Jake Owen and the North Carolina State Fair

 

The North Carolina State Fair started this past Thursday and I have been waiting my turn to go.  This year I am going a couple of times because I am going to all of the country concerts with my friends Ashton and yes Dennys (we talked him into going to the Scotty concert).  Last night was the first of four concerts.  We went to see Jake Owen, he was excellent and while I do not know a lot of his songs I knew a few and really liked some of his newer ones.  Jake Owen is on his first headline tour right now, you can check out his website for tour dates.  His new song Pass a Beer was my favorite but I also really liked Heaven.

Jake Owen was really awesome on stage he brought up some of the NC State football team and announced that they had beat his favorite team Florida State.  There was a ton of cheering, it was awesome especially since I am a Wolf Pack Fan :)  He also brought a little girl on stage and danced with her and gave her a few freebies, she was very cute and the whole thing was just a sweet as it could be.  I can't wait to go to the other concerts.

 

 

Enjoy,

Tabitha

*State Fair logo from NC State Fair website 

**music video is from YouTube

Pitch Perfect (PG-13)

Last night I went to see Pitch Perfect with my friend Ashton, and it was so good.  The movie is about a cappella groups competing to be the best.  The main actors are Anna Kendrick who you might recognize from Twilight and Skylar Astin who I did not recognize, but who was awesome none the less.  The movie is really funny and there is also a little love story in it which I was not expecting.  Also, not to give anything away but The Breakfast Club plays a role in the movie which was great, I love that movie and its theme song.  I really can't wait to own this movie and who knows I might just have to go see it again :)  Just an FYI don't have a heavy meal before you go see this movie, you might regret it.  One of the girls in it throws up and it's pretty gross.

5 out of 5 stars
Good Girl's night out movie
Would definitely go see it again.



Enjoy,

Tabitha

*movie poster from IMDb

**video from You Tube

Las Margaritas

Thursday night was time for BFF Night Out.  This month it was Ashton's turn to pick out the restaurant that we were going to.  She picked Las Margaritas in Wake Forest, NC.  All I can say is we had so much fun.  The restaurant is in a basement location which I thought of as a little weird but let me tell you what it was one of the best times that we have had.  The only bad part was that I forgot to take pictures of the food :(  I got the Pollo Ranchero  it was only $8.99 and super yummy it was a chicken breast with cheese on top and it came with rice, lettuce, sour cream and flour tortillas.  I cut up my chicken and mixed everything together then put it on the tortillas.  YUMMY! Ashton and Dennys got the two taco plate which also looked good.  I got the picture above is right outside the restaurant, check out their website http://lasmargaritaswf.com/  and if you are in the area stop by to try their amazing food.  I have not tried one of their Margaritas yet but I have heard that they are as good as the food.

Enjoy,

Tabitha

North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences BUGFEST!

Bugfest is a yearly event held at the Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh.  I had never been, but had heard that its a lot of fun.  This year it happened that I was babysitting on the Saturday that it was held.  So I decided to take the two little boys that I was babysitting.  We had so much fun, the museum and other companies had all kinds of booths set up inside and outside for kids.  There was a bounce house, face painting, and a giant caterpillar to craw through.  For adults there was also a lot of information about different environmental problems and ways to help prevent them.  All the booths were really neat and the boys and I definitely learned a lot.  For the brave adults and kids you could also try different foods made with bugs :/ we did not try any :)

 

 

This booth above had injured animals that they were helping to rehabilitate and release back into the wild.  It was really cool being so close to the little owl in the picture the boys thought it was really cool too.

When we went inside the museum they had even more booths set up where you could hold different bugs.  We held a Madagascar hissing cockroach, and one of the boys held a walking stick.  There was also a tarantula that you could hold we tried but she had to be put away after being held for too long.  you can see a brave soul holding her below.  Did you know that they eat the males after they have babies.  ewwwww.....  There is also a picture of a praying mantis, this years bug of the year was the praying mantis.

 

 

 

 

Here are a few other pictures in the museum, if you live in Raleigh or are visiting you should check out the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.  Even if you have been there before you should go again, this past April the museum opened a new wing, when I go I will post about it :)

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy,

Tabitha

Ghirardelli Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

My mom has been begging me to make cookies again :)  And a friend of hers and mine made these Ghirardelli Chocolate Chip Cookies.  They are my new second favorite chocolate chip cookie, with Toll House still on top :)  These cookies are amazing, I usually do not make chocolate chip cookies with the nuts but I decided to this time and yummy.  I hope you go out and get your self a bag of Ghiradelli Baking Chips soon and try these cookies, I used the Semi-Sweet chips because they are my favorite.  Here is the recipe, you can also find it on the back of the bag of chips or on the Ghirardelli web site.  BTW, check out Ghirardelli's website they have some awesome looking recipes.  The Dark Chocolate Cupcakes look really good, I might have to try them.

Ghirardelli Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 bag (12 oz.) Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup walnuts or pecans chopped

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Stir together dry ingredients, set aside.
Beat butter, sugar together med. speed until creamy add vanilla, then eggs one at a time on low.  Gradually add in dry mixture.
Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

Drop onto ungreased cookie sheet and bake 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.

 

Enjoy,

Tabitha