Labor Day Weekend 2014 Recap

Happy September! To get in the soon-to-be fall spirit, I went ahead and changed our kitchen chalkboard to something a little more "fall-like"!

 

I am a little late in posting a weekend recap. I enjoyed relaxing and doing a whole lot of nothing soo much, that it was hard to get back into blogging! As I mentioned on Friday, we didn't have a whole lot planned this Labor Day weekend, however, we ended up having a good bit of fun.

 

 

On Friday, U.S. Trust (where I work), let us leave work early at 3 pm and I drove home and changed before Evan and I headed to the new Charlotte Premium Outlets. I found a number of good deals at: Kate Spade, Jcrew and Old Navy.

We then ventured to NODA Brewery in Charlotte as their pumpkin beer, Gordgeous Pumpkin Ale, is on tap! It is delicious and one of my favorites. I highly recommend it if you like pumpkin beer. Speaking of pumpkin beer, one of my other favorites, Dogfish Punkin Ale is in stores. I picked up a 4 pack in Harris Teeter this weekend! I was so excited to have it again.  It is as good as I remember it from last year!

 

 

After shopping and NODA Brewery, Evan and I just decided to make it a date night (especially since it was around 8 pm and we hadn't had dinner). We wanted to try somewhere new for dinner, so we finally decided on La Tagliatella which is located in the Epicentre of Charlotte. We were not dissapointed. We started by sharing the Caesar salad {didn't even think to take a picture of it}. Our entrees were delicious {pictured below}.

 I had the Calabrese with Tagliatelle freshly made pasta and chicken.

Evan had the Bolognese with Tagliatelle freshly made pasta and meatballs.

 

 

Saturday morning, we made it our local farmer's market and Trader Joes {sadly this is the first time this whole season that we made it to our farmer's market}. I am hoping to go at least weekly for the rest of the season, the freshness and prices cannot be beat.


Saturday afternoon/evening my father-in law stopped by on his way back from a beach trip and stayed with us overnight. Evan and I whipped up a super easy meal for all of us: Crockpot Barbeque Chicken sandwiches, corn from the farmer's market and baked beans. The barbeque chicken recipe is really effortless, consisting of only four ingredients. I was blown away by how easy this recipe was.

 

 

Fall flowers that I could not resist purchasing from Trader Joe's on Saturday.

 

 

Saturday night, the four of us ventured to Crafty Beer Guys {essentially our local watering hole} to relax. I was thrilled to see that they had two pumpkin beers on tap and I had to take pictures of their current pumpkin selections {pictured below}.

 

 

 

My two favorites {Evan and Bella}

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday morning I baked mini blueberry muffins {Evan's favorite}.

 

Sunday evening, I made another new dish, courtesy of pinterest, Quinoa Enchilada Casserole. It is delicious, super healthy, and easy.

  

On Monday, despite the crazy heat and humidity, I decided it was time to begin decorating for Fall.  Evan and I ventured to a couple of cute boutiques near us and I got some adorable fall decor items and I am currently in the process of putting everything together. I did get the fall wreath on the door and our fall flags out. I decided I probably should wait to put the ceramic Jack-o-lantern on the porch since I am waiting at least several more weeks before getting mums and pumpkins. I am itching to complete my porch look though! More to come on fall decor front soon!

 

 

Linking up with:

 

Let's be Friends Blog Hop with The Dwelling Tree or Southern Beauty Guide,

Biana for Weekending, and

Handmade Tuesday's with Kristen.
 

Anyone else ready for fall to get here!?