Fave Find Friday: College Football Gear

Source: ae.com via Courtney on Pinterest

I've added this Vintage University of Georgia Sweater from American Eagle to my Christmas Wishlist on pinterest. I love the entire collection so I emailed my husband all of them from their website. I'm just going to hope he picks and chooses the right ones, or buys all of them (wishful thinking?). :) By the way, Go DAWGS!

Fave Find Friday: Baseball Tee

mlb.com (Braves Shop)

I love that women can actually look cute while supporting their favorite team these days. Trust me, it wasn't always like that. I still have big J-Shirts from my teenage years that make better night shirts than they do t-shirts.

Just added this Braves v-neck, vintage-style tee to my wish list!

A baby shower for Tornado Victims

My creative friend Callie at Wannabe Athlete came up with this amazing idea to create an online baby shower using Amazon.com to help those affected by the tornadoes in Alabama.

I was looking for a way to help that would make a direct impact. I know Red Cross does wonderful things but I wanted to do something more than a $10 text. I wanted my money to go directly to putting clothes on someone's back or feeding someone. The Blogger Baby Shower gave me the opportunity to do just that!

The Baby Shower has been up and running since Monday, and the support has been astonishing. Check out an update she wrote today regarding the support: Humbled. 
Oh, and there's also an incentive if you contribute by Friday! :)

My Carolina Grocery List - Part 2

It's great being back in NC and being able to shop at my local Harris Teeter store!
Here are a few more of my favorite foods I'm enjoying since being back home. Check out Part 1 if you missed my post back in January.


Five Alive is really not a Southern product, it actually originated in Canada but for some reason it's always been successful in the southeast. It is bottled by Coca-Cola (headquartered in Atlanta) which might be why it can be found in the southeast. I was able to find it in the canned version around the country at Wal-mart but it's not quite the same. I first remember seeing Five Alive in my grandparents vintage green refrigerator and can recall my granddaddy pouring a glass for me. Not long after our family also started drinking it as our "orange juice" every morning. Quite honestly, now that I've become a lot more health conscious... Five Alive isn't that good for you. Five Alive is a tasty blend of citrus flavors, and is smooth unlike orange juice but it's not real fruit. You can't get a full serving of fruit by drinking a glass like you can Tropicana orange juice; nonethless, it is delicious! And in true southern fashion -- what tastes good isn't always good for you.

Five Alive

Two words: Merita Bread. Need I say more fellow southerners? Can you find a softer, fresher, better tasting white bread than this one? Again, white bread isn't the best thing for you but in my opinion, this is the best! They also make a good wheat bread. Since I've been away and couldn't get my hands on Merita,  I actually converted to Sara Lee whole grain white. For me I am still able to get the fiber but the taste of white bread. I also eat more wheat bread now though. For the most part I don't eat white breads anymore and have moved on to whole grains/wheat.

Mertia Bread

Carolina Treet is one of those items I used to bring back with me after a trip home. I'm glad I don't have to go far to get this great marinade. I have always used this on grilled chicken as a marinade. My husband has become a fan also. Even though it says BBQ sauce, don't expect a sweet bbq sauce. It's a tangy kind of sauce that gives the chicken a little kick but not spicy.

Carolina Treet

Do you have any of these in your kitchen? Any more southern favorites out there?





Safe Haven

A few weeks ago I finished the latest Nicholas Sparks book Safe Haven. It was probably the most suspenseful Sparks book I've ever read. Like all of his books they are slow to start but once you start nearing the end, you can't turn the page fast enough.

Before it was ever released Safe Haven had a movie deal in place. As I was reading I thought to myself this is going to make a really great movie so I'm absolutely thrilled about this. I can't wait to see who will play Katie and Alex. If you read the book, do you have anyone in mind?

I'm already looking forward to the next book coming out this fall: The Best of Me.

My Carolina Grocery List

So I initially started writing this post in early December when I was only planning on coming home for Christmas vacation and returning to PA. When circumstances changed those plans, and we decided to make our trip home a permanent one, I no longer had to worry about stocking up on the items I can't get anywhere else but the South (and in some cases North Carolina). Nevertheless, I wanted to share a few of my favorites Southern goodies...


Duke's Mayonnaise
originated in Greenville, SC


I've gotta have Duke's for tuna melt's and my home-grown tomato sandwiches in the summer. I'm not a big mayo user but I can't use anything else.






George's BBQ Sauce
originated in Nashville, NC

 
I can't eat BBQ without George's. We had catered BBQ sandwiches at our wedding and I provided the George's!

Texas Pete Honey Mustard
courtesy of Winston-Salem, NC

Goes perfect with turkey wraps or chicken tenders! While it does carry the Texas Pete name, it's not spicy. You can usually find Texas Pete hot sauce in the stores; however, their other sauces are difficult to find outside of NC.

Sun Drop Lemon Lime

Cherry Lemon Sun Drop

Last but not least, Sun Drop. The NC based soda was purchased by Dr. Pepper Snapple Group and will go nationwide in 2011. Sun Drop has always been a favorite, I can't go too long without craving the regular Lemon-Lime or a Cherry Lemon Sun Drop. When I first moved away to Oklahoma back in 2006, my grandmother drove up to the Sun Drop plant, purchased and shipped me 12 cases of Cherry Lemon.

Look for more Southern Favorites in 2011!

Best of the South: Savannah Bee

I could really use some of this Beeswax Hand Cream by Savannah Bee today! It's snowing and cold... 17 degrees out right now with a windchill in the single digits. Brrr!!!



Beeswax and royal jelly replenish and nourish skin with essential nutrients. We add softening pecan and peach kernel oils, anti-oxidizing blueberry extract, and healing propolis to create Savannah Bee Company Beeswax Hand Cream. Fresh peach-scented with a rich and creamy texture, our long-lasting formula protects and softens hard-working hands with all-natural moisture.

My hands stack dry and cracked throughout the winter. Until I moved to Pittsburgh, the dryness was minimal but now... I'm constantly putting on hand cream.

Anyone have any favorites for surviving the winter? I'm considering this or L'Occitane products.

The Last Song

Okay, I'm finally going to get around to reading The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks. Being from NC it's pretty standard to own every one of his books, at least in my family it is. Last year I purchased it the week it came out just like I do every fall when Sparks releases a book. I usually begin reading right away. Well, I attempted... got through the first chapter and stopped. I just couldn't get interested. I think it was because it was based on teenage love and I kept picturing Miley Cyrus since I knew she was going to be in the movie. I hadn't read about teenage love since reading a Walk to Remember and The Notebook but at that time, I wasn't so far removed from being a teenager myself.

So, I'm going to give it another try because I hear it's not so bad. It will also be the first time that I watch one of the movies before I read the book. I currently have it rented on netflix. Maybe this will help me get into the book a little more.

Next up on my reading list: Safe Haven (Nicholas Sparks) & Heart of the Matter (Emily Giffen)

More from Southern Living

From the "Made by Southern Hands" section...

Time for a little unsolicited promotion... Check out these clipboards from Cottage Indus-tree! Creator Amy lives in Alpharetta, Georgia (the suburb I always dreamed I would live in but that's another story in itself). It's so neat to see someone take such a simple concept and make a dream business of it!



Daisies



Vintage Postcard



She even has collegiate sports...Go Heels!

Tar Heel!

Check out the rest of them on her website! She also has magnetic clips...

My college football team, GO DAWGS!

"Why I nev-ahhhh!"

Here's a Link to the Article Above

My grandmother sent me the September issue of Southern Living Magazine last week and I had the chance to sit down and read it on Sunday. You're probably wondering why I have my grandmother send magazines to me. For one, my grandmother subscribes to a slew of magazines that she will then pass along to me. If I haven't made a trip home in a while she will just send them in the mail. Second, she knows I like reading the Southern Living's specific to the Carolina region. Each region has a special section devoted to it and the advertisements tend to be more directed towards that region also. Naturally, I love to see what's featured from the area I grew up in.

Moving along...at the very end of the magazine was a commentary article by Amy Bickers on how Hollywood portrays us Southern folk. Let me stop there and say that I haven't read the last page of any magazine since Rick Reilly left Sports Illustrated. But on this particular occassion, I had some time on my hands due to a muscle strain I experienced on Saturday, keeping me lounging around in my PJs all day. Plus, when she said "it's really not all moonlight and magnolias down here," I was hooked!

Take a moment to read the article and let me know what you think! 

A Summertime Favorite: Homemade Cheerwine Ice Cream

Ever since I saw the article on the Krispy Kreme Cheerwine doughnuts, I've been on a Cheerwine kick. It's not even one of my favorite sodas but I got to thinking about the homemade ice cream I mentioned that my aunt makes.

Since mom was making a trip to PA to visit me, I told her to bring the Cuisinart Homemade Ice Cream maker and a bottle of Cheerwine :). What a great little machine! You can make homemade ice cream in 20-30 minutes!! The recipes are a lot easier than the homemade too. I haven't had homemade ice cream in a long time, but I do remember as a kid that it took hours to make. It may not be the exact homemade taste if you compared the two side-by-side, but it was close enough that I couldn't tell a difference.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream, well chilled
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup whole milk, well chilled
• 1-2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, to taste
• of course, bottle of cheerwine (we guesstimated the amount but at least a 1-2 cups)

Recipe: 

1. In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer or a whisk to combine the milk and sugar until the sugar is dissolved, about 1-2 minutes on low speed.
2. Stir in heavy cream and vanilla. Add the cheerwine.
3. Turn on ice cream maker and pour mixture into freezer bowl (kept in freezer at least 6 hours prior to making) and let mix until thickened for about 25-30 minutes.

Not only was the ice cream delicious but it was a good mother-daughter moment too! :) Mom was nice enough to leave me the ice cream machine to keep!

(a little melted down but still yummy!)

Cheerwine + Krispy Kreme

As I was reading The Charlotte Observer online this morning, I discovered something to be even more excited about as I head home to the Carolinas this weekend!

Cheerwine infused Krispy Kreme Doughnuts:

Two yummy North Carolina products combined into one! Cheerwine is a cherry soda based out of Salisbury, and of course you know the delicious Krispy Kreme is based out of Winston-Salem. These treats hit the stores Thursday in the Carolinas (Food Lion, Lowes, Bi-lo and select Harris Teeters). I'm all over it and will let you know if it lives up to the hype! This is actually making me crave my Aunt Betty's Cheerwine homemade ice cream!

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy 4th of July weekend!!