"I've got some advil back in the hearse"...Savannah Day 3

We had a great relaxing day here today! Today was our beach day and we spent all afternoon on Tybee Island. We ate lunch on the island at a place called Spanky's. The food was great and this is a picture of the view from our table. You can't beat that!

This was our view all afternoon. It was an absolutely perfect day for the beach, 80 and sunny!

After the beach we headed back to the hotel and got ready for dinner. I read on several websites about how great the Old Pink House restaurant is, so I called last week and was able to get a 7:30 reservation for dinner. We took these next 2 pictures while we were waiting for our table to be ready.

We all decided to get a fun drink with dinner. Mom got a cosmopolitan, Britt got a peach martini, Michelle got an espresso martini and I got a chocolate martini. Yum! We all really enjoyed them.

After dinner we got in an old hearse and took a ghost tour around the historic district. While I didn't really find it particularly spooky, we still had a great time! At one point we were inside the Pirate House learning about all the haunted history and Britt leaned over and asked if any of us had a Tylenol. None of us had one but our tour driver overheard the conversation and promptly said "I've got some advil back in the hearse." Oh my word, we all laughed so hard. It's just one of those phrases you just don't hear everyday!

Britt, Mom and Michelle waiting for the tour to start.

Britt and me on the tour.

This next picture is by far my favorite picture so far from this trip. The way the hearse was setup was a little strange. Michelle, Mom and Britt's seats all faced the front and my seat faced the side. As you can see, my legs were in full view through that window! I didn't even think about at first but I was getting some interesting gestures from guys that would walk past our hearse on the street. Thankfully I always cross my legs :) The funny part was when the driver took this picture and I wasn't really thinking about how my legs would look. We all got the biggest kick (pun intended) out of how they are in full view in the picture.

So that was our day! This post is much shorter than yesterday because we spend most all day sitting on the beach :) Tomorrow is the BIG day and I can hardly wait! I will have a full update up tomorrow night.

Goodnight from Savannah

Savannah Day 2

We had another great day in Savannah! We started off the morning late as we all really wanted to sleep in. We had a reservation at the Lady & Sons today at 12:30 so we decided to walk around downtown before we had lunch. I took this picture from the front door of our hotel. The building on the opposite corner with the red and white stripped awning is the Lady & Sons! I think I mentioned yesterday how close we are to it, but I wanted to take a picture to prove it. :)

We roamed around the Paula Deen store for a bit. They had a huge table full of all her cookbooks and she had signed every one of them.

After we moseyed around the store we still had some time before our reservation, so we walked over to City Market. It is a really neat open air market with lots of restaurants and little shops.

We also walked by the original Lady & Sons, located just down the street from where the restaurant sits now. I posted a short video below that shows a condensed version of Paula Deen's story. It is a great video and also shows video footage of what this building looked like when the Lady & Sons was there. I strongly recommend watching the video if you don't know much about Paula Deen's story. It is a great way to learn about her beginnings.

The Bag Lady's Story from Paula Deen on Vimeo.

We went back to the restaurant a little early and to our pleasant surprise, they were able to seat us early. We were seated on the 3rd floor. Here we are with our cheddar garlic biscuits and hoecakes (pan fried cornbread). Yum!

All 4 of us got the southern buffet, which is what the restaurant is known for. It was great!

They all joked that I was the host of the trip because I had researched a ton before we came down. I always like to research the best restaurants and places to see when I go to a new place, so it seemed fitting to take a picture in front of the host sign.

After lunch we went on a mission to find an electric car or scooter to ride around the historic district on. I had read that it was the best way to see downtown, as driving your car can get tricky with parking and such. Sadly, when we pulled up to the scooter rental company, we learned that they were no longer in business. This picture was taken just outside the rental place on Bay street. So pretty!

Britt and me on Bay street.

After we realized that the scooter was going to be a no go, we headed back to City Market and decided to do a guided carriage ride tour. We had about a 30 minute wait before the tour began, so we found a candy store and enjoyed a coke.

Michelle, Britt and Mom waiting for the carriage.

My cute little momma.

And here they are! Their names are Murphy and Shay.

The 4 of us on the carriage ride

Savannah has got to be one of the pretties cities in the county. I took a ton of pictures of the city, but here are 2 of my favorites.

After our carriage ride we headed back to the hotel for a while to play games and enjoy a glass of wine. We played one of my favorite games that Kerry had introduced to me in Florida a few months ago. It is called Pit and involved trading cards with your opponents and ultimately trying to secure 9 of the same card. The result is lots of yelling and laughing. I turned on my camera and filmed a round. So funny.

We also played 3 intense games of SkipBo. I won't tell you who won all 3 games (*cough**cough**me). We walked over to City Market and had dinner at Belfords. We thought the food was good, but were less than enthused about the service. We probably wouldn't go back.

Michelle and Britt waiting to eat outside Belfords.

We had a great day! Tomorrow is our beach day on Tybee Island!

Goodnight from Savannah

Savannah Day 1

We made it to Savannah about 7:00 tonight. It took us right around 8 hours to make the trip. I was thrilled when we pulled up to our hotel. It is located in a beautiful part of the historic district and you can see Paula Deen's restaurant from the front of the hotel. So perfect! It is also about a 2 minute walk to river street and a 1 minute walk to the City Market. I am so happy! We reserved it on hotwire and really hit the jackpot. Not only is the location great, but the hotel itself is amazing. It is very modern, but I really like the feel of it. If you are planning a visit to Savannah I would strongly recommend checking out Avia. We are very happy so far!

After we got into our rooms and freshened up, we decided to walk down to river street and grab some dinner.

We ended up at a place called Tubby's Tank House. We were able to sit outside and enjoy a great view of the river and some live music. The food was great and the company wasn't so bad either ;)

Britt, Michelle and Mom waiting outside Tubbys

We took this picture of our toes for Mike (Britt's dad) because he was making fun of us all going to get pedicures before the trip. He was confused because he was certain that Paula Deen wouldn't care what our toes look like, hehe.

After dinner we came back to our hotel and decided to check out the terrace. It has a great firepit and pool. It was so nice! I have a feeling we will find ourselves up there a lot at night.

Mom and me by the firepit.

Goodnight from Savannah.

A little of this, a little of that

Next time I need to buy something special for Maria, this is what I will give her :) If you know her well, you will appreciate this!

I'm leaving for Savannah in the morning for the dinner at Paula Deen's house. I am so excited I don't know if I will be able to sleep! I am going to try and take lots of pictures to blog.

Also, I'm LOVING the wonderbar. I am at the end of the healing crisis and my skin looks better and better each day.

Ok, off to finish packing. Have a good rest of the week!

Arm Dancer

Pony Tail Holder Snatcher

Wonderbar Update

I am not going to post an update everyday, but I did feel like giving a small update today. I am officially on day 10 and feel like I am really on the down side of the healing crisis. My skin is starting to look better. It's by no means perfect, but today is the first day I have looked in the mirror and thought it looked a tad better. Still a ways to go, but I am seeing improvement. I am so excited!

The Wonderbar

Have you heard of this? I first heard of the wonderbar on Erika Powell of Urban Grace Interiors Blog, and was instantly intrigued. It is supposed to be a cure all for any skin issues you may have. Here is an excerpt from their website...

"The WONDERBAR is an all-in-one skin care product (toner, cleanser, exfoliate) that is affordable and simple to use.

It is a total detox for the skin and addresses issues such as wrinkles, brown spots, large pores, acne, eczema, psoriasis, dryness, and oiliness. Men can even use it for razor burn and ingrown hairs."

It is made of type of clay that works to balance the Ph in your skin and promises clear and radiant skin. Sounds way to good to be true! But leave it up to my mom to also see Erika's blog and decide that we should try it. I had also been thinking about ordering a bar, but I don't know that I would have ever actually gotten around to doing it on my own.

Our bars arrived last week and I was cracking up at the size of them. It was literally no bigger than a hotel soap! It comes with a detailed letter explaining how to properly use the bar, which is to lather it in your hands, apply to your face, let sit for 3-5 minutes and then rinse off. This process is to be done twice a day. If done properly, our hotel size bar should last around 3 months. There is only one catch to the whole thing, and it is called the healing crisis. Sounds pretty dramatic, using the word crisis and all. The letter that came with the bar, as well as the website, both explain that the bar draws out all the toxins from in your skin, and in the process causes you to break out, dry up, etc... So you can pretty much expect to get worse before you get better. If you know me well, you know I have always had problem skin. It has been a real issue for me for as long as I can remember! So I reasoned that the short term pain of the healing crisis would be worth it in the end, if the bar does what it promises.

I am on day 9 of using my wonderbar and can say with confidence that I have entered the healing crisis and man oh man, it is not fun! My skin hasn't looked this bad since middle school, and it is extremely dry. But in the interest of full disclosure, my mom has only experienced the healing crisis every so slightly. She has had maybe one or two pimples pop up, nothing in comparison to mine. I suppose I just have more toxins in my skin? I have been researching and based on reviews, I am thinking I will be experiencing this for at least another week. It is so discouraging right now, but I have my fingers crossed that it will really work! I took a picture of my skin the other day so I would know where I started. Hopefully in a few months I will have the after picture to put next to it. :) Stay tuned!

If you are interested in reading more, check out the wonderbar's website here.

The Design Girl

Hey everyone! I am determined to get serious about this whole blogging thing. I love looking back and seeing old posts with photos, it's like my own digital scrapbook. And as an added bonus, I love that out of town family can keep up with what is going on in my life. One thing that I have really been wanting to do is get a custom blog makeover. For some reason, I feel like having a personalized blog layout would help me be a better blogger, ha ;) Who knows, but it's worth a shot!

Anywho, I have been looking at The Design Girls layouts for quite some time and have always thought about having her design one for me. I fell in love with her layouts after seeing the ones she had created for Kelly's Korner, which is one of my FAVORITE blogs to read! So I am thrilled that she is giving a blog makeover away! Head on over to her website to enter!

{click here to enter}

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is one of my favorite crock pot recipes so I thought I would share it! Kerry had made it for me several times and I finally learned how to do it myself. It is so easy and always turns out great!

You will need:

1 can of cream of chicken soup

1 can of cream of mushroom soup

1 can of cream of celery soup

1 can of cheddar cheese soup

1 cup of salsa (you can use whatever kind you like, and I always add a tad more than a cup)

1/2 can of green chilies

2-3 frozen chicken breasts (more or less depending on how much chicken you like)

I always just mix all of my ingredients right in my crockpot (minus the chicken). It makes it easy and you don't have to clean up an extra bowl. Once I have mixed everything together, I put in my frozen chicken and use a fork to push them down into the mixture, making sure that they are covered.

Cook on high for around 4 hours (it is probably done in around 3 hours, but I usually leave mine in for about 4). When it is done, take 2 forks and use them to shred the chicken up. It sounds daunting but is really easy to do. The chicken is so tender it actually falls apart.

Voila! You have yummy, easy soup! I top mine with sour cream, fresh squeezed lime, and broken tortilla chips!

I promise you will not be disappointed! And on a side note, I loathe mushrooms and celery and was so worried that the taste of the soups would come through. I promise they do not! You would never know that is what is in it. I made this for my parents last night and they also thought it was delish. Also, this makes a great dip if you are having a party and want an easy crock pot dip.

Enjoy!

*ps- I was having issues with blogger when I was writing this post. So pardon the offset pictures and the large spaces :)

Spring Flowers

Every spring my cousin Markey and I head out to Keeneland together to plant pansies in the planters at the Keene family cemetery. We try to do it a few days before the spring meet starts. It has become a fun tradition! For those of you who don't know, my Aunt Cissy passed away in 2006 from ovarian cancer and is buried at the cemetery. Her family was the Keene family that initially bought the land that Keeneland now sits on. This year Markey's little boy (Wakefield) got to tag along. It was the first time that I had gotten to meet him. Truth be told, I just held him while Markey did the planting :) We had a great time!

You are Good

This has been a rotten week all around for me. It seems like there is just so much pain and suffering going on around me, not to mention some personal trials over the past few days. My prayers over the past week have been for peace. Peace for myself, and peace for the people in my life that are struggling or suffering in any way. Do you ever have weeks like that? Where you feel like things are falling apart? It's been a rough one! When I was online tonight I came across this song and have had it on repeat ever since, so I thought I would share it with all 5 of you that read my blog ;) It is such a reminder to me that in the midst of the happy times, God is good. And in the midst of the bad times and trials, God is good.

Breck and the Easter Bunny

Have you seen this??

Well, what are you waiting for? Go!

A Pit In My Stomach...

I am here all week...

Which is obviously amazing! However, I have had a pit in my stomach all day today. If you read my blog with any regularity, you know Emily and Chris. Emily and I have been friends for over 20 years and I love and value her so much. She and Chris got married last summer and I was honored to be a part of their special day. It almost hurts me to write this, but right now, Chris is on his way to Iraq to serve our country. I am so thankful for his sacrifice, but the thought of E in Colorado (where they are stationed) without him is absolutely making me sick. Please join me in praying for his safety while he is over there. I will also be praying for Emily to have complete and total peace while he is there. I can't imagine what she must be feeling. The good news is that Emily is flying to Watercolor on Wednesday to spend some time at the beach. I am so happy that she will be down here and pray that being around close friends will help her cope with all that is going on.

Oh, and did I mention she is pregnant? I am also praying for this little peanut that I already adore. I am Breck's Aunt J, but will also be an aunt to this sweet baby!

Baby Hurst,

I love you and can't wait to hold you and spoil you! You have amazing parents.

Love,

Aunt J

Chris will be able to come home for a short time when the baby is born, which I am so thankful for! Please keep this family in your prayers over the next year!

A Southern Spring Evening with Paula Deen

Hello blog friends! I am alive and well. I am back from a very extended "blogcation"! I don't even have a really good excuse, I have just been a lazy blogger. I got inspired today and changed my blog background, which has in turn inspired me to blog a little.

I have some big news! Well, it's big news to me :) Back in October, my mom, Brittany White and Michelle Fink all planned a big girls trip to Chigaco to go see Oprah. We were so excited about it as Britt is one of my best friends and our moms are also best friends. We had been trying to come up with a girls trip for months and were looking forward to heading to the windy city. Unfortunately, my grandfather fell extremely ill right around that time and my mom was unable to go on the trip. I was crushed. After that disappointment, we started searching for another girls trip that we could go on.

If you know me at all, you know my love for Paula Deen! I am on her email list and received an email saying that Paula would be having a benefit dinner at her home in Savannah! You would pay a price per ticket and get to have dinner at her home, meet her family, etc... WOW! I mentioned it to my mom and we decided that would be the perfect makeup girls trip! I called Michelle to see what she thought and the next thing you know, we have 4 tickets to have dinner at Paula's home! The dinner is May 15th and I am already counting down. We plan to stay for an extended weekend to explore Savannah, go to the beach and of course eat lots of good food.

This is a picture of the outside of Paula's house. I cannot wait to see it up close and personal in May!

As disappointing as it was that mom could not go to Chicago, I am thrilled that this Savannah trip is going to work out! I bought the perfect Lilly dress off ebay to wear to the dinner. I will post a picture when I get it in the mail.

Show Us Your Life- Fall Decorations

I have been following Kelly Stamps blog since this summer. My friend Kerry recommended it and I LOVE it! Every Friday she has a new "show us your life" post with a different topic. Bloggers are supposed to create a post and share pictures about the weeks particular topic. She started this originally with "show us your house" and people would post pictures of their homes. Each week she has over 200 bloggers that link with their pictures. So fun! This past week was all about fall decorations. Fall is my favorite season and I always put out some decorations so I thought I would share. I realize most of you could care less about my fall decorations ;) So this is mainly for my Aunt and Grandmere who I know would love to see them (shout out to Aunt Cathy and Grandmere!). You can check out Kelly's great blog by clicking HERE.

This is on my front stoop. I found the "It's fall y'all" sign on sale a few years ago and fell in love! I always buy a big pot of mums and stick it right down the middle.

This picture really didn't show the color well, but this is an orange berry garland that I found in a cute little shop in Georgetown last year. I just put it around my chandelier in my kitchen.

Black pumpkin cat. This is my ode to Emily!

Leaf wreath on front door.

Ceramic pumpkin filled with carmel. Lesson learned, I should NOT keep a candy jar in my house. I eat way too many caramels a day! :)

These little pumpkins are made from twigs and have white twinkle lights inside. I think I found them at Target.

We have had some beautiful Kentucky fall weather the past few days. It makes me think of what heaven must be like. So beautiful! Hope your fall is blessed!

I'm Back...

I plan on writing a detailed blog post about my time in Chicago. But in the meantime here is a little sneak peak of our time in the windy city. It lived up to it's name with the terrible rainy and windy weather! We managed to have a great time though ;)