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A few weeks ago I cut about 5 inches off my hair. Brooklyn Decker was my inspiration…
Earlier this month Ryan and I took a weekend trip down to Panama City Beach, FL. I had a work event on a Monday, so it was the perfect opportunity to relax on the beach! We had a great time, got sunburned, tried some awesome food, and did a little outlet shopping! Here are a few pics:
Awesome brunch at a cool, beachy, restaurant, Liza’s Kitchen. There was an awesome bluegrass band playing music on the patio…Ryan was in heaven.
A few mimosas later we were laying on the beach…
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged beach, brunch, mimosas, ocean, panama city beach, sunburn, Travel, Vacation
Last week I made this Empanada recipe featured in Cooking Light. The whole family raved…they were tasty. I was left with remaining frozen pie crust, so I searched the web for some inspiration. It dawned on me that I had a bag of frozen blueberries in my freezer, leftover from a brief smoothie phase I experienced. I found this recipe from an actual blueberry farm, with a few substitutions:
Linbo’s Blueberries Recipe #36: Blueberry Empanadas Printer-friendly
2 cups blueberries
1 cup finely copped, pared tart apple (such as Granny Smith)
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
dash salt
12 each 4 1/2 inch pastry round
1 tablespoon butter
Cinnamon-sugar for dusting
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine apple, walnuts, sugar, flour, cinnamon, vanilla and salt in a medium bowl and mix well. Gently fold in berries. Place 2 tablespoons berry filling on half of each
4 1/2” pastry round, leaving about 1/2 inch along edges. Fold the other half of pastry over filled half, moisten edges and seal by pressing with fork. Repeat this procedure until all rounds are folded and sealed. Combine 2 tablespoons sugar with 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Brush each empanada with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar. Bake on greased cookie sheet 18 – 20 Minutes or until golden brown.
Posted in cooking, Family, Sunday Dinner
Tagged blueberries, blueberry empanada, Cooking, dessert, empanada, recipe, Sunday Dinner
When we first moved into our house last year, our realtor spotted a little owl in one of the trees in our front yard. I’ll name him Jim. With two cats, two dogs, and lot’s of activity in and around our house, it amazed me that Jim chose to be our yard mate. Here’s where this story gets sad….
About a month after we moved in, Jim was found dead in our front yard. Ryan stumbled upon his lifeless body and we had a private funeral. Sad but true story. Fast forward a few months…
We have another Owl spotting, and this time there are two of them! An owl couple! We’ll call them Lucy and Ricky. They are pretty precious and sit up in the tree all day watching our house. I need to do a little research to see how we can make sure our owls have a happy home. Two interesting things I learned during my online research: Owls mate for life, they lay eggs and nest mid-March to May (which is probably what our pair was doing)…we might have some Owlets around here soon! Here’s a pic of the pair:
Last night Ryan and I spent the evening at Grapevine Main Street Days. We had an amazing time! We got to the festival around 7pm, found a parking spot right away (we parked in a free spot right behind the Tap In), and began partaking in wine drinking and art shopping. Right away we stumbled upon a booth by Chloe Lane Studios…and wow, beautiful stuff! I bought this necklace:
We continued to wander down Main Street. Ryan was really interested in checking out the Vetro Glass Blowing Studio on Main. We’ve heard about it, but haven’t ventured out there yet. To get to the studio we had to walk through the petting zoo, that’s where I saw this little guy:
The petting zoo was hoppin! Actually, the entire kids area looked like a ton of fun! Kids were running around everywhere, riding rides, playing Simon Says, or playing with Legos. After we found out the Glass Blowing Studio was not open (bummer), we grabbed dinner at one of our Main Street faves, Big Fish. We had our wedding rehearsal dinner at Big Fish, so it’ll always be a little special to us!
After dinner we settled into chairs in front of the Bud Light stage to hear some live music. We were fortunate to discover The O’s, which are two guys playing multiple instruments. Ryan and I were super impressed with these guys. 
The crowd started growing and the lawn filled up quickly with kiddos dancing, couples canoodling, and people enjoying the music. Next up we headed down to the Gaylord Texan Main Stage to hear one of my favorite party bands, Professor D. These guys can jam for sure. At this point in the evening, the crowd was thick and having a good time! I witnessed some spectacular dance moves and even did a reggae version of the Cupid Shuffle. Around 11pm the event ended and Ryan and I walked down the now vacant Main Street…it really amazed me how quickly they cleared that place out! As we are walking to our car we passed by the Pizza vendors again, the guy from I Fratelli asked if we wanted a slice for the road…um yes! As he reaches into their warmer to pull out a slice he decides to go ahead and give us the whole pizza pie! Fantastic! Honestly, I had felt a little guilty that we went to Big Fish for dinner instead of eating Pizza. Pizza was the theme this year for Main Street Days and they had about 7 different local Pizza places competing for the best pizza in Grapevine. Well, not sure if I can still vote but I Fratelli would get mine (and Ryan’s)!
Definitely a fantastic evening out! The folks who organize Main Street Days did a great job, and we couldn’t have had better weather! Now we begin the countdown to GrapeFest 2011.
A few other faves of the evening:
For Mother’s Day I took my mom and dad to Cowboy Chow, a cute restaurant in the revitalized downtown Roanoke area. The restaurant had interesting decor and had a super exciting menu. The downtown area was bustlin’ and crowded, but we didn’t even have to wait for a table! They also have an outdoor seating area which is a great option.
You can read my full Yelp review here.
Posted in cooking, Fort Worth, Grapevine, Holidays, Southlake, Texas
Tagged Cowboy Chow, mother's day, Mothers Day Ideas, New Restaurant, Oak, restaurant, Roanoke TX, Yelp
Mother’s Day is this weekend…don’t forget! I’m not a mother yet, but I have a Mom, and have a few friends that are new moms! So here are a few ideas for celebrating Mother’s Day (specifically some ideas for folks in the Grapevine/Southlake area).
Happy Mother’s Day!
Posted in Family, Fort Worth, Grapevine, Holidays, Southlake
Tagged Billy Bobs, dancing, Gardening, Mothers Day Ideas, Mothers day in Grapevine, Movies, Rodeo Exchange, wine
Funny topic, I’m aware. But, as I was traveling this week for work (just one overnight in BOS), I witnessed two different women on two separate occasions whip out their own Coffeemate creamer from their purse/carry-on. I can hardly remember my phone charger when I leave town, much less my own condiments. Kudos to these ladies for having it their way! Coffee at home has such a distinct taste and flavor, I’ve given up on trying to match that while I’m on the road. I can’t believe I didn’t think about bringing my own creamers. A few things to remember if you are dazzled by this idea too:
Cheers!
Tagged Airlines, Coffee, Coffeemate, Creamer, hazelnut flavored, liquids, Non Dairy Creamer, Travel, TSA
This post is kinda delayed, but here’s a quick recap on our Easter festivities for 2011.
Originally we had planned to head up north to the Property to spend the weekend in the wilderness with the fam and my new baby nephew. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans for us. Torrential rain and lovely April thunderstorms held us back from becoming one with nature. Instead, we spent the afternoon at my parent’s house (Lady YaYa and Grandpa Steve is what they are calling themselves these days). Mom and Dad made a delicious ham, salad, and potatoes…pretty traditional, and we celebrated my sister’s 29th birthday with a delicious Orange Cake (I’ll share that recipe another time). My nephew Brady made the cutest Easter Bunny ever! After dinner, we grabbed our wine/beer glasses and headed outside to the empty lot next to my parent’s house for a game of whiffleball. The only rule was you had to play with a drink in your hand, which obviously made the game funnier and way more challenging! Kevin even came into town from McMurray State (Abilene) so it made the night a real treat! Unfortunately, the Easter Bunny did not visit me this year….maybe next year!
Here are a few pics:
Posted in Family, Fort Worth, Holidays, Texas
Tagged bunny, deviled eggs, Easter, Family, thunderstorms, Whiffle ball game, wine
