Testing 1-2

This is going to be a bit of a multi-faceted post...but all about things I've been testing out lately!

A few weeks ago, G got me a Keurig for my birthday (thanks G!) and I have been trying out new flavors of the K Cups.  In the spirit of the fall season, I picked up some Green Mountain Pumpkin Spice while in Morristown.

I was planning on trying it with the Pumpkin Spice Coffeemate but alas, I was too excited and was a little premature getting to the grocery and had to settle for caramel.  It's great though!  If I can hunt down the Pumpkin Spice CM I think we'll have a great match.  I get really weird about pumpkin spiced things....I don't care for them when they are too "spice-y." This is just right Goldielocks!

Moving forward with my testers, I had pinned a pin a while back about making your own fabric softener sheets.  I was a tad skeptical but I decided to give it a whirl.  So far I like it!  You take a jug of liquid fabric softener, dump it in a container, add old washrags/dishrags/cut up old t-shirt and then when you're ready to dry your clothes.  Take a "sheet," wring it out and toss it in with your laundry.  Reusable and therefore cheaper than those blasted sheets that always seem to wind up throughout my apartment.  Check out my "pinspiration" for this project here

The last of my test subjects was something my friend/sorority sister/former roomie suggested.  Few people can really appreciate a good owl find like a Chi Omega since our mascot is the owl.  However, there are such things as "cute owls" and "creepy owls."  Creepy owls tend to be porcelain  and perched in an attack/stalking position.  Nonetheless, a Chi-O is not a Chi-O unless she's got some creepy owls hanging around in her room or closet.  But I digress, Katy had suggested spray painting the little creepers all one color.  Here are my before & after shots!  

Before

After

Sound off in the comments on your thoughts on Mr. Owl here.  Do you like his transformation or should I have let him be?

Tunica: You've Got to Know When to Hold Em...

This past weekend G and I accompanied some friends of ours to Tunica, Mississippi to test our luck at the casino and see Ron White perform.  This is where we spent a great deal of our time:

Isn't it pretty?  We arrived well after dark and when I awoke from my car nap, this is what I saw in the middle of a field.  

I'll just go ahead and let you know that the extent of my gambling experience involves dollar scratch-off tickets...and I don't know that I've ever really won at those.  I also really hate wasting money so I was interested to see how this experience was going to go.  I loved it!  I did what everyone tells you to do when you go to a casino, "Only take a set amount of cash and when it's gone, it's gone."  I didn't even play with all that I brought.  Responsibility at its finest!  

I really liked the slot machines!  I won about $20 twice on the penny slots...but then I lost it again on the penny slots.  G stayed saddled up to the blackjack table for the majority of his casino time.  He didn't do too badly either!

They had delicious food too.  We had breakfast/brunch/lunch at the Paula Deen Buffet....SO good.  They had an Eggs Benedict (that was new for me as well) on a fried green tomato.  Delish!  We also had the best steaks I've ever had in my entire life for supper.

My apologies for the blurry pictures/red-eye.  I forgot my camera.

We were also lucky enough to see Ron White perform.  You would recognize him from the Blue Collar Comedy Tour as "the man with the cigar and scotch on stage."  He was great! Fun Fact:  We saw him at the steakhouse before the show...he was wearing a satchel.  I found that odd.

Mini-Bethany-Tale:
After the show we went back into the casino to play a few more games.  While the boys were holding strong at the blackjack table, we ladies decided we'd cruise the casino and see if ole Ron was gambling too.  We did not find Ron but we did find a man in a suit who tried to teach us how to play craps.  I still do not know what he was talking about but he let us roll the dice for him a few times.  When it was my turn to roll I scooped up the dice with both hands which is obviously against the rules of craps as the entire table yelled "NOOOOO!"  They must have sensed my scratch-off only experience and let me try again.  I let go of the dice and proceeded to bounce one of them off of a dealer's belly and back onto the table.  I did not win this man a dime.  He looked at the two of us and said "Okay, well you girls can go away now."  We kindly understood.

A big thanks to our great friends for inviting us to tag-along!

Playing Catch Up

Hello there, remember me?  I am SO sorry!  I have had a crazy, crazy month but I am back, and ready to blog!

Where should I start?  Let's just go with last week!  Last week, I was basically a world traveler...okay more like a Southeastern traveler.  I enjoyed a fabulous week off from work with my family and G!  We loaded up the car and headed down to the Redneck Riviera of Panama City Beach, Florida.  I'm tell you all a little secret....go on a beach vacation after Labor Day.  Rooms are cheaper, you don't have overcrowding on the beach, it isn't 12,000 degrees outside and my favorite part....little to no wait at restaurants!  Of course there's the pesky hurricane season but life is all about taking risks every now and then right?

I had a new experience on vacation...celebrating my birthday at the beach!  That's right folks, I turned the big 2-5 last Tuesday.  September 11 is a tough birthday to have but my cousin posted a sweet message on my Facebook saying that "at least one good thing happened on this day in history!"  So that's nice to give people something to smile about...I'm one year older :)  My family treated me to a nice seafood supper and a visit to the outdoor mall where I found many pretty things!

Enjoying some birthday oysters at Shuck'ems

After several relaxing days, G and I loaded up my car and headed from the Florida panhandle to East Tennessee to visit his parents.  They live about 3-4 hours away and he doesn't get to see them as often as he would like.  I know he was happy to give his mama a big hug!

After much preparation and anticipation, we jumped in the car and drove to Knoxville to enjoy a little football time in Tennessee.  I'm going to preface this by stating that I really, really, really dislike the Florida Gators.  I always have, always will.  Couple that with riding high on the past two Tennessee wins and I was ready to rock and roll all over some Swampies.  Rather than discuss the disgust and disappointment I am still feeling today...two days after the game has ended, I will discuss the following:

1.  My gameday blazer/G's gameday britches
We just happened upon this perfect UT blazer while in Florida.  We did have to undress a total of two manikans and track down many salesladies to get it but it's all mine!  G's pants were a different story, we made a pit stop to Alumni Hall in Knoxville because he was determined to find some checkerboard pants.

Check us out!

2.  How excited I was to spend time with my long lost sorority sisters!
With a sold out ball game on our hands so many people made the journey to Rocky Top, or already lived there!  I was thrilled to see my sisters who live in Knoxville as well as precious Megan who is living in Denver these days.  Thanks so much to Rebekah and Jacob for keeping us up for the night (and for the donuts!) and to Cara and the entire Holden family for the tailgate fun!

3.  That I am thankful for Will Moore and currently owe him a favor of some form or fashion.
Our original tickets fell through and we quickly had to rustle up some others.  This was in the midst of the announcement that College Gameday would be broadcasting, live from Knoxville....and of course it was the Florida game...so tickets on Craigslist or any other site jumped to $150 for top level seats.  No thanks.  Enter Will.  You might remember Will from my Tale of the Stoneware Jug.  If not, see here. Will is my college pal, former neighbor and devoted Volunteer fan who just happened to catch wind that those scallywags from Florida returned a good bit of their ticket allotment which resulted in our ticket purchase.  Thanks my friend.

4. Bid Day
Today I was lucky enough to help with Chi Omega's Bid Day celebration at Austin Peay.  It has been seven years since I ran to my sisters in the APSU quad wagging my big purse behind me, and it has been four years since I welcomed the pledge class of 2008 with big hugs and smiles.  I am thankful for the opportunity to give back as an alumnae officer and loved seeing the joy on the faces of Baby Hooties learning chants for their very first rally.  As a side note, Pledge Class 2012 may possibly be the most coordinated pledge class I've seen in a while.  It was especially sweet to see my Little Sister's biological little sister enjoying her very first Bid Day as a Chi Omega.  Here's a picture of the Fabulous Family tree...missing a few branches who were there in spirit!