The ABC's of Me

I totally stole this off the ever-so-fabulous Amy Beth's blog. If you don't read her blog I suggest you check it out. She just took a trip to Eg*pt and moved into a fabulous new house which has an uber-cool sink. Oh, and she has great hair.

A is for Age… 30 and flirty (or not)

B is for Bed… mine has clean sheets...love them!

C is for Chore… hate them, but I like folding towels, and vacuuming

D is for Dog… that should be plural: dogs. Murphy (spitz) and Trudie Faye (Schnauzer)

E is for Essential… Chick-Fil-A Chicken Biscuits

F is for Favorite… food...I love to eat. So food is my favorite (and food starts with F which makes it perfect for this line)

G is for Gold… please

H is for Height… 5'3" or so. Totally jealous ABB is 5'5" because that is my desired height.

I is for Instrument… the maintenance required light is lit on my car's instrument panel. Must get oil changed

J is for Job… I work a lot. But I'm employed. Thank you, Jesus!

K is for Kids… Doodlebug and I had some good quality time together this week

L is for Living… well, I'm not dead

M is for Mustard… yuck

N is for Nickname… no thank you. My mama named me Carrie for a reason.

O is for Overnight… I slept amazing considering there was a 6 year-old and two dogs in my bed with me

P is for Pasta… with cheese sauce please

Q is for Quote… "Bravery comes when you know the risks might happen, and you still go on with life." (*** Quote from "True Courage" by Dee Henderson)

R is for Right… handed

S is for Sibling… she just left after visiting for a week.

T is for Time… who cares because it is Saturday

U is for Under… wear...you should always wear clean underwear because your mama said so

V is for Vegetable… yes...especially right now because they are all fresh and delicious (except for lima beans)

W is for Watermelon… growing in my daddy's garden...can't wait until they are big enough to eat.

X is for X-Ray… I've had them. They are overrated.

Y is for Yummy… Good food shared with good friends or family. Always the best.

Z is for Zoo… There's a mini one at Charles Towne Landing. It's Doodlebug's favorite thing to do here.

Fave Friday Five - K'town Dining

If you read my blog ever you know that I am a HUGE fan of dining in Charleston. The cuisine is some of the finest in the South (in my oh-so-very-humble opinion.) You can get some great local cuisine served in such a style you think you're eating at a 5 star restaurant with 3 star prices (in most cases.) However, it has also come to my attention there are restaurants in Knoxville which I cannot eat at in Charleston. So, in no particular order, here are my five favorite (and most missed) Knoxville restaurants.

1. Trios Cafe - 2 words: Blueberry Balsamic. Also candied walnuts. Truly the world's best salad dressing and served only at Trio (that I have found.) Also, from a girl who would eat steak or sushi every night of my life the fact that I order a salad with not meat on it here says something. They put all the ingredients in a bowl and toss them with the dressing so every bite is perfect.

2. Krystal - Yes, I know this is a chain. Yes, I know they are gut bombs. Yes, I miss them. I traveled to Dallas in February and flew back into Charleston at 11:30 PM. Yes, that is 1.5 hours past my bedtime and I had been up for most of 40+ hours at this point. Anywho, after I deplaned, got my luggage, I was about to chew my leg off starving. And I wanted a Krystal burger (or two.) And this is when I realized that I live in a city of 5 star restaurants with 3 star prices that do not offer small, square burgers 24 hours a day. Depression set in and I seriously considered driving to Savannah, GA, or Myrtle Beach (yuck), SC, the following weekend just to eat a small, square burger. But alas, I am cheap (sometimes) and did not want to waste my Saturday nor my gas in search of a small, square burger.

3. Calhoun's - I do not like most bar-b-que. But I love Calhoun's. Steak Calhoun is a nice sized steak grilled with bar-b-que sauce and is simply divine. Throw in some spinach maria, some cinnamon apples, or steamed broccoli and you have one happy person. Or their char-grilled shrimp over rice pilaf. So good. Dear, S.S. Scotts, next time I am in town we may need to forgo our normal dining options and go here.

4. Chesapeake's - This was a favorite for a nice alternative at lunch. I must admit I never ate here past noon, but what I was served at lunch never failed me. I tried as many unique, fresh fish dining at Chesapeake's as I have had in Charleston. Their lobster bisque paired with a side Ceasar salad was also the perfect lunch during the cooler Winter days in downtown K-town.

5. Downtown Brewery - Man, oh, man. They have some of the best pork chops I have ever eaten at a restaruant. Paired with their mashed potatoes and cinnamon apples and it was divine. If you do not know how perfect pork is paired with cooked apples, then you need to remedy this quickly. Also, at lunch you could get a half order of chicken nachos and they would happily leave off the items you did not want and the cheese was perfectly melted across the top. You cannot go wrong with anything at this place. It's a definite winnter.

So, there you go. The 5 places I miss the most. Please note I did not include Litton's burgers because frankly I was not impressed. Nor did I include the Italian place in Alcoa that everyone loves (Little Italy maybe?) because again, not impressed. I could have easily made this a top 10 though and added in Wasabi's, Connor's, Puleo's, Copper Cellar (where you can get a good burger), and Silver Spoon (another chain, but again, not in Charleston.) Possibly next Friday will be these 5 and I'll call it Fave Friday Five - Outside the Lunch Routine Knoxville Dining.

I'm Pretty Sure It's Not Healthy if You Eat the Whole Bag

I did not eat a whole bag of Pirate's Botty Aged White Cheddar Puffs in 24 hours. No, I did not. I had help. But still the bag is now empty. Truly sad since I have to drive all the way to Whole Foods to buy more. And that is all the way on the other side of the bridge. It's kinda like having to drive past Papermill in Knoxville to buy something. Completely unacceptable.

My Bucket List

People often talk about the things they want to do before they die. Me, not so much. My list is probably very small because I honestly just like to be around the ones I love. However, it has come to my attention lately that there are two things I really want to do. I will do them even if I have to do them by myself. However, I hope I can find a friend kindred spririt to go along for the adventure.

1) Boston Pops 4th of July - This is the part of my blog where you learn I am nothing if not a big, huge dork. I have been known to skip other 4th of July firework events to stay home and watch this. The coverage was better before CBS took it over, but I still watch it. This year via DVR, but it was still watched. This should happen for many years so I have quite the window of opportunity to make it to Boston to see it.

2) Space Shuttle Launch - I'm not sure if it started in the 1st grade when we all watched the Challenger launch and subsequently explode or if it was in 3rd grade when my excellerated class studied space and I learned "My Very Eager Mother Just Served Us Nine Pickels" to keep the order of the planets in my mind or if it was the trips in both 3rd and 5th grade to Huntsville, AL, to the Space and Rocket Center that started my fascination with space. But the fascination is there. I even went to Kennedy Space Center by myself prior to a Disney vacation because I wasa in Florida and I love it. I missed the shuttle launch by mere days that trip. However, the shuttle program is in all probability coming to a close in 2010. So my timeline for getting to Kennedy (or at least near Kennedy) to see this happen is very short. So to my boss (wherever I may be working at that time) please keep my calendar open and be flexible because my goal is to be at one of the few shuttle launches left. It may mean I have to work remotely for a couple of weeks because the weather can change these things up a bit, but I really want to try and accomplish this goal.

So there you have it. My life list. Don't be jealous.

P.S. Yes, I know the powers that be now say that Pluto is not a planet but saying "My very eager mother just served us nine" is weird. So there.

Fave Friday Five - Chick Flicks

Today let's talk about the 5 chick flicks I could (and do) watch over and over and over. It's sad, actually, but I do love these movies. In no particular order here we go.

1. The Wedding Date - I believe I have seen this movie at least 150 times... ok, it's more than that because I can quote most of it. My favorite scene is when they get to the home they'll be staying at for her sister's wedding. They are shown their room, jump on the "big bed" and the following conversation takes place:

Kat Ellis: You know what pisses me off? I've been spilling my guts all weekend and I don't know a thing about you.
Nick Mercer: [pause] I'm allergic to fabric softener. I majored in comparative literature at Brown. I hate anchovies. And I think I'd miss you even if we never met.

That last line gets me every single time.

2. Sweet Home Alabama - Perhaps Reese Witherspoon's finest work outside of the Legally Blonde franchise. Throw in some Josh Lucas and Ethan Embry (who I fell in love with when he played opposite Reese in A Far Off Place) and you have the makings of a great movie. With classic lines such as "You have a baby. In a bar." and "What do you want to be married to me for anyhow?" "So I can kiss you anytime I want." it continually entertains me. Especially when Melanie's dad says "Praise the Lord! The South has risen again."

3. 27 Dresses - Perhaps I love this movie because I could have a closet like hers full of dresses. The only problem is that I could not fit in 97% of them anymore so I got rid of them. I have worn the Gone With the Wind style dress in a wedding. Thankfully the Beverly Hills Wedding and underwater weddings have never been an issue. Two weddings, one day, one couple, two states...yes, I could write the book on that. But I digress. I think the dynamic of Jane and how she is infatuated with her boss is a scenario I have seen played out with my friends over and over again. And yet there is the perfect guy waiting in the background just waiting for them to notice him. When Jane is registering Tess for items and finds out why Kevin has such a sour taste for weddings, I could totally see myself pulling the line "Wanna go find the ugliest stuff in the store and register Tess for it?" with a friend and not feeling guilty about it. I also love the scene where they dance to Bennie and the Jets because again, I could see it in my own life.

4. The Notebook - It's only fair this movie get a spot on my list as I have not only seen the movie a few dozen times, but I also read the book. Over and over and over again. I rememer my mom telling me if I were to read the book I needed to make sure I could finish it the day I started it. Once again, Mama knows best. I believe I read it while we walked to dinner (roommate guided me like a good roommate would) and into the night. I then read it outloud to her that weekend while she cooked our dinner and did all our laundry. The movie stayed fairly close to the book and did not disappoint.

Best monologue goes to Noah's character: I am nothing special; just a common man with common thoughts, and I've lead a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten. But in one respect I have succeeded as gloriously as anyone who's ever lived. I've loved another with all my heart and soul and to me this has always been enough.

5. The Holiday - Iris's monologue to open this movie touches me in places I don't write about on this blog or talk about with my friends. But as she talks about her desire to be loved by another earthly being I can't help but think of my own life at different stages.

I've found almost everything ever written about love to be true. Shakespeare said "Journeys end in lovers meeting." What an extraordinary thought. Personally, I have not experienced anything remotely close to that, but I am more than willing to believe Shakespeare had. I suppose I think about love more than anyone really should. I am constantly amazed by its sheer power to alter and define our lives. It was Shakespeare who also said "love is blind". Now that is something I know to be true. For some quite inexplicably, love fades; for others love is simply lost. But then of course love can also be found, even if just for the night. And then, there's another kind of love: the cruelest kind. The one that almost kills its victims. Its called unrequited love. Of that I am an expert. Most love stories are about people who fall in love with each other. But what about the rest of us? What about our stories, those of us who fall in love alone? We are the victims of the one sided affair. We are the cursed of the loved ones. We are the unloved ones, the walking wounded. The handicapped without the advantage of a great parking space! Yes, you are looking at one such individual.

But then her adventure begins, my dislike for Jack Black is turned into like, I fall in love with Jude Law's charm as a single father, and want to walk away from it all like Cameron Diaz's character. The charm of the English countryside along with the relationship Iris strikes with Arthur are all so magically and draw me in each and every time.

So, there you go. A really long post but I have seen each of these movies more times than I care to admit. I own them all on DVD and will watch them on TV (including tolerating the commercials) just because I love them. And they take me away to another world where people say funny things, survive crazy life events, and fall in love with their own version of the boy next door. It's the modern day fairytale. Glass slipper excluded.

** All quotes and links provided by www.imdb.com ***

And Now We Discuss My Diverse Tastes

$3.88 makes me happy 2 - 3 mornings a week (yes, I know that is obsessive, but work with me here.)

$3.88 will buy me this: 1 Chicken Biscuit + 1 large Coke

I can also up the price to $4.42 and get a side of cheese grits. Yes, that's right, I can get cheese grits at my local Chick-Fil-A.

Then I come to work and I see this in my inbox:

Dear Restoration Hardware, why must you tempt me with chandeliers that are $2500 dollars. So not in my $3.88 budget. And it would look so perfect in my dream cabin in the mountains. But for $2500 I could put in that hot tub I would much rather have.

Note: There is no dream cabin yet. But there will be. You can count on that.

Because I Needed to Read this Today...

...and maybe you do too.

Oh, Yes, Jesus Loves Me

My Answer is Yes

This was the quick poll on CNN this afternoon. Based on my experience I am voting yes.

Wordless Wednesday - Mother of the Bride

(Arynda's mother and I at the rehearsal.)

Wordless Wednesday - And the Bridesmaid Wore the Veil