Where's Abby (+ Dylan and dogs)

Holy mackerel guys, I knew I'd been failing miserably at this whole blog deal, but I didn't realize it had been since MAY. Since then, I said "Yes, of course!" to a man with a ring on his pinky in the Atlantic Ocean. That man and I trekked around Costa Rica and Panama for two fantastic weeks. I jumped back into the craziness of Lindamood-Bell and am thoroughly enjoying it. We have the most intriguing, fun kiddos. In July, I witnessed another of the Bests become a wife to her very comical hubs. Such a fun wedding, as you can see from a snapshot below. One weekend, I finally visited Ms. Leslie Wiles in her new Georgia home and had our senses overloaded at the Buford Farmers Market . That place is nuts. We filled our cart with fruits we never heard of that needed intensive cutting instructions and safety warnings. I started on my track to GRAD SCHOOL for speech language pathology. Now I've covered four types of colleges: private Christian college (King Colle...

Somehow when Amy said she "went Trudy O'Connell on our Galentines Day Brunch," I wondered what she could've planned.  Clearly I just wasn't thinking.  Growing up, any occasion my best friend's mom hosted was worthy of a magazine article or Downton Abbey scene. You'd find three kinds of cookies, at least two cakes, maybe a pie or two, rice crispy treats, jello, homemade candies, perfectly decorated tables, trinkets, party favors and all.  These party throwing expertise have certainly been passed down to Mrs. Sapp.  I showed up to an entry table decked out with adorable signs of love and glitter. Walking into the living room, I find a table set with the sweetest rosette tablecloth and tea set. A handmade cross-stitch made by Trudy herself, perfect for the occasion, was found displayed with a book of Shakespeare love sonnets that I attempted to bless the group with later. A chandelier was draped with glittery hearts, the sweetest flowers were bur...

Hosted the first of hopefully many of these ridiculous fests. Our Mardi Gras celebration was complete with Shrimp and rice  that turned out even better than expected Abita beer, first tested in New Orleans  Bananas foster, thanks to the Neighbs  A Benton-made Ouija board  An attempted seance And Dr. John... A must.  Next year, we're hoping for some warmer weather to satisfy our beads and parade dreams.  Here's some Dr. John for ya. 

Last Sunday was a day filled with one of my favorite things: entertaining .  First, we hosted a brunch at my place with Dana, Martin, and Kristin complete with eggs, biscuits and homemade tomato gravy, fruits, bacon, sausage, mimosas, blueberry coffee and Cuban coffee thanks to Kristin. The tasty food, warm coffee, and mimosas warmed us up on that chilly morning.  That night, we hosted a chili dinner party with Dylan's side of the friends, followed by some Settlers of Catan. I did mostly that recipe plus a bunch of extra spices.  Planning, preparing for, and hosting friends in my home is the best. It's such a pleasure to serve friends tasty grub, drinks, and fun. Our Beach Friendsgiving two years ago satisfied that urge to the max.  What are your tips, favorite things to serve/do/listen to while hosting friends?

      October is just the best. First it was my birthday, then my mama's and half of my coworkers and friends' birthdays, weather is getting cool, pumpkins are being eaten in this and this recipe, as are the apples that deserve their fame, I celebrated a year with a man, enjoyed a vey entertaining concert by Dr. John... Lots of goodness.

I haven't been writing much lately because there's nothing too out of the ordinary happening lately. I did have an awesome St. Patrick's Day filled with Lindsay Love and Leslie Boo, meeting new friends, a guy with this bike who was unfortunately too drunk to ride it but fortunately sober enough to realize this fact, sneaking Fireball on the streets,  and entertaining live music at the Riverside Street Party.   I've enjoyed some awesome balcony chilling in Leslie's lovely, high-rise apartment, with an unbelievable view, had some super silly, girly dance parties (for the neighbors to luckily see), hot tub hoppin with a cute boy, and front porch chillin. I was also blessed with a quick visit from Amy and her boo the other weekend.   Last weekend, I had a great time with the padres coming to visit. We biked over to lunch at Beachside Seafood for a surprisingly delicious meal. We enjoyed the beautiful weather on the beach, laid out discussing the ridiculousness of...

Lately I've been grateful for my new creative spirit at work. For future blogging purposes we'll call her Genevieve (her favorite name to be while playing). My favorite playtime ever, that resulted in a coworkers falling out of her chair from laughter is fully discussed here.   Last week never got the glory it deserved so now it gets it's mention.  I got to hang out with a friend from  elementary school on Saturday.  And had a lovely Sunday that began with a 14 mile bike cruise with The Roomie.  This Sunday proceeded to a serendipitous night, running into Meryl and Chad in St. Augustine while admiring this moon scene.  Which was the beginning to a great night seeing the Nights of Lights in this beautiful city... Even if my food decision was a bust, it did cause for a lot of funny conversation about bacon. Throughout the night, we convinced a bartender to change a tv from sports to the Golden Globes, picked out all our "dream pieces of a...

Apparently it's another Food Friday! I made this way back when and finally got around to making it again and it was delicious .  I used a whole head of cauliflower and let my super new/vintage refurbished blender do the shredding. Then put it all in a bowl, sprinkle a couple tablespoons of water on it, cover and put in the microwave for about a minute.  Chop up your onion and throw it in a frying pan with a couple tablespoons of your oil of choice. I used coconut. Then put cauliflower on top and add about 1/4 cup of soy sauce and a Tbsp of white wine. I also sprinkled some ginger and sesame oil on it. Garlic would've been good but I just basically forgot.  Cook chicken breast in a separate pan, then scramble three eggs and put them aside while preparing the rest.  I cooked my favorite "Today's Harvest" broccoli in the microwave (sprinkle with water, cover, and zap it for like 2 minutes) and added it to the cauliflower. I cooked some zucchini and re...

This thanksgiving rocked . Even though I had to work, my friends and I made it happen. Good friends Leslie, Lindsay, Michael and Roomie joined in for a Paleo Thanksgiving Feast. Friendsgiving Highlights:  A spoon catching on fire This beautiful display thanks to Worth Wiles events. ;)  The guests. Obvi.  Sangria and mulled apple cider . Oh, and meet Roomie, Rob, blogging world! Rosemary and apple turkey  This coconut and pumpkin mousse And these paleo rolls Other things on the menu? Rosemary sweet potatoes and onions, gravy, green bean casserole, cauliflower mash, deviled eggs , blueberry crumble , and cranberry almond upside down cake . All paleo. :)  Just like last year, only this time a little closer, I facetimed with the fam during their celebrations. I was, of course, pretty bummed about missing out on Thanksgiving with them, but so grateful for the friends I did get to spend it with. Even though, I natu...

Man this week has flown by! My second week of work went great. I got to work in the boys' cottages this week and it was not as scary as I expected from what the staff were saying. Much like my greyhound bus experience here .  It's Food Fridaaay! I just made that up but maybe Originality Advocate Demetri would be (slightly) proud of me. It is still a pic of food but maybe the recipe share helps. Hope so.   Anyway.  I've been bad at sharing some of my favorite paleo meals on here, so here's one that I've made twice already in the last couple weeks and it makes like 5 meals... For like $6! (Assuming you have the basics). So that's a lot of buffalo chicken pasta meals! It's funny because I used to hate spicy things, particularly BUFFALO things. But for some reason, of all my meals on Pinterest, this was the one I decided to execut. I'll just write it off as one of my decision making processes where I choose something completely strange or that I simply hav...