I DIDN'T BELIEVE THEM

I can't even count how many posts I have read about people who bought an iPhone and just love love loved it. And I always thought to myself I mean I am sure it is cool and all but after all it is just a phone people. Just a phone.

I WAS WRONG.

I feel like I have the whole wide world of the internet at my fingertips at all times. It can be a little over stimulating but amazing all the same. I am kind of obsessed and have to force myself to put it down. Does anyone have any good recommendations for fun Apps. I used Emily's Lose It suggestion and my friend recommended Urban Spoon and Pandora. Give me some good ones!

Kenny and I had a great weekend that included having some friends over for a early Fourth of July BBQ with lots of great food. And yesterday Kenny and I took the kayak out to Mud Island and put in on Wolf River. It was so nice to be outside and in the water. I can't wait to do it again.

On a really exciting note, only three days until I get to see Wicked. I am so excited!

RESTAURANT IRIS

Last night I was so excited to be able to dine at Restaurant Iris. It was amazing and if you are looking for a spectacular place for a special occasion or really excellent food. Go here. It is hands down the best place I have dined in Memphis.

This restaurant has gotten a lot of attention since it has opened and Kelly English, the chef personally came to greet us, at the end of the meal as he does with all of his patrons. Kelly was just honored with the "Best New Chef for 2009" by Food and Wine Magazine. That is a huge honor and so awesome that we have him here in Memphis.

The dishes were inventive and flavorful. Two people in our group got the seasonal 5 course meal which featured peaches from the Memphis Farmer's market in every course. I could go on and on about how fabulous this place was but I will not bore you with my amateur writing. Here are some links. Enjoy!

Dining Out: Restaurant Iris earns its stars with creative dishes by top chef

Best New Chefs 2009: Kelly English

memphis magazine readers honor restaurant iris

YOU DON'T GET THESE ABS FOR FREE

Kenny and I had a great Father's Day weekend. His parents arrived in town Friday night and we all went out for Mexican. My fave.

On Saturday we grabbed some lunch and Kenny's mom and I headed to the nail shop to get mani's and pedi's. We went to Diva Nails on Mendenhall for you Memphis girls. This place just opened a few months ago and I love them. They are extremely affordable and do a great job. After we were done we met up with Kenny who was at Outdoors Inc. contemplating buying a new toy. When we got there Kenny was in deep conversation about the decision.

Wanting to discuss it over with me and think about it a little while we decided to go grab a drink and watch a little of the U.S. Open. It did not take long to make our decision so we headed back to the store. Kenny is so excited about his new toy that will lead to his (our) new hobby.After our little rafting experience Kenny has kind of caught the paddling bug so he thought this would be fun. We also bought neato paddles and life jackets. Soon we will have to get a rack for the car. Kenny and I are planning on doing a small trip this weekend.

On Sunday we went to Bosco's for Brunch to celebrate Father's Day and Mother's Day since we had not seen his parents in a while. I had a blueberry waffle and a mimosa that was sooooo good. That afternoon we all headed over to my parents house to spend Father's Day with my dad. We took the kayak out to try in out in the pond. My step mom had cooked one of my top two favorite things to eat in the entire world. Shrimp and grits. Man oh Man!
This meal makes me so incredibly happy you do not even understand. Don't worry that bowl for the serving dish and not my personal meal. Then she made a blueberry crumble pie with these farmers market blueberries with vanilla ice cream. Talk about being well fed.

So yesterday I had to make up for eating my way through the weekend and I started The 30 Day Shred. Hence the title. I think Jillian might have said that at least ten times during my 28 minute workout. This work out was NO JOKE! I am so sore this morning.

I could not believe how quickly my heartbeat got up. The whole idea is to keep your heart rate up and not rest until the entire work out is over. Jillian kicked my butt. I hurt so much today that I have no idea how I am going to do it again this afternoon. I will be sure to keep you updated.

30 DAY SHRED

So my step-mom left me a surprise the other day. I had said I wanted it so I was so happy to find Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred DVD sitting on my counter when I got home. I can't wait to start it. I have heard of so many people doing it and I also heard it kicks your behind.

So.....anyone have any advice? I really do not know too much about it. But I plan to start on Monday.


Oh and TGIF! Have a great weekend!

EVERY LIGHT IN THE HOUSE IS ON

So after being a house guest for the fifth night in a row. I came home this morning to find..........

POWER!!!!!

When I pulled up to my house it looked dark and I was ticked. But as I came around the back I did a double take to find my outdoor lights were on!!! Yea!!!!

When I got in the house it already felt so much better. Granted, the fridge doors were wide open, every fan was going and most of our lights were on. I did not care!

I am so excited. Just in time for me to go sip on some mojitos with Christin and have a nice little evening out at the Levitt Shell. Then I get to come home to my nice cool house and sleep in my own bed!

DAY 6 - NO POWER

We still do not have power. That is all I have to say.

THINGS I LOST IN THE POWER OUTAGE

WARNING THIS POST IS WHINY. I SAY IT ALL IN JEST (KIND OF)

Yes I know. It has only been 4 days and my mother has reminded me countless times that during Hurricane Katrina they were out of power for three weeks in the dead heat of August. I know all of this. But there are just some things that you take for granted when it comes to electricity until you just don't have them anymore.

- AIR CONDITIONING (duh)
So that you can sleep at night.
So that your house does not start to smell
So that your poor dog does not overheat during the day

- The whole door of condiments, salad dressings, sauces, etc. etc. etc. that you spent all the money on that you are now going to have to throw away

- LIGHTS (duh)- We had to borrow our friends lanterns and flash lights. We will be purchasing them for the next power outage.

- Being able to do laundry. It is not the clothes that is killing me. It is all the towels. I wash towels a lot because I do not like them to sit somewhere damp.

- Cold Water from the fridge. The water that comes out of the faucets is lukewarm and makes me feel full when I drink it. Hey....maybe that is a good thing.

- TELEVISION!!!!! The Season Finale of Greek last night. I know this is petty but I am still sad. We also missed the season premier of True Blood dern it.

- Sleeping in your own bed (enough said)

- Packed lunches. Since we have nothing in the fridge, we have been eating out for lunch. It makes me feel yucky.

Alright, that is enough whining for the day. Just thought it would make me feel better. I know it is not all that bad. Just cross your fingers that they are working on it as we speak!

SOME THINGS I HAVE NOT TAKEN FOR GRANTED:
- Friends who have let us crash at their place the last 3 nights, watch their tv, use their Internet, turn down their air! HA!
- Parents who let us salvage a good bit of groceries by clearing out their garage fridge for us.
- Parents who made us a yummy meal on Sunday.

NO POWER

Our life is a mess right now. Our power went out on Friday afternoon as my mother, sister and Kenny were getting ready for the Keith Urban concert. They left shortly after it went out and we all assumed it would be back on when we returned home.

Nope. As of this morning still no power. What is really frustrating is that everyone across the street has power. So we are going over to our friends Michael and Lauren's house who live in one neighborhood over from ours to sleep and then waking up and going back over to our house to shower and get ready for work or for the day. Thank goodness we have a gas hot water heater!
And thank goodness we have friends nice enough to let us stay!

Besides the humungo pain in the arse of not having power we actually were really really busy this weekend. Friday night we grabbed some dinner and then went to the Sugarland/Keith Urban concert. It was so fun! Sugarland sang a huge set and we got to hear all of their good songs. And Keith Urban was a lot of fun. Kenny liked it alot because Keith and his band at times would jam out on their guitars and play a lot of rock music. There was even a little incident where Keith was walking through the crowd and some stands collapsed and it knocked Keith Urban down. It made me feel really awkward because he seemed kind of embarrassed.

Oh and while I worked on Friday my mom was a rock star and she painted my kitchen and re-tiled my bathroom floor. I am so excited. It all looks so good. And I ended up buying this really cute shower curtain off of Ebay from Pottery Barn. Can't wait to show you before and after pics!

On Saturday, we all got up and started running errands while Kenny went to the St. Jude golf tournament with a friend. I was looking for curtains and some other things and my sister was looking for new bedding. I ended up getting this adorable dress from Banana for my cousin's wedding weekend. I thought it would be perfect for the bridal luncheon.It has pockets. I love pockets.

Saturday night we went to Old Venice (love) and then went to see Up!. I know it is a kids movie but it was so good. Luckily my 3-D glasses covered up my ugly cry. Some of it was kind of sad.

On Sunday, my mom and sis left and Kenny and I went to the St. Jude golf tournament for a few hours to see Phil Mickelson. It was really hot and I have some lovely tan lines to show for it. After the golf tourney we went to my parents house for a yummy meal and to say hi to my groceries that we are storing in their extra fridge and to let Kenny catch up on some work before heading over to Michael and Lauren's to crash.

So we have managed to stay out of our hot and muggy house. I just looked at the outage map and it is saying our area's status is "Waiting to be analyzed." I don't think that is good. That means no one has even looked at it yet. Please cross your fingers for us!

HELP NEEDED

We are re-doing our hall/ guest bathroom right now. This weekend we are re-tiling the floor and then in the next couple of weeks I am having all the tile in the bathroom refinished.Our bathroom is a 1950's era bathroom with green tile everywhere. After we are done everything will be white and very clean looking. I already know I am going to love it. Don't worry there will be before and after pictures.

But now I am looking for a really cute shower curtain to make a statement. I have looked at a lot of sites online and nobody has what I am looking for. I am looking for a fabric shower curtain that is a cute and sophisticated pattern. The type of fabric you could buy at a fabric store but in a shower curtain. Anyone have any ideas? If I can't find anything online I am going to look at having one custom made but don't really want to go to the trouble.

Any thoughts, suggestions, personal experiences with custom made shower curtains would be oh so appreciated!

THE HANGOVER

Kenny and I wen to see this movie last night after grabbing some dinner. Go see this movie. It is incredibly funny. Not to mention that it appeals to a very large audience because I mean really who hasn't woke up the morning after a crazy night and said "What happened last night?"

I was worried that we had seen all the funny parts from the previews and this was definitely not the case. This movie at times makes your mouth fall open in disbelief.

Kenny and I also enjoyed the entertainment of two older women who were sitting in front of us that were either on drugs or were completely obliterated. Everytime any music played they would start flamboyantly dancing in their seats and were talking very loudly and repeating everything said on screen. It got to be annoying after a while.

KICKIN INTO GEAR

This weekend we were so busy. Kenny was out of town all last week so on Friday night I went over to my friends Lauren and Michael's for a cookout. Michael had cooked a brisket with all these grilled veggies and it was all so good. Then our friend Sarah had made Oreo balls that no one can get enough of. And well there might of been some jello shots too......but it was a really fun night.

Saturday morning I woke up and went to Lowes. I called my mother to tell her that I was getting old because I was at Lowe's at 8:30 in the morning. I was picking out paint colors because we are painting my kitchen this weekend. And then I also bought all the stuff to plant an herb garden. I do not have a green thumb at all. I detest yard work but I do want to have lots of herbs to cook with. I especially want to have mint so that I can have a mojito whenever I want one. After Lowe's I did a quick grocery shopping run and then went home to wait on Kenny to get home. I had not seen him in a week and I was so excited to see him.

While I waited I swept the house. Lena is shedding like crazy and I literally swept up a small dog's worth of fur. And I was not even doing a thorough sweep. I could not handle it anymore so when Kenny got home we went to the pet store so I could buy a Furminator. Have yall ever heard of this? Let me tell you. If your dog sheds. Get this thing. I was astounded at how much hair it got out. And to think this all would of been in my house.



We had just started here. I think she liked the way it felt and her coat looks so much better now.

Saturday night, we had our friends Brad and Brittany's wedding to attend. Their reception was at Mud Island River Landing and it was so pretty overlooking Wolf River and the boat docks.
My bff Stefanie and Matron of Honor. She is 6 months pregnant and has only gained five pounds.



On Sunday, we got up and I made us a huge breakfast with blueberry pancakes, cheese eggs and fruit salad. Then Kenny went to play golf with Michael while I babysat Michael's daughter Shelton so they could have some boy time. Her mommy was at a friends baby shower. Shelton is 2 and was napping when I got there. I was so ready for her to wake up so we could play. We had so much fun playing on the swings and in the water and on her little miniature trampoline. I was tuckered out. Ha!

I know this was a long post but we were busy. So busy that Kenny and I pushed our date night which were supposed to do last night to tonight. We are going to dinner and then to see The Hangover. Can't wait!

And finally....menu monday!

MENU MONDAY
Sunday - Taco Lasagna - I made this for a friend last week so scroll down for the recipe or click here! It was so good!

Monday - Date night

Tuesday- Taco Lasagna leftovers served with a side salad

Wednesday- Penne with chicken and asparagus served with a side salad

Thursday- Crawfish Etouffee served with broccoli (I forgot this recipe at home but check back and I will try to add it.  It is an easier version without all the typical steps of Cajun food)

HANDLE WITH CARE

Have yall read this book? The author is Jodi Picoult who has written several books, one of them being My Sister's Keeper. They have recently made that into a movie and it is about to come to theatres.

Handle with Care I really enjoyed. All of this author's books can be depressing but you can't put them down. I read this one in 5 days. However, I absolutely hated the ending of this book. Which was such a let down.

Sorry this post is kind of random. I am just sad that the ending was such a disappointment and wanted to discuss.

I CAN SEE MY ANKLE!

Yesterday I took the day off to keep my foot elevated all freaking day. It was weird to call in sick and tell your boss that you are not sick you need to put your foot in the air. I am still trying to get rid of an infection in my foot that I got from a scrape while white water rafting. I have been to the doctor twice, taken five different antibiotics, along with a shot and a ointment creme. It has not been fun. But the good news is after laying down all day I can see my foot again. Yea!

Kenny and I had a really good weekend. Friday night we went to a Redbirds game. It was kind of a boring game(no one scored until the last inning and it was the opposing team) but the weather was so nice and it was just fun being outside and eating BBQ nachos of course.

On Saturday, Kenny worked in the yards and I ran all kinds of errands and then we went over to our friends Christin and J.R.'s for a BBQ. Good food, fun people.

On Sunday I headed to Jackson with my friend Stefanie and her mom and sister for Stef's baby shower. Stef is in town from Raleigh for her sister Brittany's wedding. So a 3 hour car ride to and from was the most time I had spent with her in a long time. It was so much fun. This was also my first baby shower and I loved it. I loved seeing all the gifts and hearing about what they were for. I might have a small case of baby fever. The shower did not help. All the little outfits were so adorable.

No Menu Monday (or Tuesday) because I am not cooking this week but I did make our friends Joe and Tracy a Taco Lasagna to bring to them because they just moved into their new house and their kitchen is under renovation. Here is the recipe. It looked delicious when I was making it so I will have to let her report back.

TACO LASAGNA

INGREDIENTS
2 pounds lean ground beef
2 (1.25 ounce) packages taco seasoning mix
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 cup water
18 (6 inch) corn tortillas ( I used larger flour tortillas)
1 (24 ounce) jar salsa
1 cup sliced green onion
1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

DIRECTIONS
Place ground beef in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, then season with taco seasoning, garlic, cayenne pepper, chili powder and water. Simmer for 10 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Place 6 tortillas into the prepared baking dish. Spread 1/3 of the salsa on top of the tortillas. Spread 1/2 of the meat mixture evenly over the salsa. Sprinkle with 1/2 of the green onions. Drop 1/2 of the sour cream randomly over the green onions. Top with 1/2 cup Cheddar and 1/2 cup Monterrey Jack cheese. Repeat layers. Top with 6 tortillas, spread with remaining salsa, and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake in a preheated oven for 30 to 45 minutes or until cheeses are melted.