Run for the Roses- Arizona style!

And they're off! One thing I really miss about Kentucky is the horses; in particular the horse racing. My family and the court they live on always have a Derby party. Ever since I moved away from Kentucky I have continued the tradition at my house (or someone's house).

This year was a little different. Like i've mentioned before, settling into Phoenix has been a little difficult for Hubby and I. We just haven't been able to meet many people. Not finding a good church we fit into has been a big factor as well as the second shift fiasco Hubby had to endure for 6 months.(Yay for being on first shift again!) My work friends all live in the east valley about 30-40 minutes away and not to mention we haven't signed up for cable yet. Having a derby party just wasn't in the cards for us this year. So, we decided to mix it up a little this year!

Phoenix has their own horse track a little north of us called Turf Paradise. Cheesy name and not at all like Keeneland but it was the best we could ask for. They were having their own derby celebration and with the price of admission to the track you got an official derby glass! The glass came empty and I still had to pay for my mint julep but I was a happy girl.

There were local races going on every 30 minutes at the Turf Paradise track and they offered betting for several other tracks including Churchill Downs.

Hubby and our friend Robin in the Grandstand!

I won the first race we put a bet on!

Me and our friend Robin

We had a lot of fun! We bet on both the local races and Churchill Downs race, including the derby. We lost more money than we bet but that's part of the fun right!?

Next year we might have to go to the actual Derby since Hubby's never been... Who wants to join us!?

xoxo,

What you missed during my blog vacation...

So, I guess you’ve noticed. I took a little hiatus from blogging… all right, all right, a LONG hiatus! My apologies! I guess I just haven’t been in the mood to blog. Moving to Arizona hasn’t been the greatest thing for my cheerful mindset. We moved away from a lot of things (and people) I loved and adapting to Arizona life has been harder than expected. But none the less, Hubby and I have had a TON of fun, even if it is just the two of us!

Here’s a little of what you missed…

4^th of July

Kane still loves the pool!

We went to Vegas for my dad’s pool tournament

We visited the Hoover Dam

 We flew back to Atlanta for an amazing lake weekend with our awesome friends!

We flew BACK to Atlanta again for a wedding

 Kane turned 9 years old!

I went to my first major league baseball game (Go Diamondbacks!)

That's pretty much the highlights! But, I'm back to blog land! No more vacations like that again for a while- I promise! Fall is coming and hopefully we'll start to see some milder temperatures. I'm just hoping for less than 100 degrees! Until next time...

xoxo,

The best part about May...

May was a crazy, hectic, fun-filled month that ended with a moving trip across the country (see this post for details). I would do it again in a heart beat! Looking back at it all, I have to admit my favorite part of the month was being able to celebrate our one year anniversary with the best husband in the world. =)

On a side note, year old wedding cake really isn't all that bad!! Since I didn't get to eat any of the cake at the actual wedding, this was a real treat! Brown sugar cake with Nutella frosting. Delicious!
I love my husband!
xoxo,

Birthday Extravaganza!

This year, my birthday fell on Easter Sunday. So, Hubby and I decided to celebrate it the Saturday before! We jam packed the day with fun things to do...
First, we started the day with brunch at one of my favorite Atlanta restaurants: The Flying Biscuit.

I had an out of this world egg white omelet with all my favorites in it and a to die for fluffy biscuit. The biscuits are simply amazing. If you haven't had one, stop what you're doing and go there right now.

You can get a 1/2 dozen to go.
You won't be sorry.
seriously.

After that, I had to get my car's emissions checked. Stupid Dekalb county requires it. That's the only depressing thing about your birthday- your car taxes are due!

Hey! Happy Birthday! Pay $200 in car taxes! Baloney.

Next Hubby and I signed up for a Wine Class as part of a groupon I bought a few months back.  It was meant to be April's date in Hubby's monthly date present.

The wine class was at a little wine boutique in Midtown. The lady teaching the class was very knowledgeable but she was also a little intense. Still, we learned a lot! For instance, did you know you are supposed to store all left over wine in the fridge? Even red wine!

Once the wine class ended, we headed over to Buckhead Church for a Saturday night Easter service with some of our friends from small group. It was a good message, you should check it out!

After church, we all drove over to The Sound Table for a birthday dinner! It was delicious. It was one of those eclectic places in the middle of Old Forth Ward which should tell you something right there. There were some interesting painting on the wall outside the restaurant...

 

Right across the street from the Sound Table is this funky little bar called Sister Louisa's Church. I've heard that it's definitely a place you need to go to at least once, just to say you've been. So, after dinner everyone decided to see what it was all about.

Let me tell you, this place is CRAZY. Once you get inside, there are pictures of Jesus and Jesus memorabilia EVERYWHERE. Some of the things were funny and others pretty offensive. They had pews to sit in and choir robes to wear around. They have pipe organ karaoke once a week. It was overwhelming! Hubby and I decided to try out the choir robes...

We had a pretty fun time! We love our small group! I'm really going to miss all of them =( Hopefully we'll make some good friends like them in Phoenix too. Chances are slim any Phoenix friends will be as cool as our Atlanta friends though...

Disclaimer: I know I am like a month or more behind on posting this stuff but I WILL catch up! I promise. Its been pretty hectic around here with our impending move and vacation (woohoo!) So keep checking back as I will update the blog as I can! Stay tuned for pictures of the derby and Hubby's big 3-0 birthday par-tay coming soon!!

THIRTY.

Its official, I'm THIRTY. That's going to take a lot of getting used to. It doesn't sound old when I'm referring to someone else's age, but when it's in regards to me: Its OLD. Well, in honor of my birthday, I thought it might be appropriate for you to get to know me a little better!

30 things you may not know about me:
1. my favorite food is artichokes
2. As a kid, I wanted to be a geologist when I grew up.
3. One of my favorite shows on TV right now is "Suits" on USA. Hubby and I LOVE it! I think it comes back on this summer.
4. I can fall asleep just about anywhere
5. I celebrate Christmas in July every year on July 25th.
6. I forgive and forget at the drop of a hat. Drives Hubby nuts sometimes.
7. I can't stand it when someone is a loud chewer. or worse, talks with their mouth full. ugh.
8.  I used to wait tables at Rafferty's. I was a terrible server. But now i have a TON of respect for those folks.
9. I'm a good tipper, at least 20% unless you did a crappy job. then you get 15%.
10. I refuse to be my husband's dietitian. It might ruin our marriage.
11. I used to live in Koln, Germany for 1 year when I was 7.
12. I've been camping in the Amazon jungle.
13. I love sushi. Especially the spicy tuna roll. yum.
14. I love to read blogs. I follow waaaaaay too many. I can spend hours on my google reader!
15. one of my favorite candies are Jelly Bellies. I like to eat them one at a time. They say you can make "recipes" by combining a few flavors to make new ones but I think that's a waste. They last longer if you eat them one at a time.
16. My hair is poker straight. It will not do anything for me. If i curl it, 15 minutes later, its straight again.
17. I love Mediterranean food
18. I love Thai food.
19. I like to eat. eating is my favorite.
20. My favorite girl scout cookie flavor is Tag-a-longs
21. I get super stressed out in traffic, especially Atlanta traffic...
22. I've ran (and finished) a 1/2 marathon
23. I fractured my right wrist twice when I was a kid
24. I used to run hurdles on my high school track team.
25. I got detention twice in high school, once for talking during our morning prayer and once for skipping school on senior skip day.
26. My favorite color is kelly green.
27. I have quite a bit of Kentucky pride. One might go as far as saying I bleed BLUE.
28. I had a bunionectomy done on both of my feet- but not at the same time!!
30. I feel deeply guilty if I haven't posted on the blog in a while ...even though my sister is the only person who read it!!


There ya have it! Hopefully you feel a little more acquainted with me. Looks like this celebration of me is just about over... Hope every one had a beautiful Easter!


xoxo,

Kiss me I'm (partially) Irish!

Whew! Finally getting around to our St Patrick's Day Weekend post! We were super excited about St. Patrick's Day this year because we were finally going back to my beloved Savannah for one of the greatest holidays. Savannah is one of the biggest St Patrick's Day celebrations in the nation. This year, it was on a weekend so it was projected to be the biggest celebration the city had ever seen. To boot, it was one of my bestest friend's birthday- whom I hadn't seen in ages and she was coming to celebrate too!!!!! So you can see why I was so excited! We came down with another super fun couple from Atlanta and stayed in a hotel right downtown in a great location!
Our first stop was to Wet Willie's to sample the famous concoction known as the "Call-A-Cab" It was delicious!

Hubby and I decided to share, because that's what obnoxiously cute couples do right?

Darienne and I enjoying the bea-utiful Savannah weather!

Nick makes friends EVERYWHERE.

Later that night we had a birthday dinner for my friend's birthday at one of our favorite restaurants, Cha Bella and then out on the town.

The next morning we had big plans to go to the Rail (one of our favorite bars in Savannah) for their annual free St Patty's day breakfast but after going out the night before and finding out about our hotel's super awesome complimentary hot breakfast bar, we decided to sleep in to get ready for the world renowned parade!

Waiting for the parade to start in front of the beautiful azalea bushes

There's a tradition at the St Patrick's Day Parade to kiss all the Army Cadets with red lipstick on and leave big red smooch marks on their cheeks.

Definitely lots of fun was had. It was an incredibly long parade- 4 hours or so. We left before it ended because we ran out of refreshments. Enough said! After the parade we headed back to the hotel to recharge and refuel before heading out again that night!

Got to hang out with some great friend i miss terribly!

Hubby, donning his best St Patrick's day apparel

Got to hang out with more great (and creepy) friends =) haha jk love ya Paul!

The weekend definitely lived up to our expectations. There were a ton of people there- I am not sure if it was close to a million people like the news projected. We had so much fun, but we missed seeing a lot of other friends in Savannah. I guess that means we'll just have to go back again! Maybe next time I'll get to go to the beach too. Who wants to come with me?!
xoxo
 

Craftiness is back! Week 8 and 9...

Ok, so I know I am a little behind on posting my weekly crafts. Yeah yeah, so I am waaaaaaay behind. It's been a crazy whirlwind last few weeks. But, never fear! I still managed to be crafty! (I knew you were worried) I decided I'll start with revealing weeks #8 and #9 first and then reveal #10 and #11 at a later date. Keep you all on your toes. Yeah, i didn't realize i was that behind either.

Anyway, I'm pretty excited about these crafts! For week 8 I saw a frame on etsy.com that I totally fell in love with and decided that I had to make one for myself! I wrote our first dance song on a picture mat and placed a picture of our first dance inside and Voila! Instant unique picture! Isn't it cool? I wish i had more interesting handwriting though. Mine is a little plain. I tried to dress it up a little by adding some curly cues but it looked forced. So plain Melissa handwriting it was! I still like it.

For week #9, in honor of one of the greatest holidays ever, I made a cute candy dish!

I love it! I used an empty mixed nuts container, covered it with scrapbook paper and added one of the yummiest Hershey's kiss flavor ever- creme de menthe. They taste just like soft Andes mints. YUM. I highly recommend. I think this craft is a very appropriate considering this weekend we're going to party it up for St Patrick's day!! Hope everyone gets to drink a green beer this weekend, if not, I'll drink one for each of you!

Cheers!