It's always the season for giving. So there you go. Anyway, as ya'll may know my wild cousin (normally I would put "sweet" but I think that "wild" suites him much better) Will had Cystic Fibrosis. If you would like to learn more about CF you can click here. CF sucks, but man did Will kick some CF tail! Love ya Will! One of my sweet Aunt Cissy's friends, Megan, is walking in a Great Strides walk to raise money for CF research so they can find a cure. If you are feeling especially benevolent today and would like to give, I'm going to shout out her website:
Megan is a pretty awesome lady and I think its great what she's doing. Oh yeah, she'll be wearing a Will of Fortune t-shirt that Will's family created for a previous walk! See pic below :)
Not only do I absolutely love my job but I have an added bonus to that...I get to go behind the scenes at a lot of the local businesses here. Now ya'll know I love to find out all sorts of information (some confuse this with prying...I say its intense curiosity and a thirst for knowledge). I love knowing how things work (such as businesses) and what goes on that we can't see. Here are some of the places that I get to see behind the scenes:
Giant Eagle grocery store--I attended two customer service trainings with them (and a client of course)
And tomorrow I get to see behind the scenes at The Pittsburgh Zoo! One of my clients will begin working at the zoo and you know what added bonus that means for me? I get to go to the zoo for freeeeee! (Well at least the sections pertaining to horticulture....but hey, who's keeping me from venturing over to some cuddly bears?)
I'm sorry that I've been slacking on posting. A week ago John's parents came in town and we had a great time with them. The boys mostly watched March Madness while we shopped (at Ikea!) and went to a pretty cool show, Golden Dragon Acrobats . It was great to spend time with them just hanging out and Dixie loved having a fun playmate (cough cough Kathy...she misses you). Oh and we also went to one of our fave places, The Claddaugh, an Irish pub, for a yummmmy dinner! Thanks so much for coming up ya'll, it was great to spend some time with you both!
Since then I've been pretty busy with work, cleaning, volunteering, international dinners and planting pretty flowers! I planted some gorgeous tulips (on sale at Lowe's) and ground cover that blooms little pink flowers. I also transplanted some of our existing daffodils and crocus so the big bad lawnmower doesn't claim their lives first. Oh, and apparently Dixie thought it would be fun to tear a burning bush out of the ground so I had to buy another and plant it (warning: Dixie stay away!). So yes, busy little bee. But I love being busy :)
I've been trying to be more health conscious lately, especially making sure I can pack in those daily amounts of fruits and veggies. I have a few items that are particularly tasty:
fresh plums
gala apples (although I've had these before...but now I think they're my fave apples)
V8 juice...the old school kind (one full serving of veggies in the equivalent of like two shots of tomato juice!)
Giant Eagle brand Diet White Tea with natural raspberry flavor...now if Giant Eagle makes a generic of it I know it must exist somewhere else, its awesome!
Babybel Light cheese. Oh. My. Goodness. This cheese is delicious!
If ya'll have any other tasty fruits or veggies let me know!
Explanation: One of our friends hosted a potluck dinner last night. We were invited earlier this week and we were instructed to bring a dish that is native to wherever we're from. So I plan on making fried okra and sweet tea.
Then late Thursday night (approximately 10:30 p.m.) John asks, "should I make peach cobbler or barbecue?" My answer: neither. I thought that one dish and beverage per couple was enough, apparently my over-achiever husband did not agree. I tell him that they sound like pretty difficult dishes to make (seeing as he's never made anything more complicated than macaroni and cheese from a box). I think this has been mentioned before...we're both stubborn. So after I tell him that I don't think he should/could make them of course that means he has to! At 11:00 p.m. he goes to the grocery store to gather his ingredients. I'm a little worried because that's my kitchen and he doesn't even know where the flour is located (duhhhh). Needless to say I came home last night and the house smelled wonderful (and seemingly nothing was ruined). Both of his dishes were huge hits! I'm so proud of my Bobby Flay :)
