A Day in the Life...

I thought I'd do a different type of post to mix things up a bit. I took a picture every hour (that I was awake) one day last week. Follow me via photos through my day :)

8:00 am - Wake up!! | 9:00 am - Work time

10:00 am - Breakfast & Paperwork | 11:00 am - More paperwork...

12:00 pm - Lunch time (made myself a little sandwich that day) | 1:00 pm - Trip through the kitchen (they were making breakfast pastries)

2:00 pm - Me & Maura in the Packaging Room gettin' it done | 3:00 pm - New office mascot: his name is Larry.

4:00 pm - Lots of coolers for shipping delicate treats | 5:00 pm - Twitter break!

 6:00 pm - Whole Foods has pumpkins | 7:00 pm - Drinks at Bacchanal with friends

 8:00 pm - DVR is the best invention ever | 9:00 pm - Look what was in my bed!! (Just kidding, it is a prop for my Dexter party that came in the mail that day!)

 10:00 pm - Laundry folding is my favorite chore... NOT | 11:00 pm - A little reading time before hitting the hay

And that was my day :)

First Day of Fall

I am so happy that it is officially fall!! It doesn't feel like it, or look like it for that matter, but the calendar says it is so. It has been a pretty relaxed Saturday. I slept in late (glorious!) then did brunch with Brie at Coulis. Minus the fact that they put bacon in her omelet (did you know that vegetarians don't take kindly to pig parts being cooked into their food?) our meal was delicious. We watched Up All Night that was recorded from the other evening and have been piddling/cleaning/organizing our own rooms most of the afternoon. Not a bad day. 

I am crossing my fingers and toes that the Saints game tomorrow turns into a big win!! The 0-2 record they are starting off with has been discouraging. But I am not a fair-weather fan, so I will stick behind the win or lose...but man a win would be nice!!

September Tease

All I want is crisp "fall" weather. That's it. Just a break from the heat. The temperatures have been dipping a little lower and by "a little" I mean highs in the mid 80s. Football season has started...the Saints aren't doing well...I don't want to talk about it...so it is supposed to be chilly outside. (Who watches football with the AC on?!) I want to wear my cardigans and eat pumpkin dip and admire Halloween decorations and watch horror movies on TV and witness leaves changing colors and drink hot tea to warm my bones. I want fall. *Pout* 

I leave you with my latest Instagramed picture.

My favorite fall tree picture from home :)

Oh and my new shoes!!

Summer Vegetable Tian

Summer Vegetable Tian: A Recipe Recommendation

I saw this recipe on Pinterest and thought I would give it a whirl. It was pretty simple and quite tasty. Here is what you need to try it out yourself:

1 Zucchini

1 Yellow Squash

1 Potato

1 Tomato

1 Yellow Onion

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 tsp Minced Garlic

1 tsp Thyme

1 cup Mozzarella Cheese

Salt & Pepper to taste

I diced the onion and garlic and sauteed them in the olive oil. After about 5 minutes I spread them out on the bottom of the sprayed casserole dish I was using. 

While the saute action was happening I sliced up the rest of the veggies and sprinkled them with salt, pepper and thyme

Then I layered the colorful slices into a pretty pattern on top of my onion/garlic mixture (if you like cooked tomatoes you may want to use 2 since those seemed less proportionate to the other vegetables).

This went into a 400 degree oven, covered. After 30 minutes I removed the aluminum foil, sprinkled on the cheese and popped it back into the oven for another 20 minutes to let everything melt together.

Voila! Summer Vegetable Tian--great by itself or as a side. Enjoy!

Fall TV Line Up

Fall is the best time of year for many reasons (in my opinion), but one of my favorites thing is the return of my stories!

• Today = First Regular Season Saints game!!!
• Wed. 9/12 = Glee
• Wed. 9/19 = Up All Night
• Mon. 9/24 = New Girl
• Tues. 9/25 = Modern Family
• Sun. 9/30 = Dexter
• Sun. 10/14 = The Walking Dead
• Wed. 10/17 = American Horror Story: Asylum
• Fri. 11/2 = Last Man Standing

Whew! That is a lot of TV watching--but I love it!! You've got funny, dramatic, suspenseful, and musical all there for viewing enjoyment! Hell on Wheels has already started up, so with that, Dexter, The Walking Dead, AND football--my Sundays are going to be full. Now...if the weather would just start to feel like fall I would be a much happier camper!!

A Delayed Visit

Isaac forced mom to postpone and shorten her visit, but on Saturday evening she made it to the Big Easy. Unfortunately I was still without power at the point, so to spare her (and me!) from sleeping in a disgustingly hot house, I was able to book a room at a Bed and Breakfast type place on Esplanade called the Melrose Mansion. It was sheer luck that I found this place as it seems that EVERY room in the entire greater New Orleans area was booked. In between fighting the heat we enjoyed meals at Grand Isle, Sucre, The Ruby Slipper, Fat Hen Grocery, delivery Green Tea, Dat Dog, and Creole Creamery.

  

For fun we got massages at Earthsavers, went to the aquarium, drove to Slidell to see Premium Rush (no theaters were open here due to the storm/lack of power) and watched the Southern Decadence Parade in the French Quarter. This consisted of a bunch of men in drag as well as other men and women in scantly clad, often outrageous costumes! There were definitely some sights to be seen!

Mom with some beads from the parade and my Creole Creamery sampler: mascarpone lemon zest, peppermint pie, black & gold crunch, and cucumber sorbet--all yummy!

Though it was super hot the whole time she was here, I think we had a good time! Now it is back to the mundane schedule of life...

I Will Survive

Hurricane Isaac has departed the greater New Orleans area nearly a week ago, but while everything was still fresh, I snapped a few pictures and did a little video documenting.

This 200+ year old oak tree that fell was located on St. Charles Ave. about two blocks from my house. Here is a front and side view:

A downed pole and a street covered in little limbs (that is what a lot of streets looked like)

 The following are some little videos I made when I stepped outside. The first two are from Tuesday and the last from Wednesday.

Overall, my impression of my first storm: 

• It sucked that I was sick and could not "enjoy" things more (most folks use this is an excuse to drink...who am I kidding...people in New Orleans don't need an excuse to drink!)
• It was windy
• There was not nearly the amount of rain I was expecting (at least not in my area--of course other towns were completely flooded Katrina-style)
• Being without power is exciting at first because you get to carry your flashlight around with you and light candles, but after a few hours it gets old, really, really old
• AC is the best invention ever and I never want to be without it again! The first two nights sleeping were not bad, the third tolerable, but by the fourth it was unbearable, and the fifth was spent in a hotel!
• I thought the power would be back on faster (I think a lot of people did and it is actually something that the local government is going to investigate since it is alleged that Entergy was not doing all that they could/working at optimal speed.) We were without for approximately 100 hours.