Roomie Reunion.

When we lived in North Carolina, we lived with roommates for two and a half years. Katie and Colton became family, their families became our extended families. Sadly our time as housemates came to an end when they were stationed in California and Taylor was stationed overseas (also they became pregnant with the sweetest little babe) and it was time to go our separate ways. It has been two years since Taylor had seen them and a year and a half for me. Colton's brother just happens to live here in the same city as us, and his family all got together here for Thanksgiving. Because of our traveling we missed visiting with Colton's parents, but on Monday we were excited to have our old roommates over for dinner and visits.

We decided it would be nicer to just catch up at our house so their precious little boy can run wild. He spent most of his time playing with Gatsby in the living room. I was a little worried because Gatsby became a little to excited around my nephew and knocked him down, but Connor and him played great together. Gatsby even let Connor take toys right out of his mouth, which made Connor giggle and squeal with delight.

Katie's parents also drove down from NC to visit with them since they were in driving distance. On Wednesday Katie and her mom picked me up and we headed downtown to meet Katie's sister-in-law and niece for a carriage ride. I was excited as it was something I had yet to do in Memphis, and it was an hour long historical tour.

It started raining, so Ms. Karen and I improvise with out scarves!

At least they look cute...

Unfortunately the carriage ride wasn't what we had hoped for. The driver was 20 minutes late and when she did pull up to the hotel, she was puffing away on a cigarette; she may have also smelled worse then the horse. The whole carriage was filthy and smelled vaguely of urine. It was magical. At least we learned something. We learned that our driver didn't know jack shit about the history of down town. She was sweet enough to drop us off in front of the restaurant we were meeting our husbands at for lunch. I was so excited to get some Brisket because it is my favorite thing that they serve. Well it turns out the place didn't open for another two hours!!!! However they were extremely sweet and let ALL 10 of us come in anyways if we were okay with only having ribs as an option. Since that is what they are known for, no one had a problem with their generous offer.

After lunch it was time to say our goodbyes. I hate that we are so far away, but I know that is a part of this crazy beautiful life we live.

A few words from Stella

Hey Blog peeps, Stella here, Heather's first fur-baby!

I thought I would give you a little update on my new, annoying precious little brother, Gatsby. First of all, Mom and Dad did not discuss this idea over with me first, I was totally caught off guard. I mean, they took me to the Shelter where Gatsby was living so we could have a meet and greet. My first thoughts were "Yeah Yeah, he's cute but get this fool out of my face!!!". I checked him a few times when he got too close to my beautiful face, and thankfully he listened. The shelter lady told my Mom and Dad that was a good sign, and that we were interacting very nicely. I could tell by the look on their faces that was all they needed to hear. That was how I knew I was getting a new fur-brother.

I know you think the smile is because he is leaving the shelter, but this is when my parents told him I was his big sister, he was pretty stoked.

After Mom and Dad brought Gatsby home, I learned things weren't that bad. It turns out he is a little bit younger than Mom and Dad originally thought, which means he is a little bit more playful than I would prefer. He randomly gets this boost of energy and thinks the way to get my attention is to bite my ankles in an effort to get me to play. Umm hello little brother, I didn't get this body by being playful!

This is usually when I steal all of Gatsby's toys and take them to the spare bedroom (tri-pod wont come in there because it is hardwood floors in the hallways). Sometimes Mom and Dad catch me and mumble something about me being over weight and usher the two of us outside. Once we are outside, we take turns chasing each other in circles throughout the backyard. Don't tell anyone, but I secretly enjoy this. I actually enjoy several attributes of having a little brother, for instance, when I bark at someone I don't like, Gatsby has my back. He is also really a slow eater, which means extra treats for me when no one is looking. Sometimes I get in trouble when I get caught, but I after yesterdays fiasco with Gatsby I know he has me beat in the causing trouble department. He escaped out of his crate and then tried to  make his way out of the rest of the house, by digging a hole to china.... in the carpet.

Can you image the delight my parents felt....

Mom and Dad were not exactly thrilled with little brother, but realize he has some serious anxiety issues and does not like being crated. They decided to leave him out with me tonight while they ran a few errands and he did just fine. Big sister knows how to keep that little shit brother in line.

Well this is the end of my post, if  I don't get off here soon mom has threatened to post embarrassing pictures of me on facebook (rude).

Have a good one,
--Stella

Turkey Hangovers.

Hello, Hello! I hope everyone had an AH-mazing Thanksgiving and weekend. We just returned home from Indiana, and it was great. The initial drive there was seven and a half hours, and every day after that we spent at least one hour in the car if not more, driving from one families house to another. Since my sweet husband did 99 percent of the driving, I spent a lot of time on my phone (social media whore right here...). That being said, when around actual humans and not Internet ones, I didn't grab my phone a lot. Since I am such a professional blogger, that means I didn't take whole lot of quality pictures. We went to three different thanksgiving dinners while home, and I did make some yummy new recipes, so I'm going to share those bad boys here today! Enjoy.


My favorite were these yummy asparagus bites! Similar recipe here.

These were delicious, I found these (and the inspiration for the asparagus bites) via Biana's blog, and I knew immediately I wanted to make them. I did tweak it a little and used crescent rolls instead of pie crust. They were definitely a hit.

This was another new recipe for dessert, and they must have been good because I had one bite before they were gone.

Buffalo chicken dip wasn't a new recipe, but it is ALWAYS a hit. I am requested to make this so much, I've taught my husband how to do it, because quite frankly, I get tired of making it! Apparently no one gets tired of eating it though. There are a lot of good recipes for this one, but I am going to post mine later this week when I am not so jet lagged (bogus excuse, we totally drove, but oh well!). You will love it so much, you will make it all the time and just watch your dip disappear (scouts honor). Tell me all about your holidays now, will ya?

Linking up for weekending with Miss Biana!

Weekending

Mondays are not so bad when it is the only day you have to work the entire week. So bring it on, Monday! How was every ones weekends? Fabulous I hope! We started our weekend off by hitting up our last restaurant on the tour of restaurant week. Memphis has one week where the more expensive place have a discounted menu. Since we haven't really ate at a lot of places downtown yet, this was a great way to check some places out at a discounted price. The first place we went to was Automatic Slims. The food was good, but we agreed we would probably just go back for an appetizer and their 3 dollar martinis on Monday night.

Lobster Tator Tots!!

The second restaurant we tried was Bleu.http://www.downtownbleu.com/ The reviews were not very good on this place, but it was one of the only places with a reservation open. I am glad we had a discounted menu, because the food was just mediocre, and the service was pretty bad (which was the biggest complaint I had read). I am not sure it was entirely our severs fault she gave bad service. She seemed relatively new and I counted at one point she had 7 tables, one of them being a large party. We had ordered a bottle of wine, and when my glass was empty my husband went to pour me another, when our sever came over and took the bottle of our hands, claiming her boss would kill her if he saw a guest pouring their own wine. At this point, I think the manager needs to worry about other things, like staffing properly.

The last place we ate was by far our favorite, it was at Capriccio Grill in the Peabody hotel. The food was really good and the service was what you would expect for such a fancy pants place! It is definitely on our list of place to go back to!

On Saturday, the husband had duty, so it was just me and a bottle of wine! I rented the fault in our stars and tried my hand at some Christmas chalkboards. On Sunday there was a lot of lounging and laundry. I went grocery shopping for all the things I would need for the dishes I'm making at the three (yes three!!) different Thanksgivings we will attend.

Not too shabby for my first one. 

Still have to add the words, but for free hand, I was impressed with myself!

Cuddles and creepy mustaches. Is No Shave November over yet??

Tell me all the exciting things you did this weekend, will ya?

Linking up with Biana over herrrrreeee for some weekend goodness!

Friday, it's a sexy word.

We have been exploring downtown a lot more this week (more on that later),  and today we are going back downtown again. Taylor has always had a desire to live in a high rise condo in the downtown area of a big city. I am not really keen on the idea, but for fun we are going to check out some property. My biggest concern is the fact that we have two dogs, so I think we will keep our nice little home with the fenced in back yard. What are you doing this weekend?

Favorite Song:
I am seriously obsessed with this song right now and Hozier in general.

Favorite Purchase:
A dear friend of mine is due in December and I couldn't resist these precious gifts. My cousin ((by marriage)) makes them and she is so talented, and her prices are too good to be true! Check her out here at MADEBYMOLLY.

Favorite Show:
I am so glad 2 Broke Girls returned a couple weeks ago. This show makes me hunch over in pain from laughter.

Favorite Moment:
Is it sad that my favorite moment was seeing the trailers for Cinderella and Pitch Perfect 2? Who else is beyond thrilled about these two?

Favorite Funnies

via

via

via

via

Linking up with Amanda 

Lets take a vacation!

I love that Taylor and I both have jobs that are fairly flexible with us taking vacation time (mine is unpaid, so of course they don't care). It makes it really nice because when you move away from home, you miss family and try to get back as much as possible. That being said, Indiana is not a desirable vacation spot. We have to travel north, in the fall/winter. Ew, just ew! So while I'm enjoying wine with family, and snuggles with nephews, I will be dreaming of the new year and a vacation somewhere with a view! Where, oh where should we go?

I have already been to the Bahamas years ago, but I would love to go back to "Pig Beach" and stay. I mean it is such a cute little island, and hello, you can swim with little piggies!

via

Glamping in Ireland. I don't mind camping, but glamping really seems to be the way to go. And who wouldn't mind waking up to views of the country in Ireland.

via

How about a cabin on Emerald Lake in Canada. I don't care if there is snow on the ground, I'll just enjoy this view from a hot tub please.

via

Santorini Greece, because who hasn't wanted to go there since watching The sisterhood of the traveling pants?

via

How about a personal little hut in Maldives. At night we can walk the Sea of stars.

via

via

Or how about Bolivia! It has gorgeous rain forest and Ah-mazing salt flats.

via

via

 I'm ready to pack my bags and leave now, who's in? Where would you go?