Weekend Wrap Up: Halloweekend Edition

Front porch decor

Walrus mask transformation

Hilarious mask at Halloween store

John in same mask

Joan Shivers make-up

Linda McCartney, having a hard time recovering from the party

More photos & info on Flickr! & Instagram.  My friend Kat took pictures at our Halloween Party, so I'll post those as soon as they're uploaded (thanks, Kat!). 

FRIDAY

I left work early to do party prep, which turned into spending the entire afternoon trying to help John brainstorm a walrus mask, like you do.  It was my friend Kathy's birthday, so she hosted a birthday party / chili cook-off / pumpkin carving contest at her place.  Super fun & super good chili, at least '# 3' was....

SATURDAY

Halloween party!  My awesome friend Kat was kind enough to set up her photo gear & take everyone's picture.  Thanks, Kat!  As soon as she gets the photos uploaded, I'll post them.  I was Joan Shivers (Rivers).  John, in his continued quest to have the most obscure costume ever, was 'the walrus' from The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour.  Pics coming soon!

SUNDAY

As you can imagine, yesterday was a day of rest & recovery, mostly for Linda.  We did leave our house once to eat recovery lunch burritos at Tequila's.  The entire waitstaff was in costume, including a 'sexy nun'.  I promise, I'm not making that up.  I'm also 80% sure she was pregnant, which, of course she was. 

We spent the rest of the day/night watching Twin Peaks on Netflix (John's never seen it!) & eating leftover party food.  In keeping with the Halloween spirit, I came to work today dressed as a bloated woman in her mid-thirties who ate so much Halloween candy yesterday that the only thing she can get into today is a poncho & jeggings.

Happy Halloween!

EDITED TO ADD

Halloween party pics online here.

Where I Profess My Love For Nuvo Burrito

{Source}

I recently had a discussion with a friend, a discussion I've had a with a few other people, about Nuvo Burrito & how apparently not everyone loves it as much as I do (?!).  I love it!  In fact, I've eaten there so many times that on my last visit, my burrito was free because I actually filled up their punch card.  I think that's the first time I've ever filled up (or kept up with) a punch card.  Yay, me!  Yay, free burritos!

So here's what you need to know.  Nuvo Burrito isn't like the other burrito joints you've probably frequented, e.g. Chipotle, Qdoba, Blue Coast Burrito, etc.  Nuvo's burritos (& quesadillas) aren't necessarily "Mexican".  I'm not a food critic, so I don't know the right descriptors, but Nuvo Burrito uses more unique/non-traditional burrito components.  Sure, you can get a "normal" burrito, but why would you when you can get one with goat cheese, sweet potato, or pepperoni!

I think the menu intimidates some people.  If I'm not mistaken, you can get anything on their menu served as either a burrito, a quesadilla, or a salad.  I've had all three (of course I have, again, I filled up a punch card).  I had the good fortune of being introduced to Nuvo Burrito by my friend Claudia, who is a regular & knew which direction to steer me, menu-wise.  Speaking of Claudia, her favorite is the 90210, which is also the favorite of every other Nashvillian except me.  Me?  I prefer the Gulf Coaster.  I'm kind of in love with it.  The flavor is so good!  I'm totally addicted.  I do like the 90210 & if you 're a goat cheese fanatic (Alexis), that's totally the way to go.  One other menu item that I've had & really liked is the Plymouth, served as a salad.  It's very autumnal & reminded me of Thanksgiving.

One last thing to know.  You're going to get a lot of food.  I always eat half & take the other half home to John.  I also get a small queso to go with the chips.  The staff is hilarious & friendly, the prices are great, & the atmosphere is fun.  They have this weird Nuvo Network that plays super obscure music videos.  It's never that loud & I actually kind of like it, but, as a child of the Eighties, I'm also kind of into super obscure music videos...

For more info on Nuvo Burrito, you can visit their website here, or check out their Yelp reviews here.

Now, get thyself to Nuvo Burrito!

Snickerdoodle Blondies

I ran a 5.8 mile, uphill trail run on Sunday, so I decided I deserved a dessert, but it needed to be something that I already had the ingredients for.  Voila!  Snickerdoodle blondies.  I love a snickerdoodle, so I was excited to try this hybrid recipe.

Let's get started.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking pan; set aside.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon & nutmeg in a medium bowl; set aside.

Beat together the butter & brown sugar on medium speed until light & fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Add the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla.  Beat, scraping the bowl, until thoroughly combined.

On low speed, gradually add the flour mixture until just combined.  Give the dough a final stir to make sure the flour is incorporated.

Spread the dough evenly into the pan (it's a really thick batter).

Combine the granulated sugar & cinnamon in a small bowl & sprinkle evenly over the top of the batter.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the surface springs back when gently pressed.  Cool completely before cutting.  Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

These were really good!  Highly recommend them, although you may want to cut the recipe in half if you're a two-person household.  This recipe makes a serious amount of blondies.

RECIPE

Snickerdoodle Blondies

Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

Yields 24 blondies

INGREDIENTS

2 2/3 cups AP flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs, divided
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking pan; set aside.

2.  Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon & nutmeg in a medium bowl; set aside.

3.  Beat together the butter & brown sugar on medium speed until light & fluffy, about 5 minutes.  Add the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla.  Beat, scraping the bowl, until thoroughly combined.  On low speed, gradually add the flour mixture until just combined.  Give the dough a final stir with a spatula or wooden spoon to make sure the flour is incorporated.

4.  Spread the dough evenly into the pan (it's a really thick batter).  Combine the granulated sugar & cinnamon in a small bowl & sprinkle evenly over the top of the batter.

5.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the surface springs back when gently pressed.  Cool completely before cutting.  Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

See Flickr photostream here.

Weekend Wrap Up: Toothy Pumpkin Edition

Halloween craft night

Vampire pumpkin!

The finished line-up.

Snickerdoodle blondies

Bread bowl!

More weekend photos on Flickr & Instagram


FRIDAY

Halloween craft night!  We ate, we drank, we made vampire pumpkins.  Success!

SATURDAY

Mary Katherine & I decided to try free hot yoga at this new hot yoga studio in Brentwood, Fahrenheit Yoga.  The only other time I've done hot yoga was at Epic Yoga & they do vinyasa flow yoga, which is what I prefer.  Fahrenheit Yoga does the more traditional bikram yoga, which, I found out on Saturday, I hate.  If bikram yoga is your jam & you don't mind driving to Brentwood, Fahrenheit Yoga is a really nice studio.  That style yoga just isn't for me.

Afterwards, we met Heidi & Jolie at this awesome coffee spot in MK's hood called Roast.  Loved it!  I had the best pumpkin spice latte I've ever had - not too sweet (I'm talking to you, Starbucks) & super flavorful.  Go!  Now!  (I-65 S to Harding, right on Trousdale.)  MK also swears by their pumpkin hot chocolate, which I'm totally going back for.  You're welcome.

Mary Katherine & I took a brief break from each other, then met back up for a wine tasting at The Wine Chap.  We were the only people there, but it was fun & the wine was good.  Later, John & I had Indian & then I watched The Switch, which was a lot better than I expected.

SUNDAY

My Sunday running partner was feeling under the weather, so I asked Mary Katherine if I could tag along on whatever run she was doing.  She was running the 5.8 mile trail run in Percy Warner, which I've never done.  OMG, that's the hardest thing I've ever done!  I actually think I started hallucinating on 3 Mile Hill.  If Mary Katherine hadn't been with me, pushing me me to keep going, I would have curled into a ball & rolled back down to my car.  But I did it, all 5.8 miles, most of which are at a serious incline.  Take that, knees!  And speaking of my knees, they're totally fine!  They didn't hurt during the run & they didn't hurt afterwards.  Granted, I iced them, but still.  Major improvement!  Thanks, Mary Katherine!  Team Taurus!

Afterwards, I decided I could eat whatever I wanted, so I, of course, treated myself to a breakfast bagel.  Shocker.  Then I went home & made snickerdoodle blondies (recipe to follow) & potato cheese soup, which I served, ahem, IN A BREAD BOWL.  OMG, ya'll.  Publix bread bowls, where have you been all my life?  Because I not only ate two servings of soup, but also the entire bread bowl (oh yeah, I ate it), I lapsed into a coma on the coach & watched some weird movie on Netflix called Brief Interviews with Hideous Men.  Meh....

Book Review: Dragonfly In Amber

Dragonfly In Amber by Diana Gabaldon

Publisher: Delacorte Press (July 1992)

Pages: 752

Genre: Historical Fiction / Time Travel / Romance

My Reading Format: Paperback

Available Formats: Kindle Edition, Hardcover, Paperback, Mass Market Paperback, Audio CD

My Review

According to Goodreads, I started reading this book on Sept. 6th, which was almost two months ago.  I'm a fast reader, so two months is a long time for me.  For the past few weeks, I've been trying to plow through it just to be done, but I've had a hard time reading this book for large chunks of time because IT'S SO SLOW.  A few thoughts:

• Dragonfly picks up where Outlander left off, kind of...
• The majority of the book is set in France & deals with 200-year old European politics that I have little to no prior knowledge of & honestly don't care much about.
• A lot of the things I loved about Outlander are missing from Dragonfly, e.g. explicit Highland sex scenes (I'm sorry, but you all KNOW it's true).
• My thoughts on Jamie Fraser being the best thing to happen to leading literary men since Mr. Darcy still holds true.  Almost every page finds Jamie farming, fighting, riding, or rescuing.  It's hot.

My Final Thoughts

Overall, I didn't hate this book, but I didn't love it either, especially in comparison to how much I enjoyed reading Outlander.  I'm on the fence as to whether or not I'll continue reading the series.  If I'm going to spend two months reading a book, I want to love it when I'm done.  For those of you who have read the rest of the series, does it get better?  Is this the worst/slowest one?  Maybe I just need to take a break & pick up Voyager in a few months.  Anyway, three stars.  Meh.

Halloween Crafts

It's no secret, I'm REALLY into Halloween.  It's also no secret, if you know me, that I suck at crafts.  I've been going pin-crazy over on Pinterest, so my friends suggested we get together this Friday night to make some of these Halloween craft projects.  In fact, Alexis & I are going to Michael's today to shop for supplies.  I still don't know what I'm making, assuredly something easy (and inexpensive).  Here are some of the projects I'm contemplating:

Fanged Pumpkins via Martha Stewart

Pumpkin Drink Cooker via The Kitchn

Halloween Lantern via ModFruGal

Again, I have no idea what I'm making, or what anyone else is making, for that matter.  I'm leaning towards the fanged pumpkins, but we'll see.  If you know me & you're interested in getting in on this Friday night craft action, shoot me an email.  I don't have a very big table for crafting, but we'll make it work.

I've got a lot of these Halloween craft projects pinned on my Fall/Halloween board.  Follow me on Pinterest here.

Joyeux Halloween!

Weekend Wrap Up: Everything Is "Awesome" When You're 5 Years Old Edition

More pics & info on Flickr & Instagram

FRIDAY

Abigail, my 5 year old niece, spent the night with us for the first time on Friday.  My sister dropped her off around 7:00pm, which is usually her bedtime, but she ran around our house (literally, ran around our house) for about an hour yelling "Awesome!" & then fell asleep watching High School Musical 2, like you do.

SATURDAY

Guess what I learned?  Five year olds wake up REALLY early & not only that, they wake up raring to go like today is going to be the BEST DAY OF THEIR LIVES.  We had a good 3-4 hours at home before we had to leave for the puppet show.  I didn't really account for this, so I was unprepared to provide that much early morning entertainment.  Luckily, it didn't matter because you know what else I learned?  Five year olds can totally entertain themselves for hours on end with these 2 things:  nail polish & Post-Its.

Abigail had never been downtown, so she was pretty blown away by the tall buildings & people out & about.  When we walked into the Downtown Library, she came to a complete stop & said, "Awesome!".  After the puppet show, I asked her what she wanted to eat for lunch & she asked me to take her to a "pizza parlor."  No idea where that came from, but we went to Pie In The Sky.  I dropped her off soon after that, much to her chagrin as she was assuredly planning on spending the rest of the day rearranging my purses & jewelry.  Bless her.

Back at home, I laid down on the couch & slipped into a coma for the rest of the afternoon.  Turns out, being in charge of a small human being for 24 hours is kind of hard.  We loved having her though & can't wait to have her over again.  My jewelry has never been so organized! 

SUNDAY

Jaime & I ran Belle Meade Boulevard.  This is the longest I've run since last winter when I was attempting to train for a half.  I think we ran 5 miles yesterday, give or take.  We ran slow, but we ran the whole thing.  I had to ice my knee when I got home, but I'm fine today.  We'll see how it goes.  I was up to 6-7 miles when I got hurt earlier this year.  I'd like to surpass that, but we'll just see how my old lady joints hold up.

I spent the rest of the day lounging around & trying to finish THE LONGEST BOOK IN THE WORLD!  I'm never going to finish this book.  I've got 121 pages left, which will probably take me until Christmas.  Oy...

Friends With Skillz

I don't have a lot to write about these days, so I thought I'd point you in the direction of three sisters who are doing it for themselves...

My friend ALEXIS recently started contributing to the Nashville Scene's food blog, Bites.  Alexis is one of the funniest people I know, so I wasn't surprised to find myself laughing out loud reading her posts.  Her posts are witty & informative, but, I swear, the best part is the comment section.  I can't tell if these people don't know she's being sarcastic, or if they're just awful human beings who thrive on leaving anonymous, nasty comments.  Clearly, as evidenced by the recent Saturday Night Live skit, this is not unique to the Nashville Scene.

Another funny lady I know is TRACY MOORE.  Tracy had a baby last year & is now sharing her new, albeit hilarious, motherhood experiences on Jezebel.  I've always admired Tracy's writing, as she used to write locally here in Nashville, but now that she's moved to LA & started writing for Jezebel, I'm dying.  She is so funny!  Read one of my favorite posts by Tracy here.

Last, but not least is my dear friend NICOLE.  Nicole is a triple threat.  She's not only an amazing writer, she's an entrepreneur & a drummer (a drummer!).    Nicole is awesome.  This year, life handed her lemons & she turned it into lemonade, via my new favorite website, East Nashville With Love.  If you live in East Nashville & you're not reading this blog, you're an idiot.  Nicole is also spending her 'free' time doing what she does best, writing music reviews.  I particularly like her recent post on Glossary's new album because A) I like Glossary, & B) it was, ahem, mastered by my husband.

Cheers to you, ladies!  And just in case I failed to drive home the point that you're awesome, hilarious & inspiring, I leave you with this tribute by Annie Lennox & Aretha Franklin.

Weekend Wrap Up: Oktober Edition

 

Fancy Friday night dinner

Claudia, me & Seanna post 5K

Oktoberfest

Dogtoberfest

Piano recital program

Adam, reciting

More pic info on Instagram & Flickr

FRIDAY

I got a hair cut after work on Friday, so my bangs are no longer covering my eyes.  John & I decided to spend the weekend working on the laundry room, so we spent Friday night shopping for shelving.  The obvious highlight of our night was dinner at Bojangles.

SATURDAY

John stayed home & worked on the laundry room, while I drove to Germantown for Oktoberfest.  I ran the 12th Annual Germantown Spaten Bier 5K Run/Walk with Claudia & Seanna.  Loved the course & loved the free post-race beer at 9am.  I came back later with Linda & met up with Claudia & her dog, Eddie.  We ate & drank some more, while Linda enjoyed constant petting & a lot of scraps.

That night, we hit two parties in East Nashville.  Our friends Cory & Sarah got married & bought a house, so we stopped by there first to congratulate them & see their new house.  Then we went around the corner (literally) to Adam & Sarah's to celebrate Adam's 30th birthday with a piano recital & dinner at La Hacienda.

SUNDAY

My grandparents were in town from Oklahoma, so we spent yesterday in Smyrna spending time with them.  Last night, John worked on the laundry room all night, while I tried to sleep so I could get up early & run today.

Beef & Pineapple Red Curry

Beef & Pineapple Red Curry

Adapted from Everyday Food

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup red curry paste
1 lb sirloin steak, trimmed & cut against the grain into very thin strips
1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
2 cups large diced pineapple
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
cooked jasmine rice, for serving
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn

Directions:

In a large skillet or wok, heat oil over medium-high.  Add curry paste & cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds.  Add steak & cook, stirring, until browned, 2 minutes.  Add red bell pepper & pineapple & cook, stirring, until pineapple starts to release juices, 1 minute.  Add broth & coconut milk & bring to a boil.  Reduce heat & cook at a rapid simmer until red bell pepper is crisp-tender, 8 minutes.  Serve over rice, topped with basil.

Kim's Notes:

The original recipe calls for green beans, but we used a red bell pepper instead.  We also added 1-2 thai chili peppers, but we like our food spicy.  At the end of the 8-minute simmering time, ours was still really liquid-y, so we simmered it a little longer.  In hindsight, I think it's supposed to be that liquid-y, but we didn't know.  It's very similar to when you order red curry in a Thai restaurant & the red curry comes in a bowl, almost like a soup, then you pour it over your plate of rice.

I LOVE red curry & thought this was really close to what I normally order at Thai restaurants.  John didn't love it as much as I did, but he typically goes in a completely different direction when we eat Thai.  If you like red curry, I recommend this recipe.  It was surprisingly easy & fast to make.

Team Martha!

Weekend Wrap Up: Weekend On Fire Edition

Hot chicken

Husband on fire

Ashley, Nicole & me

Fire ladies

Baldwins on fire

Post-run breakfast bagel

More photo info on Instagram & Flickr 

FRIDAY

We met our friends Brian & Jessica for sushi dinner at Sonobana - so good!

SATURDAY

There's a new yoga studio in Brentwood that three of my good friends have joined & are obsessed with, Epic Yoga.  It's in the Target shopping center on Old Hickory Blvd, so not terribly far.  I met my friend Heidi there Saturday morning for a 90 minute power vinyasa class.  I've never done hot yoga, but I loved it.  Well, once I got used to it, I loved it.  I had a hard time adjusting to the heat at first & figuring out my breathing, but I adjusted quickly.  This class had three instructors, so while one taught, the other two walked around & made adjustments to your poses.  I loved this!  I'm always surprised at how flexible I am when an instructor pushes me to reach further & then I can usually do it on my own in the next class.  Anyway, I'm rambling.  If you're interested, I highly recommend trying Epic Yoga.  I loved it & will probably join.

Our friends Keith & Nicole (not Urban) had us over on Saturday night to celebrate Nicole's birthday.  We ate hot chicken, made caramel apples & sat outside around their fire pit.  It was awesome!  The hot chicken was from some place in East Nashville called Pepperfire.  Meh.  It wasn't bad, but I don't need to eat it again.  Prince's, it wasn't.  But the caramel apples were AMAZING, especially because we ate them sitting around a fire.  Perfect fall evening.

SUNDAY

Yesterday I ran the Richland Creek Greenway with Jaime.  I don't know how far we ran.  Three-ish miles?  It was a good run.  Man, I love running in cold weather!  Post-run, I delivered some food to my friend Katie who had a baby last week & then I met my mom in Green Hills so we could scope out the new Nordstrom.  It's so nice!  They have so many counter brands that I haven't been able to get in Nashville.  Hooray!  Also, ladies, take note, they have the Butter nail polish line.  You're welcome.