Progressive Dinner

Way back in May (I know I should have posted about this months ago) Justin and I were sitting at home on a Friday afternoon thinking about what we should do that night. Tired of our usual trips to the Renaissance to window shop, we wanted to do something different...something fun. We contemplated taking a quick trip to Memphis but quickly talked ourselves out of it. Normally when we are out of ideas we either go to the Renaissance, call friends, or do nothing. On this particular night we decided to call a friend. There is nothing like being bored with someone else.

Thinking we would grab a bite to eat and just hang out, we thought our friend Katie would be great company and would make the night much brighter. So we called and, lucky for us, she didn't have any plans for the night either. We picked her up and heading to Sonic for a happy hour drink. While trying to decide what we wanted to drink, we noticed a snow cone stand and changed our minds and headed there. After we ordered our snow cones, Katie came up with a great idea to go to different places to have dinner...a progressive dinner. After much diliberation on where we would go, we decided the only stipulation was that it could not be a chain. So we started our progressive dinner out at SnowBiz with snow cones (Yes, I know that SnowBiz is a chain and the rule was made after we had already ordered!).


Our next stop was Babalu for appetizers. We had heard they had the best guacamole and that they make it at your table, so it was our first choice. Justin makes a great homemade guacamole so lately we have been trying guacamole at any restaurant that has it on the menu. Most of the time Justin's is so much better, but I have to say that Babalu makes a great guacamole and gives Justin's a run for its money.


At this point we were almost full but we could not stop just after our appetizers so we while were thinking of where to go next we headed to Dogwood. After a little going back and forth about where we should go for our main course, we finally decided on Local 463. It was a little out of the way but so worth it. Justin and Katie had burgers and I had a pizza. The burgers were huge! It was a great restaurant and will be one that we will revisit.

Finally, it was time for dessert, which is my favorite part of any meal. We wanted to go somewhere that served good desserts but when we started thinking about where we should go, we came up short. We finally thought about Mint. I had never been there before so I was really excited to try the place out. Once, there we went back and forth trying to decide on how many desserts to get, of course, I wanted try all of them. In the end we got three different desserts, a chocolate cake, a cheesecake, and beignet balls. All three were delicious and worth all the calories.

I am so glad that Katie joined us and turned a dull Friday night into a adventurous outing.

Justin's best surprise ever!

Thursday the September 30th started out like any other Thursday. I went to the gym in the morning, had lunch with a friend, and did some stuff around the house. Around 5 that afternoon, Justin sent me a text telling me to look under a coaster in our office. When I first got the text, I thought it was Justin telling me he was on his way home from work. When I turned over the coaster I was surprised to find a QR code. I scanned the code and it took me here.

When I finished reading the poem I had the biggest smile on my face and picked up my keys and headed out the door. It took me a little while to find the second QR code, but when I did, knew I was on a fun scavenger hunt. During my fun outing Justin left me clues all over MC's campus as well as a few places around town. The places I went to find the clues are as follows, click on each link to view each clue:

Nelson

East Tower (Residence Hall)

Whittington (Residence Hall)

YogNFurit (yogurt place)

Olive Branch (gift shop)

Ratliff (Residence Hall)

Kugel (statue on campus)

The last clue lead me back home to check the mail box. When I opened the mail box I found Justin's iPod Touch with a Post-It note that said press play. This is the video is what the final clue. I encourage you to watch the video before scrolling down and reading the rest of the post.

The word surprised could not describe what I was feeling when I found out that Justin had planned a weekend trip to New York! If you know me, you know that I love NYC. I had less than 12 hours from the time I found out we were going to NYC to the time we had to get on the plane. Justin and I had ran around getting packed and getting everything ready before we left. Justin worked really hard to keep the trip a surprise. We had some plans already made but Justin had called everyone a told them of his surprise and told them we would not be able to keep our plans. He really thought of everything. It was awesome!!!

I don't think I slept the night before we left. I was excited and I kept thinking of things I needed to do and things I needed to pack.

Now on to NYC. Justin and I have been to NYC together 3 times, but each time we either stayed with friends who lived there or went with friends. To read more about our past trip click, here. The other two trips to NYC happened before I stated blogging so I don't have any posts to link to, sorry. When I found out that we would be going to NYC alone I was very excited. It has been a long time since Justin and I have been on a real vacation alone. I think it might have been our honeymoon almost 5 years ago.

We had a great time walking around NYC. We didn't do to many touristy things this time but here are some images of our trip. After checking into our hotel we went on the hunt for a place to eat lunch. One, of the many reasons we love NYC is the restaurant options. Living in Clinton you only have a few options when it comes to places to dine. NYC has 100's of options to choose from. When we are out of town Justin and I try to stay away from chain restaurants if at all possible. Its fun and it ensures that we try new places and different foods. This is my lunch at Le Pain Quotidien (This might be a chain...oops. I think it's a New York chain though.)

We sent a lot of time walking around Central Park, the Brooklyn Bridge, Union Square, Time Square, and the Upper East Side. Here are a few of our favorites pictures from the trip.

This is the 9/11 memorial. If you are in NYC you really need to make a stop here, just be sure you get your tickets before hand.

In our all trips to NYC we have never walked the Brooklyn Bridge to this time we made a point to do it. I am not sure if you can tell but there were a lot of people walking and biking on the bridge.

Time Square!!

A very delicious banana and hazelnut crepe from Max Brenners.

Views of the Jackie Onassis Reservoir in Central Park.

We had a great weekend and I am so grateful for a husband who would go through all the trouble of surprise me with a special weekend in my favorite city!

I might have an obsession

I think I might have a problem.

As many of you know, I love school/office supplies. There is nothing like getting a new notebook, pack of pens, Post-its, or paper clips. The other day I was cleaning my home office and noticed that I had a lot of Post-its/notepads, Sharpie markers and paper clips.

Justin has been making fun of me for a while about the amount of Post-its/notepads and Sharpies I have. I have always responded by saying, "The reason I have a lot is because I use a lot of post-its/notepads and Sharpies." After seeing all my post-its/notepads and Sharpies I will have to admit that I have a post-its/notepads and Sharpies problem. I knew I had a lot but I didn't know just how much until I put them all in one place. Take a look at all my post-its/notepads and Sharpies as well as a few of my other favorite office supplies.






Before you make fun of me you must know that I really do use these on a regular basis. I am always jotting a note on a post-it or making a list on a note pad and I use my Sharpies to make those notes and lists. I am a little embarrassed that I do have an unopened package of Sharpies, but I know those too will be used soon.

Now here is where I would have say that I have gone overboard. I don't really use paperclips that much nor do I use the pushpins that much either. When I am at the store I just can't pass up a colorful pack of paperclips. However, if I ever find myself in need, I know right where to find them.


I hope that I can resist the urge to buy any office supplies for a while since I have seen how much I have. I really hope I can do this.

Staying Organized

I love being organized!

There is nothing like getting a new planner and filling it with birthdays, meetings, appointments, and other activities. I love being able to glance at my planner and see what my days, weeks, and months will look like. I have a planner that is always with me, a calendar on my phone that is connected to my computer, as well as Justin's iPod touch. Unfortunately, despite our extensive list of scheduling resources and devices, there are still times when one of us has something going on that we forget to put on our shared computer calendar.

I have always wanted a family calendar somewhere in our house - one that we could easily look at multiple times a day without having to pull it up on a phone or computer. I had planned on putting one in our home office but unless one of us is working on a specific project, we don't spend a whole lot of time in the office (although that might change with Justin's new endeavor). One place that I know we pass through multiple times everyday is the kitchen. It didn't take long to find the perfect spot - a blank wall that was just screaming "hang something here!" I measured the space and started my hunt for a calendar.

I found many different calendars that I liked, but most of them were dry erase. The reason I didn't want to a dry erase calendar was because it would be really easy to accidentally erase things from the calendar. Also, people (Justin) are always tempted to wipe a finger (sometimes on purpose, sometimes not) though the writing. Finding myself at a dead end, I decided that I would make my own.

Here is the list of materials you will need:

• Bulletin board
• Paint
• Post-its
• Ribbon
• Push pens
• Ruler
  

I set up shop in the garage and started spray painting. I thought about sanding the trim but wanted to get started so I skipped that and just starting painting.


I knew it would take a few coats but after 5 coats of the paint just soaking into the cork I knew I needed a new plan. I really wanted this to work to I took a few days and did some research and found that using real paint would work better. We were painting our kitchen cabinets at the time so I just took some white gloss paint we had for the cabinets and started painting. It worked! I still had to paint three coats but the paint was much thicker and adhered to the cork much better than the spray paint. It turned out just the way I had planned.


Here is a close up view of my paint job. I was a little worried that the paint would scratch off but it has proved itself very durable.

The next step was also very time consuming. I knew I wanted to use Post-It notes as the paper to write on since they are cheap a small. After laying out 30 post-its on the board I found that they were too big. I looked online for something smaller but came up with nothing. So, I decided to just cut the Post-It notes to the size I needed. Since each square would be 2.5''x2.5" I cut the post-its a little smaller than that. I don't really have an exact size but that are around 2x2". This part was easy once I had the right size. Here are the materials you will need:

• Paper cutter
• Post-it
• Temple
• Pencil
• Pen
  

Use your template to trace out the 2x2 square. Next you will use the paper cutter to cut the square. I found that my paper cutter would only cut about 3 or 4 Post-Its at a time.


After you have all the squares cut and the dates written on them, its time to write out all your plans (my favorite part)!

I have not color coded my events but I think that is something that I might be doing in the future. I do love using all the fun colors. Once I had cut all the Post-Its I laid them out on the calendar and used my ribbon to make the columns. I didn't take any pictures of this part...sorry. But once you have anything pinned up you have a wonderful custom calendar.


I have really enjoyed using this calendar and I feel like it is keeping both Justin and I very organized. You will also see a white paper pinned to the calendar - that is our dinner menu. That way Justin can just look up there and see what we are having for dinner and does not have to ask. Or if he is in a good mood he can start dinner. HINT HINT!!!

School Back in Session

I have to say we love it when school starts back. When you live in a college town and work at a college (as Justin does), you notice a difference when the students are here.


The title of this post actually means a little more than just having students back on campus this year. Justin had decided it is time to get his masters. I have been telling him for three years he needed to get his masters since a perk of working at MC is they will pay for you to take up to three classes a year. There was no reason for him to not use this opportunity to get this masters. Right?


When he first started working at MC he did look into getting his masters, but was unsure of what he should get it in. Since he does do some freelance on the side and has taken a bit more interest in business, he felt that getting him MBA would be the best option. I am sure many of you are thinking MBA? Really? Well, I think Justin would be the best person to explain why he choose to get his MBA. Take it away Justin.

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Why the heck not?

No seriously, that's almost my real answer. But not really though. The real answer goes a little something like this: As an undergrad, my major was originally Management Information Systems. My sophomore year I started taking some business classes - economics and business law, to be specific. I hated them. I dropped economics, drudged through business law and changed my major to Information Technology.



Since entering the working world, however, I've actually developed an interest in business. I can see how business topics actually apply and why they matter. I'm interested in learning and I feel it would benefit me down the road.

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Well, that should clear up any wondering questions as to why a computer guy is getting his MBA. We are both very excited about this and know that it will be a great thing for us. Please be praying for us as Justin goes back to school and I get use to living with a husband who is taking classes.

P.S. Hope you all enjoy some of my favorite pictures of Justin.

The completion of a much needed update

As many of you know, Justin and I have been updating our kitchen by painting the cabinets, walls, and adding some new accessories to make it more us and less 1980's. If you are just joining us on this journey you can read about what our kitchen looked like before we started here and here.

I have to admit that this project has taken us much, much longer than either of us thought it would take. Alas, after almost 5 months, we are finally done (minus a few little things like window treatments and some other accessories to complete the look)! Let me refresh your memory with what our kitchen looked like when we closed on our house in 2008.

I can't believe we actually bought this house with a kitchen that looked like that. I suppose we were able to see past the dated-ness of it and see the potential it would have after a little love. Fortunately for us, we did not have to move into the house with the kitchen looking like that. We negotiated with the seller to include money to update the appliances. Justin was so sweet and picked out all of them himself and had them all installed before I moved in (he lived in the house for about a month while I was still in Georgia). I do have to give him a shout out for installing both the dishwasher and microwave on his own! This is what our kitchen looked like for the past two years. Still in need of some love but a lot better than what it looked like when we first saw the house.

Just changing out the appliances made a big difference. I am so glad that we were able to make that change before moving in.

Now back to the updating that has taken us almost six months to complete. I am not sure if given the choice if we would take on another project like this. The time and effort was much more than I thought, but in the end we are happy with the turn out and are excited that we were able to do it ourselves. We didn't get any quotes from painters so I am not sure how much it would have cost if we would have had someone else come in a do this. However, if we ever find ourselves in this situation again, we both have said that we will call in the professionals.

I know this is a weird view but I wanted to share it because its the view from the entry way. This is what people see when they first come into our house and look to the right. The blue wall still needs something, I am still thinking about what I want to put there.

I wanted to give you a close up view of the knobs that we chose. We both really like the brushed nickel finish and the simple detail.

This was definitely a learning experience and now that it is all said and done we can say that we did this ourselves...well Justin can say that he did it himself. We are very happy with how everything turned out. We have a few more decorating things to complete before we can say that the kitchen is finished. This should be soon (that is what we are both hoping for at least). I am just glad that we are finally done with the painting. We love our new kitchen and can't wait to have everything in its place and start entertaining again. Stay tune for more updates in our kitchen.