Weddings are my Favorite

Weekends are the best, but wedding weekends are in their own league completely; right up there with holidays and vacations in my book.  I mentioned on Friday I had the privilege of being a part of a good friend's wedding this weekend, and it was so much fun!  We started out Friday night with the rehearsal dinner, and I totally failed because I got a total of 0 pictures from the evening.  We were treated to some of the best barbecue I have had outside of Memphis.  Eric liked it so much he buddied up to the guy who made everything and got his vinegar sauce recipe.  We called it a night pretty early because we had a big day ahead of us on Saturday.

The wedding was absolutely beautiful and it went off without a hitch, aside from the candles that were supposed to be used to light the unity candle almost melting completely.  They were lit by the parents when they walked in at the beginning of the ceremony.  There ceremony ended up being quite long, with several songs, readings, prayers, and long vows (and no it wasn't a Catholic wedding), so by the time they went to light the unity candle there was less than 1/4 of the candles left!  They managed and they're married now and that's all that matters.

We headed downtown after the wedding to meet up with some friends for the evening and ended up meeting up again with my friend that got married and her new hubby.  It was one of those nights out where everywhere you turn you're surrounded by people you know....those are the best nights out in my book...so.much.fun!

1. Started off my weekend with a homemade bacon, egg white and cheese McMuffin...what else?  I can't stop eating these things....they're so good!
2. I did my own hair all curly and such for the wedding.  It stayed pretty curled most of the day.  Unfortunately the 20 mph wind did it in at the end of the night.
3. My beautiful bouquet.
4. My reception attire. My feel were not feeling my nice shoes, so my chucks got to go to the reception with me.
5. The MOHs!  Aren't we cute?!
6. Our beautiful bride relaxing pre-ceremony. Don't worry, the rose was not part of her get-up, she was just messing around.
7. and 8.  She is a huge Alabama fan and he is a huge Tennessee fan so they had a tailgate themed reception which included these adorable cakes.
9. and 10. Since we ate at the reception we went light for dinner and opted for a Caprese Salad and Cheesy Bread from SaZa's instead of one of their giant, delicious pizzas.  There was NOTHING left after we got done with these.

Sunday we took it easy.  We were exhausted from the previous day's activities, and we didn't really get going until almost 11:30.  After that I was quite productive: I cleaned (for the first time in 3 weeks), went to the grocery store (because we had no food in the fridge), and I even cooked-like really cooked dinner (for the first time in 3 weeks, too)!

I would be lying if I said I didn't need another day added to my weekend and I almost got it thanks to the nail that I picked up in my tire Saturday night.  Thankfully it stayed fully inflated and we got home safely.  I am riding on 3 real tires and my spare today, and let me tell you it looks precious.  Thankfully Eric is having it repaired for me today while I am at work.  Why didn't I drive his truck?  Well he needed it so he could fish this morning, of course!  Duh!  He had a successful fishing trip so I didn't mind too much.

I am really looking forward to this week because it is really going to start feeling like spring/summer! I am ready for some legit shorts and tank top weather!

High 5 for Friday

We made it to another Friday!  Whoop Whoop!  After traveling most of last week this one was a long one, but it's here and that's all that matters now. Let's get to it shall we?

1. 

I got my first ever spray tan that ended up being a rolled on paint roller style tan because the sprayer was broken.  A tad awkward, but it worked like a charm and now I have a nice bronze glow. =) It kind of stressed me out because I have never had one before and I was a little worried about it washing off the in shower so I waited until this morning like I was told to.  However, I had to wash my face last night (which was not tan-rolled) and realized that a little dribble of soapy water found it's way down my arm leaving me with a white line on my arm.  Luckily I was able to blend it in with some lemon juice so it only looked like a fading scar.  The good news is that you can't see it at all this morning!

2.

 The reason I had my first ever spray tan is because this girl is getting hitched this weekend! I am so excited for her and her beau and I am so excited that I get to be a part of it! And I also just realized that apparently the only times we ever take pictures together is when we're dressed up crazy.

3. 

C'mon Michigan State and Florida!  You're my only hope now! 

I am very ashamed of myself.  Due to the craziness of my schedule last week I completely forgot to fill out my bracket.  I can't remember the last time I forgot to fill one out....middle school maybe? I realized it last Thursday and quickly made my selections on the Sports Illustrated magazine bracket before I turned on any games.

Do you see that scratch out on the top left bracket?  That would be where I replaced my Dayton pick with Ohio State....I'm kicking myself now. But I did pick Tennessee and Harvard in the first round!

4. 

nom nom nom nom nom...

We have a new dinner obsession.  Have you noticed that we do this from time to time? The latest greatest dinner for us is the English Muffin Sandwich. I had a couple for breakfast when I was in Arkansas and decided I liked them, so I bought some.  Then for dinner one night Eric asked for one with a fried egg, turkey, and mayo. It sounded weird, but I obliged (and made by 1st fried egg!) and he loved it.  I really wanted an English muffin but wanted to eat a sandwich because we had some delicious deli turkey. I swapped the fried egg for a slice of provolone cheese and found a new favorite.  It's the perfect tiny sandwich! We ate them for dinner 3 different nights this week....what can I say, when you know what you like, go with it.

5. 

I saw this article this morning about the word "Yoopers" making the dictionary this year. I did not realize it was not yet a "real word." My brother was a Yooper for 5 years and I had the privilege of getting to experience the UP for his college graduation.  Despite the snow...in MAY, I completely got why he loved that place so much...and almost every reason is touched on in the article.

If it weren't for the snow and the leafless trees it would look like the Gulf!

The copper beach was amazing!

The unofficial snow meter for the UP.

Happy Friday!

Breakfast Sausage Crescent Bake

If you've known me for any length of time, you know that I am a creature of habit: I like routines and I am not a fan of change.  My Mom ran into my 4th grade teacher the other day and my teacher told my mom how she remembered that all I did the first 4 weeks of 4th grade was cry because we'd just moved to TN and I didn't know anyone and I missed my friends and my grandparents and I thought my life was over...for 4 long weeks.  I might have been a tad dramatic back then.  In hindsight that move was one of the best things that ever happened to me; because of it I have had so many amazing opportunities and friends all over the country! I eventually realized that I could make new friends, it just took me a little while to adjust. Luckily I am much better at handling change these days, =) but I still love a good old family tradition.  One of these is breakfast casserole for Christmas morning breakfast.  We've been having the same one every Christmas morning since I can remember.  This past year my dad told us he had a new breakfast casserole for us to try.  Of course I was skeptical, but I was convinced otherwise after I tried it. We've made it several times since then, including this past weekend at the beach with my BIL and SIL.  The best part is that it's super easy and super delicious!

What you need:

2 cans Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

1lb ground sausage

1 package cream cheese, softened

1-1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

How to make it:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom of a 9" x 13" pan.

Brown sausage in a skillet. Drain.  In a bowl, mix sausage and cream cheese.

Unroll one can of crescent rolls. Line the bottom of the pan with crescent rolls, pressing the perforated seams together. Spread cream cheese-sausage mixture over dough. Cover with a layer of shredded cheddar cheese.  Top with the other tube of crescent rolls. Be sure to pinch the perforated seams together (it doesn't have to be perfect because the crescent rolls will rise).

Bake 25 minutes or until top layer is golden brown. Serve immediately.

This stuff is seriously amazing.  Throw in some Cracker Barrel Hash Brown Casserole and you have feast.  We made some bacon and eggs to go along with it the other morning at the beach and I actually left bacon on my plate.  I guess there's a first time for everything.

Now go make it...you can thank me later.

It Happened Again

We weren't planning on it, but it happened.  On Thursday afternoon Eric's brohter called and told him the water would be perfect for another fishing trip this weekend and invited us down.  We decided about 9pm on Thursday night that it was a brilliant idea (who am I kidding, I was ready as soon as Eric said "beach" on the phone), and we set off for the Gulf Friday afternoon. Luckily we missed most of the Spring Break traffic and had an uneventful trip down.

The boys wanted to be on the water by 3am Saturday morning, so my SIL and I decided we'd pass on the trip and sleep in...of course by sleep in I mean 7am (#adultproblems).  It was a nice morning so we took their dog on a long walk--our boys stayed home with my MIL. By the time we got back the fog had rolled in.  We decided that laying out wouldn't do us too much good, so we opted to make a cake instead.  My SIL likes to cook as much as I do, and she is an amazing baker! With a little help from Paula Deen, we found a recipe and headed to the grocery store.  A couple of hours later we had ourselves a delicious-looking, albeit lop-sided strawberry cake with strawberry cream cheese icing (that was a bit thick despite the fact that we didn't put all of the powdered sugar in it and thinned it out with cream--If you ever use this Strawberry Cake Recipe be sure to at LEAST half the powdered sugar....7 cups is way to much!). Since the sun was still hiding by the time we finished baking we did the next best thing...a little retail therapy. When we got home the sun was FINALLY out so we got to lay out for a little while, until we realized why the fog had finally moved on....the wind had picked up.  We powered through and ended up laying out under blankets which I realize technically defeated the purpose of laying out but it was nice just to be outside.  The boys got back pretty early from their VERY successful trip so we got cleaned up and headed to dinner. I'd been wanting some good seafood and we just that at Louisiana Lagniappe. I had Grouper Pecan that was beyond amazing...lightly breaded fish topped with meuniere sauce and toasted pecans.  Despite the fact that we were all stuffed from dinner we made sure to tear up the strawberry cake when we got home. Naturally we all slipped into food comas quite early and slept in Sunday morning.  After a delicious breakfast Eric and I headed home. Even though it was a quick trip I am soooo glad we went! I miss them like crazy since they don't live in the same town as we do anymore, but it is nice to be able to getaway for a weekend to go see them!

1. No question, I am my mother's daughter.  She told me about an outfit she put together that consisted of a lighth blue shirt and a cream scarf.  I have found myself drawn to blue shirts to go with my cream colored scarf ever since.  I finally broke down and bought one this weekend.....and I LOVE it!
2. Since there was a little bit of leftover cake batter and frosting my SIL and I did the most logical thing and made cupcakes! Plus that meant we could taste the cake before dessert!
3. Eric and his brother with one of their catches.
4. The boys with their haul.
5.Some big ole fishies! They caught 6 yellow fin tuna and a wahoo (the longer fish in the middle)!
6. My new spring scarf I found on our shopping excursion...half off?! Yes Please!
7. Our breakfast spread Sunday morning.  Sausage Crecsent Bake (recipe coming this week) and Cracker Barrel's Hash Brown Casserole with some eggs and bacon just for fun!
8. This was just a small portion of the tuna Eric vacuum packed when we got home.
9. Of course we had to cook some fish for dinner Sunday night.  We had some friends who were having a fish fry so we brought some tuna and wahoo with us and Eric grilled it up!  He seasoned it with Penzey's Greek Seasoning (best seasoning ever!) and olive oil.

....and in case you were wondering, we did not actually step foot on the beach (but they live really close to it and we could see it from the road).  Plus now that they have a pool we don't have to leave the house to get in the water. =)