Barbecue, Bloodys, and a "Blizzard"

Three day weekends rock  (Happy Birthday George)!  Three days untouched by the pressures of work, or office stress in and of themselves are enough to bring on the beginnings of an actual feeling of relaxation by the end of the third day, if I'm lucky.  But, having a fantastic trifecta come together on what is just the second day of this three day weekend, is enough to inspire me to actually write something.  Well, kind of - I do have a lot of pictures, but we all know how lazy I am, and I do have to get back to enjoying my current trifecta (or at least two of the three) of, you guessed it - barbecue, bloodys, and a "blizzard". 


Here is my attempt at sharing a tiny slice of my happy Sunday with you, dear readers.  :)

First up, it's 'Grizzly Jay' and his new beard at Alamo Barbecue in Church Hill, RVA.  Did I mention this is an outdoor venue?  Did I also mention the wintery weather today?  

Next, the 'standard' -- pulled pork bbq with coleslaw on a toasted bun.  Pretty?  No.  Pretty tasty?  Hells yeah.

Then, the heavily decorated Pulled Pork Soft Taco.

And who could forget, the magical Cuban Pressed Pork sandwich?  Magical because although it looks like a dry toasted frisbee here, it tastes like a Cuban revolution in your mouth.  Or, for those of you that lean towards the less dramatic, it was yummy, and I would have eaten it all, if Jay hadn't been the one that ordered it.  

Finally, as a side, the Jalapeno Mac and Cheese.  Jay made me split it with him.  He is lucky that I have jeans to fit into.

Did I eat all of this food myself?  Regretfully no, and unfortunately, I even forgot to take a picture of my own entree because I was apparently so excited about everyone else's food.  (It's a curse).  So, what did I have?  I indulged in the Pulled Chicken BBQ Burrito Bowl, which is quite a tasty little alternative to the standard.  Oh, and of course ...

What's better on a snowy Sunday than an Absolut Peppar Bloody Mary made with Zing Zang?  Yeah, not much.

Also, because I did mention the first, and only, sign of winter weather that we have had all season, I present to you The "Blizzard" of 2012 ... from my front porch ...

... and from my back patio.  Awe inspiring accumulation, right?  Yeah, I know DQ probably has more snow in their Blizzard frozen treats, BUT since it's supposed to be 65 degrees again two days from now, I suppose I'll take whatever little I can get.  :)

Monday Magic

... because everyone needs to find a little something that's amazing to make it through the rest of the week.

PhotoHunt 284: Yellow, Ushering in Autumn

Autumn has officially arrived here in the northern hemisphere, and I couldn't think of a more perfect way to welcome it than to appreciate all of the beautifully changing color outside!  Fortunately, this week's PhotoHunt fits right into the now, and a lovely, though slightly damp, stroll through the neighborhood with Olivia (seen in the 3rd photo below) helped to capture some of the many wonderful shades of yellow to be found all around.  Happy autumn!

Pow, Right in the Kisser! - A Visit from Irene

What a weekend!  First it's a category three storm headed straight towards the east coast, then it's a one, then it's a tropical storm, then it's just heavy rain?!?  Though there is no doubt that Irene packed a good one-two punch to some areas, thank goodness she was a fickle beast and managed to spare others.  


Somehow in my corner of the world, in the visit of what we will call 'Hurricane Irene', the power along the eastern shores of Virginia miraculously remained intact while 2 hours inland, we were sitting in the dark with a mess of candles lit as century old monster trees fell all around us taking a spider web of power lines with them.  Though we were not as lucky as some who didn't lose power at all, we are of the fortunate ones in the 5 million houses without power, that had only 33 hours in the dark.  I say ONLY 33 hours, but for me it really felt like it might as well have been 33 days at certain points.  I do not usually do any type of camping very gracefully ... even the urban kind, and this was no exception.  Thanks to all of the windows in our house being painted shut by the previous owners, and a sink clogged with food we were trying to get down the garbage disposal right as the power went out, our house quickly began to smell much like a rotten gym locker room.  This sent even the most timid (me) to sit on the porch, while the more adventurous (Jay) took it upon himself to grill brownies for everyone in the middle of a hurricane.  


While I wasn't out grilling brownies, I was inspired to come up with some future 'Drink of the Moment' ideas for all of you fun folks out there while waiting out the storm (yay!), and the next day, there was nothing more inspiring than wanting to get out of the house and find someplace that offered the modern amenities we have come so fond of having on a daily basis.  Here is what we saw around our historic neighborhood in Richmond's 'Fan District' on our quest for creature comforts.

There were a lot of damaged vehicles due to street parking.  This Jeep actually got off pretty lucky compared to some others I saw.

Monument Avenue

Those houses on Monument Avenue are not small by any stretch.  That tree is just huge.

Monument Avenue

Westbound Monument Avenue

Neighborhood  intersection

Neighborhood intersection across the street from the above shot.

You can see most of the tree that did the damage has been moved to the back right with the top pieces in the foreground.

While things are back up and running at my house, there are still so many folks around the Richmond Metro area, and the entire east coast who are looking at up to another 1-2 weeks before their power/life is restored. Yikes.  Of course, my thoughts especially go out to those who have lost far more than just power, and are still dealing with more flooding to come.  I believe that almost requires a moment of silence, as I could in no way imagine enduring that without thinking that it might be the apocalypse.  Of course, given the events over the past few weeks (swamp fires, east coast earthquakes, and hurricanes in the northeastern US), don't think that hasn't crossed my mind.  


Make sure to enjoy your electricity today!!

Today I Learned ...

Today, I learned that one should move outside, or to the nearest doorway during an earthquake.  I had no idea.  I also learned that earthquakes might sound like a giant unbalanced dryer shaking the entire house, or an evil alien invasion and they can most certainly happen on the east coast of the US.  Who knew?  Lastly, I learned that I don't think I could deal with this as a 'regular occurrence' without wearing adult diapers, and probably would not do well living on the west coast or in parts of the Pacific without having some sort of head trauma.  I do, however, now understand why California has had no problems finding supporters to legalize marijuana.


Stay tuned for the next exciting installment of "Today I Learned" when I might have the exciting opportunity to tell you what new and amazing things I learn about hurricane preparedness from Irene's impending visit.  Ha!  And who said I wasn't an outdoorsy kind of person?   Stay safe everyone!

Flying Pigs & Fairy Godmothers

After SIX WHOLE DAYS away from work, and my computer, I am finally back here sitting at my keyboard.  Not that I really missed all of the time I usually spend sitting in front of the computer on a daily and weekly basis, but compared to what I have been doing over the past week, it's almost like a walk in the park.  So, what was I doing on my 'time off'?  Vacationing?  Relaxing?  Spending quality time with my thoughts?


Nope.  I was in the throws of turning what looked like this ...

My Aunt Linda standing in the middle of my unnecessary stack of clutter looking skeptical.

... into this,

BAM, all pretty!

and this ...

The mountains of ridiculousness in the bedroom.

... into this.

Hi Olivia, I can see you there now!

I do not usually keep a perfect house, or anything close to it.  I am lucky to keep one or two 'high traffic' areas of the house mostly tidy at any given point, and I would have told you pigs would probably fly before I could get my entire household space to this level of being clean and pulled together without some outside forces of evil condemning me to hours upon hours of cleaning purgatory.  Well, I suppose the outside forces of evil decided to play some horrible joke on me, so I did the only thing I knew to do when in need of some serious house help, and called in the big gun - my Aunt Linda.  Aunt Linda has helped me previously in trying to attain some visual appeal, sense of sanity, & beautiful decor in my first house, which you can revisit here.  For me, the whole process of working with her to arrive at this level of household transformation is kind of like asking your Fairy Godmother for help, and having her figuratively kick your ass for a concentrated period of time in order to achieve the results you asked for.  Fortunately, this approach works exceptionally well for me when it comes to getting things done around the house, and might be about the only approach that does work.  For those of you that know me well, it shouldn't surprise you that I had to un-ass myself from my typical approach toward household chores quite a bit, and shave what I'm sure are years off of my life in order to achieve these results - even with the help of the best 'household chore un-asser' I know.


I do LOVE the final outcome though, and am so appreciative that I have such an 'expert' that I can consult for some decorating advice, as well as the kick in the pants I need in order to get it done.  Oh, and to commemorate this household makeover (and remind me that I can keep it this way) ...

Can you help me with a name?

... I now have a flying pig (who, btw, is nameless at this point and taking suggestions). 


So, why did I institute the need for hard liquor and and a head check by almost completely re-doing my entire house in a matter of days?  Dark forces at work?  Maybe.  Temporary insanity?  Probably.  Anyway,  I'll have more to come on that in my next post.  Tah-tah till then!

Time Out

After several attempts at starting to write, and then stopping abruptly because of outside influences, I figure I should just cut to the chase and get this going.  As I mentioned in my last post, you know that things have been a little shaken up around these parts, so after a few less than relaxing days this weekend was exactly what the doctor ordered.


Thanks to some wonderful friends who just bought a new boat, Jay and I were lucky enough, and extremely grateful to spend a large part of Saturday cruising the James River.  We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day to be on the water.  Starting from just below the City of Richmond we got to take in a lot of sites, including the estate of Jimmy Dean (as in the country music star and more importantly the king of sausage - not the rebel without a cause), and the recreations of the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria, on the way to our Jamestown destination to have some lunch then head back to Richmond.  

The late, great Jimmy Dean's estate.  

View down the James.

Jay couldn't wait to break out the brownie bites - his favorite.

The Jamestown-Scotland Ferry.

Look close (or enlarge the shot) and you'll see replicas of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria.

All smiles.

I can't think of a more fabulous way to kick off the summer and forget about all of the daily noise for a second.  Thank goodness for friends who are there to help us take a 'time-out' in life when we most need it ... especially the ones with boats!  ;)  

Monument Avenue Easter on Parade 2011

Wow, have I ever slacked off on the writing this week!  I feel like I've been alternating between feeling swamped, exhausted, and lazy.  Who knows which, if any of those, are actually valid excuses for not posting anything.  I suppose after all of the activity last weekend though, even the Easter bunny needs a break.  Whatever the case may be, I'm finally posting some pictures from Easter last weekend that were intended to go up well before now.  Though almost a full week late, here are some of my favorite shots from the Monument Avenue Easter on Parade 2011.

Our 'Family Portrait'.

Olivia in her 'Easter Egg' cooling vest - it was 87 degrees!

'Cousin' Berkley in his Easter bandana.

Everyone has to have a festive Easter bonnet!  I wonder if they won the contest?

Olivia meeting the 'Helping Hands' dogs.

Festive dancers.

My Aunt Linda with her dog Berkley.

Me and Olivia taking a break in the shade.

Nicolas really likes corn dogs.

Another Easter bonnet.

Nicolas, me, and Jeff - this pic was too good to leave out.  ;)

Drink of the Moment: Stoli Doli

Monument Avenue

One of the things I like most about living in Richmond VA is the Easter Parade that occurs every year on Monument Avenue.  A large stretch of the historic street is closed down, the median is filled with vendors and exhibits.  There are parties at all of the grand historic homes, and there is a parade of people going up and down both sides of the street in their Easter best.  It's all so traditionally southern with the massive houses, civil war monuments, and Sunday hats; and yet slightly hokey with the outrageously decorated dogs and Easter bonnet contests that it's absolutely amazing.  Everyone that lives nearby either has an Easter brunch party to attend, or is holding one themselves, and of course has a tasty spring beverage in hand.  My personal standby for the last decade has been 'The Stoli Doli'.

Before vodka came in the myriad of flavors that are readily available today, one was left to their own devices to mix things up a bit.  Even today with flavored vodkas on shelves everywhere, there is still something that makes it way more special and just seems a little better when done yourself.  In this case, not only are you getting your own 'personally crafted' vodka, but its super easy too.

Stoli Doli

1 750ml bottle Stolichnaya vodka         

1 whole Dole pineapple

Fruit punch or fruit juice (optional)

Cut and core your pineapple (into cubes if you're so inclined), and place it in a large jar or covered pitcher.  Pour the entire bottle of vodka over the pineapple, seal, and let it sit for at least 24 hours and up to 4 days.  Serve up with a splash of pineapple juice, or mix with fruit punch or your favorite fruit juice.

I usually cube my pineapple (to make it easy to use as garnish later) and mix with a fruit punch just because I like a pink drink on Easter, but this is absolutely amazing just by itself.  Keep in mind that the longer that pineapple soaks, the more infused the vodka will become so you can really make it to taste.  Just be careful with your consumption, as they do pack a bit of a punch.  We wouldn't want any kids to find you in the bushes instead of the the easter eggs they're looking for!

HAPPY EASTER!!!