Day 1 with Lorilee

In the 4th grade, a fun girl named Lorilee and I became best of friends.  We have so many great memories together.  So when she said she was coming for a quick visit, I was thrilled!  Her husband Danny had some meeings here in Memphis, so she decided to come along.  It was soooo good to see her and we had a fantastic time.  We even did things that I haven't done yet in Memphis.

Our first stop was Slave Haven.  This house and the owners helped slaves to freedom.  The tour was very informative.  We learned a lot about the history of slavery in the south.  I enjoyed learning about how quilts were used as codes to warn slaves if a place was safe or not. 

Here's a few pictures:

Danny and Lorilee in front of the house.  No photography was allowed inside the home.

Me and Lorilee in front of the house.

On a  little swing:

After Slave Haven, we went to Beale Street.  Nels met up with us there and we enjoyed live music and excellent food at BB King's Club.  It was a great place.  We went around 6 so it wasn't too crazy yet. :)
Lorilee, BB King and Me.

The band played music by Elvis, Johnny Cash and other classics.  It was so enjoyable.

After dinner we walked to the Peabody hotel and up to the roof for a beautiful sunset.
Lorilee and Danny...cute couple, eh?!

We took a walk along the Mississippi River after the sun was down.  The Memphis bridge was all lit up and it was a gorgeous night.  That was the end of the first day....

Day with Larysa

My dear friend Larysa moved. :(  I was sad to see her leave. 

We spent some time together on a Saturday before she left.  We had a great time!  I'm grateful for her friendship.  She's amazing.

So here's a few pictures of our adventure:

We went to the Farmer's Market at Shelby Farms.  I love the fresh produce and flowers. 

Here's the big red barn:

Larysa and I both got some cheerful sunflowers.  The cute fellow is Zac, Larysa's son.  He was sooooo good. 

I got some tomatoes and Larysa got some peaches. 
My arm picture....and then off to lunch.

Mosa's Asian Bistro.  I love this place.  I get the same thing every time, Sweet and Sour Chicken, and it's delicious every time!

Larysa and her food.

Doesn't it just look yummy?

We needed a little something sweet after lunch.  Muddy's Bake Shop provided our sweet tooth with the BEST cupcakes.

Muddy's is a cute little bakery.  See how fun and festive they are....you can see Larysa in line.  The line was always to the door the whole time we were there.   Busy place, but fast.

Zac chillin'.  He's so adorable.

The tables are each uniquely painted.

Our cupcakes...chocolate with chocolate frosting and if I remember right, Larysa got chocolate with Peanut Butter frosting.

Check out the Whisk, pink bling.

Lots of cupcakes, and some sold out!

It was a great day...aw memories.  

Uncle Lou's

The first week in August, Nels and I headed to Uncle Lou's Famous Fried Chicken.  This Memphis restaurant was featured on the show Diner's, Drive-In's and Dives.  So we were pretty excited to try it.

Here's a few pictures of our adventure:

The menu:  You could even order a 1 1/2 lbs Ultimate Monster Cheeseburger for only $8.48!  That's a lot of meat!

 The cup says "Sweet Spicy Love."  That's their signature style of chicken.

 I tried fried okra for the first time.  It doesn't have much flavor...I like fried dill pickles better.  I ordered the chicken and Nels got a Honey Dipped Smoke Sausage Sandwich.

 I'm trying to imitate Nels's Dinosaur face...I need to keep working on that!

I'm about 23 weeks along here.

Verdict:  We both enjoyed the chicken.  But we like Gus's Fried Chicken better.  I have to say the service was excellent.  The people working there are Super Sweet Southerners!

Enchiladas and Baked Alaska

I'm finally blogging again!  Watch out, I have all my pictures off my camera.  So hopefully I will be able to catch up over the next week or two. 

July was a pretty quiet picture taking month.  In fact, I think I only took pictures on my birthday.  So here it is!

I turned the big 30 this year.  Nels kept asking if I wanted to do a big party or something.  But I was in a nostalgic mood.  I wanted to replicate my birthdays from when I was at home.  My mom always let us choose what we wanted for dinner and what kind of cake.  I chose the same thing almost every year, my grandpa's enchiladas and Baked Alaska.

The enchiladas are corn tortillas layered with a homemade enchilada sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and cheese.  Then you place another corn tortilla and build as many layers as you want.  Last, top it off with an egg.  It's my favorite!

Here's what it looks like:

 Sadly, Baked Alaska does not do well in hot, humid weather.  One mistake I made was buying cheap, soft ice cream.  30 seconds after taking the ice cream out of the freezer it started melting.  The meringue mixed a little with the ice cream when I was frosting it.  I put it back in the freezer to harden.  You're supposed to put the cake in the oven to just barely toast the meringue.  Well, when I put it in the oven, the ice cream immediately melted and pushed all of the meringue off the cake. 
So this is the mess I ended up with for my birthday cake:

 We were laughing so hard...it was either that or cry.  Nels put the candles on and with 30 on there I quickly blew them out so the cake wouldn't melt even more!  Luckily, the cake still tasted yummy!  Lesson learned though, don't buy cheap ice cream for this cake...and maybe make it in the winter instead. :)

I'm about 19 weeks along in this picture.

Redbird's Game April and June

Nels and I went to two Redbird Baseball games together.  Both of them were in the Hilton Suite.  It's always a lot of fun and lots of yummy food.

Here's a few pictures:

April Ballgame:

I don't know why I always look scary when other people take my pictures.  I get all nervous and then I end up with a weird facial expression.  My hair is a little wild too...Oh well....enough critiquing!

Swing Batter, Swing!

 June's Ballgame:
In the suite...

My co-workers were making us laugh, which resulted in this picture:

Nothing like eating Cracker Jacks and singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" in the summertime.  Good times.

Windy City Grille

Back in April...We went with some friends on a double date!  It was fun to go on a double date.  We went to a restaurant none of us had been to yet.  It was called Windy City Grille in Hernando, MS.  They serve Chicago style food.  Nels and I were excited to try their deep dish pizza.

Here's some pictures:

Good location.  We didn't take time to walk around, but it was in a cool part of town.

We tried the Chicken, Bacon, Ranch deep dish pizza.  Nice and thick.  It was delicious...although I did ask for some marinara sauce to dip it in for added flavor.

I like to go back and try some of their other pizzas.  It's a good restaurant!

Wimpy's

While Nels's parents were in town, we tried a new restaurant called Wimpy's.  It's a little restaurant in Southaven.  Their burgers are made to order.  You can add any topping on it.  If I remember right, the toppings did not have an additional charge.  I got pineapple, mushrooms, cheese, lettuce, tomato, on and on.  I probably went a little overboard with the toppings.  I also got a delicious raspberry shake.  Overall, it was a yummy place to eat.

Here's a few pictures:

Bob and Donna:

Me and Nels.  Notice the similarities between father and son?

Yummy!