Week with Mama

I've been off this week in anticipation of starting my new job on Monday (eeekkk!!).  So, Mama and Cheyenne came Saturday evening.  I'm embarrassed by the lack of photos I took this week, but we had such a great time!

I loved being able to set the table and cook for them!  I made PW's Spinach and Artichoke Pasta (I added shrimp) with salad and homemade strawberry ice cream!

Sunday, we went to Sunday School and church and then hit up the Catfish Plantation for lunch before heading to the airport to drop Cheyenne off.  She had to start school on Monday so she didn't get a very long visit.

We decided to stop at Central Market and buy some steaks to grill.  While we were there, I picked up some cheeses for a fun cheese plate before dinner!  

Monday, Mama and I headed to the Big D to do a lot of shopping!  And we spent Tuesday in Ennis and Waxahachie wondering around the small towns.  It was so nice to have Mama here because Wednesday I put her to work!  She helped me clean out the second guest room and the back porch.  It was so nice to have someone else to help me be productive!

I can't wait for her to visit again!!

Restaurant Week

Like most areas across the country, Dallas has an annual Restaurant Week where upscale restaurants provide a set menu at a reduced price, all to benefit a charity.  Dallas' Restaurant Week is sponsored by HEB's Central Market and benefits the North Texas Food Bank.  Henderson and I decided to take advantage of this week to celebrate my last day at the firm.  Last night we went to Morton's in Uptown.  The funny thing is I've been to the Morton's in Chicago, so I thought they would be exactly the same with dark wood and a little old school.  But I guess they really cater to the area as this one was a little more hip.

We got to order an appetizer, entree, side, and dessert.  They were smaller portions that the regular menu (excluding the filets we had) but they certainly filled us up!  Besides the filet, I had an Ahi tuna tower, horseradish mashed potatoes, and creme brûlée (honestly, my creme brûlée is better!).  The meat melted in our mouths!  It was delicious and a great way to get out of the house!

This was our attempt at a selfie...

Fortunately, our waitress volunteered to take our picture (and my new profile pic!).

The booth beside us was actually a proposal!  So excited to see her reaction!

Can't wait for our next date night!

Weekend on the Coast

Saturday morning, I woke up bright and early to catch a plane to see one of my best friends for the first time in a year!!  Saturday night was Katie and Kyle's engagement party and I knew I wasn't going to miss it!  Sadly, Henderson was on call so he didn't get to come.

Katie picked me up at the airport before 10 and we headed to Michael's to buy some frames for the party.  Next, she took me to downtown Ocean Springs where I saw the church and the reception spot.  They had some beautiful stuff in the cute stores in OS.  We also went and looked at some Walter Anderson prints.  I'm in love with the one below and may have to get it!

I wanted some seafood for lunch (since I live in Dallas, I don't get much fresh seafood), so we headed to McElroy's.  Apparently, they were having a VW convention!

My mom ended up being on the coast to visit Allen, so we swung by his construction site for a few minutes to catch up!

Here's Katie getting all the pictures ready!

About to head out to the party

Before all the guests got there

Katie made these sweet boxes filled with special items to ask us to be her bridesmaid!  It was so thoughtful and I know it took a lot of time.  I can't wait for the next few months!

with the bestie!

The next morning, Kyle brought us breakfast in bed!  Isn't he a gentleman??

Getting up at 5 am on Saturday morning and staying out until almost that late on Sunday morning, made me super tired.  So, I was so surprised and excited to see this plate when I walked in the door Sunday evening!

Henderson made Paula Deen's herbed pork tenderloin, her buttermilk mashed potatoes (officially my go-to mashed potato recipe, now!  they were soooo good!), peas, and cornbread!  Delish!!

I then promptly got in the bed at 7 and woke up at 7 this morning!  

It was such a great weekend and I can't wait to keep celebrating Katie and Kyle over the months to come!

Phone Dump Friday

Beautiful sunflowers straight from our garden.  

I needed some pants hemmed and Henderson knew exactly what to do!

Celebrating the end of the week with a coworker and Skittles Sangria

Henderson's new (older) ride!

Dixon turned four years old the other day!  Love this puppy dog so much!

Road Trip part II

Monday, after leaving the Fairview, we headed to Eupora to spend a little time with the family.  We met Mama and headed to Starkville for lunch at Oby's, with Christie.  Then we had to do some shopping, which involved some pottery buying, of course!

Before we left Starkville, we got a tour of the new football practice facility.  So neat!

Tuesday night, Mama had the family over and I got to love on sweet baby Preston.  

Wednesday, we all headed back to Jackson.  Mama had surgery and we all wanted to be there.  Of course, a picture had to be taken!

We left the hospital late Wednesday night to head to the last leg of our trip: Leighton!  I failed to take any pictures but we had a great time visiting with Henderson's grandparents, hanging out at Will and Brooke's pool, and getting some much needed time with the family.  

We headed back late Saturday afternoon, and we haven't slowed down since!  Now that we've visited all of the family, it might be time for a trip to Texas for them!  :)

First Anniversary

Sunday morning, Mimi fixed us her famous French Toast breakfast before we headed out to celebrate our first anniversary!

My sweet husband at one of my favorite places - Julep.

Ahhh, Julep's famous fried chicken and portobello fries!  

We spent the afternoon at the Renaissance, doing a little shopping and looking around.  After spending more than enough time in Williams-Sonoma, we headed to the Fairview Inn.  We stayed at this bed and breakfast on our honeymoon night and thought it would be special to spend our first anniversary there.

We got all spiffied up and had our picture taken at the Fairview...

and at Table 100.  

We had such a great dinner, but decided to forego dessert since we had wedding cake in the room.  

When I walked in our room, this surprise was waiting!  Champagne, roses, and chocolate covered strawberries!  

We also had our wedding cake and a bottle of wine from our honeymoon.  

Funny story about the wedding cake.  This is not our top layer.  While we were eating it, I thought it was.  Apparently, I had told my mom she could throw it out over Christmas.  So, when I called her in June and asked her to send it to Jackson, she had the lady who made my cake make another layer!  

It was delicious and fresh!

Monday morning, we headed downstairs to enjoy a delicious southern breakfast.

And took a picture in the same spot we did last year.

We're officially an old married couple!  We had such a great day celebrating our marriage.  Next up, we headed to Eupora to spend a few days with the family!

Road Trip part I

On July 5, we woke up to head to Mississippi!!  We had a few places we wanted to stop so we decided to get on the road early.  Of course, we had to stop at Paul Michael's in Canton (TX, not to be confused with our final destination for the day, Canton, MS) and Marshall Pottery.  Henderson joked that everywhere we went on this trip I bought some pottery.  I see no problem with this.

We had packed up the leftover ribs and pasta salad from our Fourth of July feast to have for a picnic lunch.  We stopped right inside of Louisiana at a rest stop.  It was so much better than stopping at Sonic!

Crossing the river

In Mississippi!!

We headed straight to Mimi's where we were going to spend the next two nights.  

We went to the restaurant with her that night to see everybody.

Saturday, she and I went to the beauty shop to get pampered and then did some shopping after a lunch at Beagle Bagel, one of my favorite Jackson eating destinations.  Henderson was able to get some Bass Pro Shops time in (and I didn't have to go - win win!)

Since we had such a rich meal Friday night and we had reservations Sunday night to celebrate our anniversary, we decided to head to another Jackson eating tradition - The Cock of the Walk.  If you've never eaten here, you haven't lived.  You eat family style - they put enough fish and fries on one plate for the whole table - and you can order turnip greens and onion rings extra.  And those are your choices.  You eat on tin plates and drink out of tin cups.  And I can't forget the flipping of the cornbread!  It's right on the reservoir so you get such a great view too!  Can't be beat if you're looking for traditional Mississippi fare!

Up next: celebrating our first anniversary in Mississippi!

Fourth of July

I love celebrating the Fourth of July, but this year Henderson was on call and we were planning to head to Mississippi the next day.  So, we made a fun meal for just the two of us, as well as PW's Strawberry Ice Cream that I didn't take a picture of!  Truly enjoying our ice cream maker!

I watched Pioneer Woman's Fourth of July episode and studying her blog post about her favorite 4th foods.  I decided to make her Spicy Pasta Salad since I had gouda on hand, as well as tomatoes and basil in the garden.  This is officially my new go-to side dish for pot lucks.  It was even better the next day!

Henderson grilled some delicious ribs...

and I fried up some green tomatoes fresh from the garden.  We certainly missed our family, but we ended up with some great food and even got to see some fireworks from our back porch!  

And in between feeding our faces and missing our families, we are so thankful to be able to live in America, the land of the free and the home of the brave.  

Table Side

When we went to Canton a couple of months ago, we picked up two unfinished side tables and an unfinished sofa table.  They sat in the living room unfinished for two months.  I was off the first week in July and since Henderson had to work, I tried to work on a few projects around the house.  Finishing the tables was one of them.

I stained them all on the back porch.  It was cool (thanks to the fan) and shady especially at 10 in the morning.  

This is after they've all been stained.  Henderson added two coats of polyurethane to the tables (and a third coat to the tops of them.  

Here's the sofa table (the coke crates usually have blankets in them but they're in the laundry right now).

And here's my side table; Henderson's is too messy to photograph.  

We feel like it was a great $100 investment for three tables!  

Weekend with Friends

In late June, Lauren and Mark decided to drive over from Vicksburg, see our new house, and visit the big D.  It was so much fun getting to show them around town and entertaining in our home.  They got in about 11 Friday night and we stayed up until about 2 am just talking and catching up.

Saturday morning, we tried to do a photo shoot with Annabelle and Dixon. (Dixon loves Annabelle; Annabelle loathes Dixon.)  This was the best we could do. 

We headed into town and went to Tillman's in Bishop Arts District for lunch.  Their chicken fried steak is phenomenal!  Of course, we had to get their Table Side S'mores!  

Lauren and I did some shopping while Henderson and Mark did some bar hopping.  Win win!

Saturday evening, we grilled steaks.  It was so much fun to entertain in our home!  

We loved having them over, even though it was so quick!  Can't wait to see y'all again!