OMB, a Luau and a little leak

It was so nice to have a weekend back that did not have to be devoted to painting! So glad to have that project behind us and onto the next. Next up will be our backyard area which we have already decided is more John’s project that mine, but of course I will help out. That project deserves a post on its own but we did a little pre-planning this weekend to start prepping the soil, killing the weeds and determining how much this project is going to cost us. Originally, we planned on digging a fire pit into the ground and having some seating out there, but we looked up the fire code, and it is against the regulations to have open flames within 25 feet of a building, so we had to scratch that and come up with something else. More on that later.

On Friday night, we met Sam, Sam, Luke, Heather and their baby Abby at Olde Mecklenburg Brewery, Charlotte’s (first, only?) microbrewery. The space is pretty rustic and they have 2 beers on tap, but it is still a fun place to go hang out, and its smoke free. John bought a growler from there when they first opened for somewhere around $20, but you refill it for $8 so that is pretty popular.

Saturday night, we went to Lauren’s 30th birthday party luau which was really fun. John convinced me not to bring out my new camera since it is pretty big, but I really regretted it once we got to the party. They had rented out a space and deck on top of a condo building in uptown with great views of the city and stadium, so it would have been fun practice, but I ended up with my trusty point and shoot instead. These are the pics I took

.

Awesome cupcakes!

Me and the birthday girl

On Sunday, I turned into Martha and decided to make crackers from scratch. I made whole wheat crackers that were ok, then I made Morning Glory muffins from the King Arthur Whole Grain Baking cookbook and those were good. I was in a breakfast rut so I was excited when I woke up this morning and remembered my muffins, it’s the small things you know? Just as I had convinced myself to go to the gym, it started storming really bad. So, I decided to read magazines instead, and it’s actually a good thing I stayed in because as I was sitting there, I kept hearing water dropping from somewhere other than outside. Checked the sink and shower and realized water was coming in through our chimney. So, I grab some Rubbermaid containers and was able to catch the water. We probably got about 4 inches of rain so I was glad to be home, otherwise it could have been a big mess if I did not catch it. We are going to have to have someone come check it out, for now, I have food storage containers in the fireplace just in case.