Clever Recipes

I feel like we've really been hitting it out of the park lately with Pinterest recipes. Tonight I took a spin with Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes, but I made it with ground turkey, wheat rolls, and Worchestershire Sauce instead of steak sauce. Instead of cheese sauce, we just topped with a little pepper jack cheese. Along with the casserole from last night that still won't end!

 This afternoon I was lucky enough to get to go hang out at Sneaky Beans to be a part of their training for their new coffee system they are trying out (Clever Coffee Dripper). I wrote a story that'll be up on the website/Facebook tomorrow.

Hope you guys had a great weekend!

Ballin'

One of my favorite things is that Paul likes to go shopping with me. (Not clothes shopping, I can't even imagine what that would be like) We've been on a mission to find a few pieces for our new apartment and for the past few weeks, we keep visiting a flea market that constantly is getting new furniture. Yesterday, I was also on a mission to find blue Ball jars for wedding decor.

I knew of one booth that always had these jars (I had purchased from him before) and I got a steal of a deal. Five jars for $5 each. I was pretty proud of myself.

We also went to the flea market to find a desk for me to use. Space is at a premium, but I still wanted a space to work on my computer and craft without it being the couch. Walking along, we found this great dining table with two drop leaves. We had thrown around the idea of a small dining table and metal chairs like this:

And knew this could be the first piece of the puzzle.

It's very versatile and when not in use, we can keep the leaves down. When I need to work, pull one up. Voila! We were pretty excited about this purchase.

After leaving the flea market (read: no air conditioning in the warehouse), we went back to our neck of the woods and had milkshakes at Brent's. There is nothing better than a nutella milkshake. It wasn't all fun and games, we were actually there to interview one of their employees for a story coming out next week.

After our day, I knew we'd want something lighter for dinner and I had found just the recipe on Pinterest. Especially when we had three zucchinis the size of baseball bats from Paul's grandparents backyard, this was a perfect way to use some of them up. Recipe here.

Our only difference was not using tomato because we didn't have one. Making this again, I might microwave the potato slices for 30 seconds-1 minute. They were still a little firm when it was done.

Next to garlic chicken (also a Pinterest recipe), it was a perfect end to the day.

Finished by watching The Dark Knight so you-know-who can get psyched about going to see the next one. It's just a little too violent for me!

Catch Up

I always feel like I'm playing catch up! It's been a crazy few weeks here with wedding planning, work, and what not. We're currently under a huge thunderstorm and I'm just crossing our fingers it's over so that we can go to an outdoor concert tonight. It's looking a little iffy! (Note: it's been cancelled)

Now that I can cross venues, wedding dress, catering, photography, tables/chairs/linens off the list, I'm down to just picking flowers before turning to smaller details of wedding planning. There's definitely a sense of relief there and I feel like I can poke my head out and start working on other parts of my life! I have a huge bug to get craftsy and creative and I'm bound and determined to get started on that ASAP. I'm thinking my own desk/craft area and a few projects around the apartment... so many ideas!

Til next time, look at one of my recent projects, our wedding website! The save-the-date cards we designed should be here Monday, so start looking for them soon.

'merica!

Happy Fourth to you! We've had a pretty jam packed day of celebrating. This morning, we went to the neighborhood parade which can only be described as precious We had a great time with friends and a tasty lunch of tomato tarts, figs, casseroles, burgers and other great food.

Afterwards, I went with Erin and my mom to try on dresses at David's Bridal and I actually found one! Even better, I BOUGHT it. So, check that off the never ending to-do list!

This evening we joined our friends at an architecture salvage store, Old House Depot, which always has a great Fourth of July party.

Great food, drinks, and we even had time to peruse the store. I'm on a mission to find an old salvaged "W" from a sign. We scored an awesome hutch/entry table at the flea market this past weekend and I saw a bunch of old letters from signs, but apparently W is not a common letter.

 Beer and drinks in bathtubs

From there, we went and took Paul's nephews to see a huge fireworks display in Richland. They had so much fun watching this display. The fireworks went on for almost 40 minutes, but they were patient to watch it all.

Hope you have a great holiday! It's a little weird to be going back to work again tomorrow.

Engagement

So last time I left you here on the roof, so I guess I should explain how our engagement went down. I'll go ahead and tell you that Paul tells this so much funnier in person than I do, but it may also be because he's the one that had to put it all together.

Friday afternoon, Paul asked me to go to Cups at 2:30 for coffee. I'll be honest, I was suspicious. Actually, I was freaking out because I was scared he was going to do it at Cups (where we first met) and I did NOT want people I didn't know looking at me if it were to happen.

So, we met at Cups. We had coffee. I acted weird the whole time (mostly because I felt like I was going to throw up and I did once I got back to the office). I went back to the office and tried to calm down.

Paul texted me that afternoon and asked what we were doing Sunday afternoon. I said "Nothing, why?" He told me not to worry and not ask questions. I will say that threw me off the track (thanks to Sital's suggestion to Paul).

I came home from work and Paul asked if I'd like to go to Babalu for dinner, which not out of the ordinary. We also had a card for a free Baba Burger, so I was completely OK with that. He said he had to take a shower before we went, so I played on my iPad while he took a shower. [This was completely a stalling tactic because he had set it up with Babalu to be there are 6:30]

We walked over to Babalu, where they took us to our table, which happened to be the table where we had our first date. The girl seating us told us that she had to run some people off from that table, all with the other hostess and Paul shaking their heads, so she wouldn't ruin it [Paul had set it up in advance to sit at that exact table]. We had an awesome dinner and got chocolate truffles to-go for when we went on the roof of Fondren Corner later.

Walking back, we usually cut through the grocery store parking lot across the street, but Paul made me walk on the sidewalk next to Duling Hall. With a group of people taking photos on the patio near the Auditorium, I walked down the steps and into the road quickly. I looked back and Paul was standing at the top of the steps and told me I had to come back and kiss him where I made him kiss me for the first time. I did quickly because I didn't want the people on the patio to see!

We walked back to Paul's apartment and grabbed drinks to take on the roof. Walking the hall to the roof, we noticed someone had propped the roof door open (which normally stays locked), so Paul knew people were out there. Luckily it was just a few of our friends, including the guy who owned the coffee shop next door and the shop manager. After visiting with them for a while, it was getting dark and you could begin to see the lights of the city (from the roof you can see from the north city limits all the way to the downtown skyline). Paul suggested we got look out where he could point out the hotel marking the north border of the city.

As we stood there, he began to point out all the places we had been that day: Cups where we first met. Babalu where we had our first date. The steps of the Auditorium where we had our first kiss. "And," he said. "The roof, where I propose to you."

He got down on one knee and from there, it's fuzzy. I just started hysterically laughing because I couldn't believe after all the time I tried to figure it out, he pulled it off without me even realizing. It wasn't until he started connecting the dots that I figured it out and it was precious.

And, for two people that take photos for a living, we have NO photos of us right after the engagement! You'll just have to take our word for it. So, mark your calendars... we now have a wedding to plan!

Catch Up

I always feel like I'm playing catch up, but here's what's been going on lately...

Visiting local farmers market of Doris Berry's, who's about to open up a second location in Fondren in the old Mimi's location.

Enjoyed Chilton County peaches

Crawfish with Sital when she was in town for Memorial Day

And ended up last night on the roof of Fondren Corner (where Paul lives)...

and where we got engaged.

Yep. Still pinching myself.

Story to come later!

Wrap Up

I feel like I'm always having to do a big wrap up because I just don't have time to blog! I really hate that.

I've had a lot going on lately...

 Like talking with developers about the Capri, an old movie theatre that is being renovated and turned into a dine-in movie theatre. This above is the green space lot behind the Capri that will be turned into (hopefully) underground parking with green space. [Read more about it here]

 Ate amazing food and filmed a video [see it here] about barbecue at Lumpkins. Sadly, they've decided to close the restaurant and just cater.

 Enjoyed music on the patio during Fondren After 5

 Enjoyed Babalooza at Babalu for Cinco de Mayo. The boyfriend's band played early in the day and we stayed all day to cover the event and hear one of our favorite bands, Mingo Fishtrap (above).

 I love our mayor because he always cracks up when I start taking pictures of him. We had National Tourism Week and he was there to support us.

 During that week, I spoke to about 200 people at the Ag Museum about social media and how to promote your business to directors of farmers markets from about the state for the Dept. of Agriculture. They really said they learned a lot and I was happy to hear it.

 For Mother's Day Weekend, of course, we went camping! I missed the boyfriend, but it was good to hang out with a lot of the family.

I've been been able to catch breakfast at Brent's this week. It never let's me down!

Here's to a great weekend!