Thankful for FALL

Fall is my faaavorite season! And while we're starting to get a little sneak peek at fall weather down in Atlanta, what has really made it start to feel like fall is *football season!* There is nothing we love more than cheering on the Buckeyes with our Midwestern-turned-Southern friends over a couple pitchers of beer :)

Ohio girls at Buckhead Saloon

With my hubbs

Fellow Bobcats :)

 After a fun-filled Saturday of college football, we spent Sunday snuggled up on the couch with pizza, wings and the Browns! Despite their pathetic disappointing loss, we loved our cozy, lazy day. We were feeling a little guilty about not spending much time out in the beautiful weather, so we decided to grill out in the evening. My latest cooking/grilling obsession: kabobs! I know they taste the same as if you made everything separate, but they just look so much prettier this way (and the homemade mac and cheese was to die for)!

Beef and chicken kabobs with peppers and onions - yum!

 And in other exciting news....... I tackled another item on my list of "to-do's" and am happy to be able to say "FINALLY!" for the third or fourth time this month :) (See "Finally" post if you're like "what is she talking about...") I dusted off the cute green storage bins I'd been hoarding in the spare closet and organized our disaster of a pantry! This was no small feat... I think it took like 2 hours. But it was far more rewarding to look at afterward than if I had spent those 2 hours studying ;)

This makes me smile :)

 I contemplated posting a "before" shot to give you all the full effect of this re-organization, but I think I'm too embarrassed... let's just say that to get one jar of spaghetti sauce out last week I had to move/knock over/spill a box of cereal, half a dozen packages of crackers, and sent a few little jars of sprinkles rolling across the tile. Not fun for an OCD, Type-A like myself! Anyway, it is lookin' good now and I find myself accidentally grinning each time I open the door. Judge away, I have no shame!
Nothing else new for now - just enjoying the comfortable weather and all things FALL :)

Summer Reading List

Books are the treasured wealth of the world
and the fit inheritance of generations and nations.
~ Henry David Thoreau ~

As a life-long avid reader, I was scared to death that law school would ruin my love of books! In an effort to ensure that I still read for leisure - and enjoyed it - I compiled a Summer Reading List for myself.

After scouring the NY Times and Publishers Weekly best-sellers list, polling my Facebook friends, and (of course) consulting Oprah's Book Club book list, I came up with a list of books to work my way through over my summer break. I was so excited to discover that the Buckhead Library was just minutes from our house, so I rushed out the door with only my car keys and cell phone in tow to get a library card. Imagine my disappointment when I found out that in order to get a card, I needed a piece of mail addressed to me with my current address on it. I had no wallet, no purse, nothing. But, true to form, I dug through my messy car and found a DSW Rewards coupon in my center console! See? Sometimes shopping addictions can be good for more than shoes.

So, I got my library card. Step one, check! Step two... find books. This is where I got really overwhelmed. The library down here is nothing like the Hudson Library I have grown so accustomed to! It isn't pretty, it doesn't smell good, there are old computers and dusty wire shelves... and, most importantly, no coffee shop!! Tragic. But fret not - after some diligent Googling, I learned that you can place books on hold on the library's website and they email you to come pick it up when it comes in! So convenient. Here is the list of  books my nose was buried in all summer:

• The Help by Kathryn Stockett
• Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
• Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
• The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
• The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
• Women, Food and God by Geneen Roth
• Private by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
• Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
• Something Blue by Emily Giffin
• Baby Proof by Emily Giffin
• Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin
• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
• The Shack by William P. Young
• Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver

I enjoyed literally every page of every book! It was so nice to spend time reading for pleasure instead of reading for school. There are a few books still lingering on my list of holds at the library, but for now my focus is on casebooks, rule books and code books... until winter break, when I can become a pleasure-reading bookworm once again :)

Beach Bums

We are taking full advantage of living a short drive from the ocean! But we need to stop discriminating... we've been to Hilton Head THREE times this summer. It sounds excessive - and it is - but we've had great excuses each time :) First we went when my cousin and his wife were there, so we spent a weekend hanging out w/ them.

HHI w/ Ryan and Erika

Then 2 weeks later, we went back to celebrate our anniversary. Which was planned before we knew we'd be going to visit our cousins... or else we might have picked another destination! But probably not :)

Harbour Town after our anniversary dinner

And THEN we went back again last weekend because my parents were there for a few days with some friends - and had an extra bedroom in their condo - so we couldn't pass up the chance to see my mom and dad when we were just 4 short hours away!

Beach w/ my mama and daddy

So the next time we want to get away for a weekend, we will have to choose another nearby beach! Destin, Charleston, Jacksonville, who knows. All are just a quick trip from Atlanta, and we know we won't be able to just pick up and go to the beach for a weekend forever - so might as well take advantage! And even though it seems like we spent half of our summer on the same beach, I love knowing that when we look back on our first year of marriage, Hilton Head will have a special place in our memories :)

We love Harbour Town

The busy girl's guide to dinner!

I'm a self-proclaimed busy girl, but I don't think anyone would argue with me that I truly am busy! I'm a full-time law student, a part-time office worker (for lack of a better title) and in the midst of it all I'm a full-time *new* wifey! People who have only known me since my migration to the South probably can't picture me any other way... but everyone who has known me longer knows all too well that becoming a domestic diva was not a natural progression for me! But! Long gone are my days of catching delivery pizzas - literally - on fire, burning scrambled eggs to a (now, irreparable - sorry mama) pan and making chocolate chip cookies that caused my baby sister's tooth to fall out upon biting into them. I wish I was making this stuff up.


So, in 12ish months of marriage the questions I get asked most by people who know me best when I talk about being all domestic are along the lines of "since when do you cook?" Which I know is really code for "omg poor Andrew he is probably eating take out every night!" These questions are followed by dropped jaws and looks of bewilderment when I tell them that I actually do cook now, and I'm getting (kind of) good at it! In fact, I cook every night :) Not weekends... let's not get carried away. But Monday-Thursday, the quicker and easier the recipe - the better! Here are a few of my favorite weeknight staples that keep my hubby full and happy, and that keep me from slaving over a hot stove/oven for more time than I can afford to waste:

• Lasagna - easy, delish, and leftovers for days! I use whole wheat noodles, and always mix up the cheese and sauce flavors for some variety.
• Crock pot pork chops and potatoes - simplest thing ever, and perfect for nights when our dinner times don't align.
• Chicken and pesto pasta - tastes so much better than plain old marina or alfredo, and my personal fave is to make it with campanelle noodles!
• Baked salmon and rice - marinate in olive oil, lemon juice and toss in every seasoning in your spice rack... can't go wrong.
• Stuffed burgers - stuffed with cheese, cheese and more cheese then grilled to perfection.
• Spaghetti and meatballs - something about homemade meatballs just makes Andrew feel loved haha... and 1lb. of ground beef makes enough for meatball subs the next day :)
• Reubens - my Irish hubbs loves a good reuben and they're our grown-up substitute for grilled cheese sandwiches.
• Quiche - breakfast for dinner is always fun, and its even more fun when you have your entire meal contained in a single dish!

While these dinners are far from gourmet, they are do-able on a weekly basis in the midst of juggling school, work and home life. On nights when I have more time or just want to experiment with the zillions of recipe books we got for wedding gifts, I put a little more effort into our meals... but who am I kidding? These menu items have become staples in my kitchen and I am just happy to have graduated from pizza burning and teeth breaking to cooking edible, nutritious, and occasionally delicious dinners for our family of two :)

If you're wondering "where are the veggies?" ...that's another post, for another day!