Long weekend recap

Memorial weekend, so far has been very relaxing.
Friday - we had breakfast for dinner (eggs and some very delicious bacon). We finally opened Kane and Lynch 2 for the PS3. We had purchased the game several months ago and picked it up because it had a multiplayer option. Six hours later, we beat the game.
Saturday - We both slept in, although I woke up three hours earlier than Tom. I took care of some gardening, and then enjoyed a delicious cup of coffee and a banana, while catching up on Real Simple magazines. Garden update: the oak tree that I thought was an oak tree turned out to be a dahlia. The ones I remember were yellow, so I'm going to still think that this was placed by a squirrel.

My new reading nook

We had a late lunch, and indulged with eggs, bacon, and hashbrowns with an herbed sour cream.Tom picked up Angry Orchard Apple Cider - very yummy and Kajal approved.

We later met up with my BFF Susie Beth and her husband Jarrod (visiting for the long weekend from Nashville), to watch the Avengers in 3D. Chantelle, my co-worker and friend, also joined us. The movie was awesome, one of the best we have seen yet. If you haven't seen it yet, wait - there are two scenes after the credits.
Tom and I went to the Fish Market for dinner yum! On the way home, we picked up the latest Mission Impossible movie from the Redbox (gotta love $1 movie rentals).
Today - another day of sleeping in. I read the newspapers and more magazines with a cup of yummy tea and cupcakes. I had some rewards points to spend at Officemax and decided that Tom needed a new laptop cooler. Impulsive decision: Lowes. We went in and got several plants from their clearance racks, petunias, begonias, and marigolds. We are hoping that our thumbs are green enough to nurse these plants back to health. We also stopped by Walmart and got some more planters. The balcony garden has been reorganized and the plants watered. I'll take some pictures for a later post.
For dinner tonight, we are using leftovers. We have an uncooked steak in the freezer and tomatoes, asparagus, cucumber, and lettuce in the fridge. We're hoping that the indulging from the past couple of days will be offset by a healthier dinner tonight. We are also watching the National Memorial Day concert on PBS - a mix of music and history.
Tomorrow will be chores, more relaxing, and reading.
I hope that your Memorial weekend is going great.

Wine down Wednesday

A few weeks ago, Tom and I went to Aldi - I have fallen for Aldi, I absolutely love their produce, which is the cheapest in town and has decent shelf life. On our trip, we found Winking Owl wine. At $2.69, yes, as in less than three dollars, we decided to try a Merlot and a Cabernet.
It was also the perfect time to use our new wine decanter and aerator set (gift from my cousin, thank you!). The verdict, leave the Cabernet on the shelf but the Merlot was really good. It was way sweeter than one would expect a Merlot, but it was very drinkable.

May recap

It's been busy with major events, hence no posts for about 3 weeks.
1. My parents came to visit
They spent about 10 days in Birmingham; we visited Louisiana (Baton Rouge and New Orleans) for 3 days; they spent 3 days in Washington DC, and are currently in New York city for 3 days, before heading to Paris for a week. There were several dinner and lunch parties. We had some good food, and now they can put faces, names, and stories together.
2. Jennifer was awesome at pushing the review paper, which was accepted two weeks ago. That makes it 3 first-authored papers. I hope to have a middle-authored paper by the end of this summer.
3. I participated in commencement.
4. Tom and I got married in a private ceremony. Since international travel is tricky, we decided to get married this year while my parents were here. Tom's parents were also present. The day couldn't have been more perfect. We were joined by our best friends and often thought of our siblings, who couldn't be in attendance. I know that there were some ruffled feathers but at the end of the day, we did what we know is right, with the full support of our parents. We will still have our wedding reception next year as planned. We are figuring out the logistics of a vow renewal and which traditions we will keep. Some of the DIY aspects included the bouquet, the boutonnieres and hairpieces, earrings for the ladies, boxes for the earrings, the garter, and make-up. Tom wore a Green Bay Packer tie and all the men had green and yellow matching ties. Tom's mom and I got our hair done at DnL hair studio - I am a fan! We had a fantastic photographer and I can't wait to see the professional pictures. Until we get these, here are a few, taken by Laura and my dad, sorry that some of them are blurry.

Oh May!

First, happy birthday Grandma Mae.

For May, I'm
Excited: about seeing friends and family soon
Worried: my to-do list before seeing friends and family
Watching: Big Bang Theory re-runs and GCB
Reading: The newspaper, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Listening to: NPR's Car Talk, Says You, and other funny shows
Creating: Wedding crafts
Cooking: Mauritian food (well, I'll be eating that soon) cooking: lots of cupcakes soon
Loving:  my parking pass
Hoping: that it will cool down (we're in the high 80s already!)
Looking forward to: May 11-13th celebration weekend

Finally Friday

and just dreaming... my dad got his tourist visa and my parents have booked their flights! I can't wait to see them. They were able to get away for almost three whole weeks. While I won't be able to take a lot of days off, I hope that they will still be able to have a nice visit.
Oh darn, that also means that I need to clean the house! This will be a cleaning weekend!

DIY project

When we were in Wisconsin at Christmas, I saw a frame in the basement that wasn't used and had an idea. Sure enough, the frame made it back to Birmingham (Thanks R & L).
I removed the back (unfortunately the glass broke while I was doing so), and under the painting that was originally in the frame, I found these two portraits. Tom's mom thinks that the frame came with the house, so we don't think they are family.

 
I liked the wood grain on the frame, but knew that it wouldn't work with our current decor.

Armed with a Michael's coupon, I purchased spray paint (I think it was less than $2). I had gold paint in the craft bucket, and thanks to Jennifer, I had plenty of scrapbook paper. I also had a pretty flowery curtain that wasn't being used. I had an old frame with a plexiglass (not sure that it was plexi, but that's what I'll call it) front. It had a batik that is now in the donation box.
Time to put it together:
I spray painted the frame (about 4 thin coats on both front and back).
When it was dry, I went over the thinner wood strip detailing with the gold paint.
I created a collage from scrapbook paper.
I cut the plexiglass from the old frame to fit in the new (-er) frame (16x20). I found that it was much easier to cut once I had scored the glass with a utility knife and then used scissors.
I had a storage bin that was being used as a night stand. So I wrapped the curtain around the box and secured it with strategically placed pins.
The result - a $2 facelift to my bedroom's nightstand. I'm not sure I like the scale of the objects on the table so the setup might change. But it's a nice start. 

Celebration week

In this week's celebration: my sister's birthday was yesterday, today is my mom's birthday, and three years ago today, a wonderful man took me out on a date. A year from now, we will be married.

(Not-so) Wordless Wednesday

The first version of the wedding centerpieces, with submerged orchids, hydrangeas, and a floating candle. The ribbon on the mason jar is a green burlap-like material. And if I use my coupons right, it will all be really affordable. This also means that glass cutting and making paper flower plans are on hold for now.

Tasty Tuesday

If you follow the Tasty Tuesday edition, you probably know by now that I do most of the cooking. I am fortunate that Tom is not a picky eater and unlike me, he doesn't have that many cravings. The cooking statement of the weekend is that I cook most of the time and the food is an average of 8 (with a few 10s). However, Tom rarely cooks, but when does, the food is almost always a 10. The latest example, is this creation:

While I was working on wedding crafts in my bedroom, Tom got inspired and whipped this very tasty dish (added advantage, it was a one pan dish). Layer sliced potatoes, sliced carrots, tilapia fish, bacon, and a twig of rosemary in an olive oil/butter coated piece of aluminum foil. Lemon pepper, salt, cajun pleasoning, pepper, and lemon juice were used to season the veggies and fish. Seal the foil and cook on a baking sheet for about an hour at 375 deg.

I got home a bit later than I anticipated last night and decided to make pasta. Of course it had a twist. Meet the rolled lasagna:

I half cooked lasagna sheets, then spread a turkey and veggie red sauce (Ragu chunky sauce to which I added browned ground turkey) and a made from scratch white sauce. I rolled each lasagna sheet and placed them in a pan, poured a bit of the pasta water in the pan, and spread any remaining white sauce on top. Sprinkle some shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese and in the oven they went at 375 deg for about 30 minutes.

CVS run

I don't have a picture of the finds, but the bottom line, I spent $2.90 and saved $22.50. I had to buy candy (not complaining) because my subtotal was -$0.01. So basically, the ~$3 was just tax. Woot woot!