8pril

 I know, very late, but it's still 8pril, right? I saw this video today of the celebrations and had to share.  Still so proud of my CATS. 

WILDCATS - Short Film from No Def on Vimeo.

Giving Thanks

C and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Last weekend, we had several friends over for a thanksgiving dinner.  Here are some of the more popular recipes: 

Broccoli Casserole

Recipe from C's Family (picture from Google)

• 2 10 oz packages of frozen chopped broccoli
• 2-3 cups instant rice
• 1 can Cream of Celery soup
• 2 cups shreeded velveeta cheese
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 1 chopped onion
• 1/2 - 1 sleeve of Ritz crackers, crumbled
• salt and pepper to taste

Cook rice and broccoli according to their packages.  Preheat oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Sautee the onions in the butter over medium heat. Mix the rice, broccoli, soup, cheese and onions in a large mixing bowl and pour mixture into a greased 9 x 13 baking pan.  Top the mixture with Ritz crackers.  Bake for about 45 minutes, or until bubbly and lightly browned.

Sweet Potato Casserole 

Recipe and picture from Cooking Light

• 5 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans (divided in half)
• 1 small bag of mini marshmallows

Put sweet potatoes in boiling water and reduce heat. Simmer for 15 minutes, or until very tender.  Drain and cool.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  Place potatoes in a large bowl and add brown sugar, salt and vanilla.  Mash this mixture together.  Fold in half of the pecans. Put mixture into a greased 9 x 13 pan.  Top with marshmallows and remaining pecans.  Bake until golden brown (about 30-40 minutes). 

Bread Pudding with Banana Praline Liqueur

Recipe from Galatoire Restaurant in New Orleans

• 11 large eggs
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 24 slices of french bread (about 1 baguette cut into 3/4 inch slices)
• 1 lb salted butter
• 1 lb light brown sugar
• 4 bananas
• 1/2 cup praline liqueur

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Whisk together eggs, sugar, milk, vanilla and cinnamon until well blended.  In a greased 9 x 13 baking dish (or an oversized muffin pan), put the bread slices in the bottom of the dish (or 2 per muffin cup).  Pour the egg and milk mixture over the bread slices, allowing the mixture to saturate the bread.  Bake for about 35 minutes for muffin tins, or 45 minutes for dish (it is done when the pudding is golden and set in the pan).  


While the pudding is in the oven, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the light brown sugar and whisk until smooth.  Slice the bananas and stir them into the sauce.  Add the praline liqueur. Reduce heat to low.


Remove from bread pudding from oven and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Serve onto plates and ladle the sauce into the pudding.  Serve immediately.




For Thanksgiving day, we went to Louisville to be with my family and met our good friend's beautiful baby girl.   We ate like kings all weekend when C's parents from Tennessee came in town over the weekend for the game.

All I will say is it was our turn :) 

It Feels Like Christmas Morning...

This week is my LAST week of freedom.  My adult, I'm actually a grown-up attorney job starts next week! Eek. I've been trying to make the most of this week by relaxing and enjoying myself as much as possible. What have I done?

• Monday I went shopping.  Dillard's is having a huge sale, so I picked up a few new swimsuits. 

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this Betsey Johnson suit. The underwire really helps define for us girls who aren't so well endowed.   

 I couldn't pass this top up for $13. But,why is it that there are never matching tops and bottoms on the sale racks? Where do they go? Luckily, I have both solid green and black bottoms that I could pair with it. 

• Tuesday we went out to eat at The Tulip.  I hadn't been there since it moved from Midway, but it was just as delicious as I remember it there.  Of course, we went to Orange Leaf for desert. Story of my life. 

• Wednesday I slept in until 9:30, just because I can. I also caught up on all my back episodes of True Blood.  I love that show more than I should admit...

• Today is my post-surgery check up. Fingers crossed that all is well! But, the bigger news is that its FINALLY HERE. UK FOOTBALL's season kicks off today (pun intended--I'm cheesy). In Jess's spirit, here's what I'm loving this football season from pinterest:

Just to make you smile:

My oh my, where has this week gone? I just hope working weeks fly by as quickly!

Weekend

Thursday night was our Theta book club. It was a bit small this time (only three of us!) but we had a blast catching up.

Our sorority housemother (our beloved Momma J) suggested this book and we all loved it.  Go read this book. The end was a bit too cookie-cutter for me (but it was also my criticism with The Help so I'm probably a harsh critic).  Without giving anything away,  it involves an English author directly after World War II and is written through a series of letters.  I've been reading like crazy so I promise to suggest some other books I've read this month.

Cam's sister Amy, her husband and their adorable 17 month old baby boy Noah came to visit us this weekend. Bryan (her husband) had never been to Lexington so we wanted to show them around the Bluegrass.  First of all, I was a bum and took no pictures all weekend, so I'm stealing all the pictures from Amy.

On Friday we stopped by Katherine's birthday party and Noah got to play in the pool for a bit.  On our way home, we of course had Orange Leaf.  It seems like every other post on here is about Orange Leaf, so Amy wanted to try it.  Half of why I love the place is because I am addicted to junk food/sweets, with ice cream being one of my worst addictions. I love the idea of low-fat/non-fat yogurt that is still delicious.  Confession: I'll admit that their weird Japanese topping mochi was in my dream last night.  No idea why or how, but I remember hearing the word over and over.  Now that, my friends, is pathetic. But, it sure beats the Bar nightmares or baby dreams I've been constantly having. 

Cam and I borrowed toys for Noah (like a firetruck, shopping cart, horses, blocks, puppets, stuffed animals, balls, etc), but the clear favorite toy was Sophia, our cat.  Noah chased her around the whole weekend and was great about petting her gently.  She took it like a champ as well and was rather intrigued by having a tiny human around her house.

The other favorite toy were the stairs between the living room and kitchen. The firetruck also fared well. 

We went to the farmer's market Saturday morning.  Local ladies: check out Dad's Favorite spreads--we each sampled a different one and they were all delicious.

The kid in the middle-left picture was amazing. He's in middle school and has the courage to sing and play the guitar in a big crowd. He had a great, raspy voice (probably straining his voice to do this, but we all enjoyed it anyway).

He was so good that Noah even put some change in his Sponge Bob bucket (yes, that's me in the background--sorry to ruin your picture Amy!)

Bryan (Amy's husband) made a smoothie by pedaling the bike...

...but someone else got to enjoy Bryan's hard work.

We drove out Frankfort Pike to show them the horse country and ate at Wallace Station (the place in Midway from Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives). 

I'd never been there, and it is AHHH-Mazing. Let me forewarn you-these sandwiches are definitely big enough to split. Cam was certain they were not that big, so we each ordered one.  Completely unnecessary (but they do make great leftovers). And, if the worst thing was too much delicious food, I'll take that problem any day.

We walked around Midway for a bit, headed over to Woodford Reserve's distillery, and stopped by Keeneland on our way home.  Can I just say I am so excited for Keeneland in October??! Sweet Noah passed out in the car on the way home and slept through Keeneland. 

Saturday night we went to the Chevy Chase block party.  Again local ladies: try Valentine's ice cream. It was the second time we've had it and Cam puts it right up there with Graeters. Now that is saying something because he likes Graeter's more than Orange Leaf...

The Herald Leader caught the flattering side of Mason's debut at the hot dog eating contest. Love it.

 Finally, what trip to Lexington would be complete without Spalding's donuts...two mornings in a row?

Still Bleed Blue

First, I am sorry I am such a crappy blogger lately.  I promise to finish posting my South America pictures this week, come hell or high water. 

So, someone's hubby left her high and dry in Lexington while he is partying it up in Houston.  He somehow got to work a business trip into the deal, so he only had to pay for his ticket.  Since his brother works at Rupp, the managed to pull off lower level 4th row tickets for face value.  I would hate him so much right now if we had won... 

View from their room of the stadium (I have a feeling that bottle is no longer that full...Cam's down there with his brother and his friends from high school)

I don't feel too bad that he made the big trip down there--he's been to two Houston Rockets games (in UK garb to cheer on Patrick Patterson and Chuck Hayes), a Kenny Chesney concert, and saw his friend Josh Teater play in the Houston Open.  And, he still has two more days down there and the business front of the trip is a huge success.  Funny enough, my cousin goes to VCU and went down there as well. He and his buddies are staying in the same hotel as Cam.  Too random!

Our friends from Louisville came in town for the big game.  We went to, where else?, Two Keys and watched the game. 

Brittany, Lauren, and I outside of Two Keys

It was a heartbreaking loss because it wasn't that UConn was a better team--we lost that game ourselves.  We didn't seem to have the heart/drive, we couldn't capitalize on any turnovers or hit any free-throw shots.  It hurts so incredibly badly that one measly point kept us from the Championship game.  

But, at least we have a lot to look forward to next year. Still so proud of my cats for bringing back a final four banner to hang in Rupp.

Don't Wake Me Up...

...Until after the championship game on April 4th. I know I was planning doing South America posts before anything else, but this is really too good to be true. 

So proud of my CATS! So happy to be a part of the big blue nation this week! I am going to have to break down and buy a pair of jorts to watch the game in next week (don't worry, I already have the jersey...) because we're in the FINAL FOUR. YYYIIPPPEE!

[All pictures from the Herald-Leader]

Jorts, we are just as happy as you are (but most of us just can't jump that high)

I don't think people understand the love that I have for this man today :)

The boys

proof that I'm not the only crazy fan out there...here's Lexington today. A reported 13 couches were burned and they had to shut down traffic in parts of downtown. There are literally hundreds of people at the airport waiting to welcome the Team back to Lexington right now...all for the CATS!

Jorts Day

Cam still hasn't uploaded the pictures from Rupp, but since today is Jorts Day, I just can't resist going ahead and doing the post with the pictures I have.  

Jorts Day you ask? Just in case you aren't up with the lingo, jorts are jean shorts (generally on men, but I don't discriminate).  Jorts are just not okay, people.  

On that note, tonight is Senior Night for the basketball team.  In honor of our only senior, Josh Harrellson, tonight has been dubbed "Jorts Day" in Kentucky because the boy wore jorts on his campus recruiting visit.  

Who is the man behind the jorts? This fellow here: 

Locally, the fans are planning a "jorts-out" and we are all hoping that Coach Cal does a throwback tonight to the denim uniforms of the (national champions) 1996 team: 

With all that background, here are the long awaited pictures of our trip to Rupp last week: 

Cam being awesome.

Close to dunking

 I actually made a basket on the floor of Rupp (although clearly not with as much style as Cam)

Us in front of all of the national championship basketballs in the locker room.

The boys with their momma

Cam in front of Brandon Knight's and Enes Kanter's lockers.

This is Christmas card material for next year...LOVE LOVE the banners in the background

 HAPPY JORTS DAY :)

Weekend Hodgepodge

Hello lovelys, hope ya'll had a great weekend and are staying out of this snow. Here's our weekend recap. All images are thanks to Google images.

On Friday night we went to Table Three Ten with Cam's brother and his girlfriend. We loved the atmosphere of the place: it has exposed, vintage hardwood floor ceilings, exposed brick and concrete, and a general vintage industrial feel.  It had a really "big city" vibe to it, but was still dark and romantic. We had dinner reservations at 8:30, so we waited at the bar for our table and ordered a bottle of wine.  The wine was superb--I believe it was called the cab-sav Espalt and it was delicious.  At 9, we double checked with the manager (who apparently may be a co-owner as well) on our table.  He informed that "because we made late dinner reservations, we would have to wait."  This left a pretty bad taste in my mouth, but he reassured us that it would not be long at all.  At 9:30, we mentioned to the bartender that we had reservations for an hour ago and were getting sick of waiting.  He was very pleasant and comped us a round of beers and checked on our table.  We were finally seated at 9:50. Moral of story: dinner reservations may not mean much here.  In Table Three Ten's defense, they did offer to comp us dessert once we were seated.  However, they ran out of dessert, so they comped us martinis instead. Also, everyone else I know who has been has said they didn't have to wait very long, so maybe our situation was the anomaly.

Now to the food: thank goodness we were told to eat before we went and had small dinner.  The menu was pretty limited and its tapas style.  We ordered the chef's selection of cheese and of the meat for the four of us.  It was the perfect amount of food for us and it was delicious.

Summary: it would be a great place to go to for drinks, appetizers, or a bottle of wine. Otherwise, eat  a small meal before you go.  The atmosphere is very "big city romantic"--i.e., you forget you are in Lexington.  Even if you have a reservation, be prepared to wait.  

On Saturday, I drove to South/Western Kentucky to interview a witness for the Innocence Project. We passed this monstrosity on the way, and I was so intrigued.   No, that is not the Washington Monument.  It is the Jefferson Davis Memorial Park.  I am a little miffed that our state would have a ridiculously large (i.e. expensive) monument and state park to commemorate the President of the Confederacy when our Lincoln memorial is so small in comparison (interesting FYI for those non-Kentuckians: both Lincoln and Davis were born in KY).  But whatever, I should realize I am in the south. Who knew this thing even existed.  Saddest part is that the locals kept telling us that Davis was the president of the US. Maybe we should spend less money on the monument and more on our education system...

Also, if you happen to go that way,  DO. NOT. EVER. stop at the Tumbleweed in Madisonville. We stopped there for lunch and we all had a mild case of food poisoning. Plus, the food was wrenched. Live and learn... 

Yesterday we had a relaxing day: church, cleaning around the house, and watched the super bowl.  We spent the majority of the day looking into some possibly exciting news, so we will keep you posted :) 

Now, off to Zumba and a "butts and guts" workout, haha! My night litigation class just got cancelled so I can go to the Junior League Meeting tonight now--pretty excited!