Turkey Meatballs

One of my favorite "make ahead of the week" dishes is my Turkey Meatballs. They are so easy and can be enjoyed multiple ways. Sometimes I make double and freeze half - they store really well. I enjoy these yummy things on salads for lunch, in soups, with pasta and sauce, or with a side of veggies.

Turkey Meatballs
1 lb ground turkey
1 cup of skim ricotta cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 egg
1 cup breadcrumbs (I swap regular breadcrumbs for Panko crumbs)
Pinch of oregano, salt, and pepper
Note: I often add chopped bell pepper and purple onion for added veggies and flavor

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine ingredients in mixing bowl. Heat pan with olive or canola oil to medium heat. Shape meatballs and them in pan for 10-15 minutes, until browned on all sides. Hint: I use an ice cream scooper for consistency in size and less mess. Careful not to put in too many meatballs because your pan will lose its heat.

Once all of the meatballs have been browned, place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Bake in the oven for 15-20 miniutes, until done. Serve immediately or let cool to freeze.

Enjoy!



Time with the girls

 One of the greatest gifts Chi Omega gave me is my best girls. We all pledged in different semesters but we developed a friendship that has grown and changed throughout each turn in our lives. I was traveling to Tampa for a conference so I decided that I would fly in a two days early and spend some quality time with the girls. Morgan flew up to join me on Friday and we shared a delicious bottle of wine and tapas at The Living Room in Downtown Dunedin. After hours chatting up a storm, we called it a night in the wee hours of the morning. Saturday, we enjoyed breakfast at Kelly's and a long stroll down to the waterfront area. We soaked up the sun and caught up on the happenings of life.

Kelly & Morgan

After we spent a few hours lost, trying to remember how to get around Tampa, we ended up hitting one of our old frequented spots, Tijuana Flats. After a bit of shopping at International Plaza we headed home to meet Kel and get ready for a little birthday dinner for Morgan. Melissa met us and we enjoyed wine and yummy food at The Pub, my new favorite spot in Tampa. To cap the night, we picked up hot chocolate and dessert from The Cheesecake Factory. Kel stayed over and we stayed up talking until our eyes could not stay open any longer. Sunday, we enjoyed a nice breakfast together and it was back to our respective worlds.  



Morg, Me, Mel



When you have reached this stage in life when you are working to develop your career, raising babies, and being a wife - the quality time for just the girls becomes a special occasion. I appreciate that no matter where life has led us, we continue to carve out time to be together.  We are clearly grown but I still feel as though we are those bright eyed college girls ready to take on the world. I sort of love that about us.

Flashback from College

A Little Bit Wicked

With Angie in NYC

A few years ago, I traveled to NYC to visit my fabulous friend, Angie. The fun part about our friendship is that we mostly seeing each other when we meet up somewhere fun like Hawaii or NY - maybe Africa this summer. Angie and I met my junior year of high school when we were the new kids on the cheerleading squad. After rooming together at camp, our friendship was sealed. During my last trip to the Big Apple to visit Angie, we saw WICKED and my love affair with the show began.


My older brother loved The Wizard of Oz but it just never was my thing. When Wicked came out, starring Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth, I knew I wanted to see it but my adoration for the show caught me by complete surprise. It is simply phenomenal! After raving about it, Morgan sent me a copy of the soundtrack and I listened to it over and over. Momma purchased the soundtrack for me so now I have a copy at home and one in the office.

I have pretty much been dreaming about the next time I would see it so you can imagine my excitement when I heard it was coming close to Fayetteville. My friend Kerri, also know as my theater buddy, and I planned to see the show. I put reminders on my calendar to check on ticket availability until finally the release date was announced just before my birthday. Momma and Doug decided that my ticket would be my birthday present and away to ticket wonderland we ventured.

Tickets, Coffee, & Soundtrack

After posting something on my FB, Nikki approached me about coming along. Of course, we were delighted for her to join us and the three of us waited impatiently for October to pass and Wicked to be here. On the day of the show, I woke up and enjoyed coffee out of my NYC Central Park Starbucks coffee mug that I purchased while visiting Ang, it seemed only right. I am quite certain my neighbors wanted to shoot me as the walls shook with Defying Gravity at 8am on a Saturday but what can you do. We left around 9am and drove the three hours to Little Rock with soundtrack on hand. We gabbed and sang the whole way down.

When we arrived, we quickly checked into the hotel and changed. We had planned to get lunch but ran out of time and rather than be late to the show, we sucked it up. Best part of our hotel was that the cast, yes, the cast were staying there. Unfortunately, we only caught a glimpse of a couple of the dancers but we still slept close to the stars.

The DoubleTree dyed their water green

The show was amazing, yet again. Nikki was seeing it for the first time so that added extra excitement to the event. When it ended, we all wanted it to just start over. I cannot explain my love affair with the show but I swear it gets better each time I see it. I love the theme of doing what is right even when it is not popular and I am certain that is was keeps me coming back for more. The story has depth paired with beautiful music.

 

Nikki, me, Kerri

Once the show ended, we snapped a few photos and headed to the downtown area for food. You can imagine that at this point we were ravenous. We enjoyed a fantastic meal at Rumba, an amazing mexican-cuban restaurant. I enjoyed steak tacos (which had pot roast style meat) with yellow rice and black beans. Obviously, I had a margarita or two. This Florida gal loves me some Mexican-Cuban food, it warms my soul so I was in heaven. The restaurant has a funky, retro vibe that made it a great spot for a girls night out.

 

We ate ourselves into such a food coma that we retired to the room around 8pm. Our plan was to change and then hit the town. After chatting up a storm for two hours we decided to just hit the hay. I, admittedly, was practically already down for the count. I adored the show but our girl talk and hysterical laughter in the room was probably my favorite part of the trip.

 We rose Sunday morning and hit Starbucks for a little breakfast and coffee. I love their egg white and turkey bacon sandwiches with a pumpkin spiced latte. Delicious! We hit the road back to Fayetteville and sadly, our fun adventure ended.

Candles @ Rumba

The show was fabulous and spending time with Kerri and Nikki was a tremendous treat! Here is to the next time I'll be seeing green with Wicked.

25 Things About Me

My guilty pleasures when I fly are The Economist and US Weekly. When skimming through US Weekly this past trip, I found myself reading "25 things you did not know about me" and I thought it was a fun idea for a blog post. I always enjoy learning fun facts about people, things you expect and others that you would have never guessed. Here are 25 Things You May or May not know about me:

1. I have lived in 5 cities and 3 different states in the 10 years since I left home for college.
2. My Daddy and I have the same initials.
3. I read Pride & Prejudice and To Kill a Mockingbird every year. I am starting to collect used hard cover editions of the books.
4. If I could live anywhere, it would be in a cottage on the lake.
5. I do not believe there is much that a bubble bath and glass of Cabernet cannot fix.
6. My cats are named Abbey after Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen and Atticus after To Kill A Mockingbird.
7. There was a period of time that I wanted to rock the runways as a model.
8. If I were not in student affairs, I would want to be an FBI profiler or social secretary for the First Lady.
9. Washington, DC is my favorite city in the United States.
10. I am obsessed with dark chocolate and pumpkin.
11. I am the first member of my family to graduate college.
12. I have strong instincts about people. The first time I ever talked to Morgan was to invite her to come to a Chi Omega spring recruitment party and we have been best friends since.
13. Before USF, I wanted to study nursing in Hawaii.
14. I have never lived in a residence hall or gone to a fraternity party.
15. I have a fondness for written notes, letters, and being sent flowers.
16. I love Natty Light, wine, and pomegranate martinis.
17. I collect cookbooks from Junior Leagues and cities I visit.
18. I had my belly button pierced for about 6 months.
19. Wtih all of my culinary skills, I cannot achieve making a cheesecake.
20. The only piece of furniture I have purchased is my coffee table and bookshelves, everything else in my house was passed down.
21. Steamed Broccoli is my favorite veggie.
22. I buy little cocktail napkins and decorative muffin liners all the time.
23. I got a referral in 5th grade for saying "turd". When the principal called my Daddy, he said next time I would just say "s**t". My referral got tore up and dismissed from my record.
24. I am named after the little girl my mother babysat when she was a teenager.
25.  I accidentally stole a handi-snack from the grocery store when I was little. My Momma made me go into the store to admit what I had done and pay for it.

Decorating for Christmas

When I was little my step mom began purchasing us an ornament each year which served as our Christmas Eve gift. I have an ornament for almost every year of my life that represents something I was interested in then, from scuba diving to being rodeo queen.  When I went to college, my Momma purchased my first bulbs of blues and silver which still adorn my tree. With all of the meaning behind my ornaments, I always feel a bit nostalgic about decorating my Christmas tree. I have had a hesitancy about decorating my tree an anything but these ornaments but I have decided that it is time to transition into ornaments that I buy for myself - I'm thinking owls and jewel tones. I may be a family of one but I still think it is important to start your own holiday traditions. I could never get rid of these ornaments so I will be displaying them in a large vase in future years. With the changing of traditions on my tree, I felt especially excited to decorate the tree this year.

Everyone has a process they use to decorate. I start by pulling out the tree and getting all of the branches ready. Then I lay out my ornaments to survey what will go on the tree this year. Some of my ornaments that would be prime time for the cats to break, I display in a vase. Once all of the ornaments are laid out, I test the lights. I strand the tree and then the fun begins. This year, I simplified and only put up a few ornaments. I even broke the rule and put up my tree before Thanksgiving because I am going home on the 17th and I wanted to be able to enjoy it for a bit.

I begin shopping for Christmas super early because I hate the crowds as the holiday grows closer so I am usually done by Thanksgiving. This year is no exception, although I still have a few lingering things. Wrapping presents is the most fun for me - there is nothing like getting a pretty present! I did a twist on Christmas colors and went with Green, Pink, and Red with white for bows. I got the cutest paper at Pier One and these little accent berries at Hobby Lobby (for a steal I might add). For a couple of years now, I have flown home for Christmas and have not been able to decorate my presents all that nice so I really got excited about wrapping this year.

Presents under the tree!



How cute is this paper?



Hope you are all enjoying the twinkle of your trees! Tonight, I'll be enjoying mine with a delicious cup of hot chocolate.