Makin' it in Memphis

{Life}: What I Wore.

2012-02-12T11:46:00.000-06:00

I thought it would be interesting to do a weeks worth of pictures of "what I wore." I've seen other bloggers do this and never thought to do it myself - as it might seem a bit self-involved. But then I got to thinking... isn't the simple fact of keeping a blog very "self-involved"? And thus this post was born.

I took pictures in our front mirror (with the exception of one photo) over the course of a week:

Top Left: Going to Girly Breakfast Club with my church gals - got the scarf on the streets of Chinatown in San Francisco.

Top Right: On my way to school on a Friday (hence the extra smile). I wear my glasses to school (better to see the children with). Lately I've been eating a greek yogurt on the way to school every morning. Scarf from Macy's (INC), cardigan is Gap, shell (with a ruffle center, if you can't tell) is Land's End.

Bottom Left: Before school on Tuesday, prior to putting on glasses, this was taken about 6:25AM (sleepy eyes). That day I had a student tell me I always look like I'm "walking down the runway", which was a stretch but very sweet. Cardigan is Land's End, shirt is a summer Old Navy steal.

Bottom Middle: Taken before date night with Jake (we're casual - it was pizza). Love that new sweatshirt - comfy but cute. It was a TJMaxx find.

Bottom Right: Dinner for Jake's birthday with the parentals. Scarf was a gift from my bff Beth, jacket was a Christmas present from Jake's siblings.

*My phone cover was a Christmas present and is kate spade (I love it). You can get it from Apple here.

**I found this awesome new app that I used for my collage - Diptic. I used my iphone and then just emailed the picture to myself to use on the blog. I'm obsessed with it now. I'll try to not use it on every post.

In being a frugalista,

{Craft this}: Valentine's Day Wreath Tutorial.

2012-02-11T08:21:00.001-06:00

After I made my Christmas Button Wreath, I decided I was officially obsessed with button wreaths. So, with Valentine's Day just a few days away, what better to make then a Valentine's Day Button Wreath?

Here's how I made it:

You'll need -

Yarn (I used 1/2 a large so you'd probably use all of a smaller roll)
Wreath form (I got a Styrofoam one this time and it worked better than any other)
Ribbon
Assorted buttons
Hot Glue Gun/glue sticks
felt

Steps:
1) Wrap your wreath form with yarn. This is a tedious process - I watched an entire Glee episode and a New Girl episode (side note: love that show). You literally just wrap it around the wreath. With other wreath forms, I've done this twice, doubling up, but I didn't need to on this one.

As you can tell, I had lots of help (oh and there is some Glee!)

Here is my wrapped wreath. You'll want to hot glue the end down to make sure it doesn't unravel.

2) Wrap ribbon on the bottom side of the wreath (I used a semi-transparent ribbon, which gave it that cool effect). Hot glue the ribbon down (don't burn your fingers!)

3) I created a loop at the top for my wreath to hang from. This was sort of impromptu but worked ok. I wrapped ribbon and then looped in more ribbon to create that top loop. Once the loop was in, I glued everything down. It has worked out so far.

4) Then I started adding buttons. I only used the purple and pink ones in the pack (it was much cheaper to buy this variety pack than to buy individual buttons). I laid them out to see where I wanted them. At first I thought I might only put them on the pink ribbon part..

So I glued those down. FUGLY! So I was left to get creative. And that meant adding more buttons.

I was thinking of going sparing on the cream part with the buttons. Still FUGLY!

Much better. But something is still missing...

I hung it on the wall and was really irked by that bare spot with two purples in a row. It really bothered me. Really. So that led to step 5: adding a felt heart. I had all this felt because originally I was going to make polka dots until I realized that I can't cut a straight circle in felt (don't judge - have you ever tried cutting felt with scissors your husband used for things other than crafts ::even though you said not to::?). But I digress.

So here I was, reverting back to my elementary days to remember how to cut a heart:

Luckily, I was a star student in elementary school, so my heart came out ok. With a bit of "stitches" from the sharpie and a touch of glue, we were ready to go. And there you have our Valentine's Day Button Wreath!

Happy Valentine's Day!

In cupid and candy,

{Go there}: Dinstuhl's Fine Candy

2012-02-10T16:56:00.000-06:00

The other day when Jake and I had ventured "way out" to the East Memphis Panera (we don't get out that way much), we popped into one of my favorite Memphis spots: Dinstuhl's Fine Candy store. Definitely a local favorite, this candy store started in Memphis in 1902. Since then, they have grown into three retail locations and are sold in a number of locations, including the Memphis Zoo, the Memphis Airport, and Graceland. It doesn't get more legit than that!

We went to their Laurelwood location, right off Poplar across from Oak Court, and their store was decked out for Valentine's Day. I loved these heart-shaped chocolate pops:

They had tons of red, pink, and white candies - everything from sweet to sour for your sweetie.

I also loved their collection of Memphis items. They had chocolate guitars, chocolate "cotton", little pyramids, and these "Tennessee Bars."

One of the things they are well known for is their case with a large selection of chocolates, creams, covered nuts, crunchies, and chews.

But my personal favorite of Dinstuhl's is their candy orange slice. These things are unbelievable. Imagine one of those sugar orange wedges you get at the grocery store in that package - then multiply that amazingness by 100. No lie. I do love fruity candy.

We decided we couldn't just look - and so Jake got a peanut butter chocolate (he reports - better than Reese's) and I got two orange slices. It was a nice little snack that didn't cost us much at all (less than a $1).

With Valentine's Day coming up, maybe you Memphians better head on over to our local candy extraordinaire, Dinstuhl's Fine Candy.

In sugar and sass,

{Family}: Picture Time with Ellen.

2012-02-08T16:38:00.000-06:00

My good friend Ellen is a photographer. She isn't one of those "oh my friend takes pictures," she's a legit photographer. And she's really good. Ellen has taken pictures of lots of fun things over the years and I've always enjoyed reading about her photography adventures over here at her blog.

For Christmas, Jake and I got Jake's family a session with Ellen. The last pictures they have of everyone (parents included) in one picture are from our wedding. While that wasn't that long ago, I hate that we're the center of the attention there and not the entire family. Prior to that, the last whole family pictures go back even further. So, as someone who values pictures, I decided it would be the perfect Christmas present for them.

We arranged for all the siblings+significant others to be in town on a Saturday in January (right before they all drove down to New Orleans for the National Championship). We tried to coordinate clothes and didn't really follow our own directions but what ended up happening was perfect because we somehow managed to be coordinated without meaning to.

The day was pretty cold and grey, threatening rain the whole time. Ellen totally rolled with it the whole time and was so much fun. I loved how she gave direction but made you feel at ease.

First she took us to the upstairs of Earnestine and Hazel's (which is fun because that is where our engagement party was, plus it used to be a brothel!). We did some different arrangements, some with significant others, some without:

The Whole Crew

Minus Significant Others (non-married ones anyway)...

Girls.

Mom and her boys.

Parents and boys.

Dad and the guys.

Parents with girls.

Parents.

Kids.

Everyone.

Kids.

Colby and Alex.

Then we went outside to this empty lot next door. I loved the exposed brick, the random tile on the ground, and the print on the back wall.

This is my favorite:

After that, we went over to the train station and got a few pictures there.

I love how natural and artsy this one is. She snapped it when they were hanging out.

Walking back to our cars, we got a few fun ones - I love this one in the street.

And this one of Jake and me.

Our last stop was Tom Lee Park. We got some pictures with the Pyramid and the M-Bridge in the background.

I am so pleased with these and think Ellen did such an amazing job. It was so much fun!

In photography and family,

{News}: Big News in the Blogging World.

2012-02-07T17:01:00.001-06:00

Folks, for those of you using Google Reader or another RSS feed, you might want to head over to my real website today...

If you do, you'll notice three things:
1) The layout has changed - I've had a redesign! Thanks to Designer Blogs , I've got a new, fun look that I feel fits my style so well. I've also got four social media buttons now, as well as a new navigation bar.

{If you go to their website, check out their pre-made templates or even their $10 templates - they are a steal and so cute. If you purchase one, mention me as a reference!! I really recommend them, they were so great to work with.}

2) I've changed my title - I've kept "living, learning, loving" but made it a sub-title and my new name of the blog is "Makin' it in Memphis," which I feel represents me and what I do here on this blog perfectly. {shout out to Gracie for that brainstorm session}

and lastly.. this one is big...
3) I've got my own domain! Thanks to a dear, dear friend who believes that everyone should own their a domain, I am the owner of http://www.makinitinmemphis.com and the blogspot address automatically redirects there. Your RSS/Readers will still pick up all of my posts but if you were to go to my old address, it would simply (and quickly - you might not even notice) take you to my new domain. I owe Eric big on this one - from tech support to motivation and courage.

So here's a little visual of the changes:

I love my little corner of the web - this is a great hobby to keep me motivated to enjoy and experience life and also to document all that we do. I appreciate all of the support and the readers that I've gathered since April 2009 when I dipped my toe into the blogging world. Here's to what is to come!

{Craft this}: Bottle Lamp.

2012-02-07T10:30:00.001-06:00

{Guest post brought to you by my mom, transcribed and interjected by me}

Many years ago, we had good friends who all collected wine - we got a 1977 Port from one such friend (for some nice occasion). We drank it finally in 2011 at a choir party. We didn't want to throw the bottle away so we kept it. Jacob (note: my brother) adopted the bottle and decided he wanted it made into a lamp. And thus, this post was born.

To much such a lamp, we first googled how to do so and found the delighful Lil at Lavender Clouds. She detailed perfectly how to make a wine bottle lamp. We followed her directions, found here.

What you'll need:
bottle of choice (or jug)
drill and bit for tile and glass
bottle lamp kit (in lamp repair area of Home Depot)
lamp shade of choice
safety goggles
helpful: someone else to help

What you'll do:
1) Get a towel, safety goggles, and glass of water. You will drill a hole into the bottom of the bottle (the back) - you'll want the water for cooling the drill bit as you go. You'll lay the bottle down and put it on a towel (to hold it better). You'll drill vertically into the bottle near the base, creating a hole for your cord.

2) Once you have your hole, you thread the cord (from the purchased bottle lamp kit) into the hole, feeding it up through the neck. You may want a piece of a wire hanger to guide the wire through the neck. You'll find directions on the lamp bottle kit.

3) Once you have the wire threaded through the neck, you put the stopper on, threading the wire through (the kit has 3 sizes of stoppers - use the one that works for you). Now that you've got the wire through the stopper, you're ready to connect the wire to the socket.

4) The socket screws onto the stopper - there are going to be screws on the side of the socket that the wires attach to. Do that. (Your kit will have directions).

5) Screw in your light bulb and put on your lampshade (if your lampshade has a harp, you'll need an extra piece not found in the kit - that goes on before the socket). Our lampshade was from Lowe's and did not require a harp.

And, ta-da, here is the finished product! Don't you love the green glass illuminated?

My parents delivered the lamp to my brother and he texted me this picture of the lamp "in situ".

My mother reports that this craft was easy and fun - it took my parents 45 minutes to complete. They used the directions combined from the back of the package and Lavender Clouds with success, so reference both when you do your lamp.

So - go craft this!

What I'm loving lately.

2012-02-06T09:30:00.000-06:00

{I'm loving....}

Our Wino Night ritual with my friends (that is Chan hiding in the background of this picture).

My new found obsession with Cuties (and I don't even like regular oranges).

The purged, refreshed, clear feeling you get after you do a major cleaning - last weekend it was the dressing area. All cleaned up for a bit now.

Another new obsession: Greek yogurt (not plain - must have fruit mixed it). Favorite? Pineapple.

My phone cover. Makes me happy whenever I look at it. (and of course my phone too... obsessed).

Figuring out we can order K-cups from Sam's in bulk and saving over $40. This is an 80 cup supply and will last Jake a few weeks.

And apparently I'm loving cardigans (it's true) because as I cleaned up, I realized I had hit the 50 mark for the number I own. Here they are in my wardrobe.

In appreciating life for what it is,

Guest Bedroom: an update and project.

2012-02-05T09:00:00.000-06:00

Goal #3 on my house goal list for this year was to become ineligible for the hit TV series Hoarders by cleaning and decluttering my guest bedroom. Things had gotten pretty intense. I started the declutter process a few weeks ago and quickly realized this was going to be a long-term project. Three hours and several piles of Goodwill clothes later, I had only made a dent. Needless to say, I was left uninspired. I walked out and left it for a few weeks.

Then the other day I was at Gary's Antiques on Central (as I so often am) and spied this enamel top end table. My heart goes pitter-patter for enamel so I took a quick picture of it, thinking I could do another "browser window shopping" posts (like this one!) and moved on. I came home and couldn't stop thinking about that stupid little table.

Needless to say, these pictures show that I came up with some reason to have that table. And that reason? I decided it would be FAB in my guest room. And like that I was pumped once again for some cleaning and organizing.

Here's my end table in its "before" state:

The paint is chipping, the bottoms are dirty, the inside of the drawer is cob-webby, and let's just say this must be a paint experiment gone wrong:

.. and that is why I am so excited to have it! I love little projects. So I'm waiting to paint the legs until I get the room cleared out and painted (I guess that counts as a little motivation). I am pondering paint colors and it really depends on what I end up doing with the room. Right now Rustoleum's Jade and Berry Pink (here) are the winners but we'll see.

I am planning on painting the room a light turquoise and have bought white fabric and pink ruffle trimming to make curtains. Here is the color I picked with the ruffle trim:

The color is SW6212, Quietude - it is a sort of grey turquoise. I painted our back hall the Rainwashed color - it actually is a little blue-er than the picture portrays.

So with some direction, I headed back in to tackle the guest bedroom. Here's what we started with:

After spending some time going through clothes, I had gotten the bed pretty cleared off during my first bout at cleaning:

What you can't see is that the clutter is still there. So this most recent session was spent rearranging the room. It got worse before it got better:

(Much. Worse.)

So I finally rearranged things, putting my new sewing table (on the right, a find from Summer Ave. Antique Warehouse) and my end table in the room. If you look carefully, you can see in the right side of the picture that the wall is a whiter color than the rest of the wall - that used to be a doorway, making the current set up impossible. I gained a lot of space by losing that (and another) doorway.

So now we have a better arranged room that still has too many clothes, too much "crap", and a HUGE dog kennel. But it is getting there.

On another note, when we re-do this room for real, I need to get a different light in there - it is so dark all the time.

But for now, baby steps will do. Progress is progress.

In putting clothes away and donating to Goodwill,

One New Year house goal down: art.

2012-02-04T09:30:00.000-06:00

I blogged my "house goals" for the year back in early January. The first one was to change out the generic IKEA art work in my dining room. Well, as they say, mission accomplished. One goal down. Scratch that off the list.

It involved a little etsy hunting and a little crafting but I took this:

and made it this:

Here's our dining room in full (by the way, the color reads really bright in these pictures, it is more of a straw color...):

So the two switches I made - the first was the three picture frame by the den. I switched it out for this adorable canvas print of San Francisco I found on etsy. I'm pretty obsessed with it. The print is by Laura Amiss and here's her etsy. She does canvas prints (they have felt sewn on!) as well as prints you can frame. I want to grow my collection and have a whole wall of them!!

The other change I made, I blogged about back here. I replaced the IKEA prints in the Ribba frames from IKEA with a map I cut into three pieces. All the details are in the post linked above, but the total cost of the project was about $15, which was the map+tax. Here are the map pieces being cut:

And a close up once on the wall (incidentally, that wall color is actually much closer to what it really is):

And now, the view down the side of the dining room with my unique, individual pieces instead of generic but cute IKEA-stuff.

So there it is. Goal One. Dunzo. So glad to add a bit more character to our house. Both of those choices have meaning - the maps for my profession and the canvas print as a nod to our fun family trip to San Fran. I've been getting big on "intentional decorating" and not just throwing stuff in the house.. I think this is a step in the right direction.

In checking things off the goal list,

A birthday celebration.

2012-02-03T17:17:00.002-06:00

This week has been crazy busy but fun. Part of the reason we've been so busy is because it was this guy's birthday:

On Tuesday, Jake celebrated his 28th birthday (I told him he was officially almost thirty and therefore almost old). We have been celebrating birthday week around here. Saturday night before his birthday we went with Jake's parents and uncles (plus some of their hunting buddies) to the Rendezvous for dinner. Jake loves their ribs (who doesn't?) and it was fun being with family. Monday we had celebratory tacos at our favorite, Las Delicias. (Maybe we just used his birthday as an excuse to gorge ourselves on chips...).

Tuesday (his actual birthday) we started the night by going to Jake's favorite bar, the Flying Saucer. We had dinner (if you haven't eaten their pretzels you totally have to) and hung out. After dinner we walked down to the Forum to watch the Grizzlies play. The game started out a bit boring (we were down the entire time) but thank goodness I tweeted them that it was Jake's birthday because they pulled out a win in overtime. The end of the game was so exciting.

We continued the birthday festivities on Thursday by going to Gus's Fried Chicken downtown with med school people and tonight we're going to dinner with my parents at McEwans. I think Jake can safely say he had a long, well-fed, fun birthday week!

Happy birthday to my guy,

{Anniversary Trip} New Orleans, Cafe du Monde.

2012-01-27T09:30:00.000-06:00

The one place everyone tells you to go when you visit New Orleans is Cafe du Monde in the French Quarter. It is the original coffee house of the French Market and is right across from Jackson Square. We knew we wanted to go but also knew that the lines could be ridiculous so we played it by ear, thinking we'd walk by it at some point and the line would be manageable. Well, that didn't happen on Saturday at all. In fact, the line was longer than I've ever seen it. So we decided to try our luck on the way out of town on Monday.

Lucky for us, that was a great time to go - we didn't even stand in line. When you go to Cafe du Monde, you have to get the beignets. Otherwise, you're missing the whole point of this place. One order is three small beignets (which are essentially doughnuts, but so much better). We split this. Jake got coffee and I got hot chocolate (sugar to go with your order of sugar?):

The place is very efficient. Tables are crammed in, the menu is on the napkin dispenser, and it is cash only, paid when your food arrives.

After filling up on sugar, we left happy and fulfilled. It was a sign that it was ok to head back home to the Land of the Blues.

On the way back to the car, we did make one stop - to get a Christmas ornament for our trip. We have a little tradition of getting an ornament for meaningful things. Jake proposed using a Christmas ornament and we got one on our beach honeymoon (it is a sand dollar painted with a Santa). So these two will add to the collection:

After that, it was all interstate and a bit of Words with Friends action on my part. And of course, we couldn't leave New Orleans without getting some of our favorite chips for the road:

And that's all, folks! Until next time...

In all things Cajun,

{Anniversary Trip} New Orleans, the Napolean House and Pierre Maspero's.

2012-01-26T09:00:00.000-06:00

After a gluttonous afternoon at the Camellia Grill, we trekked back over to the French Quarter to eat more food. After all, we were on vacation. We researched authentic New Orleans cuisine restaurants and were very frustrated by the price tags involved on the top results. As much as I was happy to celebrate three years of marriage with Jake, there was no way I was paying upwards of $100 for a meal celebrating that occasion with him. And that is where Urban Spoon came in with the win yet again. We found a restaurant called Pierre Maspero's that was recommended for their cajun food and the entrees were in the $13-25 range, much better than the $25-50 range we'd been seeing.

So after a nap and a little tv to digest lunch, we walked down to the French Quarter. We stopped on the way to the restaurant at a favorite spot, the Napoleon House. We went there with Jake's parents when we were in town last time and I loved its charm and history. Plus, their signature drink, the Pimms Cup, is delicious.

After a grown-up time spent at the bar of the Napoleon House, we headed across the street to Pierre Maspero's. By this time it was dark and the place had ambience (read: low lighting) and so my pictures are awful but this place was a gem so I wanted to share.

I think a lot of locals turn their nose at this place for being geared at tourists, but for us it was exactly what we wanted - affordable, nice, and good food. I got the night's special, crab cakes over a spinach, artichoke, and potato mixture. Jake got a sampler of three cups, one each of jambalaya, red beans and rice, and gumbo. I tried each and think that I could go back and just order the red beans and rice. It was the best I've ever had.

With the night winding down, we headed home, reflecting on our full weekend of anniversary fun. The next morning, we'd hit up a N'awlins establishment and staple of all tourists before hitting the road for Memphis.

{Anniversary Trip} New Orleans, the Audubon Zoo and Camellia Grill.

2012-01-25T09:00:00.000-06:00

Sunday morning, we woke up and drove down St. Charles to the Audubon Zoo. We are so lucky to have a wonderful zoo in Memphis and so I love visiting zoos in other cities because I have so much fun.

The New Orleans zoo impressed me with its beauty. More of the palm trees found all over the city, very spread out, lots of green spaces, and very clean. This is the main avenue when you walk in:

I always love the flamingos (whose beak is upside down in order to sift food out of silt - learned that in trivia, shout out to Ellen, Chandler, Hayley, Lizzy, and Matthew). Also I read on this zoo trip that flamingos get their coloring from the food that they eat.

We caught a few minutes of a Keeper Chat where one of the zoo workers showed us a tarantula and a snake. Afterwards, we caught the best elephant show ever. The zoo's two Asian elephants did all sorts of tricks and the handlers taught us a lot. I didn't realize that both female and male elephants have tusks. Also an Asian elephant's tusks will only be about 6-8 inches, versus almost 2 feet for African elephants. Who knew?

We walked around to a lot of exhibits - here is a komodo dragon in the process of hatching:

Of course, we saw the giraffes. One of my favorites. These giraffes were very friendly, and this one seemed to pose for our cameras. Here's his Blue Steel:

Love the beaks on these toucans:

After walking around and visiting with the animals, we realized we'd worked up an appetite. We headed down to Camellia Grill, which is a hot spot for the college kids in the neighborhood (Tulane and Loyola are down the street), as well as the locals. We ordered based off of recommendations on Urban Spoon.

When you walk up, there will most times be a line out the front door. Don't be turned off by this - they move very efficiently and quickly. There is no "list," just the line. You wait your turn and when you get to the door, a guy asks how many you have and ushers you to one of the waiting booths along the wall. Once a spot opens for you (the only seating is at the bar, and the dining area is small), he shows you to your stool.

One thing Camellia Grill is known for is their waiters. They are funny, friendly, and fast.

Urban Spoon told us that the Cherry-Chocolate Slush was a must, so we started with one of those. It was essentially a milk shake. There were small chunks of cherry in the shake. I would rank it one of the best milk shakes I've ever had.

I got a bacon cheeseburger and Jake got the Doc Brinker's special (a burger on rye with chili and slaw) and we shared onion rings. All came recommended by Urban Spoon and all were very well received.

One thing I particularly liked were the onion rings. The batter was perfect - not too thick, great taste. The rings almost melted in your mouth.

And with that, I consumed more calories in one sitting than I should have for the weekend. But it was worth it. Next, we spent some time driving around the neighborhood off St. Charles, gawking at beautiful houses and imagining a life where we could buy one of the million dollar plus mansions. We drove past where the Manning brothers went to high school and pretty much just fulfilled the requirement of tourists - driving slow, staring out the window, and being goofy.

Up next, we'd get our genuine New Orleans dinner after much-needed nap at the hotel.

{Anniversary Trip} New Orleans, the Aquarium and Imax.

2012-01-24T08:30:00.000-06:00

Jake and I love animals. Zoos, aquariums, we love them. I visited the New Orleans Aquarium of the Americas in 6th grade on a school field trip and had fond memories of the trip. I knew as soon as we decided to go to New Orleans on our anniversary trip that we'd have to go to the aquarium. It turned out that the best deal for the zoo and aquarium was to buy a pass that included the Imax (and Insectisarium but we did not partake in that one. I don't love insects). So on Saturday afternoon, we took in the aquarium and then headed to the Imax to see Happy Feet 2!

When you go in the aquarium, the first exhibit is the great "underwater" tunnel. There were sting rays, sharks, fish, and more. There was a worker in a scuba outfit feeding the sting-rays, which was cool.

After the tunnel, there were lots of tanks of fish. I spotted Dory and Nemo hanging out together. Glad they are still friends...

I particularly liked the penguins, the sea horses, and the otters. The otters were my favorite actually. Overall, the aquarium was a great stop. The exhibits were nice and I'm sure in the summer when humidity is out of control, it is a great cool stop as well. The only things I didn't like about the aquarium were that the sea otters' tank was so dirty that you couldn't really see into the glass very well (big bummer) and the obnoxious children running around out of control. Now, the aquarium can't control bad parents but they can control their otters' tank.

Even with that in mind, I still loved the aquarium.

Afterwards, we headed over to the Imax. The showing of Happy Feet 2 was in 3-d. Though we really didn't have a choice of what to see (they only show one movie at a time and this was the time that worked for us), I really liked Happy Feet 2. The geography teacher in me nerded out about the whole tie in with environmental issues and melting ice caps. I loved the singing and thought it was just super cute.

By the time we got out of the Imax, it was dark. We walked back to our hotel to catch the end of the Saints game. What an experience watching that in a bar in New Orleans! The bar across the street had it projected onto a wall outside and you knew what was going on as you walked down the street because everywhere people were watching the game so when you heard cheers, you knew it was a good thing. I loved how everyone seemed to have so much pride in their team. We settled in at the hotel bar to watch a crazy end to the game - three touchdowns in three minutes. It didn't end well for the Saints but it sure was fun to watch.

Next, on Sunday we headed out to the Zoo and I fell in love with million dollar houses...

{Anniversary Trip} New Orleans, Lunch at Drago's.

2012-01-23T09:30:00.000-06:00

After walking around all morning (oh how I wish I had turned on my Map My Run app!), we had worked up quite the appetite. While I do not like seafood, I knew that Jake would want to eat as much seafood and New Orleans/Cajun cuisine as possible. We decided to head down the river walk to Drago's to get his oyster fix.

Drago's is in the bottom of the Hilton Hotel. It is a huge restaurant so even though there were lots of people there, we got a table almost immediately. They are known for their oysters, so Jake got an order of them. Being the non-seafood person, I opted for the lunch portion size of the veal with pasta and a caesar salad.

I loved my meal and it was more than enough food. Since we were trying to do this trip without breaking the bank, we decided that lunch would be better for this restaurant, as their entrees have lunch versions that are smaller (and cheaper). If you're doing oysters, this doesn't really matter, but if you're planning a trip to New Orleans and want to go to Drago's, you might look at the menu and see if this would be a good choice for lunch.

Jake's oysters were a hit - and I enjoyed them as well since I took some of his bread and sopped up the butter garlic sauce (..yum).

Other than a less than attentive waiter (I think he was overworked with a party of 12 women in Saint's gear next to us), the restaurant was a great choice. If you're planning on visiting New Orleans, this is worth putting on your list.

After eating lunch, we walked down the river walk to our next stop - the Aquarium.

I even got Jake to agree to a self-portrait picture...

Next, the Aquarium.

{Anniversary Trip} New Orleans, the French Quarter.

2012-01-22T12:00:00.000-06:00

Saturday morning, we woke up and hit the street headed towards the action - the French Quarter. We couldn't have asked for better weather. It was beautiful, clear skies, 65 degrees. Perfect. We took our time, taking in the sights and spending time with each other.

On our way from the hotel, we spotted this cute little farmer's market in the middle of the city. It was set up in a parking lot and we just had to check it out. A little piece of me fell in love with New Orleans in that moment:

After checking out the farmer's market, we kept walking towards the French Quarter. I love how in New Orleans, palm trees are the norm. It just feels so coastal and yet the city is so urban. Love.

We strolled around, looking in windows of shops, talking, and scoping out the area. We walked through the French Market:

... and stopped to get pralines. I love them as a New Orleans treat (too sugary for real life) and Jake had never had one! There were praline shops everywhere. This one was in the French Market. We got two originals, which are the light brown/beige ones at the top of the case.

Then we walked around Jackson Square.

I fell in love with this artist, Laura Franch, who drew these cute little characters. Super silly but so sweet. We ended up getting the one on the bottom right, a crawfish. I'd love to get more of these! If you like them, her email is laura11smee@hotmail.com.

After Jackson Square, we hit Decatur and a more "commercial" area. There was this fabulous mall that had an Anthropologie. Since I'm not one to drive to Germantown much, I never get to gawk there. This, in itself, was a great part of the trip, just dreaming about the goodies.

In Anthro I fell in love with these ceramic berry boxes. I'd love the turquoise and red ones to use as serving pieces in my kitchen or even to put things in on my dressing table like hair bands.

I love rick rack and several of their tea towels had a rick rack trim. I particularly liked the one with the cutlery. That would be an exclusively decoration-purposed tea towel!

I also LOVED these ceramic egg crates. They are supposed to be for your eggs in your fridge (I suppose after you get them from your free range backyard urban chickens that are so hip right now?) but I'd use them for necklaces, rings, and such.

After leaving Anthro, we walked towards our next adventure - lunch!

{Anniversary Trip} New Orleans, the journey to.

2012-01-21T20:24:00.002-06:00

Well, it has been 10 years since Jake and I first started dating and 3 years since we walked down that aisle:

(all photos by Southern Design Studio/Sara Beth Raab)

Married life is fabulous and to celebrate, we took a trip to the Big Easy (thanks goes out to Jake's parentals, who booked a hotel room for our Christmas present and my parentals who forked over the cash for gas). We strategically got married on MLK Jr. weekend, knowing having a long weekend would be nice for anniversaries. So we had three days to spend in New Orleans.

We drove down after work on Friday. Some of our good friends, Hez and Ed, are from Jackson, MS and recommended we eat at this Greek restaurant called Keifer's. So glad we stopped - I fell in love with their feta dressing.

Hez recommended we start with the Pita Mozz, which was pita bread with mozzarella on top, with a side of their feta dressing. We also wanted to try the hummus, so we got some of that as well.

For dinner, we ordered gyros. I've actually never eaten a gyro. These were delicious. I forgot to take a picture so this is mid eating (gross) but I had to share how good they were. I ordered grilled feta on mine (notice a theme?).

Then we hit the road to continue on to New Orleans..

We arrived in New Orleans about 9pm, checked into the hotel (Renaissance Arts Hotel by Marriott) and watched some TV. We made sure to rest up for the big weekend ahead!

As for the hotel, I would absolutely recommend it if you're visiting New Orleans. It was located right across Canal Street from the French Quarter - close enough to walk but far enough away to be able to escape the insanity. The hotel was very nice and we really liked it.

Up ahead... our Saturday full of fun and adventure!

In spending time with my sweetie,

Make this: Taco Soup.

2012-01-14T11:00:00.000-06:00

New year, better eating. More homemade meals, less calories. This is the mantra of a lot of people (me included). After all, we've got to keep ourselves in check after a gluttonous Christmas season (bacon-jalapeno bites, anyone?).

I sifted through my google reader to find a recipe I wanted to make on the cheap and found this Taco Soup recipe from a foodie blog favorite, Our Best Bites. We made it the other night, not realizing that this recipe makes enough for a small army. No, really. It made about 14 servings of soup.

Pros of this recipe - economy, calories (it is a weight watcher, supposedly 4 points of 188 calories per serving), easy to make, and freezes well.

I followed the recipe straight on so follow the link above for details. Here's our results:

Ingredients - diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, corn, kidney beans, taco seasoning, onion, garlic, and beef.

Step One: brown your meat and saute the onions and garlic in with it.

Step Two: Add rest of ingredients and heat, then simmer covered.

Step Three: Serve (toppings optional and worth more calories

And because they are cute, my pups, being sweet to each other.

And now, to eat on that soup for days. And peddle it to friends and family. Seriously - 14 servings.

Fab find: Land's End Ballet Flats.

2012-01-13T10:00:00.000-06:00

For Christmas I got some fab shoes from my parentals. I've been wearing them and love them. I discovered that the line of shoes, Emma Ballet Flats, from Land's End were on sale and so I ordered the luggage tan color (I got the black flannel for Christmas).

If you're looking for a ballet flat that is comfortable, cute, and well-priced, definitely check these out!

(...and I'm not saying that because I'm being asked to - Land's End has no clue who I am, even though I've been a loyal customer since approximately 1985).

In being a frugalista,

An Art Mystery.

2012-01-12T21:13:00.002-06:00

The other day, my mom and I did a run to Gary's Antiques (Cooper at Central for you locals) for a little treasure hunt. If you've never been to Gary's, my mom describes it best - like a mix of American Pickers and Hoarders in a three room small storefront. Strangely, some things are vastly overpriced, while others are completely underpriced. Part of the fun, I suppose. But I digress...

On this particular trip, I was looking in a box of frames and found a little painting of the sea. My mom took a liking to it and we went to the front where the guy (Gary?) sold it to us for $5.00. My mom went to Michael's and got a frame and mounted it inside the frame. She decided to put it in the boys' bathroom at their house (yes, we have a boys and a girls).

Interestingly, the painting is old (the canvas is made with a wood frame) and signed "Stevens." So my mom decided to google the artist and found out that larger paintings of this Stevens character are selling for upwards of $400-$600.

Now the hunt is on to unearth the identity of the artist. We've done thorough google searches - the ebay listings of the Stevens paintings all list the artist as simply "Stevens" (all with the same signature) and the sellers do not know anything about the paintings. So we've got ourselves a little mystery!

In treasure hunting,

Make this: Gorgonzola Spinach Pasta with Chicken.

2012-01-10T10:30:00.000-06:00

Last night, I looked in the fridge trying to figure out what to make based on what was needing to be used. I had gorgonzola cheese and fresh spinach. And with that, a recipe was born.

This is a pasta in cream sauce with spinach and gorgonzola, with shredded chicken mixed in. It was relatively easy to cook (the hard part was getting the cream sauce to thicken without boiling it) and the taste is spot on.

You'll need:
a bigger pasta (rigatoni, large macaroni shells, etc)
1 pint heavy cream
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon rosemary, chopped
2 cups shredded chicken (*we used rotisserie but you could use chicken breast)
1/2 cup gorgonzola cheese

What you'll do:
1) Boil your pasta (throw in some olive oil and salt)
2) Pour the cream into a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add rosemary and garlic and simmer - don't let it boil. Heat until the cream reduces by about half.

3) Once the sauce has reduced, stir in gorgonzola cheese and let the sauce thicken. Once it has thickened enough, add in the spinach and chicken. Flavor with salt and pepper, if desired.

4) Add in the pasta and stir to coat.

And serve!

**This recipe was inspired by one I had pinned on Pinterest, found here.

I'd say this one is a keeper - only 6 ingredients, took 20 minutes to make, and tasted delicious. Try it yourself!

In heavy cream,

A little bit at a time.

2012-01-09T17:00:00.000-06:00

I spent a few hours Sunday working on my guest bedroom. You may remember from my House Goals post that I would like to organize this room. In an effort to hold myself accountable to this, I'm posting my progress. It isn't much... but every little bit works towards a lot in the end.

First I went through all the clothes in my dresser and closet:

I ended up with a nice sized pile - probably one trash bag towards my four bag goal for Goodwill:

I also set aside the real polos and polo v-necks I'd outgrown from college. I've got a favorite student that I'm going to give these to - she'll appreciate them so that makes me happy.

I also folded and put all the clothes on the bed into piles by category (the tallest is my loungewear/pjs - which is what I most wear the most since that was all fresh laundry). I also (finally) unpacked from the beach and washed all those clothes. Yeah, that was a little delayed.

Next step? Putting these away, organizing the clothes in our bedroom and hallway, and then dejunking the room so I can decorate!

In cleanliness,

Easy Potato Soup, take two.

2012-01-08T16:15:00.001-06:00

I blogged here a few weeks ago about an easy and delicious potato soup recipe my friend Chan made for our polish swap party during the holidays. Well the other day I decided to try out the recipe for myself. Since I didn't give the greatest instructions on the last post, I wanted to share those here.

This soup is billed as a Weight Watchers Soup (though I don't follow WW, I do appreciate a good, healthy meal) and I love it because you really only need three ingredients.

You'll need:
1 bag frozen hashbrowns (you'll use about 2/3rds of the bag)
1 packet white country gravy mix
2 cans low-sodium chicken broth

This makes enough for about 6 servings of soup. If you want, you can increase by adding another can of broth, another packet of gravy, and use all the potatoes.

1) Pour 1 whole can and half your other can into your pot, adding the hashbrowns and stirring/mashing as you go. Let this cook on medium high. Occasionally stir.

2) While that is cooking on medium high, prepare your gravy by mixing the rest of the broth and your packet of gravy in a smaller sauce pan.

3) After about ten to fifteen minutes, you'll notice that your potatoes are a soup-y consistency. It is time to stir in the gravy mixture. Let that heat for a few minutes and then you're ready to serve!

*We wanted to add bacon and shredded cheddar cheese so we cooked up several slices of bacon in the skillet. Also you'll notice in the picture below, my masher I used some instead of stirring.

And the final product! We served with a mixed greens salad with almonds and gorgonzola cheese.

In easy and good meals (preferably together),

Halfway there.

2012-01-05T05:00:00.000-06:00

One of my goals for the house was to switch out my generic IKEA art for something more personal. The other day I decided to surf the web for antique/vintage looking maps after seeing this pin on Pinterest. I wound up finding this map on Amazon, a Rand McNally made to look antiqued. I got it for 14$ and it is huge - 50X32.

You may remember that one of my problem areas was the set of three IKEA prints by the dining table:

I took the mats to the IKEA frames (Ribba, if you were wondering) and unrolled my map. I adjusted the mats to where I wanted and marked the cuts.

Then I started cutting away! One down..

And the final product!

I love the combination of colors, how it isn't IKEA-everyone-has-it, and how it relates to my profession. Now to find the perfect piece of art for the other wall....

In pinning and mapping,

Here's to talented friends.

2012-01-04T10:30:00.000-06:00

For Christmas I wanted to give my parents a watercolor picture of their house after seeing some float around on Pinterest. One of my friends, Hayley, is an art teacher and was an art major in college and so I asked her if she could do one for me. She said yes and so I emailed off a picture of my parents' house. A week later, she gave me the finished product and I was floored. Amazed. In love. Hayley surpassed all my expectations.

Here is the watercolor she did (I got the frame at Michael's):

And here's the picture I sent her:

Isn't it amazing? She did such a great job. I think she should open an etsy store and sell her watercolors, prints, and do commissioned paintings. Wouldn't that be perfect? Comment here if you think so - I'm starting a campaign.

In gifts and friends with gifts,

Go there: High Point Pizza.

2012-01-03T11:00:00.000-06:00

I love pizza. Blog about it a lot. I had heard about High Point Pizza before but had never gone since we sort of have our pizza staples (mostly our weekly trip to Garabaldi's). But the other day when my friend Ellen got her new dog Lily, we were visiting in her new house and got the hunger. She lives in High Point so we decided to walk over to High Point Pizza (side note - pedestrian neighborhoods with little strips of business = wonderful).

High Point Pizza is a small little neighborhood spot on (of course) High Point Terrace in East Memphis. Their crust is ridiculous - it has some sort of garlic butter flavoring to it. We got our standard (pepperoni with mushrooms on half) and loved it. Ellen and Matthew got the Cajun Chicken. They report it is very delicious.

I definitely recommend going if you're in Memphis. It only has a few tables but doesn't seem to get too busy so you should be ok. They've got a website (here) and their menu is on there.

In pizza as a part of the food pyramid,

New year, new things to do.

2012-01-02T15:46:00.001-06:00

I'm not one for resolutions, per say, mostly because I'd like to think the proper time to make changes would be the present, not a specific day of the year. BUT I do have some goals for the year for my house. Some of these are attainable, some are "reaches," but it is worth committing to the inter webs to perhaps hold myself accountable.

My "Little Rancher on a Street of Bungalows" House Goals for 2012:
1) Change out the generic IKEA artwork in the dining room:

I loved my IKEA prints when I got them in 2008 and they have served their purpose but I feel like going with something a little more personal now (side note - anyone want the three 11X14 prints on the right or the little herb picture on the far wall?). I've looked around a bit and have some ideas.

2) Make some movement on the front bathroom's redecoration. I want to change out some of the linens (keeping the zebra ones - they are sassy), add a different window treatment, and maybe muster up the courage to paint the vanity and replace the counter. In reality, the trim and ceiling desperately need to be painted too...

3) Back down from hoarder-ville in the mess that is my guest room:

That really is how it looks. I know. I'm ashamed. Short of moving to a new house with a dedicated closet-room (which isn't happening any time soon, though I do dream and pine), I need to get that situation under control. Step one is sorting through all those clothes and sending a minimum of four garbage bags to Goodwill. Step two is putting away the remaining clothes in a logical fashion.

4) Since my guest room will be walkable again, my next goal is to (finally) decorate this room. It is the last one in the house to be done and I figure three years of life here means I should do something with it. I've got the paint color picked, I've got fabric to make curtains, and I've got an idea of color palate, based on these two Pottery Barn Kids prints from the hall:

(this last one is a bit of a stretch but....)
5) I'd like to finally do (some of) the exterior renovations I've been wanting to do (as described here). While painting the brick may be out of the budget, adding posts and taking out the wrought iron would make such a big difference. I'm not sure what our tax refund will look like this year but if it is enough, perhaps Uncle Sam could help a sister out and pay for some upgrades to the front of the house? Because, after all, a porch that has falling brick tiles on it is just not cute. And if/when we do eventually sell the house, we'll HAVE to do something about the exterior anyway.

So there you have my "goals" for our little rancher house. Here's to dreaming big!

In all things 2012,

An End of the Year Top Ten (or three).

2011-12-31T08:00:00.000-06:00

We already did a year in review post for the house on our house-iversary in October (here) so for the end of the 2011, I give you an end of the year top ten. Well. Three. Because that's how I roll.

Top Ten things I'm loving about this house as we are in our third year here:
10) having two bathrooms
9) adding recessed can lighting in the living room (as to see you better)
8) two living spaces (a living room and den, as opposed to one at our old place)
7) a sectional couch (paid for by craig's-listing our old cabinets)
6) the neighborhood it is in (close to the smaller green line and more)
5) my new dressing area
4) laundry closet (with doors to close when it is messy)
3) fenced back yard to throw dogs out in when they are being wild
2) lots of closet and storage space
1) my new kitchen!

and, of course, the fact that Jake is living there with me.

And next, a list of Top Tens for our life this year:
10) I still have a job. And it is rewarding. And it pays. And I'm doing well (per my evaluations)
9) Jake's doing well in medical school - surviving, studying, maintaining sanity
8) getting to do a lot of crafting, a great outlet for me, like these wreaths (here, here, and here)
7) having a great camp season, where we increased enrollment and had a budget in the black/green
6) cooked a lot (here's a few of the recipes) with my main man, one of our hobbies
5) enjoyed doing lots of fun projects on the house, like finishing our kitchen
4) adding a fourth animal to our house (crazy, right?), the cutest puppy, our Harley
3) being featured as a Reader Redesign on Young House Love for my kitchen (!!!)
2) one of my best friends, Brie, got married and other friends, Heather and Rachel, had babies
1) spending tons of time with my family, like our trip to Sewanee, lots of yummy dinners, and a beach trip

and, of course, again, the one that trumps it all was spending time with Jake!

And the last top ten - the top ten most viewed blog posts this year:

1) Kitchen Renovation: The Reveal
2) Kitchen Renovation: Step by Step (ooh baby)
3) Dappled Daschunds and Harlequin Danes
4) Kitchen Renovation: Source List
5) Kitchen Flooring?
6) House Tour: Laundry Closet
7) Dinner for Two
8) The saga and resolution of the Bee's Wax
9) Happy Two Year Anniversary, House!
10) Buffalo Chicken Dip

and a few notes on those -
1) I figured the kitchen would be the top hit, for obvious reasons, and four of the posts are about the kitchen
2) how random that a really really really old post about what kind of dog I want got so many hits? must be the pictures I took off google images
3) that kitchen flooring post is pretty lame and doesn't even feature our floor choice
4) the dinner for two post only has so many hits because it was what was up when we made YHL - getting Carraba's to go isn't that revolutionary
5) I still don't know whether Bee's Wax or Beeswax is the right color after three years
6) now I want that buffalo chicken dip again

In numbered lists,

Make this: Pastrami Wrapped Pickles.

2011-12-30T10:30:00.000-06:00

Two years ago I blogged about making Prosciutto Wrapped Pickles, a recipe I got from one of Jake's mom's neighbors. At the time I was frustrated because they didn't look good (though they tasted awesome) and were very hard to make. So this Christmas when Jake's mom made them for our Christmas Eve gathering, I asked her how she did hers - turns out she used pastrami instead of prosciutto. And so I set out to try it again.

The other night my bff Elise and her bf Nate (get those abbrevs?) came over for a civilized, grown-up, home cooked dinner. She's home for Christmas from Yale where the smarty-pants is in a Master's program. And since I'm bragging, her boyfriend Nate's band Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors (remember, I blogged about them here) were featured on the NBA's Christmas montage this year. Here's the Youtube and here's an article about it.

Well so they came over for a Christmas dinner - we made the Southwestern Skillet Chili that I blogged about a few weeks ago and a simple salad with almonds, gorgonzola cheese, and a olive oil/vinaigrette dressing. Elise brought rolls (from Buntyn's recipe, now sold in Germantown at a ready-made food store - ridiculously good) and we also picked up a bottle of wine. So civilized.

(And I used my Christmas dishes!! Thanks, Mom!!)

So back to the pickles. Elise and I share a love of pickles so I knew that I should make them for our dinner since I've been wanting to re-try my hand at them. And this time? Much easier than last and just as yummy. While I love the taste that the prosciutto gives, the pastrami holds up better and is just as good-tasting.

What you'll need:
Whole pickles (I recommend Claussen or Boar's Head)
Cream Cheese (I'd recommend the block, even though it is a pain to mix, it stays on the pickle better)
Worcestershire sauce
Garlic Salt
Thickly sliced pastrami (several slices, depending on how many pickles you're making)

What you'll do:
1) make your cream cheese mixture. blend the cheese with about a tablespoon of worcestershire sauce (add more to taste) and some shakes of the garlic salt (again, to taste). if you can, let this sit for a bit to "mull"

2) take a pickle out of the jar - dry it with a towel (this is actually sort of important). cut the ends off
3) slab on the cream cheese mixture on the pickle (I use a butter knife)
4) roll up the pickle into the pastrami

5) slice up the pastrami into about inch thick pieces (a serrated knife is best)

Repeat this process until you have as many as you want!

In my two favorite foods - pickles and cheese - being together,

On the Fourth Day of Christmas..

2011-12-29T12:00:00.000-06:00

If I was a good Episcopalian, I'd leave my tree up until Epiphany, as that is when the wise men reached Jesus and is the end of the 12 days of Christmas. But alas, fire codes and trash pick-ups dictate otherwise and so tonight we cleaned up from Christmas. The tree was stripped of its decoration and all the red and green and glitter were stored away for another year.

I'm feeling a bit old and official because this year we purchased two large tubs and two ornament holder boxes so instead of hauling our our ratty u-haul boxes, we'll be pulling out nice looking boxes like real people. Check them out:

Also: 1) how is it that we have this much Christmas decor? and 2) isn't this ornament holder ridiculously awesome? $6 at Big Lots!

Now that the house is all cleared and cleaned up, I like the simplistic look that the New Year brings as I strip all the holiday decor.

Now to keep it that way..

Make this: Beer Cheese Dip.

2011-12-28T16:21:00.000-06:00

The other day I needed to make a dip that was able to be served cold, as I was dropping it off at a friend's house for a gathering later in the day for her family. I knew I wanted to do a cheese based dip and so I was browsing the Kraft website for cream cheese recipes. I decided to do this recipe for a beer cheese dip.

We followed it pretty much to the recipe but doubled it. I've got some recommendations that I'll add at the end as well.

You'll need:
2 packages cream cheese
1/2 cup ranch dressing
2 cups shredded cheese*
1/2 cup beer **
4 green onions, chopped ***

You'll:
1) Beat the cream cheese and dressing in a medium bowl until blended
2) add in the remaining ingredients
3) refrigerate several hours until chilled

And a few notes:
*I really recommend getting a block of cheddar cheese and shredding that. It would make a huge difference in consistency.
**we used a golden ale for this recipe. I think you should really use something that has a bit of flavor to it but not overwhelming (for example, an IPA or a dark ale might sway it too much but a Bud Light wouldn't have any flavor)
***the recipe calls for the green end of the onions but I've found that the white bulb end gives off better flavor so we chopped that end instead

Also, we added cajun seasoning and a bit more beer at the end to give it more flavor. I would taste and go from there once you've mixed.

We served with frito's but Ritz crackers are recommended.

In loving dips,

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-26T14:29:00.000-06:00

The last few days have been blissfully busy. It started on the 23rd with a family expedition to see Annie at Playhouse on the Square and the meeting of Harley's new bff Boston, Brie's chocolate lab puppy. Then Christmas Eve was spent with family, taking Santa pictures, eating lots of food, and going to midnight Christmas Eve service at church. Christmas morning brought lots of presents, a bout of car trouble, and an evening at Jake's Gran's house, and then just like that, it was done.

Christmas is an easy time to lose sight of what you're doing and I love that our Christmas traditions are very methodical and specific in spending time with family and going to church.

And now, for a bit of pictures,

Christmas cheer in the form of old school bows -

Here's Brie's new puppy, Boston, that we met on the 23rd! So cute. He's a 7 week old chocolate lab.

Every year, Jake's family takes a picture with Santa. They have done it since Jake was a baby and his mom has all the pictures that she displays every Christmas. This year we went while Santa was on an hour and a half break (I mean really? on Christmas Eve?) so we just took a picture without Santa.

Jake's mom made lots of yummy food to eat on Christmas Eve, including these amazing pastrami wrapped pickles. I'll surely be making these soon!

Christmas Eve night , Jake and I spent some time at our house just enjoying the tree and each other.

On Christmas morning, we spent some time opening presents but first had to make sure to put baby Jesus in the manger - look, he showed up!

New ballet flat shoes from Land's End from my parentals - much needed (also got two sweaters and a dress from Land's End. Love it).

Much needed casual jacket for rain - my old one was shedding the lining all over everything.

My brother got me a new phone case, also a necessary thing since my other one was broken - so cute!

Also I got two Pyrex pieces, this small mixing bowl and a matching pie plate.

After opening presents at my parents' house, we made breakfast. Here's Ez with our dog Daisy:

Then it was off to Jake's parents for Christmas presents. Jake got a snuggie from his sister for Christmas! I told him he should wear it to the med school:)

We finished the day with dinner at Jake's Gran's house - but didn't quite make it there after running over something on the road and busting a tire. With no spare, we had to get the car towed to the shop and get Jake's dad to pick us up...

But then we were back in business and on the road. After dinner at Gran's, we finally went home. And just in case you thought the pets were left out, I wanted to share this picture of Harley with her new favorite toy that Beth got her, her pig: She loves it.

When we got home, it was time to admire our gifts and think about the people that gave them to us... I got this fab trench from Jake's siblings:

And Jake got me Toms so I can finally join the "cool club"!

And while we love our presents, the best part of this week has been spending time with everyone and enjoying each other's company. After all, that is what is important.

In savoring the days left in Winter Break,

Make this: Dad's Meatballs.

2011-12-22T16:52:00.004-06:00

A few weeks ago, we stopped by my parents before going out to a Christmas party. My dad was trying out a new meatball recipe and I stole a few to taste test....ever since I've been craving them. I decided to try them out for this new, fun wine club I went to Wednesday night. These meatballs can be served on their own like I did or in a pasta dish like my dad did.

I took the recipe and tried to approximate how much of everything I'd need because the original recipe was per meatball and I wanted to just mix everything together at once.

To make these, you'll need:
2/3rds lb ground chuck
2/3rds lb ground pork
large tub Greek yogurt
garlic, minced
basil, minced
parmesan cheese, grated
bread crumbs
salt, pepper

1) mince your garlic and basil (we used about 8 basil leaves and 5 garlic cloves)

2) put your meat in a large mixing bowl, add in about 1/2 cup of greek yogurt (you may add some later if the consistency isn't right), 1/2 cup bread crumbs (again, add more if you want for consistency), parmesan cheese (about 1/4 cup or more), basil and garlic, and salt/pepper (we also added Cavender's Greek Seasoning). Mix together with hands.

3) create mini-meat balls out of the mixture

4) cook in a skillet with heated olive oil

(It helps if you have a cute helper)

And serve!

Makes about 30 meatballs.

In pork AND beef,

Make this: Jalapeño Bacon Bites.

2011-12-21T09:30:00.000-06:00

These guys have been all the rage on Pinterest. And I mean, who doesn't love cheese, bacon, and a little spice? I made the famous jalapeño bacon bites for our polish party the other night and am hooked on this appetizer. Fast, easy, delicious. What more do you need? I got this recipe by modifying a few different ones I found online..

You need:
jalapeños (fresh, however many you want to make, I used 8 to make 16 halves, which made 32 bites)
cream cheese (we used the new cooking kind that is an easier consistency)
bacon
old bay seasoning
garlic powder
onion salt

Steps:
1) Halve your jalapeño (you'll want to cut the stem if it isn't already off) and carve out the seeds and membrane of the pepper (that is the spicy part)

2) Mix your seasoning, garlic powder, and onion salt into your cream cheese (I just sort of dumped evenly, to taste) and stir. Put that mixture into your jalapeño boats.

3) Wrap the bacon around your creation - I found that if you start with the wide end of the bacon and go from there, it works well.

4) Cook on 375 degrees for about 40 minutes (watch them and use judgement - we have a convection oven and that helps a lot).

5) Cut in half and serve hot!

**We cooked these with a cookie sheet that had a broiler pan on top of it so that the cookie sheet caught the grease. Some similar contraption will serve you well or else you'll end up with burned bacon pieces pretty fast.

In liking it spicy and salty,

Make this: Easy Potato Soup

2011-12-20T16:59:00.001-06:00

Gotta love those holidays... parties everywhere and with parties comes food that is bad for you... right? Not necessarily. My bff Chandler threw a fabulous little nail polish swap for a few of our friends the other night. We each brought a nail polish wrapped to play dirty santa with. It was a great time - and what we ate made it even better! It was the only party so far that I haven't felt like slipping into a food coma afterwards. Granted what I made risked that (jalapeño bacon bites - more on that tomorrow) but everything else was great!

Jennifer brought pretzels and hummus (love) and Chandler made a walnut, craisin, and blue cheese salad with an olive oil and vinegar dressing that was delicious. But the main course, the potato soup with toppings bar, is what I'm blogging about. Because it was awesome and awesomely easy. Chan got it from her fabulous friend, Melissa, who got it off the world wide web (gotta love that place):

To make this soup, you need:
a bag of frozen hash browns or other "mashing" potato frozen item
3 cans or two large boxes of chicken broth (although Chandler used stock and it was great)
2 packages white gravy mix

1) Put the potatoes and half the broth into a pot and boil
2) In a smaller pot, mix the rest of the broth and the gravy
3) Once the potato mix is boiling, stir in the gravy mix
4) Serve!

Chandler served with shredded cheese, sour cream, bacon bits, and tortilla strips to top with. It made a delicious and pretty healthy soup (I've been told a cup of it is actually 1 WW point).

After eating, we drew numbers and swapped our polish -

McRae drew first and got this nail polish -

But I stole it with my number 6! Here are some of the girls and our polishes:

And here are my nails once I got home -

In good parties and good friends,

Go there: Memphis Dog Park.

2011-12-19T10:21:00.000-06:00

Since we have a pretty fair-sized back yard, we have never had a reason to take our guys to a dog park. Plus there had never been one close enough and Sebastian doesn't like car rides (and then you get into taking two and not Sebastian and how he would feel to be excluded). But with my brother having a basset now, Oscar, we felt it was time for Oscar to hang out with his own. Knowing that Beamer can be a little territorial of his turf, we figured that common ground was best. Plus there is a Midtown dog park now, just about a 2 minute drive from here, so we were totally there.

It is a pretty big area, fenced, a small dog side and a big dog side. We had trouble deciding if we were small or big (we're short and long but hefty) but the weight limit said over 25 lbs for the big side and since Beamer is about 65lbs, we went with big. There were lots of dogs to play with.

Ezra and his non-girlfriend girl friend brought Oscar along, who had a grand time chasing everyone around the park. Here's Ez, Emily, and Sebastian:

Beamer liked running with the big dogs and made lots of friends, especially if someone would throw him a ball -

They ran and ran and ran. It really tired them out. Here's our girl after playing her little heart out:

They were pooped on the car ride home:

And when we got back, they all passed out asleep!

I definitely recommend taking your four-legged canine friend to the dog park. We met some nice people and wore our dogs out. Way to go Memphis for having a Midtown Dog Park!

In drool and droopy eyes,

Listen: Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors.

2011-12-17T12:50:00.002-06:00

Last night, Jake and I went to an amazing concert at Minglewood. I won two tickets to the Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors show. I just so happen to know one of the "neighbors," my bff's boyfriend, Nate, and had been wanting to go to the show, so it was perfect. I pretty much exclusively listen to DH&N on my pandora station so I'd been geared up for this - I have my favorite songs and everything.

The show was a blast - we had so much fun with our friends (and mid-way through the show, Ellen found out her sister was in labor! so much excitement!). If you haven't listened to Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, you probably should. They are from Memphis, went to UT, and now perform out of Nashville but tour all over the place. They are legit. Drew is the lead singer and his precious wife Ellie sings on a lot of the songs. They are so perfect together - you can just feel their love.

Here are a few of my favorite songs of theirs:

Fire and Dynamite -

Someday -

Live Forever -

Hung the Moon (this one is sung by Ellie) -

Great concert, great people - check them out.

Muddy's Open House.

2011-12-15T18:55:00.002-06:00

I love Muddy's Bake Shop. I'm lucky that they are in East Memphis because I would go entirely too much. Walking in, it just feels like home. Everyone is so happy to work there, it is brightly colored, everything is cute, and it is so yummy.

I don't even like cupcakes or cake in general but I love Muddy's cupcakes. So when they blogged about their holiday open house, I knew I had to go. And, just as yet another reason why we're bffs, my bff Elise told me she wanted to go without me even mentioning it, so we made it a must-do. She was back from Yale (she's smart) that day so it was the kick-off to her holiday break!!

So the Open-House was fabulous. They had samples of their holiday treats fo'free. Free! There were Santa Baby cupcakes (my favorite - chocolate with peppermint icing), Egg Nog cake, Reindeer Cake, and more. They also had taste tests of 4 types of coffee to find one to be their signature coffee. I don't really "do" coffee but we decided on #1. Our coffee expert, Elise's mom, was along and she told us it was the best:

Lots of people came and it was just so much fun -

I definitely recommend Muddy's for your sweet tooth. I'm currently craving some of their peppermint bark - yum.

We left with full hearts and bellies. Good food, good friends, good times.

In cupcakes and cheer,

The reason for the season.

2011-12-14T10:04:00.001-06:00

I've decided that holidays can completely bum you out in that period between your own childhood and your children's childhood (my future, hypothetical, completely non-produced children, for the record). See, when you're a kid you're oblivious to the money side of Christmas. You're oblivious to the stress of balancing obligations, to the stress of pleasing people. Once you grow up, you also lose a lot of the purpose of the holidays... you're not big on Santa, you don't get so excited you can't sleep waiting for Christmas. It becomes a bit of a let down. I've found it hard these past years to really get geared up for Christmas. I've been assured that once (in 5-10 years) I have kids (if I figure out how to tolerate them long enough to live with them), the "magic" will return because you're creating it for your own, but right now, I'm sort of in that valley of holiday life, between two peaks.

And yet I think what I'm experiencing is actually the setting in of what Christmas is really about. The other day I was out shopping and saw people frantically buying, spending, blowing cash. Right now money isn't plentiful for us and I guess that perspective makes me feel sick about just mindlessly spending money. Also, I see people spending so much time decorating, going to parties, and emphasizing Santa. I feel frustrated because I think about what Christmas is supposed to be about and I don't see it in our society.

And yet I understand about spending money, about shopping, about the gift giving part of the holiday - because when I'm carefully selecting what to get my loved ones for Christmas, I feel intentional about celebrating the season - I'm thinking about why I love them and appreciate them.

To make myself "gear up" for Christmas, I'm trying to slow down, appreciate the time spent with loved ones, focus on celebrating Advent (the season of waiting) and THEN Christmas, and trying to reconcile my spiritual world with a world that is so materialistic that it seems there is no place for Jesus in Christmas.

I saw these ornaments today and fell in love with them (but not their price tag). I love them because they represent bridging that gap - I can have the Christmas tree, the presents, the holiday cheer of secular Christmas songs, and still remember WHY we are doing all of this:

These ornaments are a part of a set of 8 that tell the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke. They are from this cute gift company called Coton Colors.

Things like those ornaments and my cute nativity scene my parents gave me for Christmas last year keep me focused during this season that can become a frenzy. What I hope to do is slow down, wait, enjoy my experience, stop stressing about money and time and obligations, and just be.

Pinspiration: Merry Mail.

2011-12-12T10:30:00.000-06:00

Yet again, another post about Pinterest. I love Pinterest. The latest thing I've pinned and subsequently made was a card holder for Christmas Cards. I saw this picture/link on Pinterest:

I followed the link and it turns out these signs are made (coincidentally) by a set of moms in Memphis (small world!). They have a site called Two Chics where they sell frames, art, and crafts.

When I saw this pin, I knew I had to try my hand at it. Here is my version.

Supplies - Wooden plaque, paint (green/red/glitter), paint pens, clothespins, ribbon, sponge brush, and round sponge brush pack (all from Michael's)

Painting step - several coats of paint needed. Also painted the tops of the clothespins.

After painting and letting it dry, I drew on the "Merry Mail" in paint pen and put the red dots on with the round sponge brush. I had never used the round sponge brush before and I'm hooked. It made perfect circles. You need to dab down and twist just a little to get definition.

Then I added gold lettering around the words, circles, and edge.

And last, I added my ribbon. I did ribbon instead of fabric like they did just because it is what I had. I did five strips at the bottom and a piece to hold it on the wall at the top:

It hangs in the dining room, which is visible from the living room and front door - so we can look at the fun cards all season!

It was fun to make and I like it a lot - but if I was doing it again, I'd definitely use a longer wooden piece (Michael's was flat out of them yesterday, as well as a lot of other things) and make the strips longer. I'm wondering what this will look like once we get more than three Christmas cards!

In crafting and Christmas,

Decking the Halls.

2011-12-11T15:00:00.001-06:00

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here. Friday night we had quite the holly and jolly night - we picked out our Christmas tree, set it up, went to see my parents' tree, went to see Ellen's tree and new house, and then went to the Sequoia Christmas Crawl. Quite a night!

Jake with our tree at the lot -

Getting it ready to load up -

Set up and waiting for decor -

Jake's parents' tree during the Christmas Crawl -

Saturday night was spent decorating our place. Here's our blank slate to start with:

We've started a little tradition between the two of us of blocking off a full night to decorate and spend time together. We pull down all the decorations, put on Christmas music, pick up a pizza, and just spend time enjoying each other's company. This year's pizza was from Broadway Pizza:

We set up our nativity I got last year from the parentals. I love it - notice that the Wise Men are still on their journey and aren't at the manger scene yet. If I was a better Episcopalian, they'd actually be across the room but I worried about the dogs eating the wise men.

But I did hide Baby Jesus. He'll hide until the 25th. Then he'll stay out through the 12 Days of Christmas (Dec 25th-Jan 5th) and then the Wise Men will show up on January 6th, Epiphany (the day the Wise Men made it to the scene). Here's Jesus hiding in the mail:

I put out my little felt runner and candle holder for the dining table:

And our countdown calendar (I would say Advent Calendar but it starts with Dec. 1 and Advent started in November this year):

I also put up my new Christmas wreath:

Here's the main focal point - the tree and mantle:

Here's our mantle - it has our two stockings and then two for the dogs/cat (they have to share). We bought a nutcracker this year that has the year on it and decided we want to add one nutcracker a year to the collection, picking it out together at the beginning of the Christmas season.

You can barely see them, but I hung up ornaments in the window too, plus Jake put up the Christmas lights outside:

It is Harley's first Christmas and she's not quite sure what to do with herself:

After decorating, we spent some time sitting in the living room hanging out and enjoying the decoration:

(I think we wore her out!)

So there's our decorations! Looks like we have decked the halls. Now to wait and prepare for Christmas... Happy Advent! Try not to get too wrapped up in the hustle and bustle.

In tinsel and sparkles,

{Craft this}: Christmas button wreath.

2011-12-10T10:54:00.002-06:00

I love wreaths - making them, putting them on doors. I've made several - a yarn one and then a grape vine one with rosettes a few weeks back. And I was getting the itch again. I had an available wreath form (the straw kind wrapped in plastic = cheap but don't remove the plastic!!) and some pillow-making supplies that never became their intended holiday pillow on hand and... as they say, the rest is history.

With my helpful pups by my side, I began working on it -

First I took my green fabric and cut it into about 3 inch wide strips. I wrapped that around the form, adding more fabric as I went (think mummy wrapping. very similar). Then I glued the ends on the wreath and went about making my bow. I took another fabric, cut it into a 3 inch strip, and tied it into a bow around the top. I was left with this:

I was actually pretty pleased with it but felt it was missing something. It could have stood as is but was just not outlandish enough for the holidays. After some careful thought and some playing with pups, I came up with a solution - buttons.

I had a huge pack of red and green assorted buttons from said pillow project of years past. And so I laid out all the buttons and arranged them on the wreath. I didn't glue them until they were all where I wanted because I did shift them around quite a bit.

The hardest part of this whole project was probably the hot glue. I've always had a low heat hot glue gun because I'm not the most graceful and coordinated person. I invested recently in a high heat gun (it really does make a difference for crafting) and so as I was on the phone with my bff Beth in the ATL, I was cussing every so often as I burned my fingers. Let's just say I might be able to get away with some crimes because I probably burned my fingerprints off.

But the end result was worth it. Here she is in all her glory. Side note - I did hot glue the ends of the bow to the sides of the wreath so they stay perfect all the time. Tricky Tricky!

What do you think?

In buttons, bows, and burns,

Make this: Southwestern Skillet Chicken Chili.

2011-12-08T11:00:00.000-06:00

I love Pinterest. Love. I have a whole board of just recipes that I've pinned to make sometime. And I finally actually made one! I found this recipe for Southwestern Skillet Chicken Chili last week on there from the blog Picky Palate and knew immediately we needed to make it.

We didn't mean to but actually ended up making a few changes to the recipe that ended up being great - made it less of a pasta dish and more of a soup, which was appreciated with the wet, cold weather we've been having.

Our ingredients:

8 ounces wagon wheel pasta noodles*

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 cup finely chopped white onion

1/2 cup finely chopped sweet peppers (or bell peppers)**

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 cups cooked shredded chicken breast

1o ounce can Rotel diced tomatoes, mild

1 1/2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup corn, fresh or canned

1/2 cup white beans, drained and rinsed

1 Tablespoon chili powder

1 Tablespoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dry Ranch seasoning from packet

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

*We couldn't find wagon wheel pasta in our sorry excuse for a Kroger so we used Christmas pasta from TJ Maxx
** I don't like peppers so we omitted those.

The recipe calls to be made in a skillet so we got out my skillet, passed down from my mom:

But then we quickly realize since we messed up the recipe (well I messed up the recipe), we'd need a bigger pot so I got out our dutch oven:

The end product was delicious, filling, and there were LOTS of leftovers. Definitely a keeper:

(sorry about the cat butt - Tyson does what he wants)

So here's how you make this - and what we did differently:

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and run under cool water to stop cooking.
2. Heat oil in 9 inch cast iron skillet, add onions and peppers, stirring until softened about 5 minutes (we omitted peppers)
3. Add garlic and cook, stirring for 1 minute. (we used a lot more garlic than called for)
4. Add chicken, tomatoes, broth, corn, beans, pasta, chili powder, cumin, Ranch seasoning, and cilantro. Stir until well combined, reduce heat to low and simmer until ready to serve. (we used entire can of broth, beans, and corn, we used the whole packet of ranch seasoning)

In chili and fun pasta shapes,

Oh, just life!

2011-12-07T15:46:00.001-06:00

So there's this commercial that came on during the SEC Championship game for Home Depot. It said "you've still got time to get your holiday shopping done!" and talked about "last minute deals." While I'm savvy enough to know this was a marketing ploy, it both upset and scared me. Because I'm not in Christmas mode at all and am not ready to be.

To me, Christmas season starts the week of semester exams for my kids. There's something about the excitement of changing up the schedule and the buzz of a promise of a break looming that gets me going. Maybe it reminds me of semester exams in college, which signaled I could make the journey homeward bound?

Anyway. Nonetheless, the marketing scheme worked because the next day, Jake and I hit the road to the mall to do some shopping.

The carousel at Wolfchase is always a pleasant sign of good times to come!

Stopped and visited a bit with my friend, Biebs.

After some scores at the mall, we crossed the street to TJ Maxx - got some goodies there too for some people and spied these awesome chairs. We got our Lane club chair recliner at TJ - seems they have even more fun chairs!

Then we came home and had to get ready for a new week of school...This week has been a lot of this:

And this:

At least I have cute pets to help me out!

And then today, we got our SECOND snow of the season! Not enough to get out of school but still pretty. Memphis doesn't see this on our iPhones very much:

The view from my classroom:

And this was my room, 5 minutes before the bell... I ended up missing about 5-7 per class, which actually is a lot less than expected.

Now, on to a little fun with good friends before bell choir:

In staying warm on cold, wet days,

Life lately with pets.

2011-12-06T10:30:00.000-06:00

My girl is getting sweeter and bigger every day. We had some q-time the other night while Jake was at a dinner for med school:

Meanwhile, Beamer took it upon himself to take a pillow from the couch and get comfortable on the chair:

Another Harley pic:

Sebastian always sits on top of the couch watching dogs and people walk by, occasionally barking to alert us, and it seems he has taught the little one to do the same thing. I love that she is sitting on a pillow - she loves pillows.

You may notice a theme with Beamer's pictures. He sleeps a lot. This particular day was the morning after a big night for Beamer. We came home to an empty box of Milano cookies on the floor - no packing to be found anywhere. He was sick the whole night.

So we did a lot of sleeping and lounging around - Ty included:

But also set out on a mission to find the missing Milanos. We don't really know how many he ate because we haven't found the packaging for any except these three, which were found wedged behind the bed, buried in the laundry, and in Jake's closet under some polo shirts:

Again with Harley and the pillows. The couch isn't good enough, she had to pull pillows down to sit on:

And last, a picture of Sebastian - he loves to be up in people's face.. all the time. We captured it:

In furry friends making me smile,

Buffalo Chicken Dip.

2011-12-05T13:30:00.000-06:00

As mentioned in my post yesterday, I went to this fabulous ornament party where we had lots of fun and laughed a lot. I took two dips and today I'm going to share the second of them, the buffalo chicken dip.

I've eaten this dip at a lot of places and it is a favorite of mine. This particular recipe was found after some serious inter webs trolling on Taste of Home's website. You'll see a lot of people use blue cheese in the dip but since that is a particular taste and not everyone's favorite, I felt it wasn't a good choice for a big party.

Here's the original recipe: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Creamy-Buffalo-Chicken-Dip

And here's my results!

Ingredients (for both dips - don't worry, this doesn't have bacon):

The Dip! (on the left):

And a few notes - we used real chicken, cooked and shredded, because canned chicken kind of freaks me out. This worked fine but in the future not only would I shred it, but chop it into small pieces. The only downside about the shredded chicken pieces is it made it difficult to eat as a dip. Also, I used Frank's hot sauce. I definitely recommend it for authentic buffalo flavor.

The dip was a hit and a lot of people asked for the recipe, so here it is!

Buffalo Chicken Dip:

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 cup Louisiana-style hot sauce
1 cup ranch salad dressing
3 cans (4-1/2 ounces each) chunk white chicken, drained and shredded
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
Corn or tortilla chips
Thinly sliced green onions, optional

Directions

In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, hot pepper sauce and salad dressing. Stir in chicken.
Spread into an ungreased 11-in. x 7-in. baking dish. Sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 20-22 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with green onions if desired. Serve with chips.

In all things hot and spicy,

Ornament Party and the Hot Bacon Swiss Dip

2011-12-04T12:09:00.001-06:00

Every year my friend Robyn hosts this awesome ornament party. About 35 women from all parts of her life (her Little Rock days, wine club, book club, church, college, etc) get together and bring an ornament to do a dirty santa type exchange. To say it gets heated and competitive would be an understatement. These ladies are hilarious.

The rules are simple - bring a wrapped ornament and bring a dish to share. This year I decided to bring a dip someone brought to the bridal shower I hosted for Brie that was a hot bacon swiss dip. I got the recipe from Heather, who put together the booklet of dip recipes that we gave out as a favor, so I have no clue whose recipe it is but I just had to share because it was delicious.

The party itself, like the dip, did not disappoint:

Here's my ornaments, wrapped and ready to go -

The pile o' gifts -

The hostess with the mostess, Robyn -

Good company - my partner in crime for the night, Brittain -

So there are three categories of ornaments usually: really cute (like the fuzzy animals or the cupcake ornament), pretty (glass balls, etc), and flat out funny/strange. The following was one of the prized ornaments of the night, the "tiger balls" that were glittered orange balls with black tiger stripes. Elizabeth models them well -

Another thing about the ornament party is that the way it is played, you get a number and go in order - so you can either pick an ornament to unwrap or you can steal an ornament. Poor Ellen got stolen from so many times we lost count at 8. Here she is with the eco-friendly recycled material angels (note her fabulous bow, taken from a prior ornaments packaging).

And moments later, here she is being stolen from yet again. She got to open lots of presents that night!

In the end, my strategy worked. I stole a beautiful pearl and sparkle round ball ornament for my turn. I would have been very happy with it, but did have a back-up plan. And I'm glad I did because the very last person went straight for my ornament and so I got to get my back up ornament, this "Joy" door hanger (and was guaranteed no one would steal it since an ornament can only be stolen once per round and this was the last round!).

Another interesting thing about this party was the serve-ware. Robyn got these great plates that were perfect for the party - it had a cup holder (that actually kept the cup stable) and two slits for a fork and spoon. It was genius - I've been to so many parties where you are juggling everything in the buffet line.

And now, about that dip - I made two dips and will blog about the buffalo chicken dip tomorrow, but first, the Hot Bacon Swiss Dip.

The ingredients all laid out (for both dips):

And the result (on the right):

I served it in my snowflake pyrex dish that has two parts - I baked the dip in the left side and then loaded Fritos into the right side. Love that dish!

The recipe:

Hot Bacon Swiss Dip

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 cup grated Swiss cheese
2 Tablespoons chopped green onions*
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/2 cup crushed Ritz crackers

Soften cream cheese in a mixing bowl. Add mayonnaise, Swiss cheese and green onions; mix well.
Transfer to a baking dish. Top with bacon and crackers. Bake at 350˚ for 15 to 20 minutes or until bubbly.
Serves 8 to 10. Recipe can be easily doubled.

*I used the onion end of the green onions, not the green end.

In ornaments and friends,

Make this: Dad's Bolognese Spaghetti.

2011-12-02T09:00:00.000-06:00

My dad is an incredible chef. I love almost everything he makes and this bolognese sauce is no exception. I love a good meal at home. Isn't there something comforting about eating dinner with family?

I snagged a picture of his recipe for the bolognese sauce - printed from an online recipe site, it appears (not the newspaper one, but the one behind it):

The recipe, taken from All Recipes.com

Ingredients -
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 large onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 carrots, shredded
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 (28 ounce) can Italian plum tomatoes
6 ounces tomato sauce
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1 pound pasta

Instructions -
1. In a large skillet, warm oil over medium heat and sauté bacon, onion, and garlic until bacon is browned and crisp, set aside
2. In a large saucepan, brown beef and pork. Drain excess fat. Stir in bacon mixture, mushrooms, carrots, celery, tomatoes, tomato sauce, wine, stock, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper to saucepan. Cover, reduce heat and simmer one hour, stirring occasionally.
3. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8-10 minutes or until al dente, drain.
4. Serve sauce over hot pasta.

Makes about 10 servings

Here's the result:

Delicious. Already craving it again. Well done, pops!

In pasta and bread,

Recipe Update: Potato Sausage Pizza.

2011-12-01T08:30:00.000-06:00

Friday night last week we had Jake's family over for dinner. His parents and sisters came over (Josh was missing - something about a little football game he had to watch versus Arkansas?) and we made four different pizzas. I've raved about the Fresh Market frozen pizza doughs, so of course we stopped by FM to get some dough and ingredients. Here's they are:

We made a margherita pizza, a sausage/pepperoni/mushroom/garlic pizza, a pepperoni and pepperoncini pizza, and my favorite - the potato sausage pizza. People are always scared of that one and then love it when they eat it. I wanted to share the recipe again since the first time I didn't document well.

Side note - I'm in love with my kitchen (which is a good thing considering the time/money). We spread everything out on the island and were able to cook and talk at the same time.

Part of the process was prepping everything. To make it easier/faster, we cut/chopped/pealed everything before they came over. In this picture, the potatoes for the potato pizza are thinly sliced and sitting soaking in olive oil in the little dish in the back:

And so here are our results. I didn't get a chance to document the full pizzas of the second set because they were gone before I could get a picture, but that lets you know they were GOOD.

So now for the recipe for the potato sausage pizza. Last time we made it, I blogged about it very poorly here. And so hopefully this one is better.

You'll need:

pizza dough
potatoes (we used small Yukon Golds this time and that worked well - they need to be thinly sliced)
sausage (Italian is best - you'll ground it/cook it prior to putting it on the pizza)
mozzarella (fresh please, in balls)
tomato sauce/pizza sauce
garlic (minced)
spices (red pepper flakes, italian seasoning, salt, pepper)
Cavender's Greek Seasoning*

*we used this for the first time on the pizza this most recent time and I really think it was a game changer. Can be found on the spice aisle

You'll assemble your pizza by
1) laying out your dough - with the Fresh Market dough, I roll it in flour, flatten it out, then brush with olive oil and put parmesan cheese on it
2) spoon out your pizza sauce. we usually just use tomato sauce for this
3) lay out toppings - potatoes, sausage, mozzarella, garlic
4) add seasonings - red pepper flakes, italian seasoning, salt, pepper, Cavender's Greek
5) cook according to dough directions

Enjoy!

Go there: Gus's Fried Chicken.

2011-11-30T09:00:00.000-06:00

When you ask someone where you should eat in Memphis - the stereotypical "Memphis" establishments, most times you're going to get a bar-b-que reference of some sort (Central? Interstate? Neely's? BBQ Shop? Cozy Corner?) and a shout out to Gus's Fried Chicken.

Gus's recently opened an East Memphis branch of their empire and so Thanksgiving weekend made for a good excuse to go visit. Gus's is known for its fried chicken being rather spicy and crunchy. Personally, I go with the tenders because of my eating-things-on-the-bone complex, but Jake got the plate. We also opted for fried pickles because I happen to be obsessed:

Definitely not an every day kind of meal, but a great place to visit with out-of-town friends or go on a fun destination night out. For fried chicken, Gus's is the place to go!

In fried pickles,

Browser Window Shopping: Summer Avenue Antique Mall.

2011-11-29T09:00:00.000-06:00

I love to share my treasure finds with you all. Last week, Jake and I went to one of my favorite treasure spots, Summer Avenue Antique Mall, (on Summer Avenue, if you couldn't guess). I snapped a few pictures of fun finds to share.

One of the first booths we saw always is a go-to for Pyrex and vintage finds. It had this great cherry red Pyrex mixing bowl and pie plate. I don't have that size bowl or a pie plate so those would be lovely under a certain Christmas tree.

A few booths down, there was this Pyrex serving piece. I might have a casserole this size already but had to share this anyway - isn't the server set up neat?

In the back we spied this awesome desk. I don't think we'd have anywhere for it in our house but it didn't stop me from lusting after it for someone else. I think it is just super cool, especially in a hallway or other kind of makeshift office spaces.

And, of course, I couldn't help but share these bowls of my favorite Pyrex print. The whole side section of this store is retro/vintage classic in perfection and is always fun:

Vintage Lily, anyone? This one is a size 10 and in great condition.

In the more cluttered part of the store, I spied this doll house. It is a complete house with furniture and dolls. I would have DIED when I was younger (who am I kidding, I still want it).

The last area we came across was this fabulous retro set-up. In another house and decor setting, I could totally rock this turquoise couch. You can barely see, but there were orange side chairs with it too. Love it.

Thank goodness for the ability to pretend shop by taking pictures because otherwise I would have bought more than I needed to - I fell in love with so many things.

In antiques, vintage finds, and retro fun,

Go there: A-Tan.

2011-11-28T14:20:00.000-06:00

A-Tan is an East Memphis (Midtown? U of M area?) restaurant that specializes in three distinct things, depending on where you sit - you can have hibachi at the family style tables, sushi, and/or Chinese fare. We've been going there for Chinese food since I was little and more recently added both sushi and the hibachi to our routine.

The reason for this post, though, is to spread the news of the Happy Hour sushi specials they have during the week. The other day we needed a quick, healthy meal out that was cheap and this was our solution:

Their Happy Hour for sushi has a limited menu but there were plenty of options:

Happy Hour is 5-7pm (and 11-1pm for lunch) on Monday through Thursday. Nigiri is $2.00 and Rolls are $3.00. It is a great deal - definitely worth trying out.

I didn't opt for sushi but instead got my favorites - the dumpling appetizer and the stir-fried garlic green beans:

Both are great choices for the non-sushi crowd. The atmosphere in A-Tan is casual but refined. Could be a good go-to for a week night but can be classed up if you want a fun dinner out (like hibachi for a birthday!):

A-Tan is located across from Poplar Plaza behind the Perkins in a little strip mall. It is family owned and a lot of times you can see the owner running the show. I definitely recommend checking it out, whether for the sushi happy hour or for a general dinner time visit.

In white rice and soy sauce,

Wreath Tutorial.

2011-11-27T13:19:00.001-06:00

I love being a little crafty - it really lifts up my spirits to see the fruits of my efforts in front of me. I fell in love with felt wreaths and figured I could try my hand at those. The first one was for baby Gwin and was a yarn wreath.

To make a yarn wreath, you buy a wreath form (the ones I got at the craft store were straw and I kept them in their plastic and wrapped the yarn over the plastic). I used an entire roll of yarn on this one wreath - I wrapped it twice but wrapped it very tightly. Some people recommend three wraps. You can see in this picture below what the process is and why you need two layers - there will be gaps.

So the process of wrapping your wreath itself isn't too difficult but I did have several people ask how to do the felt rosettes so I have a little tutorial below for that. I wanted to make a different kind of wreath this time, so I got a wooden grapevine wreath and green and cream felt.

You take the felt and cut it into a small square (smaller for a small rosette, bigger for a bigger one):

It helps to have sweet animals as helpers:

From the square, you cut the edges off the felt to make a circle and then begin cutting a spiral into the circle:

Once you are done cutting your spiral, leave the end a small circle - this will be your base for the rosette:

(this particular rosette wasn't very good - I didn't cut off the edges and so I had to trim that entire last piece)

Next, starting at the skinny end, start rolling the spiral up to form the rosette.

You'll want to have your hot glue gun heating up this whole time because now you are going to hot glue the base to the rosette (this holds the whole thing together):

You'll continue this process, making yourself a little stash of rosettes (it goes faster the better you get):

Once you've got a lot of the rosettes, you can start experimenting with positioning. In this situation, I tried one positioning and decided it was ugly and so I had to make about 8 more rosettes:

After a bit more crafting, I came up with my final product - well worth the $10 spent and hour of time:

Now go make your own felt wreath!!

In creating things,

Thankful.

2011-11-24T20:32:00.001-06:00

After a drive, a huge lunch with family, another drive, another dinner with family, and lots of laughter, we're back home tonight. As I sit here with my man next to me (me on facebook/google reader, him on xbox - it is all about indulgences of choice, right?), I just have to think about how thankful I am for what we have.

Thankful for a house that is safe, clean, cute, and happy:

Thankful that we finally unearthed the dining table from all of that clutter:

Thankful that we were able to renovate our kitchen and remain sane, all with the help of family, friends, and the government's money (holla at your homebuyer's tax credit!):

And most of all, thankful for the three dogs, one cat, and one guy that I share this place with:

Here's to one of only a few days a year when being cheesy and corny is truly accepted. Until next time, I'm thankful and content.

Etsy Spotlight: Hoopdaloop

2011-11-23T10:00:00.000-06:00

I love etsy. Crafts? Shopping? Cute things? I'm in.

I found this site (which, disclaimer, is one of my friend's etsy sites), and fell in love with everything. Hoop da loop is an etsy shop that sells "whimsical wedding shower and party decorations" but she has so much more too! She's got paper goods, cute embellished bobby pins, and more.

I'm loving everything, but in particular...

Paper Garland

Custom Invitations

Gift Tags

Vintage Bobby Pins

Isn't Allison's shop just the cutest thing ever? And on top of that, she is legit - she makes a lot of sales (I'm not surprised!) and runs a very effective business. She sells party packs with paper garland, cupcake toppers, invitations, and confetti that coordinate - I think that is just super smart.

You should definitely check out hoop da loop!

In crafting,

Unpacking (still?).

2011-11-22T11:00:00.000-06:00

We've lived in our house for two years now. And yet I still have things in my room at my parents (henceforth known as my room, not the guest room my mother intends for it to be). She keeps forcing "stuff" on me, even though our house here is very full.

The latest box she bribed me into taking was filled with dishes. See, I'm that college kid that was out buying cute vintage dishware at Goodwill while all the other kids were sleeping off their hangover. I found this set of yellow dishes at Knoxville's Goodwill and bought them for the "someday" to come:

I also unboxed my green glasses set from my Grandmother. I've had these in the attic waiting on me until I had my own house and I'm pretty excited that they are now on display in my new cabinets:

So I guess unpacking those boxes wasn't a bust after all... but really - I'm running out of room!

Soup for the Soul (and throat).

2011-11-21T17:19:00.001-06:00

About this time every year, I get a sore throat/allergy/sinus mess thing going on. This hit me about Wednesday of last week and so I was feeling under the proverbial weather.

When this kind of nasal event occurs, I love soup. It is soothing on my throat and easy to eat. Now I have not hidden my unabashed love for Las Delicias on Park at Getwell. I've blogged about it before here. What I didn't realize then was not only are their tacos ridiculous, but their Aztec soup is crave-able.

So, for all you Memphian sore-throat-sinus-ers, check out the Aztec soup at Las Delicias. It is a broth based chicken soup with onion, garbanzo beans, cilantro, avocado, and rice. It won't disappoint.

In rice and cilantro,

Sewanee trip.

2011-11-18T09:00:00.000-06:00

Two weekends ago, my family spent the weekend in one of my favorite places in the world - Monteagle/Sewanee. My dad's birthday was November 8th (hi dad! love you!) and so we assembled my brothers from Knoxville, their "friends that are girls", and ourselves on the Mountain.

We got in late Friday after a bit of traffic and had a dinner at Papa Ron's in Monteagle before heading to bed to get ready for a big day of hiking the next day.

The next morning started with Waffle House - a must on the Mountain and also a family tradition for any road trip:

After filling ourselves with grease, we hit one of my favorite hikes, Fiery Gizzard in the South Cumberland State Park:

(Jake and Ez)

(Blue Hole)

(Giant leaves everywhere)

(rare photo appearance from Jacob)

(couple moment on the hike)

(young people on the hike)

(leaves were beautiful)

(my parentals)

After the hike, a natural stop was the famous Dutch Maid Bakery for cookies. Dutch Maid is in Tracy City and is delicious.

After filling up on sugar, we hit the road for the second hike of the day, Stone Door. The drive to Stone Door was particularly pretty:

The hike itself leads to an overlook and then a "stone door", hence the name. Here's the overlook:

And the "door" -

We hit up my favorite Mexican, Mi Casa, for dinner before settling into the hotel room to watch LSU win over Bama (geaux tigers!).

The next day we woke up and got breakfast before hitting the road:

The Smokehouse -

We had an incident with a piece of concrete and our tire on the interstate in Nashville... the tire did not survive but amazingly, we had our on "saint" for All Saint's Sunday because a man stopped and changed our tire to our full sized spare in less than 5 minutes, where we couldn't even figure out how to get the spare off. We were back in business and home on time.

It was a great weekend of family and fun. Grateful for those moments.

In stinky brothers and gracious parents,

Lunch Date.

2011-11-17T16:40:00.000-06:00

With my guy being in study mode all the time these days, we have to fit in a moment wherever we can. This past weekend. that involved a little Chick-fil-a lunch date delivery style.

(oh and I was totally craving a peppermint milkshake... but Chick-Fil-A, can't your "small" be smaller?)

So this is us these days - romantic dates in the car..... eating nuggets and fries.

In loving where you are,

Make this: Mom's Chili

2011-11-16T15:31:00.000-06:00

We're in the full swing of fall around here and so I spent one day last weekend with my mom making some of my favorite fall food - her chili.

Driving over, I couldn't help but fall (pun intended!) in love with the leaves:

The chili recipe makes 10-12 servings and so we made some for my parents, for us, and for our friends Heather and Ed who are due to have a child any day now.

The recipe starts with chopping onion and garlic - food processors are the best!

Then you brown the beef:

Add in the spices:

Then add in the onions, garlic, tomatoes, broth, and salt and stir all together -

Let that cook for an hour or so on simmer, stirring.

Here's my mom's recipe (love that it is in her handwriting):

Translated, because you're going to want to make this -

Pedernales River Chili, serves 10-12

4 lbs ground beef
3 cups chopped onion
1 Tablespoon finely minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried crushed oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 Tablespoons chili powder
4 cups canned crushed tomatoes
salt (pinch to taste)
2 cups beef broth (or boiling water)
2 16 oz cans kidney beans

1) combine meat, onion, garlic in skillet until lightly brown
2) sprinkle with oregano, cumin, chili powder, stir
3) add tomatoes, salt, broth - bring to boil, cover, and let simmer, stirring occasionally for about one hour

She notes that they usually add more chili powder and cumin and that if you add one, add both.

Here's our package for the parents to be - chili, the recipe, and the cutest little clothes dividers I found on etsy by Fifi's Closet.

The chili is a great dinner for those nights as they get colder and it freezes well, which is good for parents to be. I'd recommend trying out my mom's recipe. Aren't moms the best?

In chili powder and fall,

A Saturday Gary's trip.

2011-11-15T13:57:00.000-06:00

Gary's Antiques on Central and Cooper is one of my favorite ways to waste a little time. Gary's is very touch and go and sometimes resembles a junk yard, but I'm almost always prone to finding a treasure or two there.

This most recent trip was a shopping pick-me-up after a morning of working. Here's a peek at what I saw:

This mirror was $10 and very heavy - a good mirror and a good price for some bright, glossy spray paint. Definitely got it. Now to figure out where and what color?

Loved this painting but didn't get it... Now I'm wishing I had!

Really cool collection of green glass. I have too much of this kind of thing but I love the look.

This huge vintage jar was $10 as well and so I scored it for the kitchen.

Another art piece I didn't get but wanted badly. This particular one was more pricey at $55 but was a very nice piece.

So after wandering the aisles of Gary's (which was pretty crowded that day, by the way), I took home my two pieces of loot.

And here's my new jar, cleaned up and in the kitchen:

In treasure hunts and antiques,

Go there: Lavoro's Italian.

2011-11-14T09:33:00.000-06:00

We love finding locally owned, hole in the wall type establishments for dinner. It is kind of like a gastric treasure hunt. A few years ago we started going to Lavoro's, an Italian restaurant on Sycamore View and Summer in Memphis. We don't get to go as much as we'd like because of how far out it is (can we get a little Midtown love, Lavoro's?) but when we do, it is always spot on.

Lavoro's bills itself as "fine Italian dining" per their website (which needs a bit of updating) but really they might need some brand management because they seem to be having an identity crisis. The great thing about Lavoro's, which truly should be their identity, is that they are like an Italian restaurant you'd find on a busy neighborhood corner in a large city, only they are in what appears to be an old Taco Bell or KFC on a busy suburban intersection. When you go in, Big Mike (the owner) smiles and greets you. The patrons know their waitress, Mel, by name and catch up with her. They have sports memorabilia on the wall from Big Mike's coaching days. I really feel they should bill themselves as the neighborhood Italian spot (and selfishly I say they should move to Midtown but that isn't going to happen).

On this particular visit, we got cheese sticks as an appetizer (made in house - the breading was so good and the cheese was perfectly melted). The marinara is home-made too and was ridiculously good.

Our dinners came with bread and a salad. The caesar salad might not be much to look at, but their homemade dressing is one I could drink by the cup. But I won't. Because that is gross. I digress.

Their bread is also homemade (notice a trend?) and comes with a red-pepper infused oil dipping sauce. The bread is.so.good.

Main course - me, the spaghetti bolognese, Jake, the lasagna bolognese. We happen to be big fans of the bolognese sauce. It has a cinnamon undertone (just an FYI, my dad didn't like it) that I really like.

We didn't get dessert but Amy (Big Mike's daughter in law) makes them all in house. I'd recommend any of them. I love the fried raviolis, personally.

Lavoro's is one of those places that you can't help but cheer on and hope for success. You can tell it is a family business (their family law firm is even advertised on the back wall!) and that they love their Italian food and love serving their customers. The recipes are from family and are the real deal. Everything is home-made.

Now if they would just move to Midtown!

In pasta, bread, and cheese,

Food Allergies.

2011-11-13T09:18:00.000-06:00

So most people have winding blog posts about their child's food allergy. Me? My blog post is about my dog's food allergy. Yeah - we're those people.

Harley is a precious puppy who is 6 months old. Ever since we got her at 2 months, she has been having issues with itching. We took her to the vet, who started her first on lyme-sulfer dips. Those helped at first but then stopped helping so we went back and she got special shampoo and several different prescription meds. We also have her on an organic food with no corn fillers and meat as the first ingredient. We've taken her off milk bone treats and give her meat treats now.

And yet she's actually getting worse. So this weekend, we're doing an allergy trial to see if it is a wheat allergy like some of her puppy litter mate siblings...

And that is how we found ourselves cooking rice and chicken on a Friday night. For our dog.

Go there: Stuffy's Burgers.

2011-11-12T08:56:00.000-06:00

We'd been hearing about this new, great burger place. Great Memphis bloggers like Dining with Monkeys raved about it, so I knew we needed to go.

Stuffy's is in the U of M district but sort of tucked away on Echles and Douglass. It calls itself a "serious burger joint" and their burgers are cooked with the cheese stuffed inside. They also have a deal where they have these specialty mayos like Dill and Caper and Hot Wing and Bleu Cheese.

The place is pretty dark and plain but it works for them. You walk to the counter to order and they bring the food to your table.

The fries were good (as opposed to some burger joints in town that use the same ole' Sysco steak fries) and the burger was great. It was very juicy and flavorful. Very different.

I'd say it is definitely worth a trip over to Highland and Park for a Stuffy burger. Check it out!

In bacon and fries,

This day is gone to the dogs.

2011-11-11T17:07:00.001-06:00

Just a few pics of our guys to tide you over!

Gearing up for the Holidays.

2011-11-11T08:03:00.000-06:00

So the holidays are coming. And by the holidays, I mean the natural progression of the holidays - Thanksgiving, Advent, and finally Christmas.

I've resisted getting in the "spirit" because of stress and being busy and being a grump, but today I pulled out my Thanksgiving decor I got at TJ last year - something about felt just does it to me. Puts me in a good mood.

Side note - I hate the way my iphone makes the walls look circus yellow instead of beeswax/straw yellow.

But I digress. I put up the "gobble gobble" garland and the banner. Helped me feel ready to delve into some turkey and pie.

While at it, I snapped a pic of the living room in a rare calm moment. Dogs in sitting position deserve pictures:

Beamer and Sebastian seem to be getting into the holiday season too. Just don't let Harley know that they have Christmas decor up before Thanksgiving at Target. She'll get sassy:

In felt decor and dog stares,

Oh Hey, John and Sherry!

2011-11-10T19:24:00.001-06:00

So this morning my inbox started filling with comments on a post I wrote in May about the kitchen. I thought it odd (don't really get many comments around here) but didn't think much of it until one said "I found you on Young House Love." Ummmm WHAT?

Sure enough, I hopped over and my favorite bloggers featured my kitchen reno on their Reader Redesign. I had submitted it a while ago on a whim and they liked it!

Here's the link to their post: http://www.younghouselove.com/2011/11/reader-redesign-ranch-re-kitchened/

And the screen shots I took of my kitchen gracing the illustrious Young House Love blog:

I've admired John and Sherry + Burger (and now Clara) for a while now - since I discovered blogs back in good ole' '08. I even got my mom hooked. We share a love for ranchers and home reno, though they definitely take it to an entirely different level.

It really meant a lot to me for them to like my kitchen and so I was just so excited to see it shared!!!

In obsessive blog reading and fake friendships,

Dinner for Two.

2011-11-03T19:46:00.002-05:00

As much as I love my Memphis local establishments (I really do), I sometimes love a good, solid chain restaurant. Especially one that has the best pasta dish I could ever ask for...

Carraba's.

They are one of those chains that does the curbside to go service. I mean really - you call it in, drive in your sweats, they come to your car, you don't even have to get out.

So with my med student studying for a big exam tomorrow, I told him I'd take care of dinner. And by take care, I mean I called in Carraba's. And I've got to share this because I thought it was a steal -

So we ordered a build your own pasta and a bowl of soup. The pasta came with a Caesar salad and they give you bread complimentary. This chipper girl asked for my car type and said she'd see me in 15 minutes.

Here's my loot:

Got it home and unpacked:

And here it is all ready to eat:

For a night when you don't want to eat out but you don't want to cook and you don't want to spend a lot of cash, consider getting portions for two out of one person's dinner serving at Carrabba's. We had more than enough food and only paid for one meal.

Harley grows.

2011-10-31T13:45:00.000-05:00

On November 15th, Harley will be six months old. I just don't know how parents of human children do it. I can't handle her being six months. And in dog years, that is like being four. She's nearly an adolescent!

I've been watching Harley grow since she came into our lives in July (well- actually, watching her grow since I visited her in June!) have documented it, in true dog-parent style.

Here is our first encounter:

Here she is the first week we got her (mid-July):

And here she is a week later:

On August 1st, I started her "chair pictures":

Here's her September chair pic:

October:

And here is November, taken a day early:

She has really gotten "basset-y" lately. She is very long and her feet are huge. She's still into everything but is doing much better with potty-training.

And just for fun, here are some outtakes:

Doesn't time just fly?

3 Dog House.

2011-10-30T13:04:00.000-05:00

We've been a three dog - one cat house now for a few months. Our girl is getting older and easier to manage. But the best part is how much our pups love each other. Here's a snapshot from this weekend of our three guys together:

In floppy ears and basset kisses,

Fry Sauce.

2011-10-29T13:03:00.000-05:00

So I love Zaxby's. Love. And their fry sauce? Amazing. Apparently fry sauce is a cultural phenomenon from the West, because when I googled it, these people in Utah were all about it.

Well, the other night I decided to make some. And, as nasty as the combination of items sounds, it was really good. You might want to try it.

Here it goes -

You start with ketchup, hot sauce (Franks, please), and mayo. Yum, I know.

Then you combine all three, I just sort of did squirts and dollops here and there. Equal parts ketchup and mayo, I suppose. Then stir in pepper - I also added in some onion salt for kicks.

I let it sit overnight in the fridge before serving with dinner. Here the star is, in the line up with ranch and blue cheese before our chicken tender dinner:

And here is our dinner - grilled chicken tenders tossed in Frank's hot sauce with fries and green beans.

I must say that the fry sauce was really ridiculously good. So if you're into that kind of thing, check it out!