Halloween

When I was a kid growing up, parents would go back and forth every year about how we would celebrate Halloween and trick-or-treating. One year we would dress up and go door to door, and the next we would stay home and hang out, next year back to going out, then the next we would have a "Fall Festival" at church that night. I'm not sure why they did that, but oh well. When I went off to college, I thought my dressing up for candy days were over, but everyone wanted to go! (Flaskback):

I miss those days, and looking at that photo makes me feel like an old lady!! HA! Anyway, the last few years, I have just spent the night at home, eating candy. I don't get trick or treaters at my current place, but I'm thinking that when I move in a month or so, I may get them at my next place. :) Anyway, this year, I decided that I was going to carve a pumpkin, and I ended up doing it more than once. Ashley came over one night and then another night, I went to Sara's as she had never done it before!! I bought the simple carving kit at the local grocery store that came with some different patterns. I never used one of those before, and I was pretty happy with the results:

I did the haunted houses and the grim reaper. I felt like I should've won a cool prize for being so crafty, so if anyone is interested in giving me a prize, please let me know:)

Dress Shopping

So, I thought about posting a pic of my wedding dress on here because I'm dying to show it off, and Tunde doesn't usually read this, but I am going to wait on the chance that he decided to suddenly start reading:) I will, however, post a pic from the day I was trying dresses on and show you my second choice. I opted to look for a dress at the local YWCA because they have a special dress shop there and I was really into saving money. I only tried on 7 dresses total and got the 5th one. It was true for me, what some people say, that when you know, you know. I was happy to have some friends be there with me: Monica, Andrea, and Ashley. It's funny though: none of them are my bridesmaids, which is ironic. So, if you want to see the real thing, you will have to come or wait for pictures afterwards...but here is the 2nd dress I tried on and if I hadn't found another one, this is what I would've gotten:

I think I walked away with a great deal and I spent less than $350!! I've never heard of him before, but my dress is a Henry Roth. When I got home from getting the dress, I googled him. His dresses are incredible!!! And expensive. So, I say win-win for me. {wink}

Party Time

My BFF got married back in September and trying to be the best maid of honor I could, I gathered up the other bridesmaids and planned a fun bachelorette party for her (at the end of August-I know,I know, I'm wayyy behind). We started at the home of her sister-in-law, Erika, to all get into our ride:

There were a lot of girls there that I didn't know, but one that I am particularly close with:

This is a little bit dark, because we took it inside the limo, but this is my pal Deanna.:) Here's another view from inside:

It was a great night, with a great bunch of gals and I just wish I had taken more pics. I don't know much about the places we went to in Cortland, and I can't even remember their names. We did eat dinner at one place though and even though it was a bar, with typical bar food, they had fast service and the food was good. By the end of the night, I was thoroughly exhausted though...earlier on this same day, my sister got married, so I was busy, busy, busy. Here are a few pics of that day:

Hole in the Wall

I went here what seems like ages ago, but I am not very good at keeping up with this blog like I thought I would be. Regardless of that, I wanted to write a quick post about this little joint in Lynchburg called Isabella's. If you couldn't guess, it's an Italian restaurant. I had never heard of it before, then my friend Sara suggested we go, and I was up to try anything new. We went in for a quick lunch on a Friday afternoon and I opted for their special that day: Salad Greens with Grilled Chicken and Goat Cheese.

Since it was October, they were offering pumpkin cheesecake as the seasonal treat as well:). I would really like to go back to this place and try some of their other selections. It's located in a strip mall in Boonsboro (the nice part of town) but driving past, you wouldn't know it was there. Maybe this will give them a little bit of free advertising. Happy eating!

New Trend

When I used to live in Florida, I paid half the rent I do now, and I made more money than I do now. So, I would get my nails done in the salon regularly and hardly had any reason to buy nail polish and do it myself. Since moving to Lynchburg, that's no longer the case. :( I have gotten pretty good at doing my own nails though, so I'm pretty proud of myself. :) The trick for me is to do my left hand first, because I am left-handed. All of that to say, some ladies I work with also do their own nails, and they told me about this great new product called Crackle. You can paint your nails any solid color you wish, then use a top coat of crackle nail polish and it has a pretty neat affect:

The second picture was from when I used an orange base and black crackle top and tried to get creative for Halloween. The crackle comes in only a few color options right now, but I'm sure as it grows in popularity, more options will come available. It does cost a little more than people would pay for just regular nail polish, but because you only use one coat, it lasts for a while. Try Target or WalMart as they are usually cheaper than CVS or Walgreens.

Robin Alexander

One of my favorite places to eat in Lynchburg is a place downtown called Robin Alexander. They have amazing food, great atmosphere, and an extensive list of unique martinis. I'm sure that I have written about this place before, back around my birthday. There are some places that I go that I just get the same thing (Panera), but then there are other places that I want to have everything on the menu. This is one of those places!! So, one random night, Sara & her husband Bryan, and I just went out and got some food and had a great time. I got shrimp and scallop linguini with plum tomatoes, as pictured below:

It was sooo yummy and I was only able to eat half. So the bonus here is that even though Robin Alexander can be a bit on the pricey side, I got two meals out of this. Two thumbs way way up!!

Homemade is always the best

I love cooking! Honestly, I love food! I sometimes just wish things didn't take so long to make...for example, I really wanted a chicken pot pie but the store made ones (typically frozen) have very high amounts of sodium. So, I gathered all of the ingredients that I needed and set to work:

I bought some pre-cooked, cubed chicken at the grocery store and just kept it in the freezer until I wanted to use it. You can use left over chicken breast cut up, rotisserie chicken pulled off the bone, or try canned chicken in water. I use soup (1 can of cr of chicken and 1 can of cr of mushroom) because I was making a chicken pot pie and I like mushrooms as well. You can use cream of celery or two of the same or even a gravy base. I had a bag of frozen veggies that are the steam fresh kind you cook right from frozen. If you use other frozen veggies, you may want to cook them ahead of time. I also like to add potatoes to mine, so I sauted up some red potatoe chunks with olive oil, salt, pepper, and one of my fave spices~thyme. While the potatoes were on the stove, I made up a quick crust.

Pie crust is actually one of the easiest things to make and I'm glad my mom taught me a quick, easy recipe: Mix 2 cups of flour, 2/3 cup of shortening, a pinch of salt, and 5-6 tbsp as needed. This is enough to make a top and bottom crust. So I rolled out the two crusts, mixed all of the ingredients together, and ended up with this:

Then just bake for about 45 minutes @ 375 degrees and enjoy:) Do you like chicken pot pie? What are some of your variations on the recipe??

And since I was in the homemade mode I decided to get up the next morning and make myself some scrambled eggs & pancakes:

Roanoke Adventure

You would think that with Liberty University being in Lynchburg, there would be a lot of stuff to do and cool places to eat. Well, I guess there are some cool things, but it's not that big of a city as the nearby Roanoke and Charlottesville. Sara and I decided we should try and go to Roanoke one night a month to try a new place to eat and have a girls night. So far, we went one night in August and haven't been back, but we do so much other stuff together that it makes up for it. {lol} But, here are the few photos I have from that one fun night:

I'm not sure of the name of the restaurant we ate at, but the sushi in NC was much better! So was the service and the vibe of the place. After dinner, we went to a yummy spot Sara showed me called Bubblecake. They make all kinds of fresh, flavorful cupcakes and babycakes. I just saw on the news this morning that they are opening a 2nd location too!! The last picture is of a fountain that was near the restaurant and since I love fountains, I had to snap a photo...What do you like to do on a Friday night? Do you prefer to try out new places or stick with what you know is good?

A Helping Hand

So at my church we have three services a day and the production crew and band have to get there very early in the morning to set up and practice for the day. As part of the volunteer program this summer, I had to make breakfast for about 25 people twice. I didn't take a picture the frist time, but I made stuff to have breakfast burritos and a variety of muffins. This time I made french toast casserole and hashbrown casserole and I took pics. Working at Camp BaYouCa, I made this stuff often, but I had to make it on a much larger scale. This time around was much quicker. :) My friend Bethany would often help me make the hashbrown casserole and because the hashbrowns are frozen, it's torture on your hands because you have to use them to mix it up well:

Something Bethany always wanted me to add to the hashbrown casserole was meat. So, I decided to put it on top of the casserole and just wished she was closer so she could have some!! Looking at that hashbrown casserole makes me really want some french toast....so I might have to have that sometime this weekend...What are your favorite breakfast foods? Have you ever had hashbrown casserole or french toast casserole?

Work & Play

One Saturday at the end of July, I went with some work ladies around northern VA on a short wine tour. My friend Katie lives up in Charlottesville and offered that her husband would drive us around and we could spend the evening at her home since it's a little over an hour away. I didn't take anymore than the once picture below, and I'm bummed about it because we had a great time. We started out having lunch at Devil's Backbone and I had a delicious burger. Then we started hitting up different vineyards. Now, I'm not typically a wine drinker, so I ddn't think I would find much that I enjoyed. I do like the sweets and even some of the more semi sweet to dry whites, but I haven't found a red that I like yet. Too dry for me! After hitting up 4 or 5 places, we headed back to Katie and Ben's house and got ready to go out for some dinner. We went to a local place that Katie raved about at the outdoor mall in Charlottesville. I can't remember what I ordered, except that we had ordered nachos as an appetizer and I was so full from them, that I could barely eat it. I think it was a sandwich. Then we headed back to the house to play one of my favorite games: Geerheart. This game is super easy and super fun. Each person that plays makes up two or three clues and they all go into a bowl or hat. Then you split into two teams. Each team takes turns going through all the clues until they are gone in three rounds. The first round is like catch phrase: you can say anything other than what the clue is, the second round is charades: not talking, and the third round is like password: you can only say one word. But by the time you get to the third round, you have already gone through all of the clues twice, so even though you only have one word, it's pretty simple. If you have friends over and are lacking in the board games area, this is great! All you need is some paper, pens, and a bowl. Here is the only pic I got from the days events:

Have you ever been on a wine tour? What kind of wines do you like? What kind of games do you play with your friends?

Thinking Of You

If ever asked the question: "Would you rather be blind or deaf?", I chose blind every time. I am a huge music lover! So, this summer when my pal Sara kept asking if I wanted to go to some concerts, I was fully on board. I have never been huge on concerts and I can't say I have been to more than a dozen of them. Typically, I go to them when I am invited and it's free for me. {grin} We weren't picky about where we sat though, so we went with the cheapest seats in the house. The concert was a couple hours south of here in Raleigh, NC. We drove downt the night before, checked in to our hotel, and went to find some yummy dinner. Let me just tell you, this is the best shrimp & grits I've ever had:

They were so smooth and creamy and flavorful!! We were looking for seafood and after a google search didn't return much, we ended up picking the 42nd street Oyster Bar & Grill. Being that most of the menu was seafood, it was semi expensive and if you are on a budget, I wouldn't recommend it. If you are in the area and looking for a great seafood place and you plan to spend about $50 for two people, then you will love it! As mentioned int eh name, they do have a raw & steamed oyster bar. I didn't get them this time, but I am a fan of steamed oysters.
The concert wasn't until the next evening, so we got up early and headed out to a fun breakfast spot. Sara is a huge fan of Alice in Wonderland, so she had already scouted out a place she was wanting to try: Mad Hatter's Bakery. This place was yummy and had good portion sizes that were healthy and reasonably priced (about the same as a panera combo) and I picked something I knew I would like: Egg's Benedict:

I also grabbed that carrot bran muffin to eat later since we weren't planning on getting lunch, but having an early dinner before the concert. Not far from here, we headed over to the outlets and did some relaxing shopping and wandering around. I was able to find some birthday presents for friends and stay within my budget, which is always a plus! After hitting up all the stores we wanted to, we headed to lunch. Now, I have to preface this by saying I never thought I would want to eat sushi, but Sara was just itching to ease me into liking it. I made sure I wasn't going to try anything that wasn't cooked though. We went to Shiki Sushi and got their just in time to still get something off the lunch menu, making it a not too expensive meal. We started wtih calamari (how could you go wrong?):

Then I had my shrimp tempura (on the left) and spicy tuna tempura (on the right):

I have to say, with the green wasabi, I am a fan of the cooked things, but I don't like imitation crab, so I don't know if I will ever eat that kind...but I look forward to trying more:)
We then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the concert. I'm not sure why, but I really wanted to go 80's so this is what I wore:

The concert was super fun and I was not ashamed at all to sing along to all of the pop hits! I don't even own a Katy Perry CD, but I enjoy all of her music. My pictures didn't turn out too well being that they were taken from my phone and the lighting was always changing. But Sara got some online and put them on her blog (check the June archives~I'm behind I know) about our trip if you want to check it out. Happy reading bloggers!! 

Summer Salad

Since moving to Lynchburg, there have been two restaurants that I have come to really love. The reason for this is because they remind me of Florida and places that I would have eaten at there. One of those places is called Neighbors Place. They have all different kinds of menu options from burgers to sandwiches to salad to pastas. They have a variety of different prices and offer a full bar, which makes it popular for people looking to go out, as there are no "bars" in Lynchburg. This summer I went there with my friend Sara & her husband Bryan and got one of the most delicious salads I've ever ordered out. It was full of fresh spinach, egg, bacon, tomatoes, blue cheese crumbles, mushrooms, and my balsamic dressing on the side. I even got some grilled salmon on top. If you are looking for a good meal in Lynchburg, head to Neighbor's Place and enjoy yourself!!

NYC the Final Frontier

So, as I mentioned in the last post, we were about to eat some dinner after a loooong day of walking around the city and sightseeing. We ate at a place recommended by a friend of Sara's called Five Napkin Burger. They have several of these around the city and it was delicious! It's a gourmet burger place that is always busy, so we waited at least 40 minutes to get a table. It is a little but more pricey than your everyday Chili's or Applebee's though.

I'm sure that the burgers weren't on the healthy side either, but "when in Rome." {haha}
After dinner we headed back to the hotel and got some much needed sleep. Sunday morning we decided to take it a little but slower and slept in for a little while. We headed out for a late breakfast at my favorite NY eatery. Now, eatery might be too strong of a word. Ever since I can remember, my uncle Jeff has worked for Amtrak and gone to many different cities as his route often changes. One of those cities is the ole NYC and he shared a great place to get bagel sandwiches with me a few years ago on my first ever trip to the Big Apple. It's called Al & Am's Grocery. It literally is a small store with a deli counter that is about 8 feet wide and 30 feet deep. It's just a couple blocks up from Penn Station and we were able to head there from the train and grab our yumminess.

That tea is also delicious. I first had it when I spent the summer in China the year after I graduated college. They also have this kind of tea that is warm and, when you open it, the air reacts with molecules in the drink to make it cold. We ate our little meal at one of the places in NY that is dear to my heart: 30 Rock:)

Almost all of my favorite shows are on NBC and a couple of them are even filmed in Rockefeller plaza. We went to the NBC store and got our Jimmy Fallon shirts and my Parks & Rec sweatshirt. They had some other great t-shirts too:

We eventually made it over to our Broadway show as I described a couple of blogs ago. Since we didn't eat lunch, we were starving when we were done! So we headed to a pizza place just a couple blocks away called Carve at a recommendation from another work friend. They had GIANT slices of pizza with all different kinds of toppings, a build your own salad bar, and a glass case with delicious cupcakes in it too!! We each got a salad:

And a slice of pizza:

And a cupcake for later that night when we got to the hotel:

And any trip wouldn't be complete with Sara without stopping at a Godiva store:

Sara has a special kind of membership and gets free stuff almost every month. So, of course, we each had a truffle and a chocolate covered strawberry. :)

So, next time you are in NY, take the time to hit up some of these great places...or let me know about somewhere I should make a point to go next time!!