Save the Date

Despite the fact that I sent my Save the Dates out months ago ... I am obsessed with them.  I worked on them for about two months and looked at several different companies online before I went with minted.   I must say - this company is amazing!  Once I finally figured out what I wanted, they had proof to me within 24hrs and once I finallized the proof ... they were at my doorstep within four days!

I wanted to use a postcard for our save the date, because I have a bit of an thing when it comes to postcards.  I purchase postcards from different places I visit and I also participate in a postcard exchange with one of my favorite girlfriends.  We have been exchanging postcards for years now ... I even have a collage of postcards she has sent me framed hanging in my house.


And now our Save the Date:

The background of the postcard is a picture I took of Haywood Hall - where we will have our reception.

Even Lucy was apart of our Save the Date... complete with my homemade chalkboard =) 

And I love how the boarder is our wedding website - I wasn't sure how I would include the website, but then realized I could use the boarder.  Bingo! 

Next up on the agenda: Wedding Invitations

Holiday Excitement

Wes and I just got back in town from spending the weekend in Charleston with my brother and Amy.  We went down to surprise Nick for his 31st birthday.  And well after spending the weekend with them I am so excited about Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.  Amy will be joining our family for Turkey Day and over the Christmas holiday.  And Grandpa Nick is coming for Christmas this year!!!  I am so excited.  I can't wait - especially for the Christmas holidays.  Last year I barely was able to spend time with my family being that I worked on Christmas Eve.  And well spending 13/14 hours at the hospital I was definitely missing them.  And since Wes and I are splitting time with each other's families ... I felt like I was dividing myself three different ways.  Not this year!  I have off Christmas Eve and Christmas and I cannot wait to celebrate with the family.  And with Amy joining us as well - I am pumped that no longer will me and mom be the only girls.  Especially since the boys have adopted Wes like the brother they never had ... they are just like three little amigos who enjoy ganging up on me.  So typical ....

The first weekend in December, Wes and I will be going on our (in his words) "Second Annual Brummer Family Christmas Tree Adventure."  Yes, Lucy, Wes, and I will be heading off to NC mountains to find ourselves the perfect Christmas tree.  I am still working on Ethel coming with us as well ... but Wes doesn't seem to be budging on that one.  I think I need to work on Ethel wearing her harness.  Perhaps that will help me and Ethel's case.

Gobble and Wobble

Wes has felt inspired with all his fabulous runs as of late and has decicded we should run the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day.  This little trot is a 5 mile run ... right ... that's bit of a hall if one is trotting.  I am more into the 1 mile fun run they offering however I believe that is only for kids. 

Regardless it should be fun because my brothers will be joining us in this little advenutre and Amy better be joining as well!!! I am not running without my running buddy, Amy. 

Nothing like calling someone out on your blog =)

http://www.sportoften.com/events/eventDetails.cfm?pEventId=9226

Here is the link to the event if you would like to get your trot on Thanksgiving Day!

Happenings and Such

Life as usually has been in warp speed!

We have had two weddings in October, followed by football games, supper clubs, work and Engagement party for us!  October has been a busy month for us but I must say it has been fabulous!

The weddings were beautiful and of course I'm on the phone with my mom first thing the next morning discussing each event in full detail.  Wes and I have SIX months before walking down the aisle and there are lots of details to be worked out.

I have my bridal portraits on Friday and I am so excited!  I can not wait to see my dress ... let alone wear it!! I am very very excited!!!  My mother will not allow for me to have my dress at my house ... most likely because one would find me sitting on my couch watching TV in it ... I have not seen nor worn my dress in awhile.

As soon as friends send me pictures from our Engagement Party on Saturday I will be sure post!  I can't wait to see the pictures.  It was an awesome party and it was wonderful having our friends from Raleigh make the drive to come celebrate.  My Aunt Janice from New York even made the party!  Wes and I were really excited that she came to celebrate with us.  However, she is now stuck here in Raleigh because of Sandy.  Her flight has been delayed until Wednesday.  This works out well for us because we are having dinner with her tonight and the family.  I haven't had dinner at my Mom's in forever!  Wes has been up there more for dinner then I have!  My mother seems to think Wes will starve if I am out of town or working a weekend shift so she always has him come up for dinner.  I think it is hysterical - I assure her peanut butter and jelly will not kill him.  But I then in return get the left overs from dinner!  So it's a win win. =)  Plus it is sweet that my family love him so much that they feel like I do not need to be around for them to spend time together.   Wes jokes and says that's because they love him more ... he best watch it.  =)

Control

I have control issues.  More like micro managing issues and by issues I mean people.



I have always known this about myself ... however instead of working on this problem it has seemed to manifest itself into a bigger problem.






Apparently wedding planning is a sure fire way to feed control issues.  Also nursing ... nursing does not help with control issues.

Feelings

If there is one thing that Wes and I have worked on over the past year plus of living together it would be communication.  We communicate very differently.  

I grew up in a household that was / is very vocal.  We express when we are happy/upset/etc. at any given moment in the day.  We love talking about out feelings.  And by we ... my mother and I love talking about our feelings.  If I am upset you are going to know it and I do not hold back in letting you know ... that ticked me off.  What can I say ... I am an emotional person.  Granted I feel as though the positive/energetic self comes out more often then not.  I also love to talk ... about everything.  I am more of a story teller .. I want you to feel like you were with me while I am reliving my day. Along with that, I want to know how others are feeling and know in detail .  

Wes was not one to talk about his feelings.  He is more of one that takes in a deep breath, holds it in, and say, "I'm going for a run."  Not a big a talker that one ... more of a internalizer.  Well ... after living with someone who at nauseam loves to ask "What are you feeling? What did you do then? How was your day? Tell me about it in detail? How did that make you feel?" Someone has a taken a turn about their feelings.  

Last week, I was exhausted, PMSing, and just mentally checked out from work.  I came home Tuesday around 8:30, showered, and climbed into bed.  Wednesday ... same routine.  This raised some concern for Wes because he followed me into the bedroom and sat down with a look of concern.  

Wes:  "What's going on." 

ME: "Nothing." 

Wes: "Well how was your day?"

Me: "Fine." 

Wes: "Do you want to talk about your feelings?" 

I died laughing.  Touche Wesley.  I told him I was good on the feelings talk.  Love him.  And all our feeling talks. 

Wolfpack! War Eagle!

This coming weekend we are headed to Atlanta to start our football season off right.  We will be in attendance for the NC State / Tennessee Game and on Saturday I will be in attendance (along with my brother and his girlfriend Amy) for the Auburn / Clemson game.  I am so excited about the Auburn game. Why am I so excited?  Because of my outfit.  Clearly.  I had the best time finding something to wear for the game.  I even ended up adding two new orange / navy pieces to the closet. So necessary, I know.

I am going with a skirt designed by Emma Graham.  Love love love this designer! So cute.

Adorable.  I am so ready to cheer on Auburn. 

As far as the NC State game ... I have no idea.  Okay let me be honest ... I have narrowed it down to three wardrobe options. 

Go Pack  ! ! !  

Delish

I have mentioned my mother in law to be before and how she could be Paula Deen's daughter.  Well this plays very true to her talent in the kitchen.  I asked and she graciously took on the job of making our wedding gifts for our guests.  Which as her creativity keeps on rolling we keep receiving new foods for our tasting pleasure.  We have had peach jam, peach salsa, and my personal favorite that I am not even sure what it is but I am pretty sure it is crack.  I thought it was chow-chow.  I have no idea what chow-chow is but I figured it was good guess.  Wes told me it is some kind of relish ... and I asked him if it is like the one people put on cream cheese for parties.  He informed I would be correct and that is an option for plating this yummy goodness.
Needless to say ... I have been off work from the hospital and just so happens I do not have to nanny today.  Guess who ate all of the crack relish for breakfast, snack, lunch, and another snack?

This kid.

It's all gone.  And if my mother in law to be is reading this ... please make more of this deliciousness, but let's not give it to anyone.  I think it would enjoy living in my frig and pantry.... and belly.

I like my candle burning from both ends ...

My mother has used that saying time and time again with me.  And if you ever look at my google calendar one would understand why.  If I happen to have a day with nothing on it - I am first shocked and then become very excited.  Excited then turns into - okay what can I do on this day? Should I pick up that extra shift being offered at work?  Should I try and see about having a dinner date with some friends?  Should I clean the house from head to toe?  Should I do wedding planning? Should I go workout? Should I review some work for nursing?
See what happens when you have ADD mixed with an overly ambitious work ethic?  Disaster - until you get your butt in gear and some prioritization takes place.

Anyway ... back to my candle.  I have decided with some a lot encouragement from a friend to run a 1/2 marathon in December.  It will take place December 9th on Kiawah Island, SC.  The race promises to be flat and beautiful.  I am counting on the flat part.

So now in addition to wedding planning, Junior League Volunteering at Helping Horse, babysitting two days a week, and oh right my full time job at the hospital ... I am training for a 1/2.
Eh, why not?  That candle looks bright burning from both ends.

Perhaps ...

Perhaps I have lost it or I am on the verge of losing it.  I will place myself in the category of verge of losing it.  I have semi-agreed to run a 1/2 marathon in December.

Training begins tomorrow with a four mile run.

When was the last time I ran?  Hmmm... I think it was in March for the 10K in Charleston.  No wait ... June.  June was the last time I ran because I had a great amount of rage one evening and needed to get it out.  I ran three miles and couldn't walk for the next two days.  So that worked well.

Yup. So I am really looking forward to this training schedule and having my patients roll me around the unit.

I guess its time to fish my running shoes out from the back of the closet.

Wants vs Needs

There are many things in this world that I found that I need.  To some (eh-hm Wesley) they may seem like wants and expensive wants at that.  I cannot help it if I was born with expensive and fabulous taste.  That is just the way God made me ... and my momma.

We try to compromise and thankfully I do have some guilt that appears before I start spending.  Hence, yielding the spending process.  However, there are some things in life I cannot go without.  One of those things is a chandelier -
for the tailgating tent.

Is this not the cutest/greatest/finishing touch on a classic tailgate chandelier ever?!  I know, I know, amazing. I found this darling gem last year in Southern Living.  And because I was trying to be a good significant other the chandelier was not purchased.  However, my want has turned into a very great need because it has been over a year of needing.  Once again the subject was revisited and once again I was shot down.... sort of.  There was a hint of maybe in his voice .... I have learned when there is a hint there is hope.  I tried to explain my vision for our tailgate ... essentially recreating a cozy welcoming kitchen / dinning room space. Wesley doesn't exactly see my vision at the moment, but I he will come around.  I planted the seed last year ... which was followed by "Your are insane and absolutely not with my money." And this year I got a "well let me see it again on the website..." Oh yah ... that chandelier is going to be mine.

A Very Quick Recap on Our Summer

Wedding Bells!  Celebrating Lindsay & Dryw

We went to Ockracoke with a fabulous group of friends. 

Above: Me in front of the lighthouse on my beach cruiser - Old Blue

Below: My BFF & MOH - Catherine (and the puppy is Marty, we borrowed him from stranger) 

Took a trip to Nashville with the Girls ... and we saw Miranda Lambert 

and the Pistol Annies 

and 

Blake Shelton

Took a trip to Sullivan Island to visit the Brother 

& other beaches as well 

Saw mountains as well ... in NC & Colorado 

Man's Best Friend

"The one absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him and the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog." - George Graham Vest 


In case you were wondering where the saying ever came from. 


Now, onto my story .... 
Most of y'all know about my dog Lucy.  I adopted her as a puppy from friend of friend's parents about five years ago.  Lucy and I have walked along the beach, climbed mountains, visited Mount Rushmore, traveled across the United States and back.  Needless to say we were thick as thieves.  That is until Wesley. 


Lucy and Wesley have taken their relationship to a level.  The first occurrence of this new "Mommy is not the only one I listen to activity" happened a couple of months ago.  Wes and I were outside and I wanted Lucy to come with us on our errand.  Wes wanted her back in the house.  In the midst of us calling / telling Lucy to come here / go back into the house.... Lucy went back into the house.  I was shocked.  Floored.  Lucy HAS ALWAYS listened to me over someone else.  I couldn't believe what had just happened.  Of course, Wes was just all smiles and just thought he was something else.  I decided it was best to move on from this moment and not dwell on what just happened. 


Since this time I have started to notice how Lucy and Wes interact.  She goes to him when she wants to go out, when she is hungry, when she wants to play, when she wants to talk (yes Lucy talks to you) .... Are we starting to see a trend here?  Someone has a new best friend and it's not me.  


All and all, I see this as a very good thing.  Wes and Lucy clearly love each other... even if neither one of them listen to me anymore.  Plus, I have Ethel.  She listens to me ... what I am talking about, no she doesn't.  

Lucy and Wes on a day hike in the NC Mountains - just the two of them. =) 

One More Thing

WE ARE GETTING MARRIED IN 

NINE MONTHS!!! 

Said Yes to the Dress !

Last Thursday I was viewing the website for Traditions by Anna, a bridal boutique in Raleigh.  They specialize in having unique and upscale bridal designers.  It just so happened they were having a Sample Sale.  I quickly called to see if I could set up an appointment for that evening.  They had an opening for 5:30 - I took it!

Well, I tried on four dresses and wouldn't you know fourth one is the charm!  I put it on and just knew... it was perfect.  The fit was perfect.  The dress felt absolutely right and wonderful and all those fabulous feelings that are talked about with "finding the one."

A champagne toast and the dress was purchased that evening.  There was no need for second guessing - I had found my bridal couture gown!

OBSESSED

I am obsessed with the OLYMPICS.  I love love love love them.  My memories spread throughout my childhood of the whole family gathering in the living room to watch the Opening Ceremonies. Throughout the years it was our family tradition.  


I have such an appreciation for the athletics and their dedication to their sports.  I mean, it is not like everyone has the genetic makeup to be a great athlete.  I clearly do not - however growing up I dreamed that I would be apart of the Equestrian Team.  That obviously did not happen.


There is something about the feeling one gets with the Olympics.   Olympic Creed:"The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well." 

Goosebumps. 

My top favorite Olympic Sports Favorites: 

1.) Equestrian - Clearly 

2.) Gymnastics - I'm so intrigued by these 4'11" people.  I failed as a child gymnast, I think it has something to do with coordination and side of I've always taken after the Jolly Green Giant in the height department. 

3.) Swimming - Michael Phelps need I say more? 

4.) Diving - You are going to jump off of that and do flippy things in the air?  I salute you and your nonexistent fear of belly flopping into a pool of water. 

Rehearsal Research = Dinner Dates

Since the engagement - I have been in planning overdrive.  This week in Raleigh, it was Restaurant Week.  Restaurant Week is where fabulous restaurants in the Triangle Area offer a three course lunch and dinner menu.  Lunch is $15 and dinner ranges from $20-30.  For Restaurant junkies like ourselves - we love restaurant week.  However, we attacked restaurant week with a different approach ... possible rehearsal dinner venues.  Friday night we went to Battistellas  - it serves up a classic New Orleans and upscale Southern Cuisine.  Delicious.  Plus it was a great date night with the hubs to be.  We have a couple other places in mind to try out over the next couple of weeks.  So hopefully we will have our rehearsal dinner figured out.
In other news, Wes and I joined the church we have been attending.  We are now official members of Edenton Street United Methodist Church.  We had a "get to know one another" session at the church on Saturday morning.  It was a great way to meet the pastors of the church and learn how we can become more involved in the church.  Today, we became members - officially!   We have several other couples who we are friends with that are members as well - so it is was exciting joining and have their love and support.  We celebrated by having lunch at Porters.  Not a rehearsal option but it was still fun to hangout on Hillsborough Street and reminisce about our college days.
Oh - let me back up a moment, we also had a wedding last night.  One of the couples we are friends with at church and my former neighbor and his now lovely wife were married yesterday evening at the Highgrove Estate.  I started tearing up the moment the huge smile crossed Dryw's face when he saw Lindsay.  We were seated at the the same table as Lindsay's coworkers who were hysterical.  They are part of the social media group for Lenvo and are hysterical.  Wes and I were just dying laughing.  As it turns out - one of them had Wes's Aunt as his AP Art teacher!  Who happened to be his favorite teacher in high school.  Dinner was delicious and the dancing was fabulous.  We had a great night - full of love and lots of laughs.
 (Hopefully I will have some time to upload some photos.)

We're Getting Married ! ! !

Okay - this post is long long over do.  BUT - Wes and I are getting married ! !  On April 22nd, Wes asked me to marry him.  It was one of the best moments of my life. We had a venue picked out the following Saturday.  And a band booked the following week.

We will be getting married April 27th, 2013 at Haywood Hall.

Haywood Hall

We are so excited!

Between my mom, myself, and Wes, we have been making decisions and the wedding planning is coming along! We hoped to have mostly everything done before Football season starts.  Ridiculous - but - priorities are priorities.

Doing Work.

A crew of ten departed Raleigh last Thursday and Friday for the beautiful Sullivans Island. We were headed to run the Bridge - a 6.2 mile race, celebrate a 30th birthday, and act like fools.

We conquered all three objectives.

Most of the group - minus three. How does one prepare for a 10K? You carb up by drinking beer.

Now that looks like a top notch running crew.

Well check us out! We did it ! ! I must say as I was running this hellacious race, all I could think was, "I have to finish in time or everyone is going to leave me and head to the bar!" Thank goodness I pulled it together so I could join everyone and enjoy my mimosa.

Enjoying the drinks and the view at one of the rooftop bars in downtown Charleston. We got some AMAZING sunburns. Sports bra tan lines are super awesome and I am really looking forward to blending the tan lines on my back.

How do you fit 14 people in 1000 ft square foot condo with one bathroom? Tents. Tents are very necessary. The green tent is our tent. Or as I liked to call it "The Tent of Love."

How can you celebrate your 30th birthday if you do not have pinata? Well you can't. Please meet Peter. He traveled all the way from Raleigh to Sullivans for the fiesta on Saturday.

We became close friends, despite his impending death in the backyard. He knew his purpose. Spread the love through candy.

A cookout with lots of friends is also essential for a 30th shin-dig.

Follow it up with a Sunday breakfast of champions = an amazing weekend.

Recap!

I have been inspired to execute my creative ideas. I have made a Spring wreath for the front door, a chalk board, and string eggs. The string eggs idea came from pinterest and were an epic fail. Out of the ten I made, one looked semi normal. They went straight to the trash can. The chalk board and wreath - success!

My Chalkboard! I sanded down a piece of plywood, used crown molding as my frame, and painted the board with chalkboard paint.

This was our menu for Supper Club. We meet with eight other couples once a month for Supper Club. Wes and I prepared the food together. For the appetizers we made pimento cheese and crab deviled eggs. We had fried chicken and waffles, biscuits (from scratch), sweet peas, and fancy potatoes. For dessert we had peanut butter pie, chocolate chess pie, and coconut pie. Wes even made the graham cracker crust for my peanut butter pie butter. Though it ended up having a half a stick of butter instead of 1/4 ... according to Wes "This recipe must be wrong, the crust is too dry." Nobody complained of the extra butter intake. =)

Check out our super club! Wes put on the extension to our table so we could accommodate everyone. It was awesome having everyone sitting around the table together. Another reason why I love our dining room table.

I would also like to give a blog shout out to Mrs B. and Mrs M. who helped me put the menu together ! Thank y'all for the southern inspiration and recipes =) I could not have done it without y'alls help!!

Wes has been doing some creative work as well … that is when I do not have him slaving away cleaning the house or cooking in the kitchen. Remember the side table? Well they are coming right along now that he hashis finger death machine. I mean his saw table.

We are trying to be as healthy as possible these days as well. We just recently ran a 10K down in Charleston, SC. (That will need to be another blog post.) And well do to our recent diet changes and focus on living a better life style – I give you my inspirational get healthy salad.

Last night, after running three miles, Wes wanted to know what we would be having for dinner. “A salad,” I replied. I knew immediately by that exhale he was not pleased. I told him to pump the brakes and just wait to see my creation. (Shocking that was followed by another exhale.) Well guess who finished their whole plate and said “This is amazing! I mean, seriously, this is really good!” Oh that’s right…Wesley.

The salad:

Mixed greens and spinach, Salmon (cooked in a soy sauce, garlic, maple syrup marinade), honey goat cheese, mushrooms and asparagus marinated in olive oil and sea salt, fresh tomatoes from the Farmers Market, and red onion. Bon Appétit!

1 for 3

My life tends to be hectic. I have always been one of those people who enjoy a full schedule. I enjoy being stretched thin ... when I am actually able to complete all said commitments it's a great sense of accomplishment. However, that feeling, comes not as often as I would like, it's more of a feeling of .... running around like a chicken without a head.

Where was I going with this ... right so 1 for 3. Since, Wes and I moved in together, we do not go out on many dates. One it is a monetary issue. We like to save money where we can. And we both feel like eating out all the time is a waste. We both enjoy cooking, either for one another, or together. However, back in December, it occurred to us that we had not been out on a date in quite some time. (Like a couple of months...) So we made the agreement, starting in January, we would have a date night, once a month. We would pick somewhere we never had been and alternate each month as to who gets to decide where we are going. (And who pays. =) )

We are 1 for 3 for our once a month date night. Talk about epic FAIL. And quite honestly, we should be 0 for 3. I am counting our Valentines Day dinner as date .... Valentines Day Dinner doesn't count. Oh well...

Maybe April we will be better ....

Looking at our schedule we do not have a weekend free until the 4th weekend in June. So maybe July will be better.

Lucy You've Got Some Splaining to Do!!

This afternoon I left Lucy in the backyard while I ran the boys home. Well, after dropping the boys off at their house I ran to our grocery store, where it never fails I run into someone I know. Sure enough, my friend/neighbor down the road was there and invited me over for a beer. Heck, its Monday - Sure! Friends of ours were just finishing up moving into the house behind him so I wanted to congratulate them along with the checking out the renovations on their house. Okay so hopefully you can see where I am going when my I'm only going to be gone for 15 minutes turned into an hour and half later / phone call from Wes - Where are you?

Right so back to Lucy ... well while I was gone, she felt the need to dig some holes. And dig she did ... apparently she was trying to reach China during my absence. Oops.

So after dinner she ended up in the tub for bath and pedicure. She was looking good - her white spots on toes - very white and pretty. That is until Wes decided to put her BACK outside for about 20 minutes with no adult supervision.

Guess who ended back in the tub for round two?

Happy Birthday Andrew!

The Little Brother turned the big 2-0 today ! We decided to have a little get together at our house to celebrate. Andrew wanted ribs for his birthday dinner, so we had ribs, four racks of ribs.

We also steamed a half of bushel and shucked oysters in the backyard. It was fabulous. My parents have just been bitten by the oyster shucking bug and love it. It was such a beautiful day outside - the perfect Sunday afternoon! Even our neighbor next door joined in on the fun.

And by all this "we steamed" and "we smoked" ribs ... Wes did it all. The rest of the family enjoyed his hard work.

All ready to go! Wait a minute .... we are missing something ....

There we go. Much better. However we are missing one person in this photo - Brother Nicky. He had to head back to Charleston before the ribs were finished cooking, so he missed out on the deliciousness.

Birthday Menu:

BBQ Spare Ribs (prepped with a dry rub and smoked to perfection)

Cornbread Casserole (the healthiest ingredient in this recipe is the low fat sour cream)

Firehouse Baked Beans

Pav's Special Coleslaw

And as we attempted to push ourselves away from the table it was time for a Goodberry's Ice Cream Cake. Andrew insisted he wanted an ice cream birthday cake and no one was complaining after sinking their teeth into their slices of heaven.

Happy Birthday Little Brother! ! !

Welcome to my Big Fat Italian Family

We are back from NEW YORK! We landed this morning and the air never smelled so good. It is fabulous to back where sweet tea and biscuits are staples and driving slow is mandatory. I love going to NY - but by day three - I can't handle it. With this being said - I am talking about the city. Once you drive out of the city is rolling hills and fresh air - my kind of style.

This trip was more about visiting the family then sight seeing. We visited cousins on my mom's side and great aunt and aunts on my father's side. I would have to say for both Wes and I the highlight was visiting with my great Aunt Rosie. This is my grandfather's little sister. She lives in Howard Beach, which is located in Queens. Howard Beach is known for one of the great Mob Bosses - John Gotti - his wife lives one block over from great Aunt. Nice place - very unpretentious minus the video cameras.

Okay let me set the stage for this visit. We had just driven into Jamaica, Queens for Chinese food. (This will be another post because this ridiculous food outing must be shared.) So we just got done eating a ridiculous amount of food - like everyone unbutton their pants - amount of food. We arrive at Aunt Rosies promptly at 7:00 pm, because, one we eat dinner 5:40 pm and two Aunt Rosie had to go to mass at 6:00 pm. Rather then go to the living room we are immediately ushered into the kitchen (this is following a kissing / hugging / more kissing greeting).

Aunt Rosie to us: Are you hungry?

Wes: Oh, no thank you. We just had a huge dinner.

Aunt Rosie: Oh okay, that's alright, let me get some snacks.

I just look at him - mouth to him "Go with it" - and we proceed to eat "snacks" over the next three hours.

In the process of catching up about the family, things tended to get a bit confusing. Why you may ask? Oh because every male on my fathers side is named Nick. I'm not joking. My Great Grandfather, Nick; my grand father, Nick; my father, Nick; my older brother, Nick. My great Aunt Rosie, she married a Nick - Uncle Nick; their son, Nick, and his son, wait for it - Nick.

Talk about living the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

Dang, I'm Good.

I was not in the mood to cook today. Must be the weather. I finally decided I would do something with the whole chicken sitting in the freezer. I started defrosting the whole chicken this afternoon, circa 1pm. The plan was to cook it in the crock-pot for a delicious dinner/something different from roasting it. Said chicken was still frozen circa 3:00 PM when I had to leave the house to pick up Henry from school. Therefore, said chicken would not make it into the crock-pot and would not start crock-potting until 6:30 PM. This places the crock-pot dinner time roughly around 1:00/1:30 AM. Obviously this would not fly for Wesley's belly nor mine.

Of course, its now 6:45 PM and I am trying to figure out what I am going to feed Wesley and he is just bucking at everything I suggest. And by everything, my two other suggestions. =) Finally, I have it - Breakfast for Dinner. Did he go for it? Oh, yeah he did. What else did this mean? Wesley was cooking dinner. Why, because I have led Wesley to believe he is the only one in the whole wide world who can cook eggs, bacon, and pancakes. It's true - he is the only one. =) And that is why I left the kitchen with a smile on face, because dang I am good.

Rest assure, instead of watching some fabulous show on BRAVO, such as Real Housewives of Atlanta, Orange County, or wherever, we watched the Daytona 500. It's all about compromise, right?

Blueberry/Chocolate Chip Pancakes - Our favorite combination

(Don't knock it till you've tried it - it's yummy)

Bacon - Nom. Nom. Nom.

Empire State of Mind

Come Friday morning, Wes and I will be headed to the Big Apple to see Grandpa!

& my fabulous Cousins

& my fabulous second cousins!

That's Amore

When the stars make you drool
Joost-a like pasta fazool
That's amore
When you dance down the street
With a cloud at your feet, you're in love
When you walk in a dream
But you know you're not dreamin', signore
'Scusami, but you see
Back in old Napoli, that's amore

Last Thursday night, I was inspired by my Italian roots and one of my patients. My patient was from Italy and lived in New York for many years before retiring with his wife to Winston-Salem. So needless to say, I was like his long lost grandchild and we were lucky enough I had him for five nights. Our favorite conversations revolved around Our State magazine and food. He convinced me I could make my Grandfather's pasta sauce again and not fail, same for my meatballs. He had me so convinced, I decided on Thursday, why not, let's give it another go. I hail from great Italian ancestors, it's in my blood...well 25% of my blood. (Perhaps that's why my meatballs went astray last time....)

Well lets just say the confidence he gave to me is just what I needed because my sauce was amore.

My Grandpa sent me the recipe for the sauce. The recipe consisted of four items written down a piece of paper. No quantity, no instructions. When I called Grandpa to ask for further instruction, he goes, "Eh, you put a little of this with that, you sauté this, and you will know." Oh, okay. But, I must say, you do... when creating your sauce, it is different every time. Allowing the flavors to simmer and give them time to come to life, ie you need patience.

I made homemade meatballs as well .... my darling meatballs tasted fabulous, however they had some issues sticking together once in the sauce. Next time, more eggs will be used. The meal was completed by a pound cake with fruit.

Now, in even more Italian fashion, a meal like this is best shared with friends and family. Even better when Wes has purchased a new toy. Wes enlisted the help of his friends John and Jamie to help move this 300 lb beast into our basement.

So who better to share an Italian meal with, then three hungry boys?

The ADD Cook

I have ADD - like I am legit, diagnosed by an MD, legit. As an adult, I find ADD to be very handy, especially in my type of work. I have learned to channel my ADD for the greater good. Seriously! Okay not seriously. I am sure my patients think I am a nut - but - hey with my mind going a million miles a minute I seem to have a knack for realizing things going astray. And that they do appreciate.

Now, when it comes to my other passion in life cooking ... well ADD can be a bit of a hindrance. I try to follow recipes but that never works out as planned because half way in the process of cooking - I come up some other idea of what to put in. Please see below:

As you can see here, my kitchen is about two different shades of hot mess. We should play an "I spy" blog addition - who can spy all the food items? Let's please call attention to the most important item - my cheetah print wine glass. I find it very necessary to cook all meals with a glass of wine. Just one - if you go into glass number two ... things tend to get a bit burned.

This picture was taken on Monday night in preparation for the Valentine's Day Party I threw at work. I made rosebud cupcakes and chocolate oreo puddin' chocolate cake. Now the other items in this picture were dinner for Monday night. What was going to be cream cheese and basil stuffed chicken breasts ended up with mozzarella cheese, basil, lemon juice, garlic, and heavy whipping cream stuffed into the breast instead. (Well hello ADD) I then took bread crumbs and olive oil, rubbed it all over with chicken. Finished the dish off with tossing cherry tomatoes, olive oil, salt and pepper.

I give you my master piece:

And my trader joe's side =)

It was down right delicious.

Polished the dinner off with two vegan cupcakes from Whole Foods - oh the joy of feeding Wesley a vegan cupcake - having him finish that puppy off and then telling him what he just ate. He also had a glass of Almond Milk. Love it.

Celebrating Wesley

I told Wes Ground Hog's day is my new favorite holiday. Why? Because that is the day he was born! Awwww. True story.

Being that this birthday marked the countdown to thirty - Wes was not into celebrating. He wanted nothing to do with having a birthday. Well - that is not going to do. Not for me - especially when planning parties is what I do. And with tailgating season being long over, I have been itching for something to do.

Thursday we headed to 42nd Street. Originally we were going to go to Poole's Diner for dinner and we were both looking forward to the amazing meal we would have BUT they were closed for a private dinner. Next choice and our go to dinner place is 42nd. Who doesn't love eating delicious shrimp, oysters, and scallops? Exactly. Followed up by a giant piece of cake from none other then Hayes Barton Cafe . Delicious.

Wes's birthday gift:

He is now cowboy chic!

Saturday I planned a little surprise for Wesley. He thought a group of us were going out for Sushi - ha.

Instead ROAD TRIP! We headed to Wilson, NC to the Beefmastor Inn.

Here is their menu that was taken from their website. Please note their extensive menu.

Our menu includes:

Steaks starting from 8oz on up

Baked potato

Salad

Baked sweet onion on request

Drinks including:
Tea, Water, and Coffee

No deserts, but you are welcome to bring your own.

No reservations required

Now - being that they do not take reservation - tailgating comes highly recommended during your wait. Love it. We brought snacks and beers and had a fabulous time in the parking lot.

Tailgating! We would be the only people in the parking lot who brought a tent. Clearly I come prepared when it comes to tailgating.

What size would you like? I will take the whole thing, thanks.

Delicious.

Happy Birthday Wes ! I made Wes his favorite kind of cake ... chocolate with buttercream icing.

And that's a wrap.

Weekend Happenings

Wes and I headed to Charleston this weekend. Actually we were on Sullivan's Island for the weekend and did not leave the island until today to head home. It was a fabulous mini vacay. Much needed and the weather was absolutely wonderful - 72 degrees wonderful. My brother and his roomie had a little get together on Saturday to celebrate 2012 with their friends. One of Nick's friends smoked whole chickens, there was keg, beer pong competition, delicious sides (sweet potato casserole, crack potatoes, dips, tomato mozzarella salad, and the BEST banana pudding Wes and I have ever eaten - I could write a whole post on how amazing this puddin is - just delicious). One thing about getting older, everyone brings such wonderful food. I feel like we reached the age, where bringing a bag chips to a cookout is not a acceptable as it once was, everyone wants to show off what they can whip up in the kitchen. I made crack potatoes, Mississippi Sin, Sausage Dip, Pimento Cheese, Crack Potatoes, and Chocolate Chip Cookies ... perhaps I went a bit overboard. Nah, never.

Ah, so Friday morning before we left, I was doing some cooking and packing. Anyway, I haven't had much time nor the opportunity to hang out with Ethel and Lucy during the day. I wasn't even sure if they interacted during the day. I had thought that Ethel just stayed in the office and our bedroom during the day ... wrong.

Turns out Ethel enjoys getting on the dining room table as much as Jack did. What is it with our animals and that table? Lucy and Ethel have a game they play. Ethel gets on the table and Lucy tries to get her. Ethel runs up and down the table while Lucy sniffs her out. Then, Ethel will get up to the edge, Lucy will stick out her nose, and WHAM, Lucy gets a paw to the nose. For some reason - I think this is hysterical.

Having Ethel around has caused my inner Elmira to come out. I just want to hug her, squeeze her, carry her around the house. Ethel does not appreciate my inner Elmira. And because Ethel does not appreciate my inner Elmira, she has turned her attention to Wes. Wes does not try to squeeze her and hug her ... he just plays with her. So when we came home this afternoon, Wes immediately went to use the bathroom and she tried to follow him in. When she was shut out she took one look at me and started to claw at the bathroom door. SERIOUSLY KITTY?! Oh don't you worry, I can play the "play it cool" game. I WILL WIN YOU OVER AND MAKE YOU CUDDLE WITH ME. Ridiculous.