Ready For The Weekend!

Today's the day.  Part II of a HUGE test I have to take at work and I have MAYJUH anxiety.  (In fact, I'm pretty sure I ate my stress last night because I had two giant bowls of chili and no fewer than 10 pieces of cornbread...in all honesty, it may have been more like 12...but who's counting?)

Hoping this is not the outcome of my test...EEEEEK! 

(image via)

I'm also excited to get this test behind me because we have a super fun weekend ahead of us.  :)  

Saturday Mr. D and I, along with my entire family, Chels and Lauren, are going to cheer on my sister, my cousin and the other UK Tri Delta's in the University of Kentucky Greek Sing.  Sadly, this is my sister's last year participating because she's growing up and will no longer be in undergrad.  Not to mention this is an extra big year because my cousin/pseudo sis, Olivia, will be participating for the first time as a freshman Delta.  (So proud of my gals!!!)

Here are a few highlights from last years performance when the Delta's won Greek Sing!  :)

Little O, Sister Puffin & Me.

Delta's ready to win it with their video game theme.

The loudest fans in Alaka's giant cheering section.

SO excited after a perfect performance!

Reaction after hearing the big announcement...Delta's won it all!

WHOOOOO!  Someone is a little excited!

Delta's on stage after they won.  

Then on Sunday a couple of our friends are coming over for a Potluck Superbowl Party!  I'm even more excited because my team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, will be playing in the big game so I will be all decked out in my black and yellow!  GO 'LERS!  (Speaking of Black and Yellow have you heard the song yet?)

With Steelers quarterback, Ben Rothlisberger.  Apparently he is a CATS fan too!

Do y'all have any big plans for the weekend or to watch the game on Sunday?  

Cheers to what I'm hoping is a weekend full of victories!  

(for me Friday, the Delta's Saturday and my Steelers Sunday!)

xoxo,

Mrs. D

Currently Crushing

There are a few TONS of things I'm currently crushing on...but I'll try and keep this list short and sweet.  If perhaps anyone out there wants to send me a valentine surprise...these are the items I'd be most excited to see show up in the mail.  :) 

I'm not sure what it is...but lately I CAN NOT get engough of this place.

I would LOVE a big, fat giftcard for Starbucks!  Cafe Americano, anyone? 

I'm totally swooning over this Kate Spade Kindle cover! 

In the Great Gatsby theme of course!  A must have for this Kindle junkie!!!

If you know me I'm sure you're not surprised this made my list.

This XL Champagne flute was made for me!

The Grace Dress by Elizabeth McKay.  I'll take any color, please!

(I can never get enough of her classic, effortless style!)

The Sunset Bangle by Stella & Dot.

These adorable (& warm) headbands by Simply Shea are cute and budget friendly.

(I'm crushing on a blue headband w white flower and orange headband w blue flower.)

And last but certainly not least, I'm ALWAYS crushing on these two cuties (who both love to nap)

Mr. D & McGruff having some quality nap time.

And it's official....I'm ready for more Starbuck's (and I've already had a venti Americano today....Eeeeek!).

xoxo,

Mrs. D

Recommended Reading of IRL Friends

Just thought I would high-light several awesome bloggers I'm friends with "in real life," as Mr. D would say.  (Side note: Mr. D likes to refer to the blog world as my imaginary world; however, because we actually know these people IRL they are part of our real world and not my imaginary world.)

The blog Passport Foodie is written by one of my best friends for (nearly) the last 10 years.  Passport Foodie follows the restaurant adventures of T, my travel, food and photography obsessed friend.  Hopefully, you recognize T from some earlier posts on my blog...and you can read a foodie review from his recent trip to Lexington (to visit yours truly, aka Picky Foodie) here.

L to R: Simple Foodie, Picky Foodie & Passport Foodie.

Angie Away is a travel inspired blog following one of my sorority sisters (shout out to my fellow Delta's!) as she travels around the world.   Seriously...who doesn't want to follow along and live vicariously through Angie like I have been these last few weeks.  Her experiences thus far have been amazing as she travels to new lands, meets new people, worships with the locals and samples the cuisine.  

I've known Nicole from A Nicole For Your Thoughts for probably 15 years now and I love reading and keeping up with Nicole through her blog.  She's adorable and writes a mega cute blog full of her daily musings, celebrity gossip and a lil of her personal life.  Basically, it's Nicole's two cents on many different areas of pop culture.  

Many, many years ago I used to perform in a showchoir-esque setting with Britney from Dave and Brit Plus One, but we had lost touch...big thanks to the online community for bringing us back together when she began her blogging journey a couple of years ago.  Brit is the author of a super cute and hysterical blog about her life as a stay-at-home to her cute daughter, K, and I was able to catch up and read about what Brit has been doing all these years.  

Last, but certainly not least, my Lexington Ladies!  There's Katherine of Just Lovely...who I wouldn't have ever met without her lovely blog.  Just Lovely is one of the first blogs I ever started reading and I used to sit at my computer and think "Just Lovely and I would be great friends!"  Little did I know we would meet, hit it off and become inseparable.  Just Lovely tells the story of Katherine's many DIY projects, daily thoughts, exciting weekends, dream wedding inspiration, fashion finds, etc.  You name it and Katherine blogs it!  

Katherine is also credited with introducing me to two of my other Lexington Ladies...Chelsea from Meant To Be Happy and Lauren from Lifestyles Of The Rich At Heart And Not So Famous.  These three girls are incredible friends and I'm so thankful to have them in my life!  Rounding up my Lexington Ladies is my Sister Puffin, Alaka, of Love Always, Alaka.  Chelsea, Lauren and Alaka are all new to the blogging world (like me) but are great reads and should not be left off your list.

These next two photos are of my Lexington ladies.  Unfortunately Alaka was taking the first photo and so she is not in it with us.  :(  But I'm posting one with her in it too so none of the LL are left out. 

L-R: Lauren, me, Katherine & Chelsea.

Katherine & Alaka.

Do y'all have any must read blogs to share with me?  Hopefully, you'll love my recommendations and follow them all.  Don't forget to tell them Mrs. D sent you! 

Happy Reading!

xoxo,

Mrs. D

Valentine's For Your Southern Sweetie

Today is the first day of February which means Valentine's Day is quickly approaching and will be here before we know it.  It's a holiday I've always loved regardless of my relationship status...perhaps it's because I get to see red, pink and purple everywhere...?  Or maybe it's all the hearts...?  There's also the possibility my love of Valentine's Day is due to my love of paper products and stationary...?
(Wait....is there a holiday I don't LOOOVE?  Hmmm.  I'll have to keep thinking on that.)

Getting back to my point, I sat in bed last night trying to think of some good ideas for a little something I could get my Valentine, Mr. D.  Which was when I decided I would help y'all with a couple ideas for the southern gent or lady in your life. 

For the romantic southern lady...

I love these birch bark candle holders from Etsy.

(And the seller has several other cute items as well.)

For the food lover...

Screen Doors & Sweet Tea cookbook.

I have this cookbook & love it!  It has all my favorite southern recipes.

For the lady with everything...

Leather Driving Gloves from Saks.

(I've been wanting a pair for ages.)

For the classic southern gent...

A red gingham bowtie from Southern Proper.





For the southern gentleman with everything...

Track down a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon.

I know Mr. D would LOVE this. 

For the sugar lover...

Make them some red velvet whoopie pies!

For the travel lover...

A fun & romantic weekend at the newly re-opened Opryland Hotel in Nashville.

The perfect card for all your valentine's...

Love these scrumptions as pecan pie cards!

(And the other cards in the shop are adorbs too.)



In closing, I leave you with a photo of me & my very first Valentine - my Sister Puffin.

(If you're not already a follower I encourage you to check out her blog too.)

Hope my Valentine ideas helped....do you have any great ones you can share with me? 

xoxo,

Mrs. D  

Would You Like To Join Us For Dinner?

Last Friday night Mr. D and I decided to hit up our favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner.  It was cold out and the parking lot looked pretty crowded so Mr. D dropped me off at the door and I ran in.  There was a small wait for a table so I put our name on the list and settled in near the door.  Across from me sat a nice looking couple, probably around the age of our parents, and we started chatting as we waited for a table.  For this story we shall call the couple Mr. & Mrs. Nice.

Soon after we started chatting Mr. & Mrs. Nice went to sit at their table while Mr. D and I waited for ours (we were next on the list).  A few moments later Mrs. Nice appeared and asked Mr. D and me if we would like to join them for dinner.  Kinda surprised, yet intrigued and not wanting to hurt their feelings, we replied "Sure!" and went to sit with them in the back of the restaurant. 

Mr. & Mrs. Nice turned out to be Mr. & Mrs. Super Nice!  He is an Emergency Room Doctor while she spends her days being a Mom and volunteering with their church.  Mr. Nice's hobby is flying planes and he has five planes which he flies regularly - four of which are old WWII planes.  Cool, right?  All of their kids live in Los Angeles and one of them is a musician (and his songs are actually on iTunes, which makes him legit in my opinion).

We went to dinner thinking it was just going to be a typical Friday night and ended up meeting two new people.  Dinner was super fun and Mr. & Mrs. Super Nice insisted on paying for our dinner.  Before parting ways they gave us their personal copy of their son's CD.  We listened to parts of the album on the short drive home and immediately realized his tunes are right up our alley.  Both Mr. D and I can appreciate a wide variety of music and Reese Richardson will definitely be making an appearance on our iPod's.  Reese's music has a southern, rocky, soul kind of sound with just a tinge of bluegrass mixed in.  It's kinda chill, fun - yet relaxing music...I would compare him to Amos Lee or Ben Harper (two of my favorites - ya know, when I'm not listening to Britney Spears, Kings of Leon, Michale Buble or my GLEE soundtrack).

Reese Richardson & The Old Earth

(photo via)

I really encourage you to visit Reese's website and check out a sampling of his music on iTunes.  I also encourage you to step outside of your comfort zone every now and then.  Talk to a stranger.  You never know who you're going to meet! 

(If any of you in the Lexington area know Reese's family can you please send me an email...Mr. D and I would like to send them a thank you card for treating us to dinner.)

xoxo,
Mrs. D

AMAZEBALLS! (weekend recap, part III)

A week ago today Lou, T and Shaan were still in the bluegrass visiting with us.  It was their last day in Lexington and the five of us spent most of the day just hanging out and watching movies together.  Mr. D, along with some help from Lou, cooked a Keeeentucky breakfast for us while jammin' out to Master P's greatest hits.  Nothing like a little "Make 'Em Say UHHHHHHH" while sipping on mimosa's and frying some bacon.  

Lou & Mr. D cookin' our Kentucky breakfast while jammin' to Master P.

Mr. D rappin' along to Make 'Em Say Uhhhhh. 

He thinks Master P is a poet.  

After breakfast Mr. D built us a cozy fire in the fireplace and we all settled in to watch The Town.  We loved the movie!  If you haven't already seen it I highly recommend watching it.  It had a little bit of everything...drama, action, romance, humor.  Not to mention Ben Affleck looks reeeeally good in this one (even though I'm usually partial to my Mad Men hottie John Hamm, who is also in this movie, Benny boy definitely deserves the eye candy award for this movie).  

Great movie.  Definitely one to watch.

Later in the afternoon Shaan, Lou and I decided to take advantage of all the snow and go sledding...or sledging, as Shaan calls it.  (Mr. D and I learned lots of English words while Shaan was with us.  Apparently in England it's called a "sledge" and you would go "sledging" in the snow...not sledding.)  We wanted Mr. D and T to come with us but unfortunately those two were feeling a bit under the weather after all their fun the previous night, so it was just the three of us for sledding.  

Shaan & I getting ready to go on our first run down the hill.

Lou & Shaan's turn.

Action shot.

Sledging with Shaan & Lou!

Finally after our toes were good and frozen and our stomach's were growlin' it was time to head back to the house and defrost before our last dinner together.  After dinner we decided we'd take it easy with another movie and some more chatting before calling it a night.  We watched Charlie St. Cloud.  It was a completely different type of movie than The Town but it was good...and Zac Efron looked amazing (which made me feel like a creepy old lady because he's so young).  Charlie St. Cloud was entertaining and worth adding to your NetFliz queue or renting from Red Box...but not as thrilling as the Town - so if you're only planning on watching one of them definitely go with the Town.  

Last Monday morning the vacation was over.  Mr. D and I had to go back to work and our friends left.  :(  I was definitely sad for our reunion to be over but it was great to have a couple days to spend together.  Spending time with old friends really puts things into perspective and makes me realize how fortunate I am to have so many wonderful people in my life.  

Nine and half years ago fate brought Lou, T and I together while on a different continent...but here we are all these years later...still getting together and as close as ever.  I'm so thankful God put these amazing guys in my life and even happier Mr. D and Shaan are now a part of our special friendship.  

Thanks Lou, T and Shaan for coming to visit us and let's hurry and start planning our next holiday!  

xoxo,

Mrs. D