Ready to meet Baby Finn!

This weekend my college friends came into town for a baby shower for my good friend, Katie. We had it at my house, and I must say, it turned out fabulous. The brunch food was delish (even though we made too much), the decorations were gorgeous, and Baby Finn got so many great gifts!

After the shower we enjoyed the BEAUTIFUL spring-like weather outside by relaxing on the deck with a few mimosas. We deserved it after all our hard work... :)

We rode out to Katie's to see Finn's nursery (I actually got to feel him kick for the first time while we were there) and stopped by for a quick visit with Melanie before dinner at Bon Ami. Dinner was great, and the company even better!

It was a great weekend! It's always fun to visit with these girls, and it was even better to have one of our girls' weekends in Jackson this time. Now we're all ready to meet Baby Finn!

Embarrassed Much?

I totally just about set our microwave at work on fire today. I was microwaving some macaroni and cheese in the little "just add water" bowls. I forgot to add water. I walked out and went to the bathroom, came back and there was smoke billowing out of our kitchen downstairs.

The funniest part about this was that the two people who were sitting down in our little break area eating lunch (outside the kitchen) didn't even realize there was smoke coming out! It was horrible. And the WORST part (although it did save me a little dignity) was that the smoke alarm never went off!

I'm embarrassed, although it could have been worse. A bag of popcorn caught on fire one time (not my popcorn) during a board meeting in the adjoining auditorium. Talk about embarrassing.

So now our whole office smells like a bonfire...

Moral of the story: Always add water. And if you're going to try to set the office kitchen on fire, at least do it on a Friday afternoon so it can air out or soak in by Monday morning.

Writer's Block

I haven't had much to write about lately, and I apologize. But, in case you didn't hear, here's someone who has plenty to say:

Snooki's book is on the New York Times bestseller list. This bothers me. Maybe it's the whole train wreck effect. Regardless, I am NOT reading this, nor do I have plans to read this book. Snooki is no Lauren Conrad. :)

I know this great little tamale place...

Saturday night we took a little road trip with Paul and Katherine down to Hazlehurst, about 45 minutes south. Why, you ask? To check out this fabulous little tamale restaurant and bar called Firebelly's Hot Tamales Bar and Grill.

Our friend David opened this place in November, and let me tell you, the food is DELISH. From hot tamales to chili cheeseburgers, nachos, hot dogs and even deep-fried pretzels with chocolate and cinnamon on top, the food is great! Here are a few pics just to make your mouth water.



Every weekend they've had live music, and Saturday's band, The Colonels from Brookhaven, was so much fun! The place is huge, and there are plenty of places to sit and two pool tables and a Foosball table to entertain you. There are even some old-school arcade games, too. Here's a pic of Paul playing pool with a crowd/bar shot in the background.

And here's the owner himself. Ladies, he's SINGLE and SUCCESSFUL! What a catch!

So next time you're down in the 'Hurst, check out Firebelly's. Or just make a little road trip if you want a great bite to eat and the coldest beer in Copiah County.

NOTE: This is not a paid endorsement... just trying to give my friend David a little free advertising. AND I really liked the place, so that doesn't hurt either. :)

Book Worm

So, now that I finished my BIG book, I'm taking a break from the "classics" and have returned to my girly, Lifetime-esque favorites. Right now I'm reading Lauren Conrad's third book, Sugar and Spice. Don't judge. It's fun reading. And you can't lie and say you're not curious about the behind-the-scenes of reality shows.

Santa brought me a stack of books for Christmas, and I can't wait to read them all! Next up after LC's book will probably be the new Jennifer Weiner book, Fly Away Home. I LOVE her books, and I'm all about some political scandals, so this will be a must-read for me.

And then last but not least, I told Derek a long time ago that I was interested in reading about the Kennedy family. They just intrigue me. Kind of like the Kardashians... So here is what was under the tree for me this Christmas. I'll be an expert by the time I finish, so if you're ever on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" and you need to phone a friend about a Kennedy question, I'm your girl.

I'm trying to take my time so that I'll have a couple of books to entertain me during the nearly 30 hours of flying to and from Japan in a few months. Speaking of, I forgot to mention there was one practical book also under the tree for us this Christmas...

I think I'm set. :)

Weekend Wrap-Up

My main weekend activity the past few days has been to transport myself back to the Old South... I finished reading Gone With the Wind on Saturday, so how did I spend my entire Sunday afternoon? Watching the whole movie for the first time, of course. I loved it!

I'd have to say the book is much better than the movie, and at times, completely different. So if you have a few weeks (or months in my case) to read 1100 pages of itty bitty type in your spare time, I highly, highly recommend it. I feel like a true Southerner now. :)

We did a few fun things when I wasn't hunkered down on the couch dreaming about Tara. Friday night we met up our friends Jennifer and Matt, who were in town from Colorado for Matt's mom's ordination as a Deacon in the Episcopal church. We haven't seen them in a few years, and it was SO MUCH FUN to catch up. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. We visited them in Denver three years ago, and we're really been wanting to go back for a long weekend to ski. As of late Friday night, we talked it into a reality, so we'll see if it actually happens now. Ha!

Saturday night we had dinner at Claire's house and watched the Miss America pageant. I was in heaven because I love that kind of stuff. Derek, however, was not thrilled with our Saturday night activity. Poor thing... Oh, well. I would have had it on at home, too, if we had been there. I like to judge from the comfort of the couch.

On Sunday we got for stop #2 on the Tour of Churches. It actually worked out really well because the church we wanted to visit was where Matt's mom was ordained, so they came too and sat with us. We really liked it! We have a few more that we'd like to visit before we pick "the one," but so far, so good...

Now today I'm off for another glorious state holiday, so I'm enjoying a little housework in my pajamas. Fun times. No more three-day weekends for a whole month. What in the world am I going to do? I've gotten kind of used to this.

Jumping head first into 2011...

We've had a pretty busy beginning of the new year, starting with me hosting my bunco group at my house on Thursday. The theme was white trash. Go ahead and laugh. We make trashy look good, I know. :)


No, seriously, we look pretty scary, but it was a lot of fun. I LOVE my bunco group!

Derek worked the Blues Marathon expo a few nights last week for work and then again on Saturday morning. It goes through our neighborhood every year, so he just has to stand at the corner of our street and cheer on the runners as they pass and make sure they know which way to go.

After the marathon we hit the road to Vicksburg. I had a baby shower to attend for our friend Maggie and then an engagement party for our friend Leslie. We had a few hours to kill in between, so we visited with Katie, Neil and baby Frances, then drove back home late last night after stopping in Clinton to see Katherine and Paul's house. BUSY, LOOONG day!

Today we haven't even left the house and have watched it sleet all day long. We've had a fire burning since noon, made a big pot of chili for dinner and are now watching the sleet start to stick on the power lines. Yikes... we'll keep our fingers crossed that we don't lose power, and we'll wait to see what tomorrow brings as far as the aftermath of the "Arctic Blast of 2011." Oh, the drama... seems like we started last year out the EXACT same way with the "GREAT Arctic Blast of 2010", quickly followed by the "Big Snow" and then the "Big Freeze" sometime after that. I see a pattern forming...

And last but not least, Happy FOURTH Birthday to our niece Ryan Hadley! She's such a big girl now! We sadly missed her birthday party Friday night but hope to catch up with her next weekend and give her her birthday present. Happy Birthday, sweet girl! :)

New Year's Weekend

We had a fabulously low-key New Year's weekend, starting with New Year's Eve on Friday. The storms around us were really bad, and while we didn't quite make it all the way into the hallway for the nearby tornadoes, we watched Barbie Bassett pretty intensely and had both animals on stand-by in case we needed to make a quick dash for a closet or something.

After the weather cleared Ben and Tina walked over and we grilled some delicious steaks and ate a late dinner before BARELY staying awake to ring in 2011. WE. ARE. SO. OLD. We did manage to sing Happy Birthday to the new year as well as (a couple of days belated) Neighbor Ben.

On New Year's Day we took it easy and I fried some pork chops, made some greens, black eyed peas and cornbread and we pigged out. That was about it.

On Sunday we started on our New Year's resolution to find a church we could call home. We plan on trying several, and we liked the first one. I think we'll try a few, then narrow it down from there until we find "the one." After church, we had brunch including some mimosas (thanks to leftover champagne from NYE) at home with some friends and watched the Saints game.


Yesterday was yet another glorious state holiday for me, so I took advantage of being off work when everybody else was working and ran 1,002 errands. I was a busy little bee, but I was so happy to meet up with my friend Ashley for lunch. She and her husband live in Jacksonville now and were home for a few days to visit family. It was SO GREAT to catch up and meet her precious little boy. I finished the day with a trip to the dentist and then three loads of laundry. Who's worn out? This girl.

It was great to have a few days at home though! Now I'm ready for a busy January!