May 30, 2011

Bookcase Redux

When we bought our house we bought a bookcase (from the Pottery Barn Outlet). We enjoy reading. And I, specifically, like to collect books. Bryan doesn't like to hang onto them as much as I do, so I take full responsibility.

I semi-arranged the bookcase when we moved in and haven't really touched it since. But in the last year it sort of got out of control. I blame Burke's Books.


Not very attractive. The bookcase is in our "entry room", which obviously is not very welcoming.

Like a crazy person, I took everything off, not really knowing what I was getting myself into.



Somewhat of a blank slate. I moved the speakers up to the top. (That other thing on the very top is a handmade award from a race Bryan won. Its actually kinda cute.)


Two hours later, we have something that is halfway presentable!

May 28, 2011

The Patio and Cart Garden

Last night I took some photos of my herbs and vegetable "garden". Its safe to say we're flourishing - besides one rosemary and one thyme plant that didn't make it.




May 6, 2011

Redeemer Crawfish Boil

Our church hosted a crawfish boil last weekend. I hope it becomes an annual event, as it was quite fun.

I pulled out my camera after I had eaten more than my fair share of crawfish and my fingers were numb. But here are a few pictures.


Matt, Bryan, and John still eating away.


As a crawfish novice, Bryan was slightly freaked out by the mudbugs.






A brief rain shower. Bryan brought the cooler and purse over to cover.

My friend, Kathy Cox, gave me a quick tutorial on how to use my camera. These are some of her shots from my camera.










Thanks, Kathy! She takes professional pictures of children if you or someone you know has small children.

Also, thanks Redeemer, for hosting an awesome event!

May 5, 2011

Celebrity Sighting

Last Saturday I thought I spotted someone who looked a lot like Jake Gyllenhaal. I told Bryan after he passed and Bryan confirmed it.

Bryan wanted to talk to him, but we couldn't come up with anything clever. So we stalked him briefly.

When we were at a distance I pulled out my camera to take a few pictures.

I haven't quiet learned how to operate it yet, so the pictures I took were really really really bright. I had to edit them quite a bit to even see anything. Here is the best.



He is walking with Ben Lovett of Mumford and Sons, who were in town for Beale Street Music Fest.

Both are very attractive in person. Yum.

May 4, 2011

River Rising

Bryan and I headed down to the river tonight to get a look at the river. We don't recommend this... or at least not going to Mud Island. The police were blocking one lane to go over the bridge to deter river spectators. Traffic on Island Driver was also much slower than normal.

I got a couple of shots though.



This is where you turn off Island Drive to park along the park. Its totally blocked off now.



Looking the other direction.

For reference, this picture was taken 3 weeks ago.

We'd all be under water today if we were standing where we were on that day.


This is normally a beautiful park to walk and run along the river.




Later we drove to Riverside to get a look at the water there. Its not too far away from coming onto the road.

Easter 2011

Last year I purchased some bunny years from Target ($1 section, baby!) and tried to get Bosco to wear them. We were unsuccessful, but as an older, wiser two year old, we were able to bribe her.







After church, we went to Mimi's for lunch.




Mimi taught me how to make her fried eggplant.

After a delicious meal with the Mitchum's we headed to Orange Mound to watch the girls hunt for Easter eggs and spend some time with the Baddorf's.







May 3, 2011

Special Delivery

As part of my 2011 Garden Madness, I purchased a set of herbs from Burpee. I ordered these back in February when I was first bit by the gardening bug.

Finally, the second to last week of April, they arrived. Burpee will ship according to zones. Apparently the end of April is the prime time to plant in Memphis.


Here is how they were packaged.


They were in great shape! I was so impressed.

The instructions say to let them stay inside for a day or two to get adjusted to its new surroundings.

Unfortunately, it took me over a week to finally get them planted. The thyme was looking a little sad after being inside for a full week. Hopefully it will turn around and start looking more alive.

May 2, 2011

Anniversary Day Date

A few weeks ago we celebrated our third wedding anniversary. Here's a recap of our first and second anniversaries.

This year, we couldn't make it to Boston or out of town, but we did decide to take a staycation. We both took Monday, the day before our actual anniversary, off to hang out together.


We started out with breakfast at Cafe Eclectic.




It was delicious.

After breakfast we did a little shopping and walking around midtown and downtown. Around lunch time we stopped at B.B. Kings on Beale for drinks.

Did you know that there is a B.B. Brew? Its a wheat beer, which I ordered.


We walked north to Lunchbox Eats on Fourth. They had a strawberry/blueberry/lemonade. YUM!


Bryan got the chicken and waffle sandwich.


I got the Graduation Burger... which is meatloaf topped with mashed potatoes and fried onion straws on texas toast. We got a side of seasoned fries.

We both loved our meals and highly recommend it.


Bryan was ready for a nap after his sandwich.

After lunch we headed to the zoo. I had won some free passes the previous week and it was the perfect way to walk off our awesome lunch.


We saw the penguin show.


The gorillas are Bryan's favorite. This one did not appreciate the camera flash.







The grizzlies were active.




No zoo visit is complete without stopping by to see the giraffes.

After a long zoo visit, we headed home for a brief rest.


We stopped at Young Avenue for pre-dinner drinks out on the patio. We had perfect weather all day long.


We had sushi for dinner at Do.


For dessert we stopped at Yolo.


Bryan approves of my gelato.

We ended the day with a hot stone massage and falling asleep to You've Got Mail.

It was an awesome day. We're so lucky that we still enjoy doing everything together and are each other's best friends.