Miss Kwence's SoBe Bachelorette Weekend

I knew the weekend was going to be epic when the day before we were supposed to leave I get a text from the bachelorette herself asking me to pick up a barbie doll at my place my employment.  Nonetheless, the barbie was purchased at my pharmacy to represent the one and only Diane Williams, the bachelorette's closest friend who sadly couldn't go to South Beach...except that she did...in the form of disco barbie AND photo cutout :)  She was even on the same flight as us ;) 

Slammed by the 2 for 1 tourist trap the moment we arrived, the drinks were the size of our heads, delicious, and expensive.  But TOTALLY worth it!

Day 1 was our low key spa day so we enjoyed services at the Ritz Carlton where they had a happy hour of their spa services so to speak.  We loved our manis, pedis, and blowouts with champagne and nibbles :) 

 

With Sherri & Kandi

The whole group: Brooke, Alicia, Sherri, Kandi, & I

Our next stop was tapas on Espanola Way

For Day 2 we had the room decorated and ready to go and headed out to brunch followed by an afternoon at the beach! 

That night we headed out to Lincoln Road for delicious drinks & dinner...

...followed by a hookah bar,

The next morning we found out the breakfast mimosas were as big as the drinks they serve any other time of day!

Naturally we had to fuel the bachelorette's obsession with the Kardiashians' and pay their store a little visit.  All we could afford was lip gloss so thats what we bought. 

Anna came in that afternoon while we enjoyed some more beach time and then it was finally time for the festivities!

Charlotte gals :) Sherri, Kandi, Anna, & myself

Here is the bachelorette ready to party after a lingerie shower and a few games!!!

And here is the bachelorette with her wedding party :)  Barbie doll Diane was taking a nap unfortunately and missed this pic.

We all had such a blast in south beach with the bachelorette and can't wait to celebrate with her and Mr. Bissell again in October!!!

5 Things I Love About Summer!

Often in the south, spring and summer blend together because sometimes we don't even really get spring due to the crazy weather of the south.  So some of my favorite things about summer are the same as my favorite things about spring :)  Here they are in no particular order:

1) The Beach - hopefully we'll get to make a couple trips out to the Carolina beaches this summer!

2) Pedicures - More a year round activity for me but we all get to show them off in the summer :) 

3) Summer Candles - Also more of a year round thing for me but how awesome is it to make your whole place smell like the beach or tropical beverages?! Caribbean Escape is by far my favorite summertime candle!

4) Grilling by the pool - Lucky for us we start this in early spring and go into late fall thanks to the lovely NC weather but most of our grilling happens in the summer, we love experimenting with new burger recipes and meat marinades all the time!

5) Summer beverages - Remember those tropical drinks I mentioned earlier? Love those during the summertime, especially poolside! Thanks to pinterest I have a huge selection of tropical drink recipes to work with :) 

I kept this list short at 5 because all of the things from my spring list pretty much still apply!

Happy Summer Ya'll :) 

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to my dad, a special thank you for all that you have done to help me become the person I am today!  Also a shout-out to my father in law for treating me like his own daughter.  

 

Happy Birthday Suraj!

A little belated but just want to wish my little brother a very happy birthday back on June 13th!  Hope 22 treats you well :) 

High Country Debut: Our Anniversary Getaway

On May 22nd, Rup & I celebrated 3 years of happily wedded bliss.  Luckily we both had 2 days off and made the most of our time.  We headed up north to the Boone/Banner Elk/Blowing Rock area known has the high country.  The first day on our way up there we stopped at a few NC wineries that we hadn't visited yet before arriving at our romantic bed & breakfast.  Our first stop the next day was Grandfather Mountain (below), a part of the gorgeous blue ridge mountain range.  

One of the coolest things at Grandfather Mountain was the mile high hanging bridge!

The black bear preserve at Grandfather Mountain is so awesome :) 

After grabbing some lunch we headed to Blowing Rock which gave some more amazing panoramic views of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

We had such an amazing trip full of nature, serenity, beauty, and most importantly each other's company. 

The bed & breakfast we stayed at in Banner Elk was beautiful and we highly recommend the The Mast Farm Inn to anyone planning a trip to high country.  The Blacksmith Cottage that we stayed in had a very rustic southern barnyard feel to it and was perfect for us. 

I even got to soak in this tub upstairs in the loft area.

Looking back towards the main house from our cottage porch.

Loved the special anniversary touch <3

Can't wait to celebrate many more anniversaries with the love of my life :) 

The Birthday Train

In a stretch of 3 weeks the Misra family gets to celebrate MY birthday (4/21), Rup's birthday (5/5), AND Bella's birthday (5/9) - thats our whole family! I'm not really complaining about nonstop birthday celebrations though.

My birthday week started out with a romantic dinner cruise on Lake Norman with my hubby <3

  

The next day my best friend Ashley from pharmacy school and her boyfriend Stephen came down to Charlotte for the weekend from VA Beach to celebrate my birthday with me! It was soooo good to see her and meet her boyfriend.  We took them to Cantina 1511 - our favorite Mexican restaurant in Charlotte which I know I've mentioned before already. Cheers to good friends!

 

The next day we had a 7 hour, 3 winery tour, complete with champagne breakfast and picnic bbq lunch.  Here we all are waiting on the van.

Although, we had already been to Dobbins Creek Vineyards before, we still enjoyed it :) 

Girls pic :) 

And the whole group!

Next stop was Elkins Creek Winery...

And the last stop was Shadow Springs, my favorite of the three!

We even broke out into the wobble at the winery!

That night Rup had arranged for a group birthday dinner for me.  I love my husband for 328735678274124821482765786 reasons but this is just an example of one of them ;) My birthday cake was a large cookie cake with pink and purple shoes on them!

Sunday morning on my actual birthday, we headed to Vivace in uptown for an amazing mimosa brunch! Cheers to being 27!

I am so grateful for good friends!

No birthday of mine is complete without margaritas or sangria so of course we headed to On the Boarder after brunch and took down a couple pitchers of margaritas, yum!

Lastly, to end my birthday week Rup took me out to a restaurant I've been wanting to try for almost a year! Bentley's on 27 is a restaurant on the top floor of one of the city buildings.  The views are beautiful, the atmosphere is romantic, the service is perfect.  Most importantly for me however, I would not want any other company than the company I had <3

About a week went by and we were ready to start making a week out of Rup's 30th birthday!!!! He was not thrilled about entering his thirties AT ALL so I tried to make things as fun and special for him as I could.  We traveled to Texas for his 30th birthday which was fun in and of itself but thanks to Raj we were able to score some awesome row 1 seats at the Tigers vs. Astros game in Houston so I surprised him with those tickets!

The next night we started the celebrations off at Gloria's with delicious sangria and amazing food, pretty appropriate for a Cinco de Mayo birthday. 

No birthday is complete without cupcakes - more importantly Sprinkles cupcakes!!! The very first cupcakery owned and started by Candice Nelson from Cupcake Wars.

Happy 30th Birthday to my man :) 

The following week after we had returned from Texas we celebrated in Charlotte with our local friends at a local hibachi restaurant. Rup got to wear the special birthday hat they give all birthday guests :) 

We had to get cupcakes from Polka Dot Bakery of course :) 

So excited to celebrate many more birthdays with my hubby!

Last but not least, our final family member Bella turned ONE!  It has been so amazing to see her grow from day 1.  We have loved every moment with her and would be lost without her!

For her birthday, her boyfriend Stitches took her out to Canine Cafe and bought her a birthday cake, it was so sweet. 

They shared the cake and some treats and had a grand old time.  

Happy 1st Birthday to our sweet baby girl :)