My Birthday Rocked!

Last week (now almost a week and a half, this blog took awhile to write) I turned 27. BORRR-ring.  Except for that I had a million birthday celebrations and it was awesome!  I love birthdays, not just mine- everyone's!

I started my birthday celebration a little less than a week before at my grandparent's house.  Details are given in my previous post- nothing is better than a traditional birthday celebration with family!

photo courtesy of Faith Weber

I continued my birthday in Memphis at the Polo Club with my new family!  So much fun and I also talked about this party in the last post.

On we went to Birmingham where we again acknowledged my birthday :)

Get ready for the big one......Russell rocked out my birthday with an awesome gift!  As I've said before, Russell believes that he is not a good planner and not good at giving gifts. However, after our super-fun anniversary and the present coming up, I think Russell is becoming quite the gift giver.

I think this is an appropriate time to talk about my love of gifts.  I don't really care if gifts are expensive.  I just really want them to be thoughtful.  More than getting gifts, I love giving gifts and I put a lot of thought into the gifts I give.  I'll also say receiving gifts usually stresses me out.  I hate when people are waiting for my reaction or judging the look on my face.  It is a known fact that I have terrible reactions to excitement.  My excited face usually looks negative or fake so for those of you who want to surprise me in the future, just know that when I look you in the eye and say, "Thank you, I love it." (yes that is followed by a period not an exclamation mark), I truly mean it and I am thankful for the gift I have been given.

Ok, now that I've left you in suspense about this awesome gift I've gotten from Russell.... he surprised me with a trip to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta!

taken from rockandwaterscape.com

I know what you're thinking- isn't that something that a 10 year old would want for her birthday?  Well, I would've loved it when I was 10 and I love it now!  I have a fascination with aquariums like some adults have fascinations with fast cars and amusement parks.  I love aquariums because I love learning about all of the crazy stuff that aquariums have.  I mean, how many opportunities do you have to see a whale shark or a giant sea horse, or beluga whales, or penguins, or lion fish, or giant eels?  I always walk away learning SO MUCH from the aquarium!  Now that you have confirmed your suspicions that I am in fact a nerd, let's continue on with this great gift...

Not only did Russell plan to take me to the aquarium, he also booked a hotel and found daycare for the dogs!!  He did a fabulous job and we had a wonderful time!

Sadly, we didn't take as many pictures as we should've but here are some jellyfish :)

Albino alligator- what?!

...and here are some of my favorite things at the aquarium that we didn't take pictures of ourselves:

otters!  taken from www.pba.org

Beluga Whales!!! taken from projects.accessatlanta.com

Starfish!!! taken from thornsaddculture.com

Not only did I LOVE the aquarium, we ate some AMAAAZING food!  Atlanta is a very dog-friendly city and Genna and Hattie were able to join us for breakfast and dinner both days!

Here's a rundown of our vacation:

We stayed at Hotel Indigo in Midtown which is a chain of boutique-like hotels.  I'm going to have to say, we can't recommend this one!  I've stayed at the Hotel Indigo in Nashville and I loved it.  The Atlanta Indigo indicated that they were in the middle of a lobby remodel.  It was nothing like we had pictured.  Imagine this: visquene (I know that's spelled wrong) everywhere, a makeshift restaurant, closed regular entry, and a teeth-rattling drilling sound that began at 9am and lasted for most of the day.  We stayed on the dog-friendly floor which was on the 3rd floor and did not lend itself to the greatest view and the room was very European (read very small).  The positives: no extra charge for pets, very clean room, great location, good soap and shampoo (Aveda).

picture taken from theatlantatraveler.com

After we checked in and unloaded our cars (I don't know if I've said this yet but we had to drive by ourselves all the way back from AR.  We were thankful for all of the stops we made!), we were on a mission for dinner reservations.  We needed dog friendly, covered patios (it was raining) and somewhere open on Sunday and we found just the place!

picture taken from atlantacityvoter.com

Anis (that's pronounced aNISE) Bistro: This yummy French restaurant is in Buckhead.  It was raining this day so we were happy that their patio is covered.  They warmly welcomed us even though we were last minute diners and they loved our pups!


We began the next morning with a walk to breakfast:

taken from www.dailycandy.com

Bakeshop: This is a hip bakery in Midtown Atl where we visited when we were in Atlanta for Michael and Meg's wedding in the early spring. It was great then and it was great now!  They've got cute little homemade dog biscuits that Genna and Hattie enjoyed for breakfast.  Russell had a gruyere and ham  croissant and I had a fruit, yogurt, and homemade granola.  A perfect start to a perfect morning!

After breakfast we trusted the good ole' GPS to take us to the doggie daycare that would be keeping Genna and Hattie occupied for the day.  We had committed to walking as many places as we could while in Atlanta and lets just say we were glad it was daylight and we had two dogs on our walk to daycare.  That walk took us through some sketchy scenery only to find out later that we could've stayed on Peachtree for most of the way (a much safer alternative)!

taken from barkatl.com

Bark ATL: If you live or work in Midtown Atlanta, I highly recommend this place.  They were happy to accommodate our pups since we were traveling through and didn't have time for a trial day.  Our girls had fun and more importantly, they tolerated Genna's poor behavior i.e. jumping the 5ft barrier wall and unlocking the door locks!  They separate the dogs by size to keep everyone safe and have puppycams so we could check in on the girls throughout the day.  When we picked them up, the girls were happy and tired and the staff was very complimentary even though we knew Genna was a handful.

Off to the aquarium!  See pictures above :)

We took a quick lunch break to go have sushi.  That's right, sushi.  What else would you be craving after looking at sea life for two hours?  Some may say it's an odd choice but I say it's logical :)  We ate at...darn I can't think of the name of it but it was REALLY good.  We both had cucumber salads and split the chefs sushi special.

Back to the aquarium we went to see the dolphin show. I loved the dolphins but the actual show was not for me.  I see what they were going for- dolphin musical- but the man in the light up cape saving the sea from monsters by summoning the dolphins wasn't really doing it for me.  It would have been much cooler if they went for the SeaWorld educational type production.  All in all- I was pumped to see the dolphins.

taken from www.designingzoos.com

We then went through the shark tunnel which was super cool!  This is a video (snaps for me for figuring out how to put a video on my blog)

taken from www.georgiaaquarium.org

And off to the 4D adventure.  It was a cute little 3D movie ripped from finding Nemo.  What makes it 4D you ask?  Well, you actually get splashed and some things jump out from under your seat. It was pretty cute and I would've begged to see it over and over again if I had been seven.  By now the aquarium is closing so it was off to pick up the pups!

taken from http://www.flickr.com/photos/aubreywilliams/page4/

After we picked up the girls we headed to dinner at TAP.  Outstanding beer list and exceptional gastropub food.  It was a perfect night for eating outside and the dogs, being exhausted from daycare, calmly sat or slept while we ate dinner.  The staff is friendly and knowledgeable and the atmosphere is outstanding!  This was one of our favorite meals for sure!

The next morning we packed up and navigated through the construction to load up and head out.

taken from www.duchessfare.com

We ended our Atlanta vacation at Highland Bakery.  Since we were on our way out of town, Russell and I were in different cars and parking was a bit tricky.  Russell found parking first and grabbed a table.  Genna and I had to park a bit further away, giving her plenty of time to do her business in discretely, but she chose to poop right in front of the restaurant manager (or possibly owner) in a small flowerbed by someone else's table.  Thanks a lot Genna.  I was given a waste bag and nicely asked to dispose of Genna's business in a trashcan far down the street.  Enough about that disgustingness and on to the food...

Russell and I were going back and forth trying to figure out if we wanted breakfast or lunch.  We both chose lunch and split french toast for dessert.  This was an instance where we should've split our entrees but we didn't.  Luckily, sandwiches keep well in the car and we were able to eat our other halves later.  I'll say the sandwiches were superb- fresh bread, premium ingredients etc. but the star of the show was the french toast.  It was made of challah and it was the most perfect consistency of egg and milk and cinnamon.  Y-U-M.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

(picture taken from ilovehatemycity.com)

This is it! The awesomeness that is challah french toast!

Then we were off for a long trip back to Durham with an hour and a half detour to repair the bike rack that was threatening to throw our bikes into the highway...this is a whole blog post in itself so I will spare you the details.

Last leg of birthday celebration:

Double birthday party for me and my friend Kate.  That's right- Katie and Kate the Kappas turned 27 on the same day!  We hung out at the apartment grill and had sliders and sides with the star of the show being this awesome birthday cake by Lara Hussary.  Pictures below:

photo courtesy of Kate Thomas

(more pictures coming soon)

So that's it folks.  An awesome birthday filled with friends, family, and fishes.  What more could a girl ask for?

The Trek Back

After saying Farewell to Fayetteville we began our trip back to Durham to begin Russell's last year at Duke's Fuqua School of Business. We decided that we weren't going to rush that 16 hours plus drive and we wanted to see as many people as we could.

First Stop: Benton!

We stayed with my parents from Saturday until Wednesday morning. While in Benton we tried to squeeze in as much as we could. I helped my mom prepare for her 25th year of dance registration which involved lots of merchandise organization and opening the new adorable leotards. Why weren't leotards that cute when I was little? It was great to spend time with my mom and be in the studio again!

On Sunday, we went to church with my parents and got to have dinner with much of my family: parents, both sets of grandparents, and my Aunt Nancy and her family. I love having dinners with my family! The older I get, the fewer chances I get to see everyone. I'll have to say, my grandmother really out did herself for dinner. It was like Thanksgiving! We even had 3 desserts! I'm such a lucky girl to have 4 grandparents at this stage in my life. I thank God for them everyday!

Russell and I biked the Big Dam Bridge trail in Little Rock. This is such a great trail. It's between 12-13 miles and it takes you through the River Market (where we stopped to play on the playground), out to the Big Dam Bridge, through a wooded area and park in North Little Rock and back to the River Market. The trail is wide enough for traffic in both directions and provides plenty of turns and small hills to make the ride interesting. We were definitely tired and definitely sweaty when we finished so what's better than meeting a friend for dinner right afterward?

I also got to see my friends Rebecca and Anna. Rebecca and I got to spend some QT by the pool hanging and chatting. Anna and I had a great time and I loved seeing her babies. They are growing up so fast! Evie Kate and I had a serious conversation about her need for a big dog. A girl must have a big dog to sleep in her bed with her!

Hattie was supposed to be ready to come home on Monday and my brother was going to bring her all the way to Benton. Fortunately there were so many adoptions over the weekend, the vet didn't have time to do Hattie's surgery on Monday. Unfortunately, that put a kink in our plans. Because of this, I wasn't able to see several of my best friends including: Autumn, Lara, Sarah, and Stephanie. Girls- I was so bummed I missed you!

On Tuesday we picked up Hattie and on Wednesday we packed up and headed out to Memphis.

In Memphis we had a wonderful time visiting The Bloodworths and The Webers. We ate dinner with The Webers on Wednesday and had a great time playing with our nephews. They're so adorable, we just love watching them grow up! We took William and Christopher on a serious golf cart ride. Extreme sports at it's best.

The highlight of our trip was making a stop at our storage unit to check on our stuff. We were in for a real treat-white mold all over everything! Thursday we spent almost our entire day removing mold and moving furniture. Luckily the people at Extra Space Storage were awesome! They helped us get a new unit and hired movers to help us with our things. Check this pic- we hope our furniture is salvagable!

We spent Thursday evening at the Polo Club where Russell and I got engaged. We met The Bloodworths, The Webers and Russell's brother Christopher. We had drinks on the patio where the weather was exceptionally wonderful followed by dinner and birthday presents. The highlight- Polo Club ice cream. I had banana with chocolate sauce. Superb!

We left for the lake on Friday and had an uneventful and relaxing 24 hours at the lake with the fam.

Saturday we headed to Birmingham. We were excited to see The Mitchell family as well as Christopher and his fiance Lindsey. I loved seeing everyone. I was especially excited to hear about the upcoming wedding plans. I love wedding planning now that I don't ever have to plan my own wedding ever again! Our nieces and nephew are adorable. They're growing up so fast and they are so smart and funny! We had take out for dinner from Pinches tacos and it was scrumptious.

Sunday we went to church with the fam, had lunch and headed out of town again. This time we were off to Atlanta for my birthday trip that Russell had surprised me with the previous week!

I'll continue the riveting story of our trip across The South in the upcoming post that focuses on my awesome birthday surprise from Russell!

Our New Addition

In case you didn't know yet, I volunteered at the Fayetteville Animal Shelter for much of the summer.  I spent a lot of time petting, playing, and bathing animals and doing my best to find the cat and dog orphans forever homes.

Well, it doesn't take a psychic to figure out that we would end up with a new puppy of our own.  Believe it or not, at the beginning of the summer Russell was the driving force behind puppy fever.  We met a little guy at the Farmers Market and Russell fell in love with him.  

Initially, I was anti-dog.  We have Genna.  We love her.  She's high maintenance and expensive.  She would be so sad and jealous if we got another dog.  I didn't want to deal with another wrecked puppied house.

I went back and forth all summer between wanting a dog and not wanting a dog.  We talked about it, I had dreams about it and I'd tell Russell about all of the cuties I saw every day at the shelter.  He even came to visit the shelter and we settled on not getting a new dog right now.  

Then it happened at the last minute.  When I say last minute, I mean cars were packed headed out of town.  We were making a last minute stop at the Farmers Market to get one last bag of peaches.  I needed one last animal shelter farewell so I went over to their tent where I saw some of my very favorite pups.  We pet them and I talked to them and Russell even held a few.  We were staying strong and confirming that a dog was not in the cards for us and that those darling dogs WOULD find homes.  

We were rounding the corner to leave the market and head to find a souvenir Arkansas shirt for me when we saw the Roach family.  The Roach family is an adorable bunch.  They're a family of 5 and the Dad brings the three kids (probably 2nd grade, 4th grade, 6th grade) to the animal shelter to volunteer.  They had volunteered for the weekend and were walking a puppy around the market.  I had to stop and chat with them and say goodbye to Janice the dog.  

Then it happened, Russell fell in love.  I already loved Janice.  She'd been one of my favorites from the day she arrived at the shelter.  She lumbered over to Russell and sat down to let him pet her and let me pick her up.  She was so shy but very sweet.  I picked her up and she lazily licked me on the face.  We said goodbye to the Roach family and on we went.

We talked about it for the next thirty minutes- "Would we get a dog?" "What do we want in a dog?" "Should we get a little one or a big one?""Boy or girl?"And the decision was made.  We were expanding our dog family.  We decided on Janice because she was the best fit to our doggie adoption criteria.  We wanted another female, younger than Genna and submissive so that she didn't compete with Genna but we didn't really want a puppy.  Janice fit all of the requirements except for that she is only 6 months old.  

We called the shelter, answered their questions and made arrangements for my brother to pick her up when she was ready to go.

We spent the weekend in Benton preparing for Janice.  This time I feel like a smarter parent (like in the Luvs diapers commercials- you live you learn and then get Luvs).  No full price PetCo and Target shopping for me.  We hit up Tuesday Morning and Big Lots and found some fantastic bargains.  I highly recommend both places for great deals and quality products!  We polled our friends for new names for our girl and we talked to Genna about getting a new sister (like she knew what we were talking about or cared).  

Tuesday came and we loaded Genna up in the car.  We wanted her to be with us when we picked up our new girl so that she wouldn't be surprising her at home.  We met Hunter in Russellville and Janice officially became Hattie.  As expected Genna was not crazy about the idea of another dog in the car.  We buckled them both in and the second Hattie cried and tried to get close to Genna, Genna snapped at her and growled so I moved into the middle seat and loved both of them for the rest of the way home.  

After Genna's initial reaction, she refused to acknowledge Hattie for several days, no eye contact, no sniffing, literally no interaction.  Hattie is resilient and persistent and has followed Genna around for a week trying to make a friend.  They've had lots of time to bond during our travels from AR to Durham and yesterday it happened. 

We found Genna and Hattie playing in the living room totally unprovoked.  I wouldn't call them best friends.  I'd say that Genna thinks she's been given a pet since she doesn't really think she's a dog.

Over the past week and two days we've spent lots of time getting to know Hattie.  She's VERY sweet and loves people as well as other dogs.  She loves to have her belly rubbed and is great with children (so far).  She's very laid back and sleeps a lot and has not shown any interest in getting in our bed (score! One dog in the bed is enough).  She has a quirky way of eating- she gets a mouthful of food, takes three or four steps back and lays down to eat.  She doesn't seem easily scared and she appears to have no hunting or tracking instincts at all, unlike Genna the warrior.  She learned to sit and lay down in the first 48 hours of becoming a Bloodworth although she's not really getting that they are actual commands and not tricks.  As of now, she has not chewed up any furniture of shoes but she does have an affinity for paper.  She can find paper ANYWHERE and she will eat it.  Gross.

We had a visit to the vet today because Hattie came to us with a runny nose and cough and Genna has a wart on her ear (poor girl).  It was all good news!  Hattie does not have pneumonia and Genna does not have cancer so we're good to go :)

More on Hattie and Genna to come but I'll leave you with pictures for now!

This is a great one to show you the difference in our two girls.  Hattie quiet and relaxed hanging out on the ground like a real dog should.  Genna insisting on being in my lap so she can be close to her mommy like a kid.

Here is one of the first signs that this new sister relationship would work out.  Our tired girls sleeping in the same space.  This may be a small step for some but for Genna, this was HUGE!

Farewell to Fayetteville

As you know, Russell and I spent the summer in Fayetteville, AR for his internship (which went really well I might add).  Fayetteville is my old stomping ground and I LOVED being back.  I had fun showing Russell around and discovering the new things that Northwest Arkansas has to offer.  I loved seeing so many familiar faces around town and reminiscing about my undergrad days.  Our summer really flew by and I didn't end up blogging as much as I thought I would so I'm going to try and sum up some of our favorite places and things about being in Arkansas.  These are listed in no particular order.

Hammontree's is a gourmet grilled cheese restaurant (please disregard the "take home gourmet tag at the bottom of this logo...I think I pulled their old logo).  Anyway, they have scrumptious sandwiches, soups and bratwursts all homemade with creative names such as "The Scarlet Cheddar".  Russell and I set our sights on the grilled cheeses most of the time.  Their's are no ordinary combinations as they use a variety of breads, cheeses, meats and veggies.  Such a simple concept, such outstanding execution. We highly recommend it!

 I spent a lot of time at the Fayetteville Animal Shelter this summer.  Who would've thought I'd ever get so attached?  It all started when Russell and I saw the adoptable dogs at the Farmer's Market.  I thought I'd just run over and see what was going on at the shelter and the next thing I knew I was volunteering everyday and rallying for homes for sweet cats and dogs.  While at the animal shelter I spent a lot of time petting cats, running around with dogs and bathing dogs.  If you're looking for a place to volunteer where you're needed and appreciated, visit your local shelter.  Better yet, if you are looking to add a new pet into your life, consider the shelter.  It's such a great deal.  At the Fayetteville Animal Shelter it's only $60 to adopt a dog and that includes all shots, spay/neuter, microchip and a free bag of food.  When we adopted Hattie she even came with antibiotics for her runny nose!  What a bargain!

Next on the list is BHK Kafe.  The "bhk" is short for "Brick House Kitchen".  The BHK Kafe is located inside Nightbird Books.  The atmosphere alone keeps you coming back for more. Picture shelves of books interspersed with tables, songbirds in the corner, covered porches and the smell of gourmet food filling the space.  This is a great place for a glass of wine or premium coffee, lunch and a long chat on the weekends.  Their menu is small and rotates seasonally so that all of their ingredients are as fresh as possible.  In addition to the seasonal menu, they always carry savory custards, cheesecakes, layered cakes, and an outstanding cheese plate among other things.  Russell and I enjoy BHK because you can tell there is care and time put into creating the menu and the portions are small so you can enjoy multiple dishes.  The best part of BHK is the Sunday afternoon classes offered on various topics.  Russell and I attended the beer tasting and the cheese tasting classes.  We would have gone to every single one this summer but we were often out of town.  The general manager is so knowledgeable about food its crazy!  He LOVES food, its history and the culture surrounding it.  I highly recommend trying one of his classes, they're ridiculously inexpensive and you will walk away with new knowledge, new friends and a stimulated palate!  Oh, and BHK also does monthly dinners at the actual brick house.  You buy tickets in advance, learn about the food your eating, and enjoy a multiple course dinner at a community style table. Russell and I never got to attend one of these because we were never in town during the dinners.  If you're a foodie, BHK Kafe is the place for you!

Here is a very dark and grainy picture of one of my very best friends, Lindsey Porter.  I'm going to miss her so much!  We had a blast hanging out this summer.  It was so fun to have Lindsey over for dinner, hang out at the pool, or just sit around talking.  Come visit Linds!

Greenhouse Grille.  Oh. My. Gosh.  This is probably our number one most favorite place to eat in Fayetteville.  We seriously never ate anything close to unsatisfying at this restaurant.  Greenhouse Grille uses local and organic ingredients in all of their food.  They don't even have artificial sugar on the table or regular soft drinks (not that Russell or I consume either of those).  Their wine and beer list is also organic and there is an herb and vegetable garden that surrounds the restaurant.  We ate here probably 10 times (which says a lot since we were only in town for a short while and had time to try so many other places as well).  They have a standard menu for lunch and dinner but I highly recommend eating from the specials menu which changes weekly.  The chefs at Greenhouse have a way with making an ordinary dish extraordinary.  The flavors are complex and robust in all of their dishes and presentation is always beautiful.  I seriously couldn't find room for improvement in anything that I ate.  Even better than their lunch and dinner- brunch.  Greenhouse serves breakfast everyday and has brunch on Saturday and Sunday.  Their bloody mary mi x is made in house and since tomatoes are my favorite food, I had to have a bloody mary with every brunch.  I can't even begin to describe the awesomeness of their breakfast/brunch foods.  My favorite is probably the huevos rancheros.  I usually am not a huevos rancheros fan because I find it is often bland and mushy- blech.  At Greenhouse they use rich in flavor organic eggs, a crispy corn tortilla, fresh avacado, and best of all- a polenta cake to anchor the dish.  Each week they change up the ingredients of the huevos rancheros to make it exciting but the ones I listed above always stay the same.  I really could go on and on about this place but if you like good people and great food, you'll just have to check it out for yourself!

The Fayetteville Farmers Market was also a favorite.  Russell and I spent many Saturday mornings walking around the historic Fayetteville square.  It was fun to see what I would find and what I could create with my farmers market treasures the following week.  There are tent and umbrella covered booths that surround the whole square filled with fruits, veggies, homemade goods, meats, eggs, bakery items and on every corner there are musicians.  Sometimes the musicians were great and sometimes they were...meh.  Our favorite musicians were some high school (maybe college aged kids) that had a xylophone, ukulele, guitar and some percussion instruments.  People often crowded around them to listen.  It never failed that I would see an old college friend or sorority sister while at the farmers market and our visits to the market weren't complete without a bag of peaches.  I always left the market satisfied with my morning!

   

This is the Little Bread Company.  It is so cute.  They have breakfast and lunch which is good, but Russell and I usually visited Little Bread Co. for a giant molasses cookie.  They are best when they are crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle.  All of the cookies at Little Bread are delish, but the molasses is hands down our favorite.  Our visit to Little Bread was always a must-do after farmers market trips!

I will miss my sister and brother.  While my brother's move to Fayetteville only overlapped our stay by a few days, it was really cool that all three of us lived in the same city at the same time as sort-of-grown-ups.  The privilege of seeing my sister pretty much everyday (once she got home from Australia) was one that I will never take for granted.  I had so much fun hanging out with her and being friends.  I think I'll miss this part of Fayetteville the most. 

Orange Leaf, our guilty pleasure.  I know that frozen yogurt is supposed to be "better for you" but I'm pretty sure that's a lie.  Russell and I had Orange Leaf weekly if not more. When I was in charge, our toppings consisted of a variety of fruit.  When Russell was in charge, our toppings consisted of crushed oreos.  How fun is it to build your own yogurt sundae? Orange Leaf was often a great fix for a tough day at work and I'd be happy if this self-serve yogurt trend sticks around for awhile.











The Gamma Nu Kappa Kappa Gamma House.  I lived in this house my sophomore, junior and first semester of my senior year of college.  So many memories made and friendships created.  It was fun to drive by this house often.  The Gamma Nu house is about to undergo a huge renovation beginning in 2012 so I'll probably never see this house as it was when I lived there again.  Although I'm really excited about the much needed renovation I'll miss the Kappa House the way it was before! (If you'd like to donate to the new house fund, click here).

Rick's Bakery is a one-of-a-kind bakery experience!  When you walk in you are overwhelmed by the smell of buttercream frosting and doughnuts.  The smell alone keeps you coming back for more.  Rick's makes outstanding confections but one of my favorite parts is the cake decorating window.  One weekend Russell and I visited, we grabbed some cookies and lemonade and took a seat at the window to watch the cake decorators work.  I spent a lot of time at that window with Annabel Weber (the little girl I used to nanny when I was in college...she's not so little now).  I thought of plenty excuses to buy mini cakes and cookies while we were in town!


Finally, Green Submarine.  This is definitely Russell's most favorite part of Fayetteville.  Green Submarine makes sandwiches that are to die for.  We can't figure out what makes them so good but I think we've settled on their good bread and fresh ingredients.  Luckily this little hole in the wall (connected to a gas station and video store) was about a quarter mile from our apartment.  We made sure that Green Submarine was our last meal before leaving Fayetteville.  Their prices are great and their sandwiches are greater!  They make you feel good about eating junk food :)

It's an understatement to say we enjoyed our time in Fayetteville.  I could go on and on about that place!  Maybe we'll be back soon...

...and that's all!

Summer Recipe

Tomato Pie (or tart, depending on the kind of pan you have)

This is a super easy, versatile recipe that is great for brunch, lunch, or light dinner. Great for a buffet meal too!

Crust (taken from The Modern Baker by Nick Malgieri given to me by the lovely Elizabeth Mitchell, my sister-in law) is light and flaky. It adds a rich flavor element without detracting from the main ingredients.

Rich Pie Dough Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. all purpose flour

1/2 t. salt (I used sea salt)

1 t. baking powder

10T cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces (12-20 pieces)

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

The easiest way to make this dough is in the food processor (Thank you Lindsey Porter for lending me yours).

1. combine dry ingredients with butter in the food processor and pulse at least 20 times until butter and dry ingredients are thoroughly combined. It will look like sand.

2. add the egg and yolk and pulse the food processor until the dough begins to form a ball.

3. on a floured work surface, turn the dough out and use your hands to press the dough into about a /2 inch thick disk. Make sure your dough isn't sticking to the surface. Add more flour when necessary.

4. roll out the dough so that it fits your pan. The book gives a great guideline for this (honestly, I didn't measure my rolled out dough, I just eyeballed it). Here's the guideline: for a 1 inch deep tart pan, the right size is about 3 inches larger in diameter than the pan. For a standard 9 inch pie pan, roll the dough to 13 inches in diameter.

5. transfer the dough into your pan, do not grease the pan. I have no good method for getting the dough from the work surface to the pan. You can look up a million different ways, but it'll probably tear anyway. Just go with the flow and repair the rips. It's not a big deal.

preheat oven to 350 degrees

Here's the fun part- the filling which actually has no specific measurements! You will need:

-fresh tomatoes, any kind. I used about 3 large heirloom tomatoes and almost a whole pint of red, orange, yellow and purple cherry-sized tomatoes.

-3-4 slices of thick cut peppered bacon cooked and diced

- 1-2T brown deli mustard

- 1 large clove garlic

- 1 shallot

-1/2 medium yellow onion

- 1/2 ball fresh mozzerella

- shredded hard cheese (think asiago, parmesean etc.)

- fresh basil

- fresh cracked pepper

1. finely chop the shallot and onion into thin slices, mince the garlic clove then soften over medium heat. You may want to add just a little bit of olive oil. You don't want to add too much because it will make your crust soggy.

2. as the onion mixture softens, slice tomatoes, mozzerella and bacon. and set aside

3. cover the bottom of the pie crust with mustard. Don't use a ton, its purpose is to add a little flavor. You don't want it to overpower the dish.

4. spread onion mixture over the top of the mustard followed by layering slices of the mozzerella.

5. layer your tomatoes starting with larger tomatoes on the bottom. You'll want to make sure tomatoes are in pretty tightly so that the pie holds together when you cut it. I pressed the tomatoes down after each layer. Don't press too hard because you don't want to squeeze out the juices.

6. sprinkle the top with diced bacon and finish with the shredded hard cheese.

7. bake until it looks done...maybe 30 minutes? Just watch the crust. It's ready when it starts turning brown.

8. when it's finished, sprinkle with torn basil leaves and let it rest at least 15 minutes before you cut it.

Special Note- resist the urge to add salt to the pie filling. It will make your tomatoes sweat and it will make your pie fall apart.

I served this pie with a blackberry and blueberry crisp. I can't even give you the recipe because I have no idea how to tell you I made it.

365 Days of Wedded Bliss

Well, I've officially been MIA from the blogosphere for over a month! I had full intentions to keep everyone updated on our summer adventures and I have done a terrible job! I've been sitting at my computer for the last thirty minutes trying to figure out where I should begin. I chose to talk about our first anniversary! Here it goes...

Russell and I happily celebrated one year together on July 10, 2011. Our actual celebration occurred one week later because I scheduled a wedding shower for our great friends Jamie and Jason over our actual anniversary weekend. I'd never had an anniversary that justified such a celebration before and didn't realize what I had done until the invitations came back from the printer. I'll have to say, the wedding shower was a blast and our anniversary celebration was worth the wait!

Russell is not known for planning skills, so I was curious as to what our anniversary would be like. My only request was "please acknowledge the occasion in some way and if that way is by giving me a card, please write at least one sentence inside of it." Russell far surpassed my request.

He started by ordering a gift in advance that arrived by our anniversary day (which was a week before our actual celebration). This gift was wrapped and it was something I really wanted. I got a jewelry cleaner which I love. Now I know you're saying- "That's kind of like an appliance and you're not supposed to give appliances for gifts." I say it's something I've been needing and wanting and I love practical gifts!

The actual day of our anniversary was a Sunday. Russell worked for most of the day to make

reservations so that we could have a nice dinner on our anniversary. He read reviews and researched menus only to find that every nice restaurant in Northwest Arkansas is closed for dinner on Sundays. Just the fact that he worked on finding a place to go to dinner was enough for me! We ended up going to Burger Life for lunch, a really yummy build your own burger restaurant here, and then headed out for some furniture browsing (just for fun). We ended up having the fastest sushi dinner we'd ever experienced (we were in and out in 28 minutes) at Shogun. Even though dinner was extra speedy, we enjoyed our table by the floor to ceiling windows that overlooked Fayetteville. We followed dinner with Cherry Berry froyo. The sushi was good but we won't be visiting Cherry Berry again. Orange Leaf is definitely better!

Now on to the real celebration: After Russell gave me my gift on Sunday, he revealed the next surprise- we were going to stay the weekend at Pratt Place Inn, a beautiful bed and breakfast nestled in the woods in the middle of Fayetteville. Russell planned this all by himself, hand-picked the room and everything!

Our weekend started with sandwiches from Green Submarine. Green Submarine is located next to a gas station and seems like an unlikely place to find fresh, natural and organic sub sandwiches but let me tell you, these sandwiches are to die for! I know you're thinking "This doesn't sound very romantic" but we weren't going for the romance factor- we were in a hurry to get to Harry Potter!

This was part of my gift to Russell. Most of you know I don't really love going to the movies (I usually fall asleep) and I have not been a Harry Potter follower until I met Russell. I actually quite enjoyed listening to the books in my car and I like the movies but my heart doesn't race counting down the premier of each new movie. Russell LOVED the movie and may or may not have shed a tear or two. I fell asleep during the "most important part" but I'll have to say I enjoyed the movie. My review "FX were great, lights were bright, snake was scary". My career as a movie critic is on the verge of exploding into something big.

The next morning, Russell had an early workout and conference call. I took this opportunity to wrap the Shutterfly photo book that I made for Russell (so excited to get that wrapped after 3 weeks of 5am work sessions) and head to Rick's Bakery (sent from heaven) to grab our

anniversary cake and take them to the hotel. I grabbed some sausage rolls at Ricks for breakfast and to cover up the fact that I had been organizing gifts. I was gone for at least 30 minutes. When I got home, I realized the sausage rolls were unnecessary when Russell asked what I had been doing so quietly for the past hour meaning he had no idea I'd left the house!

We headed out around 10am to the Farmers' Market. Have I said before that I love Farmers' Markets? What a fun start to the day! I bought garlic and tomatoes- not that exciting but needed. We made a stop at The Little Bread Company to grab a molasses cookie that's the size of my face and we took a stroll around the new art galleries in the old bank building. We then headed to Pratt Place Inn.

We have been there once before for our friends Dasha and Dan's wedding in the barn (that was a year ago this past weekend- happy anniversary y'all!) but we hadn't stayed in the inn. The downstairs of the inn was bustling with activity when we arrived. They were preparing for a retirement party and a wedding with all of that action they managed to maintain coziness and quiet. The inn is decorated with heavy antiques and comfy chairs and couches. The parlor and reading room both were very inviting although we didn't spend too much time lounging downstairs. Our room was perfect. Clean, comfortable and well decorated although a little fancy for our taste, it was fun for a vacation!

Russell opened his gifts, immediately crushing the flowers on the

top of our adorable little mini cake, and spent some time looking through the photo book. I'll have to say, the book is pretty

awesome- toot-toot (tooting my own horn). I chronicled our wedding and honeymoon and included our blog that we wrote on the honeymoon. The first book is 101 pages and the second book is 28 (has not yet arrived).

We spent the rest of the day shopping and eating, mixed with some napping just pretty much

pretending we were far away on vacation. We both did a great job staying away from our phones and email and just enjoying each other's company. We ended the evening at Bordino's (another

reservation made by Russell...he's getting good at this!) followed by cake and a raspberry lambic ale on the front porch at the Inn. If anyone is looking for a great compliment to white cake and

buttercream frosting, which can sometimes be overwhelmingly sweet, lambic of any flavor is a great balance! Even if you're not a beer drinker, you'll like lambic!

The next morning we had yummy scones, fruit and juice in the room (we also had coffee which neither of us are grown up enough to like) and headed out for a hike around the grounds. Lets just say, we're not certain that many of the guests frequent the trails. We had fun scaring ourselves with fake snake sightings and dodging spider webs.

We then cleaned up and checked out and headed to Greenhouse Grille for the BEST BRUNCH EVER! Sadly, what we ate escapes me right now (I may or may not have eaten there three times since then) but I'll never forget the bacon or the bloody mary! Y-U-M! For those of you who are curious, Greenhouse Grille was started by two local chefs who pride themselves on using only local, organic, in season ingredients in their food. They only carry organic wine and beer and they only have organic sodas. This is our kind of restaurant. We've never had anything we didn't love!

After brunch we drove around and looked at Fayetteville neighborhoods and headed out to see a friend and play with 4 rowdy German Shorthaired Pointers, we were missing Genna. It was fun to catch up with friends for a bit and from there we headed to a beer tasting at BHK Cafe.

BHK Cafe is our favorite light lunch place. They also use natural, organic and in season produce to create small plates that are scrumptious! The chef was conducting the tasting which included 15 beers (don't worry, we had small tastes and poured out what we didn't like). It was a blind tasting so no preconceived thoughts tainted the experience. Russell rocked his beer knowledge and guessed at least 80% of the beers correctly. The chef gave a spectacular presentation and we learned a lot about beer history and how different beers are made. We highly recommend his tasting events (they're really cheap too)!

That sums up the celebration of our first year together!

Look forward to many more blogs about my summer...much has been happening with the Bloodworths!

App-etizing

This is an out-of-character post for me as I don't really care that much about technology and I'm usually behind the times. Thankfully I have a husband who is a tech junkie and has pushed me into the world of iPhones, iPads, iPods, i-everything. I've been playing with my phone and our iPad lately and have found these apps to be great for daily living and daily time wasting. This will really floor you- I've added links to each app I'm recommending! Don't judge me if you already know about and or use all of the apps I'm about to recommend below :)

Let's jump into a little day dream. We're going to plan a new life for ourselves all by using phone apps. We're going to buy a home and decorate it, get healthy, and become perfect chefs.

To begin this new lifestyle we must begin with a new home: While Russell and I are currently home owners who live in apartments (and right now a furnished apartment that we get absolutely no design control over), we love to dream about the homes where we may one day live (yes homes, not apartments).

Zillow and Trulia are great apps to use when you're in a neighborhood looking at home prices. They help you not only see what is for sale, but how long it has been for sale and gives you a good

picture of what you'll be paying to live in that neighborhood. For most listings, pictures are available and you get most MLS information. We love to use these apps when we are visiting new places to get a better feel for the area. Both of these apps are free. These are best used on your iPhone while on the go since you'll most likely to be able to connect to them. We rarely use these apps while at home so they're less iPad friendly unless you have a 3G plan.

Once you've found that perfect neighborhood and the perfect home to buy, you're going to need to get remodeling ideas and an overall picture for the way you want your new home to look. Houzz is a great free app for this. It has a plethora of pictures that are organized by space, style, color scheme etc. You can open various ideabooks for various projects. Right now I have an ideabook for I.O. Metro photo shoot ideas (current place of employment) and an ideabooks for our future home. You can add notes to each picture that you choose so that you don't forget why you liked the picture. The more pictures you choose, the better Houzz can predict other photos you may like. Even better- some pictures are tagged so that you can click on items in the rooms that you choose to find out where to buy the items. It even links you right to the products. There are also lists of designers, builders, retail owners etc. in your area that can help you with your design. You can get lost for hours on this app. I recommend this app for your iPad or your computer so that you can really see the picture details.

Now that you've chosen an overall look for your new home you can get down to business and iron out the details for every room. Moodboard is not a free app but it is worth the $10. You become a professional interior designer. Moodboard allows you to create a theme for your space and choose specific products. You pick a background color, you can import actual pictures of your room and overlay sketches or actual products right into the room. You can go directly to websites to choose products and crop/size the items to scale or just to fit onto your board. As you choose products, you can add links to them to take you right back to where you found the perfect piece for your room so that you can buy it whenever you're ready. You can add notes, frames, scaled drawings of your room, the possibilities are endless! Once your room is ready, you can email it, post it to facebook or print it for your files. Another great use for this app is party planning...create your theme and plan out seating etc. This app is best for your iPad but is accessible from your phone.

Now that your home is move in ready, it's time to stock the pantry with healthy choices!

Fooducate is a fun app. I use it more for judging the snack options in the office than actually buying food at the grocery store. Russell and I don't buy a ton of prepackaged goods so it's not always the best app for us. If you are a prepackaged food buyer this app is great for helping you find the best product for you and your family. The app has a scanner that you use to scan an item's barcode. Once the item is scanned, the food is given a grade A+ through F. With the grade, it gives you calorie count per serving and alternative foods that are similar but healthier choices for you. It also gives you quick-read bullet points of the positives and negatives about the food you chose. There are other great features on this app such as a history of items you've scanned, "my likes" to keep up with things you typically buy, "healthy me" to give you a personal health grade based on the foods that you choose and a "messages" section that sends you opportunities to save money and win stuff. This app is hands down most effective for your iPhone.

Now that you've stocked your pantry and fridge with healthy options, it's time to get to cooking scrumptious and creative meals. Here are my two favorite recipe apps:

All Recipes is great for everyday cooking. Most recipes are reviewed and there's a huge variety. If you're feeling spontaneous, there's a "recipe spinner" feature where you choose the dish type, main ingredient and prep time and it comes up with a recipe for you. If you're more of a planner (which I am) you can look for more specific recipes. The search feature gives you dietary filter options so if you are a vegetarian or you're allergic to dairy, those recipes that don't fit that criteria will not be shown. Once you figure out what you're searching for, recipes are sorted by ratings given by others who have made the recipe. You can read reviews to better decide which recipe is right for you. This app is great for you iPhone while searching on the go and for your iPad when using it in the kitchen. The iPad app is definitely easier to read while cooking. This one is free.

Epicurious is probably my favorite recipe app. The basic version is free and an upgrade is less than $2. This app is very well arranged for iPhone and iPad. Again, I love the iPhone app while in the grocery store and the iPad app while cooking. There are seasonal recipe categories as well as categories for beginning cooks and fast prep options. You have the option of saving recipes that you choose in a recipe card "box" and shopping lists are automatically generated for you when you choose recipes. The iPad app looks very similar to a cookbook or recipe binder. LOVE this one!

You've moved into your new home, impressed your friends with great food and now you've decided to top off your perfect new life with a little exercise.

I haven't found many exercise apps that I'm crazy about, but I love Map My Run. You can use Map My Run on your computer, iPad, and iPhone. Use your computer or iPad to plan a route and use your iPod to get an accurate reading of your actual route. Back in my marathoning days (yes, that seems so long ago) I used Map My Run to make sure my training runs were long enough. I saved my favorite routes from training and Map My Run still has them (as if I'm ever going to run 20 miles for fun ever again). Lately, I've been using Map My Run on my iPhone to calculate distance and pace. I just activate the app and carry my phone with me while I'm walking or running. It shows you a real-time picture of your progress, gives you a current pace and average pace, calories burned estimate and overall distance. It's like a pedometer on steroids. Get this app. It's free and it's fun.

So there you go- a whole new life is just a few app downloads away :)

...and that's all!