Fun with visitors

Thomas' parent's just left after a 3 day visit, and we were able to have a few wonderful taste bud experiences. We began with Ina Garten's Parmesan Chicken that my old friend LB shared on her blog recently. It is my favorite chicken parmesan recipe to date and is simply divine served over the greens. We also had a local chowder that we bought at our new favorite Sunday tradition, the farmers market at Attleboro Farms.  WE LOVE LOCAL FOOD!

The next night our dear friends from church took us to Bristol, RI (a totally cute town) and we had incredible seafood from Quito's.  I forgot my camera so I did what I could to capture the moment with my phone:

The fish and chips there were so good and only lightly fried, not heavily breaded. But Thomas' meal was probably the best--it was just simple grilled shrimp and scallops with garlic smashed potatoes! Their coleslaw was also another highlight. And the sweet potato fries. And my mother-in-law's seafood casserole made with an ample amount of sherry.

Ok, so everything was good.

Then we had wonderful Italian last night at Rino's in East Boston. This is the same place that was closed the last time we tried to go and Thomas nearly had cardiac arrest+panic attack+ hyperventilated +temper tantrum. Anyway, we called ahead to make sure it was open and it was so delicious! We'll definitely be returning for their home made pasta and friendly atmosphere. And once again, I forgot my camera so I didn't get to capture much of the Austin's visit! But alas, it must live on in our memories.

New Abode

We've officially finished our latest move and are really loving our new place. We look at each other quite a few times a day and say "I love this place, don't you?" I'm especially enjoying the fact that I now have my food processor, a full set of silverware and other miscellaneous items that I shoved into a suitcase on my way back north. Yes, I put a food processor and a full set of silverware in a suitcase. And checked my bag. It was 54.5 lbs and I ran from the scene before the airlines guy could realize I was 4.5 lbs over the bag limit. Hooray for having more than 4 forks, 4 spoons, 4 knives....you get the picture.

Endless amounts of counter space! This kitchen has more counter space than all of our other kitchens....combined.

I love this little nook above the sink in the kitchen. 

There is a great built-in dresser in the guest room, which works out nicely since we don't have one here. 

Our cozy bedroom. Please note that I also shoved the bed skirt into my luggage. I'd been missing it!

I'd like to give a special shout-out to Thomas Austin for spending many, many minutes figuring out how to install this curtain system from Ikea. Our windows are weird special and I could really find nothing that would fit them properly. Enter handy husband and you have these delightful curtains on a wire. 

Yet another fun built-in bookshelf in our bedroom. I love these thoughtful little spaces!

Bathroom with PLENTY of space for us to brush our teeth at the same time. Finally. 

We love our new space!

What we've been up to

The past few weeks have been half vacation, half chaos. Here is a quick photo run-down of what has been happening in our lives:

We flew to Orlando for 3 days for an amazing conference for pro-football players and their significant others. This is the only photo that I took at the conference. Poor documentation on my part! We learned so much and had a wonderful time relaxing with friends in the afternoon/evenings. 

Maggie and I ran the Disney Princess Half Marathon after the conference was over. It was hilarious and fun and mostly exhausting, but we were proud when it was over. It was fun to be with my old running partner once again. 

Thomas and Tyler were at the finish line with some hilarious signs. Thomas' sign said "I'm with the hot blonde."  He actually took a picture with a REALLY hot blonde, and it wasn't me.....

(Yes, that guy ran the race looking like that)

The next day and a half were spent by the pool, recovering from our run. Thomas gets the credit for taking this awesome sunset photo. Just wish we could edit out those light posts! 

Our last day and a half in Orlando consisted of a quick jaunt through Disney World. Thomas and Tyler had never been and were quite hilarious as they took in all the sights and sounds. Thomas insisted on going from place to place as quickly as possible to maximize on our time, while Tyler stopped every few feet to capture something on the camera. Needless to say, it was entertaining. 

3-D Bug's Life movie. 

Thomas and Tyler after a long day of walking in the parks. 

Enjoying our last night together at the California Grill.  If you ever go to Disney, we highly recommend the sushi there, and it has a great vantage point for the nightly fireworks show. 

THEN I had a layover in order to move our stuff out of storage in Clemson into a more accessible place at my parent's house. I was in South Carolina for 24 hours, then flew back to Massachusetts where we moved into our NEW apartment the next day! We've decided to spend our off-season/the potential lockout here in New England as I've found a great job working with autistic kids and Thomas has some buddies nearby to work out with. I will post pictures of our new place as soon as I can!

What my husband signed me up for

Last week, Thomas spoke to a group of students at Johnson and Wales in Providence. At the end of his talk, there was a little Q&A time. The topic of exam week came up, and Thomas said, "oh I loved exam week in college, I didn't have any football practice and women from church always made baked goods for the students to eat." A girl who goes to our church raised her hand and said "since you go to our church, are you going to make us baked goods?" Thomas quickly replied "oh my wife is a great baker, she makes awesome p-nut butter brownies, pumpkin muffins, coconut cookies and stuff like that, so she'll make you whatever you want." So afterwards Thomas literally took orders from students for all of the above, and then declared to them that he has the ability to make a chocolate pound cake.

What? Who? Thomas Austin? MY husband?

He can make just about anything on the grill and he is extremely competent in the kitchen, but I've never seen him bake anything. 


Well, after I'd made double batches of every baked good imaginable, Thomas began the making of his chocolate pound cake. After he recovered from a mini-panic attack over the fact that Crisco has enough fat grams to make McDonald's squirm, he impressed me with his baking skills. I must say, the cake was to die for. And I don't even like pound cake. The cinnamon and almond extract are the perfect addition. So, he wanted me to share his success and the recipe. And don't skip the egg white step at the end, it really made for a fluffier pound cake!

Best Chocolate Pound Cake Ever

What I found on my phone...

I was deleting messages etc on my phone the other day, and I just couldn't help but share the following photos before I deleted them. I realized the hilarity of A. having these photos on my phone and B. the fact that I risked my life to take a few of them discreetly. So, please enjoy.

Here is my dad at the Pat's game with not one but TWO hats on, and looking a tad unfashionable if I do say so myself. I protested him wearing these in public but he said comfort came first and his head was cold. 

I had to get really close to take this photo at Ikea without the little boy or his dad seeing me. Or any other customers for that matter! But, pretending like you're intently texting with your phone directly in front of your nose works pretty well. Can you see that little kid's crack? The best part is, I saw this duo more than once in Ikea and his crack was showing every.single.time. 

I took this photo at a game. Once again, discreet tactics were utilized in order to fully capture that AMAZING 80's purple and black ONE PIECE jumpsuit. With that expensive Coach purse. And she had on high-heeled booties. Where on earth did she find that purple mess of an outfit?

Last but not least, I saw this truck on the way to work the other morning. Doody Calls. Premier Pet Waste Removal Service. Enough said.