2000-late!

Well I certainly won't be winning any Blogger of the Year awards in 2011! So here's a post to stop my mom from nagging reflect on what exactly happened last year!

11 for '11

1. Life with a puppy!  There were a few Ellie-related challenges like this....

but mostly lots of love...

2. Daddy-Daughter time! For most of the year, my dad was working in Columbia and stayed with me a few nights a week.  Despite the fact that we ate out way too much (and the scale shows it,) it was great spending time with my dad.

3. iPhone! I made the much anticipated plunge into the smart phone world last spring! I went with the iPhone and haven't looked back. I. LOVE. IT.  More to come on my favorite Apps.  

4. Pin, Pin, Pin! I discovered Pinterest and it might have taken up my blogging time. Here's our Pinterest-inspired Thanksgiving centerpiece with fresh veggies (green beans, artichoke, upside-down turnips, and kale)...

If you need a Pinterest invite...leave a comment with your email address.  But you've been warned, it's addicting!

5. Junior League!  I'm joining the Junior League of Columbia.  Well, technically, I'm a provisional member this year, but so far so good!  I completed my group provisional project in December where we helped out with a Christmas party for Family Connection families.  I've enjoyed meeting new people and learning more about getting involved in my community.  

6. New Girl!  This new, funny, and quirky show on Fox is a new favorite!

7. Work!  My job kept me busy with some big projects like a successful advocacy training that got rave reviews and an almost finished website project.  I also attended a really good social media conference called Social Crush (now known as CrushIQ) and learned a TON.  

8. Out with the Old!  The purging, organizing, and cleaning started around this time last year when I carefully went through all of the Christmas decorations I had acquired. If it wasn't used, I didn't LOVE it, or I didn't have room for it....it was donated. I continued at the end of each season with clothes and other things cluttering my apartment.  Sadly, a lot of my clothes no longer fit (we'll get to that in another post.) The false hope of getting back in to those smaller sizes was taking up too much space in my closet. I finally resolved that WHEN I'm back in those sizes, I'll want new clothes anyway...so out with the old and in with a functioning closet and dresser. 

9. Gardening! OK, it was actually at the BF's house...but I helped! All the fresh veggies of last summer has motivated me to do more gardening in the coming year. Fresh salsa made with veggies from the garden...

The cayenne pepper plants produced a TON of peppers.  We used them in everything and dried some like this...

and made pepper vinegar and red pepper flakes....

10. Festivals around Columbia!  I loved going to the Oyster Festival, Crawfish Festival, and St. Patty's Day in 5 Points...

11.  New addition!  My sister is having a baby girl in May!  Here's my mom's reaction when she was surprised by the news...

So the family picture will look different next year!

TV Catch-Up

Hey, y'all! I'm not sure why it's been so hard for me to keep up the blog....basically since I moved back to SC an entire year ago! But it has. I haven't really been reading books or seeing movies, so the Sweet Tea Scale hasn't been put to use! I haven't cooked much and (brace yourself) haven't even been watching my usual TV shows. Which is such a change from before when I had not one, but TWO DVRs full of TV watching to do in DC.

The list of shows I've stopped watching is getting long! I lost complete interest in Brothers and Sisters after the big wreck in last year's season finale. No more Gossip Girl, Grey's or Private Practice either. And I haven't gotten in to a single reality show this year either....no Project Runway, Top Chef, American Idol, or Dancing With the Stars. I don't have HBO or Showtime anymore, so I didn't even see the final season of Big Love! Or keep up with US of Tara or Nurse Jackie.

Watching less TV isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially if I fill that time with something like working out. But that hasn't happened either. So I'm trying to figure out what exactly I do with all my time! I could probably cancel my cable all together if I didn't need it to watch the Braves!

Life has definitely changed since I moved- all good things. I'm getting involved in a few things(slowly but surely), met new friends, and started dating someone. So I'm perfectly okay giving up some old TV-watching habits for all of that! It's not that I don't watch TV at all, it's just that I'm not glued to it week after week watching a ton of shows. THe whole Quality over Quantity thing. So here are my top 6 shows of the year which have been, (in my humble opinion) Quality:

6. The Good Wife (CBS) I've always been a sucker for a good legal drama. (Matlock, Judging Amy, Family Law, Ed, Boston Legal, Law & Order SVU) I like the political spin and touch of personal drama on The Good Wife.

5. The Office (NBC) I'm choosing not to think about the fact that Michael Scott left Dunder Mifflin....but was happy with his happy ending.

4. American Pickers (History) A quirky show about Americans that like to collect things. I love seeing all the old dusty things they find that ends up being valuable.

3. Mad Men (AMC) Just plain good TV.

2. The League (FX) I had never heard of this show before I met the bf. I caught up quickly since the show was just in it's second season. It's about a fantasy football league- but don't count it out girls cause it's a good one. And another fun fact: My dog Ellie's name was inspired by the show!

1. Braves Games If this is ever NOT at the top of my list, something is seriously wrong with me. In which case, get me some help mmmmkkkkkay?

The bf got a Playstation 3 recently and I've actually enjoyed playing (MLB 11: The Show, duh!) I seriously haven't played video games since my Super Nintendo (Ken Griffey, Jr.'s MLB game)!!!! I had some adjusting to do since this is the last game I played:

(Remember having to blow the dust off of the game to get it to work??)

But I digress. The point of this story is that we can now stream my Netflix account through the PS3. The options are endless! We actually started watching the first season of Cheers and hope to make it through the entire series! I forgot how good that show was. So thanks to Netflix, I plan to catch up on a few shows I lost track of this year.

1. Glee

2. Big Love

3. US of Tara

4. Nurse Jackie

Anything I'm missing?

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...