Surprises and Brewfest!

Soooo... after our night at the Casino the girls decided to go out and get massages the next day. Breanna was the first one awake so she called and made appointments (I still don't know the area any better than she would). When we arrived to the spa, it wasn't exactly what we had in mind, the place kind of looked like a pop up massage parlor. There were 3 people working and as we were filling out our "first timer" paper work we were all cutting each other uncomfortable looks from the corners of our eyes. Since there were 3 of us, and 3 of them, they put a sign on the outside stating that they were closed, that was another thing that made me a little uncomfortable (not to mention the 3 masseuse did not look like your typical "give a good rub down" type). We all headed back to our respected massage rooms and prepared for the worse. One hour later we reconvened in the lobby, and all agreed they were the BEST massages any of us have ever received (and I was thrilled to receive coupons for my next trip in the mail the other day). After our awesome massages, we decided to continue our girls day with lunch and shopping. We had been to store after store, when the girls were ready to head the next store I had to decline, because I knew my husband was not only coming home, but picking up our friend Ashley from the airport. Ashley and I had decided to surprise the other girls and not tell them she was flying in from Texas. So as we prepped for dinner, I awkwardly waited for them to arrive. When I opened the door, Amanda heard Ashley's voice and practically ran Breanna over to get to her, unfortunately Breanna was the only one surprised because Amanda said she had a feeling she was coming. Either way, my heart couldn't be happier to have all 3 of these lovely ladies under one roof.

Love Love Love them!

The next day was the Brewfest that essentially brought all of my lovely friends in town. We woke up and headed downtown for lunch and pre-gaming. We stopped in at a creole kitchen for some beers and crawfish. After walking around Beale street we headed on over to Autozone park for Brewfest. There were over 200 different samples of beer to be tried and a couple different bands to listen to. I have learned that  beer in abundance brings all walks of life to one area.

making pretzel necklaces

Trolley Fun!

They were REALLY enjoying themselves.



Husband = Out of control.

I love them!

The morning after Brewfest, my friends slowly started their journeys home, Breanna and her husband first, followed by Ashley, and on Monday Amanda and her boyfriend. I was really sad to see all of their faces go, but I am so happy to have had the chance to host all of them here in our new home!

Hey Girl

The last of my visitors left Monday, and I'm still recovering. My liver is still mad at me, my heart is still sad, my cheeks still hurt from laughing, and I have some incredible memories from this past weekend. I'm not sure why I decided to work the same day as my visitors arrival, because of course I didn't sleep well the night before. And procrastinated things I needed to get done before the best friends a gal could ask for (and their guys) showed up. Of course the military life is always unpredictable so Taylor's schedule was all messed up, and he wasn't home to help. Thankfully my anxiousness kicked up the adrenaline rush and I was able to get everything done, with time to spare. While I was waiting for the girls to arrive, my sweet friend stopped by with banana pudding she made for my out of state friends, and wine for us to enjoy while we waited (thanks Karen). Y'all, every time stella barked or even moved I wanted to jump out of my skin with excitement that some one  was here. Turns out, stella was not on her A-game.

Breanna and her husband were the first to arrive, followed by Amanda and her boyfriend. The first night pretty much involved lots of catching up, giggles, and wine. I was trying to read my girlfriends and assess whether or not they knew about my secret, a mutual friend of ours was flying  in from Texas later on in the week and I wasn't quite sure we had pulled it off ((spoiler alert: we didn't)). We didn't have a lot of plans for the next day, I figured everyone would be tired from traveling and decided to just play it by ear. I was so incredibly shocked to discover I was the first to awake the next morning, that never happens. Once everyone started moving, we decided to head on down to Beale Street and did what tourist do. We listened to music, had drinks, ate BBQ and were hassled by the pretend homeless (if you have ever been to a big city, you know what I mean; if you're scared of your own shadow like me, you know how terrifying these creeps are...). Later that night we headed on over to the casino, I think Breanna was the only one who came out lucky that night, but we all had fun playing. After the rest of us lost our money we headed back home, where the ladies retreated to the deck for some more cocktails, followed by a round of cards against humanity!!

Morning Yoga



Bean is always so serious ;-)

Taylor couldn't make it to listen to music, so we pretended!

And then a ninja turtle showed up!

Part 2 coming tomorrow!!

Grocery Store Lady

Sometimes I wonder at what point of my married life I will become the super domesticated grocery store shopping lady (SDGSSL for short)? Do you ever watch older women in the grocery store?

The other day I was at grocery store picking up every item my recipe for dinner that night called for; because who actually plans their dinners out for the week and pre-shops for said dinners? Anyways, while I started in the produce aisle (because that is where the Starbucks lady gives out free samples), I noticed a lady smelling pineapples. At first I was really grossed out by the rudeness of her sticking her nose on several fruits and setting them back down if they didn't satisfy her smell pallet. But then it hit me, as I was throwing anything in my cart that looked good because I was hungry, this was one of those SDGSSL!! I bet SDGSSL didn't break the number one rule of shopping, and come to the grocery store hungry like I did. After cursing her for assuming she didn't break the rule, I decided to follow the SDGSSL around to see if I could learn a thing or two. Like picking a golden pineapple isn't enough, you have to smell it to make sure it is just perfect.

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I lingered behind, trying to act cool, as SDGSSL casually made her way to her next mission, the grapes. The only grape smell I am familiar with comes in the form of wine, so I was going to be shit up a creek if that was her technique on these babies. To my surprise she didn't sniff them, she just carefully examined a couple bags, and then I watched as she stuck her hand in the bag of grapes that past her eye exam, and plucked one of that babies of the vine and popped it in her mouth!  As I stood there thinking "Holy shit lady, this isn't a buffet, that's stealing", SDGSSL tossed the bag of grapes into her cart and moved onto the next department of the grocery store, meats.

I just knew SDGSSL had something up her sleeve for this department and couldn't wait to find out what it was. While I nonchalantly lurked behind, SDGSSL was breathing down the butchers neck. As I stalked her, she was stalking him, snatching up the first picks in all of the "manager special" markdowns. I was thrilled to learn this trick because buying meat can be expensive. I understand that the butcher is not always out there marking down proteins, so I will have to learn his schedule I suppose, I'm sure SDGSSL has it written down in her little daily planner. Because I was afraid SDGSSL was on to me following her around, I decided to lay low for a while, and meet back up with her in the flower department by the check out line.

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I stood from afar watching SDGSSL admire a pretty house plant, just when I thought she was going to toss it in the cart like the bag a grapes, SDGSSL threw me for a loop. She plucked a leaf from the plant and stuck it in her pocket. Duh, why wouldn't SDGSSL have a green thumb too. She was going to go home and make a starter plant from the leaf she shoved in her pocket! After that, SDGSSL got in line to check out and my curiosity got the best of me, so I got in line directly behind her. There was no shock factor when SDGSSL pulled out coupons, but I was amazed that she had "rain checks" ( I later learned, if the store is out of a sale item, they are obligated to let you pay the sale price when the items are back in stock). As SDGSSL left the store with her half priced grocery items, I watched as some Justin Beiber looking girl rang me up for my full priced items. And since I am clearly not a  SDGSSL, I forgot half the items on my list, resulting in PB&J's for dinner.



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P.S. The lady in this story, the SDGSSL, may or may not have been my mother....




Sunday Social!

((1)) What was your Best Birthday?

The one coming up, it is not actually happening on my birthday, but the week before, 2 of my best friends are coming here to Memphis, for a celebration of all of our birthdays. I CAN'T WAIT!

((2)) What was your best vacation?

Growing up, we always vacationed at the Jersey Shore, before the guidos made a show about it. Some of my favorite childhood memories would happen on those vacations, from morning walks on the beach with my aunt, frantically gathering all of the seashells my little hands could hold to "crabbing" in the bay. There was also that one time the lifeguards had to come out and get us because our raft drifted too far...

((3)) What is the best date you have ever been on?

My husband is the king at getting us into places that need advanced reservations. One just happened to be in Disney, directly across from the Magic Kingdom, at the same time as the spectacular firework show. It was magical.

((4)) What is the best movie (quality) you have seen?

I love avatar and could watch it a thousand more times!!

((5)) What is the best TV show ending of all time?

I'm such a T.V. addict... and I get so involved in trashy reality T.V. That's why I think the "hills/laguna beach" had the best ending because it showed me how much I really get into fake "reality". I know, this is a horrible, horrible T.V. show to pick. I also liked the way full house ended, thank God Michelle got her memory back!

Munchkin Land Designs

A little Weekend Recap.

On Friday Taylor's mother and step father came to town for a visit. I love showing off our new home, and will post pictures soon (I just always seem to find something else I want to add!!). It was really nice out when they arrived, so we had happy hour out on the deck. My in-laws brought their chocolate lab, Shadow, and him and Stella chased each other around for quite some time. We decided we missed the seafood readily available when we lived in NC, so we went to Joe's Crab Shack for dinner (certainly not as good, but well enough to curb the craving!).

Saturday we headed downtown to check out Sun Studio, and since we were already downtown we had to take them to Rendezvous for some BBQ. After lunch we walked 42 blocks (yes, I am exaggerating) to Sun Studio. If you are not familiar with this place, it is a famous recording studio that has produced some pretty famous singers (Elvis and Johnny Cash to name a few, heard of them?).  It was really an interesting tour, and our guide was so excited and enthusiastic that it really made the experience that much better. The really cool thing about this place, is that they give tours during the day, but artist still come in to record at night. All that music history made us thirsty, so we wandered over to Beal Street for a drink. The drinks from Beal Street had us feeling lucky so we headed over to the Casino for an hour or so (see how that escalated so quickly there?), we weren't lucky and decided to come home to grill out.

Sunday was our last day all together so we decided to go out for brunch. We went to a place called Owen Brennons. It was the fanciest buffet brunch I have ever seen. If you wanted it, they had it! From oysters on the half shell to a made to order waffle and omelet bar. I ordered their house made Cajun bloody mary, it was a little too salty for my liking, so if you go, I suggest getting the mimosas. After brunch  Taylor took us for a tour of his new boat (I've been so busy with my job, it was my first time seeing the boat as well!). After that it started to rain so we retreated back to the house to lounge around and watch movies. The weekend was quite relaxing and it is always nice to catch up with family. 

 

...More of Brandon's Graduation.

Not only was visiting with Brandon great, it was nice to get a little vacay out of the trip too! The hotel we stayed in had a mutual kitchen and living room area, and then we had separate sleeping rooms. It was basically a tiny apartment, which came in handy for visiting. Because besides going out to eat, there isn't much else to do in on base or within driving distance (there is a casino somewhat near by, but Brandon was only allowed so far).



My husband can hardly ever be taken seriously...

After all of our goodbyes, it was time to head back home. But of course we had to make a few impromptu wine stops along the way!!

No, pictures of the wine, because quite frankly, it was not good...

I don't think Stella missed us one iota. She was having the time of her life at Doggy Daycare.

And of course anytime someone new comes to visit, it is an excuse for us to go explore our new home town.

Taylor and I have already been here, but it is so good, and right downtown!

Thank goodness it is Friday and I have taken the whole weekend off to spend with more visitors heading this way, not to mention, I have kiiiiinda missed seeing my husbands face this week!

In the Army Now..

A few weekends ago, my in-laws came down from Indiana so we could car pool on over to Oklahoma. I have never had a dying desire to trek on over to Oklahoma, and I can't say that I saw all the glorious things OK has to offer, but I DID get to see my little bro-in-law, Brandon, graduate army boot camp, and that was pretty cool! Sadly, I didn't get to see Taylor graduate boot camp, so I really enjoyed my first military graduation. There is something so, so patriotic when someone announces "please give a round of applause for your countries newest soldiers". My brother in law's fiancé and her family met us there and we spent two days visiting with Brandon. It was really nice to hear how excited he was and learn about all the things he had been doing for the last few weeks. We even got to see pictures and a video.


Momma was happy to see her baby!

Brandon's fiancé and her family.

Husband wore his fancy clothes too!! :-)

Love*

Love Him!



We're so proud of you Brandon!