Nashville Girl’s Trip 2012

Enough said

Nashville Girl’s Trip 2012

Floor of Coyote Ugly

Nashville Girl’s Trip

Gator Bites…..Yum!

Nashville Girl’s Trip 2012

Tootsie’s

Pumpkin Festival 2012

Smile…….

Busy, busy, busy………..

 

Sorry I have been a little slack on the blogging.  I have had quite a few busy weeks and weekends.

I guess I will start with Nashville.  There were 5 of us girls that went and we had an absolute blast.  I’ve decided that Nashville is now one of my new favorite cities.  The live bands at all the bars on Broadway are totally awesome…..totally (Yes I’m from the 80’s era….lol).  We had such beautiful weather, it was warm but not hot, it was sunny, no rain.  The weather could have not been more perfect.  I will have to say that I drank way toooooo much but remember most of it.

Let me tell you about this place we stayed and if you ever go to Nashville, I highly recommend it.  We stayed at Homewood Suites by Hilton in downtown Nashville.  Great place to stay, we had suites which had a separate bedroom, separate bath, living room area, and an efficiency kitchen.  It was very clean and well maintained with 2 flat screen TV’s, a full size refrigerator, and couch and chair. Oh and the couch was a sofa bed for extra sleeping comforts.  But the best thing is that Monday through Thursday they serve a free light supper with free beer and free wine.  Yes I said free all you can eat and drink.  We were thinking ok light supper that it would be like appetizer type things.  Well let me tell you, we got there on Thursday so that night we had barbeque beef brisket, kidney beans, cornbread muffins and potato salad.  It was awesome and the free beer and wine, it was just very nice.  Then each morning you got a free hot breakfast and some of the things we had was scrambled eggs, omelets, hash browns, chicken fried steak, sausage, bacon, waffles, bagels, pastries, hard boiled eggs, cereals, fruits and of course coffee, tea, juices, and milk.  And the staff was so friendly and helpful and was constantly checking to make sure we were satisfied.  Needless to say we didn’t eat out much because we would eat at the hotel.  We did eat at Margaritaville one day and we ordered pizza one evening.  The only complaint that I have is that we had to walk up and down this big hill to get from the hotel to the main street where most everything was located.  For some reason I always thought Nashville as being flat.  I don’t know why, just did.

Last weekend was my birthday weekend and we had fall break at work so I was off work last Monday and this past Friday.  2- 3day weekends in a row. Last Saturday, my birthday, was our annual family reunion and I had a special surprise from out of town friends.  We spent the weekend partying and hanging out and that’s all I’m going to say about that.  Just trust me on this, it was a long, busy, stressful, and very emotional weekend and I wouldn’t change any of it.

This past weekend was another long, busy, stressful and very emotional weekend.  My uncle past away this past February in Florida.  He was cremated and my cousins planned on bringing him in this fall for burial in the family cemetery by my dad (his brother), their parents, and my uncle’s wife.  This past weekend was that weekend.  I had family come in from Florida and Virginia and we all congregated at my cousin’s cabin in the woods. 

This past Friday me and my daughter and her stepdaughter made our annual trip to the Milton WV Pumpkin Festival and got my favorite pumpkin ice cream.  I swear every year that I just go for the ice cream but it is such a neat festival with a little bit of everything for everybody. Friday night was cocktails and yummy food.  My cousin’s husband is a wonderful cook and he makes the best gumbo in the world.  Well at least I think so.  So he made gumbo, smoked prime rib, and crab bread. If you haven’t had crab bread, your life is not complete.  It is pure ecstasy in your mouth.  I don’t know all the ingredients but it is French bread with a mixture of fresh crab meat, mayo, and spices, topped with mozzarella cheese and baked until golden and bubbly.  And I swear it literally melts in your mouth.  He also makes pretty awesome margaritas, Thanks Ron.

Then Saturday was a big family and friend’s memorial cookout. I have never been to a wake but it is our version of what I think a wake would be like.  And the food, Ron out did himself again.  We had smoked chickens, smoked pork, smoked pork bbq, pasta salad, baked beans, green beans, salads, corn pudding, and slaw and for desserts, homemade from scratch red velvet cake, chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin pies and this thing called Triple Chip Blondies (also melt in your mouth goodness).  Unbelievable is all I can say.  Sunday was the memorial and burial, very emotional but it was so good to spend time with family that I don’t get to see very often.

Today, Monday, it is back to work, I don’t know how I am going to make it through a 5 day work week….lol!  Although I must say I needed to return to work to rest up.

 

Never Knew I Could Miss Meat So Much……….

Well I know you are probably wandering how the detox diet went.  It wasn’t too bad but I wouldn’t want to do it often.   I love fruits and veggies but after 3 days of JUST fruits and veggies, I was definitely ready for some meat.  And I had so much Wonder Soup that I got nauseas just thinking about eating it. I guess I should explain what the Wonder Soup is: basically vegetable soup.  It consist of tomatoes, cabbage, celery, carrots, green beans, corn, peas, and lots and lots of onions and the base is, you guessed it, onion soup mix and water.  I don’t know what the deal is with all the onions and I happen to love onions but enough is enough….lol.  I’m not a good dieter but I was pretty proud of myself because I done really good following the rules. (I don’t like to follow the rules either….haha!) I lost 5 1/2 lbs., the diet said you would lose 10-17 lbs but I’m thinking 5 ½ lbs in a week was pretty good.  And I guess my body is all detoxed and cleaned out.  How do you know if it is?  Oh well.  That’s done and over and I am trying to stay away from carbs (sweets, pasta, breads).  I would like to lose another 10 lbs.  Of course I need to lose about 25 lbs but 10 more would make me a very happy woman.

I went to a gambling casino with one of my Best Buds this past weekend which really kind of screwed the last 2 days of my detox diet but I done pretty good sticking with it.  The weekend was a treat from her aunt and uncle and we had such a nice time, of course I didn’t win any money well I did win a few times but I kept playing so I ended up losing $40 over a period of about 4 hours.  And it was a lot of fun.  Probably the neatest thing about the trip (the greatest thing was I didn’t have to pay for my hotel room or my dinner) was eating dinner at Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse.  Omg, I have never eaten at such a fancy or expensive restaurant.  They put your napkin in your lap for you and if you take one drink of water they are right there filling your glass back to the rim.  I ordered Steak Collinsworth which was a steak about 3 inches thick in a type of au jus sauce and it was topped with king crab meat, asparagus and then topped with a cream sauce.  It melted in your mouth, which it ought to since it cost $40. My friend’s uncle got this big seafood bowl and I have never seen shrimp or crab legs that size.  They were unreal; I wish I had taken a picture to show you, I’m telling you, you would not believe your eyes.  The weekend ended Sunday morning with her cousin (who was also with us) being involved in a bad car wreck on his way home and we had to hurry and get dressed and go to the hospital.  But thank goodness, he was not hurt bad.  He will be sorry for several days but no bones broken and no cuts.

This coming Thursday I will be leaving for Nashville with the Bucktucky Girls for the weekend.  Really looking forward to getting out of town.  Geez seems like I’m always saying that and I have traveled quite a bit this year.  Oh well in my opinion you can never travel too much.  The only thing is the funds are getting low and I need to start saving for Christmas.

I will post my Nashville pictures when I get back.  Have a good one!!!

Detox diets and birthdays……..

Hope everyone had a good weekend.  I helped a friend with her husband’s 50th birthday party, cooking and cleaning. She spent the evening telling everyone that he had already received his AARP card.  Poor guy but he is a trooper, he just laughed along with everybody else.  We had some awesome food (regular chili, white chili, sausage wontons, ham and rolls, and dips and chips).  I also made margarita jello shots and chocolate covered cherry jello shots.  They both went over good but the chocolate covered cherry jello shots were the star of the show.  I will include the recipe at the end of this entry. A good time was had by all and we partied to the wee hours of the morning. One of our buddies plays the guitar and sings, he is kind of a hippy and I could listen to him for hours.  Actually we did listen to him for hours, the poor guy’s fingers were about to fall off by the time he got through our request list. 

I started a big detox diet today, me and my bff M.  You are suppose to lose 10-17 lbs. in 7 days.  We are getting ready for our Nashville trip next week and are trying to lose a few pounds so we can go eat and drink and gain it all back……lol.  Anyway today is all day fruit, tomorrow is all day veggies, 3rd day is fruits and veggies, and so forth and so on.  Can’t wait to fit back in my jeans…..can I get a “hell yeah”?  It is a pretty strict diet on what you can eat but the good thing is that you can eat as much of it that you want.  It is suppose to also detox your body, clean out your pipes, and make you feel better. So far today I have had grapes and strawberries and have cantaloupe and pears for lunch.  I don’t have trouble while I’m at work because I have limited resources, the hard part is going to be when I get home.  I will keep you posted.

Well 24 years ago today, I was in the hospital in the worst pain of my entire life giving birth to my second born aka Satan.  If I had known then what I know now then I would have said “Put him back in, Put him back in”.  With that being said, I love him more then life itself and I have spoiled him rotten so it’s not all his fault. Happy Birthday Son!! Mama loves you and hopes you have a wonderful day!  His girlfriend is going to make him a birthday cake, oh crap I just realized, no birthday cake for me.  I will have to duck tape my mouth shut :-).

Chocolate Covered Jello Shots

2 small boxes cherry jello

2 1/2 cups of boiling water

1 1/2 cups of vodka

1 large jar of marachino cherries

Hershey’s Shell topping

25-30 jello shot cups

Empty boxes of jello in a large mixing boil, add boiling water and stir until gelatin is dissolved.  Then add vodka.  Put a cherry in each cup and ladel jello over the cherries.  Let sit in the fridge for a couple of hours until the jello is pretty well set.  Then pour a thin layer of the chocolate shell on the top of each cup.  Chill for another hour or so and voila……..the best jello shots you will ever taste. Promise!

Canning and Stuff……….

 

Well how have ya’all been?  I’ve been super busy…….yeah right? :0)  I have been working in veggies.  My brother has a big garden (bless his soul) so I always reap some of the benefits.  I went over Saturday and got green beans and tomatoes.  I ended up putting 11 quarts of green beans in the freezer and last night I made homemade marinara sauce, 5 pints and 2 quarts.  I don’t know about you guys but I hate working with tomatoes, I always have them from head to toe and all over my kitchen.  I will be finding tomato seeds for weeks.  I had something really freaky happen though, to prepare my jars instead of boiling them a friend of mine told me several years ago that she always just puts them on a cookie sheet and put them in the oven for about 10-15 minutes.  I have used this method multiple times and never had a problem with them.  But last night was a different story, I pulled them out of the oven and started to fill one of my jars and the whole bottom cracked and broke apart in pieces, marinara sauce going everywhere.  It also caused 2 other jars to bust on the bottom from running on the cookie sheet so I had to hurry and save 3 jars before the sauce got to them.  I don’t know what the heck happened but then I had to go find more jars and sterilize them.  I let the other jars cool down and finally got them all filled and they all sealed properly. Go figure!  At least I will have homemade marinara sauce for the winter.  Yumbo!

 

I am getting ready to take another mini vacay to Nashville with my bff M and 6 other friends.  We all try and get together a couple times of year.  One time we usually spend at M’s cabin and the the other time we try to go somewhere out of state.  Last year it was Put In Bay, Ohio and this year it is Nashville.  I’m super excited because I have never been to Nashville.  I’ve been through it but never stayed there and seen the sights.  And these girl’s are a riot, we always have sooooo much fun together.  No wander I am so broke all the time, I have been traveling a lot this year but I love it.  The kids may not like it when they don’t get anything for Christmas because their momma is so broke from vacationing all over the country but they will get over it…….maybe!?!

 

I will be sure and take lots of pics to share with you and I’m sure will have a funny story or 2 to tell.  Grand Ole Opry here I come……..!!

 

My trip to N’awlins!

Sorry for the long absence but I have been extra busy.  I’m back from my quick vacay to N’awlins with my bestie M.  We arrived on Friday and unpacked and headed out to see what the hype was all about.  First stop…..beignets and bloody mary’s, how’s that for a start to the Big Easy.  Beignets – awesome heaven in your mouth and bloody mary’s – awesome heaven in your mouth.  Then we ate the famous Muffuletta. There were 3 of us me, M, and M’s boss, that’s right the boss went with us but let me just say she is a hoot and pretty cool chick.  We just spent the day checking out the city, Bourbon Street, Canal Street, voodoo stores, lots and lots of alcoholic beverages and some awesome food. 

Saturday we took a tour on the bayou with Captain Tom at the Cajun Pride Swamp Tours.  It was an awesome trip if you ever get a chance to go to N’awlins, you need to take advantage of this tour if you like seeing alligators and learning history of the bayous. M was a chicken, she wouldn’t hold the alligator..lol

Sunday the conference started so I was left to fend for myself.  I grabbed my iPad, an adult beverage and put on my bathing suit and headed for the pool.  Aw….heaven right?  Well as soon as I got settled it started to sprinkle so basically I sat in the rain and read my book.  Then I had to pee really, really bad so I go back to the room, my key won’t work.  M is in the conference with the other key and I didn’t particularly want to go to the fancy lobby in my bathing suit to get it fixed.  So I headed back to the pool and waited for lunch time so I could get into the room.  All the time not knowing there was a bathroom around the corner from the pool…..go figure! I’m not always with it……….Naw? Are you kidding…….lol!  Sunday evening included a guided walking Ghost Tour, not scary but gained a lot of history of the town.   Before the ghost tour we ate at the famous Yo Mama’s and a couple of us even ordered their famous peanut butter hamburger, I tasted it and it was pretty darn good actually!

Monday was another day of reading by the pool except this time I made sure my key worked…..lol!

We flew home on Tuesday evening and fun was had by all.  They have the most awesome food I have ever ate.

And just a note, I survived the flight………obviously.   Yeah, I am scared to death of flying and have done it twice this year already,  whoo hoo I’m getting brave.