Adios, Nashville!

Last night, some of my Nashville ladies came out to help me celebrate my big move [ahhh it's happening so soon!] I am so thankful for these ladies and I am going to miss everyone so much! 

We started with a bottle of champagne... I feel like 2012 is going to be my year so why not start celebrating now!

Love this :)

I am not going far and I'm going to a place where Tiki Bars are in walking distance! Bring it, people! XOXO

Crock Pot Mania!

One of my amazing Christmas gifts was [drumroll, pleaaaase]... A crockpot!!!

In my week home for Christmas, I made three meals in my sweet crockpot! I highly recommend all of them!

Hands down, most amazing comfort food ever. Get the recipe here.

Healthy Chicken & Brown Rice. My advice: follow the directions carefully. When I made it, the rice wasn't done. Check it out here.

This was delicious but the chicken fell apart so maybe don't cook it for the whole time. Here's the recipe :)

What are your favorite crockpot recipes?! Please share!!

Cajun Creole Cuisine

Let me tell you one thing Hattiesburg has not been good for... my waistline. I have eaten some amazing food here! If you ever end up in this strange city, you have to venture downtown. Even though the entire town was eerily deserted, we still had some fantastic food.

Brownstone's is a creole cajun restaurant [as many restaurants are in this area] but Brownstone's was absolutely incredible. We started with something that sounds scary but was so delish...

Fried Alligator! Suck it gator!!!

Not the best picture but omgaaah this might be in my top 5 of best meals ever. Filet with asparagus and loaded mashed potatoes. I die.

My coworker Kyle ordered Buttermilk Pie and it looked amazing [he doesn't let people eat his food so I can't say from personal experience. ALSO, he eats everything seperately, so he ate the pie first and then the ice cream... FREAK!]

Creme Brule anyone?? :)

Third Times a Charm!

This past weekend, I woke up on Sunday and decided, "Hey, I'm an hour from New Orleans, why not drive down there". Boy, was that a great decision. My coworkers had never experienced Nola's glory and I had been twice before [best trips ever, btw]. So, I drove us and let them experience everything while I stayed sober [I deserve some type of award, right?]

We got there at about 11:45am and walked around, to get every one's feet wet. My two coworkers had their chins on the floor for most of the day :)

I was hoping to find a great painting for my new place but no such luck :-/

New Orleans: before the LSWho and Bama fans woke up from a crazy Saturday night

St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square

Ohh heyyy Andrew Jackson.

This is a shot of one of my favorite places in New Orleans - Razzoo! Amazing drink specials and people watching. Do it!

I told my coworkers that they had to get hand grenades. They went with the small ones... amateurs.

This broad was so creepy! She kept winking at me!

I made sure my coworkers got a picture with the Huge Ass Beers sign. When you do this, make sure you pay da man.

Lots of LSU fans. Boooo! ;)

And look who I ran into.. some of my family!

Uncle Steve!!! We actually had plans to meet up and we had lunch at Acme Oysters... YUM

Some of the most amazing oysters I've ever had! Chargrilled with parmesan on top.

This is called Poo Pah. It's gumbo in a bread bowl and it's awesome.

The Roll Tide Gnome! He had a wild time in Nola.

P.S. My best trips [yes, plural] to Nola included this man....

Hahahah he's going to love seeing this picture that he probably never knew existed :)

Have you ever been to New Orleans? If not, what are you waiting for?!

Best BBQ in Hattiesburg... possibly the world

During my first trip to Hattiesburg, I was introduced to some of the most amazing barbeque I've ever had. And I've had some pretty good BBQ in my day, okay? I'm from Lexington, NC... BBQ capital of the world.. ya ever heard of it?? It's amazing. But I have to be a traitor and say that Leatha's Bar-b-que Inn might be the best in the land.

This is the sign when you pull in.

Might not look as good as it was but ohhmaahhgaaah.. so amazing. And that sauce was incredible.

Potato Salad. Amazing.

Pecan pie that I didn't order but was given... and then charged for?

This is on the front of the menu - sweet Leatha!

Featured in the Best of Mississippi... these were framed all over the place. I think it's safe to say they win something every year.

I only took a few pictures of the articles that I saw but I had to snap a pic of the article in Southern Living.. how cool!

Welp, who's hungry now? Don't go here unless you're PREPARED to be in a food induced coma for the rest of the day :)

Movin' on Up!

It's almost two weeks until I move to FL to live with my love. We have been talking about this for a while and it is finally happening! If that's not exciting enough, I haven't seen Gregg in almost 3 months... Needless to say, I am so pumped I could scream!

Since we found our dream rental in Florida, I've been daydreaming about cooking, baking, relaxing in my own place with ole GL, and something that's not my forte... decorating.

Although, I just discovered the IKEA catalog app for the iPad and the wheels are spinning! I am coming up with all of these ideas that Gregg is going to hate at first and then eventually love.. and he'll really love it because IKEA is so freakin' affordable!

Look how freakin' cheap that bed is on the right. It's not my dream bedframe but it'll do for what we've got going on.

This would be lovely... if I were in college or like living in New York or something. I don't think Gregg would be down for this!

I want mirrors EVERYWHERE. Yep, I'm that vain.

Ahhh hello organization!

The vase with the pretty purply pink flowers is $2.99. I want flowers everywhere! Again, Gregg isn't going to like this at first.

Cooking gear! I want need it all!

Gregg's mega desk

I love gray and I'm loving those curtains to the left!

What other sites should I be looking at for some design inspiration?!

Happy 2012!

Happy New Year, people! I am starting the new year off by going back to Hattiesburg, MS. I'm actually looking forward to it because the people are nice, the temp is warm and there's actually some good shopping and restaurants!

Gregg comes home in THREE WEEKS and we are moving in to the cutest little townhouse in Florida. [How cute is it?!] Good question: it's so cute that is has a freakin' palm tree out in front. Precious!

Gregg and I have decided to reward ourselves when he gets back so we're going on a ski trip! We went to his lake house in Tahoe last year and this year we're going to....

I have always wanted to go to Jackson Hole so I am beyond excited! Look at some of these gorgeous pictures I found:

It probably won't look this vibrant in March but oh well.. those mountains are beautiful.

Here's Teton Village at night. There's all kinds of restaurants, shops, bars, etc.

I've got to study this closely to find the double blacks/moguls and skip them.

Wooo Gondola rides!!!

I am going to hopefully take a hipstamatic picture better than this. It'll be difficult but I'm gonna try :)

What trips are you taking in 2012?