by Kimberly | Jan 22, 2011 | food, restaurants
Nestled in the South Park neighborhood of the Queen City, NC’s largest city, sits Red Rocks Cafe Bar & Bakery. I would just call it good food.
A friend and I decided to meet up there on my recent overnight trip to Charlotte. We were anticipating a long wait, but got in there and were the next ones to be seated. Perfect!
So many delicious finds on the menu: appetizers (including parmesan potato cakes), salads (including my dinner of a large Greek salad with salmon), steaks, pasta, fish, sandwiches: if you are hungry – they have something to fill your tummy.
Our waitress was friendly and attentive. We were told her we were in a hurry and she was on top of things. We placed our order, specifically under-cooking our salmon – and probably 8 minutes later, both of our meals were on our table. My friend was gracious enough to let me snap a few photos, then we dug in.
The salmon was perfectly cooked: slightly crispy on the outside, slightly underdone on the inside. The result: smooth, moist salmon full of flavor. The dill sauce on my friend’s salmon was lemony and seasoned perfectly. Not too much, not too little dill.
Then came the Oreo cheesecake. Usually, you can’t go wrong with splitting cheesecake. My only fault for the whole evening was I thought the cheesecake needed some more sugar, because it tasted too cream cheese, the perfect balance wasn’t there. But, the chocolate sauce and oreos improved it 100%
Ambiance: check. Wait staff: check. Price: 10-20$ per entree. Parking: no problem. Food: double check.
by Kimberly | Jan 20, 2011 | Uncategorized
One of the reasons I love traveling is the time in the car or the plane gives me time to think, ponder, focus, and definitely sing along with the radio. Yesterday I had a two-hour drive from Raleigh to Charlotte. It had been a hectic week at the office and I was very glad to get in a car and just sing some country music.
While I did do that, I also had good thought time. Quality time with my thoughts, my prayers, and my dreams.
Most of you who know me know that I tend to be:
1. Busy
2. Ambitious
3. Perfectionist.
So, I am trying to guard against 1 and 3 and hit 2 square on the head!
I got an email from a photographer friend and it spurred me on (after it made me realize that I’m not really good yet…, I only like to pretend I am)
“Never let the fact that it may not be your current career stop you from diving in and figuring out stuff that you want to work on to get better. It’s not about being great it’s about being proud of your work and producing work that others enjoy! That can happen at all levels of work and talent. 🙂 Keep at it.” – Said Friend (thank you said friend, and I mean that)
Currently, I have so many dreams. When was I ever a dreamer? I think I’m getting the knack of it in my old age. Reading much and seeing other people’s dreams spur me on and then a friend, Jess, gives good ways to accomplish those dreams. My reasoning behind dreams:
1. I have a life to live to its fullest – God gave it to me to live for His glory, so I should take advantage of it, right?
2. I am single and MUST use this time to its fullest.
3. There is too much I want to do to not be out there every day living it up and being good at what I do live.
4. Dreaming keeps me entertained and I press on…never knowing what is on the other side of that dream.
5. Must work toward making that dream a reality.
So…here is to some refocusing
1. I have my dream writing job – and I want to be the best curriculum writer I can be. This will take much work.
2. I want to be the best social writer, speaker, and book writer – this also will take some work. I think these three go hand in hand, that is why they are all linked.
3. I want to be the best at yoga and running that I can be (this will require me running when it is cold outside, brrrr)
4. I want to be the best food photographer I can be. This is still in the big dreaming session but this covers two passions: food and photography. My Mom helped get me started because she bought me my first food styling book for Christmas. Thank you parents – dream motivators! And I had a good conversation with a great wedding photographer who spurred me on.
That’s it. 4 things.
If any of you have suggestions on how to accomplish said dreams – please let me know.
by Kimberly | Jan 20, 2011 | photo shoot
I have dear friends. My dear friends had a baby (the day before my birthday). I got to hold my new love on my birthday when she turned 24 hours old.
You would think that this precious new baby girl would go to sleep for me when I’m trying to take her picture. But no. But, we had a lot of fun. Some of these are the pictures that I love from that shoot.
I’m withholding the one that the finnlings will use as their own, but enjoy the rest!
by Kimberly | Jan 17, 2011 | food, vegetarian, weight loss
1. I’m very thankful for MLK. Not only for his vision for racial equality (or however you want to say it), but also because we get a day off. Not that I won’t be working today, I’ll just be working from my bed and then my second office (different location).
2. Honest here: Its been a tough week. Even though I had a fabulous time in Wilmington, I have not been sleeping well since Tuesday. I usually sleep sound through the night and would love to get about 9 hours of it (my busy life does not allow for that and for me to get everything done). But, two times since moving here I have gone in a period of not sleeping well. I went to bed last night about 1130 and just prayed to Jesus that He would grant me at least 6 hours of good sleep. The first time I woke up was around 645, thank you Jesus for that sweet answer to prayer! Still tired, not caught up, but much to do, so I hopped out of bed around 815.
3. I had three great conversations with three new friends yesterday: Thankful for them and for the wide variety of conversations we had: running, vegetarianism, and writing. They were all very needed yesterday.
Link Love
1. I am making this tonight to bake in the morning when I return from the gym.
2. This will be a late night drink for me this week since I will have a lot of late nights.
3. This is a very inspiring post by Kendi. This is especially needed when I have so many dreams. These are the ones that are up to me: do my job well, social media/blogging success, writing a book, losing 30 lbs, be vegetarian, and running successfully, travel and do food photography/writing, and being a great photographer. Then there is one that I can’t do by myself. Thank you Kendi for this dream report.
4. Anyone in RDU wanna come have this recipe with me? This looks amazing.
5. Love my friend’s blog on the topic of food. Some of her previous thoughts in a conversation with me has spurred me on the last couple of months since meeting with her.
I know this week’s is short, but I feel like these are more specific to what I want to do. Hopefully you like these Monday editions. I hope you see a little bit of me in these and learn what is going on in my head and heart and busy schedule.
Have a great holiday!
4.
by Kimberly | Jan 14, 2011 | photo shoot
Wilmington really is a unique place to shoot photos of such a delightful friend. Jennifer is a breeze to photograph. And we laugh so much.
