Black Tie Optional Weekend

This past weekend was jammed packed with black tie (optional) events.  On Friday night, my law school was hosting our annual barristers ball.  Barristers ball is basically like high school prom (yes, we had a king and queen) and college sorority formals.  It was at the William Aiken House off King Street, which is a gorgeous venue, and was really an amazing time.  It is fun to cut loose with people that I am in class and working with everyday!

Saturday, needless to say, was pretty rough and unproductive.  I was really surprised how much my body now feels after an evening of a few drinks.  I was not looking so hot and was feeling even worse (if that was possible).  It is truly amazing how some people can feel refreshed after a night out, I'm thinking that my 24th year is coming too quickly with an aging body :(. I definitely learned my lesson (which I will probably learn again) that I have repercussions the next day, that I never had when I was just a tad younger!

I knew I had to do something productive---so I headed to the kitchen and whipped up a soup that I saw on howsweeteats.com.  I was craving some comfort food and absolutely love soup and meat so chicken meatball soup was the perfect combo--along with a grilled chocolate cheddar cheese sandwich (sounds weird but ridiculously good)! The soup came out great--next time I will use stock instead of broth and maybe add some canned italian tomatoes and beans to it! But overall, it will be added to my go to comfort soup recipe group (after I create that)!

Chocolate and cheese and bread= total winner!

Chicken meatball soup :)

Sunday, I was finally feeling a little better :)  After a early morning run, church and doing a little school work--it was off to Chefs' Fest at the Embassy Suites in North Charleston.  Drew's company sponsored a table, which meant that I got to accompany him to the best night of eating in Charleston! Chefs' Fest supports the lowcountry food bank and provides food for children (through backpacks and afterschool programs
).

Ice Sculpture 

Awesome band that played all night

More Ice, Ice Baby :)

At the event, there were over 20 of the best restaurants in Charleston that came out to donate their time and amazing food!  Drew and I were determined to try every station, and I mean every station, which I am happy to report we achieved our goal!! We had everything from duck to scallops to liver to pate to quail to salmon and brisket...seriously the list goes on and on with deliciousness.  Not to mention an endless selection of dessert--coconut cake, pineapple upside down cake, banana fudge and truffles--all there! We were absolutely stuffed, which if possible is an under statement: I literally had problems sleeping because I had eaten so much rich food---but if I could do it over I would do it the same :)

Smoked Salmon and Potatoes

Drew with plates--double fisting :)

Yes, that says dessert cafe!

Drew and I were having a case of the Mondays- probably because we had such an amazing weekend, so we decided to make a delicious and simple dinner (not going to be close to the dinner on Sunday).  Harris Teeter has been having amazing deals on shrimp the past few weeks and we have been taking full advantage of the cheaper prices :).  We made shrimp and sausage (I was craving something greasier) tacos.  We threw in a hot red pepper with the pepper and onion saute, which added the perfect amount of heat to the dish!  It was the perfect end of a less than perfect day :)

Taco Salad--and

Shrimp/Sausage Taco Tacos :)

Hope everyone has a great Tuesday--it is a gorgeous day here in Charleston, think I may go for a nice run outside :)