Crazy Weather

Fog.  That one little word really does seem to fascinate me!  I am really not sure why because it's not like I was born yesterday and have never seen it before.  But for some reason I have really started to notice it more and more since we moved to Pensacola.  I guess that it is probably because of the view from our condo.  Since we live out at the beach (which we love by the way!), we really do have a nice view of the beach from the side of our condo and of Gulf Breeze from the back.  Now to the point!

I was down on the ground floor of our condo in the exercise room working out... I know I live in Florida and I should be outside enjoying the weather... but back to my story!  I rode the elevator back up to our condo and looked out of the window to see... nothing!  Now this is not my normal view as I have just explained!  So I quickly took out my phone and took a picture so I could show my husband when he gets back from golfing.  Here is what I saw:

As you can see, this is not a pretty sight!  This is not the first time that the fog has taken over out here.  Again, I am not quite sure why I find this so interesting.  But after about 10 minutes, the fog suddenly lifted and I once again had my fabulous view of the beach!

It is still a little foggy over the water, but this is more like it!!  Hope everyone is enjoying their Saturday!

Beyond Ecstatic

My life is Pensacola just got 1000% times better!!  Why you ask??  

ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS JUST MOVED HERE!! 

When my husband and I moved here back in October, we knew that life would be an adjustment for us socially.  In Atlanta, we lived in this amazing neighborhood that was filled with people our own age and similar interests.  We had a neighborhood softball league that we played on practically year round, went to trivia night at the delicious Kayson's (only the RLX crew knows that I'm kidding), and when summer came around... you knew that everyone would be up at the pool!  So it was very hard for us to leave that environment and move to a place where we didn't really know anyone our age.  Fortunately for us, we did know some people here that have been a tremendous help to us so far!  The four of you know who you are, and thank you for your help with everything so far!! :)

Now back to the reason why I am so happy!!  On Sunday, one of my best friends and her family moved her to be closer to her husband's family.  (His parents are 2 of the four people that have helped us out greatly here!)  My husband and I knew that they would be moving here eventually, but the wait was far too long!  (Not really, I'm just being dramatic!)  But now that they are here, I feel that our lives in Pensacola have officially started.  There are so many fun events that this city hosts, and with spring and summer right around the corner, I know that we are all going to have a blast together!  I can't wait for all the fun times that we are going to get to share together.  And if my friend and her husband weren't great enough to have here... I also get to spend time with their son!!  :) 

Here are a few pictures of the fun that we have had in the past with this wonderful couple... I know that I will be posting lots of pictures of them in the future!

The Caldwell's and Burnett's in Atlanta!  We will need to take a picture in Pensacola now! 

 

Me with their handsome son!  At his first Gator game, of course!

A Tale of Two Pinot Noirs

Ahhh... Wine.  Why are you so good to me?  I must get my love for wine from my mom.  As they say, "She get it from her momma."  Whoever said that, you are right on the money!  First I would like to start by saying that I am not an alcoholic. I just love a nice glass of wine (or two) every now and again.  Okay, now back to my tale of two pinot noirs!

Since my husband and I are young newlyweds and just starting our lives together, we don't always have a lot of money to spend on items like wine.  You can normally find me perusing, the bottom shelf in the wine aisle at Publix.  I hardly ever buy anything from the top 3 shelves.  So, whenever we come across a good bottle of wine, we always try to remember that one for the future. 

The bottle on the left is one that we continually buy and love.  This is the Mirassou Pinot Noir.  This one usually costs between $7.99 to $9.99 depending on where you buy it and if it's on sale.  Then there is the bottle on the right, Frei Brothers Pinot Noir.  Let me start out by saying that we NEVER buy this bottle of wine ourselves.  This particular bottle was given to me for my birthday by some really good family friends.  When they gave me this bottle, my mouth practically dropped to the floor and I could hardly stop smiling I was so happy!  I had been told a few years back by my best friend's father, who is a wine connoisseur, that if you ever get a bottle of Pinot Noir that says Russian River Valley on it, then you know it's excellent.  Since I've had this bottle before, probably at the expense of my parents, I knew how good it was, and I knew that we had to save this for a special occasion.  This isn't your Tuesday night wine that you drink with leftovers!!  So I'm sure you are wondering when did we drink this wine (since the bottle is empty in the picture)??  We opened it on Valentine's Day, and it was a great addition to our fabulous dinner!

So, if you are in the market for a nice bottle of Pinot Noir that is affordable... go with the Mirassou Pinot Noir.  If you are trying to impress the in-laws or have the money to splurge on a fantastic bottle, go with the Frei Brothers Pinot Noir.  I promise you that you won't be disappointed.  Both of these wines are very good, but they both bring something different to the table (literally!). 

Anyone else have any good bottles of Pinot Noir to recommend?

First Married Valentine's Day

When it comes to Valentine's day, everyone has their own ideas and opinions for this holiday.  Let's go ahead and take me for example....  I am all for the hype of Valentine's day.  Bring on the flowers (esp. roses), cheesy cards, and everything else that goes along with this day.  I might like to pretend that it wouldn't bother me if my husband didn't make a big deal out of this day, but I would actually be pretty hurt if he didn't.  You may not share this opinion with me, but I'm very happy that my husband knows me so well and spoils me!

This is not to say that I wasn't a little worried on Sunday (Valentine's dad eve) that he may not do anything for Valentine's day on Monday.  I mean, we are married now!  Since he doesn't have to "win me over" anymore, I had some doubt in my mind that he may not do anything this year like he has in the past.  Of course, I tried not to bring the topic up because I was trying to see if he would remember on his own.  So did he make the effort.... you bet he did!  I not only got a dozen roses, but also a very delicious (and entertaining... pictures to follow) steak dinner!  He did an absolutely wonderful job spoiling me, and I loved every minute of it.  I can definitely say that he has set the bar high for married life Valentine's day!  I have included some pictures from the night so you can see how entertaining my night was!

Here's my hubby with his Gator chef's hat preparing our outstanding meal!  He is such a ham!

This brings flambe to a whole new level!!  Yes, he is behind that flame!

Hope you all had an amazing Valentine's day with your loved ones as well!

Tasty Tuesday

On Sunday night before the Superbowl I started to make an amazing appetizer for my husband and myself, and I thought that I should share some of my crowd pleasing recipes!  Now, I am not the best cook, or really that much of a cook at all, but there are some recipes that I can cook.  I really like to entertain and use all of the wedding platters and serving pieces that we received as gifts, and it is definitely easier to entertain with all of the pieces that I have now!  Anyways, back to the recipe! The first recipe that I am going to share with you all is a Buffalo Chicken Dip.  I can not and will not take credit for this tasty appetizer.  This was given to me by my best friend's older sister a few years ago, and every time I make this for an event or get together, people go crazy for it!  So without further ado, here you all go!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

2 lbs cooked chicken and shredded
12 oz. Texas Pete Hot Sauce (or Buffalo Sauce)
16 oz. T. Marzetti's Chunky Blue Cheese Dressing (by the lettuce)
Two 8oz. blocks of cream cheese
8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
Bag of Tostitos tortilla chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Place the cooked, shredded chicken on the bottom of a 13x9 inch pan.  Then pour the hot sauce over the chicken.  Meanwhile, melt the blue cheese and the cream cheese together until smooth.  Pour the melted blue cheese and cream cheese over the chicken and hot sauce.  Cook for 20 minutes in the oven.  Then pour the cheddar cheese on top and put back in the oven for 10 minutes.

*Now here are some important tips that you need to follow in order for this to be as yummy as mine! (Don't mean to sound vain, but I do get a lot of compliments on it!)

1. Please make sure that you don't use the canned chicken!  If you don't have time to bake your chicken beforehand, go ahead and by a rotisserie chicken from the deli (I like the lemon pepper flavor), and shred that till you have enough for the recipe.

2. The T. Marzetti Chunky salad dressing is really the best one to use.  I have had other blue cheese dressings in it before, and this one is by far the best.

3. Make sure that you serve this hot!!  It is best when the cheese is still runny and not congealed together.  So if you bring this to a party, try and at least do the last step of melting the cheese at the party if you can! 

4. If you are making this for a smaller crowd, go ahead and half the recipe and put everything in an 8x8 pan.  My husband loves to heat this up in the microwave and eat it the next day (or days after), so if you have a lot left over, no worries! 

Hope you all enjoy this yummy appetizer!  I will warn you now that it is absolutely addicting!

Lizzy

Small Town Living

Like I said in my "about me" section, my husband and I just moved to Pensacola Beach from Atlanta.  While we love our new lives here and can't wait for warmer weather so we can enjoy our beach condo, there are certainly some aspects of Atlanta that we miss.  For right now, I will just say that I miss all the conveniences that Atlanta has to offer.  

I'm sure you all are wondering where I am going with this, and I will get to the point now.  I just bought the iphone 4 (yay!!), and it came in the mail this afternoon!  So as you can all imagine, I was like a little kid on Christmas day and quickly ripped open the box so I could see my new source of entertainment.  But, all that excitement had to be put on hold... since my old POS phone (Blackberry Pearl, I know really.. who has that phone anymore?) is so outdated, I can't backup my contacts on my phone and transfer them to my new iphone!  So I quickly got back in the my car, drove over the beach bridge into "town" so I could get to the Verizon store.  I walk in and explain my problem, only to have them tell him that this is the first iphone that they have seen and they have none of the equipment for that phone!  I mean really Verizon!?! They they begin to tell me that this store may never an actual iphone in there to sell!!  So if I ever have any problems with this phone, where am I supposed to take it??  This would never happen in Atlanta!  I am sure that every Verizon store there has the capability to deal with customers like me, since they are such a big market and are prepared for this.  Oh well...

So now, I'm sitting here watching Gilmore Girls waiting for my husband, the IT guy, to come home from work so he can work his magic!  He will probably make some comment about how he is off the clock and his services will be double now!  

Hopefully I will get this whole situation worked out soon, so I can start using my new phone!! I can't wait to see what the iphone4 can do!


Lizzy

A New Beginning

So, maybe I'm jumping on the bandwagon of blogging, but I really thought that this would be a fun and exciting way for document my life as a newlywed.  From what I have been told, my husband and I will never get this time in our lives back.  Right now it is just the two of us, and we are really enjoying every minute of our new lives together.  

We got married back in April of 2010, and are rapidly approaching our 1 year wedding anniversary.  I would love to be able to reflect on our first 10 months as newlyweds and be able to continue this for many years to come.  Please feel free to comment as you see fit!  I love constructive criticism... how else are we supposed to learn!  

Lizzy