Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my Dad's Birthday!!! I so wish I was able to be with him and do something just SPECTACULAR for him today! Lord knows he sure does deserve it!!

My Dad has worked SO hard to provide for his family. I know he went to work (and still does) everyday for his family! Now as I get older I realize things more and more, and I see how hard, tiring and stressfull it can be knowing you have to provide for you family! But he has, and has never complained about it! He has done SO much for me, more than I deserve! I am the person I am today because of him! I can always count on him, his wise words and open arms!

I miss him and hate that my parents are so very far away. I haven't seen them since Christmas. But at the same time, I am SO very thankful that I still have my Dad and that I have the luxury of picking up the phone and calling him to wish him a Happy Birthday . . . and hear his voice, like I did today. I know there are so many people out there who would give anything to get to call their parents, so for that I am so very thankful!

Happy Birthday Dad . . . and when I do see you, we will celebrate!!! =) I love you!!

Guacamole Turk Burger

Sunday night I was trying to think what I could fix for dinner, we had ground turkey and all the stuff to make burgers. So I decided to make guacamole burgers. I know there are a lot of recipes out there for this, but as usual, I didn't follow a recipe, I just made the burgers then added what I wanted to them.

First, I made my burger patties, and let them marinate for a few hours, this gave them a really good flavor. We discovered we were out of gas on our grill, so I just ended up doing them in the oven. Not as good as grilling, but they were still tasty. Then came for the toppings . . . pepper jack cheese, guacamole, onion and bacon. yummy!!!! I ate mine just like that (without any bread), but M had his on a bun of course!

It was so good and fun to "spice" things up instead of having a regular burger.

If you want a recipe, here is one that I did refer to, but like I said before - I just made it without really following a recipe. (I do that a lot.) But if you need a recipe, try this one! I'm sure you will love it!!

1/2 pound ground turkey (or meat of choice)

2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper, to taste

Extra virgin olive oil, for brushing grill pan

Monterrey or Pepper Jack cheese (2 slices or equivalent amount of shredded - I used Pepper Jack)

guacamole, purchased or your favorite recipe

Bacon Crumbles

Lettuce, Tomato, Onion if desired

Bun

Rockin Weekend with Framing Hanley

This weekend, the hubby and I went with a couple friends to see a band I really like called Framing Hanley. They are best known for their remake of Lil Wayne's Lollipop but have some other songs I love! My younger brother is in a band called Darling Parade, and they got to open up for Framing Hanley in December - which sadly I missed due to work. So when I heard they were coming to Memphis, I knew we HAD to go see them!!

{me & my friend Stephanie before the show. Love how my left earring is turned weird . . . }

{Framing Hanley!!!}

{The lead singer, Nixon! Love him!! He's such a cool guy! Great personality and so gracious to his fans!!}

{They had a couple problems with their mic and as it was getting fixed, they took this dry erase board and started writing on it . . it was funny! Think this one said " Do you wanna Party??"}

{He and his beautiful fiance had a baby boy a year ago and he wrote this amazing song when he found out he was going to be a father of a little boy. It was such a gorgeous song!!}

{hubby & me}

So that was that! It was a great show!! I don't think I have ever seen another band so thankful to their fans!! At the end of the show Nixon said that he was going to stay and shake every persons hand there, which was SO nice! Not all bands/lead singers would do that, so that was so cool!! I really, really wanted to stay and say hi and also introduce myself since he knows my brother, but we had been there for hours and I had worn the wrong shoes and my feet were killing me. Plus, we both had to work the next day (Saturday) so we went ahead and left. But it sure was a great night and I CANNOT wait to see them again . . . . soon!!

Did you all do anything exciting this weekend??

"Do you love me because I am beautiful, or am I beautiful because you love me?"

Oscar Hammerstein II

{In Cinderella}

The Bento Box

Back in February I stayed at a Ritz Carlton in Georgia (it was actually the one that Carrie Underwood got married) and while I was there I first discovered the Bento Box. Have you seen it? It was one day before a spa treatment and me and my friends/coworkers had a fabulous, refreshing, healthy lunch which was served in a Bento Box. I loved it!

Not only for presentation, but the portions that it holds is perfect and it keeps everything separated. Sometimes it can get annoying when things get mixed together on your plate, and this is a great solution for that.

This is a picture of our Bento Box lunch at the spa in the Ritz! It was PERFECT!! I could eat this meal everyday for lunch!

I really want to get a couple for myself! I think they would be great to have! Sometimes when we have a regular size plate, we feel the need to fill it up. I think with the Bento Box, each compartment holds just the right amount of food, which is great for not over eating!

Now if you Google Bento Box, you will see a lot of different things come up. The kind I like the best is the Japanese style box, like this: (which is like what we ate out of)

I like these because it is actually a wooden box and the inside is a red lacquered plastic tray, which can be removed for cleaning. It's functional and also a great way to present a meal in style! I found this one on JapaneseStyle.com (a cool site) but I'm sure there are others out there! I can't wait to get a couple for myself!!

Yay~Nay

So I have seen a few photos of celebs lately that are making me say Yay & Nay! Let me know if you agree. or if not, tell me what YOU think.

{I love Fergie, but this is a Nay!!}

{Where did Ashlee Simpson go??? Nay all the way!!}

{Yay - love the belted blazer!! Can Cameron ever look bad??}

{Molly Sims gets a Yay for looking cute, but mostly for her adorable pups and Louis V!!}

{Huge Nay for Drew!! But Yay for her furry friend . . . . and I'm not talking about her hair!!}

{Yay for the adorable, sporty Gisele Bundchen! NOTE: I said Sandra Bullock before because I did have a photo of her here originally . . . my bad}

{I'm loving this jacket on Kim . . . Yay!}

{Whitney, what are you thinking?? Nay!!}

{Yay!!! I do wonder how she can wear something so short with that bootay of hers . . }

{Kim Cattrall usually has good taste, but I am just not diggin this dress at all! Looks cheap to me and the left side looks higher than the right on the bust line, unless it's supposed to be that way . . . Nay}

{While the color isn't bad on her, Susan Surandon looks sloppy here to me. The dress doesn't look like it fits very well up top . . . Nay}

{Yay!! Hayden Panettiere looks adorable as she's out and about!!}

{Nay for Lo Bosworth. Not diggin that print}

{photos via People.com}

Tomato Tomäto {& the weekend}

Tonight I made a little appetizer before dinner . . . it was easy and super tasty! Some people are not big tomato fans I know (my hubby is one of them) but I have always liked tomato's so this was good to me! It was refreshing since today was so warm and then the wine made it even better! I have done them like this before and put them in the oven for a bit, and that was really good too, but tonight I just sliced them and topped them off with some salt and pepper, garlic, oregano and parmesan!

This weekend we finally got some nice, warm weather around here! Thank the Lord!! It was about time, although we are expecting really bad rain and possible tornado's tonight {uggh} . . . . but the rest of the week should be nice I think. I did work all weekend but managed to get out and enjoy the weather a little Saturday. I thought I would get out and go to the park and take Mr. Big and go feed the ducks. I wanted M to go, but there was a big basketball game on and I knew he wanted to watch it, so it was just me and my lil man!

Us before heading to the park!

We did make one stop first . . . Sonic! Mr. Big was trying to decide what sounded good! ha ha! Poor little guy needs a hair cut! Luckily I think we are taking him this week!

He loved the duckies! We fed them bread and Mr. B got a few pieces too! It was nice to get out and enjoy the day! Then I took him home and got back out and went up to Marshall's where I found a few goodies! I always have luck at that store { and TJ Maxx!}

Tonight we watched the CMA awards. Did any of you watch?? I enjoyed it and liked seeing how all the gals dressed! Women in Country music have a style all their own and I love it! 2 of the evenings big winners were Miranda Lambert and of course Lady A! I was glad to see Miranda Lambert win a few awards and not have Taylor Swift win every single one! I may be back later for some of the fashion from the night, in case you missed it! I saw several people that looked great, then a few were not so hot - but isn't that how it always goes??

I don't say it enough, but thanks to all of you who come to my blog and those of you who leave comments! I'm not as good as I want to be about making sure I leave comments on pages of all those who leave them for me! But please know I recognize it and love each and every comment!! =) Hope everyone had a great weekend! Ta ta for now!