why i’m a north carolina girl.

2. You know Cheerwine is not actually wine but one of the greatest carbonated beverages ever.

north carolina may be the birthplace of some other sodas, but none of them even come close to the awesomeness of cheerwine. for real.

3. You have gotten into fights about what style of barbecue is better.

4. You know it’s no fluke Asheville has been named Beer City for three consecutive years.

The craft beer scene is unreal. From the mountains, Highland Brewing, to the foothills, Catawba Valley Brewing, to the piedmont, NoDa Brewing, to the coastal plains, Weeping Radish Farm Brewery, and everything inbetween. If you like beer, North Carolina is where it is at.

5. You know y’all is a perfectly grammatically correct way to refer to a group of people.

have you read any of my posts before? how many times to i use this… for real. 🙂

6. You know tea is always better sweetened. and cold.

my grandma made the absolute best. i think she dumped a whole pound of sugar in the hot water filled with tea bags. it melted & brewed perfectly. then, she poured it in a big ole pitcher, filled it with ice, and put it in the fridge. after a while, time to sip on some tea and sit on the back porch watching birds & squirrels. awesome memories. if y’all come visit us, i’ll make you some sweet tea and we can sip it on our balcony. and you’ll love it. promise.

7. You have a favorite NASCAR driver.

ok. you may not even be a NASCAR fan, but that doesn’t stop you from knowing which driver you want to win the Coca Cola 600 every memorial day weekend. and there is no arguing about the  late, great dale earnhart.

8. You’d happily live off of Bojangles’ biscuits. 

or cinnamon twists, or boberry biscuits, or seasoned fries. (right, reynolds family?!) oh yeah. and spicy fried chicken. i mentioned just last night that my parents should eat breakfast at bojangles, when my mom stated she didn’t know where to eat as they drove across the state. i knew they were near an exit with a bojangles. yes, i know where they are all across the state. seriously.

9. You know the proper pronunciation of Appalachian.

it’s like nails on a chalkboard, y’all. it shouldn’t be this difficult.think latch and not lay, App-a-LATCH-un and not App-a-LAY-shun.

10. Grits and/or biscuits are staples of any good breakfast.

deliciously yummy. and truly southern.

11. You still have beef with Ohio.

no matter what the argument is, wilber & orville wright were the first to fly. and that happened in north carolina. not ohio.

12. You know what it means to have a burger “all the way.”

chili. slaw. onions. mustard. perfection. right, dad?! dear me, i’m not gonna be a vegetarian anymore when i move back.

13. You know no holiday or big family dinner is complete without greens.

they must be cooked into oblivion with some sort of pig product. pig juices + collards = orgasmic. not my favorite dish. still, always there. the old folks really liked it. and you too, mom, but you’re not old.

14. You’re a closet “leaf looker”.

ok. i’m not in the closet about this. i admit it. i’m proud of it. i drive around all fall, with all the tourists, taking pictures of the same views and same places every single year. because it’s just that darn beautiful. you gotta make it to the mountains during the fall.

15. Seeing a Florida license plate drives you into fits of rage.

this is especially true if you lived in the western part of the state. it is a well-known fact that floridians want to drive on mountain roads, but they’re not skilled at it. not at all.

16. You watched the ACC Basketball Tournament in class.

the tournament started on a friday, and on that friday, every tv attached to the wall in a classroom was turned to the channel streaming the games. yeah. not much work got done that day. we might not have been able to swing getting time off to watch the tourny, but it didn’t matter because it was streaming in every classroom.

17. You had a snow day…without any snow.

it didn’t matter if there was snow on the ground or not. if there was a threat of snow, class was canceled. a bit of a contrast from my life here in sweden.

18. You have an appreciation (obsession) of bluegrass.

there’s nothin’ like the sound of a banjo, or a mandolin, and a fiddle. whether it be The Avett Brothers, Steep Canyon Rangers, doc watson… i could go on…

19. You’ve attended a pig pickin’ or two.

looks gross. sounds gross. but it is an amazing community, family kinda picnic.  and a major southern tradition. organic. tribal. and native. good food. good people. yes, folks. i even had a pig-pickin’ as my rehearsal dinner for my first wedding. classy, maybe not. but, fun and awesome and real. hell yeah.

20. You like to brag about the North Carolina music scene. Cause it’s awesome.

and rightly so! from the Avett Brothers to Ben Folds to Ryan Adams to James Taylor to Mount Moriah toLittle Brother to Randy Travis to all those bluegrass people to the NC Symphony to  gospel music and so many others, you know north carolina has a very eclectic and amazing music scene.

21. You have friends who have done some cow tipping.

not that i ever did anything like that. really. i didn’t. but small town north carolina doesn’t have much else to do. not that that’s an excuse. and it is terrible and cruel. but, it is what it is. i can only do all i can to help people break this tradition. but, i think i’m alone on that quest.

22. The Lost Colony of eastern NC fascinates you.

sure, it might have been boring in your fourth-grade history class, but as you got older you realized how it had all the makings of a badass movie. mystery! intrigue!  cryptic notes carved onto trees! possible cannibalism! vampires! it had it all. plus, it was the first english colony in the new world. yep. NC, first again. ohhh… can’t wait to visit the mysterious island again.

23. So does Blackbeard.

has there been anyone more badass than Blackbeard the Pirate (the inspiration for Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow)? nope! blackbeard (aka Edward Teach) was a feared pirate and a legitimate crazy person. blackbeard wasn’t originally a North Carolinian, but he settled down with his 14th wife (yes, i said 14th!) in bath, nc and died there — and by the way, his ship, the Queen Anne’s Revenge, sunk off the coast of beaufort, where my family is from, so we claim him in all his crazy, bad-assness.

24. You’ve jumped off Jockey’s Ridge. (and i have).

it looks like the desert. and a giant mountain of never-ending sand. it doesn’t feel like you’re in nc, but it is the largest sand dune on the east coast and is the most visited park in the NC park system. cool, huh? it’s actually in the same area where the wright brothers had their first flight. and it is amazing to jump off the top, fall into the sand, and just keep rolling all the way down. lina, i promise to take you here!!

25. You have a favorite swimmin’ hole. (and i do).

pick your place. the coast. a creek in the piedmont. or a cold, mountain stream. my favorite spot used to be sliding rock, back when i was a kid, there was no one around. now, the park system has installed bathrooms, parking lots (how on the side of a mtn i don’t know), and there is a line to slide down the rock. so, now i prefer a little hidden place off of highway 215 or in cataloochee valley or in joyce kilmer forest.

26. You know the best time to visit the Grove Park Inn is during gingerbread house time.

this is crazy. i mean crazy. the talent. the goodies. the luxurious grove park inn. it is a must every single holiday season.

27. You know the importance of preferring dark blue over light blue (or vice versa, if you’re sick).

and one of the colors is waaaaay more beautiful than the other…

28. There was a plastic jug of moonshine in your freezer or on your back porch or in your barn.

and, you know, there’s nothing like drinking out of a mason jar. pure class all the way.

29. You know that Cook Out milkshakes are the best. Ever.

and the food? cheap. fast. greasy. tastes like grilled outdoors. deeelicious. 

30. Christmas Town, USA, is the bane of your existence.

you’ve never been to McAdenville to see the christmas lights. it’s too big of a production and the thought of it gives you a panic attack. you have, however, been stuck on I-85 in traffic for hours behind people (probably with florida license plates) trying to get in the town to see it. christmas town, USA, is the worst and you don’t care if that makes you a scrooge.instead, i just put up my own lights display. so there.

31. You were eating Krispy Kreme doughnuts before they got all popular and trendy.

been eating these for as long as i can remember. and, when my parents saw that “hot now” sign lit up, it didn’t (doesn’t) matter what time of day or night, we’d be stoppin’.

32. “Wagon Wheel” will never, ever get old.

ahhhh…. the feeling of home. proud. you’re also territorial about it and don’t appreciate non-north carolinians loving it so much. STOP SINGING THIS AT KARAOKE, GIRL FROM CALIFORNIA.

34. You’ve lived through one, or 2, or 3 hurricanes.

i can’t count the number of hurricanes i’ve experienced. at the coast. in the piedmont. in the mountains. the whole state is just sticking out into the atlantic waiting to be hit. but, being storm chasers and storm shoppers runs in my family. we know how to make it through a storm. and we love doing it. (luckily, we have never suffered any totally destructive damage).

35. You’ve figured out some creative ways to get around blue laws (when you can & cannot buy alcohol) and the lack of happy hour in the state.

36. And even when the state disappoints you, you still ardently defend it.

in may 2012, north carolina passed a marriage amendment which stated that marriage was ONLY between a man and a woman, thereby writing discrimination into it’s state constitution. it’s sick. it’s disappointing. and scary. yet, i still have hope. there are tons of supporters of marriage equality. tons of fighters. and come two months from now, i’m joining the fight. right there on nc soil. marriage equality will come to nc. i believe it.but, no matter what, i love nc. it’s home. it’s my history, including my history with my amazing wife. and now, it’s also our future. it is a beautiful, diverse, sometimes backwards, intelligent, natural, artsy, place to live. here’s to you, north carolina!

yep. i am proud to be a southern, north carolina girl.

* some of the photos and text taken/paraphrased from the buzz feed article. other photos from the internet & pinterest. and the rest of the photos by me!