One Year

of disbelief
of heartache
of tears
of emptiness
of remembering
of grief
of coping
of faith
of missing him
of rebuilding
of memories
of change
of love
of reflecting
of celebrating life
of life lessons
of living

Front Porch Friday: Spring Edition

Here are a few things seen from my "Front Porch" lately. (Click here for the Front Porch inspiration!)

Seriously delicious bruchetta and eating outside on a beautiful Carolina spring evening....

One smart bird picked a pretty spot for its nest in a dogwood tree!

Happy Weekend!

Case Closed!

Remember the Tale of the Mailbox Lizards? Yep, waaaaay back in December, there was a sneaky lizard that got in my apartment.

Ellie found it last week. The lizard was already dead. I have no idea where she found it...but she was really excited about her catch. G.R.O.S.S. Thank goodness my dad was staying with me and could get rid of it once and for all.

(This picture is deceiving- the lizard really was bigger than this image depicts!)

Hiatus.

I hope everyone is having a very Happy Spring! I've been rather busy with work conferences and well...life. I miss blogging though and am working hard to get back into a regular writing routine. So where have I been?

St. Patty's Day in 5 Points! It was the first time I've been since college...and still lots of fun and good music. The Dirty Heads were awesome and now on my iPod!

One of my work conferences was in DC and marked my first trip back since I moved almost a year ago. It was great seeing friends and eating at a few of my favorite places! I still haven't found any where else that makes Panang Chicken like Urban Thai!

My friends introduced me to a new DC restaurant called SEI. Everything was delicious, but especially the Asian Pear Sangria!

I had not seen Shira since she left for South Africa last year and we had an long overdue reunion!

Other than that, I've been glued to my new iPhone over the last week or so. That's right! I finally took the plunge after being without a smart phone for a year...it was time! I'm loving it even more than I thought I would! I'm welcoming your app suggestions!

So the Braves are back on my TV, daylight savings has kicked in, and it's going to be in the high 80's this weekend.....I'd say all is right in the world again!

A time to Sow

I was inspired by a Southern Living article about planting strawberries. They made it look sooooooo easy. Their version was simply planting 3 strawberry plants in a metal colander and hang it up, letting the strawberry vines grow down the side of the container.

I already knew I wanted to plant some herbs in a window box container (had to get them off the ground so the dogs won't bother destroy them.) So on a trip to Lowe's, I picked up these hanging baskets ($5 each) and a package of 10 strawberry plants ($4.) We'll see how it goes! Hopefully in a few months, we'll have fresh strawberry shortcake galore!

On to the Herbs...

It's been 2 years since I had my first little garden. I missed it last year. So I'm getting an early start and planted Basil, Rosemary, Cilantro, and Oregano seeds ($5 for all the seeds) in these window-box type planters. It might be a tiny bit early to plant the herbs...but I can easily bring them inside if the weather gets too cold.

And that's the beginning of the summer garden!

For more herb garden inspiration- how fun is this one....

Image (and building instructions) from Hubpages.com

or this one perfect for a small space...

Image from Apartment Therapy

Spring-Like Weekend!

The weather last weekend was such a treat and relief from the dreary wintry weather we've had lately! I wanted to be outside and enjoy it...so much so that I agreed to help the BF with his yard work. We raked 15 bags of pine straw among a few other outside projects. I was sore the next day and don't want to see a pine needle for a very, very long time. But can't complain too much to be able to enjoy a day like this! (Plus, I was rewarded with dinner at Moe's Italian Grapevine....another yummy Columbia restaurant!)

A few flowers and buds are peeking through! The promise of spring...

29

I recently celebrated a birthday (last one in my 20's!!) It was a week of celebrating with a trip home and a yummy shrimp and grits birthday dinner at my mom's. Then I had my actual birthday dinner at Pawley's Front Porch where I opted for the Beaufort burger. (Tuesday's are half-price burger night, for anyone that still needs to try them!) My co-workers took me out for lunch one day at Miyo's (another favorite!)



Then we had a party with friends and family here in Columbia. Two of my sisters made the trip to Columbia for the party!

I spent the afternoon in the kitchen chopping veggies, making an easy veggie pasta, cupcakes, and Paula's spinach artichoke dip. My dip, along with my sister's buffalo chicken dip, were definite crowd pleasers!

Some friends came over (one of which was also celebrating her birthday) and made a big, delicious, (and Texas style SPICY) seafood boil. I was too busy licking my fingers to snap any pictures of it! But you can imagine a giant pot of shrimp, scallops, crab legs, corn on the cob, and potatoes. YUM!

The dogs even decided to join in the fun and sneak a few chocolate cupcakes for themselves....

But who can stay mad at a cute face like that for very long?

The week of birthday celebrating started 29 off in the happiest of ways!

You know you have a dog when....

Over the last month, I've been adjusting to life with Ellie! Here are a few things that have changed....

-I now have a jumbo lint roller at home, one at work, one in my car, and one in my purse. And can still usually find Ellie hair on my clothes at any given time.

-I have found more than one dog treat at the bottom of my purse.

-As if it's not bad enough that I have to look at it, but I've caught myself talking to people about Ellie's poop.

-If you look close enough, you can see doggy claw prints have picked up most of my tights.

-I got a virus on my computer as I was trying to print out a coupon for dog food.

-I should have bought stock in Febreeze and carpet cleaner...the two back to back deworming treatments were not kind to my carpet!

-You can now always spot some sort of doggy toy or treat in my grocery bags.

-The installation of a doggy door was honestly a life-changer.

I definitely had a few doubts. Especially the two weeks when I had to get up every 2 hours during the night to take her outside in the freezing cold. Let's just say she did her share of fertilizing. But she's worth every brush of the lint roller and spray of Febreeze when she greets after work or curls up to go to sleep at my feet. From the amount of tail wagging she does, I think she's as happy in her new home as I am having her here!