Greek food, football, and more...

Since I mentally start my weekends around noon on Fridays, I figure that's an appropriate place to start this "weekend synopsis" post... :)

After morning clinic this past Friday, my friend Bethany (also affectionately known as "work Mom") and I decided to have lunch at the 43rd Annual Greek Festival.  The festival always takes place at the Greek Orthodox Church a couple of blocks down from our office.  They have live music and an abundance of delicious food.  My personal favorite was the loukoumathes, which are Greek donuts fried to perfection and topped with honey and cinnamon.  Unfortunately, the Greek coffee left a lot to be desired.  Ah, well, you can't have everything...  

I must say, it was rough going back to work for the afternoon stuffed to the gills, but the rest of the day was pretty uneventful.  Saturday morning, Jimbo headed out early to go to a car show, and I spent the first half of the day at yoga and the nail salon.  What can I say?  We working gals deserve a little pampering every now and then. ;)  

Because we had plans to watch the Alabama vs. Georgia game with some friends later in the day, I also managed to make a loaf of cinnamon bread in the midst of all of my other morning fun (recipe to follow at the end of this post).  The house smelled so divine, I was almost tempted to stay home and watch the game in my PJs.  I don't think the hubs would have argued, since I found him fast asleep on the couch when I returned home from the nail salon.  No matter, we gathered our things and left for the Holley household.  After a warm welcome from Robert, Stephanie, their little girl, Ava, and their 2 weimaraners, we settled in to watch the game.  I have to admit, I didn't expect to win this one, especially after a sad loss to Ole Miss a couple of weeks ago.  Sooo, I was pleasantly surprised when we won 38-10.  Maybe I should expect the worst every week from now on.  Such a fun evening!  Roll Tide!!

On Sunday, I worked on painting my kitchen chairs a little more, and I put a couple of coats of paint on our front door.  It was a dark blue shade, but I decided to brighten it up with a light yellow color.  It turned out a little too light, so I'm going to apply at least one more coat in a shade darker before I post before and after pics.  In between coats of paint on my door and chairs, I decided to paint a pumpkin.  I had a vinyl "W" that I hadn't made use of yet, so I applied it to the pumpkin once it was dry.  It turned out really cute, if I do say so myself...

I love decorating our house for the different seasons!

Just like that, another weekend in the books!  Below you'll find my cinnamon bread recipe.  Enjoy!

Cinnamon Bread

*Note: This is a slightly healthier version of my aunt's recipe.  I will include the original version for those of you who like to really indulge every so often. :)

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole-wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt 

1/2 to 3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup oil

1 egg, lightly beaten

 1 cup buttermilk (can also use regular milk or almond milk)

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Combine dry ingredients and wet ingredients in separate bowls.  Mix all ingredients well and pour 1/2 of batter into a greased loaf pan.  *For best results on greasing a pan, I use some old-fashioned Crisco shortening and sprinkle a little all-purpose flour on top.  

Mix together and sprinkle over batter:

1 tbsp cinnamon

1/8 to 1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/8 to 1/4 cup brown sugar

Pour remaining batter on top.  Swirl through batter with a knife to marbleize.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes.  Remove from the oven when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Turn out and cool on a rack.

*For the original version of this recipe, omit the whole-wheat flour and use 2 cups of all-purpose flour when assembling the dry ingredients.  Also, use 1 cup of granulated sugar rather than 1/2 to 3/4 cup.  The whole wheat version is slightly more dense, but uses much less white flour and sugar and is still very good.  

What are some of your favorite breads and muffins for fall?

First Weekend of Fall

So, this weekend was the first official weekend of fall.  We are really enjoying the cooler weather.  I'm sure anyone who has survived the humidity of summer in Alabama can relate.  We kicked off our weekend with a double date night on Friday with our friends Erin and Ben.  Erin is a fellow NP in our clinic and Ben is one of our Spanish interpreters.  After work, we went to dinner at Brio.  Since the weather was so nice, we decided to sit outside.  Even though it is an Italian restaurant, Jimbo and I both chose the filet.  It did not disappoint!

After dinner, we went bowling.  Ben, who is from Peru, had never been bowling before, but he picked it up pretty quickly with some coaching from Jimbo.  It was a fun night, and hopefully we will go again soon!

Saturday morning, Jimbo left to take Daisy to the vet, and I thought I would try the 9 AM yoga class at the Helena Health Club.  I've been attending the Monday evening classes for a while, but had yet to try a Saturday.  On weekend mornings, I'm kind of a hermit crab, so it takes a little effort to leave home that early for exercise.  No matter, I grabbed a cup of coconut roast coffee and a granola bar and headed out the door.  Once I got there, it was well worth it.  Yoga always makes me feel great, and it's also a great way to eliminate that pesky "bra fat" ;).  I arrived back home to the heavenly aroma of bacon and this very excited girl...

A few months ago, sweet Miss Daisy was diagnosed with heartworms.  She has been undergoing treatment using a "slow kill" method, which means that the total process takes about 6 months.  We were very scared at first, but the vet reassured us that this method was the way to go.  As you can see, she took her final treatment like a champ.  She will start on a monthly heartworm preventative next month.  We are so proud of her and so happy that we can see the light at the end of this tunnel!  After a warm welcome from my Daisy, I ruined my morning workout with a second breakfast of the aforementioned bacon, a piece of Ezekiel bread with some Jif chocolate whipped PB, and a scrambled egg courtesy of the McCormick family.  Yes, not only do the McCormicks produce honey, they also have chickens who lay some amazing organic eggs.  Not to mention, they are almost half the price of organic eggs at the grocery store.  We are spoiled! 

After we got done eating, Jimbo and his friend Trent spent the afternoon working on his car, and I went in to the office to work on a couple of things that I didn't have time to complete during the week.  I then went over to visit with my grandparents for a little while, and before I knew it, it was time to get home and cook dinner.  We finished the evening with a little SEC football.  Did I mention I love this time of year?!

We've been attending Helena United Methodist Church pretty regularly for the past several months, and I'm really enjoying it.  I have always attended mega-churches, but the smaller environment has been a refreshing change.  The sermon Sunday morning was on patience, which is definitely an area that I need to work on!  

After church, we changed clothes and left for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) fundraiser walk at Veteran's Park.  Besides the fact that I work with diabetic children on a regular basis, type I diabetics hold a special place in my heart because Jimbo himself was diagnosed with type I diabetes when he was a teenager.  He rarely complains and does a great job taking care of himself, but it can still be really tough sometimes.  I pray that one day there will be a cure for this difficult disease!  My mother-in-law and a few of our coworkers were also at the walk.  You can't go wrong with a good workout for a wonderful cause... :)

When we got home, I worked on painting my kitchen chairs, which I've been meaning to do for some time now.  Pictured below is a "before" shot of one of the chairs...

To paint the chairs, I'm using the same "no prep" paint I used to paint the nightstand in my Nightstand Redo post.  The color I'm using this time is called "Mermaid".  I'm not sure what color I'm going to paint the table yet, but I'm thinking off-white with a stained tabletop.  The chair on the left has one coat of paint, and the one on the left has two coats, plus a coat of Minwax Polycrylic Protective Finish.  Not bad for a couple of hours of work.  I can't wait to have them all finished!

Once it started to get dark, I got everything put away and made us some tacos for dinner.  This is kind of my "go-to" dinner these days, because it's quick and easy.  

A lunar eclipse was supposed to be happening that night, so we went outside around 10 PM to check it out.  Sadly, the clouds obstructed the view for most central Alabamians, and I wasn't able to get a good pic.  Maybe there will be clear skies when the next one comes around in 20 years or so.  All in all, it was a fun productive weekend, but too short, as always. Here's to a new week!  Happy fall, ya'll!!

Nightstand Redo

Today, I thought I'd share one of my recent DIY projects.  For about a year or so, I've had my eye on my husband's nightstand.  Although it was, in his words, "functional", it wasn't exactly living up to it's full potential anymore.  Sooo, I thought I'd try my hand at a little re-facing project.  It turned out great, if I do say so myself!  The before and after pics are as follows...

Before...

After! :)

I purchased the paint for this project at a little antique store called Homewood Antiques and Marketplace.  I love to browse through that store any chance I get!  The paint itself is called Bungalow Custom "No Prep" Paint.  The mint green paint hue is called "Emily" and the grey color, in being true to its Alabama heritage, is called "Vulcan".  It requires no sanding; you simply make sure that you are applying it to a clean surface and, voila!  You have a complete furniture transformation in no time.  In my experience, it takes a couple of coats to achieve complete coverage.  It is recommended that once the paint has dried, you apply a wax coat with Minwax Polycrylic Protective Finish or something comparable.  After I finished painting, I put on some cute new knobs I found at my local HomeGoods store.  When all was said and done, I ended up spending about 4 hours and $40 for the entire redo.  Most definitely worth it, considering how adorable it turned out!  I'm excited to use this awesome product again soon!

Happy Mother's Day 2015

Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful mother!  She is my very best friend and one of the strongest people I have ever met.  If I can one day be half the mother she is, I will have succeeded.  I love you the most, Mama!!

"Baby, It's Cold Outside" (Holidays 2014)

After we returned home from the Caribbean, we tried to settle into a "new normal".  But, with the holidays a few weeks away, it didn't take long to come to the realization that that wouldn't happen for at least a couple of months.  As soon as we touched back down on U.S. soil, we were consumed with shopping, decorating, and socializing for all of December.  As busy as it was, we had a wonderful first Christmas together...

We kicked off the holiday festivities with our office Christmas party, hosted by sweet Dr. Ashraf and her husband.  There was a delicious spread of party food and we played a hilarious game of dirty Santa.  In the end, I believe I came home with a giant bottle of Milk of Magnesia and Jimbo got a massaging monkey neck pillow.  Those have "re-gift" written all over them!!!  Still, it was a great party.  We love our work family!

The next day, it was time for more fun.  Every year in December, the Birmingham Zoo lights up into a winter wonderland for a Christmas event called the ZooLight Safari.  There are rides for kids and animal shows, plus plenty of popcorn and hot chocolate to go around.  I thought it would be a fun place to take my new nieces, Lauren and Allie, and of course Jimbo (aka Uncle BoBo) agreed.  Those girls have him wrapped for sure!  Once we picked them up, we started out the night by having dinner at Five Guy's (niece Lauren's choice ;).

After dinner, we were off to the zoo.  The girls were very excited!  When we got there, we walked around and looked at the lights and went to the wildlife show where Allie petted a hedgehog.  We then got some snacks and hot chocolate and got in line to ride the train.  At the end of the train ride, Santa showed up for a surprise visit.  All in all, I think the girls had a blast and so did we!

A few days later, we met up with some work friends for dinner at El Barrio Restaurante downtown, and then headed to the historic Alabama Theatre to see "A Christmas Story".  This was part of the holiday film series that the Alabama Theatre features every year.  After a sing-a-long of "Fa Ra Ra Ra Ra" with The Mighty Wurlitzer pipe organ, the movie started.  Of course, we've seen it a thousand times, but there's something about seeing it on the big screen that makes it so much more fun...

"You'll shoot your eye out, kid!  HO HO HO!!!"

In the midst of everything, I did manage to get the Christmas tree decorated.  We were given several "our first Christmas" ornaments as wedding presents, which made it really special.  I also brought out my favorite decoration, a ceramic Santa made years ago by my Grandpa.  

If you look closely, you'll see that I made the nice list!

Levi thought that all the presents were his!

On Christmas Eve, we worked a half-day, then headed to my grandparents' house for lunch.  I feel very blessed to still have them as a part of my life!

I love this sweet man so much!

That night, we had dinner with Jimbo's family at his grandparents' house.  It was wonderful to see everyone and "catch up" after all of our wedding festivities were finally over.  The next day, we had a nice, quiet Christmas morning at our house.  We didn't sleep very late, because my boys (Jimbo and Levi) couldn't wait to open presents.  I gave Jimbo some car "accessories" that he asked for, plus some new gloves and socks (exciting, I know ;).  He gave me a Stitch Fix gift card (more on that later), and a cute decal for my car with my new initials.  Levi and Daisy got some treats and some squeaky tennis balls.  Within an hour, we had headaches from the squeaking and there was orange fuzz all over the living room floor!  What was Santa thinking?!  After opening presents, we decided to try out one our new waffle irons (yes, there are 2 ;).  The waffles turned out delish!

Later that afternoon, we left to go to my mother's house for Christmas dinner.  Dinner was fabulous, as always.  She and my aunts never disappoint.  After all, they learned from the best!

My cousin Mark and me.

The Fam :)

"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!"

As I said before, we really enjoyed our first Christmas together.  We were blessed to be able to spend time with our friends and family and start some new traditions of our own.  I'm thankful for an amazing husband, my awesome family, and my sweet new family.  Most importantly, I'm thankful for God's most precious gift to us, the birth of Jesus.  He is the reason for the season!

"Happily Ever After" starts in the Caribbean!

When Jimbo and I first started talking about where we would go on our honeymoon, we were a little opposed to the all-inclusive resort idea.  Our first thought was actually to plan a trip to Ireland.  But, we soon realized that it would be very cold in November.  So, we decided to go the tropical route instead, and ended up booking a trip to Sandals in Antigua.  I'm so glad we did, because the warm, relaxing atmosphere was exactly what we needed.  After the wedding was over, I don't think I've ever been so tired in my life!  We would still love to pay a visit to Europe one day in the future, but I would like to go at a time when we are well-rested and prepared for plenty of site-seeing.  We spent our entire trip to Antigua sleeping, eating, soaking up the sun, and spending plenty of quality time together.  There were a couple of "bumps in the road", which including getting stuck on a 2-day layover in Miami on the way there and struggling for hours to get through airport security when we arrived back in the U.S.  All in all, we had a fabulous time and the small amount of trouble was completely worth it!

After an eternity 2 days in a small hotel room by the Miami airport, we boarded our plane the day before Thanksgiving and headed for Antigua.  When we arrived at the resort, we were greeted with champagne and informed that we had been upgraded to a butler suite (minus the butler, but you can't have it all).  We had originally booked a more modest room that was closer to the beach.  However, our new room offered a gorgeous ocean view and was much more "honeymoon-like".

We got settled in around 2 PM, and were so worn out that we fell fast asleep until time for dinner!  Dinner the first night was at an outdoor, beachfront restaurant called Barefoot By the Sea.  Afterwards, we spent a little time walking around the resort and discovered that there were several areas of chaise lounges set up around fire pits at the edge of the sand.  Ahhh, heavenly!  For the first time in 6 months, I started to unwind.  Such a relief to put all of the wedding planning stress behind me!  After a good night's rest, we woke up and ordered room service...

After breakfast, I had to keep at least one Thanksgiving tradition and turn on the Macy's parade for a few minutes...

That night, we had "Thanksgiving dinner" at Bayside Restaurant.  The filet was out of this world!

Like I said before, the rest of our days were spent relaxing by the pool and enjoying the gorgeous scenery...

On our 3rd night, we decided to try the Japanese restaurant called Kimono's.

The food was good, but the best part about this dinner was that we met some new friends...

The couple in the middle are Fabio and Katya from Rome, Italy, and the couple on the right are Nick and Christina from NYC.  Everyone was newly married, so it was fun reminiscing about our recent weddings and talking about our plans for the future.  Who knows, maybe our paths will cross again one day!

The next night, we had dinner at Mario's Italian Restaurant. 

For those of you who don't live in Alabama, this was a very big night for SEC football... The Iron Bowl (or Alabama/Auburn game).  We are both big Alabama fans, but decided we weren't going to watch it.  We didn't want to spend our honeymoon disappointed if Alabama lost.  I really believe that Jimbo would've stuck to our resolution not to watch it, but curiosity got the best of me during dinner and I started checking Facebook to see what our friends were saying about the game.  Well, as the saying goes, that was all she wrote.  The next thing I knew, we were back up in our room watching the game.  It was a close one, but thank goodness we pulled it out in the end.  Definitely an Iron Bowl experience we'll never forget.  Roll Tide Roll!!

On our last night, we had a little sunset photo session with one of the photographers at the resort...

We had late reservations at Eleanor's Caribbean Cuisine, so we decided to have dessert first...

The crepes at Cafe de Paris were delicious!

Dinner wasn't half-bad either! ;)

Sadly, we had to pack up and leave the next day, but we'll always have a special place in our hearts for Antigua.

When we arrived home, we still had a few days off work together.  It was so nice to be able to relax at home, organize our gifts, and go shopping with some of the gift cards from our (very generous) friends and family.  Someone was on cloud 9 after one purchase in particular...

Goodness, I love him!!

Needless to say, it was an amazing week and the perfect start to our "happily ever after".  I can hardly wait to see what other new adventures are in store... :)