Beachin’ It

Occasion: Fort Pickens with the Family
Shirt: XXI | Skirt: American Apparel | Shoes: Ross (Children’s department) | Belt: Gift, Vintage

We’re enjoying a nice break with my family in Pensacola, Florida this week. There’s so many forts, historical sites, and museums here, it’s a history buff’s paradise. (And we’re both huge history nerds!)

This was taken at Fort Pickens on Pensacola beach. It’s a fort from the civil war era, and is the perfect spot for photo shoots. We’ll be going back later, because the weather was less-than-cooperative when we went yesterday. I’ll definitely be bringing the tripod. :)

What’s your favorite part about vacations? Are you a “lay on the beach” type of person, a “local culture connoisseur”, or something else? I think I fall into the “museum and food nerd” category myself.

French Birthdays

Well, my story came out in the paper. It’s a less-personalized version of my abusive job post, aimed toward college kids who are about to graduate or who are looking into internships. I won’t say it’s a fun read, but it could help someone who’s in a bad situation recognize it. Enough about that.

We’re heading to B’s parents’ house this weekend to celebrate B’s dad’s 91st birthday. 91! The man doesn’t seem to be a day over 70. Judging by him, I’d say the secret to a long life if daily exercise, keeping your intellectual curiosity (a retired general surgeon, he reads medical journals to this day!) and having chocolate every night before bed. I promised to make him some fried pies (like him mom used to make, he said), and B and I will be preparing a four-course French dinner for the whole family. I hope the kids like French food!

We sorted the whole menu out last night, here is what we’re planning:

Course One: Cheese plate with fig spread, honey (should I truffle it??) and cornichons

I love a good cheese plate. It gets your palate ready for new flavors and quells the hunger pangs until dinner is ready!

Course Two: A Grilled hearts of romaine salad with lemon anchovy dressing

We’re totally stealing this idea from our delicious dinner at El Meze in Taos, NM. This salad was so good, even I liked it, and I’m not a salad kind of girl.

Course Three: Shrimp boats in white wine sauce and Haricots Verts in a butter lemon sauce

We’re into sauces. This is the shrimp dish B made for my lovely French Birthday Dinner in the summer. We just can’t get enough of it. His parents get fresh shrimp from the Gulf delivered to their home every week, so we thought we’d take advantage of it.

(Sidenote: I haven’t noticed a decline in the quality of shrimp from the Gulf, but B did find a tarball while we were in Florida visiting my parents. So as far as the state of Gulf seafood, I’m not sure how the quality has suffered. I was extremely worried about eating any of it after the BP disaster initially happened, but now that some time has passed, I’m fine with it — in small doses. Only time can tell how badly the disaster affected our Gulf’s marine life.)

Course Four: Dessert

We haven’t decided on a dessert just yet. My sister-in-law is a badass baker. She made a red velvet cake for her birthday that made me want to cry. I’m prepared to do a simple chocolate mousse, but if she offers a birthday cake, I’m all in. Stay tuned to fine out how this all turns out. I know you’re absolutely riveted.

Good Day

I had a wonderful day of shopping and visiting with my mom and sister. First we went to Half Price Books, which always promises a treasure trove of good reads, this visit did not disappoint.

A History of the Wife by Marilyn Yalom, And What Do You Do? by Kaufman & Quigley, and Hating Women by Shmuley Boteach. (Shmuley Boteach?) So I now have books for February, March and April. I’m very excited to be getting back into the “swing of things” academically. I miss sociology texts! And conversation! And firey in-class discussions! Le sigh. Now the only question is: which one first?

Then we hit up Anthropologie for some good ‘ol window shopping and — gasp upon gasp! — I bought something. A belt. It was $6.95. How could I not? So I own a belt now. Woot! We also stopped by the new West Elm store, which, I had avoided, thinking it was expensive… how wrong I was! (I should go ahead and preface this by telling you that I’m incredibly cheap.) Not only is their furniture (relatively) inexpensive, but their sales are insane. I got 4 3-pack glass Christmas ornaments for .47¢ each, this adorable mirror-tree plate for $1.97 and a pack of cocktail napkins for .97¢. (I read somewhere that, in order to always be prepared for a spur-of-the-moment cocktail party, you should buy cocktail napkins whenever they’re on sale.)

Notice the pack of Kleenex. The Austin allergies are working their magic on me and my entire household. Blast the seven-year itch-y eyes, nose and throat!

Then we had lunch at The Screaming Goat, a Mexican restaurant I had been meaning to go to but just never had… it was delicious. We all had the “drowning” flautas. Basically, flautas in tortilla soup. Heaven!

I will definitely be going back. Plus, you’ve got to love their sign:

… Until tomorrow. We’re making the trek to Sephora. I’ll be dreaming of .47¢ makeup sales….