Mother-Daughter Weekend

My sister-in-law, Cerissa, and I voyaged down to Houston for a wonderful weekend with Mom and her good friend, Shaun. We went to the Women of Faith Conference at the Toyota Center, where we got to hear from many wonderful speakers and musicians. It was a very refreshing and revitalizing weekend, and I'm so glad that I got to spend it with the special women in my life!

For dinner on Friday night we ate at Quattro. It was a very nice restaurant, with very strange words on the menu. It took us 45 minutes just to decipher the menu! We were not accustomed to items like "Parmigiano Reggiano Carpaccio, Aged Balsamic, Salted Walnut, Pear" or "Carpaccio Di Manzo – Natural Beef Carpaccio, Cipriani Dressing, Celeriac, Black Truffle Salad!" We even had to use dictionary.com to help translate! Going the safe route, Cerissa and I ended up sharing Petto Di Pollo – Rosemary-Roasted Chicken Breast, Eggplant Capponata, and Natural Jus. Mom, being a bit more brave ordered Salmone Al Vapore – Truffle-Scented Poached Salmon, Caramelised Endive, Asparagus Tips, Butternut Squash Cream, while Shaun was the bravest of all, going with Carre D’Agnello – Ciabatta and Basil-Crusted Rack of Natural Lamb, Coffee-Scented Salsifi! Even though all the names seemed foreign, the dishes were delectable!

On Saturday night, Dad made the most amazing, different enchiladas I have ever eaten...Butternut Squash Enchiladas . Hot from the peppers, but sweet from the squash...a truly wonderful combo!

Before making our voyage back home to our hubbies, we got to stop and eat lunch with Ryan and the rest of the family at the Manna House. It was so good to spend some quality time with the family!

A Good Cozy Fall Weekend

Last weekend was lots of fun with a few family and friends! Friday night David and I, along with Meghan, Rebecca, Sarah, Matt, Mallory & Claire and their two dates went to Billy Bob's Texas, the world's largest honky tonk, in the historic Fort Worth Stockyards. We got to enjoy a free concert by JOSH TURNER!!! (For those of you who are not familiar with Josh, go here: http://joshturner.com/index.htm?id=12409) We danced, people watched, and enjoyed some good music.
Saturday was a beautiful fall day. It was extra cozy since we had friends over for dinner and a movie. Micah and Brittany came over bringing their famous Turkey & Black Bean Chili. We watched Transformers II and then had my Homemade Banana Pudding for dessert! It was a southern comfort food feast!

I Really Shouldn't be a 'Cook'

I can now mark-off Wednesday, November 4th, 2009, as the day I officially failed at being a good wife. See, I have been working out-of-town a lot lately...of the past 7 weeks, I have been traveling for 6 of them. Needless to say, when I arrived home there was hardly anything to eat in the whole house except for some very basic items. After driving home from work, throwing in some laundry, watching the news, working out, and folding the laundry, it was already getting late. So with slim-pickins in the pantry and no time to go to the grocery store, I whipped up a delectable arrangement of. . .drumroll please. . .hot dogs (without a bun) & sweet potatoes! :( Isn't that just awful?!?! My poor husband, so deprived. But David still ate it graciously without much complaining. . . followed by some cheese and crackers and a bowl of Cheerios. I felt so bad that I ended up spending the next 2 hours cleaning...err, scrubbing the kitchen from top to bottom, trying to regain my status as a good housekeeper and wife. Let's just say the kitchen is now squeaky clean, and will be filled with plenty of groceries and baked goods come this weekend. However, I don't think that I will ever be able to live this day down...the night of hot dog wieners and sweet potatoes! Ha!


I mean, seriously...look how disgusting that looks on the plate! Gross!

Untraditional Cookie Swap

When it comes to desserts, I am a sucker! I absolutely love anything chocolatey and sweet... especially a nice and soft, fresh-baked cookie.

So yesterday, my co-worker/friend and I went to Corner Bakery for lunch, and we each decided to get a cookie to eat during the afternoon 'dark period' (the time of day in the office, usually from around 3:00-4:00 p.m., when you struggle to not only focus on your work but to actually keep your eyes opened). Due to our extreme business (wink, wink) at work this day, it was going to be extra hard to make it to the 3 o'clock mark to eat our cookies. So in order to have self control, we decided to swap cookies until we reached the 'dark period.' This should work out perfectly because neither of us wanted each others cookie - She had a sugar cookie (she does not like chocolate!), and I of course had the 'Monster' cookie - old fashioned chocolate chip topped with mini m&ms. We held each others cookie hostage until 2:59:59.

Hello Blog World!

I'm not super creative (this is why I am an Accountant like my dad), but I have always wanted to be! I think that blogging will be just the perfect thing to get my creative juices flowing. And it will motivate me to do 'cool' things so that I can share them (and the pictures) with my wonderful family and friends. Not to mention it is more cost efficient than my other alternative of scrap-booking. So, "Hello, Blog World!" I have finally caved in!


I will be posting random events of life - anything from what David and I did over the weekend, to my likes/dislikes on any given day, or what experiment I decided to cook in the kitchen last night. And at least with the holidays coming up, hopefully I will have some good materials to work with until I get the hang of this blogging thing :)