The Friday Five plus 2: Time Off

Happy New Year!!

Yeah, yeah I know I am late but it’s still early in the New Year so it counts!

Plus I have not written an actual post since last year! LOL

After being on break for so long my blogging mojo has been off. I have a full list of drafts that need editing and pictures attached.

But...#lazy

Dr. LBeezy (my momma) was here for a week and I loved being able to spoil her and she loved spoiling B. 

 E loved that she was here to be on his side!  Mom always takes their side. She's like “it takes a special man to be with my daughters. I pray for my son-in-laws daily!”  See how shadeful she is! LOLOL

Here are a couple of the dishes I made for her while she was here.  I loved cooking for her so much:

Chili Rubbed Fresh Snapper with Bacon Wrapped Shrimp and Grilled Vegetables atop (I love that word! Lol) Cilantro Lime Basmati Rice. I had a similar dish at a local restaurant and I could not wait to make it at home.

Pan Seared Mahi Mahi in a Lemon Garlic Butter Sauce, Thyme Poached Lobster and Fresh Sautéed Spinach. This was another restaurant inspired dish. I will post a version of this one and the snapper at a later date

Oh and this spaghetti with meat sauce. 

LBeezy mentioned how she hadn’t had any good spaghetti in a long while.  When she went to do some last minute Christmas shopping I surprised her with lunch. I also made her, my now family famous, Horseradish Cheddar Biscuits with Garlic Parsley Butter (recipe coming soon).

Every time she visits, mom buys me flowers.  That’s her thing. She visits me or my sister: flowers!  How thoughtful right!? She has an awesome green thumb and a good plant eye. These lasted three weeks after she left!  These beauties also prompted me to make a resolution: More fresh flowers in 2014.

My mom also won't sit still, so she cleaned my kitchen after every meal, grocery shopped and bought me these shelves I have been coveting for a year!  They were my birthday present! I was for real near tears! 

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I will share my progress on outfitting those shelves (I have two) over on Instagram (@SoGirlCitySwirl).  This is my inspiration decor though. I think this is so funky and eclectic. I haven't decided if I am going to spray paint them. My sister @TheNinahBee is trying to convince me that it is a good idea! We'll see!

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B and I will visit LBeezy this summer.  Our plan is to road trip to Maryland and DC and one other place I can’t recall right now.  We can’t wait!

I hope you all had a great time off! I promise I will be back with recipes next week!

The Friday Five: Full Weekend Ahead

Hey strangers! How has your summer gone? Quickly? Mine too! Can you for real believe it is time for the kids to go back to school?? I mean it is nearly September!

Although I've been posting on Instagram (@sogirlcityswirl), I have mostly been enjoying my family, hence the near non-existent posts. I think it is always a great idea to take a break every now and again to get your mind right!  I will begin posting regularly again next week.

The weekend will be busy for us.  Here are five of the fun things we will be getting into:

1.  B will be heading to a two hour cheer camp tomorrow evening. She took up tumbling over the summer and loves it!  So this will be an extension of that.

2.  After dropping B off with her favorite guy, I will high tail it to the Miller Outdoor Theatre for The Robert Glasper Experience.  I LOVE really good live music. The fact that it is free is a bonus!

  http://milleroutdoortheatre.com/events/426/

3.  Saturday we will head to Dave and Buster’s with 
two of her cousins for a little mini back to school fun day

4. Saturday evening it is the Discovery Green Flea by Night. I've been trying to get to this all summer!

http://www.discoverygreen.com/flea

5.  Finally on Sunday I will head to Austin for the day to spend quality time with a really good friend. I will be cooking her meal and we are going to just talk each other’s heads off!  I’m going to make roasted chicken, fresh sautéed spinach and my favorite potatoes.  For dessert I’m making us fresh lemon tarts.  I’m surprising her with mini lemon pound cakes for her to enjoy while she is on vacation. Those are her favorite!

Click for recipe

What are your plans for the weekend? Kids headed back to school? Vacation?

The Friday Five: What My Weekend Looks Like

Am I the only one SUPER happy that it is the weekend? This week seem to drag right!? Well B will have me all in these mean streets this weekend and I am ready! Here are five things we will be getting into this weekend:  

    I'm going to try recreating this really tasty jam...in the slow cooker   While this jam is cooking, me, B and one of her friends will head to our church for Friday Night Dodgeball! B LOVES dodgeball...she will take you down! LOL   If you follow me on Instagram (@SoGirlCitySwirl) you've already seen this picture of my homemade Ramen!! I had a craving for ramen earlier this week. The craving was long and strong y'all.  I literally have not had ramen in decades!  I can't eat that process packet of "flavoring" any longer so I made homemade ramen! So super easy, super delicious such that I will be making it again this weekend.   I've had my Couch 25k  program for years. Even when I was hardcore working out and running semi-regularly, I never completed the entire program. Well I'm going to start back up and actually run through the entire program because I want to move on to Couch 2 10K.   Saturday, Miller Outdoor Theatre will have their opening season musical! Me, B and two of her friends will pack a dinner picnic and head on down to Miller for Thoroughly Modern Millie. I love visiting Miller. You get quality musicals, plays, concerts, all for free. We try to attend at least five shows during the season.   I hope you have a wonderful weekend!    

The Friday Five: From the Mouth of Babe

 

She used to be so sweet. *Sigh*

  

“Mom, you are a business woman and

business women wear heels”

“You look like an assistant today in your flats”

“Flats again huh?” *shakes her head*

“You have on heels?! Catch me daddy

cause I’m bout to faint!”

“Daddy don’t be jealous cause

I’m a hamboning Boss”

 

Y’all know Best Kid Ever gets on my nerves right! LOL

Have a great weekend!

 

The Friday Five - First of the Month

 

 

I most certainly hummed Bo.ne Thu.gs chorus as I typed that title out! LOL

 

I LOVE seeing you guys all up and through my stats reading from near and far. How about you introduce yourselves and tell me where you are from? I say we can do this once a quarter or so. If you have a blog link it so I can comment on YOUR blog and add your blog to my Reader!

 

On keeping with the spirit of introductions and The Friday Five here are five things about yours truly:

 

• 2013 is a milestone birthday for me.
• I have two daughters
• I love dancing
• I drove to ND from Texas over the Christmas break (I will blog about that later)
• Besides cooking, travelling is one of my most favorite things to do

So please introduce yourself!! I don't bite.

 

The Friday Five: Fargo Thrifting Finds

While in lovely Fargo, my sister took me to some of her favorite thrift stores. I was in heaven! I found some awesome items that made me so glad I drove so I could haul all of that stuff back! 
Here are a few of my favorites:

One of these still had the tag on it...2 bucks a piece! 

These are spice jars with the name of the spice on the lid! There were more than a  dozen jars!

This could be incorporated in a design some how, not sure how yet.

I was going to use this in my over the kitchen cabinet  redecoration but I've since changed my mind.

The Friday Five: Websites I Am Loving

1. http://notwithoutsalt.com/ (Pictures are full of awesome!)
2.  http://www.savorhomeblog.com (Beautiful pictures, seemingly beautiful spirit)
3. http://www.thegalleygourmet.net/ (Her Sunday Dinner Menus always make my mouth water)
4.  http://creolecontessa.blogspot.com/ (I have a few recipes of her's that I can't wait to try)
5.  http://theboysclub.net/ (I can't wait to try the beautiful cocktails on this site.)
What are some of the websites you are loving? Link them in the comments!

The Friday Five

***Today is the final day to enter my first ever giveaway! Giveaway closes at 11 p.m. CST. Details can be found here!***

Five of my favorite television shows of all time:
The Cosby Show

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A Different World

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Martin

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Frasier

VIA

ER

VIA

What are some of your favorite shows past or present?

The Friday Five - Things I Need To Do This Weekend

1. Clean this table
2. Hang these accessories
3. On this wall
4. Find a photo or a 'something' for this wall
5. Put up ALL of my laundry. ALL OF IT!

How much of it I will get done is a whole other issue! LOL

The Friday Five

Five songs I've been rocking in my I.pod this week


Tevin Campbell: Goodbye "Cause I'm the T to the E to the V to the I to the N" 

The Temptations: Treat Her Like A Lady "Now I believe a woman should be treated with the utmost respect" These brothers can MOVE you hear me! LOVE LOVE LOVE The Temptations. Every time our family gets together we always have a Temptations sing off...dance moves and ALL!

The Police: Every Little Thing She Does is Magic Eighties music is the best! I also LOVE a good band. Live music beats all! I appreciate and respect musicians man. It takes skill to read music, carry a tune, timing, learning and playing your instrument! #Respect

Robin S: Show Me Love "Heartbreaks and promises, I've had more than my share" This song used to go so hard!! Her voice is so powerful! I rocks with Dance/House music yo!

Melody Gardot: Worrisome Heart "I would be lucky to find me a man who could love me the way that I am" I think I heard this on an old show Lipstick Jungle with Brooke Shields...I loved the show, love the song; her voice is lovely, the music is beautifully arranged...winner all around.

So what are some songs you've been rocking out to lately? Have a great weekend! Do something fun!

The Friday Five

Yaaaaaaaaay it's Friday!

I most certainly have lots going on this weekend. Haven't had a busy weekend like this since....two weekends ago! Lol


Five things I have going on this week include:

1. Friday night dinner with B. It's her turn to pick the restaurant. I love spending one on one time with her! She's great company!
2. Saturday B has a sleepover birthday/swim party #PraiseDaLooYa! Have to remember to get a gift.
3. My turn to plan Saturday date night with E! He's going to love love love what I have planned! Date night starts at 4 p.m. Saturday!
4. I will also be attending a birthday party for one of my fave people, Saturday night. I love celebrating!
5. Finally, Father's Day. We will be prepping one of E's fave meals: Grilled rib-eye, shrimp kabobs and homemade onion rings. His fave dessert is banana pudding but I'm going to make it into an ice cream: banana ice cream with carmelized bananas and vanilla wafer pieces...that dude looooooves ice cream!

What do you have planned for your weekend?

The Friday Five

It is Friday again!!!!!! Yaaaaaaaay! This has been a long week. LONG! And I have to come in tomorrow for a bit....Booooooooo Thank God for employment!

Five Things I Want To Do This Summer

1. Take B fishing...still gotta prove I can clean and gut a fish to this kid #MississippiGirl

2. FINALLY get passports for us...shameful I know

3.  Have a candlelight dinner in the backyard....after I make it pretty again!

4. Take swimming lessons....can't be drowning when we head to Destin at the end of summer!

5. Visit a local vineyard...there are several right here in Texas!

What are some of the things you plan to do this summer?

Have a wonderful weekend

The Friday Five

Overheard

“It must suck to worry about what others think of you and/or your decisions”...A dear friend

 

“Gigi, I had a bad day. Only watermelon can fix it”...Q, he got on the phone and sounded miserable about some watermelon! LOL

 

“My mom is not my friend, she is my mommy”...B is constantly telling her friends this.

 

“No, without explanation is a perfectly good answer”...this wise woman I know!

 

"You wouldn't have had to do anything. If I didn't want to share my gum or if I didnt have a enough to share with everybody, I would have never pulled the gum out! What kind of mean person does that?"...My kid. The miscreant...insert sarcasm

 

Have a wonderful weekend! To my teachers that are out for the summer...I am tres jealous...TRES! LOL

The Friday Five

It's Friday!!!!!

Here are five songs I've recently rocked out to:

Trunk Full of Amps (Explicit)

Someone I Used To Know

Devil's Pie "Eff the slice want the pie"

Bad Girl " beep beep heeeeyyyy toot toot" RIP Donna Summer

Bustin Loose " I feel like bustin loose, bustin loose gimme the bridge yall" RIP Chuck Brown

Have a great weekend!

THE FRIDAY FIVE

YAAAAAAAY! It's the weekend! If your week was anything like my week today is a welcomed close!

Following are 5 items I recently purchased:

This will be the base for a delcious salad dressing



I bought these for a recipe but can't remember what recipe! LOL

This just sounded like something I needed...and it was on sale!

This salad dressing is soooooooooo good! After I bought one to try I went back and purchased the remaining ones!

B wants a real deal church hat. Until that time comes
when she can wear one, this is her church hat head band. LOL

I have no idea why my photos are blurry!! Hope you all have a great weekend! Do something fun!