9/29/2012

Deposits are down and the date is set! JMC and I are getting married on September 29, 2012.

Our venue ended up being NONE of the ones that I had posted last time. Although we thought one of those places was going to be best, we realized that all of them were probably going to be too small to accommodate our large group. We had also almost given up on finding a church to have the ceremony in, but we found one and its perfect!

Our ceremony is going to be at Harrison United Methodist, right down the road from both JMC's and my parents' houses. Both of our families have attended services at this church for a while, since we are both Methodist and this is the closest one to where we live. I don't know why I hadn't thought about it earlier. Also, considering our love for history, Harrison UMC is the oldest United Methodist congregation in Mecklenburg County, having begun in 1785.

Our reception is going to be held at Carmel Country Club. After a long, hard day of looking at venues that disappointed all of us, my mom and Mrs. C suggested we just drop by to see if we can walk in and check it out ourselves. Right when we walked in the ballroom, I knew this was the place we should have it. Even after we just let ourselves in, the event director excitedly agreed to give us a full tour of the clubhouse! She was very helpful in giving us examples of what other couples had done and she emailed us almost immediately with menus and specs sheets. It was very refreshing after the day that we had.

This weekend, we are going to look at dresses! I have a style in mind, but I could very well walk into the bridal salon and fall in love with something completely different. You never know! Mrs. C made me appointments at Mecklenburg Bridal and J. Major's, so hopefully I will find something at one of those places! If I don't find something this weekend, we are thinking about looking at the Priscilla of Boston in Raleigh since they are going out of business. I'm just so excited!!

Special thanks to my mom, Mrs.C, SRC, and Mrs. R for being of great help already in the planning process. I am so lucky to have all of you!

The B-friend's Obsession with Beer.

JMC loves everything about beer. He homebrews, reads about it all the time, tries as many different kinds as he can, and has even started a blog about it (BrewNC.blogspot.com). He and his oldest brother (he has 3 older brothers) have sort of fueled each other in their dream to start their own brewery. So naturally, through his obsession, I have become somewhat beer-obsessed as well. Which means I'm totally okay with being a part of this "opening a brewery" idea so I can drink delicious beer for the rest of my life (with the only downside really being the extra calories).

I'm not talking about plain old Bud Light or anything; it had even gotten to a point before we graduated that we brought our own good beer to parties. Sure, some might consider us "beer snobs," but I'm okay with that. It used to be that when someone asked me what my favorite beer was, I would say "Blue Moon." Don't get me wrong, Blue Moon is delicious, but it was just the gateway beer to the ridiculous amounts of amazing craft beers there are surging through America right now.

Whereas for a long time America was scoffed at for our choice of beer, we are emerging with a craft brewing industry with a creativity that, I think, blows many of the European beers out of the water. JMC and I have the privilege of living in North Carolina, where brewing laws are pretty lenient and craft brewing is booming. Asheville has been named "Beer City USA" for three years in a row now, beating out the usual contenders like Denver and Portland. The Chapel Hill/Durham/Raleigh area has some great craft breweries as well, including Carolina Brewery, Fullsteam, Roth, and Aviator.

Last weekend, we toured Roth Brewery in Raleigh and it was awesome. The people there were so nice and willing to talk to us about anything we were interested in. They even told JMC that he could come brew with them sometime! We got to taste all of their beers, and my favorite was definitely the Raleigh Red. It was very drinkable, but unique with great flavors.

Besides Roth, we have been to a number of other breweries in NC as well, including Top of the Hill and Carolina Brewery in Chapel Hill, Olde Mecklenburg Brewery in Charlotte, Fullsteam Brewery in Durham, and Lexington Avenue Brewery in Asheville. If you want more info about our experiences at any of these places, JMC has written posts about most of them on his blog (linked above).

What I'm most looking forward to right now is the Beer, Bourbon, & BBQ festival in Cary this weekend that we bought a Groupon for. The Groupon was for a $35 VIP ticket that includes all the beer, bourbon, and BBQ that you could want. Considering JMC and I basically LIVE for beer and barbeque, this event should prove to be right up our alley. I will definitely give the deets after going on Friday!

The Meat House

If I could dream up the most perfect, amazing grocery store, I'm pretty sure it would come out looking exactly like The Meat House. Walking into this store puts me in a good mood, no matter how the rest of my day has been (ask JMC... sure, its kind of weird that I love a grocery store this much). If you have never been to The Meat House, you need to find the one closest to you and go there as soon as possible. If there is no Meat House near you, I am deeply and terribly sorry.

JMC and I both grew up in Charlotte (our parents live 3 minutes from each other), and the first time I ventured into food heaven was at the Blakeney location of the Meat House with my mom. Between the free samples and the OTT (over-the-top) selections of salsas, cheeses, breads and craft beers, I was hooked for good.

Luckily, when we got back to Chapel Hill, JMC and I saw that they were opening a location right near our favorite Mexican restaurant, Cinco de Mayo!

The Meat House is "your neighborhood butcher," except its a chain. Only its not your average, mediocre chain store. They carry the freshest meats that are soaked in marinades that will make your mouth water the minute you walk in the door. They don't just carry meat, either. You can basically do all of your grocery shopping there. They sell spices, breads, locally-grown produce, cheeses, salsas, dips, and a great selection of craft beer. They really try to cater their selection to the community they are in. For instance, they carry Maple View Farm's milk and ice cream at the Chapel Hill location, which is a dairy farm in nearby Hillsborough.

So anyway, where else but our favorite place ever would we stumble across only the most legendary man in UNC history? We met Dean Smith.

Now if you know anything about college basketball AT ALL, you should know who Dean Smith is. He is amazing and is easily in the top 5 people I would want to meet EVER. And, he told JMC I was pretty :).

Anyway, here are some suggestions on things to buy from there:

Steak Tips in just about any marinade (Meat House marinade is probably the best, but others are delicious too!)
GARLIC BREAD. I put this in all caps because it's THAT good.
At least try their balsamic/olive oil on bread. They have samples and it is literally the best balsamic I've ever had.

So, in summation, The Meat House is the best place ever.