I cannot wait for Friday to get here!!!

Friday cannot get here soon enough!  On the calendar… a weekend trip to Atlanta!!  I’m so excited.  NWH and I just love getting away for a long weekend together.  We love staying in hotels and having “mini-vacations.” 

On the weekend agenda… seeing Shrek the musical!!  Just look at these pictures and tell me the show is not going to be amazing!! 

I love Broadway shows, but NYC is a little far so I’ll have to settle for the tours!  Did I mention I cannot wait for Friday to get here!!!

“summer-is almost-here-and-i-have-dimples-on-my-but”

Hey everyone, I’m back!!  I had a fabulous time in my home town this past week.  I miss my mom and dad so much.  I did cheerleading for approximately 3 straight days and couldn’t move Wednesday morning.  I hadn’t kicked/ jumped/ tumbled in almost 7 years! Lord, you should have seen me. 

Unfortunately, my niece did not make the squad, but she learned a very valuable life lesson.  There will be many “cheerleading squads” in life; some she will make, some she will not.   The important thing is for her to let this situation propel her to do even greater things in cheerleading or some other sport/ activity.  I think she’s going to work really hard and try out next year!!

On to a lighter subject matter (and I mean light).  So I always post about the fabulous recipes that I find and make, but I tried one last week that was not so fab; and in all fairness I should tell you the good with the bad.

NWH and I love dessert.  That is defiantly our weakness.  So I’ve been on a “summer-is almost-here-and-i-have-dimples-on-my-but” kick for the past few weeks and decided that I would try to start making low-cal desserts. 

I ran across this website that listed a recipe for Chocolate Banana Soufflé’.

·         2 ripe medium bananas, mashed

·         2 tsp cornstarch

·         1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

·         1 tsp vanilla extract

·         2 large egg whites

·         3 tbsp sugar

·         butter flavored cooking spray

Preheat over to 400F. Coat 4, 6 oz ramekins with butter flavored cooking spray. Place on a baking sheet.

In a medium bowl, mash bananas and vanilla together. Sift cornstarch and cocoa powder over bananas and stir well.

In another medium bowl, beat egg whites with sugar until they form soft peaks. Fold 1/3 of egg whites into banana mixture. When incorporated, fold in the rest of the egg whites. Spoon mixture into ramekins.

Wipe the top 1/4 inch “collar” of the ramekin to remove any excess batter so that the soufflé will rise straight and place ramekins on a baking sheet. Bake at 400°F for 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

Sound good, eh’?  And for ONLY 130 calories… do not be deceived.  I believe the words out of NWH’s mouth were, “I’m going to puke if I eat this,” and I couldn't agree more.  We threw all four “soufflé’s” away and picked up a box of the 90 calorie snicker bars the next day!!

Wedding Word Wednesday: Anniversary

So I thought I would get back to my Wedding Word Wednesdays, I mean who doesn’t like weddings, right??  Today’s word:  Anniversary.  Yes, read it and weep, look where NWH is taking me for our 1 year!!!  We're going to one of the top destinations in the world, the Dominican Republic!!!

 

 

Can I interrupt this by saying, NWH and I have known each other since the 7^th grade, we started exchanging emails and instant messages (AOL, baby)  in the 8^th, saved each other lunch seats in the 10^th and have been dating since the 11^th and well… the sound of “Our One Year Anniversary” just doesn’t give us enough credit! 

that’s what vacay is all about right!

NWH and I just got back from a fabulous 5 day trip in the Bahamas!  It was my first ever cruise and I must admit...it was pretty wonderful.  It’s absolutely amazing to be hundreds of miles away from land and to be surrounded by nothing but the massive blue sea. 


We made a stop at Nassau which is breathtaking.  There we snorkeled in the coral reef (um, the water was quite FREEZING), walked around Atlantis, shopped in the straw market, and ate lunch at the famous Senior Frogs.  Then we headed to Freeport where we played on the sandy beach and in the crystal clear water. 


Of course we ate AND drank too much, but that’s what vacay is all about right!?  At least I got a little tan.  Maybe it’ll hide the extra 20 pounds I gained! 


P.S. The only negative...NWH and I still feel like we're rocking on the boat.  I'll let you know when that wears off. Hahahaha :)

and if NWH says it’s good…it HAS to be GOOD!

MIL and J-man are coming to see us today!  We are super excited.  We haven’t been together since the Fed Ex cup (remember MIL’s hilarious direction story, read here).   The only down side about their visit is…they are taking little chipper with them on Sunday to Tennessee. 

You see, NWH and I are going on a cruise!!  WHOO HOO!! We’re flying to Jacksonville early next Thursday morning and loading the boat on Friday for a glorious 5 day cruise in the Bahamas.  With me working in South Mississippi and NWH still putting in a million hours here, there is no other time for Chipper to get to his Gan-ma and Gan-paw. 

Anyway, MIL and I usually get all dolled up and have the boys to take us out somewhere for a nice evening, but we decided since our time is limited we’d rather just stay in and enjoy each other’s company curled up on the coach with a big glass of wine.

NWH volunteered my shrimp fettuccine for dinner which I cannot wait to cook for MIL and J-man!  You can only imagine how happy it makes me that NWH had faith in my cooking..hahahahaha.  (We’ve come a long way)!  Anyway…here’s the recipe…and if NWH says it’s good…it HAS to be GOOD!

Shrimp

3 Tablespoons Butter

2 ½ Tablespoons Oil

4 Garlic Cloves

1 lb. Peeled, Deveined, Uncooked Shrimp

1 ½ Teaspoon Salt

¼ Teaspoon Pepper

Directions:

Melt the butter and oil in a large cooking pain over medium-high heat, add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute (be careful  not to burn). 

Add the shrimp, salt and pepper, and sauté until the shrimp have just turned pink, about 5 minutes, stirring often.

This is the shrimp from Barefoot Contessa’s terrible Shrimp Scampi that tasted like pure lemon!  Of course there is no lemon here just awesome shrimp!!

Fettuccine

1 lb. Fettuccine

½ Cup Butter

1 Cup Heavy Cream

1 Cup Parmesan Cheese

½ Teaspoon salt

¼ Teaspoon pepper

1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder

Directions:

Cook the fettuccine in a pot of rapidly boiling salted water. Drain a colander reserving 1/4 cup of the pasta cooking liquid.

While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add heavy cream, salt, pepper, and garlic, and bring to a boil. Cook until sauce has reduced slightly, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Return the pasta to the pot it was cooked in, set over medium-high heat along with the reserved cooking liquid. Add the butter- cream mixture and Parmesan and toss to combine thoroughly.

This is very similar to Emerald’s Fettuccine with the exception of a few ingredients.

I hope you like it!!  Happy Saturday, everyone ;)

Ma’am can you tell me how to get to the movie theatre parking garage?

On Sunday morning, MIL (mother-in-law) and I were out and about roaming the streets of Buckhead.  We had gotten up early that morning, drank coffees in the lobby, enjoyed (never mind, got through) a workout in the fitness center, and eaten On the Boarder for lunch. 

We made a stop at Old Navy (I picked up that fur vest I wanted!) and TJ’s (which we spent approximately 3 hours).  It was a pretty nasty day so MIL bought us matching Totes umbrellas so we could walk back to the hotel without being totally drenched!

As we made our way through the big buildings and up the sidewalks to the Hyatt, we were stopped by a green jeep with two men.  The passenger rolled down his window and said, “Ma’am (which MIL hates to hear), can you tell me how to get to the movie theatre parking garage?” 

Now is probably a good time to mention that both MIL and I are… how you say….directionally challenged.  On top of the fact that neither of us are from nor have ever lived in Atlanta.  May I also add, that just the day before MIL and I were discussing seeing a movie and were trying to figure out where the theatre was located!

Continuing the story…..

MIL says very politely, “Excuse me?”  (Like she didn’t hear the question the first time, now I know she was staling.).  The gentleman repeats the question, and MIL confidently answers, “Ohhhhh, just go down through these buildings and take a right.  Then you’re going to see a big red canopy and when you do, go ahead and take a left.  You’ll see the parking garage right there in front of you.”  He tells his driver the route, thanks MIL for her help, and speeds off to find the garage.

I’m very impressed (almost baffled) that she knew; the day before we didn’t even know how to find the theatre, more less the parking garage!! Anyway, I say how nice she was to give them those directions, and as she speeds up our walk she looks at me and says…Yeah, it would have been real nice, but I just sent them to DSW! 

We fell out, almost peed on ourselves and could barely walk to the hotel!!  She said she thought they may try to grab us if we didn’t tell them how to get there and I’m screaming… these matching leopard umbrellas are really going to give us away when they come back for us after they realize you sent them to a shoe store! She says she just couldn’t think straight…it was the only place she knew how to get to!!  I’m thinking... No directions are probably slightly better than wrong directions, wouldn't you agree!! 

Poor guys, they never saw it coming.. two nice women... carrying leopard umbrellas...I hope they didn't miss their movie. Hahahahhahahahaha...I'm still dying laughing!

It's Finally Friday

So, I'm supposed to be packing for ATL, but I didn't get back from Mississippi until yesterday afternoon, and NWH didn't get home until late last night.  We ordered Marco’s Pizza, watched shows on our DVR, and got to bed early.  This morning we snuggled a bit and are just enjoying our time together.  Hahahaha, he’s on his computer and I’m on mine, that’s our kind of morning! (At least we’re sitting beside each other on the couch.)


I’m also sitting on pins and needles, patiently waiting for a phone call.  I had the interview Wednesday, and I can honestly say…It could not have gone any better.  The director and I just TALKED. She didn’t ask me any question (probably because I talked her head off and she couldn’t think strait, ha!).  Anyway, the other applicant had her interview yesterday and a decision is SUPPOSED to be made by TODAY!!  Lord have mercy if I get the job, there will be PAR-TAY in ATL.  (You know I’ll let ya’ll know, ASAP!)

So I found this little blog hop thing last week, but Friday was like OVER.  So I wanted to try it today.  It’s Follow Me Friday from Maryland Pink and Green.  All you do is find new blogs to follow and be sure to follow Maryland Pink and Green and me (of course).  Follow someone who follows you and let them know that you found them through Follow Friday.  Tell your other blogger friends about Follow Friday and encourage them to join! 


Let’s make some new friends ya’ll!!

“oh-so-cute” luggage

I’m going back to mom-in-laws this weekend. My NWH’s birthday is Tuesday so we’re going for the UT game and to have a little b-day celebration. We have such a great time with my NWH’s mom and his step-dad. We probably have a little TOO MUCH of a good time.

Anyway, I’m packing our bags so we can hit the road when NWH gets off of work and I thought I’d share my “oh-so-cute” luggage with ya’ll!

It’s by Liz and it is the perfect weekend-get-away tote. It has rollers and a handle with outside and inside zippers! I have the medium and the large pieces as well! How freaking cute is my luggage!!