What fun it was to have dinner as grown ups with real friends !! Thanks to Michelle + Ben and Ashley + Lukasz for the fun dinner! 
This afternoon I started getting pretty hungry around 3:30 but had a workout looming that I didn’t want to spoil with a heavy snack, so I had a Kashi Peanut Butter Bar , which I knew would be light on my stomach –
The husband and I ran 2.5 miles to the Y, did 20 minutes or so of weight lifting, and ran home.
We arrived at Carpe Diem a few minutes early and the husband ordered a Manhattan while we waited (just a few minutes) for the rest to arrive. I had a few sips. LOVE Manhattans!
I ordered a blend of tempranillo, granache and cabernet. Marvelous!!!
The first round of bread was good, but the second (right out of the oven!) was even better. I had about 3 small pieces total –
I ordered a house salad to start, which came with beets , carrots , pumpernickel croutons and bacon-carrot dressing on the side, which was A.mazing!
The husband ordered Beef Carpaccio. I had 2 bites – also A.mazing.
He also had 2 beers – I had some sips.
We had banana sorbet come before the entrees!! LOVE restaurants with complimentary components!!
For our entrees, the hub and I split the Shrimp Couscous with black-eyed peas, tomato , collard greens , parmesan (and more?). Yum!! Perfect portion as a split.
I shouldn’t have gotten a second glass of wine, but I had some help.
And I tried Ashley’s Pizza with feta, artichoke, olives, spinach and more! (This was a tiny piece, zoomed in).
Michelle had a recommendation from a friend to try the ice cream store next door. Despite the fact that we went for ice cream last night, who could turn down an ice cream shop with friends!?
I must have sampled 6 different flavors before I decided on the Cappuccino . SO good. The husband got a PB&Chocolate milkshake and I had a few bites of that as well. In fact, we’re sort of in a fight right now because he said I ate too much of his shake. Whatever!
The girls were in the process of getting our photo taken…(Ashley, Michelle + me)….when
About 5 girls we knew from Davidson came in.
Followed by another girl who looked at me and said "Oh my gosh you’re Kath; I read your blog!!"
Turns out she found my blog while searching for a recipe on the Internet and has been reading for a few weeks. She also happened to go to Davidson, but that seems to be pure coincidence because she found it organically. SO COOL!! I’d say it was my first 100% random celebrity sighting, although it was confounded by our Davidson friends who showed up simultaneously.
So here we are with Mejin , "which rhymes with Region" on the right!!
What a fun night!
Hey Kath!!!
Looks like u and the husband had a fun nite, (and not to gang up on the husband or anything but u could gently remind him that when u guys have desserts he usually gets the most) 😉
I also had a quick question . . . what are the measurements of ur Bhappy bags . . . Im looking for a good, sturdy tote for my school books . . . do u think the bags will be big enough for school
p.s. can u bags buy online and have them shipped???
Thanks =)
Hi Kath! Good to meet you tonight – and on my last night in Charlotte, too! It’s so funny to see myself on your blog. I’ll be reading from San Francisco! =)
ahahah, too funny about the fight on the pb/choc shake ;0) … awww, I love the pictures of you and your blog readers/friends!!! Everyone looks GORGEOUS in the pics!!! <333 I wish I’m that photogenic myself :0)
Woah, that’s like your third celebrity citing in as many days! Your like a blogging rock star. Soon, the paparazzi will be after you. haha.
Anyway, your food all looks delicious. Banana sorbet! And I want that ice cream.
– Heather
Bobby and I get in those fights too – last night i was stealing his vegetables and he was stealing too many noodles from my jab chae (korean dish)!
Your dinner sounds wonderful!
And my goodness, you are going to have to start travleing with and entourage soon! What a celeb!
Haha, I was going to say the same thing C!
Everything looks delicious!
Aww, looks like you had quite a lovely time!
It looks like you had such a fun night! Good food, good company, celebrity sighting, and ICE CREAM! That salad looks impressive–I love it when restaurants have real salads that you actually want to eat!
that’s so cool that people recognize you from the internet. How many views do you get a day?
That Kashi bar looks like it may have been hiding away in your purse or something for a while 😉
And that’s two people in one day that recognized you from the blog…how cool!
Jen ,
The bags are definitely big enough for books – they’re very roomy and are about the size of a paper grocery store bag. They are kind of floppy though (there’s no support on the bottom) so I’m not sure how well they’d work for heavy textbooks. You can buy them at http://www.reusablebags.com.
Mejin ,
You too!! Have a BLAST in SF – and be sure to go to wine country for me!!
adria ,
I’m not entirely sure, but somewhere between 15,000 and 22,000 during the week and much less on the weekends.
Kath