Happy New Year 2013!

I just wanted to do a really short blog post wishing everyone a very Happy New Year!  Last night the Murph and I spent our very first New Year's Eve as husband and wife at home in our pj's.  I had champagne and he had his usual assorted imported beer selection.  It was wonderful!

Today we hung our new 2013 calendars. This Yoga Cat one is my favorite.  I hope it inspires me to participate more in the dangerous sport of yoga.  Cats are much more flexible than triathletes though so we'll see...

I don't know how anyone can do that scorpion pose.  It must be trick photography!

Below is me in the cozy socks I wore for my private New Year's Eve celebration with the Murph.

And the Murph wore his plaid "leisure" pants and a t shirt.

Today we will have black eye peas with our dinner because that's what you're suppose to eat on New Year's Day for luck.   Fresh Market was out of the can peas on New Year's Eve.  I looked all over the store as the Murph was in the meat department.  The Murph saw me running all over the store and later told me I looked like I was in some kind of game show.  A game show where you had to see who could fill their shopping cart up the fastest.   I would win that game!  He had already noticed the assortment of items I had already added to the cart, including my favorite almond pillow cookies.

Since I couldn't find any black eye peas at Fresh Market, today after our late workout, we went to Publix where there were only 5 cans of black eye peas left in the entire store.  I got two of them.  I felt that I should get greens too but the Murph said we never eat them so why get them now.  I backed down and went over to the cashier with only my two cans of black eye peas.  She immediately said, "Well I guess you guys already have your greens then, huh?"  I looked at the Murph in panic.  I KNEW I should have grabbed a can of turnip greens or collard greens or something before we left.  The Murph laughed at me.  He said he's just not that superstitious, especially when it comes to produce.

I'm still not sure, but I'm hoping that the leeks he cooked with the pork roast tonight and the cabbage will be all the greens I need for luck or money or for whatever reason I'm suppose to be eating them.

I don't know why I'm suppose to eat them on New Years Day, but I just don't want to take any chances!

Hope you ate your black eye peas and greens today!

Fun In Pensacola Beach

New Observation Wheel in Pensacola Beach, Florida

It's been a few months since we've been back to Pensacola Beach and when we arrived last Thursday, we discovered this huge new attraction that's been erected.  We haven't been up in it yet, but I'm sure we will someday.  Someday when it's less crowded.  It looks very impressive and festive though.  According to an article in the Travelhost mag you can see 16.6 miles away in every direction when at the top of the wheel.

We went to The Grand Marlin for drinks and appetizers the other night.  This is the view of the ferris wheel (Observation Wheel) from the restaurant.

  

Me with the Ferris Wheel in the background.  See how festive it looks from a distance.

 

The Murph looking very handsome.

 Us bugging the bartender to take our picture.  He's use to it and doesn't seem to mind too much.

 

Everything that I've had at this place is delicious.  

But I got one of my usual appetizers, the Maryland Lump Crab Cake.  It is so yummy I just want to lick the plate.  The vanilla infused lobster fingers are good too, but I need more than what they give you in one order.  I need 10 orders of that stuff.

I didn't lick the plate, but I did a pretty good job of finishing every last drop.

 

They have some fun drinks too.  This is the Strawberry Mango Mojito.  I also had the Chipotle Pineapple Mojita.  The Murph got his usual beer.  No pictures.

 

Then we went over to Shaggy's, a new restaurant that just opened up in Pensacola Beach, FL  in May.  We decided to try it out.  I got a banana daquiri.  The Murph got his usual. (beer)

Banana Daquiri at Shaggy's

 The cheese fries belonged to someone sitting at the bar next to us.  They smelled heavenly and were covered in cheese and bacon.  A deadly, yet delicious combination.  The Murph took a picture of the fries when their owner got up to go look for her family.  She lost her family.  (and she really didn't seem to care as she started to dig into those fries).  I may try the fries one day when I am feeling very brave.

Bacon Cheese Fries at Shaggy's

The Murph and I got the shrimp basket and the pulled pork sandwich to go.  The shrimp was good, but just average.  The pulled pork was delicious!   Shaggy's is a very casual, laid back kind of place.  We will definitely go there again.  This island needs more good restaurants.

Runners Will Run For Beer

I don't remember if this is my race number from the Pensacola marathon in November or from one of the half marathons I did in Pensacola last Fall and Winter.

 I found it (of all places) in the trash can in the Murph's office (man cave) the other day.   I immediately rescued it and pulled it out of the trash because I save these things.  I'm planning on covering an entire wall with all my race numbers and crap when we move.

These things are valuable!

The Boy saw the number and questioned why there are three beer coupons and only one food coupon. He has a lot to learn about races!  Everybody knows that runners run for beer!  If the race officials offered three food coupons and only one beer coupon, nobody would show up.

What I don't understand is why are all the coupons still attached to my number?  This could only mean that I must not have shown up.

I missed out on three cups of beer and some free food at one of those races!

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Sweet Tea - Gotta Have It

My fav sweet tea

Ken and I usually do our grocery shopping on Friday or Saturday, but I'm already out of sweet tea which I have to have, so we went to the store today after our walk.  Ken doesn't really appreciate sweet tea and thinks I shouldn't drink it.  He thinks I am too obsessed with it and it's almost like a drug that makes me way to hyper for him to handle.  Ha! Ha!   He doesn't even recognize his refrigerator and pantry since I moved in.  His diet was way healthier than mine.  His idea of flax seed is this....ground up and added to his morning smoothie....

Mine is this...  right after I've had a couple of handfuls of chips and always accompanied by a glass of sweet tea in the largest glass I can find...

I go from eating something salty such as pretzels, crackers and potato chips, right to something sweet, usually cookies.  This amuses him.  Salty, sweet, salty, sweet.  This process goes on for most of the day.  Ken always has a grocery list when he goes to the store and he use to tell me to "just add what I wanted/needed to the list."  This didn't work for me because I don't know what I want or need until I get to the store.  It's usually Cape Cod Chips, some sort of cookies, crackers, cheese, bananas, power bars, fitness water, etc.  I have my favorite brands and I usually stick with them.  Now he just lists my stuff under "Barbie's (insert my real name here) Crap".

My crap includes, but isn't limited to some of these items....

Whenever Ken starts up on me about the sweet tea drinking, I come back on him about his beer drinking.  Ken's "crap" always includes these items....brands vary, but never, ever include Budweiser, Miller and most of the other domestic beers.  He's kind of a beer snob....

It's been over a year now and I'm still a sweet tea drinking, cookie eating Southern Gal and he's still my "piss drunk Irishman". ( I heard that expression once and thought it was funny so I use it on Ken since he's Irish even if he's not usually piss drunk.)   I told him if he wants me to give up my sweet tea then he's going to have to give up his beer.  I think I can safely say I'll be drinking sweet tea for a long, long time.

Drunk Chicken

Tonight we are having my new favorite thing to eat for dinner (and no it's not the Murph).   I had never even heard of it until I met the Murph.  It is called Drunk Chicken.  I use to laugh when I would see the Murph cooking it.  Back in those days I thought he was just being creative with the ingredients that he ALWAYS has on hand......beer!

Basically Drunk Chicken is just a whole chicken with a can of beer shoved in it's you know what. It stands up on the grill and cooks until the beer evaporates up the chicken's butt and then it's done. I think the Murph adds a little seasoning, but he says it's top secret! ( I think it's mostly just a little salt and pepper.)  Leave the beer can half full of beer.  Drink the other half.  Have a few more beers as you wait for the chicken to cook.  By the time the chicken is done I don't know who's drunker, the Murph or the chicken!

At first I refused to eat it when the Murph offered it.  That was back when I was on a fast food diet and if you couldn't get it at a drive through or out of a box or at a restaurant, I didn't eat it.   I didn't realize what I was missing!  When I moved in with the Murph, we started eating at home a few nights a week and of course he made his classic Drunk Chicken.  I tried it and loved it!  It's the moistest chicken I have ever eaten.  We eat it at least once a week.  If you can get over laughing at a big, naked chicken with a beer can stuck in it's butt, it really is good.  Honest!