Home Again

We're back at home, but we didn't leave without a little dinner from one of our favorite Memphis spots: Soulfish. Before that, we drove up from Tunica to meet with Kerry at the Memphis CVB that does a fantastic job running the I Love Memphis blog. After talking and getting ideas, we made a straight line for catfish.

 Oh. It's that good.

We also grabbed a few things at Whole Foods, including some good reading material for the drive back.

Now we're back and I'm playing catch up at work! Hoping for a fun and relaxing weekend.

Up North

This weekend I headed up north to Tunica for our state conference on tourism. It's been a good conference thus far and Paul hitched along for the ride.

 Conference sessions started today, which have been interesting. If you can tell what's wrong with one of the logos below, high five to you (Memaw, please ignore the photo below!).

 When I got to my place at lunch, there were even tiki cups with little umbrellas. Go figure.

 After my last session today, Paul and I got in the car and headed for dinner in Memphis!

 We had a great dinner downtown, then hopped on the trolley right at dusk.

We're back in Tunica for the rest of my conference, but we'll be back in Memphis tomorrow afternoon for a business meeting and a little exploring before we head home.

Hope you're having a good start to the week!

Symphony at Sunset

I love my neighborhood and one of my favorite nights of early fall was last night: Symphony at Sunset.

The neighborhood comes out with blankets, chairs, and dinner to listen to the full Mississippi Symphony Orchestra on the lawn. We brought antipasto, hummus, and flatbread and had a wonderful meal. Luckily, we sat at one of the official tables, so we had a great view.

Love to hear the full orchestra all together.

Here's to a great weekend!

High Five for Friday!

High Five for Friday!

1. Yesterday Paul surprised me with lunch at Walker's. I had been talking about the redfish sandwich the night before and around 10:45 he asked me if I wanted to come home for lunch. He told me to meet him in the lobby, but when I couldn't find him, I called him. He told me he was down the block and to meet him at Green Room (by this time I pretty much figured out what was going on). He was sitting there on the patio waiting for me, lunch already ordered. It was a good lunch!

2. Wednesday night we were concert hopping, first going to a Chicago cover band at Duling Hall, then making our way over to Hal and Mal's for Seryn. Seryn is a little eccentric, but their harmonies are incredible.

3. Last Saturday Paul ran his first 5K since the Chicago Marathon (he ran the full) last fall. He ran to support a friend who had just started running, but it also fit in with his half marathon training. This meant getting up early before the sun rose!

4. Wednesday we had a precious shower for one of my co-workers who is getting married to her boyfriend/partner of 18 years! We had a high tea, which was a lot of fun.

5. I can't stop staring at my watch. It's one of my favorite purchases I've ever made!

Hope you are having a wonderful week!

Nugget

I have a little nugget of goodness for your Hump Day today. You may have already seen it because it kind-of went viral for a moment on the Internet yesterday.

This weekend, driving back home from errands, I spot this car with writing on the trunk. If you've known me for any length of time, you have to know I was curious. Speeding up to get behind them, I finally read the letters...

"My son was voted prisoner of the month at Parchman State Prison."

This photo is so rich, I don't even know where to begin. I usually start by posing the question: was he voted for being the worst of the worst or the best of the best?

You decide. And have a happy Wednesday.

Deal!

Last night I found a great deal at TJ Maxx I had to share. I've been on a big watch hunt (not witch hunt), but just haven't found one I liked so far. I haven't been in TJ Maxx in weeks, so decided to stop by to look at some stationery. I glanced down at the jewelry counter on the way to the back and saw one of the expensive watches I had been keeping an eye on but never pulled the trigger.

 Even better, it didn't have the $200 price tag anymore, but an $80 price tag!

SOLD. I already love wearing it! Have you found a good deal on items on your wish list lately?

Award Winner

I have an award winner on my hands! I just had to brag. Paul received the "Future of Fondren" award by the Fondren Association of Businesses tonight.

He's done so much for the neighborhood with the magazine and design work for local businesses. We hope the neighborhood and the magazine only get better and better. So proud he got this award!

Livingston Farmers Market

We're always looking for fun things to do and Livingston Farmers Market is something we've talked about going to a few times. This market is actually almost out in the country, about 30+ minutes from our house. The market was started as a PR move for a development of retail, homes, and in the center, a farmers market.

 We happened upon a tent with great prints and stationary. She and her boyfriend live in Fondren, so we had a good bit to talk about. We bought a great print from her that I can't wait to hang in our kitchen.

 We tried home made sugar free caramel ice cream that was pretty fantastic.

THIS however, takes the slice. Chicken, pesto, roasted onion and goat cheese pizza. I was in heaven.

This was a fun event to go to and next season we'll definitely be back (they only have a few more weeks before the market is closed for the season)!

High Five for Friday!

High five for Friday! It's been a jam packed week, but it's been a good one.

1. This week I've really noticed how long my hair has gotten. I've been growing it out for about a year now, but I've been growing it even longer for my wedding. It's still a little shocking to see it sometimes! (Please ignore the Swiffer thankyouverymuch)

2. I got this precious salt cellar at Target last night. It perfectly matches our china we are registered for (Vietri Lastra in Gray). It makes me happy to see it on our counter.

3. I'm still thinking about Elton John. It was such a great show!

4. We also went to a great concert on Monday night at Duling Hall featuring the band Snarky Puppy. It's a funny name, but it's one of the best instrumental jazz bands I've ever heard.

5. There's nothing like a good, quick meal. Paul and I have been making a big conscious effort to work out and be active this week, which cuts into meal cooking time. There's nothing like whipping up Ayam Masak Kicap with brown rice and snow peas quickly for a nice dinner.

Here's to the weekend!

[Psst... If you'd like to see the story on Cosmopolitan Cafe, home of the best sweet and sour green beans I've ever tasted, featured in the latest magazine, it's online today! Check it out.]

Elton John

We've been having a musical week, starting with a phenomenal concert with Snarky Puppy on Monday. On Tuesday, we made our way to the Coliseum for Elton John.

 This place was packed!

We had the epitome of nose bleed seats on the top row, but we still enjoyed every minute of it. It's been a really long time since I've seen so many people filling these seats!

Pop Up: Museum of Art

 Wow. We had an amazing lunch yesterday that I'm still thinking about.

 For four days only, the Museum of Art is having a pop-up restaurant of Crescent City Grill (lunch) and Purple Parrot Cafe (dinner) in their Palette Cafe. Having gone to college in the same city where these restaurants are, I was really excited to try it out. Some of the tastes really reminded me of Hattiesburg.

 Smoked Crab Nachos

 Shrimp and grits

 Corn and crabcake bisque

The MOTHER LOAD... butter pecan pie. This pie was unreal!

This was such a fun lunch and really took me back a few years. I love the museum bringing in restaurants from across the state to share the love around here.

Southwester Shepherd's Pie

After going to Celtic Fest, we kept mulling over shepherd's pie. There's got to be ways to make it healthier and more interesting. Southwestern-style is a go-to for us, so it was really an easy decision to try to make shepherd's pie using ground turkey, black beans, corn, and sweet potatoes. It's all the ingredients we have at home anyway.

Southwestern Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground turkey

1 packet of low sodium taco seasoning

1 can of organic black beans (unseasoned)

1/2 cup of corn (frozen or fresh cooked)

2 large sweet potatoes

In the microwave, cook sweet potatoes for 10 minutes. While potatoes are cooking, brown turkey. Add in beans, corn, and taco seasoning. Mix and heat. Place mixture in the bottom of a round dish. Take sweet potatoes and mash in a bowl with a potato masher. Mix in a small amount of milk to smooth if needed. Spoon over meat mixture. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Serve immediately. Add cheese on top if desired.

Celtic Fest

This weekend we went to Celtic Fest, which was a really good time. Think old world Ireland, dancing, singing, bag pipes, burly men. Obviously we needed to go!

 We started around lunch time and wanted really traditional Irish food. We couldn't find what we were looking for, so we settled for traditional fair food for lunch. We ended up finding Fenian's and made sure to go back for shepherd's pie for dinner.

 Nothing wrong with enjoying a little funnel cake.

 That night was the Ceili Mor, which was PACKED. You could barely move!

We were really inspired and I've got a recipe coming your way soon inspired by our weekend!

A Few of My Favorite Things

Etsy is killing me with so many cute things lately! This is just a few I'm watching closely:

Chevron note books, canvas bags, a new makeup bag for my purse (Which I desperately need. The one I have was free and is tearing up nicely), and sweet soap. Maybe it's something about fall, but it makes me want to fill up wish lists and nest around the house!

Pinterest

I have a bone to pick with Pinterest. It's making me girly.

In the past few weeks it's influenced me to get a new watch, shop at Old Navy (which has great clothes right now), and reevaluate my makeup.

I've been seeing some lip stains on Pinterest and I've been curious. Lip color that stays on for hours and you don't even have to do anything? Sign me up.

When I was in CVS late last night for a random trip of deodorant and Gatorade, I happened to see a display of lip stain. At $4.99, it could hurt to try, could it? I have to say, I'm in love. It stays on forever, isn't streaky, and I don't even have to think about it!

What have you discovered lately?

High Five for Friday!

It's been an interesting week around here and I couldn't be happier it's Friday!

1. I'm still in love with our painted walls. They make our place feel so warm.

2. I currently have a six foot long alligator gar (print) in the back of my car. I can't wait to hang him!

3. A middle school school in California sent me a Frontiersman Freddy to take around the city so that they could learn about our town. I had a lot of fun with it!

4. I made Indian food the other night and it was so good. I found a paste and made Butter Chicken that's fantastic. Next I'm conquering Chicken Tikki Masala.

5. Last night was the Juried Art Show at the Cedars. It was PACKED!

Here's to a break and a great weekend.

Weekend

We've been doing some painting today and I can't wait for you to see the results. We only painted three accent walls, but it makes such a difference. My favorite is the wall in the bedroom with our new piece of art we bought last week.

During painting, Paul had to run down the block to the hardware store and found more of the Mrs. Meyer's Basil scent I'm in love with. Now I've got a happy scent when I clean the counters too!

 Cary and David asked if we'd like to go to a dinner and a movie and of course we did! We went to Burgers and Blues for dinner and they had Sam Adams Octoberfest on tap. I can't say it enough, fall beers are my favorite.

We also had to stop by the grocery store tonight to grab some things for a cake Paul is baking for his grandfather tomorrow. I have been looking all over this summer for Blue Bell's Summer Berries flavored ice cream. It may be September, but I'm enjoying every bite!

Hope you are having an enjoyable long weekend!