Philly - Through the Eyes of a Hubby

My husband does not take pictures of everything like I do.  As much as I try to get him to get into this blog thing, he just doesn't seem to want to.

At one point in time, I thought I had him talked into at least writing a post or two every now and then, but that fantasy didn't last long.  I have told him that he has the best job to take pictures; next month he's traveling to Canada, San Marcos and Los Angeles.  What better job to take pictures of everything?  I know that if I had that job, my blog would be twenty times more interesting.  But alas, my job is full of trucking and telephone calls, and not fun traveling, so I have to rely on him to take pictures of things.

So during our trip to Philly, he did happen to snap a few...  

That last picture is from a bar that I'm pretty sure had the name rooster in it.  And if you've seen my kitchen, you know I looooove roosters.  I'm kinda mad that guy's jacket was in the way; or I'm mad that I was too lazy to get up and take a picture around it.  Either, way, you can sort of tell that it's a rooster.  

I have threatened B's life if he doesn't take any good pictures while in California.  Because I'm sure that I won't be headed there any time soon.

I do love my crazy little  B.

So Happy Together...

As I mentioned earlier this week, we had our friends in from Eclectic.  We had planned out our most favorite things to do, which included the trip to Cocina Superior, followed by a night out on the town at Blue Monkey Lounge, one of our most favorite bars in Birmingham.  

Blue Monkey is a great chill bar.  During the happy spring/summer months, you can sit outside at one of their many tables, and enjoy a martini on Martini Tuesdays ($5!!).  Definitely try the Blue Monkey Martini.  It comes with a side car, so it feels like you're getting two for the price of one.  Plus the service there has always been fantastic.  They have super sweet bartenders inside, and super sweet waitresses that come around to the tables, both inside and out.

And if you find yourself deep inside the bar, there's a sweet piano man named Steve, who, while plays the same songs nightly, definitely has a way with the crowd.  I will always have a soft spot for him, since he let me kiss his bald head during my Bachelorette party checklist.  

Here's a few pictures from the weekend...

L and her sweet hubs. 

L and I cheesin.  Also note the introduction of the much darker hair to the blog. 

Our two dogs.  You know, fighting over a toy.  Like there weren't fifty million other ones on the floor.

I am not embarrassed to have a half drunk picture of myself in a scarf that is not mine looking like a complete goob on the blog.  One day I'll be thankful that I looked like this.

Our super sexy hubbies dressed exactly the same.  We couldn't believe it.  Couldn't believe it even further when neither one of them changed.  Ha.

It was such a great weekend.  These are the cats that are coming with us to New Orleans (plus another super sweet girl and her boyfriend) at the end of March.  Heck yeah; sinners unite.  We will be in NOLA for Easter.  

And I can't wait.  You know.  Cuz L; you're the devil.  :)

Cocina Superior - Birmingham

i really thought this place was a chain.  but through my google search, i find out that this may truly be a Birmingham thing.

which sort of makes me happy.  anything that is uniquely Birmingham makes me happy these days.  it seems this little city of ours keeps getting more and more awesome.  which is good, because it makes me not miss the idea of Austin so much.

i'm guessing Austin will happen eventually.  i just need to keep my spirits up, and it will happen.  

anyway, this weekend, while we had our Eclectic (yes, that's a city in Alabama; not using it as an adjective here) friends in town, we decided to go to this place for some much needed Mexican inspired spirits.

Cocina Superior is located on the outskirts of Brookwood Mall in Homewood.  and it is fantastic.  i mean, if you're not looking for hole in the wall Mexican food; the price range is slightly pricey for Mexican food, but it is definitely worth it.

via

for some reason, i've been forgetting to take pictures of the outside of the restaurant, but so conveniently (and duh), the restaurant has a pretty outside picture on their website.

the el chango.  quite possibly the best drink on earth.  it's frozen sangria and margarita swirled together topped with a shot of chambourd.  i recommend only one if you are driving.  this thing will hit you pretty fast.

i had the enchiladas suizas (and then proceeded to leave the amazing left overs on the table), and B had the blue-corn tortilla stacked enchiladas.

I also read somewhere this week that some restaurants were planning on banning people from taking pictures of their food.  I don't understand this for many reasons...

1.  it's free PR people.  most people I've seen aren't credited food critics.  like myself.  I very rarely say anything bad about any food, ever.  and I'm not sure why showing pictures of it would hurt anyone.

2.  banning pictures isn't going to save the restaurant from bad reviews.  food critics have been writing bad reviews for years, without having the proper photography to go with it.

3.  even Anthony Bourdain takes pictures of his food (read: The Layover:  New Orleans.  He takes a picture of a po'boy).

anyway, please correct me if this is a chain.  i had a hard time finding another one on google.  but maybe since i live in Birmingham, google's being a little biased...but on the off chance you're in Birmingham for a night and want to try some high-class Mexican food, definitely head to Cocina Superior. 

My Sweet & Simple Weekend Project

Lately B and I have found ourselves on a mission.  A mission to complete this house that we live in.  Since I got all emotional in a post about not moving to Austin last week, B and I have decided to do all these projects on our sweet little home, that we were otherwise just going to forget about.

Among the massive projects include a backsplash, a porch, and the mack daddy of them all, another bathroom.  Yes, our poor house only has one bathroom.  And I hate that pretty much every day I live here.  Although we're still conflicted on where to put said bathroom, but that is a post for much much later down the road.

You know, when we're rich.

But, to keep it on the cheap, I wanted a new lamp for our bedside table.  I've had the same one for quite some time now, and I was ready for a change.  And some color.  So this past weekend, bestie L came up for the weekend, and we hit Homegoods.  And there I saw it...the perfect lamp!  Except, well, it wasn't exactly what I had in mind....

This is what the lamp looked like before.  Yes, on top of our trash can.  

And this.....

is after a bright shiny coat of key lime green spray paint.  It's my little artichoke.  

And I love him.

Plus he looks fantastic with the key lime pillows in our bedroom.  I so love a good can of spray paint.  It can turn a blah, 50's style lamp into something completely modern.

So proud of it.

We also have a fun bathroom mirror facelift coming up this weekend...can't wait to share!

Weekend Randoms.

Weekends are for having fun.  I am of the school that I work to live.  I have been ridiculed lately for leaving work exactly at 5pm.  However, I don't see anything wrong with this.  I get to work at seven in the morning.  And I work my butt of when I'm there.  So if I'm done, I don't see anything wrong with leaving on time. 

I'm very good at budgeting my time at work.  So when it's exactly five on a Friday, I am out of there.

And then it's time for fun.  So here's a few randoms from the past couple of weekends.

birthday cupcake from Brandon.

DJ on his first night out as a Daddy.

Rockefeller pizza at Slice in Birmingham.  Yes, those are fried oysters on that pizza.  I'm telling you; I could seriously eat pizza every day for my entire life.

Long-legged dog.

Ingy at our decompression session.

Enjoying some rye on a Saturday afternoon.

B and Joey talking about who knows.  They were both so into this conversation, they didn't know the picture was being taken.

This weekend our friends from Eclectic are coming up to share it with us.  It will be filled with el changos (more on that of course), Blue Monkey choir, and perhaps some cupcakes.  So excited!

Hope y'all have a great weekend!

Tortellini Tomato Spinach Soup

My husband has given me the task of preparing dinner once a week.  It is in effort to help me learn how to cook.  I figured I would start out with easy things first.  The first time I made my jalapeno spicy burgers.  This time around, I went super easy and went for a yummy and fast soup.

So here ya go.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup minced onion (about 1/2 small onion)

1 clove garlic, minced

4 to 6 cups broth (chicken or vegetable)

1 (14 ounce) can whole tomatoes, crushed through your fingers or coarsely chopped * you guys, I just bought them crushed in a can, tomatoes with basil.  still turned out just fine *

1 (9 ounce) package fresh tortellini (Bertoli is just fine)

Salt and pepper for taste

10 ounces fresh or frozen spinach, defrosted and chopped.

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Directions:

In a 3-quart pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat.  Saute the onion and garlic (turn down the heat before adding the garlic or you'll fry it.  Yes ,this is from experience), stirring often until onions are translucent, about 5 to 7 minutes.  Add broth and tomatoes, turn heat up to high, and bring to a boil.  Add the tortellini and cook according to package instructions.  When tortellini is almost done, add spinach and taste, adjusting seasonings with salt and pepper.  Serve immediately.  Garnish each serving with a sprinkling of Parmesan

(adapted from foodnetwork.com)

Pair with a great red wine, and you have a simple but yummy, perfect for winter dinner.

And it makes a million left overs, which is never a bad thing.

My Dog is Cuter Than Your Dog

It snowed last week.  Yes, it snowed in Birmingham.  We couldn't believe it either!  It started at about 9am, and didn't stop until about 3pm.  It was just enough to gather a few inches of accumulation.  Nothing on the roads of course, no chance of us getting to leave early, but it did gather on the grass and cars.

B got to leave work early, of course, and got pictures of the cutest dog in the whole wide world playing in the snow.

Nothing better in this whole wide world.  She loves the snow.  She's nuts.  But I can't help but love that sweet sweet puppy head.

Time to Get A Little Serious....

Source: designyoutrust.com via Laura on Pinterest

 

 

It has been no secret to anyone that I want change in my life.  I want a new career, and I want to move out of Birmingham.  Our dreams were slashed to pieces when we found out that B's employer wasn't going to go through with the promotion.  It felt like our entire world shifted when we found out.  We begrudgingly took our house off the market, knowing that there was no possible move in sight.  We wanted nothing but to move to Austin, and now it seems that dream is even blurrier than before.

 

And again, my ambitions were put on hold.  I have forever wanted to be hair stylist.  It's just what I've wanted to do.  If I couldn't be a famous author or be a sports commentator, then I wanted to make people pretty.  And obviously the famous author part is not happening.  I can barely write a blog that people want to visit, and the sports commentator thing?  My anxiety with work just escalates every day.  The expectations and pressure make it even harder to enjoy my job.  And if you've ever dealt with any sort of truck driver, you know that it is no picnic.  It's difficult and discouraging most of the time.  

 

His promotion was going to allow for me to start to follow my dream.  Yes, I know that I went to a four-year college.  I get that it may have been an entire waste of time.  I graduated.  With honors.  But seven years later (holy crap), I am still not doing anything with the degree I earned.  And I'm still not happy with where I am in my career.  And it's nothing but heart break and frustration.   I get that it's a job, and it's not supposed to be fun, but when does the absolute dreading of every day end?  

That black board with all the restaurants that we wanted to try in Birmingham before moving to Austin?  It's still not erased.  I can't bring myself to do it.  I don't want to think that Austin is just a fantasy.  This is the first time I've allowed myself to be openly sad about it.  I love my little family here I've made; I love my husband and I love spending time with him, and of course I love my mess of a dog.  I feel selfish most of the time for being so unhappy, but it's not something that you can just push away.  

Sorry I had to get so real for a minute.  That's a whole bunch of stuff that just needed to come out. 

Another Visit to Butcher

B and I are completely obsessed with Cochon Butcher in New Orleans.  Ever since our first taste of that duck pastrami and pork belly sandwich, we have made it a must go to spot when we hit New Orleans.  Not to mention, just a few short blocks away is the home to the strongest daiquiris in the world.  Add those together, and a stroll around St. Charles Avenue, and you have the most perfect afternoon.  

Granted this is only when the weather is perfect.  I do not recommend when it was freezing (like it was for this trip, but we did it anyway) or when it's August.  Ever.  

Anyway, we decided to eat at our favorite place for New Year's Dinner.  Nothing fancy.  We just aren't fancy people.  And trust me you guys, it was a great decision.  We even got a sweet compliment from a stranger on our way there.  Something about us being a good-looking couple?  Shuxies.  We were pretty flattered.  

The table next to us had a Saved by the Bell table identifier...so jealous!!  I ordered probably the best BLT I've ever had in my entire life.  I can't remember what  B ordered, but I definitely won for better dinner.  And then of course, they have their home made chips, which can only make things better.

This is place is seriously the greatest.  We will definitely be hitting it up every time we go from now on!

New Nola Bars

I mentioned before that we had a car rented for the first day of our trip.  So we decided that we just had to go to some bars that we hadn't been to before.  We hit up Mid City Yacht Club and Fin McCool's on the recommendations of Yelp!

Mid City is definitely a neighborhood bar.  Like people looking at you weird when you walked into the place.  I'm guessing their gimmick was their million different flavor-infused vodkas.  I mean, they had a Skittles infused, cucumber to go healthy, and all sorts of different kinds.  

B's first drink was a Hotty Toddy, and mine was some hot chocolate with rum in it.  That was not a good idea.  It was definitely not the best drink in the world.  However, the white Russian she made with the butterscotch infused vodka was pretty much the best thing on earth.

Next we ventured onto Finn Mccool's.. ..a neat little Irish (duh) inspired bar, with a ton of beer on draught.

We also tried out the Ave Pub on St. Charles.  Still reeling from a bit of a hangover from the day before, I didn't feel the need to pull out my camera.  And, I was too nervous about the Packers game that day.  Turns out I should have been, because they lost.  

They were also definitely a local bar, full of characters.  We met another Pack fan there, which was kind of neat, but there were definitely some crazies sitting at the bar.  Which I guess is what makes a New Orleans bar..