Autozone Park with LuniTECTs

Last week Mom, Dad, and I toured Autozone Park with AIA LuniTECTs. We toured the FedEx Forum last year and I loved the behind scenes look we got at the building. While maybe not the most architectually interesting building, it's cool to get a different look at a building we see at a different time of year when its vastly different.


Underground they have a practice swing area. Not sure what its officially called, but this is the only minor league team with an underground batting cage.


We also got to go in the dugout. It was pretty cool seeing what the player see, leaning on the rail, and walking out to the field. Yes I touched the field.


Then we went upstairs into the media room. This is the organ they play during the games. Fun fact: the guy who normally plays the organ is a FedEx pilot.

Then we toured a few of the suites.

This is one that was decorated like a Mississippi Delta Juke Joint. On the other wall they had several tables with red and white checked table clothes and miscellaneous delta art. I could totally enjoy a cold one in there.

We didn't make it to a Redbirds game last year, but this tour definitely made me want to go to a few games this spring.

Stuff I planted recently

3 types of lettuce
Ginger
Pineapple
2 types of basil

I can't wait for spring!

So a few weeks ago to help soothe the longing to grow I sat down with all my seed packets and mapped out when each needs to be planted and where. This helps keep me organized and under control.

Last Sunday I planted two rows of each type of lettuce in their new bed. We also put a little fence around this bed to keep Roux from running through it. In another few weeks I'll plant a few more rows of each. Got to spread out the joy!

Allyn and I have been reading up on things you can plant from kitchen scraps. Ginger and pineapple intrigued me and I had both on hand. I'm not certain that the ginger piece I planted was as fresh as it probably should have been, but it was worth a shot. If it doesn't work out I'll pick up some fresher ginger in a few weeks.

Pineapple intrigues me. You basically twist off the top part and pull off the bottom leaves like an artichoke.


Low and behold there are roots in there! According to the Youtube videos I watched all you have to do is stick it in dirt and water it every once in a while. Boom! Free (sorta) houseplant. And in a year or two, if it's still alive, it might actually produce another pineapple. Again, it's worth a shot. It didn't cost me anything.

This past Sunday I planted some basil seeds to start indoors. I am trying out a new trick I saw online with this batch. I saved an egg crate and filled each egg hole with dirt. Then I planted 2-3 seeds in each hole. I did  six egg holes (there has to be a better name for these) of each different variety. In a few weeks I'll thin out and when it gets warm I'll plant them in their respective beds. If this doesn't work out I can go back to what I did last year. There's still plenty of time.

Week in Review

Sunday afternoon we did a little work in the backyard. Roux has taken to running through the garden so we erected a small fence.


I made a cauliflower steak with cauliflower puree and it rocked my world.


I toured Autozone Park with LuniTects. We saw things.


Then I ate these.


Bryan spent much of the week in Southern Louisana. This is what I got.

I didn't feel good Wednesday - Friday.


This is how Bryan and Roux worked on Friday.


There was also a good bit of this going on.


I love our family.


Pineapple roots. I planted this.


Pretty kitty.

Saturday Musings

I'm back again with a Saturday morning dump of videos and random things.

1. This video makes me want to start a farm.
Growing Farmers (Complete film 2012) from Peconic Land Trust Film on Vimeo.

2. I want to go to there.

3. Most beer sold anywhere in the world is owned by two companies.

More here. 

 4. Cute video. 

5. Awesome documentary I want to see. 

Last Week in Pictures

Tigger made an appearance.






My hycinthia I bought for my desk at work.


no more king cake.


The key to a good frittata is a hot pan.


Rosetta pasta at Pasta Italia.


My Saturday morning wake up committee.


My man made me breakfast!


Naptime is a family thing.






I made spring rolls!

Girls

Motley-poo is scared of storms. It was a bit stormy Monday night so she saught comfort in her big sister.



This was the first picture I took, the surprise on Motley's face totally cracks me up.



And the horror on Roux's face in this picture cracks me up.

I love our girls.

Valentines 2013

We decided to do nothing major this year. I'd rather us spend the money on a nicer meal out on any other night but Valentine's.

After a mini-meltdown and a mid-day trip to the river as an escape from work I had low expectaitons for a nice evening. However, Bryan pleasantly surprised me. I came home to several stems of casablanca lilies, some Baskin Robbins Love Potion 31, a bottle of Champagne and riseling. I made a frittata and we had a lovely evening of soaking in the tub and hot stone massage.





Thanks, Baby, for a lovely Valentine's evening.

Saturday Morning links

I'll have a Valentines and Pasta Italia recap in a few days, but I thought this Saturday, instead of ranting about to-do lists I'd post some fun things that we loved and/or talked about this week. Basically it's me clearing out my Reader Starred Items and posting our favorite You Tube videos of the week. This might become a regular feature.

1) Tom Hanks
Article A: Full House Poetry Slam


Article B: Toddlers and Tiaras


Bryan is particularly obsessed with the first one. I can't say that I blame him.

2) Julia Child. I know, it's soooo 2009. But whateves. I started reading Dearie a biography on Julia Child and I'm re-obsessed. New food motto: Would Julia Child consider it food? If not, you probably shouldn't eat it. I wonder how she felt about pop tarts?

3) This had me in tears:

Also, Bryan and I need a bike like that.

4) I wish my front yard looked exactly like this.

Souce
The rest of the house is pretty amazing too. I love a good before and after.

Last week at a glance

A few pictures from the past week:


Roux ruling over her roost.


Mom picked up our wedding registry from Gift and Art. It's currently living on a bookcase next to a picture of Bryan and I.


We pulled out our Mardi Gras decorations.


My small poinsetta at work is just barely hanging on.


Loot from Bryan's trip to Lousiana.


Grizz game. Grizz defeated Golden State Warriors.


Me and my Jenna.


King cake


Bryan had been thinking about getting a pipe for a few months. We stopped in the Tobacco Corner and learned all about them.




Squirrel???

Pop Up Food Stop

One of the things on my culinary to-do list this year is to eat at Iris. When I heard that Kelly English would be cooking at City Grocery's pop up restaurant I knew we needed to try to make the drive.

Saturday we met my parents in Oxford for the meal. First we did a little shopping on the square (yay, new shoes!) before getting lost in Oxford.

We ordered nearly every item on the menu. It was awesome.

My favorites were the oyster wontons and shrimp remoulade. The remoulade was probably the best I've ever had. Yum!

The struggle between busy and lazy

Recently I've found myself struggling with a balance of busy and lazy. I tend to think of myself as lazy by nature. I love being lazy. There is nothing more that I love than just lolling about for long expanses of time. But lately I've found myself driven by to-do lists that I haven't found much time for being lazy. And I feel guilty because of that. Does that even make sense?

Okay, so here's a typical weekend. Friday at work I start working on my to-do list for the weekend. Getting it all written down and organized. (I like Google Tasks and so I'll put them in the calendar and print the first page only, because right now if I printed out all my tasks it would be 18 pages. I can't make this up.) I print it out at work and bring it home. I love the look of these fresh, crisp clean page ready to be marked up and crossed off.

If Bryan is out of town or coming back from a trip or even just working til 6 at Breakaway I try to get a few small things done so that we don't have as much to do over the weekend. (Another thing I feel guilty about: ruining Bryan's weekend with to-do lists.) Last night in the hour before Bryan got home from Alabama I cleaned the bathroom, washed towels, unloaded the dishwasher and loaded it again, changed a light bulb,  and started cleaning some blinds.

Saturday morning rolls around and I enjoy some quiet time sipping my coffee while Bryan runs. This is my time to relax and re-charge before starting the list. And here is where the struggle really starts. I want to have a nice, carefree fun weekend, but I can't if there are tasks looming over me that need to get done. Those paint cans aren't going to get in the basement by themselves and that tree is not going to undecorate itself. (Yes, it's still up. Stop judging me.) It's also a struggle between Bryan and I. He likes to be lazy after his run, but that's my peak time to get stuff done. If I can knock out a bunch of stuff before lunch I'm usually pretty happy with myself, but sometimes I work too hard and find that I'm totally spent and a complete bum the rest of the day.

I don't know if there is a real answer to these struggles, but I wanted to put it other there. Anyone else struggle about nature vs. getting-stuff-done?

Fave Photos from Jan 2013

146 pictures were taken and saved so far in 2013. Ridiculous. Only no. I love capturing our daily lives and I love that Bryan likes to pick up the camera and snap some too.

Here are my top 5 photos taken during January 2013