Weekend in NOLA

Last weekend, I headed down to New Orleans for a bachelorette trip for my best friend from high school, Jennifer (who totally embraced the whole "bachelorette" title!)

 It was a blast but Sunday when I got home, I was reminded of why I don't go out like that anymore! It has taken almost all week to get back on track!

We stayed at Hotel Le Monteleone on Royal Street and went to the Carousel Bar in the hotel while we waited for Jenn's late flight.

After Jenn's arrival and a few drinks we headed to Rock N Sake for a LATE dinner and then went out. We stayed out WAY past my bedtime but had a blast dancing like we did in college!

Saturday morning we slept in and hit the spa around noon. After a much needed pedicure,

we headed to the rooftop pool and spent the afternoon lounging in the sun.

  That night we threw Jenn a surprise lingerie shower which she was VERY excited about.

We had dinner at the Bourbon House followed by the piano bar at Pat O's which I LOVE! We submitted a few requests including "Here Comes the Bride" and "Callin' Baton Rouge."

While I could have stayed there all night, we thought it was most appropriate to head to The Cat's Meow for some much needed karaoke. We sang "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" and loved every minute of it!

In the wee hours of the morning after dancing and singing our booties off, we headed back to the hotel. Sunday was a lazy morning complete with brunch at Palace Cafe. After brunch we headed home and I finished off the weekend with a Sunday afternoon nap!

(the Mardi Gras masks were a fun prop appropriate for a party in NOLA...the bunny ears...well, I wasn't too thrilled about-as you can tell, mine are off in most of the pics but it was all in fun and made it easy to identify everyone in our group!!)

Limeade

 I love all things tart so I am naturally a fan of limes! A few of my favorites include Key Lime Pie (this began as a child visiting family in Southern Florida), Cherry Limeade Slushes from Sonic (a high school tradition), and Mojito's (extra lime, of course)!

After our trip to the beach, we had some extra limes from the wonderful Margarita's Todd made and somehow I ended up with them.  So on this day, when life handed me an abundance of limes, we made limeade!

I was at my sister's and she has this citrus juicer:

We're not sure if it's missing the spout or didn't come with one (this was a wedding gift to my sister almost 6 years ago and this was her first time using it) and needless to say, the juice just dripped down the side instead of pouring smoothly into a cup. So, I ended up juicing by hand...

which was a little more effort but worked just fine since it was a small amount.

I think it yielded about 1/2 cup juice (give or take some)
Then I made a simple syrup with equal parts sugar and water

My sister uses organic sugar. I buy great value at wal-mart. We'll see who lives longer :)

I added the simple syrup to the lime juice and added a few cups cold water and ice and we enjoyed our fresh squeezed limeade treat!

A Day at the ZOO

While on our most recent trip to Atlanta to visit my sister and her family, we decided to take my oldest niece to the Zoo.   Elliott and Mary Stewart bonded instantly as he picked her up high above everyone to see every exhibit.

She loved pointing at the animals and talking to them (which was mostly squeeling).

 She ran all over the zoo and behaved so well! She especially loved the petting zoo and wasn't afraid to touch the animals!

After a great morning, we decided to let her pick out a treat.

We think she loves her new panda!
Oh, and HAPPY ANNIVERSARY Ashley and Matt...love y'all and your beautiful girls!

Beach

We have been throwing around the idea of a beach trip for a few years and finally made it happen! Together with some of our sweet "married friends" we headed to Orange Beach for a great 5 day stay at Turquoise Place (http://www.turquoiseplaceresort.com/?gclid=CKyS57ii36kCFYtb7AodIQ8eYQ). We had the greatest time spending time together on the beach, at the pool, in the hot tub (guys!!), and on our fabulous balcony. The condo was so nice and definitely exceeded my expectations for a low key beach trip! We made fun beachy drinks (and non alcoholic versions for our 2 pregnant girls!!), ate great food, hit up the outlet mall, and played games each night. Baby James was a stud in the pool and Emma Kate had a ball in the sand.  Such great memories with our friends and their sweet kiddos! Upon arrival (and being impressed with our set up) Trey said he met the condo owner next door and got his number to book both condo's for Saturday-Saturday next year...more friends and at least 2 more babies next year!

Emma Kate and James playing together

James and Uncle Cody

Blake and Kimberly

intense game of Chicken Scratch

Lee, Me, Kim, Rachel

*Unfortunately Not pictured: Meredith, Todd, Lauren...I'm trying to get better with taking pictures but my camera didn't make it out of the bag until the last 2 days!

greek yogurt parfait

This is not fresh from our garden, but it is a light, fresh snack for the dog days of summer! It is an identical copy of one of my favorite frozen treats from Counter Culture. It's called a Humphrey Yogart and is always considered a treat! It doesn't taste exactly the same, but pretty close and very easy to make!
I use Chobani greek yogurt (I buy the 32 oz at Sam's Club for $4 something), my favorite granola- Whole Foods french vanilla, and local Louisiana honey.

Combine with grapes, banana slices, and strawberries (drizzle with honey last)

(or use whatever fruit is in season)

and you have the perfect snack anytime!

notice my new dessert cup? perfect portion size!

It's Independence Day

 This time last year, we were in Lake Wales, Florida with Elliott's family for a family reunion. Elliott's parents rented a lake house and we packed up 2 cars to spend a week with his mom's mom's side of the family (The Nelson's). It was such a fun trip and since I didn't blog then, I'll recap now!

Below is a picture of everyone who attended the reunion on July 4th after Church in Lake Wales.

And then this handsome bunch

 Evan, Todd, Elliott

Claire, Meredith, Me

Margaret, Phil

The trip mostly consisted of hanging out at the Lake houses of various family members on Lake Wales listening to Ms. Margaret and her cousins recap stories of their childhood spent on the lake with their grandparents. It was neat to get a glimpse into their upbringing and meet so many family members I had only heard of until then.  Ms. Margaret's uncle is a farmer and part of the co-op that produces Florida oranges for Florida's Natural Orange Juice which is located in Lake Wales. Many of the cousins actually work for Florida's Natural in some capacity as well.  One day we visited and toured the orange groves and the plant where the oranges turn into juice! 

Orange trees in the grove

We watched a presentation about the company and got to meet Farmer Dave who is in one of the commercials! In most circumstances (except where required by law) Florida's Natural uses their actual farmers in all their commercials. How neat!

Me and Farmer Dave

Florida's Natural is the only orange juice producer that doesn't import any oranges. They use oranges from the US only while the other brands import from South America. After spending a day at the plant and a week with the family I have a whole new appreciation for orange juice and will only buy Florida's Natural! You should too.

http://www.floridasnatural.com/

Now, a trip to this part of Florida wouldn't be complete without a visit to Disney World! Lake Wales is about 30 minutes from Orlando and what group of 20 somethings wouldn't want to go to Disney World?? Actually Meredith had never been so naturally Todd wanted to go with her which enticed Elliott and Evan.  I think Claire, Margaret, and I were in from the beginning and Phil absolutely refused!

gearing up for the big day!

I think we all had a great time but agreed we could hold off on another trip until we have kids! We got there as soon as they opened the gates and let Meredith navigate since it was her first time. I think we walked about 10 miles around Magic Kingdom and stayed for the fire work show that closes the park down!

family photo (minus Phil)

No trip to Disney is complete without Mickey ears!

Happy 4th of July! Here's to spending the holiday's with those you love.

Happy Birthday Mom

I can hardly believe it is July! Where has the time gone? My mother's birthday marks the 2nd half of the year. It's so true that the older you get, the faster time goes by! 

Since it's my mom's bday today, I tried to find a picture of her and this is the most recent one I have. My mother is a skilled photographer and likes to be behind the lens so it's rare to capture her on film. On this occasion, she became YaYa. Almost 2 years ago, my oldest niece Mary Stewart was born and we were in Atlanta together for the birth! About a month ago, my second niece, Anna Caroline was born and Elliott and I just got back from visiting those two sweet girls and their parents (post on that to come!!) Anyhow I think it's a great picture of my mom and represents her newest phase of life as grandmother (and it's obvious that she's too young to be a grandmother so she's YaYa instead)! Hope your day is special and full of the excitement that comes with being blessed with another year of life! Happiest of Birthdays Mom!