How’s everyone doing out there?  If I’m being honest – things have been stressful and anxiety-inducing, and a little burn out-y.  But here we are – living to live another day.

// We’ve listened to two really great podcasts lately – CounterClock Season 3 about the Pelley Prom Night Murders in Indiana.  It’s a good binge – 20 episodes that are all pretty short. And one we’ve been enjoying for a bit is Anatomy of Murders – most of them are solved so you don’t get that cliff-hanging feeling at the end.

// I’ve stopped working out in the mornings.  As much as I liked just changing into pajamas and hanging out when I got home, I didn’t like being completely worn out by the end of the day.  It’s obviously a personal preference, but I tend to have more energy in the afternoons, so I’m back to my after-work working out.

// We got an email today stating that the kids practiced a Code Red Lockdown at school today.  I can’t tell you how much this breaks my heart.  It absolutely tears me apart thinking about Sheffield and the other kids having to go through this.  The smaller kids call it a “bad guy” drill, and the principal urged us to talk to them about it this afternoon.  I don’t know how I can do it without crying.  I’ll try – I want him to understand why he needs to do that, but it’s not going to be easy.

// Speaking of school, we got the sweetest voicemail from Sheff’s teacher yesterday.  She told us that he was a great kid and that he’s a great leader, and she can always rely on him.  We get his first 9-week report card today, and I’m excited to see how he’s doing.

// Work has been tough lately – it’s been really hard adjusting to being back in the office every day, and to be honest, I hate it.  I drop Sheffield at school around 715 every morning, and then I pick up up at 245 every afternoon.  I miss being comfortable in my own home – and being able to knock out a load of laundry or dishes during a break.  Not to mention, we had someone quit, and I offered to help pick up some of the slack.  But it’s been a lot of the slack, and I’m beyond tired.  And confused most of the time.

// I’ve been trying to give myself a lot of grace lately – I’ve been trying to not force myself to get everything done in an evening, and been trying to turn work off by at least 6pm.  I read something that said to let kids just chill when they get home – they’ve had information shoved at them all day, and are exhausted when they get home from school.  I’ve been trying to come to peace with my body and the image of it in my brain.  I’ll never be happy until I can figure that part out – and my brain will never rest.

// Bennett and I get to see Jason Isbell this weekend – he’s requiring proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test to attend.  I saw he’s been doing this at his concerts- and he gets a lot of shit for being a liberal “country” singer, but I appreciate his efforts to not be a super spreader.

Ready for a full weekend of football and football snacks – hope y’all have had a good week so far!

It is Tuesday, right?  I definitely meant to get something up last week, but well, life gets in the way right?  There’s a lot going on at work right now – a lot of it makes me sad and upset, but that could fill books.

Last Thursday, B and I got a weeknight date night.  Those are always a real treat, and glad that my sister could watch the little booger for us.  The Revivalists have been on Bennett’s “must see” list for quite awhile, and even though we had to drive 45 minutes to Tuscaloosa to see them, it was worth it.  It was a really great show – and even though we didn’t get home until after midnight – I’d do it again.

I had to get up super early the next morning to make sausage balls for work.  In an effort to boost morale, I teamed up with another leader from another division and set up a tailgate to welcome the beginning of college football.  I was so glad at how many people participated, and my pimento sausage balls were amazing.  Sheffield got to go to his bestie’s birthday party that afternoon – they took him to a fun climbing place down in Hoover.  They said he had so much fun, so we are looking at getting a membership.  It costs about $40 a month, and you can go any time.

After we picked him up after the party, we drove down to my dad’s for the Labor Day weekend.  We got in pretty late due to other beach traffic, so we went straight to bed.  The next morning – I got up and got a good workout in.  Then I went on a bike ride around the neighborhood with my dad – we were just supposed to be getting the mail, but it was really nice to just ride around with my dad.  We spent the afternoon in the pool before getting ready to head out for dinner.  We went to Pompano Joes for dinner and happy hour and Sheff got ice cream for dessert. We got home just in time to watch the AU game – which they won, so hooray!

Sunday we had the most gorgeous beach day.  The weather was absolutely beautiful.  The water was calm, but definitely full of marine life.  We saw stingrays, dolphins and tons of jelly fish.  We packed it up around 130 (we’d been down there since 830, and it was starting to get super crowded!), and headed back to the house.  We spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the pool – Sheff took a nap for the first time in a long time, and dad busted out the margaritas and cards.  After Sheff woke up, we taught him how to play Black Jack – and before you judge, it was a great way to get some addition practice in.  He actually did a really great job.

Dad made steaks and potatoes for dinner and afterwards, we played a round of Scrabble.  We had some wine and watched the Notre Dame game before calling it a night.

Yesterday, we spent the morning in the pool and had burgers and hot dogs before leaving Florida.  It took us almost 6 hours to get home – so we made some dinner and went to bed super early.

It’s been a great couple of days filled with good food and family.  Hope everyone had a great three-day weekend!

There probably isn’t a pasta salad on this planet that I wouldn’t eat – I love everything to do with pasta, and this one is so simple and so delicious.  Will definitely be pulling this one out for barbecues, birthday parties and that just because I feel like eating pasta salad moments.

WHAT YOU NEED:

// 1 large tomato, diced

// 1 package (16 oz) bowtie pasta

// 6-7 oz brie (we picked ours up at Trader Joe’s – you get two little triangles for fairly cheap!) – cubed.

// 1 tsp salt

// 1 tsp pepper

// 1 tsp olive oil

// 5 oz fresh basil (we got ours in the produce aisle of a grocery store, pre-packaged, but if you’ve got a green thumb and can grow your own, have at it!!)

WHAT YOU DO

// Prepare pasta according to package – drain and place in large bowl.

// Add the rest of the ingredients to the large bowl and mix.

// Refrigerate 2-4 hours and enjoy!

The cheese melts and sort of gives the pasta its own sauce – and if you want more salt, just add it in.  I liked it just as much warm as I did cold – so if you want to eat it right after making, go for it!  It’s an amazingly easy dish to make, and it’s so so delicious!

 

 

I was so glad to see the weekend on Friday, it was ridiculous.  Work has been a steady ass-kicking lately, and any time I can get to just chill and hang out with Sheff is definitely welcome.

We did our Friday ritual of pizza and a movie – we got our favorite pizza from Donato’s and settled into Horton Hears a Who – and oh my gosh, what a cute movie that was.  Sheff is super into anything Dr. Seuss, so it was perfect.  B and Sheff ended the night playing some Switch, while I read.

Saturday, we got up and headed to Pepper Place.  With how busy our summer was, we hadn’t gotten a chance to go at all.  We picked up some okra, heirloom tomatoes, and some regular tomatoes.  We made BLT’s with the heirlooms this weekend, and they were so good!  We got some sausage biscuits from Monroe’s Meat, and headed back to the car.  We had some unused gift cards from Starbucks, so we picked up some coffees before running the rest of our errands.  We hit up a Mexican supermarket for tortillas, and ended up also getting some churros (SO GOOD!).  Then we headed to Ollie’s to let Sheff pick out a good week surprise.  He had a really good week at school, and Ollie’s has super cheap books and toys.  I even got seven hardcover books (books I’ve wanted to read!) for under $30.  We got home – Sheff played around while I did some cleaning and laundry, and B made a Mexican casserole.  In the afternoon, we headed down to K & J’s Elegant Pastries for a giant milkshake!  I’ve been wanting to go this place for so long, and we finally made it happen!  Look at that thing!  There’s an entire piece of cake on it!  We shared the one, and it was perfect for three.

The weather the rest of the afternoon was garbage, so we stayed inside and slugged around – watching movies, playing Legos and some video games.

Sunday, I got up and ran five miles!  I haven’t done that in so long – my split time was 11’04” – something I wasn’t expecting since I hadn’t run any sort of distance run in a long while.  I was pretty proud of myself!  I think I’m going to start making Sunday my running days – if the world doesn’t completely go mad, B and I are running a 10k in New Orleans in February.

Sheff and I were outside in the sunshine and pool by 1030 that morning.  It was hot, but there was a really nice breeze that made it not completely unbearable.

It rained again that afternoon, so we did some more slugging around.  I can’t believe how much bigger Sheffield is starting to look in pictures and in person.  He’s still loving first grade, and he talks about it all the time.

We have another no-plans weekend coming up, and I’m pretty excited for it!  Hope you all had a great weekend!

First and foremost, happiest of birthdays to Nadine!  I love you!!

I’ve mentioned before that B and I were lucky enough to go on a parents only trip to New Orleans this year, while Sheff was hanging out in PA.  It was definitely not a relaxing vacation – we packed as much as we possibly could into those 2 days.

We got down there around dinner time in NOLA, and we hit up Delachaise Wine Bar.  It is a place on St. Charles that I have been wanting to go to for forever!!  It’s such a cute little spot – and y’all, their food was incredible.  We got their pomme frites (which have been ranked as the best in New Orleans!), as well as the flank steak bruschetta (AMAZING!) and meatballs, which were also delicious.  It sits right on St. Charles, so we got a bottle of wine and ate and just watched the street cars go up and down.  It rained on us while we were there, but they have good coverage on their patio, and we got to make some friends with some really sweet puppies.

The next morning, we had reservations at Broussards in the Quarter for brunch.  Our reservation was for right as they opened, so it was pretty quiet when we got there.  They have a beautiful courtyard, and their dining rooms are also gorgeous.  B and I both got the bottomless mimosas to drink.  I got the cochon eggs benedict, and B and I split the almond bread pudding for dessert.  It was sooo good!

After brunch, we headed into Metairie for a couples massage.  We’ve done this twice now on parents only trips to New Orleans, and it’s just such a great idea.  My masseuse was amazing, and I ended up falling asleep.  It’s not something we get to do often, so it’s always a treat.

Then we headed over toward the area of JAM Nola, and Bennett had heard about a little taco place.  We weren’t terrible hungry, so we ordered some guac and margs and wasted some time before we had to head to the art exhibit for our appointment.  Rosalita’s  Backyard Tacos  was so cute, and apparently have one of the best patios down there.  However, it was raining when we got there, so we didn’t get to check it out.  I definitely want to go back for tacos!

After JAM Nola, we got a few beverages and went back to the hotel and ordered pizza for dinner.  It had been a super long day.

 

Our next day was just as packed.  We got to sleep in – hooray!  And when I say we slept in, it was until like 830 – which is like a dream when your kid is always up at 5am.  Anyway, we met Lindsay, her husband and her little boy for brunch at Ruby Sunshine.  I had the migas, and they were so good.  After that, we went to an enormous toy store to get Sheffield a surprise – I wish I remembered the name of it.  The people inside were so nice, and it was seriously huge.  I’m pretty sure B remembers where it is, so we’ll be taking Sheff there when we go back.

When we got back to the hotel it started pouring!!  We had our appointment for the Sazerac House tour, but had to push the time back to try to wait out the rain.  Unfortunately, we didn’t, and we got soaked!!  It was an adventure though, and didn’t take anything away from the experience.  Throughout the tour, they have different tasting stations – I think we tried four drinks in all.  Plus, it was incredibly interactive, and we left with a ton of new recipes for drinks.  And a super comfy sweatshirt and magnet.

After our tour, we took our souvenirs and drenched selves back to the hotel to dry off a bit.  Then we headed into the Quarter for some walking.  We went to Pat O’s for Hurricanes – it had a been awhile since we’ve gotten those!  They’re always a huge hit for me – it was the first legal drink I had after I turned 21 in New Orleans!  Then we took a drive down to Magazine Street, got some loaded tots from Dat Dog.  And since we were still hungry, we hit up Domilise’s Po’Boys, and got the roast beef and cheese.  We were the only people in there!  The last time we tried to go there, the line was out the door!  It was the most delicious roast beef po’boy we’ve had.

Later that night, we met up with Lindsay again for after-dinner cocktails at a speakeasy called Double Dealer.  I seriously did not feel cool enough to be there.  It was such a neat place!  After a couple of cocktails, we called it a night and ate leftover pizza in bed.

On the way home, we pit-stopped at Dong Phoung for bahn-mi’s.  Of course they were amazing.

It was a really nice treat to be able to get away for the weekend with just us two.  Although, I’ve had my fill of traveling for a bit, and they just canceled Jazz Fest again this year, so it doesn’t look like we’ll be back for awhile.  Am certainly looking forward to some weekends at home after this past summer!