The Weekend

Since Thursday, I've been on the go, go, go...

I enjoyed the Tulsa Blogger's Meetup Thursday evening. I was happy to meet Carla from Jill of all Trades and her daughter, Briana, from SheezKrafty. They are nice, nice people! There were a lot of nice people at the event and it was great to see the bloggers in person. Hopefully, more of these events will occur in the future.

Friday night, The Sister and her family came for dinner. It had been a while since we'd been together due to illness, work schedules, vacations, etc. It was great to be able to sit around talking and laughing.

Saturday afternoon I went to Diva Girlz for the 7 year old niece's official birthday party. Unfortunately, I missed the portion of the party where glitter eye shadow and glitter in your hair was applied. I would have TOTALLY rocked that look, I just know it!

Saturday night, old friends came over for dinner. It had been quite a while since we had been together, so it was fun to talk and laugh and share a bottle of wine.

Sunday was a very lazy day. Of course, we watched the Super Bowl and the commercials. We were happy the New Orleans Saints won. I can remember rooting for them years ago when their fans would wear brown paper bags over their heads! They've come a long way, baby. Good for them.

Happiness Blogging Award

Carla, of Jill of All Trades, gave me this blogging award. How sweet is that?

I'm supposed to list 10 things I love and then pass this award on to 10 bloggers.

10 Things I Love

1. The Husband
2. Our entire family
3. Our friends
4. My life with The Husband
5. Our home
6. Living in our neighborhood in Tulsa
7. Meeting interesting new people
8. Learning
9. Art
10. Books

And the award goes to........

1. M O N K E Y M I N D
2. GATHER
3. Tulsa Gal's Blog
4. The Provident Woman
5. Reddirt Woman
6. 47 & Starting Over
7. Perspective Required
8. Voice of An Angel
9. Read and Tell Me
10. A Wedding and A Funeral

The Pioneer Woman's Perfect Potatoes Au Gratin

The Sister and her family came over for dinner tonight.

The Husband grilled ribeye steaks, fixed his famous salad (The B-i-L's favorite) and I made The PW's Perfect Potatoes Au Gratin.

As The Husband said, "How can something with heavy cream, butter and cheese not be good?"

How true is that?

Orange & Yellow

Neighbor Tip - What To Take To Bed With You!

YOUR CAR KEYS

Put your car keys beside your bed at night. If you hear a noise outside your home or someone trying to get in your house, just press the panic button for your car. The alarm will be set off, and the horn will continue to sound until either you turn it off or the car battery dies.

It's a security alarm system you probably already have and requires no installation. Test it. It will go off from most everywhere inside your home and will keep honking until you reset it with the button on the key remote. It works if you park in your driveway or garage.

If your car alarm goes off when someone is trying to break into your home, odds are the burglar won't stick around... After a few seconds all the neighbors will be looking out their windows to see who is out there and sure enough, the criminal won't want that.

And remember to carry your keys while walking to/from your car in a parking lot. The alarm can work the same way there...

The above information is quoted from our neighborhood association newsletter. We have been having some "issues" in our neighborhood recently.

I thought it was a great suggestion and wanted to share it with my readers.

Lost: The Beginning of The End

After last night, I have even more questions. Do you think they will ever give us any answers?

Vacation - January, 2010 - Post 3b of 3a/b

This post has so many photos, I decided it should be separate from the overall post of our time in Memphis, TN.

As you know, we spent a couple of nights at The Peabody Hotel. On Tuesday night, we had dinner at Chez Philippe, the elegant French restaurant in the hotel.

Oh! My! Goodness!

Go ahead. Click on the Chez Philippe link above and take a look at the picture of the dining room. I'll wait.

See those columns? Imagine the super tall ceiling. Gaze upon the finely set tables. Impressive, yes it is.

Here's The Husband perusing the wine list:

A self portrait of me:They put your purse on a little table to your left, so you don't have to reach down to the floor. Niiiiiice!

A tuna amuse-bouche for each of us from the chef:

My starter:

Chicken "Faux Gras" (They do NOT serve duck at The Peabody!)

Port Wine Gelee, Cornichons, Macerated Figs, Pickled Red Onion

The Husband's starter:

Escargot En Croute

Sweet Garlic-Herb Butter, White Wine, Puff PastryPrior to the main course's arrival, the waiter brought steak knives for us. On! A! Steak! Knife! Plate!

We've eaten at some nice places, but we've never dined where they use Steak! Knife! Plates!

My main course:

Loin of Venison

Wild Rice Pilaf, Roasted Apples, Chestnut Puree, Calvados JusThe Husband's main course:

Neola Farms Beef Duo (strip steak & braised roast)

Sweet Potato Puree, Chanterelle Mushrooms, Pearl Onions, Reduced Natural Juices

My dessert:

Souffle Du Jour

Butterscotch (OMG!)

The Husband's dessert:

Sticky Toffee Pudding

Blood Orange Sorbet, Toffee Sauce, Candied Orange, Citrus Tuille

And to finish, more tasty tidbits for us.

To accompany our delicious feast, we shared a lovely bottle of Jordan Cabernet.

The wait staff was excellent. Very refined and professional.

The strangest thing about the whole evening?

We were in this lovely restaurant all by ourselves!

Alone.

Secluded.

Our own private dining room.

This was lovely for us, but I'm sure it was disappointing for the staff. They did say that during the week in January is a slow time, but they are looking forward to February and Valentine's Day!

If you ever have the opportunity to dine at Chez Philippe, please take a advantage of it!