Another weekend.
Another wedding.
Another bowl jar of vegan overnight Love Grown Foods Super Oats (with bananas, mayhaw jelly, and the remaining roasted cashew and almond butter in the jar) for the road. 
From Key West, to Charlotte, where this time the rehearsal dinner was a slightly more intimate affair, with a seated dinner at Aria Tuscan Grill uptown.
I’ve never seen olive oil-marinated white beans served as a starter, but paired with warm bread that we ripped apart and passed around, all I could think was I needed to find a way to bottle them up and taken them home. The salad of pears, beets, arugula, toasted chickpeas, and goat cheese was equally craveable. 
Although I hesitated before choosing my entree–the restaurant appeared known for pasta–I couldn’t resist the description of the Scottish plank salmon on brown butter potatoes with warm butternut squash, haricot verts, hazelnuts, and pomegranate vinaigrette was too delicious to resist.
As for dessert: cream cheese frosting (on red velvet groom’s cake) is always a good idea.
I can’t say I was hungry the next morning after that feast the night before, but I wasn’t going to pass on the opportunity to dine with my cousin and her husband at one of their favorite local spots.
Mega amounts of coffee consumed at a rather rapid pace, along with nibbles of cornbread, two sunny, runny eggs, and toasted sourdough with both strawberry and apple preserves made for a very filling brunch.
I was not to full for a post-walk Bloody Mary bar. [Where I may have gotten a bit carried away with the pickled vegetables.]
Wedding time found me accidentally sporting a Roll Tide ensemble…but I swear I’ve had that houndstooth for YEARS!
Fun, friends, drinks, and dancing commenced, along with two or three trips to the various food stations set up around the museum. Pimiento cheese, Texas caviar, pickled okra, roasted veggies with romesco, shrimp and grits...I couldn’t get enough.
Luckily I save room for one of the best wedding cakes I’ve ever had. I don’t know who made it, but the almond buttercream and thick chocolate mousse made for a tantalizing treat, of which I shocked myself in NOT trying to obtain seconds.
The road less traveled home meant lots of snacking, from a Sweetango apple with a side of chick lit…
…to many many baby carrots, my favorite Trader Joe’s hummus, and the newly discovered Dirty’s sweet chili rice chips that I highly recommend…
…to cereal poured out in increments in order to accomodate the always-to-small container of black cherry Chobani.
Although all this gallivanting around the country has been phenomenally fun, I’m actually quite happy to be back in one place for awhile, even if that means starting semester TWO of my PhD program on Wednesday!
