These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things...

A lot of the blogs I follow do regular "favorite things" posts, and I always enjoy them. They give you great recommendations of products, activities, or foods to try, and they get you thinking about little things that you've been especially liking lately. Here's my list:

Foothills Brewing Company's Jade IPA














Holy moly. This beer. Super, super smooth. Nice and hoppy, but very drinkable. Lots of citrus. One of my new favorite IPAs... and it's a local NC beer, which I always love!

Fun lipstick/stain colors

I've really been liking experimenting with different lipstick/balm/stains lately - reds, mauves, dark pinks. Tarte makes some of my favorites and I have a set from them. Some are matte, some glossy, one even changes colors according to each individual person's pH levels! They stay on a long time and come in a nice big variety of colors. The other day I was looking for Revlon's Matte Balms (I prefer matte to glossy), since I've heard so many good things about them, but only found the regular "Just Bitten Kissable" lip balm stains. I bought a couple, including this great red one! Love it so far. Here it is below.

























I also just ordered a Sephora brand Cream Lip Stain in "Always Red" and will report back with my thoughts when it's delivered!

Peanut Butter Panic Ice Cream














There's not much to say about this one. It's just delicious. Lots of peanut butter swirls, fudge swirls, and peanut butter cups. Everything tastes pretty "real," too, which I like - some other peanut butter-fudge ice creams taste super fake. Two thumbs up for this one! Blue Bunny is da best.

My New Kitchen - and the Container Store!

When we moved into our new apartment, we were faced with quite a challenge: barely ANY storage space. We have a wonderful island and open floor plan, but there are only two "usable" above-counter cabinets and three below-counter cabinets... this is for food, dishes, glasses, pots, pans, tupperware, mixing bowls, appliances, everything. We decided we needed shelving units to add additional space. Off to the Container Store! We bought an InterMetro shelving unit and a baker's cart. So, so, so happy with the results. I'll do a more thorough apartment tour later on.

Trophy Brewing Company

I've said it once, and I'll say it again: I LOVE TROPHY BREWING!!! It is my new favorite restaurant in all of Raleigh. Delicious salads, specialty pizzas, and beers. Seriously everything is SO good. This is "our spot" at work where my coworkers and I go for all of our after-work drink/dinner outings. Plus, Matt and I now live just half a mile away, so it's the perfect distance to walk there for a lovely dinner (we even ventured out there on a snow day!). They brew all their own beer, and have things like Citra Saisons (my favorite), Belgian IPAs (need to try), pale ales, ginger and sea salt lagers, coffee porters, etc. - honestly some of the best beer I've had. The same goes for the pizza. They have their regular pies, and then feature a meat and a veggie every day - so creative, gourmet, and delicious. Ahhh the crust. And finally, the salads. Their arugula salad with parmesan, sunflower seeds, and lemon thyme dressing sounds simple, but I CRAVE it. Mmmm. Okay I'll stop now!




























Murder Mystery TV Shows

"Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries" and "The Following" are two of my new favorite shows on Netflix Instant. Miss Fisher's features a female detective in Melbourne in the 1920s. She is very progressive and hilarious (reminds me a bit of Samantha from "Sex and the City"), but also excellent at solving mysteries. Love her little team of helpers, too! "The Following" is WAY more dark. Kevin Bacon is an FBI detective, and the show is all about this super creepy serial killer obsessed with Edgar Allen Poe and his following/cult of people who help him commit murder (you seriously can't trust ANYONE).

Well that's it for this post! I think I'll try to make this a regular thing... makes you enjoy the little things in life and appreciate the sometimes day-to-day pleasures you may overlook. Katie, join in!