple of deep breaths later, I was off and running, er, cooking.  The poaching part takes under 3 minutes-quick and easy-though not something you want to rush especially if you're on a tight morning schedule.  Save this recipe for a lazy morning --a weekend, a beach vacation day.

Less than ten minutes later, breakfast was served!

Ok, so one of the mister's poached eggs broke.  It's not perfect but guess what?  They tasted great! 

The next time I make poached eggs,  I'll use a big kitchen slotted spoon to retrieve the eggs from the pan. The pesto was a nice yummy lower calorie addition.

How 'bout we all say "Peshaw" to fear and perfectionism?  My eggs weren't perfect; I'm not a size zero or even a two; my blog posts may have typos.  Who really cares?  I'm not afraid to go by myself ALONE to a new restaurant (did you know you could do that and have an enjoyable time?). I can have adventures by myself though it is more fun with the mister and/or friends.  I can poach eggs!

Stayed tuned for next Fearless Friday!

Lucky Day!

How y'all doin' ? Has it really been almost four years since my last post.  My, my, my!

Guess today is your lucky day! I'm back and ready to share all the new things I've been exploring all over the Lowcountry! We're talking food, drink, fun, and more.

Before we get to the new stuff, here are Seabrook Island St Paddy's Day memories from way back.

Did someone say "Lucky Charms?"

My cute little leprechaun!

"For the whole world is Irish on the Seventeenth o' March!" — Thomas Augustine Daly