Memorial Day

Hi y'all.

Mr. Snoop and I spent Memorial Day at my uncle's ranch in Texas, where we celebrated my grandfather's 80th birthday.  Mr. Snoop, my brother, and I all went down early to help my uncle finish up the front porch he was building.  Mr. Snoop was totally in heaven out there: nail guns, 4-wheelers, beer, barbeque.  He's becoming such a Texan.  I'll post pics of the porch later, but meanwhile, here are the cows.  Can you spy the two babies?  There is one more on the way.

At least two of the girls are longhorns.  The big white boy on the right is a brahma bull.  There are lots of brahmas in the part of Texas where the ranch is.  Do you see the baby laying down all the way on the right?

Don't you just love all the wildflowers?  My mom picked a bunch of them and made an awesome bouquet. 

And there's one of the babies!

Weekend in Norfolk

This past weekend, Mr. Snoop and I road tripped down to Norfolk for his sister's graduation from Medical School.  Yep, it's a medically heavy family.  We left at 5:30am on friday, so I woke up in Delaware just in time for... wait for it.... breakfast at Chick-Fil-A!!!  Yeah, we don't have those in the Great White North.  Mr. Snoop and I had sh*t eating grins on our faces for the entire Chick-Fil-A experience.  Their bathrooms were sparkling and the lady at the register didn't act like we'd ruined her day by patronizing her workplace.  She was (gasp) nice!  And plus there was this:

It's a cell phone pic so you can't see that well, but check out that organization of condiments and silverware.  It made my slightly ocd heart sing!  Don't judge me.

Also, I wore these really cute wedges that I got at Target for the entire trip down.  They are super comfortable.  Again, don't judge me.

  

The graduation was really nice- we were able to walk from the hotel.  I can't believe that in (exactly!!) one year that will be Mr. Snoop.  Craziness.  Here we are after the graduation.  I've got some awesome shadows on my face.

After the graduation, Mr. Snoop, his other sister, her boyfriend, and I walked over to a beer festival down the street from our hotel.  It was really fun and just so nice to be outside in the sunshine.  Mr. Snoop was pretty much in heaven, even though his face says otherwise:

It was so nice to just escape our normal routine for a weekend.  And, not gonna lie, to get out of New York for a little bit.  I love escaping the fast pace of life up here.  The only part that sucked was our drive back.  We made the drive down in 6.5 hours but the drive back took nearly 10 hours.  All the traffic was, you guessed it, in New Jersey.  Horrific.  But at least we got these awesome strawberries on the way:

...And now we're prepping for our next weekend away.  In Texas!

May Randoms

As I've mentioned earlier, the month of May is crazy sauce this year (and every year?).  Since I have been--and still am--running around nonstop, my brain won't do a coherent post.  So here's a random list of what's been going on.

- My friend Jessica visited over Cinco De Mayo.  We had friends over to grill out and drink margaritas.  It was marvelous.  I love friends.

- I did a BIG grocery shop with coupons on Monday.  I paid $102 for $205 worth of groceries.  Holla!

- Mr. Snoop and I went to an annual party for my work.  There is a theme and costume contest every year.  This year it was movie characters.  I was Elle Woods because I couldn't think of anything better, and let's face it, I have lots of pink on hand.  Mr. Snoop was Bluto from Animal House. 

Toga....TOGA....TOGA!!!!!

In case you are thinking, "He should have won...."  Why yes, yes he did in fact win.  The trophy is on his desk.

- To make a really great toga, get two cheap twin top sheets and sew two ends together.  Easiest homemade costume ever.

- Speaking of work, did you know my work is haunted?  True story.  The building was built in like 1860 or something, so, yeah.  I know there is one male ghost who used to own the property.  There is also a dark-haired female ghost.  She was spotted again recently.  I haven't seen either and am really not interested in seeing them.  And that's why I nearly pee my pants every time I'm alone at work at night.  EEK!!!  Have you ever seen a ghost?

- We are driving to Norfolk for Mr. Snoop's sister's med school graduation this weekend.  I need to plan my outfits.  And I hope it's warm enough to go to the beach.

- Remember how I had one free weekend until July?  Well now we are going down to TX that weekend (Memorial Day) for my grandfather's 80th birthday party at my uncle's ranch.  There will be lots of booze and bbq, and I can't wait!

- I left my calendar at home today and now I feel naked and lost without it.  I also forgot to put in my earrings.  So basically I'm a hot mess.

That's all I got!  Hope y'all are doing well!

Snoop's Guide to Grad Gifts Part 2

Moving on with my obession love of gift-giving, today's installment will be about Girl Gifts.  My favorite!  Because I'm a girl.

-Girl Gifts-

A Cookbook

Austin Entertains from the JL of Austin

For the college grad, a good all-purpose cookbook is a perfect gift. She'll be (hopefully) living on her own and cooking for herself. I love the idea of giving one from the Junior League in your hometown. It would be super cute to throw in a monogrammed dishtowel, apron, or pot holder with the cookbook.  Along with wooden utensils.  You could do such a fun presentation!

Sorority Gear

This is a little unorthodox for a high school graduation gift, but if you know the girl is going to rush, you could wait on buying her graduation gift until she pledges. Then gift with something in her sorority's Lilly Pulitzer print and send a cute note about how you didn't rush on her gift so you could wait til she rushed. This is Lilly's Kappa Delta print. Holla, Chrissie the KD Prez!

Stationery

High quality, personalized stationery is a perfect gift for a high school or college graduate.   This Cranes art deco monogram is fun for a girl.

Nice PJs, robe, or slippers

from Williams Sonoma

For the high school girl going up north for college, get her a luxurious set of pajamas, a robe, and/or slippers. Monogrammed, of course. She'll need to stay warm up north, and who wants to have bare feet on a dorm floor.  Ick.

That's all for now as far as the chicas go... Next up will be the gentlemen!

Cauliflower Cheddar Soup

So I made this soup last night and it was cheap, delicious, and easy.  The holy trinity, if you will.  Since Mr. Snoop liked it too, I thought I'd share.  This will definitely go into our regular rotation. 

Also, did you know that it is May and our heat is on?  True story.  Gotta love the Great White North.  Anyway, here she is.  I think this originally came from some sort of Martha Stewart publication.  Maybe Everyday Food. 

Cauliflower Cheddar Soup
- 3 tb butter
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 head cauliflower, cut up into florets
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup water
- 1.5 cups white cheddar, grated
- Cayenne pepper, for sprinkling

Saute onion in butter.  Add cauliflower florets and saute until lightly browned, about 10 minutes.  Add broth and water. 

[Side Note: I used those broth flavor packet thingies--3 in 4 cups of water.  They recommend a 4 to 4 ratio but I thought that seemed like too much.  So you might want to water down your broth.  Or not.  Whatever.]

Bring to a boil and simmer until cauliflower is soft, 15 - 20 minutes.  Then puree the whole thing with an immersion or regular blender.  Stir in cheddar cheese and sprinkle individual servings with cayenne.  Delicious!