Doxie Humor

When I was in Birmingham I had to make a trip to Kinko's to have handouts printed for a presentation. I was browsing through the cards while the copies were being made and found this card.

Of course I bought it and mailed it to Ty. It was too perfect! And it reminded me of this picture of Nuts "studying" with Ty. He likes to think he is in med school too! haha!
Jane in the Waiting Line is giving away this great picnic set.

Bama Recap

I will be home this afternoon. Yay! I had a great time in Birmingham, Alabama. I didn't think much about how Birmingham was going to look. It was gorgeous--lots of trees and hills. There were two other people from my office with me. We drove through so many great neighborhoods. Every house was so nice. All of the houses were unique and old. There were some huge houses along with cute little cottages and they all had perfectly landscaped yards. It was like being in a Southern Living magazine. Bama Belle in the Big City e-mailed me a great list of things to do and see in Birmingham. A lot of things that we did were at her suggestion, so some of these things that I am mentioning will probably only mean something to her. We ate at Savages Bakery, Zoe's Kitchen, the Tavern at the top of the Summit, and we tried to go to the Bottega Cafe but it is closed on Sunday's.

We went to two great little areas of town: Homewood and Mountain Brook. We discovered this great, little, french bakery called Chez LuLu. It was so good we ate there twice once for lunch and once for brunch. There was a Whole Foods close to our hotel that we visited almost everyday. I know what you all are thinking--big deal there is a Whole Foods in my town. There is one where I live too, but it is small. This is the biggest Whole Foods I have ever been too. It was fantastic! Anytime I go to a grocery store in another state I am always amazed by the wine. (Wine is only sold in liquor stores in my state.) I don't even really like wine. I'm just really fascinated when I see it sold in grocery stores.

We went to Vulcan Park, the Civil Rights Institute and to the Botanical Gardens.

The gardens were gorgeous and so peaceful. I can only imagine what they will look like in a month.

This was in the Southern Living Garden.

It snowed in my city while I was gone, so I'm sure my pretty tulips will be ruined when I get home. These purple tulips were gorgeous!

This conference was pretty spread out as far as what we were here for, so we did have some free time to do all of these things. But I did work! (We weren't attending the conference just exhibiting, presenting, sponsoring a dinner, etc.) Since I travel so much I have a work computer with access to all of our databases and a wireless aircard that allows me to get on the internet anywhere which means staying on top of my e-mails. This was a great trip! I fell in love with Birmingham. But it is time to go home! home sweet home.

Missing these guys already

I'm headed to Alabama for work until Monday. That is a long time! Oh, it will be fun but I am going to really miss my guys!

Please ignore the bottom of my dirty socks! The bottom of my socks are always dirty. I hate wearing shoes which means I walk outside without shoes on all the time. As soon as I get in my car I kick my shoes off--the same goes for my desk. I will not buy heels that cannot be easily kicked off. I'm a weirdo! :)

I'm sure they will survive just fine without me. Ty has a big test on Monday and I think part of him is relieved to have the whole weekend to devote to studying. And then the other part of him remembers that means he has to take care of Nuts. And somewhere in there I know he will miss me! My posting will be spotty or non-existent for the rest of the week.

Tulips=Smiles

I planted tulip bulbs back in October and they started blooming last week. Everytime I go outside there are more tulips. It makes me so happy!

We are participating in this Share and Care group at church. There are 3 or 4 couples assigned to a group and you try to meet once a month. It is a great way to get to know people at our church. We had our group over for lunch after church on Sunday. I cut a few tulips to put on the table.

I love the middle of the pink tulips!

Paint Party

Saturday morning Chesley and I painted my bedroom. I bought 4 different paint samples and mixed 2 paints together for a total of 5 choices. I went to bed Friday night still unsure of which paint I was going to go buy in the morning. I am the worst at picking out paint colors. I ended up having them do a custom shade that was in between 2 Benjamin Moore colors that I liked: Timberwolf and Marina Grey.

I'm not the best at painting, so Ty didn't have much faith in this project turning out good. (He didn't have time to help me. His Spring Break consisted of a LOT of studying!) Well, it turns out that Chesley is fabulous painter and she volunteered to help me! Yay! What a great friend! I told her that she was the boss and to just tell me what to do. I turned on some music and we We knocked it out in 2 hours. I'm very happy with the results!

I love these curtains and don't really want to take them down, but I'm not quite sure how I feel about them with the pillows. What do ya'll think?

I love the look of this lamp in the room. It really puts off a nice glow against the gray paint. Its a soft, calming affect.


I love this lamp! I wasn't sure how it would look in the room so I only bought one. Now I need to go back and buy another one for the other night stand.

*update*: The curtains are from Target and the lamp is from Hobby Lobby.

Secret Garden

Ever since I was little and could read I dreamed of having a weeping willow tree in my yard to read my books under. It would be like my own secret garden. I tell Ty this story every time we see a weeping willow tree. Today after work we stopped by Home Depot to check out some trees and I saw a flowering weeping willow. I tried to convince Ty that I really needed it. He didn't agree. (We don't really have anywhere to put it.) I tried to explain how perfect it would be for Nuts and I to sit under this summer and read, how it would be like an English secret garden. He didn't seem to get it. Maybe its just a girl thing?? Wouldn't it be perfect!?!

I blocked out my shirt, because it had the name of the state I live in. :)

I'm off work today for a dentist appointment and a hair appointment and because it is spring break! Everyone deserves to have a few days off during spring break!

Lots of Rambling...

The weather in DC was cold and dreary, but I still had a great time! My favorite part was Georgetown. I loved that area of town.

They had PINK cupcake boxes!!

I carried my cupcakes around DC all day. We had just eaten brunch at a french bakery and I was too stuffed to eat my cupcakes right away. They were good, but the vanilla frosting was a little too cream cheesy for me. (No one can live up to my nanny's buttercream frosting!) The one with the chocolate frosting was yummy!

I got home from my trip on Sunday afternoon. Then my parents came to stay for a couple of nights. I took Monday off of work, because my dad was at my house to fix a few things for me. I finally have a working garbage disposal. Yay! And he built me a headboard. I still have to find fabric to upholster it with, but I will post pics when it is complete. THANKS DAD!

My friend Julie drove into town to visit Chesley and I Monday night. It was so good to see her!

(We were all wearing flats. I'm so short and Julie is so tall! I'm just a tad bit jealous!)

My parents ended up staying the night Monday night too. I had worked my dad too much and he didn't have a chance to do anything that he wanted to do here. So they stayed another night so he would have time to go to a few stores that they don't have at home. Chesley hung out with us both nights. We challenged my parents and Ty to a game of Taboo. Of course Ches and I won. We have been banned from being on the same team. We give each other the craziest clues and because we spend so much time together the other automatically gets it.

It was back to work today. It was a busy day since I had been out of the office travelling and then off on Monday. I think that everyone that works at a university should get spring break off! I shouldn't complain too much I am taking Friday off too. :)

I can tell I haven't blogged in a while, because I am starting to ramble...

haha!

I heart recruitment dinners

Tonight my boss and I took pre-medical students and one of our medical students to dinner. We went to Jaleo. It was this great spanish restaurant owned by Jose Andres. He competed against Bobby Flay on the Food Network's Iron Chef America. The five of us all ordered 3 tapas each. (Tapas are similar to appetizers. They are small dishes and are meant to encourage people to converse instead of concentrating on a full meal that is usually placed in front of them. Everyone samples each others tapas.) I had a little bit of everything and it was all amazing! I had quail, lamb, shrimp, asparagus, potatoes, salmon, tuna, spinach and much more. It was SO YUMMY!! I had never eaten at a Spanish restaurant before and had never had tapas. It was a great experience and was so much fun to just pass food around and sample everything. I was a little hesitant about the sharing at first. Ask anyone in my family or Ty....I don't like to share my food. I used to hide the good snacks in my bedroom in elementary and middle school. You think I would be a fatty, fatty no friends! Obviously, my siblings and I had some issues with eating up all the good snacks in the house really fast. I had to hoard them! :) That's probably why I like mint chocolate stuff so much--no one else in my family does--I never had to share it! But I digress...


Sorry, no pictures of the food. I didn't think taking pics of the food while I was working was the most appropriate thing to do. But I did snap one quick picture of the inside of the restaurant. I just loved the colors: oranges and reds.

We have lots of fun things to do tomorrow both for business and pleasure. Ty took this picture at the Lincoln Memorial when he was here last week. (No, he doesn't usually take pictures of school girls! They just happened to be in every shot he took of the memorial and I guess he decided to snap one of them all together while they were posing for someone else.) I really like it for some reason. Maybe because I never wore uniforms for school. They always intruige me.

Bananas about Running

I woke up yesterday morning to temps in the 70s and I left work to temps in the 40s. Crazy weather. On my way home I called Chesley to see if she was still up for the running club. We debated for a while and I eventually said it was too cold. I get home and debated about it some more and then a few minutes before I needed to leave if I am going to get there on time I decide I need to go run. I was frantically rushing around trying to find gloves and an earmuff band thingy. Of course I can't find either one of these things, so I start yelling for Ty to help. He isn't much help, because he doesn't have the first clue as to where to look. I started wishing my mom was there because she always knew where to look when us kids lost things. I finally found a pair of gloves and some mittens for Chesley. (It was all I could find!) I gave up on the earmuff band thingy. I got dressed and headed out the door. I got to the track about 10 minutes early. I always do that. I rush and rush because I hate being late and then end up arriving to my destination ridiculously early. I'm the girl that shows up for the party right when its supposed to start and then has to wait 30 minutes for everyone else to show up. I need to learn to relax! haha! It was a cold, windy night at the running club. My ears and face were frozen by the end, but I'm glad I went. I always feel great afterward. I think I am becoming one of those people that really enjoy running!

I discovered last week on my trip to Lawrence, KS that I like bananas. This is a huge deal for me. I am a very picky eater. I used to hate bananas: the mushiness and the taste. I love strawberries, but a strawberry banana flavored food--no way! But then the other day a banana started to sound good to me so I ate one as part of my breakfast at the hotel. I liked it! I guess my tastes are changing as I get older. I cut up a banana and put it in my smoothie last night. I just can't get enough of them!

Today is my SIL, Amy's b-day! Happy Birthday Amy!! I hope you have a great day!

Pancakes and Cupcakes

Last night I made the best pancakes! I love eating breakfast for dinner. For some reason I have always struggled to make the perfect pancakes. I don't own a griddle, so its hard for me to get the right temp down. I normally mess up at least the first one and then the last one turns out normal. Its been a work in progress, but I finally did it. Yay!

I also made a cupcake onesie.

Rested

It's amazing how a weekend by yourself can seem like I had an extra day added to the weekend. I feel very rested. Ty got home from his trip to D.C. Saturday night. Nuts and I picked him up at the airport. Nuts was so excited to have Ty home. So was I! I'm not sure how I am going to handle it when he is gone on rotations for a month at a time. I was in a pretty crabby mood without him. He was very busy at his conference in DC, so we only talked about 20 minutes the whole time he was gone. (4 days) Ty was in the same building as Brad Pitt on Thursday at the capitol. A lot of med students got pictures of him. I'm sure you all are thinking, what a lame story. But I thought it was exciting. Even though Ty didn't think much of it...Boys!

He was taking out the trash last night and saw my empty pint sized mint chocolate chip ice cream container and just started cracking up. I never buy ice cream to keep at home because it is too much of a hazard for me. Yes, I indulge on food while my hubs is out of town!

Friday night I watched The Women, ate my ice cream, and ran on the treadmill. It was the perfect evening alone. The weather was so nice all weekend. I kept the back door open the whole time I was at home. Nuts loved running in and out of the house whenever he pleased. I think he needs a doggie door.

This week will be pretty busy for me. I am going to be gone the last half of the week to Washington DC. My boss and I are going for work. Its my first time to ever go. What a bummer that Ty and I couldn't be there at the same time. Then when I get back it will be Spring Break! Whoo hoo! I don't get Spring Break off, but I will be taking a couple of days off to enjoy it.

Happy Monday!!

Spring Tease

It is supposed to be 82 degrees here today!!! It already feels fantastic outside. The wind is blowing like crazy, but that is pretty typical for this state. It's supposed to be in the low 80s tomorrow too. But I'm sure it won't stay like that for long. Nuts and I are going to enjoy the nice weather while it lasts. I will probably take him to the bark park tomorrow after work. I usually eat lunch in my office, but it is just too nice out to stay indoors. (I hate feeling rushed on my lunch hour, so I choose to just eat in my office. I have some issues with time restraints, feeling rushed, and being punctual. I digress...) I'm hoping this weather isn't just a spring tease. My tulips are standing tall, but no blooms yet. I'm hoping a freeze doesn't happen before they get a chance to bloom.

--Take a look in my etsy sidebar at the new onesie designs. The construction truck and the lamb were both custom orders. Both buyers had a specific theme in mind and I designed the rest.

--Last night I was at my alma mater for a recruiting event. It went great, but it meant a late night getting home from work. Ty is out of town, which means Nuts was home by himself until about 8:45. Needless to say he was pretty hyped up!

Good Deal

I am a busy bee at work this month, so the blogging will probably not happen daily. I hate not being able to visit my daily blogs and leave comments. :(
I just wanted to let you all know that I'm not ignoring you!
I was going through my google reader and saw this post from Lis Loves about a special deal on Amazon for Marie Claire. $10 for 2 years! And you get a $5 credit to Amazon if you order before March 31. That is a fantastic deal! I love getting stuff in the mail and I always buy this magazine at the airport when I am travelling. I have a slight obsession with amazon, so I headed there right away. I can't wait to start getting it in the mail! Here is the direct link in case any of you want to check it out: AMAZON.


I'm headed to the track for the running club. I hope I don't get as sore as I did last time. :)