Alchemy, movie time and my dream bedroom

J has been at his dad's all week so K and I decided to try out Cooper/Young's latest edition to the Memphis food scene, Alchemy. We are so in love and it's a tapas bar, which I really needed now that I refuse to go to Flight since learning that the owner is a woman beater.

When we walked into Alchemy the only thing we noticed was the bar because it is so massive so we found a spot on one of the corners and bellied up. I was immediately taken to a happy place because their floral arrangements reminded me of our wedding and island vacation.

I wasn't able to get very good pics with my iPhone but it's an orchid inside a tall glass vase, almost identical to what we had at AMI.
K and I had as long as we wanted to kill and since everything on the menu was a small plate, we decided to have a few drinks and eat a few plates and just keep splitting it up like that.

1st on the food agenda were the wild mushroom pancakes topped with wilted spinach and goat cheese and beemster cheese and wild hog smoked sausage. K was not thrilled with the mushroom pancake description on the menu but I was able to persuade him to try and he's glad he did. They were awesome....almost as awesome as the beemster cheese. I could eat that all day, every day!

2nd round of food included the rock shrimp and chorizo mac & cheese and the pepper jelly wings with cheddar and bacon cornbread. To. Die. For!!!!

And for desert we had the smoked duck spring rolls and the lamb ribs with tzatziki. Spring rolls were good but nothing out of this world (they were K's choice, not mine!) but the ribs?!?! OMG! I cannot explain how awesome and yummy and tender these little jewels were. Absolutely perfect. They were K's favorite dish. Besides the spring rolls, everything absolutely blew us away. I guess if I had to pick a favorite it would be the mac & cheese. Can't wait to go back, hopefully real soon!
Nothing else too exciting has gone on this week besides our field trip to Alchemy. We've kept Netflix busy this week having watched all of these movies:

Oh and I found my DREAM bedroom! I so hope to be able to relax in my very own similar spot like this someday :)

Christmas!!!!

Wow! What a crazy week it was :) J, K and I headed down to Louisiana last Thursday for Christmas with the Cajuns. We rolled into town early enough Thursday night that Billy's was still open and we were able to stock up on boudin balls and cracklins!

K is convinced I should have been born Cajun and now his family is convinced J may have been born in the wrong state too:

He was given his very own "Honorary Cajun" coffee mug too.
We spent the day with the family Friday. Some of us prepped the wild animals for a gumbo:

Some of us roasted marshmallows:

Some of us got hugs from a sweet puppy named Roux:

Some of us enjoyed a few cocktails by the fire:

Some of us messed with the Elf on the Shelf:

And all of us ate and ate and ate and opened presents:

Everyone was happy with what they got except the sugar body scrub recipient:

Friday night was Dirty Santa night with all of Betty's family and then we woke up early Saturday morning and had Christmas with just Dale, Betty, Kyle, Kristina, Ryan, Mallory, AC, MK, J, K and I. We chose to do it so early so everyone could be together opening presents before we had to hit the road to get back to Tennessee. It was a change of pace getting up at the crack of dawn and going hog crazy opening presents but I liked it.

We were back on the road before 10am and made it home in time for me to do all of my cooking for Christmas lunch at mom's and to enjoy a present too!

I've wanted one of these for a while :)))) We cooked out burgers, drank some Sweet Lucy, listened to some music and let J talk us into opening a present too.

Sunday morning, we woke up and opened MORE presents:

J had a HUGE Christmas this year! Tons of Alabama gear, hunting gear, money, an Xbox, a hog hunting trip.......He has no idea how blessed he really is. After presents, we had a Cajun breakfast of boudin balls and eggs (Yes I made K stop at Billy's on the way home and pick up a dozen to bring home!) We then headed to church, where Rufus did a sermon on Joseph and how he is the invisible man of Christmas and was given no glory in the whole story, was asked to be shamed and ridiculed for what was going on with Mary, was asked to leave his hometown and go to another country for the safety of a baby that was not his but he did it all because he trusted God's word. Christmas lunch was at mom's and the kids got to open more presents.

After all of the festivities were over, I figured out how to use the timer on my camera and therefore was able to make it into a picture too!

It was a very busy and hectic year but it was a really good one!

More Christmas Activities: Gifts for pups, crack candy, family and friends in town to visit

Last week brought more getting ready for Christmas and the pups got their traditional Christmas gift.....a new bed!

I think they lurve it.
Other goings on last week:
Basketball - lost again. CTK sports SUCK!
Christmas party at J's school and beginning of Christmas break
Christmas shopping
A peaceful Friday night alone to watch a movie and chill in my chair that I never get to use anymore except when K is gone. The movie was not so great but having to do nothing except what I wanted was pretty nice.....every once in a while. Wouldn't want it like that all the time though!

Ryan and Frank came to town, K took them hunting at the end of the week and I went up on Saturday to meet them and get my crack assembly line running.

The lakehouse got a whole new yard of grass. I actually think I like the yard better now with the trees cleared out and grass on the ground.

I can't wait to see what it looks like when everything turns green!
Susan came to town Sunday and we got to catch up last night over dinner at Salsa.

J has been in a  baseball clinic all week at Dulin's and we are getting ready for a Louisiana run before Christmas!!!!!

More and More Christmas Activities, Good Food, Good Friends and some excercise too

Thursday night was the much anticipated CTK Christmas play (hahaha) which I drug K to again this year, I figure til death do us part means suffer with me on this side of life too! After the play, we took J to Skunx Pizza Pub, which just opened to grab some pie and then headed home. A butterfinger blast may have made its way in the picture that day too.

K went hunting Friday while J and I met up with Melanie and that gang for dinner at Memphis Pizza Cafe and some holiday cheer at the Zoo Lights.

I hit the gym Saturday morning before all of the craziness of the day got to me and had a nice little surprise:

They updated all of the cardio equipment and now each one has a built in TV AND computer! Pretty awesome if you ask me :)
Next on the agenda was some basketball.

Then a lovely afternoon catching up with Leslie, Kelly, brunette Laura and blonde Laura at Kelly's baby shower, complete with Champagne punch and Muddy's cupcakes :) SCORE!

After that, I picked up my mini me and met up with Les and Josh at River Oaks for a nice dinner while I left K to deal with his company Christmas party at Maggiano's.

After dinner, J and I ran a few Christmas errands and then headed back home to meet up with K.
Sunday saw an early grocery store outing, a pick out the Christmas tree outing, a long bike ride on the greenline outing and church.

After that, we relaxed by the lights of our tree while we ate gumbo, drank some wine and watched the Cowboys beat themselves yet another time!
All in all, it was a pretty good time :)