Crab Cake Saturday!

This past Saturday, Josh and I had planned a relaxing day of watching football and cooking up something yummy. We didn't decide what we wanted to cook until early Saturday morning, but we decided on Crab Cakes with Mac and Cheese. No veggies allowed! Actually we sort of forgot about the veggies, but who really cares when it's Saturday right? As you can see above, Josh positioned the prep table right behind the couch so that he could cook and watch football at the same time. This is basically his ideal Saturday and we were both excited about the yummy food to come. After we mixed all the ingredients for the mac and cheese and put the casserole dish in the oven, we started on the crab cakes. We only had 30 minutes until the USC game started so we were completely focused on getting this task done quickly and efficiently. Above is the before picture of what the raw crab cakes looked like just before they became the crisp yumminess that you will see below.

With all the delicious smells permeating the house, Hunny could not help but camp out by all the cooking. As you can see, she is a great assistant cook to Josh. While he was cleaning a few dishes, she took charge and watched the crab cakes and mac and cheese through the oven window. She did a great job because nothing burnt while Josh left her in charge!

And here is the final product. These crab cakes were absolutely wonderful. We made enough for us to even eat them Sunday as well. I chose to put one on a salad for my Sunday meal. I guess I was tying to make up for the lack of vegetables on Saturday. Does that count? Who knows, but the salad was devine.

As for the football part of our Saturday, the Gamecocks lost and we are very sad about it. At least there was some good food to make up for the Gamecocks playing so poorly!

Best Dress Ever

Ok ok, I never post about clothes, but recently I have decided to focus on the things in my daily life that make me happy. Earlier this week I was a bit stressed out so when I got an email reminder from Anthropologie about their current sale, I couldn't help but stop everything I was doing at work to take a look. I am so glad I did because I found the perfect maxi dress. There is no way I would have paid full price for this because I think that Anthropology is seriously overpriced, but I still have a secret obsession for all of their clothing. Anyways, I made the purchase and a couple days later I am sporting my new dress while writing this post. I may never take it off! I can already invision myself flying to Mexico in this dress in November when we head there for a wedding. Makes me even more happy!

Well that about sums up the end to my work week. Glad it ended on a happy note, now off to the weekend to spend time with friends and hopefully watch the Gamecocks beat those War Eagles!

A-MAZE-ING

The McLeod Family Farms in McBee, South Carolina, decided honor the South Carolina Gamecocks and their back to back National Baseball Championships through their annual Maze fundraiser. The cooler part of this story is that the McLeod family is actually a die hard Clemson family. They are just proud of their state and if that means honoring the Gamecocks, that's what they will do!

All of the proceeds from this Maze will go to fund some youth baseball fields which they have already donated the land for as well. This seems like a pretty cool fundraiser. Apparently at every corner in the maze there are trivia questions. If you get the answer correct, as most Gamecocks should, then you are pointed in the right direction in the hopes of making it out of the maze quickly. If you answer incorrectly, you are on your own to figure out which way to go. I wish I lived closer to McBee, SC so I could try this out. Not only would it be fun, but it supports our youth and the future National Champions of South Carolina!

It's not the Gamecocks, but it was fun

Saturday morning Josh and I decided to go to the GA Tech/UNC Football game to check out the college football tailgating scene in Atlanta. Although the game started at noon, and we didn't leave the house until 11:20am, we still had plenty of time to find an awesome parking spot near the stadium, scalp some awesome 4th row, lower level tickets for less than face value, and make it into the game a couple minutes into the 1st Quarter. It was pretty amazing considering we are used to arriving for USC games at least 5 hours before kick off, hoping and praying to find tickets for somewhere in the stadium no matter where it might be, and being lucky enough to jump in someone else's car so we don't have to park somewhere random for $30.
As you can see in the picture above, our seats were great. The game was very sloppy and although the Tarheels fought hard in the end, the Yellow Jackets ended up winning the game. We had some very nice older fans behine us who thought we were great. Josh and I were clearly not in the visitors section as we sat there in our light blue attire. Unlike SEC Fans at big universities, the GA Tech Fans welcomed us to their section and were very nice. They even got to know us as well. Fairly different experience from any other football game I have attended.

I wish I had taken more picture of the stadium. I had an ole'timey feel to it. Very small and probably not a real bad seat in the house. It was also neat to be able to see the Atlanta Skyline in the background. You can see the Bank of America tower in the background of the picture above.

Although the Tarheels were not able to bring home a W, the night ended watching the Carolina Gamecocks bring home yet another! We were happy about that and hope for the same as we play Auburn this weekend. Go Cocks!

12 Going On Annoyed

A couple of weeks ago while Josh was training in Texas for his new job, my friends The Baxter's had a cookout for Jenn's birthday and for the USC/UGA game. I decided to take Hunny to the party as well because she always gets left out of the fun. When we got there, not many people were there yet and she sniffed around the backyard and played with Curtis, the Baxter's dog. Eventually we let the two pups in the house and they hung out and cooled off. As the party got bigger and more dogs started coming over, I could not find Hunny. I searched everywhere and could not find her. Eventually I heard some friends start laughing and Hunny was spotted hiding in the bushes. I guess she got a little annoyed with all the people and dogs around and was trying to hide herself. As you can see in the picture above, we all thought it was hilarious and took a picture with her.Later she went back to the same spot. I guess she thought she was hidden a little better if she couldn't see us. The pretty flowers that just got planted that morning got crushed by her rear end. Sorry Jenn!

The night was awesome as it always is at The Baxter's and the Gamecocks finally decided that they could beat the Georgia Bulldogs after a 3 hour back and forth game which had the whole house nervous. I was in the minority pulling for the Gamecocks so I had to have a quick cheer and then I was quiet about it the rest of the night. As for Hunny, I put her in one of the bedrooms so she could get away from all the people and get some shut eye. I guess the older she gets, the more she just wants to do her own thing. Good to know!

Edisto Island Here I Come!

This tree is a mystery, but it always represents the fun to come as we drive down the road slowly approaching Edisto Island, SC. As this long awaited Labor Day Holiday approaches, I can hardly wait to sit in the sand and relax on the beach with some dear friends. I am sure Josh is excited about the beach as well, but let's be honest, it's opening weekend for college football. That is one weekend I know I can never and will never compete with in regards to where my husband will be. You are probably wondering what I am talking about. How can Josh be at the beach when USC is playing in Charlotte? Well everyone, Josh will be waking up bright and early to drive to watch the Gamecocks play in Charlotte. I, on the other hand, will still be relaxing at the beach happy to watch the game on the TV.

Josh and I are hosting a house party with our good friends Jeff, Christine & Garrett Degood, Susannah, James, Mamie & Lucas Biel, Jessica and Mac Lesley, and Jason Barnes. Our furry child Hunny will be attending and is super excited to catch all the crumbs which will be dropped by the kids. Jackpot weekend for her!

I can hardly wait as I sit here contemplating all the fun we are going to have, all the delicious food we are going to eat, and the even more refreshing beverages to consume over great conversation with some highly missed friends. It's going to be a weekend to remember!

Hunny's New Trick

Ok ok, so this is not Hunny, but wouldn't it be awesome if I could teach her to do this? I found this picture in one of my facebooks friends albums. She did actually see a dog doing this in real life and got a quick pic to document it. That dog must have a wonderful life to be able to kick back and relax!

I swear it's time that I get a new camera. I am dependant on others documenting my life through their cameras, or me taking pics with my IPhone. That generally doesn't happen around the pool so I have no documentation of the awesome pool party we hosted at out house this past Saturday to celebrate July 4th. There was a great turnout of about 15 people and 4 dogs. We grilled out, did some swimming and had a couple cold ones while relaxing in the sun. It's nice to have such great friends here in Atlanta to hang with on the weekends.

We did miss going to the beach, but on Monday it was a nice treat not to have to drive 5.5 hours back from Edisto. Instead Josh and watched HBO on Demand for most of the day. We were complete couch potatoes and we loved every minute of it!

Hopefully I will get better at taking more photos to document our activities. Maybe there is a new camera in my future to help do so!