Weddings

We have been lucky this year to celebrate the marriages of our friends and family. Most recently we were in Tampa for the Fernandez-Hernandez affair! We had such a good time seeing all our friends and celebrating Allison and Danny's special day. In true form, we were the first and the last on the dance floor. The band was AWESOME!

Here we are out on the dance floor.

Josh and I are taking a break for cake!

Earlier this summer we went to Josh's hometown of Morristown NJ to celebrate his cousins Lori's nuptials.

Josh and I are ready for the main event.

Mozel Tov Lori and Danny!

Posing with a cute wedding favor.

Miss Molly

Today on Kelly's Korner the theme is to share about our pet's. Josh and I have a little beagle named Molly. We love her very much, she is a sweet little girl who loves us, too.

We adopted Molly in February of 2009. She has been a great little doggie. She loves to go on long walks to get all her "sniffs" in, and she loves her kong filled with peanut butter stuffing.

Here we are checking out the Cherry Blossom Festival in DC.

Molly looking pretty in the flowers.

Molly all dressed up for Halloween.

Molly with my family on the 4th of July.

My favorite memory of Molly is the day after we adopted her. It was a Sunday morning and Josh and I had made whole wheat blueberry pancakes, turkey bacon and eggs. We didn't finish the entire big breakfast, and before we cleared the table we both went upstairs for something. Noticing that Molly didn't follow us upstairs, I went back down to find her standing on TOP of the dining room table with a blueberry pancake hanging out of her mouth. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen!! Josh came down shortly after - I wanted him to see this site! He got her down and took the remaining pancake from her. The odd thing to me is that we had a plate full of turkey bacon, but she opted for the whole wheat blueberry pancakes. Just thinking about this makes me laugh.

Southernista

Y'all have to check out this cute post at Ask Miss A. It totally describes the modern Southern Belle, and I love that it mentions the Florida Georgia Game. That reminds me, I need to post pictures from our amazing tailgate from that game!!

TGIF!! What are your weekend plans? I will be volunteering for the Junior League of Washington's A Capitol Collection of Holiday Shops -- Gifts that Give this weekend. If you're in town come and check it out!

WHERE:
Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Hall C
2660 Woodley Road, NW
Washington, DC 20008

WHEN:

General Shopping Hours
Friday, November 20, 2009, 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Saturday, November 21, 2009, 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Sunday, November 22, 2009, 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Cocochino

So, I just discovered the Flavia Coffee Machine at my office makes Cocochino--a combination of Dove Hot Chocolate and Espresso. My life has been changed forever. I may be able to hold off on afternoon trips over to Starbucks now. This got me thinking, if I bring in some peppermint extract, I can see how it stacks up to my beloved Peppermint Mocha. I am doing the happy dance at my desk!

Sugar Sugar--oh Honey Honey

My sweet new friend Whitney at The Preppy Pink and Green Puppy sent me the Sugar Doll blogger award. She is a VA girl, just like me and has the cutest blog-I just love it!!

I am supposed to write 10 interesting things about myself-soo here it goes!

1. We have hired the neighborhood dog walker to take Miss Molly on walks during the day while we are at work.


2. We bought a 28 pound turkey for Thanksgiving last night.


3. My friends and I are planning a 30-palooza in South Beach to celebrate the Big 3-0 this January.


4. Josh and I took ballroom dancing lessons for months.


5. We put our dancing skills to work this weekend at Allison and Danny's wedding. I love to Salsa, Meringue, and Cha Cha Cha!!!


6. I have been stocking up on Christmas Decorations, I even bought some at the Grocery store last night-- they have a whole home section.


7. I love shopping at Wegmans-best Grocery Store in VA.


8. Publix will always be my heart -- Where shopping is a pleasure.


9. Speaking of shopping, I need to be supervised when I go Christmas shopping-I keep buying things for myself--bad, bad.


10. Glee is my new favorite show!


11. Bonus--Since I am so focused on Thanksgiving, I forgot to do a Menu Monday-err- dinners have been and will be crazy concoctions that I am coming up with from things that have been in our cabinets and freezer for a while-hey, I'm trying to make space for all the Thanksgiving Grocery's.

Menu Monday

• Monday - Rock Fish, Peas, Potatoes Au Gratin
• Tuesday - Spinach and Butternut Squash Lasagna
• Wednesday - Junior League ACC Meeting
• Thursday - Black Beans and Yellow Rice
• Friday - Grabbing something at the airport- on our way to Allison and Danny's Wedding!

Thanksgiving Traditions

Today on Kelly's Korner it's Show Us Your Life: Thanksgiving Traditions and Recipes.

This is my first time participating. And as I am getting ready to host my first Thanksgiving, I thought it would be fun to share our traditions and what we are planning to incorporate in the future.

My family has always had a very traditional Thanksgiving served on the fine china with Turkey, Mashed Potatoes, Cornbread Dressing, Green Bean Casserole, and the list goes on.

The list goes on to include Tomato Aspic, two kinds actually. Being the southern family that we are, we have both a Murphey Family Aspic and a Morgan Family Aspic. They both make a biannual appearance at Thanksgiving and Christmas Dinners. In fact, it wouldn't be Thanksgiving or Christmas with out them.

This year, I will be making the Morgan Family Recipe, and even though we will be hosting a group of 12, I will probably be the only one who eats it. I mean Tomato flavored Jello is an aqquired taste.

Grandmother Morgan's Tomato Aspic

1 Package Lemon Jell

3/4 Cup Cold Tomato Juice

1 Cup Heated Tomato Juice

1/4 Cup Chopped Celery

1 Tablespoon Chopped Onion

1/4 Cup Green Olives

Add lemon jello to the cold tomoato juice, stir until jello is dissolved. Add the heated tomato juice, Celery, Onion and Green Olives. Pour in dish and refrigerate until solid. Serve on a bed of lettuce with a dollop of real mayo on top.

Now, everyone who was planning to come to our house for Thankgiving will probably read this post and change their mind about coming! Don't worry there will be PLENTY of wonderful food. We are finalizing the menu this weekend, and I just found out that I have the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off, so I will be baking all sorts of goodies then!

The Thompsons have hosted my family the past two years in Tampa, and I am excited to have them come to DC this year. One of their traditions that we will continue is to watch National Lampoons Christmas Vacation after dinner is over.

50 Days until Christmas

I just signed up for the lottery to view the National Christmas Tree Lighting in front of the White House. I have my fingers crossed to win tickets.

Lacey and I are signed up for a gift wrapping class - that will be HEAVEN! Oh I can't wait!

I went shopping for a few Christmas Decorations last night, it was fun to buy six spools of ribbon - don't worry there will be much more, I am trying to pace myself!

I am trying to decide on which nativity set to get for our first Christmas. There's Fontanini, Llorado, Olive Wood, but those aren't really our style. I have found a few favorites, but just can't decide.

Jim Shore scenes are beautiful and very artistic. I love all the details.

Then there's Willow Tree. Simple and Elegant.

The Terra Cotta set is very cute.

This porcelain set is beautiful and classic.

This is a very big decision, which do y'all like the best? Is their another design that I should check out? Let me know what you think!

Menu Monday

• Monday-Spaghetti with Sweet Basil Sauce, Tossed Salad
• Tuesday-Thai Pesto Shrimp
• Wednesday-Roasted Chicken, Butternut Squash with Chili's and Sauteed Green Beans and Pears
• Thursday-Junior League Meeting, leftovers for the Mr.
• Friday-Steak, Steamed Broccoli, and Baked Potatoes

LSU Game

We started off our fab weekend get away to the Big Easy with Lunch at Commanders Palace. It was one of the best dining experiences of my life-I highly recommend it!
Here's a picture of Josh and me after a wonderful lunch in front of the famous blue and white stripped awning.

We spent a fun afternoon with my double first step cousin (it's a southern thing), Mary Margaret! She is going to seminary in New Orleans and is such a wonderful person, I could never say enough sweet things about her!

Here we are on Bourbon street we had a fun time seeing all the Gator Fans in town and meeting up with a group of friends to see the sights!

We went out to dinner at Remoulads with Mike, Lacey, Riannon and Andy. The Oyster Bar was soo fun, and we had a great time, after that Josh and I headed to Baton Rogue!

Here we are tailgating with Jimbo and Brittney at the baseball stadium before the game.

We sat in the end zone for the game-it was loud and crazy!

Another Gator Victory!!

After three hours of sleep we headed to the Baton Rouge Airport, only to find that our flight was over-booked. We volunteered to fly out of New Orleans that afternoon, I was excited that I got to see Reema and Lacey! We were able to pick up our rental car keys, head back to New Orleans and had a great time, we had Breakfast at Cafe Du Monde and lunch at the Bourbon House. What an awesome trip!