All Things Me

Hearty Chunky Vegetarian Chili

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 07:14:41 -0700

I love soups, stews and chilies (side note: I know the word "chilies" looks weird but apparently there are 4 different ways to write the plural of "chili" and none of them looked right to me - but there it is). I am known to throw random stuff in a pot and make up a soup on the fly - it's sort of a "thing" of mine. Anyway, most of my friends have had my regular chili recipe which includes meat. It's my great grandmother's recipe and it's divine. But I try to limit my meat consumption so I made this one up a few years ago. It's killer and SO easy to make. And it's gluten free and vegan and dairy free and all of that good stuff. It's real hearty and filling. I serve it with corn chips and a little (vegan) sour cream. Dress it up however you like. I also make nachos with the leftovers. YUMMY!

I totally thought I had posted this recipe already, but I found it in my folder of blog drafts. Since football is here and we've got a little chill in the air, I thought it was the perfect time to post it! Enjoy!

about 1 bell pepper chopped (about a cup after you've chopped it)- i use green and yellow or red - do a combo of some sort but definitely include green (a poblano pepper would probably be good too)
1 med sweet onion chopped (about a cup and a half)
about 3 cloves garlic, minced - or about 2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
4 cans of beans - i usually do a combo of kidney, black and pinto - REMEMBER that canned kidney beans at the regular grocery store have high fructose corn syrup in them - the canned kidney beans at whole foods are the only ones that don't. I also am pretty sure that the Publix "Greenwise" brand doesn't have sugar added but double check me on that.
2 cans diced tomatoes - again - i use diced and not stewed because stewed tomatoes have sugar added. Make sure to get the plain diced tomatoes and not the ones with garlic or Italian seasoning added. For this recipe I like to use one can of regular diced tomatoes and 1 can of petite diced tomatoes - the difference in size really makes a difference in the chili
2 1/2 tablespoons cumin
2 tablespoons chili powder
a few dashes of ground red pepper - I like alot so I probably use about 1/2 teaspoon or so
salt and black pepper to taste.
dried oregano - maybe 2 teaspoons - i don't know cause I never measure anything when I make stuff up - the oregano is important - brings out flavors in mexican stuff. don't skip it even tho you're not used to using it in chili.
1/4 teaspoon stevia or other sweetener - stevia is very concentrated so if using something else you will probably use much more
1-2 teaspoons cocoa powder (optional)

1) heat a dutch oven on medium, add a little olive oil and just saute the peppers, onions and garlic until tender.

2) drain and rinse beans and add them, then add the tomatoes with the juice

3) add the seasonings and cocoa powder

4) Stir well and bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.

5) Allow it to simmer for about 30 minutes - longer if you can - stirring occasionally. As it cooks make sure to taste and re-season as needed.

As with most soups, the longer you allow it to cook, the better it will be!

I use stevia to sweeten but you can use whatever you want. Just add a little at a time til it's sweet enough. Not too sweet but you want to be able to taste it. And as for the seasonings, I'm a big fan of cumin but you may not like that much - or you may want to add more chili powder - just play with it!

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H to the izzO, V to the izzA....

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 06:50:29 -0700

Wednesday's workout was a 4 mile run with an all Jay-Z mix. I did a shuffle of the MTV Unplugged Album and the Blueprint 3 album.

That MTV album is super awesome and I highly recommend it. Jay-Z is someone that I never really got in to back in the day.... I was always into the old school gangster rap like Tupac and Bone and the "booty" rap stuff like Kilo and Raheem. Jay-Z fell in a completely different category of rap in my opinion. But since I've been with Eric, he has exposed me to alot of Jay-Z and I like his stuff. Eric says his "Black" album was his best but I haven't listened to that one much. Also, in case you've been living under a rock and didn't know about Jay-Z's best selling book that came out last year, you should check that out too. It's called Decoded.

Thursday night I did group fitness classes - BodyStep and BodyPump - so no music to report there.

I hope everyone has an awesome weekend. RTR!

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9.7.11 Workout

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 06:25:00 -0700

I've decided that even if you're not a runner or gym rat that maybe posting my workouts and my music will inspire you. Either you'll get some cool workout ideas OR learn about some new music. Either way I like the idea of continuing to post them...it keeps me motivated!

Last night's workout was a hodgepodge of sorts. I normally do BodyPump on Tuesday night's but I was running late getting out of work and didn't make it for the start of class. But I was super energetic -thanks to all the hot coffee I'd had- so I ended up having an awesome workout. I warmed up with some intense cardio and then did a circuit type thing. Here's what I did:

About 25-30 minutes hard on the arc trainer at a max 20 incline and resistance between 25 and 35

Rowing machine super fast for 5 minutes

(Heart rate sky high right now)

Platform jumps (with 4 risers) - 3 sets of 10

Pushups til I couldn't do anymore

Lunges - "Pump style" for about 5 minutes

Tricep pushups off the bench

Tricep dips

BodyStep "Power Knees" in intervals with jogging basics in between (2 risers)

Knee Repeaters (2 risers)

Walking planks

All of that was in about 50 minutes to an hour. Kept moving super fast to keep my heart rate up! Booyah!

Music: I started out on an Alternative mix but then went Classic Rock for a while, then ended up in Pop. When I started getting tired I turned to one of my favorite workout playlists:

Come As You Are - Nirvana

Follow You Down - Gin Blossoms

Habit - Jump, Little Children

Piece of My Heart - Janis Joplin

Roll Me Away - Bob Segar

Hey Hey What Can I Do - Led Zeppelin

Pinball Wizard - Elton John

Scream - Michael Jackson

Who Knew - Pink

Won't Back Down - Eminem

Made In England - Elton John

Take if Off - Kesha

Monster - Kanye West

Sing For the Moment - Eminem

Tangerine - Led Zeppelin (Cool down / stretch)

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Aahhhhh Football

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 20:08:01 -0700

This weekend was the opening weekend of college football. For many southerners, this particular Saturday is like Christmas morning. If you don't live in the south or you aren't a college football fan, you just don't get it. And that's fine. But I thank God I was born here and that I was raised a football fan. There is nothing more exciting than the energy in the air on that first weekend in September. This weekend marks the beginning of the whirlwind that is the college football season. We live for it all year, it flies by like the blink of an eye, and just like that it's over and the non-football depression sets in!

It's only fitting that my best friend gave birth on this weekend last year. She and her husband are huge football fans and they are "A House Divided" - which, in football-speak, means one is an Alabama fan and one is an Auburn fan! They had a baby girl (who by default is an Auburn fan because mom has ultimate power) and thus began the never-ending attempts to get her to say "Roll Tide" and "War Eagle," to put her in something crimson when mom isn't looking, and the inevitable jokes about when she gets old enough to really "choose" for herself. But having a baby on the opening weekend of college football essentially means that her birthday parties will always include football in some capacity. So her first birthday party was, of course, Alabama/Auburn themed. Lindsay and Ryan pulled out all the stops and threw an awesome shindig. They rented a projection screen TV for the Bama game and had another large screen for the Auburn game, they catered fun tailgate food, rented a moon bounce for the kiddos, iced down tubs of beer for the adults and Capri Sun's for the little ones, and decorated to the hilt in everything crimson and white, orange and blue that they could get their hands on. It was an AWESOME party!! And oh dear god how much do I love that Ansley Dean Miller!!!! Words can't express how excited I am to watch her grow up...and how much I'm going to learn from her amazing parents when I have my own kids. See pictures from the party below.

Keeping with his tradition of spending opening weekend with his friend Nick in Atlanta, Eric was gone and I was solo. So our friend Blake tagged along and was my date for the day. We spent the morning at the birthday party and then we hit up Pale Eddie's for the night games. We met up with my friends Sara, Jonathan and Erin and funzies ensued. Overall it was an awesome day of football, good friends and fun.

I'm so excited about this football season...well, the whole year really because I'm getting married and starting a life with my perfect match :) ...but football season is just so fun and Eric and I have so much fun together during football season - despite being a house divided!!! I love getting up on crisp fall mornings, putting on a pot of chili, icing down a bunch of beer and waiting for friends to arrive...I love the anticipation of kick off...I love going to games, the smell of the quad, the food cooking, the sound of The Million Dollar Band, and the way the coffee in the stadium is the greatest thing EVER during a cold November game... I love finding every way possible to incorporate crimson and white into my outfit almost daily... I love watching Eric get excited and yell at the games... I love being in the stadium and screaming Rammer Jammer as loud as I can....I love phone calls with my Daddy on Sunday mornings hashing out the game and what our strategy for the next week should be....I love making fun of the refs and the bad calls...I love watching Gameday and getting pumped up...I love Tiffany Wade's weekly "Happy Gameday" text....I love hating Les Miles more and more every year...I love the office banter with Auburn fan coworkers...I love knowing we have bowl games to look forward to after the holidays...I love listening to analysis on sports radio on Monday mornings...I love hating Finebaum more between September and January.... I love going out for breakfast with Eric on Sunday mornings and sitting in complete silence as we read our respective columns in the Football U section of the paper.... I love the way Alabama and Auburn fans talk shit but when it really comes down to it we are damn proud to be each other's rival and know that no one outside of this state really understands what that's about....

I LOVE FOOTBALL. I JUST LOVE FOOTBALL....

ROLL TIDE Y'ALL!

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Running/Workout Music

Sun, 04 Sep 2011 18:02:00 -0700

I've decided to start posting my run mixes on my blog. Sometimes I shuffle, sometimes I create playlists, sometimes I pick one artist for the whole run, sometimes I shuffle within one genre - it always depends on my mood. But I'm always looking for good workout mixes and I know other runners are too.

Tonight I did 4.2 miles mostly on hills. Would've liked to do more but there was a storm coming and it's getting dark much faster this time of year. I love late summer/early fall runs when a storm is brewing. It's windy and cool and the air feels electric. Plus there's always that thought that the bottom might fall out any minute so you run faster trying to get the run in and get back home. A few leaves have started falling and they were blowing and rustling around and there was an eerie, cloudy darkness. It was killer. I made it back just before the rain started!

Tonight was REALLY random! ha! But here it is....

Ryan Adams - Dance All Night

Rolling Stones - Sweet Virginia

Limp Bizkit - Rollin'

Live - Selling the Drama

Kid Rock - Bullgod

Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze

Beatles - Come Together

Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal

Prince - Seven

Neil Diamond - Amazed

Lady Gaga - Hair

Elton John - All The Girls Love Alice

Billy Joel - You May Be Right

Hanson - A Minute Without You (don't laugh - I used to FREAKING LOVE Hanson and I always smile when they shuffle onto my iPod)

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How much can I cram into one blog post?

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 14:25:00 -0700

Wow. So much has been going on. I hate writing these all-encompassing posts where I throw a million things into one because I haven't posted in so long. But oh well...here goes....

Wedding planning is in full swing. We have gotten SO much done...mostly to the credit of our fabulous wedding planner, Kerri Kelley! All of the big things have been sorted out (ie venue, band, cake, food, decor, etc). We just have to fill in all the little details. Unless, of course, it turns out that our venue might not actually exist when our wedding date rolls around. But I don't want to talk about that right now. You can read all about THAT fiasco here if you're interested. I will say this though... we chose B&A for our venue because it's historic, it's in the heart of this city that we love so much, and because it's the ONLY place we could find that had the feel we wanted and that would accommodate everything we envisioned for that day. I have no idea what we will do if it closes.

Moving on... it's been an incredibly busy summer with the wedding planning, a family vacation, family reunion, beach trip with friends, and of course...work. My job has been unusually stressful this summer. So much so that I've had a few little breakdowns about it. I won't get into all that here...I just ask that you send positive vibes my way, or prayers or whatever you'd like - I need all the positivity I can get right now! Arrgghhh there's so much I want to say here but know it's in my best interest not to.

Eric and Garland played the annual Birmingham Chicks Rockfest this summer. It was an awesome show and I got some great pics. I really hope they play more gigs this fall. Here is a link to that album!

Anyhoo, my parents were kind and generous enough to take us with them to their house in the Bahamas again this summer. It was such a wonderful trip. We fished, we snorkeled, we lobstered, we saw a Junkanoo parade...it was great! There are so many things I love about the islands of the Bahamas. But most of all I love how distinctly different the islands are from one another. If you've only visited the touristy parts of the Bahamas you've got no idea what you're missing. Each island has it's own little culture and unique qualities. My parents' house is in an area that's like a very small town...everyone knows everyone. The people are so wonderful and they've made some great friends there which makes visiting even more special. You can click here to see the whole album but I've posted some of my faves here.....

**Disclaimer - I look horrid in most of these because I didn't wear any makeup most of the time we were there and I barely came out of a swimsuit....

Other random thoughts before I go:

I've become quite the NASCAR fan and I make no apologies for it. When you learn alot about it, you realize it's actually really interesting. I am college educated, I have a masters degree and, yes, I like to watch cars go around and around. Wheee!
I know I probably say this every August but....I don't think I've ever been MORE ready for football season. OMG. The agony of this last week is torture.
Eric got sick every time we traveled this summer. I never get sick and often brag about the fact that I haven't taken antibiotics or had a single shot since 2005. But every time he gets sick I get a touch of whatever he's got and it's getting old. We are about to start working on that boy's immune system. I'm pumping him full of immune boosting stuff every time we travel from now on. I ain't about to spend my honeymoon nursing Mr. Sickly!
We saw the final Harry Potter film and, overall, I was pleased with it. Very sad to see it all end though. Eric loved the films and really wishes he had read the books now. I'm still trying to get him to read them. We'll see. He does good to read a complete Sports Illustrated magazine.
I haven't laid in the tanning bed since February when I had a little pre-cancer spot burned off of my face. That was enough. I realized I had done enough damage to my skin and I had to stop tanning. I made it through the entire summer using sunless tanner and wearing SPF 30 every time I was in the sun. It was weird and I felt SO PALE at first but I feel so much better and I like the thought of having nice skin when I'm older and not looking wrinkly and leathery!
Pinterest was an incredible invention and I'm totally hooked.
I took Eric back to my home town a few weeks ago to meet and hang out with some of my old school peeps! It was great. I love that town and feel that growing up there had a huge impact on who I am today! I hope to get down there more this fall.

I guess that's about it for an update. New recipes coming soon I PROMISE!

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The Proposal!

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 05:57:30 -0700

So I have no idea where to begin with this whole engagement story. There are alot of things I’ve been promising meaning to blog about but, alas, this trumps all of that. I love my blog and I wish so badly I could keep up with it better. I wish I could work part time and cook, clean, take pictures, and blog the rest of the week. Those are the things I enjoy the most and I have so little time for them these days. Okay, sorry, back on track....

Eric and I have been talking (daydreaming) about our wedding for a while now. From the day we “knew” I was sorta planning in my head. But I also knew that it would take time to save for the ring. I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to say, “I don’t even really need a ring...not a big one.....really.”

As most of you know, marriage was something that really wasn’t on my radar for a long time. Ha. But the concept holds so much more meaning for me now than I ever thought it would. It’s like this.... after a while Eric became SO MUCH MORE to me than just a boyfriend. There was this person, with whom I had this amazingly deep connection, and I wanted a way to express, to show to others, how much he meant to me...how much I loved him...how serious this was. We had these common dreams and goals and values...and a dog...and we lived together....he was more than a boyfriend...he was my partner, my soul mate, my other half...all those cheesy things that really sound hokey until you actually find THE person that fits that description! I began to realize that the petty things I USED to worry about in relationships were now nonexistent - this was different, mature, deeper, more meaningful, more honest and vulnerable, EASIER, calmer. Those old relationship worries (being lied to, being cheated on, getting hurt, being taken advantage of) seemed so stupid and insignificant...I began to worry about his safety and his happiness. I started fearing car accidents instead of hot blonde chicks! It was a deeper understanding, a trust and honesty that I just KNEW was right. Forever. Period. For the first time in my life I knew what it felt like to put someone else’s happiness above my own. It was a transformative thing for me.

So here we are, 2 years into this whole thing, both wanting so badly to take that next step. A part of me felt that, maybe, possibly, the proposal was coming soon...but I wasn’t really sure! Eric made comments many times throughout the past year about how badly he wanted to do it...but there was alot in his way. I knew that. And I just felt blessed and lucky to have him....but it didn’t stop me from daydreaming wildly about when he WOULD finally do it :)

So I had a birthday recently. I think God and everybody expected he’d propose on my birthday. I was a nervous, shaky, sweaty wreck the whole day not knowing if it was coming and trying desperately to stop my imagination from running wild. But the weekend came and went and nothing. I wasn’t disappointed...I knew the day would come eventually...but I had so expected it so there was alot of emotion with that. Anyhoo... I later find out that is EXACTLY when he wanted to do it but the ring hadn’t come in yet..haha...so I wasn’t completely crazy!

So last friday rolls around. It’s a normal day. I get up, I go to work, work is crazy, I go to the gym, come home, fix dinner, etc. Eric and I had decided to stay in Friday night because we had such a busy day planned on saturday. We finished up dinner and I kept asking him what he wanted to do...watch a movie, play some records, empty the DVR? He was all indecisive and said, “well why don’t you go shower and then we’ll decide.” I immediately knew something was up because it’s a friday night and we’re not going anywhere...he normally wouldn’t care when I shower. But I guess he didn’t want to propose with me still in my sweaty gym clothes! Other odd things...he normally comes in and opens a beer on friday afternoons...I was shocked that he was drinking a diet coke when it was 100 degrees outside and we didn’t have plans to go anywhere. He normally would have had a beer. Also, he was not on his computer downloading music or playing in iTunes like he normally would be when I got home. Just little things that he normally would’ve been doing on any normal lazy friday night. I’m sure my overactive, anxious, proposal-seeking brain was LOOKING for oddities...but whatever :)

So I get up and get in the shower and my thoughts start running wild. I kept audibly saying to myself... “stop doing this...you’ll be disappointed if nothing is going on...chill out..take deep breaths...just let it happen...” but of course my brain did not listen.

[on a side note...I’ve always known I was a little...anxious...and that I had a very overactive brain...but GOOD GOD...it’s been in overdrive with all of this. Maybe I should see someone about that...ha!!!]

Okay moving on...so I’m in the shower, having this talk with myself, trying not to freak out. I finish my shower, turn off the water, peel back the shower curtain....and there I see....a card...sitting on the counter. My knees buckled...my heart started racing and I just kept saying to myself... “oh my god, this is it, this is IT.” God my heart is racing now just reliving it. Ha. So I get out, grab the card and read. The wording in the card is all about our life, our hearts beating as one, our world... and he underlined the words “our” “shared” “us” ...I’m seeing a theme here.... At the bottom of the card he writes:

“I love you with all of me, every breath, every fiber, every thought, every movement...EVERYTHING!”

I finish reading the card and I’m, of course, freaking out. I get up and go to the door, not knowing what I’m going to find on the other side. I open it and walk out and the house is dark except for candlelight. Eric is standing in the hallway. I say (with a cracking voice, while shaking all over) “thank you for my sweet card....” He said, “why don’t you go get dressed and come back in here,” (keep in mind I’m in a towel and still dripping wet). Now, normally, on a lazy friday night, I’d go put on PJ pants and a t-shirt so I look at him like... “what should I put on” and he says “not PJs, just something casual.” So the house is dark, I don’t know what’s about to happen...I mean, I have an idea but I’m still doing that thing where I’m trying not to freak out....talking to myself all the way to the closet... “it could just be a romantic night, maybe he’s just being sweet, don’t freak out, don’t freak out, calm down, breathe, don’t pass out....” I’m shaking and my heart is POUNDING. POUNDING. Can I stress that enough?

I look at my t-shirts...and yes...I’m going to admit it...I initially grab an Alabama Crimson Tide t-shirt. What a great story that would be? Right? But I decide I won’t do that to him and I put on an Amos Lee t-shirt and a pair of khaki shorts. Hair is wet. Not a stitch of makeup on. I walk into the living room. The song I Gotta Know by Jackopierce is playing. Because they are super meaningful to us, I will include the lyrics here:

Well I know that I ain't right

Show me anything that's black or white

And I'll show how good the light might look on you

But there's one thing you've got to know

Before this whole thing spins out of control

If you're with me, then you get me all the way

I Gotta Know

That you're with me

Before I cross that line

You Gotta Know

You're the one thing I can't leave behind

Well I know that I've been bad

I've got no answers for the breaks in my past

And I've burned more bridges than I've stumbled cross

Girl there's one thing you've got to know

Before this whole thing spins out of control

If you're with me, then you get me all the way

I Gotta Know

That you're with me

Before I cross that line

You Gotta Know

You're the one thing I can't leave behind

I don't know if you’ve ever been held in love like mine

You've got to know you're the one thing I can't leave behind

I can't leave behind

Okay so he grabs me and we slow dance to the song. The entire time we are dancing I can feel my chest POUNDING against his and I’m shaking and I’m sorta embarrassed because I know he feels it and I just want to relax and enjoy it. The song finishes and he says something along the lines of “I don’t know if I could tell you the exact moment that I knew that I loved you, but as soon as I knew it, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you...[picks up iPhone].....I have a do-list in my phone...and I put something on it a long time ago...other things have been on the list and they have all been checked off, but there’s one thing left ...and it’s not time to check it off just yet...but I want you to see what it is...” And he hands me the phone to click on the list to open it up...I’m shaking so bad I almost click on the wrong thing...I click ...there’s only 1 thing on the list...it was entered a year and a half ago....and it says

LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER WITH KATIE!

...then he slowly gets down on one knee and pulls out a ring box, opens it and look up and says “will you be my happily ever after?” I started crying, he started crying, I just grabbed him and we stood there for what seems like forever before I even looked down at the ring. It was perfect. I started to feel like I was going to faint for a minute so I sat down. I just couldn’t believe it had finally happened...all the emotion leading up to it...I couldn’t believe it was real. I don’t think my heart stopped pounding until the next day. And even then...every time I told the story I got all flustered again. We sat down and talked for a bit, cried some more, listened to music...just took in the moment. I’m glad it happened the way it did. It wasn’t a big event, I wasn’t all dressed up, I wasn’t expecting it...at all. I love that it was here, I love that it was intimate and special and there weren’t alot of people around. I love that it was just us. (I also love that the iPhone was incorporated...being the dorks we are! LOL! And that he used a Jackopierce song!)

So that’s the story folks. With all the obsessive dot-dot-dot-ing and ridiculous amount of detail that only I can give you! :) I am thrilled to start this next phase of our life together. We have a very clear vision for what we want on our wedding day and what we want the overall feel to be...but I won’t give away any surprises here! I would like to say, for the record, that Eric and I talk alot about, not only the kind of wedding we want, but what we want our marriage to be like. I think that’s one of the reasons we work so well together...that and our AWESOME communication skills!!!! Booyah!!!!! But seriously, our commitment to each other, our marriage, our connection, our communication...these things are our number 1 priority and I think that’s why we work so well!

On that note I’m gonna wrap it up...the last thing you all need is me telling you, for the zillionth time, how much I love Eric!!!

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More than just sightseeing... NOLA ...off the beaten path...

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 07:51:00 -0700

So...Eric jokes that every time we go on vacation he sees the sights 3 steps at a time. Take 3 steps, Katie stops to take a picture, 3 more steps, another picture...and so on. Yes it's true. But on this trip I didn't do as much shooting as I had planned. I've been so stressed lately and I really just wanted to enjoy the time with Eric, enjoy the city, and NOT follow a schedule. So on this trip I spent one day wandering around taking pics, but the rest of the time I was too busy eating, drinking and socializing to really focus on it. Now that I'm home I wish I had taken more but...oh well...we'll be back soon. Last time we were in NOLA it was Eric's first time, and I felt all this pressure (that I put on myself mind you) to show him EVERYTHING and make sure he liked the city - because if he didn't we might have to rethink this whole relationship thing. ha. Anyhoo, the great thing about Eric is this: schedule or no schedule, taking it easy or rushing around, rain or shine, stressed out Katie or chilled out Katie, walkin' it or cabbin' it, luxury hotel or cheap crappy hotel...he is constant and calm and happy...and this has the most calming effect on me. This makes me look at life differently and take things in and not really care so much anymore about things that don't matter or things I can't change. But THAT, as I like to say, is another blog altogether!

Moving on. So I made the decision that, due to the fact that our last trip was successful and Eric pretty much had an idea of what NOLA had to offer, we would take it easy, make no plans, and go where the wind blew. If we slept late, oh well, if I got up and ran 3 miles, great, if I was hungover and couldn't move til noon, great too! ha! We did a little bit of it all.

I don't want to bore everyone with the day-to-day details of what we did while on the trip. I do, however, have to share about a couple of significant things ...things I hope you will check out next time you're in town!!!

First off, the last time we were in town we kept hearing about this great new restaurant called EAT. It's small, reasonably priced, casual/fine dining that is BYOB and set back far enough in the quarter that it's not a tourist trap. It attracts mostly locals or regular visitors that are "foodies" and want a new experience in the quarter. We went friday night and had an incredible meal. They were more than accommodating to my crazy dietary needs and didn't even bat an eye when I then broke down and had a bite (or 5) of Eric's dessert - which sent me straight back to the hotel in pain. But anyway. I could go on and on about the menu and creativity of the dishes, but I won't. Just check it out next time you're in town - at the corner of Dumaine and Dauphine. Oh...and they even put our Miller Lite tall boys on ice for us..cause that's how we roll yo! Who needs wine? Psh!

The Marigny. Ok I went into this a bit in my blog about last year's NOLA trip but I just want to reiterate that this is the ONLY way to experience music when you are there. Please review that blog and short explanation about the Marigny. And PLEASE, for the love of Pete, get off Bourbon, take a walk down Decatur, cross over Esplanade and experience all that Frenchman has to offer: Cafe Negril, Spotted Cat, Snug Harbor and d.b.a. are some faves. The vibe over there is very real and different. It's very NOLA...for lack of a better word. I love that the Spotted Cat stays packed, shoulder to shoulder, for a Swing band called the Cottonmouth Kings, when, unfortunately, you only pack a bar like that in Bham with outplayed cover bands. Love em but you know it's true. Quality little jazz bands don't pack bars around here like, say...Trotline does. Ha. So for folks like Eric and I who love discovering new music, supporting local musicians and songwriters, it's paradise for us!

Peaches Records! While standing in line for a fabulous, excellently priced LUNCH at K. Paul's, I was checking into Four Square and saw that "Kent" was "mayor" of K. Paul's (sorry if you don't know what 4 sq is...just keep reading). Anyway, I immediately asked the nice gentleman behind me in line, named Kent, with whom I'd been chatting if he was the Kent on 4 sq ...and it turns out they are one in the same! Kent had been telling me how he'd taken refuge in Birmingham during Katrina, how he loved the vibe downtown and the music scene here, and the food, and THE NICK! and Zydeco, and the people...it made me swoon because I love Birmingham for so many of the same reasons. We got to talking about music and vinyl and come to find out, Kent has "a little record store" on Decatur. So we decided we'd head over after lunch and check it out. Turns out, Kent's little record store has been in New Orleans since the 70's and is one of the few surviving, family owned record stores left. Check out this really cool article I found about it! And here's their FB page! We stayed in there way too long and Kent told us stories about music and artists from the area...even showed us a picture of Troy "Trombone" Shorty when he was about 4 years old playing in a street parade! He told me about how devastating Katrina was for them, how their store was trashed and their merchandise stolen (because when people don't have food and water what they REALLY need are CD's - ugh - tangent - sorry), and what it took for them to reopen finally after being closed for 2 years. It was such a neat experience. Go there. Please. Here are some of my favorite shots from Peaches!

Troy. Troy is an artist we met last time we were in town, selling his artwork in Jackson Square as many local artists do. From a $400 painting to a $20 painting, many reputable, well-known local artists sell their work on the square because it's a sure-fire way to meet customers who might not stroll into the fancy shmancy galleries on Royal street...those who might be too intimidated by the prices of some of the work in those galleries. These artists have a permit to sell their work on the street and usually are displaying said permit proudly. Look for it. Anyway...back to Troy. We saw Troy's work last year and loved it. It was colorful and cheerful and very much my taste. We had talked with him about custom painting something for our house and we were going to contact him when we got back...but we got busy and you know how that goes. So this time we promised ourselves we'd find him and definitely get a painting! He was there, same spot, and we immediately picked out a piece we loved. He held it for us while we went walking around and we came back to get it that afternoon. We got to talking ...as I tend to do with folks...I have an inquisitive nature..ha...anyway, we got to talking and he told us about Katrina and Rita and how he was affected, how he ended up in Texas and was working with kids in the foster care system. Troy began telling me about his work in a residential facility for kids. I know I know...goosebumps right!!! Everything he was saying was an exact depiction my experience working in the foster care system...he shared the same frustrations and disappointments..but also the same joys it brings. He went on to tell me he hoped to open a center for kids to learn about the arts. I hope he does. He seems like a fantastic person and I love his art. Check out his website and read his bio here! Also check out Troy's nephew, Ashton's art as well!

This may have been just an everyday thing for Troy, or for Kent at Peaches...talking and sharing stories ...but for us it was neat, and special, and gave us a great memory to take home from this trip. That's what I love about New Orleans...there's a story around every corner, behind every bar and in every little shop...and when you take the time to get away from the karaoke bars, daiquiri shops, strip clubs and pizza-by-the-slice joints, there's an amazing, unique culture waiting to be discovered. From the artists to the street musicians, the perfumery to the handmade toy shop ...the unique and different and quirky thrive there...there's no place like it and it's always abundant with stories to be told and memories to be made.

A couple more things...we also attended a food festival..OMG...on Royal street saturday. You can see pics of that as well as all the others I took in the FB albums. I made two albums: one for my 50D shots and one for my Point and Shoot shots. Check them out and comment PLEASE! Also, there's this little corner store we always like to go in called Unique Grocery. And even though homeless drunks hang around, it's pretty badass. It's at the corner of Iberville and Royal. There is always awesome old school Hip Hop playing in there. They have everything from pop-tarts to beer and right when you walk in they have these huge bins with tall boys iced down. 16 oz's for 1.50 and 25 oz's for 2.25. You can't beat that with a stick. So we buy tall boys and stick em in our koozies when we are walking around the quarter. It's AWESOME. While we were in there I had a homeless guy say to me... "you're a goddess...and that's coming from a drunk, homeless m***f***'er." LOL! Big shout out to Unique Grocery. It's quite unique!

Here are a few more favorites!

More artists....

See the full gallery on Posterous

Fun on Royal...this little boy was something else...

See the full gallery on Posterous

Around the square....

See the full gallery on Posterous

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Genre-Tizing!!!!

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 14:35:52 -0700

Hello all...there's been so much going on lately but I'm trying hard not to do a general "update" blog where I cram everything into one post...so first I shall update everyone on my most recent project. If you're on twitter I sincerely apologize for all of the obnoxious tweeting on the subject but I tend to be a bit OCD, especially about my music, and this has consumed me this week! ha!

Let me say this first...to many of you this might sound like a totally ridiculous thing to blog about and if you find that to be the case, no biggie...move on. But I have lots of people in my life that are as obsessive about music as I am (ah hem Eric Craig) and spend hours upon hours organizing their own music ;) And there have been lots of friends (mostly through twitter) helping me with this so I wanted to sum it all up for them!

Okay sooooo.....I have alot of music in my itunes and usually when I download or import music, I make sure to alter the "info" tab so that everything is properly organized the way I want it. The one thing I don't usually think about is the genre. But lately I've realized it gets kinda daunting shuffling through my artists. Say, for instance, I am in a folk rock / singer songwriter kinda mood - I have to go from Indigo Girls, to Tracy Chapman to somewhere else...you get what I'm saying? I need all of the music of one genre properly labeled so that when I'm in the mood for that I can simply search by genre and then view all artists in that category. Now, let me say this, if you have an ipod touch or only use your iPhone for music then you wouldn't get my struggle because it's easier to jump around using that interface...but I have an old school 3rd gen iPod classic that holds a ton so moving from one artist to another takes a min.

Okay so alot of times the stuff you import comes in with a totally messed up genre label, or none at all, so alot of my music wasn't properly categorized in that way. Therefore, if I was in the mood to listen to hip hop, I was likely to end up with an Elvis song, or something totally off base, because of the way stuff had been imported. So last saturday I began going through all 813 artists in my itunes and placing them in the appropriate genres. I originally began with a strict 25 but ended up with 33. Initially I was checking the itunes store to see how they classify people but, Good LORD, they only use 23 broad categories and basically everyone gets put into Rock or Pop even if they are the furthest thing from it. For instance, iTunes puts Elvis, AC/DC, The Beach Boys, Marilyn Manson, and Bruce Springsteen all in the same category - um that ain't workin' for me! It's just too broad. I realized I had to narrow things a bit further so, it took me several days, but I finally came up with my final 33 genres. Everything had to go into one of them.

So I embark on placing everyone into a genre. Y'all have no idea how hard this was for me...take someone like Elvis -some of his stuff his blues, some R&B, some classic rock n' roll, some pop....what do you do? Or Jimmy Buffet - GOOD LORD. It's not country, it's not pop, it's not rock and roll. Hell, the man has managed to amass a catalog of music in which nearly every song is about a boat, a beach, the ocean, an island, sailing, harbours, docks, the coast, fruity drinks, or fish. That's some creative songwriting right there. TONS of songs, all essentially about the same thing, but sounding different. So where do you put Jimmy Buffett? iTunes calls him Rock, wikipedia calls him Singer/Songwriter...I gave him is own category.

So here are the Genres I came up with...I actually did alot of research online and discovered alot of descriptions of music that I hadn't thought of. I ended up with 33 but will allow myself to expand to 35 if I feel it is necessary to do so. I'm considering adding a Classic Pop category to avoid having "oldies" mixed in with current pop music. Both are Pop but from two totally different times. I just hate to "date" music....some people suggested an "80's" category, an "oldies" category or a "50's rock n roll" category... but even in those times, that music still had a genre and was defined as such. I did distinguish between R&B and Soul...placing current artists like Usher in R&B and putting Mo-Town artists, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, etc in Soul. My criteria for deciphering between some of the genres got tricky but I did the best I could. It actually sparked lots of good music conversation between myself, Eric and our good friend Blake!

Here they are:

Alt-Country / Americana

Alt-Pop

Alt-Rock

Alternative

Ambient / Trance

Blues

Buffett

Classic Rock

Classical

Comedy

Country

Dance / Electronica

Ethnic

Folk-Rock

Funk

Hard Rock

Hip Hop / Rap

Holiday

Indie

Jazz

Pop

R&B

Reggae

Rock

Singer / Songwriter

Soft Rock

Soul

Soundtrack

Southern Rock

Spoken Word

Sports

Theme Songs

Zydeco

The process of dividing out Rock into Alt-rock, Southern Rock, Classic Rock, Hard Rock and so forth was probably the hardest part of the whole process...but was necessary. I may not have gotten everything perfect although the definitions are all subjective...but I like the way each of the genres "flows" now and they all seem to have the right feel. I'm sure I'll continue to narrow things down but for now I'm happy with it. It only took me 7 days. LOL.

Now...you see what I've gone through doing this with roughly 8,000 songs... Eric has 24,000 - lord help me when he decides to start this process...

Have a great weekend y'all - enjoy this sunshine!

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Tuscan White Bean Stew

Wed, 23 Feb 2011 13:05:00 -0800

This is one of my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE recipes!!! I can't tell you how good it is - you have to try it out!!! It's very easy and quick. You can make it with meat or without. If you are going to add meat I suggest using crumbled italian sausage. Whole foods sells an all natural, sugar free, chicken italian sausage in their meat case. You can have them cut the sausage out of the links for you and then just brown it into crumbles to be used in the stew. If you don't want to do that, you can always use extra lean ground turkey breast or ground chicken breast and some seasonings used in italian sausage. If using meat, just brown and set aside then add it to the stew later.

This soup is great when your sick because it has a little kick that can help open up your sinuses, the broth is soothing to the throat, and it's packed with nutrients!!!

Here's the recipe without meat....it's vegan!!!

1 medium sweet onion diced

2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic (or 2-3 cloves fresh garlic, minced)

1 small butternut squash - peeled, gutted and chopped into 1/2 inch cubes. Or you can buy a bag of already cubed butternut squash. You want about 3 or so cups chopped.

1 bunch kale - not the chopped up stuff in the bag. (Walmart carries whole leaves of kale in bunches). Remove the steams and tear the leaves into smaller pieces, wash well and drain. If you must buy bagged kale - make SURE to remove all the stems. You have to pick through the whole bag and tear the leaf part off of the stems.

1 can cannellini beans or other white bean - drained and rinsed

1 quart of broth (I like Imagine Organic No Chicken Broth - or if not vegan, Imagine's Organic Free Range Chicken Broth is THE BOMB!!!)
Italian seasoning (1-2 teaspoons)

Crushed rosemary (1 teaspoon)

Garlic powder (1 teaspoon)

Dried oregano (1/2 teaspoon)

Dried thyme - not the ground up thyme but the actual dried thyme leaves - (1/2 teaspoon)

Ground sage (1-2 teaspoons)

Red pepper flakes (I really don't know about the measurement on this one - I do it til it has a nice kick - maybe 1/2 tsp)

1) Heat a dutch oven on med heat

2) Drizzle some olive oil in the bottom and add chopped onion and garlic.

3) Cover and allow to cook for several minutes until onion becomes clear and tender

4) Add cubed squash and enough broth to just cover it. Place the lid on and crank up the heat to med-high. The broth will simmer and steam the squash. This won't take too long - just keep checking it every few minutes until they are fork tender and mashable.

5) Once the squash is done, add the beans, broth, kale, and seasonings. (If using meat, add it here) Cover and increase the heat until it comes to a boil.

6) Taste the stew and add more seasonings if needed.

7) Reduce heat and allow to simmer 10 more minutes or until ready to serve.

NOTES:

*I like my soups and stews pretty thick - if you don't, just add more broth.

*Again, all measurements were approximate because I don't measure anything. The flavor should be very robust and the herbs should really stand out. It should have a slight kick but it's mild and not enough to burn your mouth.

If you try this, PLEASE come back and leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Enjoy!!!

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Homemade Black Bean Burgers!

Mon, 21 Feb 2011 06:16:00 -0800

Here's the deal - I used to LOVE Morningstar Farms Black Bean Burgers but, of course, they contain gluten, yeast, and all sorts of things I can't have now. So I made up my own version and I think it's pretty darn good. We've made these several times. If you don't have brown rice flour I'm sure another gluten free flour would do. Also, you can use bread crumbs in the place of the flour and the quinoa flakes. Just keep adding until the mixture becomes hard to stir and you can scoop out a ball and form into a patty - don't let them get too dry though - just use enough so that you can form them into patties. They will be VERY sticky - that's normal! I've also found that as the patties sit they become more firm - I guess because the flour is absorbing the moisture in the mix. So I recommend letting them sit a bit before cooking - it will help them hold together better. I usually brown these in a skillet - they get nice and crisp on the outside! But last night we were grilling and put them right on the grill. They were FABULOUS!!!! I just sprayed the patties with a little olive oil spray before putting them on, and again before we flipped them. They browned and crisped up very quickly!!! Also, like with most of my recipes, the measurements for the seasonings are estimated. I do it all to taste. It all depends on your personal preference. I think these would also be great with a little bit of the Mrs. Dash Chipotle seasoning added but I was out - you could also try with roasted poblano peppers! think I'll try that next time. Also, if corn doesn't bother you - throw a few kernels in! Enjoy!!!

One more thing - we served these with homemade guac and melted Daiya cheese on top and served between slices of grilled eggplant. Also topped them with Vegan Gourmet sour cream and Drew's salsa! Some of my favorite awesome gluten free/vegan products! SO yummy!

____________________________________________

Black Bean Burgers

1 can black beans rinsed and drained

1/4 cup chopped bell pepper

2-3 scallions - white and green parts

1/4 cup cilantro leaves

tsp + garlic powder

1T+ Chili powder

1T+ Cumin

Dash dried oregano

Paprika

Salt

Quinoa flakes (about 1/4-1/2 cup)

Brown rice flour (about 1/4-1/2 cup)

1 egg or 1 Flax egg (1T ground flax seeds mixed w/ 3 T warm water-allow to sit several minutes)

Roughly chop scallions (white and green parts) and place in rood processor with cilantro and bell pepper - process until finely chopped and set aside.
Place beans in a large bowl and mash well with a potato masher
Stir flax seeds into warm water and set aside to thicken
add processed veggies to bowl of beans and mix well
add seasonings to taste
stir water and flax seeds until thick and add to bean mixture and mix well
add quinoa flakes and brown rice flour (or breadcrumbs) until thick patties can be formed
mix in a few extra roughly torn cilantro leaves
taste and reseason if necessary
form into 4 equal patties
heat a non-stick skillet on med/med high heat
add olive oil spray and cook patties until dark brown and crisp.

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Overdue Update...

Fri, 04 Feb 2011 21:35:04 -0800

Well well well...I haven't blogged in a while. I guess, like most of you, we've been a bit busy with the holidays, the new year, and the odd challenge of staying warm and dry in Alabama. LOL! I had planned to catch up on my blogging while iced in for 3 days during the "snowpocalypse" but all I seemed to do was cook, eat and watch football. Laziness at it's best. Eric and I had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's! I got everything I wanted, less my dream trip to Italy I've been asking for since I was 15, but oh well :) - I think it's just become a running joke at this point. But anyhoo, the thing I enjoyed the most about Christmas this year was just spending time with Eric and our families. I was beyond disappointed that my dad and stepmom couldn't be here this year, but otherwise, it was a great day.

We had a fabulous New Year's eve with friends bar hopping in the loft district and eventually ending up at Steel for the countdown and dancing. All the bars we visited were SMOKE FREE!!! I was in heaven! Then, of course, we had the monumental National Championship game and Winterstorm 2011 which hasn't seemed to leave us yet. I really don't know how much more of this ridiculous weather I can handle. Geez. On top of being snowed/iced in and not being able to make the pilgrimage to Auburn like he'd planned, Eric was sick as a dog during the game ...but I don't think it dampened his spirits at the end. He was, and has continued to be, quite ecstatic about the whole thing. My house is now overflowing with Auburn magazines, books, hats, koozies, shirts, buttons...you name it. Even worse than before. It's like he had to buy a whole new Auburn wardrobe because it now came adorned with the Championship logo. Sigh....

Moving on...the new year has gotten off to a great start for Eric and I and we are really excited about this spring and summer. There are some great shows coming up - most notably Jackopierce next weekend and Amos Lee in April. We are also planning some fun trips with friends and family! I'm taking Eric back to NOLA in March! It's my favorite time of year to go and I think he's going to love it. We splurged on a room at the Monteleone! Can't wait!!!!

Lots of other fun things going on this spring including weddings for my dear cousin Allen and also Eric's BFF Walt. We are also expecting the arrival of Conner James Irwin - my friend Diane's first child - so we are busy with showers and planning! I love weddings and babies!!!!

Everything else has been pretty routine around here. Well, except for my recent visit to the dermatologist where I got the reality check of a lifetime. I was informed I have lots of precancerous cells on my face that will likely turn into cancer if not treated. He removed a spot on my cheek and told me I'd have to come back regularly from now on to monitor other spots and remove them as well. It was pretty painful and is still healing. Apparently I'm way too young to have this much damage and I thought he was going to fall out when I told him how much I used to tan in the tanning bed. I've recently cut that back to 1 or 2 days a week but those days are over. No more tanning bed, no more laying out, no more baking of any kind. This news made me very VERY sad. Even if coated myself in SPF 50, he said I couldn't lay out in the sun for any extended length of time ever again. He said my skin type, being freckly and naturally pale, was the prime candidate for melanoma and I'll have to keep a close eye on it for the rest of my life. I love the sun, I love summer. :(

Now, I've had lots of scary visits to the dermatologist over the years but this one hit home to me for some reason - I guess because of the process of having a spot burned off my face. ha. But I've had so many doctors in the past tell me how much damage I had and how I was bound to have skin cancer but my dumbass continued to lay in the tanning bed and live by the pool in the summer time. But I went out and bought a new daily moisturizer with SPF 30 so you know I'm for real this time. I've been wearing it daily - even for the past 3 days where we've had NO sunshine whatsoever. ha.

Anyhoo, I guess that's enough of an update for now. I'm in the process of possibly getting a new car so, hopefully, I'll have that news soon! We'll see. I'm also looking forward to some other changes around the corner that I can't quite talk about yet but just keep your fingers crossed for me!

Hope everyone is well!

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 - My Review...

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 18:15:05 -0800

We saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. As most of you know I've read all of the books at least twice and I'm quite critical of the movies. I was, as usual, disappointed in the film. I am aware that they can't include EVERYTHING in the movie. That's not my point. But in 2 full length feature films you would think they would be able to get key parts of the 7th book right. The problem is that they change small things that alter the outcome of big events. Or they leave out things that someone who hadn't read the books wouldn't know or that might lead to confusion. They don't explain key things that can't necessarily be inferred. But my biggest compliant is the lack of real dialog. There is so much focus on fight scenes and big action that they leave out alot of the dialog between the characters. This, in my opinion, leaves the characters under-developed. You miss out on so much of the emotion of the story for this reason. They also work too hard to make Rowling's world seem less magical and more ordinary...when it isn't. They leave out alot of "magical" stuff that is in the books.

I guess all of that I can deal with but for me they missed the mark big time on one specific issue...

The BIGGEST thing left out of this film is the constant inner conflict in Harry's mind regarding Dumbledore. Harry is conflicted because of the information he is getting regarding Dumbledore's past...he doesn't understand Dumbledore's involvement with the dark arts. Rita Skeeter's book presents "evidence" of Dumbledore's past loathing of muggles, his involvement with Grendelwald and their plans to enact Wizard domination of muggles. Throughout the entire book, Harry is angry, withdrawn and confused. He goes back and forth wondering whether or not Dumbledore told him the truth about things. He is torn because for so long he believed this person to be good and kind and he looked up to him...now he is finding out things that he can't explain or begin to understand. He feels like he didn't know the real Dumledore at all. He is disappointed and angry. This inner conflict plays a huge role in the book and the events that unfold. The desperation that Harry feels isn't conveyed in the film AT ALL. The scene with Harry and Hermione dancing...that NEVER happened in the book, nor would it have. Harry wasn't concerned with cheering her up...he was angry, withdrawn and conflicted. It's as if the filmmakers want to leave all human emotion out of the story. Harry's emotions, confusion and conflict are pivotal in this book. Period.

Just so I don't seem like I'm being nit picky here....

These were all changes I picked out of the film...I went through and listed them as fast as I could so I wouldn't forget. Now I'll go back and explain each one individually...if you are bored with this post you can totally check out here...but for my hardcore HP friends...read on....

1) Harry and Dudley - in the book there was a moment, when the Dursley's were leaving, that Dudley acknowledged that Harry saved his life when he cast the patronus in book 5, protecting Dudley from the dementors.

2) Harry not being disguised as Barny at the wedding - BIG thing here...Harry HAD to be disguised for his safety and the safety of the people attending the wedding. The fact that he isn't in the movie doesn't convey just how dangerous and desperate things were...in my opinion.

3) No scene for Harry's birthday party - in the book Harry had a birthday party at the Burrow the night before the wedding.

4) Harry and Hermione dancing - I've already addressed this.

5) the radio being present for the entire time and not just when Ron comes back - okay I feel like this is a big one too. In the book, there is not a radio present in the tent the entire time. Part of the desperation they feel is due to being so cut off from everyone and not knowing what is going on ..not knowing who is alive or dead, if people are even still fighting Voldemort. Harry is conflicted with continuing on the plan Dumbledore instructed him to carry out...OR to go back. They have no way of knowing anything that's going on. They are alone and desperate and have no clue what they are doing. The radio doesn't come into the picture until Ron comes back after running out on them. This is when Ron tells them about the radio show "Potterwatch" and all of the people cheering him on and continuing to fight Voldemort. In the movie the radio is used to list names of the dead but in the book the radio was a more uplifting feature, allowing them to hear familiar voices and feel more connected to everyone they were separated from.

6) Mad Eye's eye from the door - how Harry gets detected - okay so when they sneak into the Ministry, Harry discovers Mad Eye's eye has been attached to Delores Umbridge's office door...he steals it and that's how he is detected.

7) In the book Harry was under the invisibility cloak in the ministry - even though he was disguised with Polyjuice potion. And in the hearing for Cattermole's wife he was under it..without being detected he was able to stun Umbridge, create a diversion and get the locket off her neck. Also, Ron (as Cattermole) wasn't in the hearing...he didn't meet up with them til later. I guess that's besides the point ...but anyway...harry has to cast his Patronus because of the Dementors in the courtroom and they end up escaping and he uses his Patronus to free all the people being held for their blood status and waiting to go in before the Muggle-Born Registration Commission. That was a big moment. He was the most wanted person in the whole wizarding world, barely escaping the building but he decides to save all these people. Huge. Totally missed the mark on that one in the film.

8) Godric's Hollow - they changed SO many things about the venture into Godric's hollow. Most notably the fact that Voldemort friggin' shows up there and attacks them and they get away. The film only showed the freaking snake and doesn't AT ALL explain what all that was about in the first place. Anyway, one of the most important parts of Godric's hollow is when Harry goes to his parents' house...the house where they died trying to protect him. There was a plaque there that said:

"On this spot, on the night of 31 October 1981, Lily and James Potter lost their lives. Their son, Harry, remains the only wizard ever to have survived the Killing Curse. This house, invisible to Muggles, has been left in its ruined state as a monument to the Potters and as a reminder of the violence that tore apart their family."

Underneath that people had written stuff to Harry like "we are behind you Harry" "good luck wherever you are" and "long live Harry Potter." I think this was an important part of the book because of the emotion it evokes. Harry becomes very emotional, he is reminded of why he is fighting and it's the first time he realizes how many people are behind him.

I realize that this is getting lengthy...I'll quit giving such a detailed explanation...I guess if you've read this far you probably already detected the differences for yourself...

9) The scene at the Lovegood's house is all changed up.

10) How Peter Pettigrew dies - he is really strangled to death by his own hand, the hand Voldemort gave him, because it detected betrayal when he had sympathy for Harry in the basement at Malfoy Manner. In the film he is stunned by Dobby.

11) The lack of explanation about Kreacher and his involvement with the real horcrux locket. Also, Dobby wasn't even in the scene where Kreacher brings back Mundungus. AND it leaves out Kreacher's change of heart about Harry, Ron and Hermione.

12) It doesn't explain about the Taboo on Voldemort's name, and how the "snatchers" find them in the woods.

13) Dean Thomas and his role is left out completely

14) Bill had to introduce himself at Privet Drive because his character was left out of the previous movies.

15) Tonks' pregnancy and Harry's fight with Lupin is left out. Not that that's super important but I had to point it out because I recognized it.

Okay...I'm going to stop now. There were more but I'm getting tired. I know alot of this didn't HAVE to be in the film, but I go back to my point about the characters' emotion, Harry inner struggle, etc. Those things were pivotal to the feel of the book.

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Big things, little things, Iron Bowl, etc...

Sun, 28 Nov 2010 13:17:52 -0800

Well I had this awesome blog all typed up that I'd been working on for days and in an instant it was gone. I shall attempt to re-create it. Unsuccessfully I'm sure...

I've been a bad blogger of late. We've been so busy with weddings, babies, football, holidays, trips, etc. It's been wonderful but I haven't had much spare time. I have about 10 half written blogs in my drafts folder that, I hope, will materialize into full posts soon, but for now we'll stick with a quick update and some thoughts...

-- Big news first. I passed the NCE exam and I now have my LPC. I'm a Licensed Professional Counselor which means I'm licensed to do private practice if I so choose. I'm currently employed with a non-profit agency and while I don't make much money, I wouldn't trade what I've learned there for anything in the world! Furthermore, I feel like I make a difference at the end of the day which means alot too. But sometime in the future I plan to go out and explore my options. Working with kids in the foster care system is hard, emotional work. As anyone who has worked with this population knows, happy endings are rare and burnout is high. I don't know if I'm ready to walk away completely, but I've considered going part time and working with some other client populations. I need some light to balance the dark...so-to-speak. We'll see...

-- Eric and I made our biannual trip to Talladega on Halloween weekend and it was an experience as always. We camped out like we did last fall and it was alot of fun. Camping out at Dega always takes me back...reminds me of growing up in Clanton. I don't know why..maybe it's the smell of the campfire and the cheap beer. It just makes me think of my adolescence, camping out, four wheeler rides, bonfires, barn parties, etc. I don't get out of the city much anymore and I hate that. I need a trip home soon! Anyhoo, HERE is the link to the whole, hilarious album from the weekend. One of our compadres somehow ended up with a carboard cutout of his favorite driver and we had WAY too much fun with that thing.

-- My favorite newborn continues to grow like a weed and I was able to get some good shots of her recently. Here are a few:

-- We went and saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. I started to include my thoughts on that here but it got too lengthy.. so I'm saving that for a separate blog. As with the past films, I wasn't very happy. Having read all the books at least twice, I'm extremely critical. Anyway, moving on...

-- We got our Christmas decorations up the 2nd weekend in November. I get alot of crap for putting them up so early but I enjoy it. It puts me in the holiday spirit. I love the holidays...the smells, the lights, the music, the warmth, family, friends, parties, etc... I want to enjoy it as long as possible. Here are some shots of our decorations... take note of the wreath. I made it!!! Cool huh? A wire coat hanger, some cheap plastic Christmas balls from walmart and about 20 minutes was all it took!!!

-- Now for my Iron Bowl analysis: We lost.

No seriously, I think we played a stellar first half. It seemed our defense was shutting Cam down and Auburn's defense wasn't even in the stadium. But they made adjustments in the second half and were able to make the plays. We also had 2 key turnovers that I know cost us at least 2 touchdowns. I also feel the injuries to Julio and Greg hurt us bad. Had we had them in that final drive I feel we would have AT LEAST kicked a field goal for the win. I'm sure all Bama fans are saying similar things but oh well. It makes me feel better. I do have to admit that I'm beginning to believe Eric isn't exaggerating when he talks about the national media's dismissal of Auburn. The national sports media consistently expects them to lose and yet they keep winning. They seem to think they are scraping by with luck...like they are just an incomplete team with a good quarterback that won't possibly make it to the title game. But yet it seems they are 1 win away. I guess we'll see. I'm pulling for them now, of course, but an Iron Bowl victory would've been nice...especially since I was there with Eric. Most of the couples we hang out with are "split" as well so I really wanted bragging rights this year. Oh well. We went to the game with Ryan and Lindsay. Too much fun...here are a few pics from the day:

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Lasagna!!!!

Wed, 10 Nov 2010 17:35:00 -0800

This lasagna recipe is dairy free and gluten free. I use an egg but you can use egg replacer if you don't eat eggs. Also I use meat in this recipe but you could do all veggies instead and make the whole thing vegan. The way the tofu is prepared, it totally resembles ricotta in taste and texture and I have meat-gluten-dairy eating witnesses that will attest to that! You just have to follow the directions and season everything well. This dish is really really yummy!!!!

Let me AGAIN apologize for making up recipes and not measuring anything along the way. These are my best estimations as to what I used. When it comes to seasonings I just do it to taste. Shake shake shake :)

One more thing...the other night I wanted this dish but was in a hurry and didn't want to fool with all the layers and baking for an hour ...so I made gluten free penne pasta instead and layered all the ingredients into individual bowls and baked them for just a few minutes to warm through and melt the cheese. It was yummy-baked-lasagna-gooey-goodness...in a bowl!!! Eric loved it! So however you choose to make it...here's the recipe:

Gluten Free Lasagna

9 gluten free (brown rice) lasagna noodles

1 jar Whole Foods Pasta sauce - I use the fat free - it only has 2 grams of sugar

1 and ½ pkg NaSoya Lite Firm Tofu (squeezed and pressed very well between paper towels to remove excess water)

1 bag Daiya mozzarella

½ sweet onion - minced

1 bell pepper - minced

1 pkg ground turkey breast

1 egg & 1 egg white (or equivalent in egg replacer - would probably work with 2 egg whites too).

Sage

Thyme

Nutmeg

Ground red pepper

Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

Ms. Dash salt free Italian seasoning

Oregano

Bottled minced garlic

Garlic powder

Almond meal flour

** If you want to make this meat free just add chopped veggies (such as broccoli, squash, zucchini, etc) in place of the meat and saute before adding the sauce.

** The spices I add to the meat are similar to the spices used in italian sausage seasoning - it gives it great, rich flavor and the ground turkey breast has virtually no fat. The nutmeg may sound odd but it is great.

** It is really important to use the correct size baking dish. If the lasagna isn't tightly packed, it won't hold together well when you slice it.

-- Pre-heat oven to 350-375 degrees

-- Boil noodles slightly and set aside - I don't boil them until they are completely done. Only cook them about 1/2 way - it makes them easier to work with and they will finish cooking in the oven.

-- Heat a large dutch oven on medium heat

-- Add olive oil and saute onion, minced garlic and bell pepper until tender.

-- Add ground turkey breast, sage, salt, pepper, garlic, Italian seasoning, nutmeg, thyme, and oregano. Saute until cooked through.

-- Add jar of marinara sauce (less ¼ cup), reduce heat and simmer

-- In a large mixing bowl, crumble tofu with hands until it resembles ricotta cheese, mix in about ¼-½ cup mozzarella, Italian seasoning, garlic powder and salt. Mix well and season to taste.

-- Add egg and egg white to tofu mixture and set aside.

-- Coat a 8 X 11.5 casserole dish with cooking spray

-- Spread reserved ¼ cup marinara in bottom of dish

-- Place 3 noodles on top of sauce then spread with tofu mixture

-- Spread meat sauce over tofu mixture and sprinkle with mozzarella

-- Add another layer of noodles, tofu, sauce and cheese

-- Top with last 3 noodles, remaining meat sauce and mozzarella cheese.

-- Sprinkle top with almond meal, cover with foil and secure tightly at edges

-- Bake for approximately 1 hour. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

**Note: To make dish lower in carbs, leave off top layer of noodles and put lightly steamed strips of zucchini in its place – won’t work as well for middle layer but will work for top layer.

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A Happy!

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:17:05 -0700

So my friend Abby has the greatest 2 year old ever and they call me and leave me little messages from time to time. I had to share this one! See if you can tell what it is! >

Memo.m4a Listen on Posterous

> > >

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30 Days of Blogging - Day 27 - My Worst Habit (and a confession...)

Wed, 27 Oct 2010 06:28:03 -0700

I am not sure what my absolute WORST habit is but I know I have a few bad ones....

1) Tardiness. I'd say one of my top negative habits is tardiness. Let me say this though...unlike alot of people who habitually run late, I do not run late out of laziness or sleeping in. I tend to run late because I try to do too many things. I get up daily around 5:45 or 6 but sometimes don't get out of the house until 9:30 or 10. I can't stand a messy house and I can't stand to leave with things out of place, so alot of my tardiness is due to trying to clean and organize instead of being able to just leave things and get out the door.

2) Overeating. I am absolutely obsessed with food. I have been since I was a child. I have been very public about my lifelong battle with my weight. I understand where my obsession with food and my weight issues stem from, but it is a CONSTANT battle. Over the last few years I have been doing pretty well. I eat incredibly healthfully and exercise 4-5 days a week but when I sit down to a meal it is a constant conversation in my head each and every time about how much I'm going to eat, whether or not I can resist going for seconds, etc. I literally give myself daily pep talks about my food consumption... "this is plenty of food, you don't need any more than this, you will feel full shortly - just wait a few minutes..." I don't see food as food anymore, I see calorie counts, grams of sugar and fat, etc. One of the other reasons I think I battle with this issue is because of how much I love to cook and prepare food. After spending the time to shop for the ingredients, prepare them and put them together into a meal, I want to enjoy it...to get my effort's worth so-to-speak ...so it's hard to stop after one serving. This may sound psychotic but it's the truth. And even though I eat very well and often eat just vegetables, I often just simply eat too much of it and then I feel sick. I know I'm not alone with this constant inner conflict about food...if you experience this too please share.

3) I use too many paper towels. I feel guilty about it and wish I could stop but it's soooo hard.

4) I buy too many books and I'm not able to read them until months, or years, later.

Wow...can I really only come up with 4? What am I missing? I know I've got more. Ha. Guess this was a shorter blog than I expected it would be!

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Alabama, Auburn, "fan-ness", etc.

Sat, 16 Oct 2010 10:59:51 -0700

Yesterday on Finebaum a caller asked "why is Auburn such a big deal...it's not a state university...and there's nothing there." This was a Bama fan. He went on to say that "it shouldn't be anymore than a Troy." It became obvious to me as the call went on that this person has serious issues and is likely mentally ill... like many of the Finebaum callers. The ignorance of people absolutely baffles me, but that's for a whole different blog altogether. I could probably write an entire blog about the insanity of the Paul Finebaum show and why it appeals, for some reason, to the masses. From a psychological standpoint. But...anyway, moving on, this caller got me thinking about Alabama and Auburn and the relationship between the two teams, the fans, etc. I thought he sounded ridiculous and that he was simply attacking Auburn's credibility because of our loss last week...which alot of irrational Bama fans ARE doing. I came to the conclusion that I do, in fact, appreciate Auburn. I couldn't come up with a single reason why I should HATE auburn as many Bama fans do. I was just simply raised a Bama fan and that's the way it is. But my dad, from whom I received much of my football fan-ness, is a very rational Bama fan and never did any trash talking of Auburn. And, furthermore, I don't see the point in trying to come up with reasons to hate a team simply because they are our rival. My dad would be one of those that says "I'll root for Auburn if they aren't playing Bama." As I got older I started to disagree with him on that point. I want to win the west. Duh. I want Auburn to do just well enough so that our win over them looks "good." I want them to do well...just as long as we do better. There are Bama fans that would be happy if Auburn lost every game. I'm not one of them. I think Auburn being a good football program brings credibility to our conference and our state. I think it makes our rivalry better. I think it motivates everyone. Now....in the past I've dated some obnoxious Auburn fans and I probably would have never written this blog then. But I think dating Eric has made me look at these things a little differently. He is respectful, very respectful, of me and the fact that I'm a Bama fan. He talks shit I'm sure, but not in my presence. And he's able to give credit to our team when a player does well or a good play is called, etc.

Back to Finebaum (for just one second) ...I am constantly embarrassed by the idiocy of the callers. They sound ridiculous. And from the producer's standpoint...the more ridiculous the better, I think. But I listen. I don't know why. I prefer the Roundtable during the day but in the afternoons (if I'm not too busy) I can't help but listen in...just to see how ridiculous it is. But I'm embarrassed by how ignorant southerners sound in general on the show. The vast majority of Alabama and Auburn fans ARE rational people...but they aren't calling Finebaum...they are working their jobs and not sitting around every afternoon glued to the radio. I think, though, that perhaps the one positive aspect to Finebaum's syndication is the fact that people in other places in the country are seeing (well...hearing) how intense our rivalry with Auburn really is. I like that. But I also don't see how Finebaum's show is given any credibility, as a syndicated sports show, by letting semi-drunk, redneck, Bama and Auburn fans carry on and on with no valid point. Maybe, though, that's the reason it's successful...in a weird, sick kinda way. I listen...and I'm a rational football fan. It's like a train wreck I guess and now it's a big syndicated-satellite-radio-party of a train wreck.

Back to Bama and Auburn. While collecting my thoughts for this blog, I asked Eric this question: "Would you say you really HATE Alabama?" He said YES!...then he explained. He talked about being an Auburn fan as a kid and how he looked at it like good vs. evil..."we are good, they are bad." But as he got older he became more rational and began to "hate" Alabama for better reasons. I won't quote him directly but some of his points were centered around these issues:

1) the fact that "back in the day" the rich kids went to bama, they thought they were better and they looked down on Auburn.

2) Auburn is the perpetual underdog to Bama, Bama receives more attention for being the "state school."

3) Bama fans (collectively) tend to be arrogant and think they should win simply because they are Alabama.

4) most Auburn fans actually went to Auburn and most of the Bama fans he knows didn't go to Alabama.

5) Auburn fans are more like a "family" and the fan base of Bama is not as tightly connected.

I, of course, disagree with alot of these points BUT...I didn't go to Alabama and I wouldn't say I am an avid supporter of the University, other than in the arena of the football program. You won't find me following Alabama baseball or gymnastics. Sorry. I grew up a fan of Alabama football. I did not want to go to Bama for undergrad and I thank the lord that I went to Montevallo. For numerous reasons. I appreciate Montevallo for all the ways it is UNlike Alabama. It's small, it has a community feel, everyone knows everyone, the focus is on academics, etc. I can understand Eric's description of the "Auburn family" (from the view of a student) because I can relate to that due to the fact that I feel like part of the "Montevallo family." I have always felt these things, football "fandom" and education, were mutually exclusive. I never planned to attend the University of Alabama, don't regret that I didn't, but absolutely LOVE and ADORE it's football program. Does that make me less of a fan? Do you think people have a better appreciation for a school's football program if they were a student of that school. I plan on attending Alabama for my PhD...will I then be a "better" Bama fan? Who knows. If someone asked me why I love Alabama football I would say, tradition, pride, the class of the fans...and the fact that we are one of the best college football programs that ever was! That's enough right! I'd like to hear from y'all...Bama and Auburns fans, students and non-students...I'd like your opinions. Do we really NEED to hate each other to make the rivalry what it is? Can Auburn fans respect and appreciate Bama and vice versa? Do all Bama fans really look down on Auburn? Do you have to be a student of a school to really value it? Can we really come up with valid reasons to hate the other? When I take a good, hard look at it, I think I would have to admit (as most Bama fans would) that we do think we are better...we do take alot of pride in our "WINNING TRADITION" (Eric hates that phrase)...and you can't argue with the fact that Alabama IS one of the best college football programs in history. Arrogant? Maybe! ;)

And before this point comes up...I'm not getting soft on Auburn. I just got to thinking about alot of this because dating such a rational Auburn fan has gotten to me I guess. He loves Auburn SOOOO much and I respect that...AND he's a respectful fan and there's something to be said about that. If we hadn't lost to SC I probably would be rooting for the hogs today...I know I would be...BUT I need Auburn to do well (til they play us)...I need freaking LSU to do well...I need SC to do well...I now have to think about the wins and losses of everyone else...much more than if we just bulldozed our way through our schedule like we did last year. okay enough of that. comment away! I bet this stirs up more controversy than my education blog. ha!

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30 Days of Blogging - Days 25 & 26 - A Day/Week in My Life

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 16:41:11 -0700

Day 25 is supposed to be "My Day in Detail" and Day 26 is "My Week in Detail"...I decided to just combine the two!

A regular week day for me goes like this....

*5:30 the alarm starts going off....I usually get out of bed between 6 and 6:30. I let Jackson out and feed him then I make breakfast and coffee. I watch Morning Joe and possibly a DVR'd show from the night before that I didn't get to watch. I check email, facebook, twitter and my google reader and then I blog if needed. I do laundry, pack my lunch, pack my gym bag, etc. I get dressed and head out to the office.

*On mondays and wednesday I have groups so I get prepped for that, gather all my supplies, etc. I have girls group first, then lunch (which is usually eaten at my desk while doing paperwork) and then I have boys group after lunch. The afternoons consist of individual sessions and more paperwork. Tuesdays and thursdays start off with supervision. On tuesday mornings I have supervision with my clinical supervisor to discuss cases, brainstorm therapeutic interventions and basically just vent which is always needed. Alot of times I use this to process all the crap I've listened to over the last week. After that I have supervision with my administrative supervisor to discuss program issues, staff concerns, etc. This is where I beg for things like more chairs in the group room or more money for group supplies, etc. After that I eat lunch and then start on individual sessions for the day. On thursday afternoons I have the legendary Treatment Team meeting which starts around 2 and goes until 4-5. It's insanely long and tedious, but necessary. Back when my caseload was somewhat normal, I could reserve fridays for paperwork, treatment plan updates, session notes, etc. But now that I have so many kids I am trying to scramble to make sure everyone has been seen for the week and then squeezing in paperwork if I can. On most fridays everyone gets their paperwork done and gets to leave a little early, but since we have so many kids in our program now, I've been staying late on fridays which SUCKS.

*After I get my last client seen I close my blinds in my office, change into my gym clothes and head to the gym. I usually do Step on mondays, run on tuesdays (in or out, depending on weather), off on wednesdays, back to back Step and Pump class on thursdays, and run on fridays. Saturday and sunday I squeeze in what I can. There are 2 great classes on sunday that I love to attend when I can make it. Most notably BodyAttack!

*After my workout I hit up the grocery store if there are any ingredients I'm missing for the dinner I'm cooking. When I get home I usually come in, drop my gym bag, and immediately start cooking. I hate eating late and some nights I don't get home til 7 (or later) so I try to get dinner done in under 30 minutes.

*After dinner we usually watch some news or whatever shows we have DVR'd, Eric helps me clean up the kitchen, and then we shower and get ready for bed.

*There usually isn't a spare minute in a normal work day. I find time to check twitter in between clients or on the treadmill but other than that it's non stop until my head hits the pillow at night. Once in bed I check twitter one more time, set the alarm and I'm out!

Now....all of this is done on quite a tight schedule. If one little thing goes wrong or puts me off my routine, it throws me off completely. That's how workouts get missed, laundry piles up, etc. I honestly don't see how a woman can hold down a 40 hour a week job, cook a healthy (from scratch) dinner every night, clean, workout regularly, raise kids, etc AND keep a healthy relationship/marriage going all at the same time. It's impossible to do it all without help. I think I do a pretty good job but I don't have kids. Luckily Eric offers to go to the store or do laundry when I need him to but I, honestly, prefer to do those things myself. Not because he can't, but because I do enjoy it. I enjoy running a household - maybe I won't say that when I have kids - but right now I like it. But you'd be surprised how much goes into running a home for just a couple and a dog. The sheer amount of laundry and cleaning is a part time job in itself. Grocery shopping and cooking too...I'd have so much extra time if I ate junk like 3/4 of the country ...but I refuse. I cook from scratch every night. We usually eat out on saturdays but that's it.

I guess this post wasn't intended to sing the praises of the working woman but jeez, when you look at all we do it does seem like alot. And this has just been a basic detail of my schedule and routine. I can't even begin to describe the emotional and mental drain of my job. The amount of ups and downs I experience in a day is unreal. I may have a kid come in who is going through a really rough time processing their past trauma and abuse ...I listen to that for an hour then I may have a kid come in who has made progress and is in a great mood and has accomplished some big goal and I have to completely switch gears. Then I'm feeling all lighthearted and happy from that session then I may have another intense one after that. Not to mention any fights, restraints, threats of suicide, etc that I may have to deal with during any given day. It's an absolute roller coaster.

So that's a basic workday and workweek for me. Saturdays are reserved for football (at the moment), beer, and friends. Sundays I clean, catch up on laundry and workout. It's all quite exhausting. Even when I try to do nothing, I can't. ha. So sorry if all that was kinda boring to y'all :)

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30 Days of Blogging - Day 24 - Where I Live

Wed, 06 Oct 2010 06:01:17 -0700

I decided I'd sprinkle in the last few entries of the 30 Days of Blogging Challenge that I never finished...

Day 24 - Where I Live

Well well well...my goal for this post was to take a walk around my beautiful neighborhood, take pictures with the 50D and put them in this post. I've been so busy I haven't had time to blog...much less take pics. Sad. I know. So...without the pics I'll describe to the best of my ability...

I live in a beautiful, historic neighborhood. I would describe most of the houses as being 1 of 4 styles:

(in order of most common)

1) bungalow / craftsman

2) rock / castle / English Tudor look

3) American Colonial / New England

4) Spanish / Mediterranean style

They are all so beautiful and different and unique. Some of the bigger ones date back to the early 1900s. Most, I would say, were built between 1910 and 1940. Mine was built in 1946. We have a little village with a market, shops, a couple of restaurants, art galleries, etc. It's really neat. One day every month, all the shops and restaurants have specials for a neighborhood appreciation kinda thing. It's cool! We also have several parks...the neatest being the "Triangle Park" which sits in the "split" where Clairmont Ave meets Essex Road. There is a big field to run and play, some picnic tables, swings, and a playground area...even a sandbox. The park is always packed with kids or couples reading on blankets, or dogs chasing frisbees....it's wonderful.

Yes the houses are alot more expensive than if you bought in the suburbs....but the beauty, convenience, and charm make up for that...at least for me. I love the hills, tress, beautiful historic architecture, quaint shops, and sidewalks. I love that I can walk to the market and get groceries. I love walking to the park and soaking in the day...

One of the things I love the most about Forest Park is the holiday season here. All of the houses and shops are beautifully decorated. Everything sparkles and glows. I love driving through at night and seeing all of the tress in the windows. One of the best things is the annual Christmas Carol Sing in Triangle Park. The tradition has been going for a LONG time. For Christmas last year my mom gave me the book The History of Forest Park and it has pictures from the Carol Sing back in the 70s... although I believe it has been going since long before that. Unfortunately, the book doesn't specify when the tradition started. Every year someone brings hot apple cider and doughnuts (apparently this is tradition as well...the book said cider and doughnuts have been served since the beginning!). Everyone gathers around and sings and then.....SANTA ARRIVES!!!! Santa comes on a fire truck (as in most neighborhoods) and he gets out and mingles with all the kids and takes pictures! It's really neat!

I suppose alot of neighborhoods or communities have traditions and gatherings...but only a few have a backdrop this beautiful. It is truly breathtaking!

I love how historic it feels here. I love the old houses and the traditions. I hope I never leave!

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