Work-Appropriate Staples in the Heat

Since graduation and starting my full-time job, I have definitely had to make some wardrobe adjustments. Luckily, my office is pretty casual and I can wear jeans whenever I want, but in the summer in NC, that does me absolutely no good. I am constantly stuck in a limbo between how hot it is outside (especially with the heat wave of the last week) and how ridiculously cold it is in my office. Just walking to and from my car before and after work makes me break a sweat, but without fail, I will need a sweater at most 30 minutes after I get to my desk. I am the kind of person who likes to be prepared for everything, so getting ready for work in the morning is quite the routine of preparing for the possibilities of the entire day. Here are a few of the staples that I have relied heavily on this summer (and will continue to rely on through the rest of this ridiculous heat... which could run through September).

Dresses
I love dresses. How can you beat having an entire outfit in one piece (minus accessories, of course)? They are easy and tend to breathe really well in the blistering heat. Add a Cardigan and you can make almost any dress look appropriate for work. Emphasis on almost.

Basic Lightweight Pants
Before I started working full-time, I honestly didn't own a pair of casual pants that weren't jeans. I had dress pants, but nothing that was really summer appropriate (or that I don't have to wear heels with... bleghh). So I was on the hunt for some simple, straight-legged, ankle-length pants and I found the perfect pair at the J.Crew Factory Store. Subsequently I bought them in khaki, white, and navy. I also have a pair of the J.Crew Oxford Scout Chino, but honestly, I like my factory store ones better.

Cardigans
I don't know if it's possible to own too many cardigans. I basically bring a cardigan with me to work every day because I know I'm going to get cold (I'm freezing right now because I made the mistake of thinking the dress I am wearing wouldn't look good with a cardigan over it. Stupid, stupid, stupid.). My favorite are the J.Crew Jackie cardigans that JMC's mom has so generously showered me with over the past couple years. I'm a lucky, lucky girl.

Basic Tees
V-necks are my favorite, but that's just because I'm bigger on top and crew-necks tend to make me look like I have a uniboob. You can NEVER have enough t-shirts. I buy new white t-shirts more often than I buy toothpaste.

In other news, I can't wait for fall.

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!

Merritt's Store & Grill

If you like BLTs, Merritt's Store & Grill is probably the best place in the world (okay, I don't know about the world, but definitely in the state of North Carolina), to get one.

I had heard about Merritt's from a number of articles, most of them with a title to the effect of "Best 100 Restaurants in NC." So, naturally, I had always been meaning to go there, especially when I realized that it was a couple blocks from my office. Never in my four years at Carolina did I make it over there, though, which was a HUGE mistake.

It turned out to be the perfect opportunity to go for the first time last week when one of my good friends who is in dental school picked me up to have lunch and suggested we go there. And then I went again on Monday for lunch because it was that good. JMC is upset with me for going twice without him since he has never been before either, so I promised we would go on Saturday when his mom and grandma are in town to visit. So that will be three times for me in 8 days. Obsession.

Merritt's is a perfect Chapel Hill restaurant for a few reasons:
1. Their food is delicious (duh). Their ingredients are always fresh and the quality of their food takes precedence over everything else. And you can get a single, double, or triple BLT on a wide variety of breads. Perfection.
2. They are proud of their history and have kept things the way they were since they opened during the Great Depression. Except for they added a credit/debit card machine (which is awesome).
3. They have a parking lot. Even though it's small, its one of the biggest in Chapel Hill. If you know anything about parking in Chapel Hill, you know that it's the biggest pain in the you-know-what. If you don't know anything about parking in Chapel Hill, don't come here and try to park somewhere if you're not sure you're allowed to. You WILL get towed.
4. The people are ridiculously nice. Everyone is happy to be there and is always willing to give you a warm welcome when you walk in the door.

If you're ever in Chapel Hill, Merritt's is a place you shouldn't pass up. In fact, now I'm craving one of those BLTs... could I make it four times in eight days?