But Ya'll I'm Still a Mississippi Girl....

Part 1: Andrew and I went to Oxford, MS to visit the best friend-in-law, Joseph. Whenever we visit Joe it is always an adventure. We went to the Ole Miss/Florida baseball game....if you know my husband then you know his obsession with Florida athletics. Thank goodness there was a tent to sit under or I would have been a lobster. Also, the tent came in handy for when home runs were hit....cups go flying and I went ducking. I usually do a little better at documenting my adventures but I was too afraid to take out the camera....Ole Miss fans throw up the cups at any and every opportunity! After the game was over we headed to Proud Larry's to see my good buddy, Rachel D. and also to see Gunboat. This band consists of a couple of Mississippi delta boys. I thought they were awesome! My personal favorite songs that they wrote are "Gone Too Long" and "Happy Hour". They also did a sweet cover of Led Zeppelin's "No Quarter".

If you want to check them out, click here.

Part 2: One word: Nostalgia. I have not been back to Greenwood, MS in years. My best friend Crystal Lee is getting married and I was invited to her engagement party.....with my "delta casual" outfit in tow I headed out from Oxford. The anxiety and excitement was just too much for me to contain. When I finally saw Crystal Lee I was completely overwhelmed and burst into tears! That's right I cried! Mind you I have known this person for 21 years. We had not seen each other in two years...shame on us....but our friendship has always been pretty solid. We forgive quickly and move on. We got all fixed up in our cute dresses and headed out to the party. Here are a couple of pics from the night.

Crystal Lee and Charlie

Crys and Charlie

Mary Parker, Charlie, Crystal Lee, me and Morgan

Will and Morgan

Crystal Lee and me! I always have a great time when I am with Crystal Lee....and now with Charlie in the mix....there is nonstop laughter. I know they will have a marriage full of laughter and happiness and I am so thankful that I get to be a part of it all.

Birthday: Savannah Style

I try to go to Savannah every year for my Birthday and St. Patrick's Day.This is the first time I made the journey alone. Andrew and Tiffani both had to work and were not able to go with me. I packed up the car and started to head out with a sweet playlist on the ipod.....of course an hour away from home my ipod decides to freeze. So after 8 hours I finally arrived in Savannah. Savannah is probably one of my favorite places to visit....always new places to eat and new art that inspires. I thought I would give you some of the highlights from my trip. I arrived Saturday night and I was ready to go!

First stop Eos.This place is owned and managed by family pretty much....Shelley and Martha. Mom and I started with the cheese board and then moved on to broccoli and cheese soup and lastly sea bass salad. Yummy in my tummy! We then headed to Savannah's River Street where you should NOT wear heels because you might break your leg walking on the cobblestone or going down the STEEP stairs. We made a stop at Fiddler's Crab House where we parked at a table to do some people watching and have a beverage. We met some people that seemed like old friends..... Kendal and Brittany. Here's some of the hilarious pictures from the night.....I introduced them to fast face photos.

Meet Julia.

Finally a normal picture!We had a blast!

The next day I was asked to go to an Operetta to see a good friend perform in The Pirates of Penzance. It was AWESOME! If you ever get an opportunity to see an Operetta you should.

A couple of pictures from the parade. The weather was not so great....cold, rainy, cloudy, windy....I dig bagpipes.

Little Irish dancers with bouncy hair.
I didn't take anymore of the parade.....hands were too cold.
My moms good buddies....Greg and Blanche!

Sol.....this is also owned by Martha and Shelley...it's a Southwestern Restaurant. We got chips and salsa for an appetizer. I dig the green salsa! For my entree, I ate fish tacos (Mahi-Mahi) with slaw and beans.So good!


The Crystal Beer Parlor makes my mouth water.

We started with the Chicken Wings dipped in a Jalapeno Cilantro Lime Sauce, Onion Rings, and Creamy Blue Crab Dip. That's just the appetizers. For my entree, I had the Au Poivre (don't ask me to say that) Burger and a side of homemade potato chips. This burger was topped with a green peppercorn brandy cream sauce and grilled onions. Needless to say I couldn't finish it.

I think the best part of the trip was the card that my mom gave me.

3 things that my Mom and I do together:
1. Eat
2. Art
3. Travel
Love you Momma!

Our Flower Bed

Before

In our backyard we have a little flower garden. It used to be a fish pond but the person who lived here before us filled it in. We thought it could use a little work. Will and I went shopping last night to pick out some flowers, gardening gloves and top soil. The garden was overgrown and full of weeds. We started with the center section first. We found a knife, some bricks, and some interesting bugs while tilling the soil and pulling weeds. We then were able to plant the flowers! We chose orange and yellow marigolds to attract the butterflies to our backyard. Here's a couple of snapshots of the little gardeners tucking the flowers into their beds.

Will wanted to have a Florida Gator garden!
We found orange but no blue.

Hannah the "pro-gardener"!

They worked so hard to make the garden beautiful!

This is it!

Now only two more sections in the flower bed to go!

How Casie Got Her Swag Back.....

About every couple of months I have this need to step up my fashion. I am a teacher and my wardrobe consists of mostly conservative clothes.....I rotate between khaki pants, loosely fitted tops (for Helga's sake), and a jean jacket. So I thought I would step up my fashion a bit. Revamp the wardrobe. Casie needs some style....BAD. Teachers need swagger too. (I can't pull that word off! HA!) I have a couple of things that I have bought to do just that....

1. Accessories: I dig owls....Check out my owl necklaces! The silver one is a locket...I love lockets! I also have an Owl clutch! Adorable!!

2. Blazers: I have this heather gray blazer from Gap that I love! It is great for hiding problem areas (helga) and it can be dressed up or down!

I also got a cute black blazer!

3. Shoes: I am not sure how fashionable these shoes are but I know how comfy they are! What I am sporting right now are my Burlap woven TOMS. I love these shoes...and when you buy some you also get one pair for a child in another country. I chose my extra pair to go to Honduras.
Also, my sister introduced me to Soul of Africa. When you buy these shoes you help out orphans of AIDS in Africa. These are super comfy and just a classic loafer. I don't know how swaggalicious these things are but I feel pretty great when I wear them! I guess that is what matters anyway!

Birthday: Nashville Style

Marisa, Josh and I have March birthdays. We have planned for months now to do something special this year for our B-days. So with a few tips on where to eat and places to see we headed to Nashville. We started out with some shopping at Opry Mills and then lunch at yummy San Antonio Taco Company. We then walked around downtown checking out some places for our dinner. We stopped by the Hatch Show Print. It is so cool!This is where classic concert posters have been made and are STILL being made. Elvis, B.B. King, Dave Matthews Band, Johnny Cash, Coldplay, etc...you must check it out!The boys wanted to cheese it up at the Wildhorse Saloon. This is where line dancing, live music, and ALL the tourist in the Nashville area are found.

Our next stop was GiGi's Cup Cakes....We must eat cake!

Marisa got a wedding cake cupcake.

Josh went with the chocolate and Andrew went with the lemon.

I went with the Bailey's Irish Creme cupcake. I am sort of a St. Patty's baby!

All we needed was some good ole' 2% milk to wash it down.

After Gigi's we then freshened up and were ready to get some dinner. After much indecision and research we decided to eat at Merchants Restaurant and Grille. It is a historic building built in the late 1800's. It was once a pharmacy, an ice cream shop, a hotel, and a "honky tonk". Now it is a two story restaurant where you can go to fine dining on the second floor and with a more casual atmosphere on the first floor. We were not feeling so "swanky", so we dined on the first floor. Andrew and I got a juicy prime rib, mashed potatoes, and a side of vegetables. Mar got a grilled chicken salad and Josh got a rib-eye. Yummy, yummy!

Mar and Josh

Drew and Me!

To finish up the night we took a horse drawn carriage ride around downtown Nashville.

I had a great birthday weekend with some pretty amazing friends. I have never laughed so much in my life!

Knock Knock. Who's there? Avocado. Avocado who?

Avocado an obsession with guacomole.

I was eating dinner tonight with two friends and I was telling them how much I love AVOCADOS! Muy bueno! I thought I would share about my two favorite avocado experiences.

1. Lopez Southwestern Kitchen in Cleveland, Ohio
The Special Guacamole by IRON CHEF Michael Symon
It is to die for! It's creamy with blue cheese chunks, lotsa bacon and sage. I couldn't get enough! Tiff and I tore it up!!! The only problem is that they serve the chips in tiny paper bags and you have to ask for refills often. They couldn't keep the chips on the table because that dip was so yum!



2. Rosie's Mexican Cantina in Florence, Alabama
It is nothing fancy....just fresh avocados made into chunky guacamole. My mouth is watering as I type this. I know I cannot go to Cleveland that often to get the goods...so Rosie's is where it's at to get my avocado fix.