Happy Monday!

We celebrated a birthday this weekend at our house...

This basset dad turned another year older on Sunday! Naturally, we stretched the celebrating out all weekend long.

On Friday, Eric and I had dinner alone at The Block and Grinder, a new butcher shop and boutique restaurant in Charlotte.  Holy. Delicious.  Local, organic, farm to table...and all meat is cut and ground in-house. Everything was delicious, but the meat really stole the show. Read: coffee crusted venison and seared magret duck in a cherry/brandy sauce.  And those were just the entrees - we actually were sold from the cocktails and appetizers (goat cheese and prosciutto deviled eggs, along with pork belly over cornbread pancakes).  I love a restaurant with unique craft cocktails. I'm not a big drinker, so I like my one or two of the night to vary a bit from the norm.  I can now say that it's my new mission to try every craft cocktail on the menu at this restaurant, but the ones I tried  Friday were so good, it will be hard not to order repeats.  As if things could get any better, the service was also incredible. If you are in the area...this is a must try. This place is set for big business.

On the left is the Mezcal Mule, and on the right, Eric's Gin Basil Smash.

Saturday, Eric wanted to do some hiking, so we set out for South Mountains State Park, and had a FANTASTIC time.

Note who carried the backpack. In my defense, I offered to help...but was declined.

Any hike that includes a waterfall and meandering mountain streams rises to the top of the list in my book.  The Gulf beaches where we came from are beautiful, but in my opinion (not even taking into account the glorious accompanying sound effects) you really just can't beat this...

or this...

or this...

or, for that matter, several miles of this, for one killer glute workout with a view.

These guys, who climbed over a fence and were jumping off of the slippery rocks at the base of the waterfall (into shallow water at that), are simply living proof that idiots do exist everywhere you go.

For those of you wondering where little Pierre was in all of this, the answer is at home. On the couch. Sleeping. His tiny basset legs never would have covered the distance, or height, that we covered on Saturday.

Although... the thought of carrying him with me in one of those toddler backpack things did cross my mind.   Upon further research, I found that these actually exist for dogs. And no, I'm not joking. I am, however, joking about literally carrying Pierre on my back...I wouldn't get too far with those chunky paws weighing me down.

Source

We ended the hike on a leisurely note - refreshing tired feet and legs in chilly, knee-deep mountain water. Let me just go ahead and make it clear that I have all intentions of coming back to this park and spending much, much longer lounging on one of those large rocks in the middle of the stream.

Saturday night we met some friends at another event at the US Whitewater Center for a bit, and I attempted to get a group photo of all of the dogs present.  Please see how extraordinarily well that went below, even with the promise of treats.

Luckily, Keri managed to get a semi-decent one of the girls in attendance at least. Pierre was pulling on his leash, so all the ones Eric took turned out extra blurry.  Remember when I said we needed to work on real life distractions? Yeah.

Sunday was Eric's actual birthday, but it turned out to be a pretty lazy day for us.  After church, I made his favorite enchiladas for lunch, and then we managed to get out to do some neighborhood hopping to prepare for the upcoming house search.

I'm spending my morning today getting ahead on a few things at home, while self-admittedly listening to a live-feed of the George Zimmerman trial.  Now, hear me people, hear me: I am not commenting on the merits of the case itself. I'm not a juror, therefore I don't have all of the evidence in front of me, therefore I don't know enough to run my mouth about what the verdict should be. Neither does the media, despite what they may try to convince you of.  (I could count at least 10 claims made out by the media to be fact that were actually disproved, by both sides, in court this morning.)

However, I can comment on the lawyering that I watched live, for myself. I mean, opening statements contained two firsts for me today, which is (mildly) exciting. First, the F-bomb was dropped within the first sentence of the prosecution's opening statement; granted, it was used in terms of a quote made by the defendant (and was quite effective, in my opinion). Second, a knock-knock joke was used in the first sentence of the defense's (and was quite INeffective, in my opinion).  Maybe it's just me, but a knock-knock joke used in the opening statement of a MURDER trial, to an all female jury, doesn't seem like the best judgment call to me. Insensitive much? The defense seems to be a bit unorganized and rambling to me thus far, but it could be part of an overall strategy. Time will tell.

I can only hope that your Monday morning has been just as wild and exciting as mine (smile). I'll be back later this week with some new favorite recipes that we've tried recently, as well as an update on Pierre's obedience training. Have a happy day!