How cool is my Mom?

Dave and I have been playing tennis at the Oklahoma City Tennis Center instead of the ghetto neighborhood courts I mentioned here. Last night when we played I noticed a new plaque on the wall listing all the former Oklahoma State High School Tennis Champions. Whose name did I immediately look for? My Mom's duh!
There it was! She's so cool! Debbie Cunningham, for those who are interested.

I called to tell her about it and that's when she told me an article was just published about her for the State High School Tournament program this year!

My Mom was an amazing tennis player. Her Dad, my grandfather, was the tennis pro in Tulsa at several of the tennis clubs. Chances are if you played tennis from the 70's to 90's in Tulsa you had a lesson from him. It was their love of the sport that encouraged me to start playing competitively. At the ripe age of 10 I entered my first tournament. I still remember the night before the tournament, my Mom spent hours making sure I had everything I needed. Water jug? check. Extra racquet? check. (I actually think I used her racquet as my back up for this first tournament.) Sweat towel? check. super cool visor? check. Abundance of hair clips? check.

Then she remembered that I hadn't ever played an actual match, I'd just been going to lessons. She spent the next hour explaining to me how to keep score and which side of the court to stand on.

I remember thinking, "This is easy, I got this"

Jump ahead to the next day - I've won the first two points of the match and call out the score, "15 All".

She had taught me how to keep score, but not how to pay attention... oops! She corrected me and from then on I think I got it right... Either that or she was too embarrased to correct me again.

(Click to make it bigger and zoom to read)

 

Thanks for teaching me my favorite pasttime, Mom.

If only I could have been as good as you were, my name could have been up there with you!

(Don't ask me about highschool state, it's a sensitive subject, still. )

Too Funny

Augie and Peanut's inspiration for the Dachsund Dash next year!

Wordless Wednesday

Summer Under $50!

Since we live in Oklahoma and happened to be lucky enough to get hit with the hail storm that blew through a couple weeks ago, we are now the lucky homeowners who get to deal with needing a new roof and having two basically totalled cars. Awesome. (sense the sarcasm?)

So I decided to do a post of the things I love for this summer and they're all under $50!

How cute would this bag be as a beach or pool tote?

BDG Suede and Canvas Caryall from Urban Outfitters - $48

How cute is this dress from Roxy? It's perfect for a summer night out on a patio somewhere or a beach vacation!

Shore Bet Dress from Roxy - $49

These towels would make any bathroom summery!

Perpetual Blooms Towels from Anthropologie - on sale! $9.95 for the hand towel!

These shell measuring spoons are too cute! I'd leave them out as decor when I wasn't using them.

Shell Measuring Spoons from Anthropologie - $12

This would make a super cute cover-up!

Floral Graphic Tube Dress from Old Navy - $24.50

This dress would be cute to wear to just about anything! You could dress it up or down with jewelry and shoes.

Mimi Chica Convertible Ruffle Dress from Nordstrom - $44

And these flat sandals would go with anything!

How have I not seen these before today??

'Jay' Sandal by Jessica Simpson - on sale for $45.90 and comes in 4 colors!

And no summer list is complete without a beach towel!

Modern Palm Paisley Towel by Ralph Lauren - on sale for $14.99!!! Can't beat that!

Oh annnnnd you can monogram it! Sold!

No Longer Lost

I can't believe it's over! Dave and I started watching Lost during the 2nd season, we borrowed all of season 1 on dvd from a friend and were instantly hooked. I have to admit, I was a bit frustrated with the show last season, I was sick of being so Lost! But I'm SO glad I stuck with it! Way to go Lost writers - Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse! You really made the entire series incredible with that finale last night. I can't believe it's over. The ending was perfect, I cried, I laughed and I felt like the characters came full circle. I'm so thankful that there were scenes that reminded us of the first seasons. Lost will always be remembered in our house, it's been with us since we started dating! We'd get together every week to watch Lost and had a blast discussing theories and feeling lost together. What do we do now?

If you still have questions, check out this link to a great recap: Lost Recap.

T-24 hours until we're Wastin' Away Again in Margaritaville!!

Tomorrow morning we're headed South to Frisco TX for the Jimmy Buffett concert! for the 3rd year in a row, we'll tailgate all day, drink too many margaritas, inevitably end up with a lay wrapped around our ankles, get lost from our friends (or husbands, Lin and I have a tendancy to wander), make friends with randoms because they have a working toilet in their RV, eat way too many mini-pizzas once inside the concert, yell at Jimmy to play Cheeseburger in Paradise again (last year I swear he played it 3 times!), then cab it back to the hotel where we will attempt to order pizza and sleep sweet margarita dreams!

Oh, and attempt a cool picture of me and Lindy chest bumping, because that's always a great idea..? Wth?

note to self - keep sunglasses on towards the end of the day..

 Hopefully this year I'll realize my camera is on video mode...

 

The best part is that we'll be seeing a lot of friends that we haven't seen in quite some time! I can't wait to see everyone in their finest Island Chic! :)

Blog Love!

I've found some of the best things on different blogs lately and just have to share!

Centsational Girl is one of my daily reads, as soon as a new post pops up in my reader I click it immediately! She's got the best step by step instructions for refinishing or DIY'ing just about anything you'd want! And I was lucky enough to win one of her fab giveaways the other week! (So exciting that it deserves it's own post!)

Anyways, she posted about a goregeous line on QVC by Tracy Hutson and I just had to share b/c I'm kind of obsessing over this lamp:

Another daily read of mine, Erin the Blue Eyed Bride, posted about some recipes she's been trying lately and I absolutely cannot wait to try the chicken avocado sandwich!

Yummm!

I've been a fan of Aubrey and Lindsey's blog since I saw their awesome ikea transformations! Check out this side table makeover - amazing! We loved their desk so much that we're going to buy the parts this weekend! I hope it turns out as good as theirs:

We'd also like to copy their privacy trellis for our deck this summer, might have to wait until tornado season dies down...

Love Love Love!

And I don't start reading a book without asking Emily if she's read it yet... because chances are she has! The girl reads so fast! She reccomended the last book I read, The Art of Racing in the Rain, and I loved every page!

What are some of your favorite blogs out there?

Wordless Wednesday

Adventures in Cooking!

I've tried out a few new recipes lately, some winners, some losers, I'll be sure any let you know which one's are which.
Last weekend, breakfast foods were calling my name! I tried out this french toast bites recipe.

The recipe says it makes 2 servings, if that's true then I know how America is getting fat! That would be 3 full pieces of bread made in to french toasts bites a person! This was good but made way too much in my opinion. I prefer the one crispy piece of french toast drenched in syrup.

In fact, I only used 4 pieces of bread and then made the last 2 regular french toast style.

No breakfast is complete in our house without some eggs. I wanted to try out egg-in-the-hole as I think I might have been the only kid who did not have this growing up. What the heck Mom?
Pioneer woman has detailed instructions on her blog here. But really, you cut the hole in the bread, crisp it up with some butter and drop and egg in the hole, flip it over and enjoy!

These are deeeeeelicious!

Look how the egg spills out! Yumm!

The dogs couldn't handle it! They wanted some of the good stuff!

Look Mom, I'm being really good just sitting here!

Now I'm getting concerned, one plate is empty... will there be any left for me?

Me want foood!!!!!!!!

Please! Please! Pleeeeeeease!!!!

I'm begging you, please give me a bite!!!

And then I caved... the dogs got a couple bites and loved the french toast!

Next, I wanted to try out a new recipe for dinner and it called for mashed potatoes. So I decided to make enough that we'd have leftovers to enjoy some Irish Latkes later on in the week.

Thanks to Lindy for her awesome recipe!

Start with about 5 medium sized red potatoes, cut them into pieces and boil.

In your mixing bowl, combine 1/3 cup sour cream and a handful of green onions (chopped)

Add buttermilk and 1/4 cup flour

Add chopped garlic (1 clove), a pink of herbs de provence, and salt and pepper

Now add an egg and your potatoes when they are fork tender (could take anywhere from 8-12 minutes)

Add the potatoes to the mixing bowl and mix on low until you get the desired consistency.

These were yumm! I ate quite a few spoonfulls from the bowl!

And yes, the dogs tried some too.. duh!

I needed the mashed potatoes for this recipe - Rolled up chicken.

We gave the recipe an, eh?

It was just ok, the broccoli creaminess was yuck and the batter didn't stick.

We didn't eat much of this and ended up having it the next night after I vamped it up with some yummy angel hair pasta with herbs, mashed potatoes and a side of asparagus.

We gave this a Yum! Dave even finished off the rest the next day at lunch.

Round 2 or rolled chicken was definitely a winner!

And if you're wondering how to make latkes, you're probably talking to the wrong person.

But this is how I make them, usually not pretty but delicious nonetheless.

Heat some vegetable oil in a skillet over medium high heat.

Add a glob of mashed potatoes and smash it down to create a patty.

Watch it sizzle!

When the bottom is crispy and brown, flip it over. (This is the part I can't do, mine ends up being a mess.)

These are SUPER yum and an easy, fun way to eat your leftover mashed potatoes!

These got gobbled up super fast!

I saw this yummy pasta on Lindy's blog and had to try it!

It's a baked pasta with easy sauce to make and made my kitchen smell like Italy!

We had it with crispy tilapia - just like Lin suggested, and Dave ate every bite! (he's not a big fish eater so this was a huge step!)

We used elbow macaroni noodles, because that's what we had and I added a little shredded mozzarella and provolone cheese. Thanks for the awesome reccomendation Lindy!

Then Nigel and I were worn out from all the cooking.

Nigel always finds the best lounging spots!