Geaux Tigers

Since Michael didn't have the week of Thanksgiving off, we couldn't spend the holiday in Kentucky with his family. Fortunately we did get to see his brother and sister and their families here at home, although it wasn't for as much time as we would have liked. Good things did come from us not going to Kentucky since Michael's parents gave us their tickets to the LSU vs. Arkansas game. (And I got to spend time with my sister and her husband since they won't be here for Christmas. And Theo got to play with his new doggie cousin, Nola.)

If you follow college football you know that LSU is not messing around this year to say the least. This was the third game I've ever been to and most definitely the most exciting. We were super nervous, especially when Arkansas scored two touchdowns before we scored. Thankfully the Honey Badger did what he does best and things started looking up for the tigers. Sadly I was just walking out of the bathroom when Tyrann Mathieu decided to return a punt for a touchdown. Then I got lost in the wrong section. It's really hard to find your seat when everyone is wearing the same colors. And I guess being in the wrong section doesn't help. LSU continued to lay down the law. We cheered and I hi-fived a stranger. It was such an awesome game.

I decided we definitely needed a picture of "Baby's First LSU Game" as our child will have no choice but to be a tiger fan.  

And there's my reason for being a tiger fan, my handsome husband.

I can't wait til we beat Georgia week, but I'm not looking forward to a rematch with Alabama. That game was rough.

My Current Craft Project

I'm not even going to pretend to apologize for my absence. I guess it wasn't so bad with those two posts about food in October, but I know you really want to hear about our adventures back at home. Honestly the past couple months have not been too exciting as far as exploring the city and eating awesome food. This is due mostly to the fact that I have been working on the most awesome craft project ever. So awesome in fact that Pinterest can't even handle it's awesomeness.

Yep, we made a human. My emotions started at completely freaked out (even though this was the desired outcome) to completely sleepy and now to being pretty pumped and starting to feel a little more like a human myself.

As for Theo, he doesn't know anything is different except for the increased snuggle time with me, which he is not complaining about.

From the Kitchen

Here are the first two things I baked in our new house. After doing so it started to feel like our home. I like how I decided to show my small kitchen who was boss by baking two things at the same time. 

These bars are Martha Stewart's Chocolate-Caramel Cookie Bars. Her picture is not showing up on the site for some reason. I guess it's better since mine look (and tasted) more fudgy than caramel-y. I think I didn't cook the caramel long enough, but I admit, I was terrified. They came out tasting pretty amazing, so oh well. Next time I'll try to be braver. More brave? (On a side note, Annie's Eats has another version of this treat which makes them seem ever more Twix-like.)

I had ripped these cookies out of a Living magazine. I don't know why. I hate oatmeal cookies. Plus they don't have chocolate in them. However, those who ate the Oatmeal Cookies with Dried Apricots and White Chocolate were not disappointed. I couldn't find California apricots so I don't know what the tasted difference between those and the Mediterranean ones that I used would be.

From the Kitchen

Hi! I've been in La-La Land. Also, I have a few posts in the works, but I have to figure out how to get the photos off my phone. That's right. I upgraded my phone. Who knew being able to take pictures with your phone could be so rad? But I need to figure out how to get the photos without making my phone die. Because I managed to mess it up an hour after getting it. Further proof of my electronic kiss of death ability.

Anyway, make this Shrimp, Feta, and Fresh Herb Mac and Cheese from Annie's Eats. I thought this was delicious. The feta didn't really melt all the way. I don't know if it was supposed to. The lemon and dill really make the dish.

As you can see, it made a ton. Definitely would half it next time.

Dining Room Before and After

This first photo shows you how blue the gray paint was in the living and dining rooms. You can also kind of see the light fixture that was in the dining room. Same one as in the kitchen above the stove.

And here's my better half checking out the wax on the walls.

Annnnd here's our dining room after a fresh coat of Stonington Gray and a fancy chandelier that Michael and his dad wired and hung. I am getting new chairs from World Market for the two end chairs. They were on sale the other weekend and I dashed there to buy them, but they were on back order until November. They rain-checked them for me and I'll still get them at the sale price.

I bought some super fun Amy Butler fabric to make some new placemats. They'll be reversible so one side will look like this and the other side like this. I'm trying to decide how to make them (read: procrastinating).

These two etchings are on either side of the window in the dining room. We bought them in Venice. I had them framed at Hobby Lobby and I'm really happy with the job that they did.

 Ah, Italy. I think of you often.

Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Hazelnut Butter Icing

For this post and possibly others in the future I'm going to add the label "Go to Your Grave" along with the usual "Cooking with the Perrys". That way you'll know that you should make it. That is, of course, if you have the time to go to your grave and come back again.

I had been wanting to recreate the banana cupcake with Nutella buttercream icing that I had for my birthday in Houston. I couldn't find Nutella at Whole Foods and since it's the only thing I needed, I decided to try Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter. You will never want to settle for Nutella again, although you have to admit it takes way less time to type. It was a little pricey, but I used about a tablespoon or so in my steel cut oatmeal every morning for a few weeks, and it was so worth it. So, so worth it.

I decided that I would wait to make these cupcakes until my little brother got into LSU as a celebration of his awesomeness. Good thing he is awesome and got accepted into LSU because these cupcakes were perfection. The actual cake part was from Martha Stewart's Banana Cupcakes  and the icing was pretty much a basic buttercream with the Chocolate Hazelnut Butter mixed in to taste. I don't think you need to add any kind of flavoring like almond or vanilla extract. You can find actual recipes for Nutella Buttercream icings, but keep in mind that the recipe makes 12 cupcakes so you don't need a lot of icing.

September Book

I recently finished reading The Help, and let me tell you I could not put it down. I was a little nervous reading another book that everyone seems to like after reading Water for Elephants.

I actually laughed out loud and teared up a little at times. Excellent storytelling. It's one of those books that I really want to know what happens next for the characters, and I'm definitely going to go to the movies to see it.

July or August Book

I can't remember when I read Water for Elephants. I do remember getting to the end and thinking it was kind of dumb. I didn't even have the slightest interest in seeing the movie afterwards. This could also be because Robert Pattinson is in it and his acting is worse than Keanu Reeves'. Actually let's say Bill Paxton, because Bill Paxton plays normal people and not aliens and Neo like Keanu Reeves who is actually good at being strange. Bill Paxton makes me cringe. I watched Titanic the other day and he is just so painful to watch. Yes, pain best describes sitting through a movie with Robert Pattinson in it. Although I was told that he's not as bad in this movie as he was in Twilight, I just don't think I'll waste my time on it. Unless it's on TV. And I'm looking for something to watch while crafting. Which means I won't really be paying attention.

Back to the book, there was stuff in it that could've been left out. And well I just didn't like it. I wasn't that entertained by it. And I really don't like books that start with the part of the plot that the whole book is leading up to. I'm going to read the book anyway. Why give that part away?

A lot of people have liked the book. I just feel that there's way better stuff out there.

Kitchen Before and After

I bought a card reader! This means I can easily upload photos to the computer! This means blogging will be easier! YAY!

So I said I was going to make the curtain for our kitchen window this weekend. Michael's parents came over to spend the day with us on Saturday so Michael's mom helped me figure out how the curtain should be made and then she helped measure and cut the fabric. I did a whole lot of procrastinating because I was nervous. Cutting the fabric seems so final. Anyway, I finished the curtain on Monday.

I did not, however, start on the final project for the kitchen which is using the border fabric on the bottom of the curtain as "wallpaper" for the back of the glass cabinet in the kitchen. The cabinets are kind of cheap and I'm not sure exactly how to affix the fabric to the cabinet. I'm thinking about attaching the fabric to poster board and then using that foam tape in a few places to hold it in place. I bought the tape but forgot to buy posters. So hold your breath on that one.

Since I'm nice, I decided to show you the kitchen even though it's not completely finished. So here's what it looked like before:

Here's the super fun surprise we found when we moved the fridge. Yay! Mold and a hole in the floor!

I called our realtor because I wasn't sure what one does when they find this two days after buying a house. In her New Orleans accent she said "welcome to homeownership." (Not that she didn't care. She was awesome! Did I tell you that we looked at over 20 houses in 3 days?) No big deal though. Two men that work for my dad came over and fixed the wall and the floor in no time.

And after:

Somehow we ended up with less counter space that we had in Charlottesville. I'm definitely making it work. I'm enjoying having a gas stove but I wish we had four burners instead of two burners and a grill. Somehow I am also making two burners work.

For Heather

And anyone else that wanted to see this lovely duvet cover up close and personal.

I got it on super sale at Pottery barn several years ago. I will love it forever. Now you see the room color dilemma. I think a nice gold-brown would have been pretty. Like Benjamin Moore's Richmond Gold. But  the carpet is kind of beige and the curtains are brown so that would have been too much brown. Plus I like green. So there ya go.

Laundry Room and Pantry Before and After

I plan to make my kitchen curtains and finish decorating the kitchen this weekend. So hopefully you'll have a more exciting before and after than our laundry room and pantry. At least it's more exciting for me because I waited for months for the floral fabric to be back in stock, and it's really going to take the kitchen to the next level.

In other, completely unrelated to the laundry room and pantry, news, I think I've finally thought of a painting I'd like to make to hang above our bed. This makes me happy because as you'll eventually see, we have more wall space in our bedroom than we do in our living room and dining room combined. Also, I kind of started a painting a la Orla Kiely's stem print to hang above our sofa. So the living room won't be completely decorated until then.

So without further ado, I give you the laundry room and the pantry before I entered their sad white walled lives.

And after. I love purple! It was my favorite color when I was little. Pink couldn't be my favorite color because it was my sister's. Then I went through a phase in high school when I realized that I could love pink. But now I'm back to purple. In case you were wondering.

This space is kind of awkward since there's no place for outside shoes. I think I'll put some hooks on the wall behind the outside door for coats and Theo's leash.

I'm so glad I painted the pantry.

Look how much fun this contact paper is! Our food is happy for sure.

We don't have a whole lot of counter or cabinet space in the kitchen so the wine rack and wine glasses were relegated to the pantry. Which I guess isn't so bad since the pantry is so awesome. This is the only organizational bit of the pantry that I'm showing you because the food part kind of looks like a mess. The shelves are just so far apart. I need to get more of those wire add-a-shelf things.

From the Kitchen

Tortellini with Peas and Prosciutto. So yummy I made it again tonight. Couldn't find meat tortellini so we used cheese.

You have leftover tortellini because your mom gave you a large package of tortellini? I guess you need another tortellini recipe. Try this Cheese Tortellini Bake from Emeril. His Classic Bolognese sauce might take forever to make but it is really something. I think next time I might use a different cheese. Like maybe just sprinkle some parmesan on it once it's done baking. 

Guest Bedroom Before and After

Thanks for the comments. I'm glad to know you stuck around.

So here's the guest bedroom. It's a really nice size and the closet is huge. Closet space and decent room sizes were other things that were hard to come by. If it should happen that we have a kid or two while living here this room will become the guest room/ office/ craft room. So I'm not going to put any other furniture in here.

Have I ever told you that I hate the color yellow? Which is funny because I painted my room at my parents' house yellow, but that was just to match my Mickey Mouse sheet set.

And here we are after a nice coat of Sherwin William's Clary Sage. I had quite a difficult time picking a color for this room because I needed it to match the duvet cover that I love and I didn't want to paint the room pink or red or brown.  Are you noticing a trend here? Anyway, I am super happy with this sage color.

This was the last room that needed to be painted. My sister's impending birthday bonanza forced me to get this room finished. I'm glad for that because now it really feels like our home.

Guest Bathroom Before and After

Look at me, I'm a sad and dark little guest bathroom.

Yay! Now I'm a happy guest bathroom.

This is the original bathroom in the house. I'm sure it was the one and only bathroom before the house was renovated over 10 years ago. We saw a lot of houses with this built-in glass door cabinet and laundry hamper. The original doorways (I don't say doors because I don't think the doors themselves are original) have those vintage glass doorknobs! And the black and white tile on the floor made me love this bathroom at first sight. And that's saying a lot because I hate bathrooms. All this little bathroom needed was a fresh coat of happy paint. Oh and the grout in the shower needs to be redone because it's falling out. At least it looks happy, right?

I Miss You

I mean it. I miss you terribly. I used to sit in the living room with my laptop (you know, the one with the busted fan which I haven't turned on in months) and blog away. Michael would sit at his desk in the living room reading blogs and such on his computer. It was just something that we did. Kind of together.

So now I'm using Michael's mac and the thought of using it to blog makes me a little grumpy. Kind of like cooking in someone else's kitchen. That may or may not make sense.

I'm working more, but I certainly do have time to blog. I have been taking pictures of food! So I won't make this post about all the excuses I can think of for not staying in touch. I'm sure you want to see some before and after shots of our home.

Here's a picture of us in front of the house.

I finally uploaded all the pictures that have been on my camera since May. Looks like I do have quite a bit to tell you!

Dr. Husband

Our parents and my brother got to Charlottesville the Thursday before graduation. On Saturday we went to King Family Vineyard for wine tasting and to meet up with Pete and Amanda and his family. We're really going to miss those two.

Michael's brother and sister and their families got to Charlottesville on Saturday evening. Somehow we all managed to fit in our tiny duplex. 

Commencement was on Sunday. The graduate schools (Business, Law, Medicine, and one other) processed first. I was expecting the procession to be very formal, but everyone was walking down the lawn smiling and waving. A lot of undergrads were having a great time and some were holding balloons so their families could find them. It's a really big deal to walk down the lawn at graduation so I thought it was cool how laid back it was. The procession lasted one hour. The actual commencement exercises were nice and they managed to keep everything within an hour and fifteen minutes.

We walked to and from the commencement on the lawn. The medical school diploma ceremony was in the Paramount Theater on the Downtown Mall. I was impressed that they hooded and handed out diplomas in an hour. Here's Dr. Michael Perry and I:

 We cooked for everyone and hung out and enjoyed each other's company until it was time to say goodbye. I'm really going to miss living only 8 hours from Michael's brother and sister.

Update

Remember that time I was MIA and you had to read all my old posts to keep yourself from going into serious withdrawal? I can't promise that it's over, but I can tell you what we've been up to for the past month and a half.

You may recall that we are moving to New Orleans. As you know I don't plaster my whereabouts all over the internet so I hesitated to say that we were going to New Orleans to look at houses. We found a house and I think it will be such a wonderful home for us. It is a raised cottage with a backyard that Theo will be thrilled with. I've been promising him a yard since we got him. I have been waiting patiently for a home that we can paint and make our own. And deciding on paint colors is a subject for another post.

I went back to Charlottesville the week of Michael's graduation which I will blog about in the next post. He graduated on a Sunday and we had the house packed and we were gone by the following Thursday. A little faster than I had hoped, but my brother was helping us drive the moving truck so staying longer wasn't an option. I did get to say goodbye to my two groups of knitters, my med wife friends, and my boss and co-workers at the toy store. I had one last cupcake from Cappelino's Crazy Cakes, dinner at Mas, and chicken and dumplings at Eppie's.

We've been staying at my parents' house for the past couple weeks until we close on our house this week. I've started working for my dad's construction company, and Michael is taking it easy until orientation and residency starts.

I'm a little disoriented. I haven't really cooked a whole lot in the past few months, and I've crafted even less. Every now and then I start to miss Charlottesville. I think it will really hit me when we are in our own place and we're back into our own routine.

Hopefully our internet will be up and running quickly in our new home and I can start blogging about painting and decorating. Stay tuned.

April Book

So I said I wanted to keep reading a book a month (at least) as my New Year's Resolution again this year. I read Little Women in January and then I was too distracted in February and March to accomplish reading a whole book. I bought The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo to read on the plane rides to and from Italy.

I didn't end up reading it on the plane. I was trying to sleep on the overnight flight there and on the way back I was too tempted to watch Black Swan and True Grit. Both were awesome. I was blown away by Black Swan. We recently watched 127 Hours. I had to pause it when the inevitable scene comes and take some deep breaths to avoid passing out. As far as the Oscar nominees for Best Picture I think all I have left to see is The Fighter. I'm really impressed by all the films that were nominated this year. Now I will return to my reason for writing this post.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is a book that you can't put down once you get a couple hundred pages into it. Michael was feeling under the weather Easter weekend so I sat and read the second half of the book in one day. The subject material is definitely disturbing, but not enough for me to sit around and think about it. If that makes any sense... I watched the movie upon finishing the book. I think the movie would be more disturbing if it was in English (they're actually making an English version to come out in December). If I have to read subtitles I kind of lose focus on the creepiness of the film. For example, I saw the Japanese version of The Ring and it just wasn't that scary.

Anyway after watching the movie I decided that I'm most likely not going to continue reading the series. I feel that there are too many books that I want to read that are about more pleasant things than violent sexual assaults on women. My friend let me borrow E.M. Forster's A Room With a View which takes place in Florence. This is exactly what I wanted to read before my trip, but I am loving being able to picture the scenes in my head since I've been there!

Cashmere Kitty

When Michael's parents were here for Match Day his mom helped me start sewing a stuffed animal. I found a cashmere sweater at the SPCA Rummage for $3.50. The pattern called for wool felt but I figured the sweater would be fine. The sweater was a size large and I only used the sleeves so I'll be able to make another stuffed animal out of it. The kitty turned out so incredibly soft and snuggly. The pattern is from Wee Wonderfuls, a book that I got for Christmas and I cannot wait to make every cute little doll and animal in it.

Nothing else crafty has been going on. As the weather warms up I stop knitting. Now that I'll be living on the Gulf Coast I'll have to branch out and try other fibers besides wool. Since we're starting to pack up our apartment we've gone through closets and shelves and downsized. I was starting to pack of my craft supplies when I remembered that I wanted to get rid of some yarn by crocheting granny squares to send to Australia to Sarah London who is collecting them to make blankets for the flood victims. She is still collecting them so I sat down and made a square. This is a good project to have around while things are a bit hectic.

I also remembered that I'm supposed to be remaking my little brother's hat from two Christmas' ago. I remembered in time to take it to the knit night that I attend on Tuesdays.

Now to tell you what my fingers can't wait to start stitching. It's an ABC Sampler from my favorite blogger! (I don't know if it's ok to copy her photo to put on my blog so you'll have to go to the link.) She has been working on it and she finally posted the finished project. I immediately ordered the kit when I saw it was only $25. For $25 you get the screen printed cotton and all the wool yarn needed. I was expecting it to be like $40. Is it weird to have an ABC Sampler with no kid? Maybe I'll just keep holding out hope that Theo will talk one day.

Arrivederci Roma: Day 8

We took the metro to the Circo Massimo stop to see the Bocca della Verita, another must see for fans of Roman Holiday. We had to wait in line, but the line moved quickly. Neither of us lost our hands so that is good news. Men used to bring their wives to see if their wives were truthful. We wandered to Piazza Navona to have lunch at La Foccacia which I briefly mentioned in my first Rome post. We had a starter of fried zucchini and I had gnocchi with tomato sauce and buffalo mozzarella. It was here that I fell in love with gnocchi. Michael had a spicy salami pizza and we split a 1/2 liter of chianti, which we had learned makes the roaming around much more delightful.

We walked to the Vatican. Unfortunately you can't go into St. Peter's wearing shorts. Maybe my bermuda's would have been passable but we didn't try. I really would have liked to go in again. I wonder if they let you in on Sundays if you're just touring. Anyway we headed to Old Bridge gelateria which I heard was one of the best in Rome. It didn't open until 3 so we sat around and waited. When it did open there was a line. It's a tiny gelateria and people pack in to the counter. I made my way in but  couldn't really see all the flavors. I went with strawberry which was so yummy and French vanilla which was not really my cup of tea. We strolled back to the hotel along Via Cola di Rienzo. The trees had little purple flowers on them. There were a lot of stores along this street and it was pretty clean. I guess it is a nice part of town.



We went back to the hotel to rest. Then we went to Piazzale Napoleone (I think) which overlooks Piazza del Popolo to see the sunset. The hotel has bikes that guests can use for free. I really wish we would have ridden bikes in the Villa Borghese. Alas we were too tired.

We headed to Gusto Pizzeria for dinner. The Gusto complex has an enoteca, a ristorante, and a pizzeria. I had read that it's best to stick with the Pizzeria. Maybe we didn't order the right pizza because I wasn't that impressed. I did enjoy the hip atmosphere.

The next morning we had our breakfast, hopped on the metro to Termini train station and navigated our way to the Leonardo Express which took us to the airport. This was very easy to do, and cost us 30 euros for the metro and the train tickets. Much cheaper than a car ride. We had bought our tickets the day before at a kiosk in Termini station. Just make sure you keep your train ticket on hand and get it validated in the little yellow box before you get on the train.

There were even pigeons in the airport to wish us well on our journey.

Rome on our own: Day 7

Our last hotel on the tour was much closer to the airport than our first one. It was about half a mile from the beginning of the Metro. We decided to walk with our luggage instead of trying to find a tabacchi to purchase a ticket for the bus (you can't buy a ticket on the bus). I had mapped out how to get to the Metro by car but I forgot to print it. Despite my innate sense of direction and the feeling that we were, in fact, going the right way I decided to be frazzled and complain the whole way. Then we saw the M sign for the metro and all was fine. The stop we needed to get to our hotel was very close to our hotel so this journey was no problem. We are pros at navigating subways.

We stayed at the Hotel Locarno Dependance Anahi . If you click on any link I ever post you should definitely click on that one and check out the Hotel Locarno. We stayed at the annex across the street which is cheaper and not as fancy but it was still really nice. We were able to enjoy all the amenities of the hotel. The staff were very nice and the cappuccinos for breakfast were delicious. It's definitely more expensive to stay in the center of Rome but it's definitely worth not having to use the transportation system. We were within walking distance of the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps.



Since we got to the hotel really early our room wasn't ready so we checked our bags. We headed to Pizza ZaZa. I will dream about the perfect deliciousness of this pizza until the end of time. Seriously. Then we headed to the Pantheon. I knew the Christians had turned pretty much every pagan temple into a Christian church but I wasn't expecting the Pantheon to be set up for mass. There was an altar and pews.

After the Pantheon we headed to Gelateria Giolitti where Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant had gelato in Roman Holiday. We had eaten lunch early so we beat the crowd at Giolitti. I had chocolate fondant, amaretto, and coffee flavors with fresh whipped cream (panna) on top. Then I died and went to heaven.



After I came back to reality we walked to the Trevi Fountain and sat for a little while. We were waiting for two churches to open. The first was Chiesa di Santa Maria della Concezione. We went here to see the crypt where monks used the bones of their deceased brothers to decorate for lack of a better description. A donation of 1 euro was recommended. I couldn't take pictures so if you want to see it check out the link. It was definitely creepy.

The second church was Chiesa di Santa Maria della Vittoria which houses the Ecstasy of Saint Theresa  by Bernini. The church is small and easy to overlook. It's breathtaking on the inside.



We went back to Pizza ZaZa even though it was out of the way, but it was SO worth it. Then we went to the hotel to rest. I took a nap then got ready for dinner. We wanted to eat at La Buca di Ripetta but we hadn't made a reservation. The plan was to eat early in which case we wouldn't have needed one, but since we ate lunch twice and I napped we found ourselves on Italian time. We had to wait 30 minutes for a table so we walked to Piazza del Popolo a couple of blocks away and sat and watched a Michael Jackson impersonator.

I didn't take pictures of the food but I'll tell you the marvelous things we ate. We started with a fried buffalo mozzarella, tomato and basil sandwich. This sounds weird but let me assure you it was delicious. Michael's pasta dish was carbonara and I had pear ravioli with orange cream sauce and coriander. I am so happy I was feeling adventurous and ordered it because it was delightful. Michael's oven roasted lamb was wonderful. I had the grilled lamb and it didn't blow me away. Even though I was full I had to get the tiramisu. I had lost all faith in having good tiramisu on the trip. I had already had it twice and I was deeply disappointed. Fortunately their tiramisu was phenomenal. The layer of cream was a lot softer than mine usually is so I'm thinking I'll modify my recipe.

I think I'll be nice and schedule this post for the afternoon so that you've hopefully already had lunch. One more day and then it's back to reality.