DIY Fondue Night

A night of Fondue out on the town runs about...

$16 Cheese fondue for 2
$16 Chocolate fondue for 2
$10 Beer/wine
$12 Tax and Tip

$54 for a Fondue night out

So I decided that we would put together our own fondue night using some recipes I found online. I already had heavy whipping cream, and plenty of beer and wine in the fridge for preparing our date night in, so I didn't include those in the price list.

$4.00 Mozzarella Cheese
$6.00 Asiago Cheese
$6.00 Asti Spumanti Champagne
$2.00 French Bread
$2.00 Royal Gala Apples
$2.50 Special Dark Chocolate
$2.50 Pound Cake
$1.00 Marshmallows
$4.00 Strawberries
$1.00 Tax

$33 for a Fondue night in

The cheese fondue was unfortunately a bit of a disappointment. It didn't get as gooey as I would have liked, but instead was a little grainy tasting. The chocolate fondue, however, was sinfully delicious and I would certainly make it again! Plus it was just fun to eat using our little fondue skewers!

Jamaica Date Night FAIL

It has been forever since we have done a Travel Date Night. Just to refresh your memory, a Travel Date Night is when Dustin and I "travel" to a foreign country through food, drink, music, and/or movie. It's a lot cheaper and more convenient than booking airfare and lodging, plus makes us (and by us I mean ME) feel a bit more cultured.

This year my class is traveling month by month through different countries, learning about their holidays and traditions, so maybe I can incorporate a little bit of that information in our Travel Nights. Although, with Dustin leaving before the year ends, if I want to keep up with these nights, I may have to delete the "date" aspect of it.

Anyway, Dustin and I went to Jamaica for our honeymoon back in February 2010. We loved the weather, people, and attitude. We can't wait to plan a return trip. For our version of a Jamaican night, I had high hopes. At a festival earlier this year we bought a jar of Jamaican jerk seasoning.

Well, I got home from work yesterday with a horrible migraine headache. The afternoon consisted of me curled up on the sofa, with a pillow over my head to block out the light. My wonderful husband totally saved the day and cooked up the Jamaican chicken for me. Isn't he great? Only problem was that the jerk seasoning produced quite a bit of smoke cooking in the skillet and soon our entire apartment was filled with smoke! Yuk! We opened all the windows, turned on the fans, and frantically monitored the smoke alarms. It was a memorable night to say the least.

The chicken was very true to Jamaican taste in that it was VERY spicy. In fact, even with a little seasoning it was really spicy to me! I think we may have to return to this date night to really do it proud, like with anything but the chicken! Maybe I will try to make some Jamaican beef patties and wash it down with some Red Stripe!

Saturday Night Lights

Dustin and I might be having the PERFECT Saturday. We slept in nice and late, which is a rare occasion in our household (my fault, oops!).

Then, we relaxed in the family room with matching cups of hazelnut-infused coffee.

When dinner time rolled around, we headed out to Marrakesh for our favorite date night dinner.

Pinot noir? Check.
Super comfy lounging sofas? Check.
Melt-in-your mouth shish kabobs? Check.
Handsome hubby to share it with? Check.

After that, we headed to Food Lion so I could continue the Pinot Noir night. Brought home a bottle of Rex Goliath Pinot Noir and a package of Walnut Fudge. Now we are watching my team (Go Gators!) put some hurting on Kentucky on the football field.

So to sum it all up, a fabulous fall date night!

Although, in randomly funny moments, I ran into our neighbor/grandmother of one of my former students at Food Lion while holding a bottle of wine. Guess what my former student wants to be when he grows up? A marine. Why? Because Mrs. Colwell's husband is a marine and he's really tall. Oh, how I love my life!

Fun Weekend in Jacksonville

Most of our weekends of late have involved us heading out of town and exploring new towns, new restaurants, and living the American dream by traveling along the open highway! While I love a good road trip, it was nice to have a chill weekend around home. We went to a going away party Friday night for friends that are moving back home to Indiana. As we were standing outside that evening I saw the cutest thing ever! One of the neighbor's dogs was pal-ing around with a tiny baby raccoon. It was like the dog was playing mommy to the little raccoon. Although, when the animal friends came close to us, I realized you don't want to risk one of the animals having rabies, so the guys shooed them away!

For dinner last night we went to one of our new favorite spots in Jacksonville: Mongolian House! I have always heard good things about this place, but Dustin and I didn't make it out to try the place until a week ago. The restaurant is a lot like hibachi-style, except that it is set up as a buffet. You grab an empty bowl and can fill it up with lo mein noodles, all sorts of fresh-cut veggies, and thinly sliced raw meat. At first the sound of raw meat totally sounded sketchy to me, but it looks like it might be frozen to keep it fresh and it tastes SOOO good. You use a ladle to choose your own combination of tasty sauces (I used the house and wine sauces together - yum!). Then their chef takes your bowl of goodies and cooks it on a giant grill using just a couple of sticks to push it around. You head back to your table with your yummy custom meal, and can even go up for seconds (if you have room).

I think this place will be our new go-to spot when we are craving Chinese/Japanese/etc. If you are in the Lejeune area and haven't checked this place out yet, you should go! I have already told my mom all about it, and when she comes in August, we are definitely going again!

Today is probably going to be spent heading to the pool and cleaning up around the house. Dustin has an 8-page paper due for one of his classes today, so there will be no fun for us :( It is a little hard to believe that summer is slipping right through my fingertips. Time to take advantage of these work-free days to clean the apartment, make a doctor's and dentist's appointment, and hit up 1, 2, or more like the 20 Zumba classes I could really use!

Happy Birthday To Me!

Last week we celebrated my 25th birthday! It's hard to believe that these years keep flying by. Since my birthday fell on a weekday, Dustin and I decided to celebrate over the weekend by arranging a little getaway to Virginia Beach.

I bought us a set of tickets to the Tim McGraw concert in VA Beach, arranged a hotel room for the night, and then we were off Saturday morning. The 4-hour drive was a long one, but it actually went by a lot quicker than I think we both expected.

After settling into our hotel, we headed to Waterman's, which was right on the beach. I thought it was great that they offered free valet parking, because the parking situation by the beach definitely seemed to be a bit difficult. We got a table on the patio, sipped on some yummy summer drinks (their signature drink, the Orange Crush, has real fresh-squeezed orange in it - watch out for the seeds!), and enjoyed some yummy conversation. After spending a week visiting the family, we had a lot to talk about. And now that hubby's deployment is approaching, we had a lot to talk about. So many decisions to make about reenlisting or getting out, saving extra money for a house while he is deployed, what to do about his car, etc. Even though the food was a bit pricey, I thought the atmosphere was just right for some relaxing and chatting.

After dinner, we headed over to the amphitheater for the concert. The tickets said 7:30, and we arrived at around 7:15, but it was a big bummer to find out we had already missed the first opening act, The Band Perry! We bought some outrageously priced drinks, found our seats, and had a great time singing along to some good ole country music. I didn't realize how many Luke Bryan songs I recognized, and Tim McGraw was just awesome, broken foot and all :)

We ended up heading back to our hotel, in Portsmouth, VA and found some pretty hopping bars on the corners opposite to our hotel. We listened to some good live music, ate some tasty bar food, and sipped on mixed drinks. The best part was, we simply had to walk about 25 feet to get back to our hotel lobby. It sure made me reminisce on the convenience of going out on the town back in college, and being able to walk back to my apartment and even be able to pick up a Papa John's pizza on the way back. Aah, those were the good old days!

On Sunday morning we had a fantastic brunch, complete with mimosas, in downtown Norfolk. We left our mini-vacation saying that we definitely want to head back here one more weekend before Dustin is deployed. Maybe for a cool fall visit to Busch Gardens Williamsburg!

On the actual day of my birthday Dustin surprised me by hiding some gifts "from the kitties" around the house for me to find while he was at work. I can't believe he was able to find cards with cats that look JUST like our cats!

In the evening, we grilled some T-bone steaks and made some Olive Garden style salad for dinner. Dustin bought me an awesome cookie cake (my absolute favorite kind of cake) and my parents sent me a wonderful gourmet basket full of goodies - a bottle of wine, crackers, cheese, mixed nuts, and chocolate. We enjoyed these cool treats for a couple nights later in the week.

All-in-all, turning 25 has been pretty great! Now I just have to try and plan some fun things to do with Dustin for HIS birthday next week, in between my pathetic attempts to "spring clean" our apartment, make Target runs for school stuff, and keep working on some projects for my classroom this year. School will be here before I know it!

Great Spring Weekend

We are having a wonderful weekend. Friday night we had a small cookout and game night with some friends. We haven't had people over to our place in a long, long time, so it was nice to entertain again! I am hoping we can make game night a monthly occurrence - I really enjoyed it :)

Then Saturday we headed to Wilmington for a double date with our friends, Nicole and Danny. We ate dinner at K38 Baja Grill. I had heard amazing things from a couple different people about this place, so I knew we had to check it out. Each of us ordered a different meal, and everyone agreed it was delicious! We will definitely be returning there again.

Then we headed to Nutt Street, a local comedy club that was hosting the 2011 Comedy Festival. There were about 15 comedians that each performed for 7 or 8 minutes. Some were really funny, some were just strange, and it was overall a good time. I still hold my opinion that female comedians are just not as funny as the guys (sorry ladies!). I was DD for the night, so we headed home afterwards and stopped at Taco Bell on the way home for the guys. The Taco Bell in Jacksonville really gets busy at around midnight!

Today I am going to get some much needed "veg in front of the TV" time, write lesson plans, make 23 warm fuzzy necklaces for my class, and prepare for the 10 hours of conferences I scheduled myself this week. Ugh! Only 3 weeks left of this school year at least! Hope you are all having great spring weekends as well!

Weekend of Wilmington Fun

We had a terrific weekend! It certainly doesn't hurt that there are only four more weekends at all until my giant 61-day weekend known as SUMMER BREAK!

Friday night we played it kind of low-key, heading to Tony's Seafood Restaurant for a couple cocktails and some calamari. Last time we went they had this kind of crazy barbershop quartet singing, but no such luck this time!

Saturday we headed out to Wilmington for a chance to widen our cultural horizons. We headed to the 19th Annual Wilmington Greek Festival. They have over 20,000 attendees a year, and actually shuttle people from the nearby K-mart since parking is at such a premium. The weather couldn't have been better, and Dustin and I enjoyed a travel date night that didn't involve any cooking on my part! We ordered some tasty lamb gyros, with some deliciously seasoned fries. Dustin tried a Greek beer, which was actually pretty good, and I tried a sweet red Greek wine.

My wine was really sweet, almost like sherry. It tasted really good, except when I tried to eat it with my food. So instead, I drank about half my glass before the meal, and the other half afterwards. We listened to some live music (in Greek!) and then watched the dancers perform. 

The whole event reminded me of a giant family reunion, except we didn't know any of the people there. It was a step outside of the box with some really yummy food and a nice relaxing day.

Before we left Wilmington, we stopped at Fuzzy Peach for some frozen yogurt. I LOVED this place. 

You pick up a cup, fill it up with frozen yogurt (I chose strawberry banana, Dustin opted for cheesecake flavor), and then add in whatever toppings you would like. At the end of the counter, they weigh your cups and you are charged by the ounce. I thought it was a really clever little place. It was delicious, and so much fun to add in all the toppings yourself! Although Dustin's gummy worm, butterfinger, raspberry syrup concoction made me sick to my stomach by just looking at it!

Sunday we decided to take advantage of the Carmike 16's budget tickets. I think the hours are between 4 and 6, when you can attend any movie and pay only $5 for your ticket (almost half price!). We saw Fast Five, which I highly recommend, and it was a great ending to our simple and fun weekend!

Celebrating the Kentucky Derby

This Saturday, Dustin and I drove the 45 minutes south to the Poplar Grove Plantation in Wilmington to celebrate the Kentucky Derby, known as the most exciting two minutes in sports! The Junior League of Wilmington hosted their 3rd annual Mint Julep Jubilee. It was a really fun event, and I am glad Dustin and I decided to participate.

Everybody showed up in their Southern finest fashion, with ladies in sandals, sundresses, and amazing hats. Some of the gents were even wearing cute little bow-ties! We spent the afternoon sipping mint juleps, wine, and beer, and had some great Southern-style fare, complete with fried chicken, creamed corn, squash casserole, and fluffy biscuits.

They also had raffle tickets for picking the winning horse, a silent auction, and a live band. The plantation was such a beautiful setting, and I could just imagine they must hold gorgeous wedding receptions there! We mingled and met some other marine couples, who actually live in Wilmington and commute to Lejeune. It is amazing how much of this region of North Carolina is influenced by the military! I was really pulling for Pants on Fire to win the race, because the jockey was a woman AND how awesome of a name is Pants on Fire? But unfortunately, that was not the case. Here is a shot of us after the race:

I am thinking about filling out an application to join the Junior League this year, because it seems like a great way to meet even more people, especially once Dustin is deployed. Not too mention, they have social events going on ALL the time, from what I saw on their web site.

Things to Like in Jacksonville, NC

Upon moving to Jacksonville last June, I quickly met many people who would say that they HATE this town, that it is so boring, etc. While Jacksonville is not a huge metropolitan area, and the Jacksonville Mall leaves a lot to be desired in shopping options, I have found that there are some spots in Jacksonville that Dustin and I really enjoy, and we will actually miss when we eventually leave. It takes some searching, but there really are some neat "local flavor" spots here in town, if you filter away the town being 90% full of corporate chains. So, if you are in Jacksonville, or PCS here someday, I suggest you definitely check out all these spots BEFORE you judge the town and surrounding area. Although we are still looking for a good place to "go out" without seeing a bunch of people get in a fight. Maybe it's just not a town for nightlife...

- Onslow Beach, Camp Lejeune - You definitely have to pay attention to the signs/directions on base, because Dustin and I definitely passed the beach because we were too busy chatting on our first visit. I think you can't beat a beach with free parking and only about 30 minutes from most spots in town. I lived in Florida for six years, and was never this close to the beach, so I am really going to enjoy that this summer!

- Michaelangelo's Pizza - Their steak and cheese sub, with everything on it, is so delicious! Plus, they offer free delivery, which is awfully convenient when you want to chill out in your pajamas, but don't want pizza.

- Tokyo Express Japanese Take-out - We get the Hibachi Steak with Mushrooms in our house. It is yummy friend rice, with hibachi-style chicken, mushrooms, carrots, and a side of creamy pink shrimp sauce. Mmmmm. It is a little bit more pricey than some take-out, but it is so delicious! I get so excited when my coworkers want to pick up Tokyo Express on our planning days! If you order at lunch time, your meal also comes with a free iced tea.

- Marrakesh Mediterranean Restaurant - We ate here for the first time this week, but I know we will definitely be returning. The place has a great ambiance, and the food is really yummy! I got a sheesh kabob and the meat was super tender, and meals are served with warm pitas, yellow rice, and a salad. This place is a real hidden gem, plus seemed kind of healthy!

- Cook-Out Burgers - Hands down, the best milkshakes in Jacksonville. I am partial to Peanut Butter Fudge and Peach Cobbler. Their Cook-out trays are only $5.25 and include an entree (burger, or chicken sandwich, or my favorite the BBQ sandwich) and two sides (I go totally unhealthy and carb it up with onion rings and hushpuppies).

- Onslow County Fair - Who can argue with ferris wheels, bobsled rides, and those carousel swing rides? Not this girl! Plus all the deep-fried random food (twinkies, oreos, etc.) you can think of! The night we went last year they had all the prize winning animals set up in one of the barns. I thought it was kind of neat to see the pigs, chickens, and all sorts of animals in there! We will definitely be going again this fall - and bringing some friends along with us!

- Heroz Sports Bar - Yes, this is the sports bar located on base on Lejeune. It is a great place to watch our football games because it usually isn't too crowded, they serve Sam Adams Cherry Wheat beer on tap, and there is no tax, so that saves you like a ridiculous 7-8% on the tab.

- Zumba classes - Even at the risk of making the Zumba classes on base even MORE crowded, I love having a fun dance class available that I can take for free! Between all the base gyms, I think it is offered almost every day of the week. I love being able to take advantage of free gyms and classes, and that is one thing I will definitely miss, should Dustin decide to leave the military.

- Kinston Indians game (this summer only) - Unfortunately, the Cleveland Indians are moving their minor league baseball team elsewhere after this summer, but the Kinston stadium is less than an hour from Jacksonville and is a GREAT time. Tickets are less than $10 from what I remember, and they serve food and drinks there for much cheaper than at Major League baseball games. We are going to catch a few games this summer, and who knows, maybe another team will take over the stadium next year!

- Mike's Farm, Beaulaville - This farm would be great for families with kids. It tends to get really crowded on weekends in October, but they have cute hayrides where everyone can pick out a pumpkin, and there is also a really cute country store with Christmas decorations year-round. My parents bought Dustin a really nifty USMC ornament there last year. They also have a country-style buffet restaurant here, but I have never eaten there. I have heard good things though! Also, an insider's tip is that Thanksgiving Day is a great time to check out their holiday light show. There were no lines or wait at all, and it was great to go with the whole family, but the restaurant is closed (probably because everyone is too busy cooking turkeys!).

- Duplin Winery, Rose Hill - Our friend Nicole introduced us to this place. It is about an hour drive from Jacksonville, but they offer great winery tours and tastings (of 10 different wines). Also, from time to time they offer different events such as comedians, mystery dinner theater, and concerts. They also offer 10% military discount on single bottles of wines, and 25% if you buy a case of 12 bottles of wine, making some of their yummy wine less than $6 a bottle at that rate!

Hopefully we will have even more to add to this list by the end of our summer of exploring this town!

Another Great Weekend

This weekend Dustin and I enjoyed a couple great date nights out, while also cleaning up our apartment and doing some grocery shopping.
On Friday night, we ate a huge, yummy dinner at Golden Corral, and then went out for drinks with our friends Nicole and Danny, along with a couple guys Dustin works with. We were introduced to the back bar at Duck's. The front of the restaurant is kind of a fancy looking/small place which always seems a little awkward to drink at. Then we realize there is another bar, with different music and lower lighting in the back, with more of a sports bar feel. Dustin celebrated the fact that he was promoted to Corporal (so proud of him!) and it was nice to get out for a night.

On Saturday, Dustin treated me to some yummy Bojangles egg and bacon biscuit in bed, and we lounged around most of the day. Nicole and Danny invited us out for a double date at Duplin Winery in Rose Hill. It was such a fun night! We got a little tour of the winery, tasted 10 different kinds of wine with crackers, cheese, and a little scoring sheet to keep track. Then we had a 3-course dinner with a comedy show afterwards. We ended up spending $95 between the tickets and extra wine during dinner (the first glass was complimentary). The night was so much fun, and I definitely want to take my mom out here when she comes to visit us later this spring. We picked up some Pink Magnolia wine and a slushie mix they sell for delicious pink cosmo spritzers...mmm! I can't wait to mix some of those up to enjoy poolside this summer. A little-known fact is that the winery offers 10% off wine sales to any military members, so we walked away with our drink mix and two bottles of wine for less than $25. Not a bad deal, I think!

Warm Weekends

Dustin and I have really been enjoying the last two weekends with the warm, sunny seventy degree weather. We hopped in the car and headed out to Swansboro two weekends ago.

 I can't wait for the summer, so we can check out some of the cute little seafood restaurants out there, and maybe even go fishing! Dustin challenged me to a round of miniature gold - and I lost! Although, Dustin caught quite the lucky streak with THREE holes-in-one!

 

This past weekend we went out to celebrate Dustin's upcoming promotion! We ate a super-yummy dinner at Outback and enjoyed some margaritas and great conversation. Saturday was a kind of boring day, but Sunday we got out of the house to run some errands around town, go grocery shopping, and had lunch at O'Charley's. Dustin used to work at an O'Charley's back in Georgia, so it brings back some funny memories when we go eat there. All in all, it was a great weekend, and I am looking forward to many more lovely weekends now that spring is on the way in! And I think we may be having our very first spring shower right now outside: lightning and thunder, oh my!

Anniversary Weekend in Charleston

Dustin and I returned last night from a wonderful weekend in Charleston, South Carolina. We took the trip to celebrate 1 year of marriage! Here are some of the highlights from our weekend:

Beautiful sunset as we made our way south on Friday

Rioz Brazilian Steakhouse in Myrtle Beach

We were totally shocked to find out my wonderful parents had called the restaurant ahead of time, and arranged to treat us to dinner! They even had a chilled bottle of champagne waiting for us at the table. Talk about VIP treatment!

The concept at this restaurant was so cool! They had an incredible salad bar (buffalo mozzarella, sushi, ahi tuna, salad, sauteed mushrooms, quail eggs, and all kinds of other stuff) and then you had this coaster for your meat. Red means you were good with what you had. When you flip the coaster to the green side, gaucho waiters walk by with swords filled with meat to carve tableside. We had lamb chops, filet mignon, flank steak, sirloin steak, bacon-wrapped chicken, and grilled pineapple. It was all so delicious! I highly recommend this restaurant concept, especially if you love a man who loves meat!

Looking sharp for a day of sightseeing in historic Charleston

Shopping around in the city market

Yummy-looking turtles in a candy store!

Happy one year to us!

Somebody's been drinking a lot of wine!

Very tiny French cafe on Broad Street

Flyer at the quaint little French cafe we ate lunch at on Saturday afternoon

Mmmmm... Ham and cheese toasted croissant and cream of broccoli soup

Don't we look tres chic?

Rainbow row houses

Spotted at Forever 21: the ugliest pair of pants EVER. I hope I never see someone wearing these.

This is the fancy Southern-style restaurant where we ate dinner at Friday night. I  had crispy fried chicken with biscuits, gravy, mashed potatoes and collared greens. Dustin ate some sort of seafood/rice dish. Oh, and we also had some scrumptious fried oysters as an appetizer. Highly recommend this yummy place!

Headed to Wet Willies for spiked slushies and an awesome live band. We took a cab there and back so we could really let  loose and celebrate!

Frozen beverages of the night

Sunday morning with raspberry mocha latte and some wonderful company

Famous "baked" red velvet whoopie pie

Maybe I can photoshop the two of us together into one photo?

Gosh, I need a tan

Cooking demonstration Sunday afternoon

Chicken with gravy and pear/sausage rice pilaf. Plus some merlot. Not too shabby!