Oriental, NC

A couple of weekends ago, Nick planed a surprise weekend getaway to celebrate my birthday!  The last few months have been so crazy and a night away was just the thing we needed.  Nick was able to keep it a surprise until the day before we left.  He booked a room at a the Cartwright House Bed and Breakfast in Oriental, NC. We had driven through Oriental a few years ago and loved it.  It is a sleepy little harbor town on the coast of North Carolina with about 800 residents.  You can walk or bike everywhere and it is perfectly charming.  

Our B&B was over a hundred years old.  When we got there on Friday night, the owners had drinks ready for happy hour on the porch.  We were able to walk a few short blocks to dinner.  Life is was so much slower there! 

 From our room (on the top floor) you could see the Neuse River and all over town.

The owners recommended that we watch the sunrise over the water in the morning.  I am so glad we got up for it.  We set our alarms and when they went off, Nick looked out the window and saw the faintest little bit of light.  He yelled out "IT'S HAPPENING!" and jumped out of bed!  Haha-  turns out a sunrise happens pretty slowly, so we didn't miss anything! We grabbed some coffee and walked town to the park on the water.  The sunrise was amazingly beautiful.   It was an awesome way to start the day.  

After a delicious breakfast, we took our bikes out to explore around town.  We rode along the harbor, stopped at an art shop and had a mimosa, and dropped in a few antique shops.  It is so much fun to explore a new place.

Although it was just one night away, it felt like we had gone on a long vacation- such a fun weekend!

Birthday Celebration

Last week was Nick's birthday.  I wanted to make sure he had a special day even though we couldn't spend the whole day together, as we both had school.  This is what he woke up to on Monday morning- I think its becoming our standard birthday breakfast around here.  Its yummy, but easy enough for a school morning!

When Nick got home from class on Monday, I had the car all packed and ready to go for our surprise.  We went out to one of our favorite spots, the New River.  I had made steak chili and cornbread and packed everything we would need for a fire.

It was a beautiful but cold night.  We had a great time just sitting around the fire, enjoying the river right beside us!  Nick even got to test out his present- his new jacket.  

Happy Birthday Nick!!

Happy 27th Birthday Nick!!!  I am so thankful for you.  You are the best thing that ever happened to me!  I love you!

My 26th Year & A Sweet Husband

Last week I celebrated my 26th birthday - crazy!  Nick helped to make it a very special day!  Here is the wonderful breakfast I woke up to- yummy "egg cups" and doughnuts from Carol Lee.

 This was on my card- one of the best parts about getting a card from Nick is this pig that he draws on the back.

 I had school that day and Nick had class that afternoon.  I hurried home from school so we could go pick out a pumpkin before Nick had to go to class.  When I got home, he told me to get ready for dinner and surprise- he wasn't going to class!  We went here to pick our pumpkin.  How fun!

Originally, I thought we were going to dinner somewhere around here, but after the pumpkin picking we got on the highway and started traveling south.  We ended up in the small town of Elkin, NC where Nick and I met a few times when we were engaged.  There is a really cute restaurant that we have been to before.  When we pulled up, I saw Laurie and Pat!  Nick surprised me and had them meet us for dinner!  We had a fabulous meal- if you ever end up near Elkin I highly recommend this place.  We had the best night enjoying dinner and catching up!  I kept telling Nick I was going to stay 25, but so far 26 seems pretty great.