Happy Anniversary to Me!

I've posted it on every other blog I have and Facebook, so why not here, too, right?!?!

Today The Farmer and I are celebrating 8 years of marriage! Well, actually, he is sleeping and I am blogging so we aren't doing much celebrating, but today is our anniversary. We are going to celebrate this weekend with a lovely dinner date. The Farmer did bring me home some beautiful flowers tonight, though.

Here are some pictures from our day (they are scanned, so they aren't of the highest quality...my apologies for not getting married when everything was digital...):

Oh to be young, cute, and skinny again...

Trixie

When it's cold, I like...

To cuddle up on the couch with a cozy blanket. Doesn't this cable knit throw from Pottery Barn look perfect for a cold day?

To drink hot cocoa out of a big mug. May I suggest the best hot cocoa I have ever tasted from Mariebelle in NYC. The choices of cocoas include chocolate and bananas, spicy chocolate, and milk chocolate, and each is so rich that a regular size cocoa is about the size of a shot glass.

To watch NFL playoff football. We are currently watching the Arizona Cardinals battle it out with the Green Bay Packers. We (the Saints) will play the winner of this game next Saturday at 3:30 in the Superdome. I will be in that number and cannot wait until the game. I hope it warms up so that I don't freeze my bottom off tailgating.

To cook a warm and hearty meal. Tonight we're having chicken curry which I am adapting from a cooking light recipe for turkey curry. I thought the nice spicy curry would warm us up tonight. Mmmm...

To daydream about a beach vacation (we're hoping to be taki

ng one in a few weeks to Miami to see the Saints play in the Superbowl). Fingers crossed!!!!

LOLA

Style Inquiry: Duck boots

Are duck boots cool? My cousin who is in college wanted some for Christmas and she is adorable. I started thinking to myself that unlike skinny jeans I may be able to pull off this trend.

Duck boots really aren't a trend. They are more of a classic as they have been around forever. However, I don't have a pair so I started doing some research.

In my queries I found mostly ugly ducklings.


But then I found that Tory BURCH has a pair of duck boots out right now. Amazing!



The pair I like the best is this pair by Sperry's.


What do you think? Tory, Sperry, or none?

Honey Bun

Bring it 2010

This is Honey Bun. Can I start out by saying that I am THRILLED it is 2010 for so many reasons.

1) I'm turning 30! Age is just a number...an AWESOME number. For those of you who don't know me...my voice sounds like I am an eight year old. I convinced myself at 25 (my last benchmark age) that 30 is when my voice would change for good. 30 is when people start taking you seriously. 30 is when you have enough life experience to have an opinion or be an expert on something. Sure, it comes with a few challenges (aka wrinkles and pounds), but overall it is arguably the perfect age.

2) 2010: 20+10=30. Get it?

3) This year I have not one but TWO trips planned. One international (the Holy Land) and a lazy domestic beach vaca.

4) 2008 was terrible. 2009 was a mixture of great things and terrible things. Great things of 2009 are Lily and my job. Terrible things of 2009 are my grandmother dying and being 29. Oh age 29, you carry all the responsibilities of a "real" adult but none of the respect.

5) Alabama is winning the national championship game. My grandfather is very sick with Leukemia. I've never seen anyone as passionate about a sports team as my grandfather is about the Crimson Tide. Lola might argue that she is the most passionate fan...I will grant Lola the most competitive and well versed sports (specifically SAINTS) fan in the nation but my grandfather has been a fan for many more years...a passion that can only come with time. This is clearly an early call with 1 minute left in the third quarter and a Texas TD, but Alabama is well positioned for the win.

6) Surprises. I typically hate surprises but there is something so exciting about the wonder of a new year. What will happen? What does the future hold? I hope for all great things for you and your families.

Global Warming

I don't know about y'all, but I am really enjoying this global warming.

I mean, here we are on January 7th, and there are record high temperatures. I mean, I have spent a lot of my time lately laying out and getting a suntan! It is just beautiful and so warm!

Oh, wait...that's not quite right...

No, instead there are record low temperatures everywhere. I saw a weather map this morning, and it was showing temperatures in the low 50s in Miami. The poor farmers in Florida have ice on their strawberries, oranges, and tomatoes. We are supposed to have that dreaded "wintry mix" of rain, sleet, and snow tonight and into the morning. Our high tomorrow is 40 degrees.

40 degrees!

My poor children aren't going to know what hit them!

I know that there are plenty of places where that is just another winter day, but not here in the South. I, for one, hate cold weather. In fact, as soon as Christmas is over I am ready for the temperatures to spring back up to at least 70. I keep thinking that I would love to be in the Keys to escape this mess, but even that isn't far enough south!

I don't know about you, but I sure could use some global warming right about now...

Trixie

Tex Mex burgers--YUM!!

I read about these in Real Simple and adapted the recipe a bit more to my liking. Made them tonight and they were fabulous (and super-easy to make)!

Tex Mex Hamburgers

Ingredients:

ground beef

sour cream

bread crumbs

sliced avocado

salsa

shredded Monterrey Jack or 4 cheese Mexican blend (I used the 4 cheese Mexican)

Mix ground beef, some sour cream, and some bread crumbs together and form patties. I don't like to use measurements when I cook, so just use enough that your hamburgers don't crumble when you grill them. Grill burgers (I grilled them inside on the stove but I also like to use the grill outside). Broil/grill buns to your liking. Put hamburger on bottom bun and immediately top with cheese so it melts. Top with two or three spoonfuls of salsa, and then top with sliced avocado. Put top bun on, take a huge bite and enjoy! Delish!!!

Love, Muffie :)

It's the most wonderful time of the year

No, silly, not Christmas - Mardi Gras! For most people, the end of December brings a sadness that comes with the close of another holiday season. But for those of us from New Orleans, the grandest season of them all is set to begin this Wednesday, January 6th on the Feast of the Epiphany. It is the official start to the 2010 carnival season, and it means that the parade I ride in is only five weeks away!!! This will be my fifth ride in the Krewe of Muses, and it will be the tenth anniversary of our amazing Krewe of more than 1,500 dedicated women, with more than 750 of them riding in this year's parade. The theme of our parade, which changes annually, will remain a secret until the day of our ride. It is kept closely guarded by all of us in the krewe because mystery is a part of what makes Mardi Gras so special. Each float will bare a politically and socially relevant and satirical title that will relate to the theme of the parade, and each rider on the float will wear a headdress that represents her float's title. The headdress (which is designed and put together by the members of each float) is of utmost importance because the winner of the headdress contest gets to ride in the "Title Float" (the first float of the parade) in the next year's parade - a HUGE honor. Fingers crossed it will be the women of Float 18 taking home this prize!! We have come so close in the past, and I just have a feeling this is OUR YEAR! I am so excited that the season is almost here, that I just had to share this little look into the life of a Muse. Here's some pictures from the parade last year...

Here is a picture of our headdress from last year. You can't see it here, but the whole thing lit up! It was beautiful.

This is my riding buddy, Sarah, and me at our float's luncheon at Galatoire's Restaurant on Bourbon St. Lunch at Galatoire's is a true Mardi Gras tradition.

This is Sarah and me at our parade's pre-party right before we heard the sirens of the motorcycle unit of NOPD announcing that it was time to board the floats and head down Tchoupitoulas St. for our big ride!

This is a picture of Float 13 and all of the wonderful women I ride with.

LOLA