Summer is here

Well, not officially until June 21 but might as well be.
We had a low-key Memorial weekend. Saturday morning, we went to the farmer's market and were somewhat disappointed - there were radishes, squash, and a few tomatoes. Maybe some peaches. I think the winter is to blame. We tried Vittoria Macelleria, a new Italian restaurant that cures and ages their own meats. Their house sausage biscuit is to die for. We also caught an early showing of the new X-men movie, which was really good. For other meals throughout the weekend, Tom grilled some brats and sausages, we had corn on the cob, and a broccoli salad. I also made crockpot ribs that were just delicious.

Other happenings: I finished cousin Carolyn's baby blanket (32 inches by 28 inches) with a lot of help from Kelly (thanks for hosting craft nights!). I hope that baby Lillian gets a lot of use out of her blanket.

This one gives you an actual feel for the colors

On Friday, Kelly and I went out to lunch (yummy Indian food) and made plans to hang out that night as well, since her cubs were playing our brewers. Tom had to work late, but we tried this new bar called Paramount and then went to On Tap to watch the game. Colm had joined us and so did Tom once he was done with lab. Saturday, Kelly and I co-hosted book club (loved the book Poisonous Science which turned out to have been written by a former UAB department chair, Henry J. Forman). Kelly offered her house and I brought fixings for a baked potato bar. Sunday was spent cleaning the house, I mean deep cleaning, and working on a new baby boy blanket. Kelly told me about a granny square pattern, which turns out to be super easy and quick (hopefully I did it correctly).
On Tuesday, while contemplating what to do with leftover baked sweet potato from book club, I came across a recipe for sweet potato muffins (with a glaze, which didn't really look like a glaze in my version). I guess they were good, since I brought the whole thing to work on Wednesday morning and by the afternoon, they were all gone. I also pickled the radishes that Tom had picked out at the farmer's market but didn't have a chance to eat.

That is all for now. Thanks for stopping by.

Travels

So we have done a bit of traveling lately. We first went to Louisville to celebrate the wedding of our friends, Will and Emily.

In above picture, going clockwise from top left corner: Marcus Lindsay (where the wedding was held, a former church), us trying to look cute, the Bluegrass Brewing Company (reception venue), stained glass inside Marcus Lindsay, and the kiss. I made new friends, including a very friendly and fun Birmingham person that I hope to see again.

As Auburn and University of Louisville fans, they received a tie blanket that I named House United:

We stayed at the Galt Hotel, which consisted of two towers, connected by an atrium. The main feature of the atrium was a bar, with the bar table being an aquarium with live fish - at times, when you would set down your glass, the fish would swim up to and under the glass. 

After we got back on Sunday afternoon, I unpacked my bag to repack for a conference, where I had an oral presentation at the International Workshop on Clinical Pharmacology of HIV and Hepatitis Therapy in Washington DC. I had a chance to meet up with this happy bunch on the POV Bar on the roof of the W hotel.

It had an amazing view of the city, but mostly the White House and the Washington monument.

It was nice seeing scientist friends and meet new people. 
A few days to enjoy being at home and unpack before the next series of travels. Tom is going to Alaska and I am lined up for a meeting in Virginia. There may be a bit more traveling before the year is over but we'll see.

Thanks for stopping by!

Weekend recap

This was a fun week/weekend.
BFF Nate was in town for a week and we got to hang out with him a couple of times.

On Saturday, I participated in my first 5K on The Deviled Eggs for an ovarian cancer fundraiser. Most of us walked, but maybe next time I can run? A girl can dream.

After the race, we started anniversary celebrations. This is our 2nd anniversary (the courthouse, the one that we count). Tom got a haircut, we grabbed a delicious burger at Mugshots and we headed out for a bit of shopping. We got a sheet set that was on a crazy sale, some new pillows, and even grabbed a couple of gifts for other people. Tom got me two adorable couch pillows that we fell in love while registering only to find out that bed bath and beyond no longer carried it. Tom got a new wedding band since he lost his. He has another gift coming in the mail today. So overall, we did okay getting cotton gifts for the 2nd anniversary.
We also stopped by Publix to pick up grubs - can you guess? Tom made steaks and we had red velvet (wedding cake for both courthouse and Sloss weddings). I set out our wedding centerpieces, the way that they were supposed to be at Sloss (strong winds and candles in jars full of water were not going to play nice). We had also picked Wolf of Wall Street from the Redbox - an okay movie, way too long (I fell asleep during some of it and Tom said that I didn't miss anything)
On Sunday, we had champagne and more cake (well, I had cake) - as you can tell I am not shy about using special dinner and stemware. I made some progress on my crochet blanket project and we watched Brewers baseball.

 All in all, a good time was had!

Weekend recap

No pictures today.
We had an eventful weekend - on Saturday morning, I received my first massage at Massage Envy. It was so worth it and I can't wait to go back. I managed a quick nap before hurrying to noon commencement at the Alys Stephens Center to see the doctoral hooding of our friend Colm.
Tom and I decided to celebrate (one-day early) the first anniversary of our second wedding with a late lunch at J. Clyde. Then we met up with Colm at Rojo to hang out with his parents and friends. We got home just in time to check the Brewer's score (yes, Kelly, we won this series against your Cubs) before we headed out to TCBY (cravings + I had never been) and to the movies - Captain America was great. We both really enjoyed it.
Sunday morning saw my usual ritual of talking to my parents on Skype. I managed to get myself to the mall before the bad weather came in. By the time I was done there, the visibility was horrible and decided to stop my errands and come home. When the rain stopped, I went to Publix to get ingredients for the week (yay for meal planning). I took care of chores at home and made kale chips in our dehydrator. They were so good. This is for us, the best way to make them. Tom ate almost the entire batch (the equivalent of ~ 1 lb of fresh leaves). I think this is a winner and I'll have to make it.
So happy 1st 2nd anniversary. Now for the real anniversary in May, the 2nd 1st anniversary. I think they say it's cotton - I'll have to come up with a good idea.
But first, we better buckle down for the rough night ahead with the storms. Hope everyone stays safe. 

Happy happy birthday

My mom and sister share a birthday; It gets harder every year to not be able to celebrate with them but last year we did, right before the second wedding.Wishing you both a very happy birthday!

found at http://smalldailymotivationquotes.blogspot.com/2013/08/found-this-on-inspirational-blog-with.html

Easter weekend recap

To continue with my previous post of being inspired in the kitchen, I made fish tacos last week - simple but delicious and somewhat healthy.

The week before Easter I made Easter yarn eggs for my lab and Tom's lab.

Onto Easter weekend.
Saturday was book club night, I was so proud of myself for reading the book. To be fair, I didn't have a valid excuse not to: my friend Kellet was kind enough to drop off her book at my place, and it was a very quick read (The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman). Next month's book is Poisonous Science by HJ Forman, which I started yesterday and is just wonderful. Science, grants, and 'humorous mystery", a sure combination to get me to finish this one too.
Sunday was a relaxing day, spent at home. I had made a new flower arrangement (yes, I am now enjoying having <$10 bouquets on holidays) and of course, Easter candy. We had a lovely brunch: Tom had picked out ham steaks, I made morel mushroom cheesy scrambled eggs and we finally open our gigantic bottle of champagne. I had saved it for hair and makeup appointments for the day of the second wedding but we didn't use it then. The garden also yielded some delicious mint, which I used to make champagne mojitos.

We watched Brewer baseball and I spend some time sitting outside on the balcony. Got to enjoy these days before it gets to be scorching.

Photo dump recap

Weekend of March 30th - Tom's birthday weekend was a blast, at least I think so.
On Friday night we went to Satterfield in Cahaba Heights and were able to sit at the Chef's counter. You get to see all the chefs and sous-chefs working, and it's truly a magical scene. Think of it as dinner and entertainment. Tom looked really handsome. I had the beef tip and Tom had the New York strips. Tom told me to put down the camera and take mental pictures, so I obliged the birthday boy.

 On Saturday, I had a very bad experience driving in the rain but no one was hurt even though I ended up 90 degrees to the direction of traffic. I still managed to run my errands and meet up with Kelly for lunch. She has been very supportive and helpful of my crochet ideas. I will post pictures of the completed project later.
That weekend, I visited about a dozen stores.
What do I have to show for it? A clean, somewhat on a smaller scale, balcony garden.

I wanted to plant more but with the threat of freezing temps, I haven't started my seeds yet.

I have been rather inspired in the kitchen lately, probably because I'm surrounded by great cookbooks. I have been meal planning on the weekend and getting all the ingredients I need. I made Crock-pot BBQ chicken (improvised recipe of chicken thighs covered with BBQ sauce in the Crock-pot for 8 hours) and two recipes from Anne and Brian's wedding gift, Bon Appetit: Thai beef curry with asparagus and chicken smothered with mushroom gravy. Tom also got rhubarb crumble, his favorite dessert for his birthday.

 Last night I made some surf and turf, with creamed spinach and roasted garlic couscous. Tom was working late (again), so it was dinner for one. I haven't been drinking much lately but last night, I indulged in a glass or two of this very decent red.

This past weekend, we were able to get away for a short while. We left the house on Saturday morning and made it to the trail head (Sipsey, in Bankhead National Forest) by noon. We hiked a good three miles with our gear before we found a perfect camping spot with our own private beach. We saw some alien looking flowers and also the damage that wild boars are doing to the forest. The next morning we hiked back out and made it back to town. It was nice to enjoy the peace and quiet of nature.

Tom enjoying one of his favorite wedding gifts, the hammock; now you see him

...now you don't

of course we had a fire

Recap via pictures

Snowmageddon part 2, where we had about 4 inches at our house

Great ACDC cover band concert at Iron City

From this weekend, finally displaying wedding pictures and light decorating for Easter

Oh, hi March!

So I guess the blog is turning into a monthly update? Didn't expect that nor is it my intention.
Updates:
Work is keeping me super busy. There's always a long list of things to do.
My BFF SB asked me what I had crafted lately - I couldn't remember. Maybe I need to think of (and do) a new craft. There are at least two babies joining the family this year (not mine).
I broke up with the Dukan. It was a fun ride. I lost 10 pounds right before I went to Boston, which was a super fun trip. I got to see family and friends, networked (shocking, since this isn't really my thing). There was all sorts of yummy foods and drinks. Then I made a quick detour to New Orleans to meet up with Laura, who flew in from Dallas. We had a fun time in the French Quarter and even met up with an old friend from college, Josh who now lives in New Orleans. some more yummy foods and drinks were had. By the time I got home, I had renewed my love affair with carbs - bread, pasta, cake, potatoes, pizza, and the scale wasn't my friend. I've cut down but not eliminated carbs since and might give Dukan another chance. Maybe.
In the kitchen, we had amazing results with corned beef last week. We wanted to celebrate St. Patrick's Day (since Tom is a little bit Irish) and I had suggested making corned beef. We picked up a brined beef brisket from Publix and on Friday before I left for work, I put it in the slow cooker and let it cook for 10 hours on low. When I got home, it was fork tender and oh so yummy. We had leftovers all weekend (which was great because I had to work for most of it) and for Monday's meal, I picked up some bakery rye bread, thousand island dressing, and sauerkraut, and we made Reuben sandwiches. These were delicious!