Randomness part II

I hope no one reading this has any connections to these restaurants.  I have been hearing about Joe's Italian restaurant in Alabaster for over a year.    Our good friends Val and Phil who live in Auburn had also heard of this restaurant.  The last time they were in Bham we tried to make reservations to find out they do not accept them on the weekends  They do so much business on Friday nights you need to be there by 5:00pm or wait an hour to an hour and a half! Needless to say we did not go.  This Fall when the parents were visiting during the week, we decided it was a perfect time to try this place we had heard such rave reviews.  We were so disappointed!  Loud, cafeteria style lighting and most importantly only OK food!  Can someone please explain why this restaurant has such a following??

Since I am presently working close to Bessemer, Cece, G-Daddy and I decided to go to the Bright Star for lunch.  Again, I have always heard such great things but found it to be crowded, impossible to walk through and okay food.  Could someone please enlighten me.  Or is it just me?

2010 Halloween pumpkins. Tim's AU and my Scary face

Cece was kind enough to attend The Moscow Ballet's Nutcracker @ The Alabama Theatre with me in November.  I had not previously been to any performance at the theatre and was very impressed with the architecture and details of the Alabama building!  The performance was incredible and we had a great night!

Amazing stairwell

Unbelievable architecture.  So glad it was restored!

Miscellaneous due to boredom @ Work

This fall there were many activities of ours that I never got around to posting.  Labor Day weekend I had my first migraine. And for awhile they were so bad that I did not feel like doing much of anything. So I will now share with you random pictures from Fall 2010.





Lola is obsessed with the Birthday cake

This is how Lola looks everytime she is let out to pottey

Pitiful!

Halloween Decor

Decor inspired by Laura @ http://www.igriza.com/

Halloween serving trays I made.  Again, inspired by Igriza.com

Found these pumpkins and skulls at The Dollar Tree

Purchased Glitter from Michaels



And wahlah instant decorations!



I adore going to the Farmers Market Downtown and love the fact that they keep it going through the fall! 

Birthday 2010

Due to my Birthday being on a Tuesday we pretty much celebrated all week!  Tim made his famous grilled shrimp po boys one night, Iguana Grill the actual Birthday and drinks at the Redmont and dinner at La Dolce Vita on Friday.  Needless to say , it was a great Birthday! Please excuse our devil eyes these pics were taken with a Blackberry camera. 

Iguana Foyer

Love the twinkle stars that hang from the ceiling

Bottoms up!

Migraines and all it was a great Birthday!

Christmas Celebrations begin!

Well Christmas has officially begun!  Last Saturday we drove to Michael and Charity's home in Prattville for our Christmas.  Tim and I made our loaded potato soup, packed up the presents and headed down.  We had a great time seeing everyone.  See below some pictures of the day.  Again, my camera is so out dated the pictures are not good quality but you get the idea!  I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

Loaded Potato Soup

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

8 cups half-and-half

1 (16 ounce) package Velveeta cheese, melted

pepper

garlic powder

1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

1/2 lb bacon, fried crisp

1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

1/2 cup fresh chives, chopped

1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Dice unpeeled red potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes.

 Place in large saucepan; cover with water and bring to a boil.

 Let boil for 10 minutes or until 3/4 cooked.

In a separate pan, combine melted margarine and flour, mixing until smooth.

Place over low heat and gradually add half-and-half, stirring constantly.

Continue to stir until smooth and liquid begins to thicken.

 Add melted Velveeta.

Stir well.

Drain potatoes and add to cream mixture.

Stir in pepper, garlic powder and hot pepper sauce.
Cover and cook over low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Place soup into individual serving bowls and top with crumbled bacon, shredded cheese, chives and parsley

Tim's favorite Potato soup

"I've run 9miles, its time for lunch!"

Charity made these pumpkins!  I love them hint, hint ;)

After lunch nap, notice the antlers

Allie, on your mark, get set, unwrap!!

Tim's best Cam Newton impression!

Michael  getting his guitar (christmas from last year)  tuned!

iPad

My fabulous husband surprised me with my very own IPad! This is my first attempt at blogging from the Ipad so please excuse any misspelled words or flaws :) I have had so much fun learning. I have asked everyone about their favorite apps. One of my friends at work told me about the app, Flipboard. It's an app that organizes your facebook, twitter, flicker and all kinds of online magazines (of course I used my space for design, art, cooking and travel info). I still have so much to learn!  Right now I cannot upload a photo to this post??? Hopefully soon my blogging will improve! I have to say overall it is pretty cool. I am looking forward to finding out more! If you have any advice, please share!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Christmas Inspiration

This being my first Christmas season as a Blogger, I have really enjoyed reading my favorite blogs for Chrstmas decor inspiration.  Of course you can always get inspiration from magazines and catalogs but it is nice to see what people do in their own homes.  Not that I do not enjoy the magazines, I will included images from both. But I think when you see what someone who works and/or has a family can do, its very cool.  Please enjoy some of my favs and prepare to be inspired!

Thrifty Decor

I am totally digging the brown and green.  Appears that I will have to find someway to incorporate these colors next year! I have also realized I need more vertical containers for holding ornaments. Thy can be $$, so I will have to look at some thrift stores.

Goop

Goop

CB2

Centsational Girl

Coastal Living

Coastal Living

Coastal Living

Coastal Living

Coastal Living

Country Living

A wreath made of CRAYONS!  So cool

Southern Living

Southern Living

Southern Living

Thrifty Decor

The red ribbon around the garland above adds a great punch of color to the exterior, another idea to incorporate next year! I will try to post pics of our decor soon.  Merry Christmas to all!