Highland Jazz & Blues Festival...

Is there anything that brings people together like food and music?!

les boutique de noel...

Here's a snapshot of me with some of the ZeltaMae girls at the Les Boutique de Noel Preview Party. I love going to this event! I typically go every year with my mom and we browse the venders together, which inevitably gets us into the holiday spirit. It is such a special event and I highly encourage everyone to get out in this finally-feels-like-winter weather :) Tomorrow is the last day of the event. It is located at the Bossier Civic Center from 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. I will also be attending the Highland Jazz and Blues Festival with some friends tomorrow and possibly the House Concert Series on Sunday.  Don't you love an artsy weekend?!

breaking danh...

No, I have not misspelled the Twilight Saga that opens tonight! Lauren, Katie and I went to Danh's Garden recently because we were craving their chicken pad thai with peanut sauce. I love this dish SO much! It hits my favorite flavor notes - sweet and savory - and the peanut sauce?! I could drink this stuff through a straw! Although the building looks questionable, the food more than makes up for the lackluster location.

Tison's favorite dish is B6- Stir Fry Lemon Grass Beef Noodle Salad. He was so mad I went without him. Hehe! Until we meet again Danh...

Hudson-sitting...

I have to say I am not your typical girl that goo's and gahh's over babies. Yes, babies are cute, sweet, and innocent. Yes, I think little baby clothes are precious, but when I start thinking about being responsible for a little person FOREVER... I get a little freaked out. I mean the feeding, the cleaning diapers, making sure they have everything they need-WOW, moms out there, I mean wow. I can barely keep myself together!

I am so impressed with my sis, Lauren, who handles mommyhood with such grace and ease. Some might consider me the more dramatic sister {stop laughing mom} and maybe I am, but I catch myself starring at Lauren with Hudson and asking, "How do you DO it? How did you know that's what would make him stop crying? You are so good at this mommy stuff!" Honestly, I am so proud of her. Last week when David and Lauren wanted an evening out they asked me to babysit. Oh, no big deal to most of you, right? Well, I was more-than-concerned about him choking on something when I looked away, or falling and hitting his head, or god forbid having a dirty diaper!!! When I showed up, to my surprise (and delight) Leslie, was there to help out. As a team we conquered Hudson-sitting like pros.

 The highlight of the night for me was feeding Hudson his bottle and rocking him to sleep. He is such an active baby. He always wants to be moving, so having him "cuddle" with me for 30 minutes was bonding - even emotional. I swear he gets cuter ever time I see him. As we rocked back and forth, I watched his little baby face relax, those eyes settle into a slumber and a wave of peace fell over me. "I can do this," I said to myself kissing Hudson's forehead, "I can do this."

saturday morning breakfast rocks!

Hearing "Hey, Linz- wanna grab breakfast at Strawns?" is just about the best way to start a weekend. It is pretty rare that Tison doesn't have to work on Saturday mornings or that I don't have some errands to run. This Saturday was the glorious exception. I was beside-myself-excited to have all day together. We started the day at Strawns Eat Shop...

...Unfortunately I didn't save any room for their strawberry pie featured in Southern Living. It's the best (and is also my dad's favorite dessert)...After breakfast, we walked to King's Antique Mall to look around. We toured Centenary's Meadows Museum of Art and then hit up Max's Pawn Shop. When that wasn't enough browsing we drove to Top Dollar Pawn aka "the King Kong of Pawn." Tison passes it on the way to work everyday and has been dying to know what treasures are held inside. This place is HUGE, but I didn't buy anything. I was surprised by all the power tools and get this- saddles- they were selling! I guess, since I bailed out on our Friday date night to be lazy on the couch, this made up for it :)

daydreaming...

thank you sir, may I have s'more...

Am I taking for granted the amount of times I have been fireside with marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate? Who here has never had a s'more? Let me explain...

On Sunday evenings my family has been getting together to have dinner and catch up on the events of the week; this is quickly becoming a tradition. We have been alternating houses so that it is not too much work on one household. I would call it Sunday Suppers, but that name is already taken :) Then again, I may use it anyway.

This past Sunday Supper (see) was held at Lauren and David's house. They prepared fried back strap as an appetizer with stuffed bell peppers, grits bread, and corn for the entree. For dessert David lit up the fire pit for s'mores! I was ecstatic to say the least. This Camp Fern activity not only reminds me of my childhood, but satisfies the sweet tooth. As we prepared to head outside I heard my dad say, "Well, this will be fun. I've never had a s'more." Errr, WHAT? Never had a s'more?! I was dumbfounded. Just when I was trying to fathom someone never having tasted one of these sweet treats, I heard my mom whisper, "Neither have I."   The questions were mounting, "What? How? Why not?" when my dad said, "Not all of us were campers, Linz." {refer back to the first paragraph} Who here has never had a s'more before?

I was excited to share with these first-timers the art of preparing your graham cracker with hersheys chocolate, putting the mallow on the coat hanger, then roasting it over the fire. Some like theirs charred, but I am not one of those people. I like to call it the "perfect tan." Just when the outside turns the right shade of toasted, slide that mallow into the graham cracker sandwich you have prepared and let the chocolate melt a little - now bite into that gooey goodness! They are called s'mores, but I'm more of a -one and done- kinda gal.

With happy belly's comes fireside chats; we shared our highlights and lowlights of the week with one another. I am cautious to use the word perfect, but it is moments like these when I am surrounded by the people I love that I just can't imagine being anywhere else. My mom put it best when she said, "My highlight is right now, having all of our family together. Our lives are busy and there are a million other things we could have chosen to do tonight, but we all chose to be together."