Breaks Over! Dive Into Brahmin's Spring 2012 Collection

Yikes it's been a while!   Looks like I've had the longest spring break ever ... well, at least from blogging.  Never fear though, I'm diving back in with yet another inside peak from my Vogue Influencer Network.  Take a scroll through my favorite picks from the new Brahmin Spring 2012 Collection, and let me know which one you want on your arm this season!

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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.  :)

Love is in the Air

Happy Valentine's Day ... or Anti-Valentine's Day, whichever you may celebrate (or not)!  Apparently, nothing screams romance in my household like a good animated clip.  Isn't that the way everyone celebrates this highly cliched holiday?  Right, I thought so.  Here, to spread a little heart with you, are our 'his' and 'hers' top clip picks.  You might just end up wanting to share one, or both with your very own Valentine; maybe in a mid-day email to the office, or an unexpected chat message instead of the standard chocolate and flowers.  Though, on second thought, these might even be better while sharing a little chocolate, or sitting with someone special next to some gorgeous flowers.  :)  Either way, I hope you enjoy. 

Monday Magic

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

Drink of the Moment: Oatmeal Cookies and Cream

Not so long ago, I was 'challenged' to take a shooter that sounded pretty yummy, but honestly looked like it could have been day old puke, and turn it into something pretty and girly.  Never one to back down from a challenge in the drink department, I took to work and tried out a few different variations on the theme.  So, to my boozy buddy out there (you know who you are) looking for a tiny corner of soothing girly solace from this big, bad, ugly world; THIS is for you.

• Oatmeal Cookies and Cream
• 
  
• 1 ounce Buttershots butterscotch schnapps
• 1 ounce Bailey's Irish Cream 
• 1 ounce Jagermeister 
• 1 ounce Goldschlager
• 1/2 - 1 ounce warm milk or heavy cream
• Dash of cinnamon

Warm milk or heavy cream and froth with an milk frother.  Pour first four ingredients at room temperature in a glass or mug of your choice, mix slightly with a spoon or stirrer.  Top with frothed milk/heavy cream, and a dash of cinnamon.

Note:  You can use more or less of the milk/cream, but I found that the more milk/cream used, the more it diluted the oatmeal cookie taste.  Also, the heavy cream (though caloric) was, of course, way better and kept the oatmeal flavor better than my skim milk.  If you're counting calories, maybe a half and half or 2 percent milk would be a good option.       

On a side note, if you're looking for something a little less warm and fuzzy, but still think the whole oatmeal idea sounds like a winner (in which case, you'd be correct), then maybe you'll feel a little more at home with my alternate version of this dreamy drink.

Basically you just take all of the ingredients except for the milk, and stir them in a shaker over ice  .. or not (you can actually just pour them directly into the glass over ice if you get lazier by the drink like I do), and top or rim the glass with the cinnamon.  I also played around a little with the flavors, going a little heavier on a flavor or two that I'm particularly fond of (which I'd highly recommend, especially if you're a fan of Buttershots).  I've decided to call it the 'Lazy Oatmeal Cookie'.  Enjoy!! 

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"My Special Dog Murray"

Here is a little smile that Jay shared with me a few days ago.  Though Murray isn't my own dog, I think that each of us can probably see a little bit of Murray, and also his owner, in ourselves.  It's such a great group of photos with a heartwarming story that brings a warm fuzzy giggle, and a great reminder that a little belief in someone, including ourselves, can make all the difference in the world.


(NOTE: Because the captions were being cut off of the original slide show on Tumblr, I've reformatted the original post to be seen here in its entirety.  I've also included the original slideshow as well though, for those of you that may be interested).   



Meet Murray ...

This is Murray when he was just a little pup.

His proud face ...

This is what Murray looks like now.

When he was just a little guy, he was brought into the vet's clinic I work at with major head injuries due to being attacked by another dog.  Luckily, he survived despite what we thought.

His owners abandoned him at our clinic, so after weeks without hearing from them ...

My family and I invited him into our home to live with us and the rest of our animals.

He is one fantastic dog.

He lays like this quite often.

He developed an underbite and a crooked nose due to his severe head injuries when he was a little pup.

His blissful face ...

His badass face ... 

Trying to Find the Fries

After a nice, leisurely three-day weekend of packing up the last of the Christmas decorations (yes, I am habitually slow at getting around to house-oriented chores if you hadn't already picked up on that from this post here), and spending some time at the Cinebistro for a fantastic dinner & movie with my favorite five-year fiancé (make that habitually slow about getting around to a lot of things),  it seems as though it's back to work today.  Well, unless we're talking about the stove (which is still not working since Christmas) or the hot water heater (which decided that 2012 was just not going to be it's year to work either), or my lower back (which is independently on strike from cooperating with the rest of my body).  Not that I'll be able to cook, shower, or move around anytime soon anyway with the deluge of files that are sitting in my work inbox still waiting for attention from two weeks ago.  All things considered though, somehow none of it is really bothering me, and I'm in a pretty good mood.  I suppose that actually might make me more like that simple, oblivious, happy little bird than I thought.  Now all I have to do is find my french fry ... or perhaps in hind sight, I just provided one for myself.  :)