happy belated.. again..

So you know me and my belated holiday posts.. so there are no suprises here:-) Not sure how these bloggers actually enjoy thier holiday and still squeeze in post. One day when i grow up I'm sure I'll be granted the secret keys to blogging success.. In the mean time, I thought I'd share a little of last weekend with you..

Better late than never is what they say!

I started out by reading a status update by a dear friend Tara who linked to an New York Times article on a little known fact about Memorial Day...  Its seems that:

The earliest and most remarkable Memorial Day took place on May 1, 1865. The beautiful port city of Charleston, S.C., lay in ruin and occupied by Union troops. Among the first soldiers to enter and march up Meeting Street singing liberation songs was the 21st United States Colored Infantry; their commander accepted the city’s official surrender.

The procession was led by 3,000 black schoolchildren carrying armloads of roses and singing the Union marching song “John Brown’s Body.” Several hundred black women followed with baskets of flowers, wreaths and crosses. Then came black men marching in cadence, followed by contingents of Union infantrymen. Within the cemetery enclosure a black children’s choir sang “We’ll Rally Around the Flag,” the “Star-Spangled Banner” and spirituals before a series of black ministers read from the Bible.

READ COMPLETE TIMES ARTICLE - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/30/opinion/30blight.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=opinion&adxnnlx=1306753261-S82yssCq3qMNxaXGta278g

So hubby is not only a former military brat but also a veteran of the Navy, which means he pulls these things out every chance he gets.. Its pretty funny (and cute) how he gets all worked up about getting the lawn ready to put out his flags..

In true Holiday weekend form, we broke out the grill... There's really nothing I love more than grilling out on the deck and having a couple of cool adult beverages (dontjudgeme:-)..

And he's becoming quite the skilled grillman (is that a word?) Thank You  Papa Russ.. He's stealing all of your secrets:-)

I wont tell you how yummy this was.. Lets just say finger lickin good...

Got the idea for this Watermelon Feta Salad while doing my weekly Publix run.. There was quite a long line at the sampling booth.. I snagged the recipe card right after:)

So we had a little spread, did a little power shopping, had breakfast at my favorite spot, and had a pretty relaxing weekend... Did I mention my birthday came and went in the haze? I turned 29  for the 5th time)...

The gardenias are blooming like crazy!! And munchkin and hubby have been making sure to bring them in by the handful.. My house smells heavenly! Unfortunately they dont last very long after they are cut..
Keep em' coming..

Hope you had a great Memorial Day weekend.

i still love you...

i love my husband.. but sometimes he makes me want to sock him one..

 i'm just sayin'

make mine a double please.

why not:-)

Got this via email from my bestie today.. it's friday. why not?!


3 names you go by: (This is not easy!)
1. Bunnie
2. Bubby
3. Nic


3 things you are wearing right now:
1. Green and Black Cardigan
2. Blue jeans
3. Navy tights


2 things you want very badly at this moment:
1. Acceptable Child Care
2. a pay check


3 people who will return this: maybe
1. Cole Squared
2. Budda Belly
3. Homemade Grits


2 things you did last night:
1. Watched American Psycho with the hubby
2. Read some of Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert


2 things you ate today:
1. Orange Ginger Chicken (Trader Joes)
2. Shared a nectarine with jill:-)


2 people you last talked to on the phone:
1. Mom
2. Hubby


2 things you are going to do tomorrow:
1. Shop for munchkin clothes
2. Shampoo my hair?


3 favorite drinks:
1. Water
2. Chai tea
3. Red wine

P.S.

 

he rocks my world:-)

for the lovers..

due to yesterday's snowfall, we were advised not to travel today unless absolutely necessary so we listened to music and played all day!! the darling hubby even tore himself away from his new toy long enough to make valentine's day cards with us!! actually we both finally upgraded into the 21st century from our previous 2006 antique phones..
i was really getting tired of having to hit the #5 three times to get to the letter "l".  

at any rate we pulled out all the crayons and paper and whatever else could find and made a huge mess. i think I had the most fun:-/

 

  

  

  

  

 

tomorrow hubby will be taking his girls out to a valentines day brunch 

before heading into the office for a bit:-( We'll be making heart shaped brownies to welcome him home...

Happy Valentines Day!!

xxx

who knew?

that my hubby was just one stomach flu away from his goal weight?! now he's strutting around here all proud that his pants fit again. he wouldnt even eat all of his dinner because he didnt want to tamper with his new "high school skinny?" i guess there was a silver lining  to this past weeks epidemic..

so yes, we are all feeling MUCH better now.. thanks so much for all the well wishes and thoughts and prayers.. i'm SO glad that the little munchkin didnt get sick..

after dinner tonight i decided to mesh a few recipes together to make use of some organic roma tomatoes that i had in the fridge.. this will be our pre-super bowl fare..

i get really excited when i see all of these COLORS.. YUM!

 

here's my munchkin.. such a big girl now.. beep beep! go!

i'm totally going to try this:

looking for some CUTE fabric to try this little skirt for my laundry room basin...

 little green notebook blog

i actually find my little munchkin's head bands here, there, and everywhere.. but i've decided that since it is her signature:-) mommy should start making them herself..

marthastewart.com

maybe not this V day but some day.. isnt it SO ADORABLE!!

potterybarn kids

thoughts and prayers

praying for the Soons family. peace of mind, comfort, and a quick and successful procedure for our little friend...
amen.

quarantine...

so friday i had to call hubby home early from work to take care of the munchkin because not only was i exhausted because someone woke up no less than 5 times the night before, but for some reason i was feeling SUPER nauseous. not what you might think.. this was followed by chills and then a night of kneeling over the toilet bowl...

so the next day i was sealed off in my bedroom while the hubby and munchkin played and hung out around town... i watched bad tv all day spent way too much time on facebook and pretended to read this.

subsequently, i missed ALL THE FUN i had planned for the weekend.

1. book club kick off meeting saturday morning. where i had planned to see some wonderful ladies that i have been WAITING to catch up with and munch on black bean cakes at the new west egg cafe in midtown.

2. overnight ladies night out with the ladies from mommy and me in the evening with a room booked at the westin, and dinner reservations at truvatlanta.

3. brunch with the homies to celebrate imani's 34th at einsteins..

instead the highlight of the weekend was an overcrowded trip to trader joe's and making these
oatmeal cookies while listening to my hubby sing into the toilet bowl..

poor thing. i think he got the worst of it... hope these will make him feel better tomorrow...

i found this while uploading my cookies. someone is determined to get their shoe's on all by themselves ;-) such a big girl!

speaking of which we got these to replace those last week at abbadaba's in little 5.

now off to clorox wipe down all the toys and door knobs and light switches and scrub my hands insanely before bed..

what a beautiful thing..

it is to be me.

thanks to this young lady for letting me come over and vent:-)

seems like she always knows just when to say, "wanna come over and let the kiddies play?"  i got some rather disturbing news this week which put me in one of my notorious "funks". but such is life.

getting it all out just made me realize all i have to be thankful for. and how important it is to stay prayerful and stay positive.

i just finished rocking the little munchkin to sleep. she never lets me do that anymore. she's such a big girl now. today she said, "nap!" because she was tired and wanted to lie down. how crazy is that? as i was sitting in our rocking chair tonight i realized that there are a few images that i am so thankful are forever burned into my mind.

my little munchkin laughing.. i was sitting in bed the other night and just started to grin as I thought of my little munchkin bursting into her toothy smile. i cant believe i made this little person.  it melts my heart.

my little sleeping beauty. my little munchkin drifting off to sleep in my arms is a reminder that i am here to love and protect her. and the trust that she has for me is like no other.

the love of my life i tell you. man he can really work a nerve when he wants to. but i am SO GRATEFUL for him and who i am because of him...

vino please...

before i forget. 

while in florida the other weekend, hubby and i had dinner at the quaintest little tapas spot called the tasting room. it was a suggestion by our dear friends julio and leslie. it was right in downtown st. augustine. the cobblestone roads and view of the fort are super sweet and romantic. lots of little vintage and antique shops to peruse.  it had been a while since the hubby and i just went out to a nice dinner alone at our leisure. which is why i'm looking at him all googly-eyed. hubby took this one with his 2006 camera phone. i like the graininess of it..

at any rate, i decided to do a little wine tasting and ordered the spanish garnacha flight. it came with these three wines that were SUPER yummy.. i'm posting so i wont forget.

please note: i'm not a wine connoisseur by any stretch.. but i keep threatening to take a course so that i can know just enough to be dangerous...

las rocas de san alejandro, vinas viejas, garnacha, calatayud, 2006
"The old-vine cuvee, the 2006 Las Rocas Vinyas Viejas, was aged entirely in French and American oak. It is purple-colored with a cedary, spicy, cherry and cranberry bouquet. More structured than the “regular” bottling, it has layered fruit, savory flavors, excellent depth, and a pure close.

atteca, garnascha, calatayud, 2007
Inky purple. Ripe boysenberry and blueberry on the nose, with licorice and graphite adding complexity. Juicy dark berry preserve flavors show palate-saturating depth and impressive clarity, picking up smoky minerals with air.

celler can blau, garnacha, carinena, and syrah, monstant, 2007

Can Blau is purple-colored with a nose of cedar, mineral, baking spices, blueberry, and black cherry. 

all grown up now...

his weekend we went down to Florida to celebrate one of my dearest friends 30th birthday. We rented a house on the beaches of St. Augustine, Florida with friends and just relaxed. I dropped my little munchkin off with her grandparents an hour away...

its been such a long time since the hubby and i just slept and didnt get out of bed until we absolutely had to. the last trip we took, i ended up bringing home a gallon of pumped milk so this was TOTALLYdifferent. on the 5 hour drive back we talked about finally feeling "settled." like this is OUR little family. the last 6 and a half years have been such a world wind. I met the love of my life, finished b-school, got engaged, then married, bought our first house, then carried my munchkin for 38 weeks, and now i've been learning how to be a good wife and mommy and friend for the last year. so now here we are. all grown up.

LOVES IT.

isnt he handsome:-) 

 

{photo by lydia scarlett}

my darling Lydia.. Happy Birthday!

Crescent Beach

random holiday cheer...

I'd like to thank all the little people..

Someone was preparing for thier Oscar/Grammy/Tony Award acceptance speech today.. too too funny.

Something tells me she's going to be a starra!

I cheated and bought already made ginger bread cookies to decorate.. the munchkin just wanted to eat the icing and hear the little candy balls as they rolled off the countertop onto the floor.. but as always.. such the good little helper.. and sharer:-)

 

this cracked me up! bye!

shrimp tortellini and spinach

and just because i thought it looked pretty, i'd like to post a pic of my latest concoction.. it looked alot better than it tasted.. that's because i was missing half the ingredients and tried to ad lib with some less than comparable substitions (i was trying to make this.) i need better lighting when i'm shooting pix of my food. or maybe i should put the food on white plates... at any rate...

thanks nie nie!

so last week i happened upon an old episode of oprah where the guest was none other than mrs. stephanie nielson and her family.. oddly i have her listed on blogs i follow but had only glanced at a couple of her recent posts and decided she was a cute and fashionable chick. i had intentions of stalking her site at a later date... no time like the present. currently baby sitting for a friend who's 13 month old fell asleep ten minutes after they left (at 715p)... three hours later i am in awe of nie nie and her dialogues... her story inspired me and made me think about what's important in this life and how i can make the most of it. to stop waisting time on what i'd like to do or think i'd be good at and just give it a try already!! will blog about my dreamy wonder woman dreams at a later date...

but i digress... one of her many glorious posted was a journal of things that made her proud to be who she is. so here's my attempt at some positive affirmations (in no particular).. i mean it!

i sprinkled in a couple of pix that make me REALLY happy!

ready, set, go!

1. I am proud that I am a Christian and that my family strives to put Christ first and seek his guidance in our everyday lives. Hubby and I pray everyday together and that makes me VERY happy. The little munchkin can even say amen (she says aneh - close enough).

2. I am proud to be Mrs. NBH. He is the absolute bestest!

3. I am proud to be a mother. And I am enjoying every moment of it!

4. I am proud that I nursed my munchkin until she was 13 months old. The only the very best for my sweet girl.

5. I am proud that took the time to educate myself. twice:-)

6. I am proud that I have a few glamourously wonderful ladies in my life that I have been the best of friends with since the day we met. they are smart, and funny, and creative and bless me with their unconditional friendship (Jillian (college), Dawnesha (high school), Lydia (post undergrad)).

7. I am proud of the home that I have made with my beloved and look forward to creating many many memories.

8. I am proud that I am sometimes stylish and people compliment me on this occassionally.. I am going to continue to work on that.. pretty things make me happy.. not expensive necessarily.. just pretty:-)

9. I am proud to the daughter of SLB. I strive to be as selfless and caring a mother a she so effortlessly is.

10. I am proud that I have never inhaled or digested any illegal substances (that I'm aware of).

and 1 to grow on.. I am proud to be me.. sometimes messy, sometimes neat, quirky, creative, sensitive, special me.

As I wrote this list, I realized that there are many more things in my life that make me proud to be me. so to be continued.

lois and clark.... the story continues...

So hubby and I had a HUGE fight this morning over pretty much a bottle of syrup?! I was FURIOUS! and so was he.. and neither of us was budging! he grabbed his keys and before he dashed out for work he said, "I still love you."

And that my dear friends is what it's all about...

Super Hot, Super Smart and Super Strong. Super Cool with a smile that still makes my heart skip a beat..

So happy and blessed to live this life with MY Super H...