Chelsea's Dream Renovation

I love a great renovation and funnily enough, my husband and I are in the middle of our own home remodel right now. I could go on and on about my dream renovation, but I think our big must-haves right now are a huge Florida room and a beautiful backyard. We are currently working on enclosing a 300 sqft back patio and converting it into a beautiful and airy Florida room; It will have large, side-sliding windows perfect for letting in the summer breeze, a wet bar, and French doors that open up to our outdoor entertainment area.

Outside, we have a newly poured patio with a pergola above. Each post is wrapped with jasmine and I cannot wait until the jasmine is fully grown and intertwines with the beams above to create the perfect amount of shade. Beyond the patio, we have stepping stones that lead to our fire pit and we are looking forward to utilizing it more in the winter months. I’m picturing our family now; all of us sitting around the fire, roasting marshmallows and eating s’mores. While our entertainment area is perfect for adults, we have three children and we’re looking forward to making this a space they can also enjoy. After re-sodding the yard, we have already added a trampoline and we will soon add a play set and a tire swing.

Once our Florida room and backyard remodel are complete, we can’t wait to open up this space for our family and friends to come over and enjoy adult conversation while our children enjoy themselves nearby.

Erica's Top 5 Local Food Trucks

One of the best parts of being quarantined these last few weeks - nightly food trucks near my neighborhood. If you didn't know, there are 100+ food trucks here in Jax (exciting, right?!) & my goal is to eventually try them all! I'm nowhere near that goal but we're slowly crossing them off the list when we can. 

I need to go on record and say that this was an incredibly hard to list to come up with by only being able to highlight 5. I want to know all of your must-try food trucks too!

Alright, here we go

And in no particular order

Drumroll please.......

1. Atomic Dog: Two words: Corn + Dog! The grown up version of a childhood favorite and they are mouth watering good. Fresh cornmeal batter and fried perfectly - what more could you ask for?! My current favorite is the street corn corn dog which is their original corn dog topped with spicy chipotle aioli, cilantro & parmesan cheese *chefs kiss*

2. Mr. Potato Spread: If you haven't tried Mr. Potato Spread, it's an absolute must. I've tried multiple menu items (so far, all are delicious) but OMG the Hog Heaven on french fries is goooooood. Pulled pork in a mustard based bbq sauce, bacon, & cheddar cheese over perfectly cooked fries. Fun Fact: They have a food truck that is out weekly and a sit down location in the Regency Mall food court & they have vegan options

3. Carolina Jax (formerly Cackylacky's): When it comes to burger's, I'm a pretty simple girl, which is why the "classic" (extra pickles, please) off the "simple burger" menu is my go-to! This award-winning food truck has options - "simple" and "signature" burgers, "sammiches" and loaded fries! The next burger I plan to try is the Tar Heel.....because, ya know, pulled pork and bacon.... I just can't resist it

4. Hapa Li: This is the first and only Hawaiian food truck in Jax, all made from scratch and award winning! I've only eaten here once so far but it was so good I couldn't leave it off this list. There were so many menu items that sounded right up my alley but ended up choosing the Nulu Bowl - Hawaiian bbq chicken served over teriyaki steamed veggies + noodles. Y U M! & they have a vegan option, too!

5. Pizza Brigade: First things first, they have chicken wings in bang bang sauce..... need I say more? Now that we got that out of the way, let's move on to the main attraction... Remember those Stouffer's french bread pizzas? Welllll, this is basically those but on a whole. other. level! If you love pickles like I do (see above #3) and agree that they add that extra bit of razzle dazzle to a dish, then the Southern Man french bread pizza will be your best friend! BBQ sauce, chicken, pickles, cheese, onions and a white BBQ sauce drizzle

Let me know your favorites in the comments!