Another Gift

We were able to use our silhouette for another yet another birthday gift. I am loving being able to personalize gifts and hopefully will be able to do more in the future. 

I really like how the letters came out on this one. 

Canning Tomatoes

This is our first time canning tomatoes so we followed Rhoda's directions from the Southern Hospitality Blog. She gave really good directions and step by step pictures. We just did a few tonight and will finish tomorrow but I have to say it was not as hard as I had imagined. It was really messy but not at all difficult. Now we just hope they taste good. :)

First, we put the jars in the oven at 170 degrees.

 Then we boiled the tomatoes for 3 minutes.

We then peeled the skin off. 

 Chopped and put in a pot.

 We then let them simmer for around 30 minutes.

 Then we put them in the jars. Added salt and closed them up.

Oh... In the middle we did clean up our mess that we made. :)

And put the lids in the water to heat.

This is how they looked in the end. A little while later we started hearing them pop. So now we will have garden tomatoes in the winter. I am looking forward to trying them.

I am also planning on canning some salsa as well. My cousin which is also a blogger over at Bullets and Biscuits gave me directions on how to do that. So this week is already filling up with plans for canning! :)

What do you can? 

Tonight...

Well tonight I made two new signs with my Silhouette.

First I painted the wood white and let that dry overnight. The next night I used a brown glaze and let it dry. The next day I sanded it a little to get any areas that might have too much glaze or just needed it.

Tonight I added my vinyl. And here is the final result...

Right now they are just sitting on my mantel until I can decide where they need to go. 

Oh and notice my little lantern in its new home for now until I decide it has moved all around the house. :)

If you would like one just let me know. I can make it say whatever you would like. :)

Yard Sale

Well Saturday we decided we would try going to couple of Yard Sales. I have really never went before but have always wanted to. Well, I had my idea of how you were supposed to Yard Sale and well Caleb had his. He has been before so I just said ok you plan it and I will go. Caleb is the more laid back one in the relationship if you don't know us. :) I have to have a plan.... like I would have written down all the yard sales I wanted to go to and mapped them out and had all that printed Friday night but Caleb wanted to wing it. And wing it we did. The one thing that got me through the early, early morning was the fabulous chicken biscuit at Stew n Que (my absolute favorite place to get a chicken biscuit). We always stop there on our way to the UGA football games in the fall. Anyway, we got on the road and we had brought our small trailor because a person on craigslist was supposed to let me know about an old glider and chairs he had but that fell through but again back to the story. At home when we left it was a nice RARE cool morning and was overcast when we get below Gainesville almost to Buford it is pouring. Not really the weather we were hoping for. This kind of put a cramp in the plans of winging it as it was hard to see the signs and many people had just put everything up but by 10am we were good. We spotted a bunch in one neighborhood and found most of our stuff. Had we went with my plan we may have never found these places.

I have to say we learned a lot from this trip but you always have to try something before you know exactly how to plan and what to expect. Don't tell the hubby but I think I will make my list next time and just in case. :)

Here's what we found.

Definitely not the best picture but I didn't notice at the time it was focusing on the Jeep in the mirror and not the other stuff. Oops. But you get the point. We got all of this for $10 The little lantern was the most at $5 but I really wanted it so I didn't care. It sales for much more on the internet. I know it's not much but I was proud for our first time. I cannot wait to get started painting and getting it all in shape. The stool is for me as I am too short to reach our spice cabinet and get tired of carrying the chair across the room. :) We plan to paint it of course. 

We also came across this beautiful church while we were out. It was raining so the picture turned out ok but I could not pass up the opportunity to get a picture of it. I just love old white churches!

Eufaula, AL

On our way home we always go through th cutest little town Eufaula, AL. I love the houses! I snapped some pictures  as we went through on our way home. I could only catch one side of the street and I thought it was kind of funny because right in the middle of this I realized that the largest house were on the other side of the street. I thought that was interesting. This side had the cottage style houses. That's really what I like anayway. Please forgive me for the quality of my pictures as I was taking these as we were driving. I got a few trees right in the middle but you get the point. :) It kind of reminds me of our Green Street in Gainesville.

Isn't this the cutest little town? What are your favorite little towns? I love finding places like this where there is history all around!

Vacation comes to an end - Destin, Florida

On Wednesday we needed a break from seafood so we chose to eat at one of our favorite places, McGuire's Irish Pub. It is absolutely delicious!

Started with the appetizer of Reuben Rolls. They are so different then anything I have ever had or have found at any other restaurant. This is our favorite appetizer here.

My favorite thing to get for a meal if the Prime Rib. They smoke it and it is absolutely delicious! Mom and I split a prime rib as it is way too much for us to eat alone. Caleb chose to try something different this year and he got their ribs. Dad likes their grilled steak so he had that. We do not ever get dessert here, although, I am sure it is wonderful but we are always to full. Plus, if we want something sweet later we can always find the Hot Now sign on at Krispy Kreme. :)

On Thursday nights they have fireworks at the Harbor during the summer so we went to watch those.

On Friday we ate at Pompano Joe's another favorite as it is located right down the road from us and is on the beach. We took family pictures that night so we wanted somewhere close. We can always rely on all of our favorite the Shrimp PoBoy.

On Saturday morning we wanted a real breakfast so we went to my favorite place since I was little THE DOUGHNUT HOLE! We also east here on the first night we arrive even if it is 11pm and I still order breakfast (they serve it all day). We also try to go back sometime during the week for breakfast. Caleb had the Corned Beef Hash, Mom had the western omelet, and I had the short stack of pancakes.

On Saturday we returned to Dewey's Destins and it was amazing just as it was the first night. I think I have a new favorite! We had a crab dip for an appetizer. Caleb ordered a seafood pasta and I had the Grouper Parmesian. Both were great!

THE END! That ended our week at the beach. A wonderful vacation!

Hope you all had the chance to get away for a while!

Where do you vacation each year?

Day 4: Destin, Florida Family Vacation

Day 4: Destin, Florida Family Vacation

On the fourth day we spent the day on the beach as promised. J

For dinner that night we ate at Stinky’s Fish Camp in Santa Rosa Beach which is just up the beach from Destin. We first decided to go to Stinky’s last year after they were featured in Southern Living for the best Keylime Pie. Well you know how I love Southern Living and one of my favorite desserts is Keylime Pie. It had to be a winner. Last year we were not disappointed so we went back this year.

We loved their Fried Green Tomatoes with Creamy Crawfish Etouffe so we ordered it again for the appetizer. It as absolutely delicious!!! The only thing I would change is to have four instead of just three as most restaurants do serve more than three. However, that is just an opinion thing. We also ordered salads.

Caleb, our adventurous one, ordered The Taste of Stinky’s which included Crawfish Pie, Catfish Meuniere, and Crab Cake. Let me just tell you the entire thing was great but the Crawfish Pie WOW!!! It was amazing! I loved it! I could have just eaten that and been completely satisfied.

Mom, Dad, and I ordered the Shrimp basket. Absolutely delicious! The sauce had this smoky flavor that just gave it that extra zing.

For dessert we had the wonderful keylime pie. This time it had a fruit topping that was wonderful! Again, I was not disappointed. It was so good. Just wish I could have it specially delivered for my dessert everyday! J

They have a cute little gift shop next door with shirts and other souvenirs.  Stinky’s is a great restaurant to visit.

Right down the road you can go through the public access to Santa Rosa Beach. We always go out on the beach and take pictures and the sunset it beautiful here. I really love this beach. It is not quite as crowded as Destin and as I have grown older I like that.