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Monday, August 31, 2015

10 Years in North Carolina - and a Giveaway!



This month marks the 10 year anniversary of Kevin and I moving to North Carolina. First of all, I can't believe it's been TEN YEARS. Omg.

 Ten years ago we were living in Martinsburg WV, we affectionately refer to it as "Satan's armpit". If you're from Martinsburg, sorry not sorry, but we hated it there. I had moved there from Pittsburgh 2 years earlier to manage a Whitehall Jewelers (now defunct) and Kev was a college professor. He'd been at Virginia Tech and as a result of some budget cuts, he had to find a college job last minute and Sheppard College it was.

Somehow in the midst of all that, we manged to meet and bonded over our mutual dislike of the town. Look, I grew up in WV and the northern panhandle is nothing like the eastern. At least the people are nice and not horribly xenophobic. But I digress. We met, fell in love, got engaged and the first chance we could, we got out. Being a musician, it's much more difficult for Kev to find a decent job than it is for me. I mange and train sales people, they're everywhere.

Kev interviewed a bunch of different places and ultimately ended up taking a position as the FT music director at a church in Durham NC. He came down here for the interview, swore I'd love it and we took the leap and moved!

We weren't sure if we'd like it, two Northerners moving to the South? Where are my casinos and diners?? Heck when we got here the state didn't even have lottery! You couldn't buy a scratch off ticket in NC ten years ago. Crazy!

Honestly, it didn't take long for us to become southern converts. We met some amazing people, made great friends and fell in love with the state. I think that all of our friends and family back home need to relocate down here. Come on, when we left WV we left our snow shovel in the old house and haven't bought a new one. (OK, we could, but whatever snow we get melts in a day. No need to shovel when it will be gone the next day.)

In the last 10 years we've lived in 3 different places, soon to be 4, we've adopted 3 cats and one dog, Kev has had one job and me, yeah... more than that, lol. We've had some amazing highs and the lowest of lows in the past 10 years. All in all, we consider ourselves extremely fortunate to have ended up here.

To celebrate 10 years in NC I wanted to share with you all some of my favorite NC-born items.
The lucky winner will receive this awesome NC gift package!

  • Print from cr2f  - Carrie might have been one of the first people I met when I moved here 10 years ago, it was at the annual Kappa Delta Alumnae Cook-out. The rest is history! You should totally check out her site too.
(the print in the giveaway is teal)

  • Onesie from The Green Elephant Co  - Another KD friend, I've known Kaete for several years and she has the cutest line of kids clothes. I might be a little jealous of the outfits she makes for her little girls. So stinking cute.

    • Jar of Peanut Cocoa nut butter from Big Spoon Roasters - You know there's nothing this gal loves more than a nice nut butter and this one is stupid good. I want you to taste the yum.
    • 1lb of flavored coffee from Bean Traders. I'm going to send you one of my favorites. It might be the Sugar Cookie or the Carmelita. I haven't decided yet but it's gonna be good.
    • NC themed coffee mug - Fo yo' Been Trader's Coffee. Duh.
    • 2 lip balms from Burt's Bees - Did you know that Burt's Bees are made right here in NC?! Yep, and they're one of my favorite lip balms. Speaking as someone who always need to have on some sort of Chapstick, I know lip balms and Burt's Bees is awesome!
    • Box of Moravian Cookies - These super thin, crispy cookies are sooooo good! Made in Winston Salem out of love, flour and unicorn smiles, I can't ever buy these, unless I want to eat the entire package.
    • Bag of super yummy popcorn from The Mad Popper - I really like all their flavors and there will be an equally delicious bag of tasty corn.
    And perhaps a surprise or two!

    I'll name a winner on September 10th! It's been a great 10 years, here's to many more!

    a Rafflecopter giveaway

    Linking up with BLoved Boston!AND





    13 comments:

    1. I can't believe you have been there for 10 years! The giveaway looks awesome!

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    2. I am a NC gal too. I love that we live in the Capital and there is so much to do!

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    3. Oh what a fun giveaway! I love NC, we are going on vacation in the NC mountains in October and I can't wait!

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      1. How cool! I've actually never been to the NC mountains but I hear they're beautiful. Enjoy your trip!

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    4. Congrats on the anniversary - cute things from your state too!

      Stopping by from the link up :)

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    5. I love the weather here in the PNW! And the outdoors and the abundance of coffee. :) Oh and Nordstrom, Amazon, and Starbucks are three of my favorite Washington-based companies!

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      1. NICE! I've always wanted to visit the PNW, it looks beautiful there!

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    6. The moravian cookies are AMAZING! Which flavor did you get (and not eat).

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    7. I love that there are four seasons, clean air, no traffic, nice people, gorgeous scenery! I love Kansas.

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      Replies
      1. How awesome! I love when there are actually 4 seasons. In NC the winter is a little shorter but that's OK with me!

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      2. How awesome! I love when there are actually 4 seasons. In NC the winter is a little shorter but that's OK with me!

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