Hometown Series - Ashley of The Christian Wife Life

So thankful this week is flying by, tomorrow is Friday already, yippee! I just wanted to quickly mention how much I appreciate all you followers give to my blog, you amaze me in so many ways and I am so thankful for the blessing of knowing you even here in bloggy land.

Another treat for you today, another hometown!! Tuesday we were in Florida with Krystal and now we are heading North to North Carolina to have Ashley talk about Raleigh. Now I have only been to North Carolina once, to Elon University to see my sister graduate. The only thing I really know about North Carolina is they are serious about bbq and glad to see Ashley mention that! There might be an opportunity for me and Sean to visit North Carolina this summer in fact, we are thinking of taking a grandparents trip and one set of grandparents live in North Carolina, Cornelius in particular.

So take it away Ashley!!

Hello, henning love readers! I'm so excited to be here for Meg's "From My Hometown to Yours" series! I've loved reading about the other hometowns through this series and I'm pumped to be able to share with y'all about my home sweet home - Raleigh, NC. :)

My name is Ashley Shelley and I blog over at The Christian Wife Life. 

I've lived in our capital city of Raleigh always. I was born here, I grew up here, I went to college here, and now I live here with my husband. We're less than two hours from the beach and three hours from the mountains. It's safe to say that I LOVE Raleigh.

First I'm gonna take a second to brag a little bit and say that Businessweek named Raleigh the best place to live in the US. It's one of the fastest growing cities in America! But honestly, you wouldn't know it if you visited my parents' house which is next to this...

The beautiful, historic Yates Mill Pond. I'd probably take Meg on a stroll here. But first we'd need breakfast, which is also right down the road! We'd head over to the Farmer's Market. Along with having the best local produce, they have a restaurant that is oh so good.

from lifeincary.com

And what could you have there for breakfast? Well, a little bit of everything - bacon, eggs, sausage, pancakes, fresh fruit, and don't forget the GRITS. Oh, how I love grits...

*Warning: Meg, come on an empty stomach. There's way too much good food here.*

After we visit the Farmer's Market and their restaurant, we'd head downtown. Which is also right down the road - weird, right? You can go from open fields with cows to a bustling downtown scene in about one minute. 

from backninehomes.com

If you're interested we could hit up the history and science museums, and then we'd HAVE to stop by the Cupcake Shoppe! Their cupcakes are amazing, and the shop is absolutely adorable.

After that we'd go next door to my home for five years - NC State University, home of the Wolfpack. There's no way we'd have time to walk around the whole campus that's full of 33,000 students - but I'd show you the pretty parts. :) 

This was my side of campus (the Language Arts side!).

For lunch we'd go over to Ole Time Barbecue. You couldn't be in North Carolina and not eat some barbecue - that's got to be against the law or something! This place has been featured on the Food Network for its amazing barbecue. When we talk about barbecue down here we don't mean grilling hamburgers or something - we mean PIG. Lots of yummy, vinegary, PIG. With hush puppies. Mmmm...

from twofatbellies.com

Now, if it were October, I'd definitely take you to the State Fair which is held here - but even though it's not, there's bound to be something happening over at the State Fairgrounds. On the weekends the flea market is there. :) I love a good vintage find! I'd rather go shopping there than in the expensive part of town which is North Raleigh - but hey, that's up to you!

At night we'd go to the RBC Center and see either a NC State basketball game or a Carolina Hurricanes hockey game. Hockey in the south?? No, we're not crazy - we actually won the Stanley Cup in '06! And I worked there on the Storm Squad for three years, so I'd take you behind the scenes of the game. :) We're known as the "loudest house in the NHL"!

That's me on the far left! GO CANES!

Afterward we'd get some delicious, homemade ice cream at Sunni Sky's. My favorite is to get one scoop of brownie batter and one scoop of cake batter. SO GOOD. But they're famous for having habanero pepper ice cream which sounds awful to me, but I guess some people like it!

Oh, and by the way, Meg, I forgot to tell you what to pack. But it doesn't really matter because this time of year there is NO telling what the weather will be like! On Sunday it snowed a little bit here, and today it was in the high 60's! So bring your winter coat and your tank tops - anything could happen. But if there's even a THOUGHT of snow here everything shuts down, just to warn you! Haha. 
But definitely don't forget to bring a constant smile and a wave, because even though we're growing, Raleigh still has that old southern feel to it - the people will take you right in and offer you some sweet tea. :)
Thanks so much for having me today, Meg! I hope I gave you a little insight about my wonderful city, and I wish you really were coming over RIGHT now.
Ok I'm coming Ashley, I am coming to hang out with you, eat bbq, and go to that ice cream place but I don't know if I am brave enough to try that habanero ice cream :-) Oh and also you will have to teach me some of those routines when you were on the Storm Squad.