Did you all have a nice weekend? We did! We worked at our church’s community garden, picked ten pounds of strawberries at a local family farm (we’ve already eaten half, including homemade strawberry mint lemonade last night!), Skype chatted with my family, took a bike ride, and went to a wonderful Easter Sunday service. Some pictures:

Isn’t the cross neat? Everyone was invited to bring a flower to stick on it, and by the end of the third service, it was beautiful!

We also checked off goal no. 1 on my 101 in 1001 list, paying for the car behind me in the drive-through line! If any of you are considering doing this, I would highly recommend it! I might be a huge dork, but it’s kind of a rush :) And every cashier I’ve ever encountered is either excited about it, or, at the least, unfazed, so don’t worry about that.

What did y’all do this weekend?

I had my first vintage shop/flea market/garage sale outing of the spring earlier this week! I was pretty successful, too.

The larger wire basket was a steal at $12, and the embroidered cocktail napkins were too cute to pass up! They’re the prettiest pale blue in person.

Triangle-area friends, you should definitely plan a trip to the Vintage Village (including Suzanna’s) in Raleigh — it’s on Durant Road. Here’s a photo my friend Nancy took earlier this month, so you can get a feel for the place:

Too cool! Nancy introduced me to the wonders of the Village as well as took me on my first trip there, so thank you, Nancy! I had the best time :)

I thought y’all might like to hear a bit about October’s dining adventure! As you may recall, my sister and my brother-in-law gifted J and I a $50 gift certificate to eat at the restaurant of our choice for twelve months. In September, we went to Vin Rouge in Durham, and last weekend, we ate at the Blue Ridge Dining Room at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville.

We love Asheville and have been there a few times, but have never been to the famous Grove Park Inn. We made a reservation ahead of time and were seated at a fabulous table looking out over the Blue Ridge Mountains just as the sun was setting. Gorgeous!

Photo by J

This photo looks just like where we were sitting:

On Fridays and Saturdays there is no a la carte menu; all guests choose from the prime rib buffet. The amount of food was staggering, and delicious! J had five courses, and I had four (no seafood for me!). My favorites were the garlic mashed potatoes and the chocolate peanut butter bars and chocolate cheesecake for dessert. Here I am in a blurry iPhone pic with the five bean soup we split (got to be conservative at the beginning of the meal, you know):

iPhone pic

The service was wonderful, as well: our server was attentive but did not hover, and everyone from the hostess to the chef that came to our table was warm and relaxed but professional, never stuffy. There was even a strolling violinist!

After dinner, we wandered the grounds a bit, and though it was dark at that point, the stone structures were still beautiful. I’m jealous of you Ashevillians (Ashevillains?) that have the option of getting a hot apple cider and cozying up in front of the GPI’s massive stone fireplace any evening you’d like!

We also visited Tupelo Honey and Mayfel’s while we were in Asheville, and I’d recommend both highly. The buttermilk biscuits with blackberry jam they serve as a starter at Tupelo are TO DIE FOR.

iPhone pic

And just so you know we did things other than eat, here are a few photos from atop Chimney Rock, where we hiked up and down 960 steps (yes, we counted). The weather was perfect!

Personal pic

Personal pic

Any fun weekend plans, friends? J and I are going to be competing in a “diamond dash” in Raleigh tomorrow. For those of you not familiar with this concept, a jewelry store has hidden a $15,000 diamond ring somewhere in the city, and teams solve clues to find it! It’s pretty much the ultimate scavenger hunt, and we’re really, really excited. Wish us luck! :)

Unless otherwise noted, photos are from the Grove Park Inn site.

As many of you know, I spent many hours collaborating with Kate on her and Cormac’s wedding. I was happy to do it (thrilled, actually — I love weddings, especially weddings for my favorite people!), but they still felt a gift was in order when all was said and done. I have to say, they made an excellent choice. They’re both very rational people, and decided that since the biggest sacrifice I had made for their wedding was spending time (or at least attention) away from J, they wanted to give us back some of that meaningful time. I will let them explain:

“Here’s the deal: every month for the next year you’ll get a $50 gift card to take yourselves out to dinner. There are a few stipulations: 1) You have to go to a different place each month. 2) You have to send us a picture of the restaurant, yourselves, or your food for each trip. 3) If you don’t use all $50, you can spend the rest however you want.”

Very generous and very thoughtful, no? J and I were delighted to take our first trip to a French restaurant in nearby Durham, Vin Rouge. We had both been to Vin Rouge previously — me about a year ago on my first trip to the Triangle area, and J many years ago when first visiting colleges with his sister.

The restaurant is in kind of a strange area, with busy Ninth Street right next door. However, there is plenty of free parking in front.

We made our reservation on Open Table, which turned out not to be necessary, as we were almost the only ones on the side patio when we arrived around 6pm. It was a gorgeous day with blue skies and dry air, and we definitely felt a bit Parisienne sitting at our bistro table and nibbling on crusty bread and olive oil. Our waitress was happy to refill our bread basket as many times as we finished it without making us feel like crazy carbivores, which earned Vin Rouge high marks in my book.

We had fun trying to remember our high school and college French as we perused the menu. Poisson, boudon, roti, oh my!

Having dined at Vin Rouge before, we knew the portion sizes were something to be reckoned with, and so decided to skip an appetizer. Our service was wonderful, and our entrees came not to soon nor too late.

John ordered the Steak au Poivre with sauce bearnaise and pomme frites. He ordered it medium to medium well and it was cooked perfectly. The frites were delicious, crispy and sufficient without accompaniment.

I ordered the Gratin de Macaroni with bacon and Gruyere cheese and oh my it was delicious. As you can see, the portion sizes were more than hearty — I ate half of my dish that night, and enjoyed the rest as leftovers the next day.

Our bill with tip came to exactly $50 by (happy) accident. We are already plotting out next month’s meal and have been asking everyone we know for recommendations in the meantime. Thank you again, Kate + Cormac! What a wonderful gift.

P.S. We finished the evening with ice cream at Hillsborough’s Maple View Farm. Delicious, and brings the meaning to “farm fresh!”