Food Glorious Food

I really enjoy taking pictures of food. Not sure why. Food looks so pretty before its dug into, and I like to capture it before it is mutilated!

Doug, Bri and I have eaten some yummy things over the last several months - that I or Doug have either prepared or we have eaten at restaurants. I've already posted a ton of food pics from our Disney trip, so this post is about non-Disney food.

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I guess I'll start with prom night. We ate at Ruths Chris Steakhouse and it was SO good. Here are pictures of the girls' food (Bri took pictures of her and Meredith's food; she takes after me - heh)...

Bri had a filet and Meredith ordered a chicken dish. Then they shared some lobster mac n cheese.

Doug and I both ordered filets. We split some loaded hash browns (which our waiter said was being discontinued and that is sad because they were really tasty). We started off with a chilled seafood appetizer (shrimp, crab and lobster). We didn't realize an entire deconstructed lobster was going to come out on the plate though! LOL!

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Continuing with prom night, Doug and I had some drinks at the Four Seasons Hotel while the girls were at the dance. We were very full from dinner at the steakhouse, but the bar did serve some super yummy marinated olives and homemade chips and I just had to sample them...

I wish I had been hungrier!

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My friend Amy and I had dinner at one of our favorite local restaurants several weeks back. We ordered some fried green tomatoes as an appetizer. This is what came out...

It was a work of art! It was almost too pretty to dig into - almost. Cause we totally did! And it was very yummy.

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When Briana finally found a prom dress, she needed to get some shoes to go with it. Around that time, Bri had seen an advertisement for a Bloomin' Onion at Outback Steakhouse. We hadn't been to an Outback in forever, but she started talking about wanting to get an onion (she had eaten one before but it had been a very long time). The shoe place was right nearby there, so we stopped in for lunch (Doug joined us). The service was ridiculously slow that day for some reason, but the onion was really good. Pretty greasy but tasty. Not something you can eat all the time. We barely dented it that afternoon and took the rest home to heat up the next day...

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 The school musical that Doug, Bri and I went to see at the beginning of Bri's spring break from school was three hours long. By the time the show ended, we were pretty hungry and it was around dinnertime. We decided on Italian food and stopped at a restaurant that we like to frequent which is unfortunately closing soon. We wanted to eat there one last time. When we got there, the restaurant was so short staffed, we couldn't even be seated. We decided to leave. Doug had a suggestion for another Italian restaurant not too far from there called Crispinas. I was getting pretty hangry at that point, so I told him it better be good! LOL!

The pasta really was good...

Doug and Bri had spaghetti and meatballs. I went for a rigatoni bolognese. So good. We did get some calamari as a starter - which was chewy unfortunately. I'd skip that next time, but the pasta was really delish.

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When Doug, Bri and I saw Quantumania a few months ago, we went to a movie theater that also serves meals (lunch/dinner). I went with a buffalo chicken wrap that was quite tasty...

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There is a pizza restaurant called Taste of Italy that is situated right between where my mom lives and I live and we like to meet there for lunch on occasion. The pizza is so delicious. We both like to get red peppers on our slices...

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Doug, Bri and I were out running errands one day and we decided to stop at a Firehouse Subs. Now I usually don't take pictures of sub sandwiches (it was an Italian sub by the way), but my sandwich was so perfectly and neatly put together that day and cut so nicely. I just had to snap a shot...

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I think you'll laugh at this next one. 

I had wondered for years about Zaxby's Zensation Zalad. I had never bought one. I had seen the commercials and heard a lot good things about it, but I thought "how good can a fast food salad really be?" It was at Zaxby's for a limited time recently and I finally had to see what the hubbub was all about. I bought one and took a picture...

Dang - it really was good! Even the egg roll was surprisingly good. I think I got it a few days before they took it off the menu, so I can't get another one until they bring it back again one day. It's cool to finally know what all the buzz was about though.

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Now for some food we ate at home.

For St. Patrick's Day, instead of corned beef and cabbage, this year I made Reuben sandwiches...

I do make a pretty dang good Reuben if I do say so myself!

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 Doug ordered some matzah ball soup months ago (it comes frozen) and I saved it for the Passover holiday. It was so good per usual...

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Lastly, Doug smoked a delicious leg of lamb for Easter along with some red potatoes and onions. He also baked some homemade sourdough bread (forgot to take a pic of the bread)...

I whipped up a batch of Tzatziki sauce to go with it all. It was yum!

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I realized when looking back at my photos just how many pictures of food I had snapped over the last several months. So I figured it would make a good stand alone post (hopefully)! Hope I didn't make you all too hungry!

Springtime (Including Spring Break)

Spring really revs up in March in Georgia. That means flowers and trees begin to bloom - which is lovely and beautiful, but it also means LOTS of pollen (especially yellow pine tree pollen) and allergens. Ugh. Everything has a layer of yuck on it basically until the pollen stops falling. 

 

Doug and I really needed/wanted to get the woods on the side and back of our yard trimmed and cleaned out of weeds and vines as well as having a dead tree taken down, so we had a service come out to do it.

You can see the guy in the tree (below) getting ready to cut the dead tree down and you will see how they cleaned out the woods so nicely...

 

The trees have filled in quite a bit since I took these pictures. It is difficult to see the golf course now. I will post another picture very soon.

 

 My friend Amy invited me to see the musical Spamalot in March - it was a great way to kick off spring...

I had seen Spamalot once before with Doug back in 2009 and I didn't realize how much I had forgotten about the show. It is hilarious and very entertaining. I enjoyed it so much!

In March, St. Patrick's Day came around...

Spring also usually means that Mei starts licking her belly and legs - which drives me crazy. So far, she still has her fur thank goodness. Maybe she will surprise me and not overly groom herself this year. Time will tell. She does love laying in the spring sun...

And in my previous posts, I already mentioned all the amazing things that have happened for Briana this spring - getting a car, prom night, getting her braces off, etc.

Spring also means spring break from school. Yes - we had just enjoyed a winter break. Spring break came only six weeks later. It's kind of crazy. Since we had no energy or money left (heh) after our huge trip to Disney World, we decided to staycation for spring break. I know a lot of people who travel during every single break that comes along - that just doesn't work for me. I am a homebody and traveling a couple of times a year works just fine. Briana was super content staycationing that week.

 Since we were home for the week, we were able to have some meet ups with friends and family. Also, we got to see another musical put on by Briana's school. Briana really wanted me and Doug to see the sets she worked so hard on for the spring musical - Guys and Dolls.

  Briana drew and painted (she had some help with the painting part) all the signs and windows on this part of the set...

She drew and cut out the Salvation Army sign...

She drew the windows and sign and helped build the fence...

The musical was great! The kids again - so talented. It was a bit long at 3 hours! 

Scenes from the musical...

Bri drove us to and from the school in her new car...

Briana and I had a girls shopping day during spring break...

Briana volunteered at the local art museum one day during the break (pictures taken by the volunteer coordinator)...

Bri drove and met her friend Mary for lunch one day and they did a little shopping together. They came back to the house to hang out for a while...

Bri and I met my mom for lunch one afternoon to celebrate my mom's birthday...

Doug and Bri also met friends Khalid and Kira at a retro arcade one afternoon. They said it was a lot of fun...

The Easter holiday was the end cap of our spring break staycation...

Dyeing Easter eggs...

Yes - Briana still requests an Easter basket (heh)...

Bri drew a cool Easter picture...

Doug made us a delicious meal - which I will blog about in my next post.

Here are a few collages of Briana painting Easter eggs each year...

It was still a busy week despite staying home!

We are still in the midst of spring, so I'm sure I will be posting some more "springy" things soon.

Briana headed back to school last week. She only has 6 weeks left of junior year. She is on the home stretch!

My next post is going to all about food - we have eaten a lot of good food lately and I am going to share it! I love taking pics for food. Maybe I should be a food photographer - LOL!

Prom Dress Photo Shoot and Prom Night 2023

  I really hoped that the weather would be good on prom day. It had rained hard overnight, but it stopped in the morning - thank goodness! With B's prom being so early in the year (March is so dang early for prom), I also hoped it wouldn't be too cold. Luckily, the temperature was perfect that night.

 

Before Meredith arrived to take pictures with Briana, I did a little photo shoot with Bri on her own (with glasses and without)...

 

Then Meredith arrived and I took pics of both the girls...

 

They were so elegant and lovely that evening. Just beautiful...

 

 I asked them to show me their shoes before heading out...

 

The prom venue was located in downtown Atlanta. They are both very new drivers and Atlanta is hard to navigate for the most experienced drivers. Doug and I (and Mere's parents) didn't want them driving on their own, going in a private car or taking an Uber, so Doug and I offered to drive them down to the prom.

I suggested they eat a nice dinner together before going to the dance (the girls loved the idea). Doug and I took them to Ruths Chris Steakhouse. We all ate there, but the girls sat at their own table and Doug and I had our own dinner date across the restaurant...

 

Dinner was delish!

We then dropped the girls off at the venue...

I snagged these next couple of photos of the venue off a school FB page...

  I asked Briana to have fun, mingle and take some selfies so I could see what the prom looked like. She took so many pictures with friends! I was so happy...

 

While the girls were at the dance, Doug and I went to the nearby Four Seasons Hotel to have a few drinks. It didn't make sense to drive all the way home, so we just hung out and had some quiet time...

 

The girls stayed at the dance for about 90 minutes or so and then they texted me that they were ready to go.

Positives of the prom (according to the girls): Seeing and talking to a bunch of friends, dressing up and seeing everyone else dressed up, the cool lighting of the venue, and a delish dinner beforehand.

Negatives of the prom (according to the girls): The music was way too loud - the kids had to shout at one another, the venue was two stories with stairs only (had a club vibe) - it was difficult to keep going up and down the stairs in long dresses and heels, mostly base-thumping club music and remixes were played - not one slow song, and the dance floor was very crowded and really warm.

Even though there were some downs to the prom, the girls were still glad they got to dress up and see what prom was all about.

Before ending the evening, Doug and I asked the girls if they wanted to stop at Starbucks for a drink and hang out a bit...

It was fun because the girls got a number of compliments from people at the restaurant and at Starbucks about how pretty they looked.

Briana is quite introverted, but she has definitely been coming out of her shell more this junior year. The fact that she really wanted to go to prom (with so many teens!) was wonderful. I'm proud of her for wanting to experience something new and for putting herself out there.

In less than two months, she will be done with her junior year! Yikes!