Summer in The South: Southern Living Does It Charlotte Style

What better magazine to glamorize my favorite city than Southern Living. Check out the special edition of Southern Living's Summer in the South  feature on our very own Queen City. The topping on the cake is local fashionista goddess Laura VinRoot Poole (of Capital) shares her current summer favorites and reminds us that this city does indeed rule!

 The Summer Calendar already has me reaching for my phone, I have A LOT of babysitters to book and friends to call!  First up and specifically calling my name is the June 1st The Year in Jazz, 1957 event at the Bechler Museum.

Download the Summer Play list and get down to bands like Alabama Shakes, Marie Mize and Moon Taxi. I am chilling right now to  Sugar & The Hi Lows belting out Show & Tell all 70's style and I am more than happy about that.

Summer in the Charlotte is my favorite and I cant wait to share it with you!!!

Cheers,

Tay

Check it out directly and then download it straight to your computer at:

summer-events-charlotte-north-carolina

Atherton Market: An Urban Mommy's Dream

If you havent been you should, or that's what everyone kept telling me before I went. I mean, there are ton's of markets in town, impossible to hit them all. . . .right??? Oh so wrong. . . Atherton Market is an urban mommy's dream! 

I took the kids on Wednesday, which is a slow day for them. . . A GREAT day to take the kids and stock up on basic grocery's before the weekend.  Sadie and I fell in love with the cheeses at Simply Local.  For $4 each we scored the small size of New Moon brie from Chapel Hill Creamery and the Goat Lady Diary's Grapevine Ash. . . .delicious!! Paired them with local bakery Polka Dot's Sweat Potato and Rosemary Crisps and  went to heaven early!!


We had such a great time, I took Scotty and the kids back on Saturday morning. This time while we shopped, we checked Sadie in to the SUPER SAFE, air-conditioned, glassed in, FREE, childwatch area for a half hour of supper fun arts and crafts. 

First Stop: Local South End shop Vin Master's wine tasting. For $14 we scored a liter of red 2009 Austrian table wine from Zum Martin Sepp. Like Pinot Noir but lighter and a bit spicier. So cool, it was closed with a beer bottle top.  Thank you!

Second Stop: Pam Mahaffey's home-made soy candles!! Instantly brighten your mood with a $7 lemongrass candle. Smells even more amazing in my kitchen than actual food! For that price, I can burn it all day. . .and when I need a new one, she recycles the containers and the refill's are just $6. . . .Sweet!!!

* Invited my neighbor Karen over to enjoy the goodies with me and had a great afternoon!

On the way out Scott and Cooper grabbed a cantaloupe shaved ice, but I am not sure from where. . .so good I forgot it was healthy!

The best part of the day was signing up for the Fair Farm Bill in support of local farmers! Go to www.foodandwaterwatch.org/fairfarmbill to sign the petition and keep our farmers going strong!

*Sadie wrote this herself!

Shop Local, Eat Fresh!!!

Cheers,

Tay

Atherton Market is located in Historic Southend in Charlotte, NC. It is open Tuesday through Saturday's with limited hours. Like them on Facebook for more information or check their website:

out http://www.edensandavant.com/oc_center_detail.asp?cid=1001

**Make sure to bring cash, I could have done a lot more damage but the ATM was out-of-order and only a couple of vendors take credit cards.

Salt Heaven. . .

Several years ago (ok 3 1/2 years ago) I visited my sister Ashley in Sydney, Australia. While we were traveling we flew to into Adelaide, South AU and traveled south as far as Kangaroo, Island.  We stopped in McLaren Vale, home to some of the most beautiful vineyards, best wine tasting and gourmet foods that I have ever had the honor of experiencing first hand.

*At the Cellar Door, bowls full of Murray River Sea Salt, the perfect sprinkle for the freshest olive oil and homemade baguette!

While totally indulging myself in wine, I also discovered the amazing taste  of Murray River Sea Salt! The Murray River, is the largest major source of fresh water (it is high in salinity, thus the salt) in Australia. It is also the worlds third largest river. The salt is produced naturally from the underground brines in the Murray Darling Basin in Australia. It's perfect peach color comes from carotene that's secreted from the algae in the saline waters that have been dormant for thousands of years. It has the lightest "flaking"  salt crystals that make it melt quickly and the perfect ingredient for everything from salad to salmon.  I found it locally at my favorite home away from home, Dean and Deluca.

To learn more about the Murray River go to: http://www.murrayriver.com.au/about-the-murray/