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August 29, 2014

High Five for Friday

Happy Friday y'all!

1 // On Tuesday I met my Supper Club ladies (with a new addition!) out to dinner versus our usual at home get together. We met at YaYa's Euro Bistro in the Promenade which was great since I had never tried it before.

It was too hot for us but once the weather cools down I so want to hang out on this patio.

Photo Courtesy of Little Rock Soiree
2 // EH and I have had a busy couple of weeks (always) and after this long Holiday weekend we are looking at MORE busy weekends. Having so many fun things to do is great but sometimes I have to remind myself not to make myself busy for the sake of being busy. It's a hard lesson to learn sometimes.


3 // My coworker BF's last day to work at my company is today. I'm excited for her new opportunity but sad I'm losing my lunch friend. Maybe this will be my inspiration to start eating at home more which I know my wallet would love.

4 // The first Razorback game of the season is this weekend! Since the forecast is calling for rain anyways, I think we might pop into a Bdubs (aka Buffalo Wild Wings) and cheer on for the Hogs! Which reminds me..I need a shopping trip for some new red items.

5 // It's been a very stressful couple of weeks - or maybe months now but this past week has surprised me with some definite victories. Neither of which I can elaborate on now, but trust me - if my luck hangs on then next week is going to be great!

Hope you have a happy and safe Labor Day weekend y'all! 

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August 28, 2014

Fantasy Football

 I had a weekly recap post but since I usually do those on Fridays, I thought I'd give you quick recap from our last weekend which was entirely centered around Fantasy Football.

Every year this group of guys assemble to draft their ideal football team. This was their fourth year to come together and from what I can tell with my limited knowledge, I think it was a victory all around!
 
To determine the order of the draft, they came up with a few different qualifications. The first test involved beer pong, naturally.

Back in the day, EH used to literally build these massive beer pong tables which were then elaborately painted. He left those back in Fayetteville, so this time we had to improvise.

 
 If the doorknob and door vent didn't give it away, that is our former laundry room door. Which actually has been removed for a long time, and also didn't really belong to a room but more like a laundry closet. Regardless, it served the ultimate purpose! 

After the tournament, their commissioner (so serious!) had everyone take the Wonderlic test - an intelligence test all potential NFL drafts take which measures a player's aptitude for learning and problem solving skills. Or something. 

It was interesting and a lot more difficult to take! I don't remember who won but maybe that's because I was gloating about scoring a 34 after I had played along to take it myself. You should try it! It even tells you what pro football player you compare with.

Aside from the football festivities, I enjoyed watching our friend's recently adopted friend - Brazil - interact with Moose. Moose was a semi-gracious host but he definitely is used to being the only fluff-man of the house.


They had one thing in common - hanging out in the kitchen with me as I cooked to vacuum up any falling food.


By the end of the night they were best friends. It wasn't enough to convince EH for a baby brother for Moose but enjoyable all the same!

Finally, the draft was over, though the night certainly wasn't. I was grateful to have another wife in the group so it wasn't guy overload! It was still fun to watch - so much more goes into fantasy football than I ever would have guessed!


I love that they still included their friend who couldn't make it in! If you look closely, you'll spot some Moose ears - I guess he wanted to be one of the guys!

So do you do fantasy football? I've got an all girls league coming up and I'm just crossing fingers I don't end up last place like last year!

 

August 22, 2014

High Five For Friday

It's Friday y'all!

1 // EH was my hero last weekend (and always) because he cleaned ALL of our floors which are stained concrete. We vacuum often but it feels so much better once we've taken the wet vacuum to them. He even added some shiner to them so they look brand new! 

2 // Apparently Moose does NOT like his chew bone to be in the basket with all of his other toys. Every time I pick everything up, he spends the next twenty minutes or so snatching EVERY single toy out of the basket until the bone is the very last one, then he tips the basket over and over until it falls out. Vacuums and baskets - apparently not my dog's favorite things.

3 // It's been a pretty mild summer so far but this week has been stupid hot. And muggy. It's this time of year that I join millions of others who fully anticipate fall!

4 // Now that school is back and my commute takes longer (the horror! from 9 minutes to 13), it's hard to swing into Starbucks without running late. On Tuesday I was highly successful and since I knew it would now be a rare thing, I made the most out of this caramel macchiato. So good.


5 // The boys are coming into town - my house will be full tomorrow for the fantasy draft! I've got a fun menu planned and look forward to enjoying all of the antics. Fingers crossed EH gets a good lineup! I've got a girls league coming up but we definitely can't outdo the guys!

Happy Friday y'all! Have a great weekend!
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The Diary of a Real Housewife

August 20, 2014

Recent Little Victories

We've made it through half of the work week! Here are just some random thoughts that I'm documenting for no other reason except I feel like typing and well, really that's it. And because what person doesn't enjoy creating a new list, I present these random thoughts to you in list form.

1 // I've mentioned it before, but birthdays in EH's family last almost a week and this year was no exception. Out with friends on Saturday, steaks and presents on Sunday, sushi dinner out on Monday, and down to his hometown for dinner in the Chef's kitchen on Tuesday. All in all, I think we celebrated the heck out of his birthday!


 This was the main course of the technically..fourth birthday dinner? The steak was perfect and there on the left is the most delicious pile of crab mashed potatoes ever. I think we all would have eaten our weight in these if given the opportunity.

2 // Moving on from birthday celebrations, I discovered this week that IcyHot is the greatest invention ever when you have a random body part in pain - like me with my shoulder. Who knows what I did because I'm certainly not the most active person, but luckily EH fixed me up and not only do I smell minty fresh, but for the first time in weeks my shoulder isn't killing me.

3 // Hydrangeas are some of my most favorite flowers. We're lucky that we have several in our backyard but they are fickle to bloom (probably as a result of us being fickle to trim them back each year). Luckily we were gifted this beautiful bouquet which somehow instantly makes our entry table so much fancier.


 4 // Every year EH and several of his buddies go The League style and have a big Fantasy Football party for their draft. We've hosted before and this year we're hosting again - so if anyone has any recipes for a large crowd, will you send them my way? And also please cross your fingers that my potted plants make it out alive. (That's a story for another day!)

There are my randoms. Hope you have a happy Thursday!

August 18, 2014

Happy Birthday to My Husband

The first day of school is here, which also means it's my Husband's birthday! 

We've already celebrated with friends, he's unwrapped all of his gifts (from me atleast!) and tonight we're meeting his parents and sister and nieces for another birthday dinner. Birthdays last an entire week in this family which is perfect because I LOVE celebrating them!


Here's a throwback picture from his 21st birthday - before the onslaught of shots.

And here's coming back to this weekend. 

 27 looks good on him!

So Happy Birthday to my wonderful Husband! Hope today is a great one and look forward to celebrating many more with you!

August 15, 2014

High Five for Friday

Another Friday finally here! Here's a recap of what happened this week.
1 // My little SIL has been living it up in Colorado for the majority of the summer and is on her way back to the University. I love when she's in town and miss not seeing her all the time like when she was in High School. Luckily we got to have dinner with her one last time.
2 // EH showed me the "Apparently" Kid and I think he is just the cutest thing ever. We've been saying "apparently" over and over all week just like this kid. Have you seen the video?
3 // We're still not totally unpacked from last weekend. The clothes are clean, but in the dryer. The bags are all unpacked, but not put away. At least Moose doesn't seem to mind.

4 // This week has tested my patience and ability to stay cool but I've made it through. It's easy to start feeling overwhelmed when you are stressed out and that is certainly true for this week, but good things are on the way I think and I can't wait.

5 // EH has a birthday coming up! The past two years it has coincided with his fantasy football draft party so we combined the two events for a big shindig. This year they are on separate weekends. I think we're going to do a dinner out with friends and then meet the IL's on Monday for another dinner out. I love birthdays in this family - they go on for a week!

That's it for me - have a wonderful weekend!

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August 12, 2014

We Survived the Four Ball

Every year for a long weekend in August, we head down to EH's hometown for their country club's Four Ball Golf Tournament.

It's something we definitely look forward to every year and this year was no exception. We drove down Thursday for Ladies Night/Stag Night where all the guys go to play casino games and the girls have dinner and drinks.

Friday the girls and I ate Mexican and got mani/pedi's - I went for You Don't Know Jacques by OPI on my toenails and a minky gray shellac on my nails. I guess you could say I am ready for Fall!

After the guys finished up on Friday, we moseyed back to the club to see the Memphis Soul Revue which holds a special place in our heart as a smaller group from this large group played at our wedding!

Saturday this happened.



EH and his golf partner decided to stand out a little this year and invest in golf knickers. If they go this route next year I'm getting him a newsboy hat but I thought he looked pretty dashing, all considering!

Saturday is my favorite day because it's the prime day to camp out on the 13th hole with the crowd that has assembled to heckle the players. As far as I know this is the only golf course that has a dedicated spot to actually heckle players (near the concession stand and it even has bleachers!) but most people are a good sport about it. Not all, but most.


The only thing to watch out for are the Orange Things - a specially concocted beverage that has been known to make people lose their balance or fall asleep under trees.

Here's a shot of the dynamic duo.

 
After the golf it's another night out which means fuzzy pictures (if we even remember to take them) and a mighty headache the next few days.




So while it's an absolute blast, it's definitely a good thing that Four Ball comes once a year!

August 4, 2014

Weekend Happenings and The Fold

We've conquered another Monday, y'all. Though admittedly Tuesdays are notoriously worse for me than Mondays, it still feels pretty victorious. So here's a recap of what our pre-Monday activities looked like.

Friday night involved another Home Depot and Best Buy run - the first for the final missing pieces to resolve our hot water heater issue, the second as reward for all the hard work in getting hot water again. 

I might have ordered Donkey Kong for Wii. It's maybe supposed to arrive tomorrow. What can I say? I'm a sucker for new games based off of old school games.

On Saturday we headed to The Fold. Down in the Designer District (bottom of Cantrell), it looks like something out of Miami sometime in the 50's. Considering I'm pretty sure it's been renovated from an old garage, that's really saying something.

Photo Courtesy of The Fold Facebook Page



They can even open the garage doors so you get an awesome breeze, and despite the amazing interior..


Photo Courtesy of The Fold Facebook Page
..we decided to embrace the beautiful summer breeze and take advantage of the patio while we can. Which, let's face it, we'll sit on a patio in January, but still. 

We started out with margaritas - for me, the lemon rosemary.


And for EH, the Jalapeno.


  They were both delicious but forewarning, the jalapeno has quite the kick to it. The iphone did no justice to the plethora of jalapeno seeds that were swirling about. If you like a little heat though, definitely give this one a try.

The Fold's Menu is big but not overwhelmingly so.


We went for the queso which is a classic choice - I'd share the picture but it was half way through devouring it that I decided to take it, and well, just trust me and order it for yourself.

For our main course, we both centered in on the tacos. Though I ordered a Pollo y Poblano and a Loco Taco, the fates aligned and I ended up with a Tejas instead of the chicken and man...stars aligned on this one.


While EH decided on an assortment of three.


You can also see the beloved queso in this shot. Or what's left of it.

To wrap this up, if you are local or driving through, please stop at The Fold. Try to pick a nice day where the garage doors are opened up or you can sit on the patio and I promise, between the fun atmosphere, the friendly service, and the fanatastic food, you won't be let down.

After that, the rest of the weekend was spent meeting friends at the Stone Throw Brewery's Birthday Block Party - they closed off the entire block and brought in amazing food trucks and there were people and live music everywhere. We only caught the last hour but definitely will not miss an event like this next time.


Terrible picture of the tail end of the night but at least you get the idea.

Also, one of our friends brought his new friend, Brasil. I might have some competition.


Look at that face! So cute. The dog is pretty cute too. ;)

So unless you're interested in my Sunday cleaning spree, that's the recap. Hope the rest of the week is a great one!

August 1, 2014

High Five for Friday

Another Friday is finally here! It felt like it took its sweet time this week. Here's a recap of the week.

1 // Out hot water heater went out last week. The plumber quoted us $950 for a new one which is just a little too close to a thousand bucks so EH went out and replaced it himself. Which is great but it's still not working 100% perfect. He has managed to give us warm showers each morning though. Fingers crossed that gets finished this weekend!

2// My job sort of took an unexpected turn this week (don't worry, I still have it!) but I'm really hoping its a positive change. I'm embracing change here.

3 // On Wednesday we headed to EH's hometown for a Chef's Dinner that the IL's Country Club puts on. Some of the best chefs from Arkansas come, with special guest of honor Sam Choy. He is an amazing chef and I'm so happy we were able to attend. 

4 // A fancy Chef's dinner called for a new outfit. I found this skater dress from Ember boutique here in Little Rock. I love that their pieces are super cute but also really reasonable. If you're local, be sure to stop in! For everyone else, you can order from their website!



5 // Today was jury duty orientation. I know people hate having this pop up, but I'm pretty interested and think it's a pretty cool honor to serve. I was surprised by one woman who appeared and was blatantly rolling her eyes and making comments about how she just couldn't be there. Oh well - maybe they dismissed her. I think it's unlikely I'll be called to actually serve on a trial but I have six months to find out!


Have a happy weekend! EH promised me a lunch date at The Fold so look forward for a review coming up!


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