Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Snow Day

My Internet is not working because Comcast can't handle this blizzard we are having, so I'm blogging on my iPhone right now. Please excuse any mistakes. Typing with a single thumb is a bit more time consuming.

No snow so far, but it's only 11 am. Either way, I'll take it! It's once in a blue moon that the city of Savannah shuts down due to harsh winter weather. I don't think we had a winter last year so I'm not complaining. I slept until 9:15 this morning and it was glorious. The older I get, the harder I sleep. Isn't that backwards? Again, I'll take it! If I had a working fireplace, you better believe I would be curled up beside it right now, but the next best thing is candles, so I lit every one I owned. It's not the same.


Last night I was feeling a little like a might be catching a cold (thanks Vicky) so I juiced it up this morning to kick my immune system into high gear. It ain't pretty but here is my medicine: bok choy, pineapple, strawberry, cucumber, mango, orange, lemon juice. I was afraid it might taste like it looks but I was mistaken. It was one of my favorite random combinations so far. Glad I wrote it down.



I also broke out my huckleberry chai tea that mom & dad brought back from Yellowstone last year. Little bit of a caffeine buzz going on right now.... This stuff is strong. My morning has consisted of sipping on this is my puppy dog slippers with the space heater at my feet. What did I ever do before I owned a space heater? In case you were wondering, this is how you can find me every morning. Within inches of warm heat. Even in the summer. I think I'm a reptile.


Since I'm home, I'm making this a day long blog post. A little bit along. It's now 1:40 and this is continuing to be the best snow day ever. Still in my pajamas, I've read a chapter of my book, hot tea in hand, and just now finished preparing stuffed peppers. They're in the crock pot so the house will soon start smelling of onions and garlic & my dinner will be ready at 5:30. I could use a weekly Wednesday off work.


4:00 and I've been in this cozy nook for the past  couple hours. Unless anything changes, I plan to stay  right here for the remainder of the night. I'm having a reading marathon since the Internet is out. This was good for me today! I might be able to start a new book before bedtime.


Since it was approaching 9:00 pm, I decided to do something productive like take a shower. I would give you more updates of the day but it would be a repeat of everything I've already mentioned. Oh, I did do some laundry... but who cares about laundry.

So here I sit, fresh and clean, thankful I had a safe and restful snow day. I know this was not the case for many. With that being said.....






Sunday, January 26, 2014

Birthday Trip

Let's see how long we can drag out my 30th birthday. Josh had mentioned going on a day trip for my 30th, so told him that I wanted to be surprised. Unlike some people, I LOVE a surprise. Well, the day trip idea turned into an overnight which was fine by me.

He spent the week planning and trying not to slip up and tell me where we were going. As I was packing and trying to figure out what to wear for the drive to our destination, he told me to wear something "transitional" so that we could walk around during the day and in case we couldn't make it back to the hotel in time, it needed to be able to turn into something dressy for  the "event" that night. After much deliberation, I finally found something transitional enough that I could change into heels and a nice jacket, re-do my hair and jewelry, and turn it into fanciness. Kind of. Its hard to pack for an unknown destination!

We got an early start on Saturday morning and headed to Coffee Fox on Broughton to get a Mexican Mocha for the road.

I chatted so much in the car that before I knew it, I noticed that we were on Golden Isles Parkway. St. Simons?! Yes...I was correct. We had an oceanfront room at the King and Prince (nice job, Josh) and we got to check in as soon as we arrived. So... the fretting over my transitional outfit was all for nothing.

Once we got settled, we decided to walk around a little and then find somewhere to eat for lunch. We strolled on down to the pier where there were all kinds of cute shops. One being a thrift store so of course I was in heaven. I almost talked Josh into buying this retro maroon leather jacket (for him). Snazzy, right? But in the end, it was a no-go.

We ate lunch at the famous Barbara Jean's. All I could think about was the last time I had been there when I was approximately 15. There is this dessert called "Chocolate Stuff" that is to die for. Its like chunks of brownie tossed in a bowl with warm uncooked brownie batter...topped with whipped cream. I scarfed down my grilled tomato and cheese sandwich just so I could get to dessert. I ended up with a to-go box full of chocolate gooeyness that I absolutely could not finish. (I can't quite explain the look on his face in this picture collage...)


A little more shopping and sight seeing after lunch, then it was back to the room to rest up and change for "the event". After we got all fixed up, he told me that we would walk to the Solarium at the King and Prince. I saw a few other hotel-stayers dressed up and walking in the same direction. What could it be? Once we walked in the door, we were given name tags and showed to a room where hors d'oeurves were being offered and there were tables set up for what looked to be 5 courses or more. Turns out, Josh had gotten free tickets to what was called, North Meets South: A Beautiful Culinary Affair.


This was a fundraiser for a teacher who supports education in Nicaragua. She wanted to make sure the kids there were given books to provide an education. At the same time, Josh works for a company called N'Laws which donated all the produce for the event. So, it was a birthday/work/fundraiser/cooking class/surprise. Lots of things all rolled in to one. Chef Darin from Savannah who used to host cooking classes at the Mansion was the chef from the South....then The Kilted Chef was the one from the North. He specialized in mussels and lobster. The courses were rotated North, South, North, South. For each course, the chef would come out and give a demo and talk about what we were eating and how it was prepared. We learned lots of tips from how to properly slice a tomato to answering myths about whether lobsters screamed  or not when you put them in a pot of boiling water. We even made some new friends while we were there.


Everything we ate was delicious, not to mention, paired with the appropriate wine. Holy moly. The servings were heavily poured. 

After we rolled our way out of the building, Josh decided that we should find the hotel hot tub. Did I mention that it was not very close to our room. Did I also mention that it was in the 30's outside? Imagine the walk back to our room after that? The heavens were looking out for me because once we froze our way over there, the hot tub was not hot. Darn. We couldn't get in.

On Sunday morning, we ate breakfast at the 4th of May, then I got a massage at the hotel spa while Josh played golf. He gave me the car keys and I shopped around town after my most relaxing spa experience. Not a bad compromise if you ask me!


On our way out, we stopped at Southern Soul for some BBQ. The owners sat at our table during the fundraiser and we heard that it had been featured on the Food Network, so we decided to give it a shot. I would HIGHLY recommend it if you are ever making your way through St. Simons. Its a hole in the wall, but sometimes those are the best!

What a nice birthday treat! Its hard to get back in the groove of reality after a trip like this.








Thursday, January 16, 2014

Water Bottle 101

One of the best organization tips I've ever followed through with would have to be the cheap plastic shoe -organizer-turned-water bottle/travel mug/tervis tumbler- holder. I have a thing about wanting all the dishes in my cabinets to look orderly and in their own space. Before I used this easy trick, all of my "plastic-ware" would fall out of the cabinets and the tops would be mixed & matched and falling down in the back and sides of the cabinets where I would never find them. Now, all my drinking glasses are in their tidy row, while the odd shaped bottles and mugs have their own home as well.



Do yourself a favor and make this work for you. Since its not very heavy, I used command hooks to hold mine up so that I didn't have to poke holes in the wooden door. They seem be working out just fine. Mine is hung up on the inside of the pantry door. No one would even know it was there when the door is closed. This way, I can easily locate which ever drink holder I desire! Matching tops and all! It really does save lots of hassle. That's all I have for ya tonight. Short and sweet.

Obviously, courtesy of Pinterest.

Sunday, January 12, 2014

30 Is The New 20

Let me start by saying, 30 is nothing like 20. I know myself so much better now & I've heard that the 30's are the best years of your life. So far, I believe it. Everyone around me made my birthday very special.

It started out with me finding a sweet birthday card and cookbook on my bathroom counter. The cookbook will go perfectly with my new Christmas presents such as: my Kitchen Aid Mixer & new juicer. Both of which are getting PLENTY of use.


At school, I was surprised with balloons that showed my age loud and proud. Good thing I'm happy about turning thirty. 


Also, thanks to so many of my old friends for sending me such meaningful messages. Even though we may not have the chance to talk on a regular basis, we can always pick up right where we left off. I consider myself blessed to be able to count my BEST friends on two hands. Each message helped me to remember who I am and they all made me feel very special. One of my favorite students wrote me a birthday letter that totally made my day. It included phrases such as: "you make the sun shine bright" He's adorable.


I ended the day with dinner at Tortugas with the fam & then a nice glass of wine at Tubby's to the tune of a local band called Tell Scarlett. 


Looking forward to whatever comes my way this decade! 


PS: This was my 30th b-day present from the man upstairs. A bright morning sky for the drive to work. 





Sunday, January 5, 2014

Christmas Re-Cap

Awesome, its the premier of The Train Wreck... I mean, The Bachelor with Juan Pablo and the sound on my TV is not working.  All I can hear is fuzz. If I don't get it to watch it tonight, nobody tell me what happens! I'll catch up later.

I know Christmas is over, but I wanted to re-live it one more time here before I forgot the good stuff. This year I went over the top with being festive. Not only was there decor in every nook and cranny of the house, but I also Pinterested "The 8 Dates of Christmas" and forced Josh to participate. He was a good sport up until the "baking Christmas goodies" date and then he drew the line. There may or may not have been tears on my end. The best date was when we went to The Sentient Bean (where we met for our 1st date ever) and had seasonal drinks. Well, I had hot apple cider...pretty sure he just had boring coffee.



At school we had an Ugly Christmas Sweater day. I had never been to an ugly sweater party before, so I was thrilled to go through my mom's closet and find something heinous for the occasion. She pulled through with this candy cane black velvet vest, complete with plaid trim and red satin ribbons. And this is me in the library at school pretending I'm not taking a selfie.



Another one of my favorite parts of Christmas at school is Secret Santa. I'm such a dork about that kind of thing. We drew names and I came out with our music teacher whose favorite store is Whole Foods (just like me). You can guess where all her gifts came from. 


For the first time in years, I finally got to pick out and take home MY VERY OWN Christmas tree. Here she is from beginning to end, in all her glory. I forgot how fragrant a real tree can be. There's nothing like it!


Finally, here are some of my favorite decorations from around the house. Until next year....Enjoy!















Wednesday, January 1, 2014

1 of 365

Last night, I lasted until 11:15 pm. I'm officially old. The night was extremely low key, just the way I like it.  Josh and I decided to stay in and take it easy. We watched episodes of Boardwalk Empire and The Office. Ofcourse a trip to Whole Foods was in order. We decided on a combination of Greek pizza, chili, cornbread, and champagne. Yep. 'Words with Friends' on the iPhone took up a good portion of the night as well. We made a bet that the winner of the game would get a 10 minute foot rub. This, friends....was my New Years Eve. Getting off the couch to watch the fireworks out the window was too much effort. Listenening to them was just as nice. (PS: I won the bet)

Looking back over my goals for the past couple years, I realize that they are always basically the same.
 
In 2012, my resolutions were: having a cleaning schedule for the week, healthier eating (less sweets), and less procrastination.

In 2013, my overall theme for the year was "Simplicity."

In 2014...yes...all of the above. More specifically, my goal is to eat very consciously 6 days a week, allowing myself 1 cheat day. Also, since I'm about to hit 30, (which I'm pretty excited about actually) I'm going to incorporate more physical activity into the week. 

Surprisingly, this starts my 4th year of blogging. Adding more monthly entries is another goal of mine. Each year, I turn my blog into a hard back book using a website called Blurb. I've always been a journaler, so this is the best way to document life. If you've ever toyed with the idea of starting a blog, this is your year. It has made such a positive difference in my life and has allowed me to connect with some very uplifting people. 

Wishing you a happy 2014. I always love a good even-numbered year, ya know? Or maybe its just me...