Moonshine & Wanderlust

... a cosmopolitan view from a southern perspective

A City Girl Goes Camping : Chapter 1 – The Style

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Oooh camping! Nature, fresh air, meals over a fire, hiking, sleeping in a tent, hearing organic sounds, hammocks, and woodland creatures translates to some as a slice of Heaven – for me, it translates to being sticky, potential bug bites, sleeping exposed to animals with razor sharp teeth and more bugs, and deafening silence. Because, honestly – this is what I’ve always thought about camping:

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(if you don’t know what this is from, watch this)

In all seriousness, I love the beauty of nature and animals and all that jazz – but in the comfort of my own creature comfort, whether that be civilization or a car.

Alas, I made the mistake of telling a friend of mine I had never been camping so she made it her temporary life’s mission to make me go camping. So, I agreed.

The destination? Cumberland Mountain State Park 

More on that in Chapter 2. This post will be about a very serious question – what does a gal who has never been camping bring to spend a night in the wilderness?

Well, if you’re a little like me and you like your clothes and shoes and to look nice but you don’t want to be the ridiculous woman who wears high heels to go hiking, read on!

Beauty

I decided to spend the weekend sans makeup, so before I left for the camping excursion I prepped my skin with Bare Escentuals’ Blemish Therapy & Mineral Veil

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Have you seen Vaseline’s Lip Therapy adorable jelly pots? Love them! I brought along the Rosy Lips one to keep my lips hydrated with a little bit of color. The tortoise case holds a take along BE Mineral Veil.

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Before I left, I also ran it’s a 10 leave in conditioner in my hair (a little goes a long way)

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And, no beauty post of mine would be complete without a nod to dry shampoo. My holy grail DS is Oscar Blandi’s Pronto Dry Shampoo. It’s perfect and works wonders! However, for 1/4 of the price, Dove has a great aerosol dry shampoo that I have really come to love – and it smells divine! So – that definitely came with me!

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Clothes & Comfort

We were only going to be staying one night camping and I like to think I was extremely practical in what I brought to wear.

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That was it! Pretty awesome, I think. I brought two, long sleeved Life is Good shirts, a tank top, two pairs of comfy pants, a sweater, a pair of slipper socks, and a ball cap. It all fit into one bag and it felt awesome!

For shoes, I brought one pair. That’s right – ONE! These are my useful, go-to shoes – Chaco Toe Coop Clogs. Chaco doesn’t make them anymore, but you can actually buy them from Sierra Trading Post for less than $40! I get more compliments on these shoes than any stiletto I’ve ever worn. That’s got to mean something.

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I have this weird thing I’ve done for years when I go out of town… I always have to take something with me that makes me feel “comfortable.” It’s silly, but it’s always something small and brings me a lot of security.

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This time, it was my best friend’s sweater and t-shirt (high fives for guy best friends). I always take a t-shirt to use as a pillowcase when I go on vacation. I read it somewhere many years ago and have done it ever since. Small comforts of home!

Up Next? A City Girl Goes Camping: Chapter 2 – The Location

Your Travelling Song

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{this is dedicated to those with wanderlust in their heart and those whose hearts love wanderers.}

Your Travelling Song
by Passenger
This is your travelling song, And I hope it sees you well, Through train rides and hotels.This is your travelling song, And on the window of the train, With your finger write my name. But I could sell my watch and buy a ticket, But my dear I fear I would impede, So this is your travelling song my love, I hope you find everything you need. This is your travelling song, And here’s one for the road, The highway and the code. This is your travelling song, And I wont ask you to stay, Cos life don’t work that way. But I could try and fit inside your suitcase, But my feet would stick out of the end, So this is your travelling song my love, Come find me when your travelling ends, This is your travelling song my love, Come find me when your travelling ends.

Winter Bucket List

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As far as I’m concerned, “winter” and the Christmas season doesn’t start until the day after Thanksgiving. However, I have decided to be enough in the holiday spirit to create a winter bucket list! There are so many great ideas on Pinterest and they gave me some good ideas, but I really tried to stick with things I have never done, minus volunteering. Helping others never goes out of style. Below are my goals for this winter season and maybe they will help jumpstart your own list!

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Winter Bucket List

❄ Go ice skating

❄ Host a winter party

❄ Go to a Predators game in Nashville

❄ Go skiing

❄ Volunteer for a Christmas event

❄ Send a Christmas package to a soldier

❄ Attend a Christmas Eve service

❄ Have a Christmas movie marathon with popcorn & hot chocolate

Farewell to Fall

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November is ending and with it, the last few remnants of fall. Thanksgiving looms around the corner and with Black Friday comes (in my non-official opinion) the beginning of the Christmas and winter season. I checked off the last of my Autumn Bucket List activities I was able to check off this year by wrapping up fall with a “Farewell to Fall” party at my house this weekend. I accomplished half of my bucket list – I wish I could have done more, but I’m happy with all of the things I did get to do!

So, what is a “Farewell to Fall” party? I used to have parties in the fall called “Autumns Toasts & Roasts”, but this year I prolonged the gathering a little longer to say goodbye to fall – it seemed fitting for this year. The agenda was still the same – fire pit, good food, and friends. Today, I’ll share some of my new and favorite fall recipes that are non-complicated and perfect to put together when you are short on time!

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People can make fun of Pinterest all day, but I really utilize it for organizing my thoughts and for things I want to do – especially when it comes to cooking. Check out each of the recipes below for the Pins. I prepared a few days in advance for what I wanted to have at the party and picked a few things that would be easy and not too time consuming. Below is my menu for the evening:

• Chili + Toppings

• Corn Muffins

• Cheesy Corn Dip + Tortilla Chips

• Baked Potatoes + Toppings 

• S’mores 

Super simple, right? It was the perfect amount of substance and snack. I was able to throw everything together in just over an hour. My kinda meal!
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Chili – for the chili, I don’t use much of a recipe. I kind of do my own thing. I’m a real winger when it comes to cooking, which is surprising since I’m pretty OCD about a lot of other things I do in life. However, here is a breakdown of the ingredients I use in mine :
• 16 oz tomato sauce
• 2 cans diced tomatoes
• 1 can light kidney beans
• 1 can dark kidney beans
• 1 can chili beans
• 1 lb. of lean, ground beef
• minced garlic – added as desired
• 1 small, yellow onion – added as desired 
• garlic powder – added as desired
• chili powder – added as desired
• cumin – added as desired
• salt & pepper – as desired 
• a dash of Italian seasoning 
• a dash of cayenne pepper
I have a deep love for my Crockpot, so these delicious ingredients make their home in it on LOW for about 8 hours.
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Corn Muffin Recipe – this recipe was very basic and QUICK! So easy to put together in just a few minutes. It’s also the perfect recipe to add some pizazz to your muffins – corn, jalapeños, etc. Make it your own! I stuck to the traditional way and these turned out perfect. Under 20 minutes for perfect muffins – can’t beat that.
Cheese Corn Dip – Talk about a super simple and delicious appetizer… this is it! It’s cheesy, it’s warm, and it’s a little hot! Perfect combination for a fall or winter treat for your guests. I will definitely be keeping this on the forefront of my snack lists.
Baked Potatoes – I’ve always known baked potatoes and foil to go hand in hand, but this spin on baked spuds is sans the aluminum. It’s like “Baked Potatoes Gone Naked!” I like it. They turned out great and I’ll be using this method from now on.
Toppings – You can get creative with this. I stuck to more traditional toppings – sour cream, bacon bits, cheese, and butter. Green onions are good to add as well. But, you can get really creative and pick a variety of toppings for your guests to choose from or maybe even go with a theme. The possibilities are endless and completely up to you and how fancy you want to get.
S’mores – This campfire treat doesn’t need an introduction. I had a separate setup outside on a table with the S’mores ingredients beside the fire pit.
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Throwing a get together doesn’t have to be extremely time consuming and stressful – remember the reasoning behind having a party and getting people together and let the stress take a back seat.
Don’t be like this little pup and get too worn out…
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’til next time… xoxo, patty lauren

Mercier Orchard

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Fall is coming to an end (I’m still in heavy denial) and I am happy to say I have checked a few things off of my Autumn Bucket List – I’m planning on checking off a few more in the next couple weeks as November closes. One of my favorite things I did (and the one I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to do!) was visit a picking apple orchard.

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Mercier Apple Orchard is located in Blue Ridge, GA. It’s a beautiful drive full of rolling hills and crisp fall colors lining the way. The weather was absolutely perfect the day I went and made for a very enjoyable afternoon. In my mind, I pictured a simple orchard with towering trees, but I was shocked at how large the operation is. Started in 1943, the family owned orchard not only has plentiful U-Pick opportunities, classes, fishing,and cooking demos but an enormous (and, delicious smelling) store complete with a deli that makes some of the most delectable sounding sandwiches.photo 2-3

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The views are magical – I can’t wait to go back this spring to U-Pick fruit… and maybe even do some fishing!
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I picked 1/2 peck to start me off and it turned out to be plenty of apples! We got a ride out to the orchards and given some instructions of what types of apples were ready for picking and we were off! The trees weren’t the towering variety I had imagined, but more stout which was fine by me because I didn’t have to worry about falling out of any trees. Not that I would have tried climbing, but you know… a girl can dream.

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The best part? Eat as you go! A sample of this, a sample of that…

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I got a few apples of each variety – they were all so good! It was really everything I had hoped it would be. That sounds corny, but it was a fun experience for this gal. There were a lot of families there – it’s a great outing for friends, families, couples… you can’t go wrong. For $10 you can spend a fun afternoon walking through rows of beautifully grown creations and make some lasting memories.

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You know I have to throw in if Mercier Orchard is pet friendly or not… While pets are not allowed in the orchard, they are allowed around the lake and near the store. I saw several individuals with small pups hanging outside of the store while they enjoyed their fall day walking around the property and waiting on others in their party.

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Be sure to check our Mercier Orchards Events on the Farm page for upcoming events and a schedule of U-Pick varieties!

until next time… xoxo, patty lauren