Allison's Wonderland

So I quit my job. IT Communications was nice enough to throw me a little going away party with cake and presents...the works. One of the guys dared me to put my face in the cake that they bought for me while we were having the party. I got darn close to doing it, but he stopped me. But...it gave me an idea. When was the last time I had a piece of cake thrown into my face? I can't remember. So I got my friends Shaun and Jess on board to buy a cake and just stick our faces in it.

Tonight a bunch of us went out to Rivermont Pizza to just hang out and have a little get together. On the way home Shaun, Jessica J. and I stopped at Wal-Mart to purchase our cakes. Shaun got Chocolate, Jess chose Vanilla, and I got Red Velvet. This is the result . . .CAKE IN THE FACE

Today ended our gills weekend, and it was sad to be over, but I was glad to be in a bed that I know and love. Jeanne, my step-mom, had the brillant idea of getting together all the gills of the family (Kelsey, Taylor, Keri, Lorrie, Raeleigh, me and obviously Jeanne) and taking a trip where we could just get away and be together. Jeanne and I searched high and low for a good place to stay. At first my choice was Asheville, NC. We couldn't find anywhere decent to stay in Asheville, so we decided on the beach in Wilmington, NC. Well finding a beach house in Wilmington was proving to be difficult as well. We came across this one house on Bald Head Island which was absolutely gorgeous. It was a little out of the price range, but Jeanne, being as wonderful as she is, bit the bullet and paid the down payment. Vola we had a place! Yeah! :)

This house was absolutely GORGEOUS!! I'll post picture just in case you're too lazy to click the link. :) Anyway, in order to get to the island you have to take a ferry. There are no cars allowed, only golf carts. We had to pick up Keri, Lorrie & Raeleigh in Raleigh, and then we were off. I loved the ferry ride. It was just so beautiful. There was a little confusion when we got off because they have to take you to your house and they only had our reservation for one person, not 7. So we had to kick some people off the tram in order to fit. Whoopsy. :) Anyway, we got to our home and it was absolutely beautiful! UGH...it was right on the marsh and was simply breathtaking. Kelsey and I got the downstairs room facing the marsh, while Jeanne had the upstairs master, Lorrie and Raeleigh were next door to us and Keri and Taylor were across the hall. Jeanne, Kelsey and I went for a walk on the marsh, and the stars were amazing. We laid down on the little wooden pier. I always feel the closest to God when I'm in nature. Kelsey, Taylor, Keri & I went on an adventure to the grocery store. It was pitch black out because they have no street lights. We didn't know where the heck we were going. Thanks to everyone's iPhone we found the way okay...We hung out that night and just relaxed and did nothing. It was wonderful. Kelsey and I laid outside on the back deck which was my favorite part of the house. We fell asleep talking and I woke up at 1:30am in order to wake Kels up to go to our room. It was just beautiful out. The breeze was phenominal and it just felt amazing...

Next day, (Saturday)I woke up at 8:30 and went out on the pier to the marsh. I took pictures because it was just beautiful. Jeanne and I had like 4 cups of coffee and talked on the back porch while we waited for the others. Then Kelsey, Jeanne and I headed to the beach. I had to pee in the sand dune because I drank a ton of coffee! The beach was marvelous. A little cold, but marvelous all the same. We had to drive the golf cart to get there which I loved. We went back for Taylor, Keri, Lorrie & Raeleigh. Jeanne and I got on bikes to ride back to the beach, but my tire was flat. Everyone left without us, so I had to jump on Jeanne's good bike and get them to come back. It was funny because when we got to the beach Keri and Taylor went took a picture and then wanted to leave. It was Raeleigh's first time to the beach there and she loved it.








After the beach we headed over to the Lighthouse, Old Baldy. It was cute. There was a wedding, so we weren't allowed to go into the quaint church. I was bummed, but it wasn't a huge deal. Raeleigh was so good. She hardly fussed ever. Went back to the house and then just Lorrie, me and Kels went out and explored. We loved driving that golf cart!

All in all it was a lovely vacation/weekend and I want to go back one day desperately! I have seen almost all of the NC lighthouses except two. Oak Island and Currituck, although you could see Oak Island from the ferry ride!

I'm a foodie at heart, okay? Is that a problem? Just kidding, but really it kind of is a problem because it makes ya get fat if you're not too careful! I'm the type of girl that has to experience EVERYTHING and there's a lot of food out there. As I said before one of my favorite things about taking a trip is the eating out aspect of it all. In my previous blog, the one about the Leg Warmer's concert, if I even posted it we ended the weekend eating at this really cool place in Cary Town. Cary Town is in Richmond and it is just so cool. Like seriously, the coolest.

We didn't really know what to eat or what we were even craving but we came across this little place on the corner. The name of the Restaurant was called, The Can Can Brasserie. It was Sunday morning so they had this Sunday Brunch special. Okay...our waiter was super cute, so that added to the experience. Jessica C. and I might have left him my number along with a really cheesy note on the survey that they gave you to fill out. He never called, but ya know...it was just fun. Especially when we were leaving and him and his friend were reading it laughing while we watched from the window. That sounds really creepery and stalkery, but I assure you, it was normal.

Anyway, if you can't tell by the name of the restaurant, it was French themed. Kind of 1940'sish. I kept taking pictures of the bar just because it was so pretty. I ordered the Monte Cristo French Toast. It was nuts. It was two huge pieces of french toast with ham and cheese in the inside and the butter and syrup covering the top. It was out of this world. I will definitely be returning.

I rate the restaurants I frequent by dividing the important attributes into three categories. Category 1 is food. Obviously if the food sucks, no one will want to eat there. Can Can would receive an 8. There's always room for improvement so I don't normally hand out 10's. The food was good, but it got cold super fast. The second category is atmosphere. Atmosphere is huge for me as I majored in Interior Design in college. If the atmosphere stinks I most likely will not be going back. Sometimes even if I'm not a huge fan of the food, if the atmosphere is good, I'll go. The atmosphere in this places was awesome. It was authentic and I enjoyed it. I would give it a 9. The lighting could use some improvement. But other than that...great! Lastly is the service. Like I said, our waiter was easy on the eyes. He was very attentive to our needs so I'd give him an 8 as well. Love this place! I will be going back for sure. :)