International Folk Festival

This past weekend the International Folk Festival happened in downtown Fayetteville. Clark actually came home from work one day and told me about it. He heard about it through one of this coworkers. I am so glad he did. The festival is all about different nations and ethnicities. The food smelt so yummy and there was so many options. We actually didn't eat anything since we went right after lunch time and had just eaten at home. That was probably a good thing since everything looked and smelt amazing.

I honestly haven't seen so many people in one location before in Fayetteville. It is nice that there are events like this one were the community gets involved. I like that. I guess the dogwood festival in the spring is pretty cool so I am excited to attend that. My favorite part of this festival was seeing all the people dressed in there cultural attire. It was really pretty. So many colors going on and nations coming together to celebrate.

Having the parrot on my shoulder was probably one of the best parts of the event. Even though I was probably older by 10 years then everyone wanting to hold it. Oh well, it was a highlight for sure.

Shirt & Purse: Target

Pants: Old Navy

Sandals: Gap

Cherry Cordial Brownies

I made these for Clark's birthday and we ate them on Saturday night. They were so good and Clark said that we finally have to through the rest away or we would gain 10 lbs and I am sure he would have been right. 

You'll need

Brownie

Brownie mix + all the ingredients on the box

Frosting

2 cups powered sugar

1/2 melted butter

4 teaspoons vanilla

2 teaspoons maraschino cherries juice

6 maraschino cherries blended

3 dropped of red food coloring

Drizzle

1/2 cup melted chocolate chips

1. Follow the directions on the box to make the brownies (bottom layer.) I made a 9x9. 2. For frosting mix together powered sugar, butter, vanilla, and maraschino cherries and juice and the food coloring. 3. Let the brownies cool completely before frosting them. 4. After frosted. Melt chocolate chips in a microwaveable safe bowl and drizzle on top of brownies. 5. Cool, cut and serve. 

Enjoy.

love, Carlee

North Carolina State Capitol

Since Clark only had to work half a day on last Friday we decided to head up to Raleigh for the day to check it out. We have kept saying how we want to go there and look around but we never did. So I thought what a better day to go and explore a little bit. We first walked around the state capitol. I really wanted to take a look around the capitol because I love the history and the old architecture. There was a lot of statues and history, it reminded me a lot of how the Washington DC grows are. 

While we were walking around the grows we noticed a street fair, so we headed that way. There was a ton of motorcycle displayed, street vendors, food vendors, and also kids skateboarding. Clark loved the skateboarding because back in junior high and high school he was into skateboarding a bit. So we enjoyed our day and then decided to hit up a nice Italian Restaurant. I really wanted to visit the Raleigh Farmers Market because I heard about how awesome it is. But after dinner we decided that we both wanted to go home.

Then we actually ended up going out dancing once we made it back to Fayetteville. We do these group dance lessons every Friday. Last Friday we learned the Waltz. It is really fun and we get to interact with a bunch of different people from the community which is really cool.

love, Carlee

Sweater: Forever 21

Shirt: American Eagle

Jeans: Old Navy

Purse: Target

Boots: Cathy Jean

Details lately

Just here sharing some snapshots lately.
love, Carlee

Lumber River

We really like exploring. This little state park is about an hour from where we live and we just wanted to check it out for the day. It was super cool. I am new to the south so I just love seeing the trees growing up out of the water and the moss hanging off the trees. I just think it is so cool. Clark thinks I am a little nuts for getting so excited every time I see it but oh well. haha 

It looks like a great place to go camping. Although there were signs posted for No Swimming which made be kind of sad but the water doesn't look very good to swim in anyways. Back home whenever we would go camping we would always swim. And yep I am a camping kind of girl. I definitely couldn't go camping here in the summer it is way to hot! Maybe now in the fall since it is cooling down a bit. 

There were people getting ready to go fishing when we were there. I wonder what they catch.. Catfish maybe. I wonder if they will see an alligator. ha That is me being a total Pacific Northwest kind of girl and having no idea what the south entails. But I am learning. 

Have a wonderful day.

love, Carlee 

Shirt: Target

Shorts: H&M

Shoes: Converse

Hat: Boston Team Shop

Birthday Boy

Yesterday was Clarks birthday. We had a really great time. I surprised him with donuts in the morning then we went go-karting and putt-putt golfing. You are never to old for that right? He unwrapped his presents and we did a little shopping. Of course, we had Jimmy Johns for lunch because that is his favorite and then just relaxed for a while. For dinner we went to Joe's Crab Shack and had yummy homemade dessert at home. It was a fun day and it wasn't even my birthday. 

I am thankful that Clark and I are now getting to celebrate birthdays, holidays, and anniversaries together. For the past couple of years we haven't been able to and it is nice to get to now. Enjoy your Sunday.
love, Carlee

Buttermilk Donuts w/ Dark Chocolate Glaze

I got a donut pan for my bridal shower and I was so excited to start making donuts. This is actually my first time making donuts and I was surprised by how good they were. I am also excited to make donuts by frying them and trying new flavors! My absolute favorite donuts are regular cake donuts with milk chocolate frosting and peanuts! 

You'll need for the donuts

Doughnut pan
2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
2 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp vanilla

Directions for the donuts
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. 2. Grease and flour donut pan. 3. In a large bowl mix together all the ingredients starting with the dry ingredients until well mixed. 4. Full each donut hole until 2/3 filled. 5. Bake for 10-12 minutes. 6. Let cool completely on cooling rack.

You'll need for glaze

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
4 tbsp dark special cocoa powder
3 tbsp milk
2 tsp vanilla

Directions for glaze
1.Whisk ingredients until smooth. 2. Dip donuts in once cool. 3. Let dry then dip in for 2 coats of glaze.

I can't wait to try making donuts again with new flavors and maybe some toppings. Enjoy.
love, Carlee

Our house plants

I used to not be a huge fan of house plants. I think the reason was because all the ones I had seen in peoples home were fake plants. I was not a fan of fake plants in the home. They look like they don't belong at all. But after seeing so many great live house plants that are available I decided that I wanted one. So on the weekend Clark and I made our way to pick out a medium size house plant. 

 While we were there Clark decided we should buy a couple small plants as well and of course I didn't say no. So I picked our the succulent and Clark picked out the cactus. I have always had little plants in my house growing up. I remember as a child my mom let my older brother and I pick out a cactus each and mine is still alive in the window sill at my childhood home after 10 years or so. Isn't that crazy? And we always had succulents growing up too. We called these kind Hen and Chicks. Is that a common thing? 

I think are plants are a great little addition to our living space. I can't wait to share larger peaks of my home so you can see how things tie in better. Enjoy your day.

love, Carlee

Downtown Striped Wall

A while ago when I headed downtown to apply for my new social security card, I came across this awesome blue and white striped wall. It is the back of a store front so it is in an ally way but I thought it was so cool and kind of random. So when Clark and I headed downtown for a little midday Sunday date, I thought about this wall and knew I wanted to take photos by it. 

We drank Strawberry Banana smoothies and just chatted away on the back patio of the coffee house. It is funny but neither of us are really coffee people. Growing up in Washington state and going to college in Seattle, people thought I was nuts when I said I didn't like coffee. Since Seattle is like unofficial coffee capital of the world, I guess anyone that lives there is supposed to like coffee. I just never caught on. I am surprised that Clark hasn't to start drinking it. He wakes up every morning at 5:30 am to go to Physical Training, I would be so tired! But it does help that we go to bed quiet early. 

Enjoy your Wednesday, I know I am. I am also very excited for the weekend. 

love, Carlee

Cardigan & Shirt: American Eagle

Pants: Marshalls

Sandals: DSW

Cabbage Salsa/ Fish Taco Toppings

This is a great cabbage salsa recipe. The first time I had it was in my hometown at our best Mexican restaurant in town. Then I started having it all the time when my now mother-in-law got the recipe and started making it. I wanted to make it because I needed to use the vegetables I had in the house. I did have to buy the cilantro though.

Anyways I made it and used it as the toppings on our Fish Taco dinner the other night. The fish tacos were amazing and I will need to share a recipe for that soon. So good.

You'll need
1/2 head chopped cabbage
1/2 red onion, chopped
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1/2  jalapeno, diced 
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

1 orange squeeze all the juices out and throw away the rest

This recipe is really easy. Just mix all the ingredients together listed above and you are ready to eat with some tortilla chips or use as a topping on fish tacos. Enjoy.
love, Carlee

Cumberland County Fair

On Saturday, Clark and I went to the Cumberland County Fair which was only about 10 minutes from our apartment. I had this fair in my schedule to check out ever since I heard about it. And since I am new to town it is always fun to see what the local happenings are. My hometown county fair back in Washington state has a lot more livestock and agriculture then this one did but I still liked it. There was a lot more carnival rides and sales booths. Some of the rides looked a little bit janky but it was all good. I have fun checking out the produce and the quilts. My little brother, who is 11 years old, won grand champion in the fair back in Washington for home grown eggs. Proud sister moment. 

We ate good fair food. Clark got a philly cheesesteak and I got a corn dog and we shared a bucket of fries. I drank lemonade and he drank sweet tea. I really wanted to get ice cream but fair food is rather expensive so we opted to save money and eat the ice cream we had at home. Better choice anyways. We also watched a band sing. They did a lot of cover songs but also sung songs they had written which was nice. Then there was karaoke which Clark said was his favorite part because most of the people picked songs that they didn't know so there was a little off tuneness happening. This was probably one of the best people watching experiences I have had in a while. I love people watching, I guess I take after my mom in the way. 

One of the best parts of the fair was the wild animal exibit. There was a white tiger, cougar, and a regular tiger, a snake, and a parrot. Very cool. That is something I definitely would not have seen at my hometown county fair in Washington. We had fun. It was not very big but that is okay. I think we are planning on going to the North Carolina state fair in Raleigh later this autumn. I am enjoying these days, I can wear pants again.
love, Carlee

Shirt & Purse: Target

Pants: Marshalls

Sandals: Payless