Birthday Shenanigans, Part Two

Last Sunday we skipped church (I was off) to head to Charlotte, where my brother lives. We got to meet up with him for lunch and then hung out for a bit at his (gorgeous) home. I am still bummed Carolyn, my sister-in-law, was out of town for work, so we didn't get to see her. Guess I'll settle for just Gabriel... sigh.

I love this picture CC took of Gabriel and me- I look tiny! I don't feel tiny but my brother is so tall and a big guy so I feel small compared to him.

TINY!

After we spent time with Gabriel, we hit up IKEA who was OUT of catalogs until August. Boo. We usually grab a stack to bring home for friends. Oh well. We didn't really buy anything but I REALLY wanted the turquoise kitchen cart. If I could've just found a spot for it...

One thing we've been doing lately is checking out the highest-rated suggestions on TripAdvisor.com. Even in town, if we're looking for a new place to eat, we'll put our own city name in and see where we should go. We did this for Charlotte and came up with Midwood Smokehouse.

Friends, I cannot stress this enough. You NEED to eat there.

Bacon-wrapped jalapenos with Monterey Jack cheese

Seriously. NEED.

Pecan COBBLER!

We continued drooling over Midwood Smokehouse while we hung out at our hotel (We recommend Hampton Inns- nice folks, clean hotel rooms, and free WAFFLES!).

"And in the morning, I'm having waffles!"

Monday after waffle time, we went on a mini-shopping spree for clothes at the Concord Mills outlet mall. We hit up the last day of several sales, used coupons, got great deals, and came home with a trunk full of new clothes. We have been needing new clothes for a while now, especially summer clothes, so this is a big awesome deal.

Starbucks was desperately needed after a six-hour shopping spree, but sadly we could not find the dang place. Seriously, what kind of directions are these? 'Park your car?' On The Border and Starbucks are NOT the same place.

What the what?!

On the way home, we picked up a very tired puppy. An adorable, tired puppy.

Tuesday was CC's actual day, so I 'surprised' him by putting up this banner we had around (he's not 40), which was awesome, except I ruined the surprise by posting it on Instagram first. Dang it!

Legos of course, and Scouty wanted to help open gifts.

We had a Groupon for free baseball game tickets, so we went with Brian and Krista, which was fun. It was even $1 hot dog night! Which was thrilling until we tasted the hot dogs. Sadness.

"Take me out to the ballgame, take me out to the fair..."

Uneventful game, but still a good time

Don't we have cute friends? (You're part of that group so you better say yes!) Krista's birthday's Saturday so it was kind of neat to celebrate two birthday people at once.

Happy early birthday, Krista!

Some of our sweet friends organized a birthday dinner tonight and I can't wait! Hubby's been to this place a couple times and raved about it, but I haven't been yet. It's going to be fun!

What'd you do this week?