Today we welcomed a new baby into our family. Aubrey Ann was born this morning and from what I can tell looks just like my cousin Jamie. I am so excited to have a new baby cousin to squee over and cuddle. I am still a bit cruddy, so I haven't gotten to go see her yet... I am dying from excitement! She will not be the youngest for long, though. My brother (who is holding the little bundle of cuteness in the above picture) and his wife are expecting a little one. I can only hope the baby is half as weird as Derrick and I were as kids. I think we turned out pretty awesome.
This is a picture of most of the ladies (and Jamie) at the baby shower a few weeks ago. In the back are me, my cousin Jamie, and my cousin Melissa. In the front are my aunt Reneee, my cousin Anna, my Mammie, my cousin-in-law Courtney, my cousin Molly, and my lovely mama. I can't believe she is here.
Also, Monday is mine and Zach's anniversary. I think I am going to do a super mushy post about how we met. I am currently waiting for him to get back from his dad's, so we can head to a campground to hang out with my parents and enjoy our weekend. See you Monday!
PS- Actual blog schedule next week... what?... is this real life?
I am slowly but surely recovering! I know, I know... stop posting about how sick I am, but I have been a hermit due to all this crud and there is not much else to report on... not that I wasn't a hermit anyways...
In other news, I LOVE FALL. I have said that already, I know. I can't help it. I feel like this time of year is when I look my best. Summers in Tennessee are too humid and sticky for much more than shorts and a tank top. My hair and skin tend to be better behaved this time of year as well. I have been really considering doing some weekly outfit posts and I wanted some inspiration, so I headed over to polyvore and found a ton of really cute ideas!
Welp, it was strep throat. Apparently it was bad enough to for the doctor to go, "EWWW!" I am still not better. Strep throat has cleared up, but it has been replaced with a sinus infection. I missed school all last week and I don't think I have worn anything but sweatpants in a few days. Luckily, my sweet sweet boyfriend came down Friday night and by 10:30 he was out in the rain at Walgreens getting me Vick's nose spray and Nyquil.
Our weekend was spent mainly on the couch. We attempted to go to the movies last night, but decided against it because Zach believed my coughing would get us thrown out of the movie... didn't I just say how sweet he was? I take it back. We ended up going out to eat and to Hastings and by the time we got home I was knocked out in ten minutes.
How sick are you of hearing me complain about being sick? Too bad! Mwahahaha.
In other news, Tennessee is beautiful this time of year. The leaves are finally changing and I am so very excited about it. I can't wait to get all this junk cleared up so that Zach and I can go for walks and enjoy this weather. Another thing I love to do is to drive during this time of year. I love cracking my window and taking some back country roads. One thing that is a must for these autumn drives is good music, so I have composed a playlist.
1. Iron and Wine "Naked As We Came"
I love Iron and Wine... every time I listen to Mr. Beam I think of Zach. When we first started dating he introduced me to them and gave me two CDs to listen to... I wore those things out. This song was not on them, but later on it became one of my favorite songs.
2. Elton John "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"
Another favorite thanks to the mister. I love Elton John. I love this song. I love this album. On a somewhat unrelated note, I had no idea he wore a hair piece until recently. I always thought he had great hair for his age... Oops!
3. Regina Spektor "Raindrops"
I have been listening to Regina Spektor since I was probably 14. She is beautiful and so very talented!
4. Bon Iver "Skinny Love"
I looooooove this song. There was a time when I listened to it every morning on my way to work at the old folk's home. I love pretty much all Bon Iver songs, though! Definitely my type of music.
5. Sucre "When We Were Young"
I am a HUGE Eisley fan, so when I found out one of the sisters (the band is composed of siblings and a cousin, I believe) was branching out with another band I was really excited. This is the first song I heard and I probably listened to it five times that day. Such a great song!
6. Ryan Adams "Oh My Sweet Carolina"
Suuuuuch a pretty song on such a wonderful album. I love Ryan Adams. He reminds me of my older brother for some strange reason.
7. Eisley "The Valley"
The band I mentioned before! This is a talented family. I love the video for this song, too!
8. Bright Eyes "Coat Check Dream Song"
Though I am more of a fan of his older stuff, the Cassadaga album was great and this song was one of my favorites.
9. Angus and Julia Stone "Big Jet Plane"
I loooooove this song. Such a dreamy melody. I love Julia Stone's unique voice (though she can be a bit Lisa Simpson-y sometimes. Hahaha.)
10. The White Stripes "Hotel Yorba"
I am still not over them not being a band anymore! Gah! I love their music, and I love this song especially. I hope they reunite someday! P.S.- Are they brother and sister or what? I have been wondering that for years.
I am still sick... I think at this point it is probably strep throat. I am dragging myself to the doctor tomorrow. I am hoping and praying that Zach does not get sick... although, if he does it is probably karma. The last time I heard "I think I have a fever... rub my head?" I ended up with a stomach virus that knocked me on my ass for two days. Pretty sure when Zach tried to come to my rescue at 3 a.m. with ginger tea I knew we were meant to be together.
So, yes, my throat is on fire. I haven't even touched my makeup in days (I actually brushed my hair today, though!). By last night I was wanting something warm and comforting. I decided to whip up a favorite of mine....
Chicken and wild rice soup with bacon! This stuff makes me hungry just thinking about it. Now, a few things you need to know about cooking in the South...
We do not cook so that our meals look pretty. Have you ever seen egg gravy? It looks like something your cat threw up, but it is delicious.
We enjoy our sodium.
We enjoy butter.
We do not measure anything.
To back up my first point there, I am going to go ahead and say I am not a food photographer. I tried standing on a kitchen chair and getting an "artsy" view of my bowl... it just wasn't happening. I don't have any fancy bowls to present my food in that compliment the colors in my culinary creations. I can just say this... This soup is darn good. So, I am going to try to break this down into a recipe. I got the original recipe a long, long time ago on Pinterest... but I have changed it to suit me.
Ingredients: 3 cans of chicken broth 2 cups water 1 cup uncooked wild rice (I was sick and forgot to measure/care how much rice I put in and put in an entire small bag of it.It was still great, but much too thick as you can see in the picture.) 1/2 cup chopped green onions 1/2 small can of mushrooms, drained (clearly fresh would work too...) 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 2 cups half and half 1/2 cup butter 2 cups shredded or cubed cooked chicken 9 or so slices of cooked bacon, crumbled
In a large saucepan combine rice, water, and chicken broth. Add your onions and mushrooms to the mixtures. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and keep covered for 30 or so minutes, or until rice is tender. It will absorb a lot of the water and broth, but some will be left over. Do not drain. Begin to preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with tin foil and carefully place bacon onto the foil. Put in oven while still cold. Bake for 20 or so minutes, or until the outsides turn a crispy gold color. Baked bacon looks almost the same as fried bacon, so you'll know when it is done. You can also fry it if you desire. While bacon is in the oven melt butter in a medium saucepan. Stir in flour and then slowly add half and half. Cook until slightly thickened, stirring constantly. Add this mixture to the rice along with bacon and chicken. Add salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning as desired. Heat on low for 15 to 20 minutes. If soup seems to thick add water until you get the desired consistency.
This soup is one of those "day two" soups... meaning it tastes better the next day. That is just my opinion, anyways. I serve this soup with toasted french bread.
I am sick! I am being whiny about being sick. I haven't photographed any makeup or hair because guess what?... I'M SICK.
Actually I just started getting really sick and feverish tonight. Otherwise I have just felt like poop all week. I could have slept this entire week and not regretted it a bit. However, it is Friday night and my spirits are slightly up. Zach is home. I get to see him tomorrow, so I feel like I can finally really rest. I worry a ridiculous amount. I can't help it. I am one of those people that has to physically touch the wall socket to know that my flat iron is, in fact, unplugged. I may or may not check it once (or twice) more before leaving the house.
While Zach has been gone I have had to find things to keep me occupied. The main thing keeping me occupied is...
Sherlock. Oh mah gerd. Why have I not discovered this show sooner? I think I may be obsessed. Zach and I started the series before he left and I have been trying my damnedest not to watch it without him, but I totally slipped up. Oh well! It is seriously one of the best television series I have ever seen. When we started it I was a bit wary that it was set in modern times, but I was completely hooked by the first episode. Everyone should go onto Netflix this very moment and start watching! There is so much I want to write, but it is hard to describe the show without giving away the plot. It isn't a bunch of random episodes. Every episode is connected to this one main plot. Go! Now! Netflix!
Any recommendations for what I should watch when I finish this?
This weekend has been a wee bit hectic and I have been without internet for the most part. Zach left for Illinois today for some training program for his work, and I spent my weekend spending time with him and trying not to be whiny about him going. It's kind of silly for me to get upset considering he will be back Friday and we hardly see each other during the week anyways since I am in school all day every day and he works all day every day and we live about an hour away from each other. Really I am not seeing him any less than I normally would... but still. Illinois is a long way away.
I am a baby. I know.
I wish I had more than just instagram pictures to post, but I have barely been home and my camera is sitting uncharged on my desk. The above photo is me getting ready to have eyelash extensions put on. Now, to be posting a before picture would only mean that I have an after picture as well, right? Nope! Turns out I am allergic to the adhesive on the medical tape they use. While my lashes look lovely (thanks mom!), my eyes are really raw and painful. I have really sensitive skin... especially around my eyelashes. Towards the end of it my eyes felt like they were on fire and I was starting to squirm.
The process itself is not really that bad if you aren't a wuss like me. After I took that photo we got a few lashes on before I started burning, so my mom put some really soothing anti-wrinkle pads on my eyes and applied the tape over them instead. That worked wonderfully until the end. I even fell asleep during it!
In other news, I am getting closer to achieving the Bettie Page bangs I have been trying to do! My bangs always freak out slightly when they are cut... so, hopefully they will look a bit better tomorrow when I style my hair. I feel like I need to go up slightly more on the edges, but my bangs are crazy and hard to cut. One thing at a time. Also, this picture was taken after the eyelash extensions (as you can tell by the fact that I actually have eyebrows here...). I had slapped on some makeup, so you can't see how irritated my eyes were. I promise to post some actual photos of them soon!
PS- Is anyone else as obsessed with "Sherlock" as I am? I just started watching it on Netflix!
