Favorite Fictional Couples

I saw this on another blog and felt the need to write my list as well. I am a HUGE fan of movies, books and TV. I can't get enough of any of them. I have literally re-read or re-watched certain books and movies multiple times because I thought I maybe missed something. It turns out, I re-do them, because I love them that much. So here are some of my favorite fictional couples. I can think of about a bajillion more, but these are some of the top ones.

1. Elizabeth Bennet & Mr. Darcy -- Pride and Prejudice. If you have not read or watched this movie, you are missing out on one of the, if not THE, best fictional couple of all time. She is witty and sarcastic, he is shy and brooding, and they make for the best love ever. Just do your self a favor and get to know these two.

2. Allie Hamilton & Noah Calhoun-- The Notebook. This is my, along with every other girl who was in high school in 2004, favorite book/movie of all time. I remember sitting on my bed for hours sobbing and reading about the fate of these two. I know Nicholas Sparks books sometimes drag on, but this one.. it's a heartwrencher. It's a classic story of status and wealth and what it does to people. Their undying love for each other spanned years.. uh, just read it and love it! Then, watch the movie and swoon.

3. Rhett Butler & Scarlett O'Hara -- Gone with the Wind. I must admit I haven't read the book, but I have seen the movie three times through. And that says ALOT, considering it's four hours long! But it is worth the watch! Scarlet and Rhett have such a chemistry that it's hard to take your eyes off the screen. She's a firecracker and he is the most patient man in the world. I don't give a damn what anyone says, this is a great couple!

4. Carrie Bradshaw & Mr. Big -- Sex & the City. It's what every woman wants after watching one episode of this amazing show: a successful career, great friends, lots of love and Cosmopolitans in New York City. Let's just say I had the great fortune of stumbling upon friends my freshman year of college who owned every, single season. I literally locked myself in my dorm room and watched every episode in a week; with the help of lots of chips, salsa and Diet Pepsi. It's the classic case of a male that can't decide what he wants, but why do we love him so? Because for six years, and now two movies later, Carrie still does. Love it. Not to mention she has amazing friends that get her through to the end.

5. Forrest Gump & Jenny Curran -- Forrest Gump. Clearly this is one of the best movies ever made, but these two characters have so much depth on screen, it's hard not to feel for either of them. Forrest only knows love and Jenny has never had any in her life. It's a perfectly tragic love story. And, many of it's scenes are set during my favorite time, the 60s, and in my favorite city, DC. :) 

Who are your favorite fictional couples?

Old South or Old Stephanie?

This past weekend Adam's fraternity at Hampden-Sydney, Kappa Alpha Order, went on a weekend getaway to Shenandoah Crossing in Gordonsville, VA. Adam and I were able to drive there together from DC, which made it much more bearable. We also were able to drive straight through a historic area in Virginia during the Civil War. Being the history buff that he is, Adam explained a little background about each battlefield and town we drove through, so the drive was much more enjoyable with him as my tour guide. Back to the weekend though; it's called Old South and each guy was able to bring a date. Both nights we got dressed up and went to a dance with a Motown band. During the day on Saturday, we hung out outside near the lake and had a great time listening to music and chatting it up with friends. It was an epic weekend, and I am so glad I was able to go along. The big 'ol surprise I made for Adam was a cooler, and, as promised, here are some photos. I hadn't made a cooler in about two years, so it took some time to get the hang of it, but overall, I think it turned out pretty good. Oh, to be young and in college again! I'm just glad there were other girls who had already graduated from college there as well. It made me feel "less old."

This side took the longest to finish. It's a hodge-podge of pictures, bands, and all sorts of things that are all about Adam and his time spent at H-SC. He was SO surprised on Thursday when I gave it to him. The big picture in the middle is all the boys in front of the KA house at H-SC. My personal favorite is the picture towards the top of Adam. Ha!

And finally here is my favorite picture of me and Adam before the dance on Saturday night.

It was such a fun weekend, and I am sad it went by so quickly. I'm also sad that Adam will be graduating in a little over a month. I have tagged-along all year trying to repeat and relive my senior year all over again, and I am devastated that it is coming to a close. Now, I really will have to grow-up. Oh well, at least Adam will be closer to me in DC after graduation!

I have a few last hurrahs before it's all over, including Greek Week in less than two weeks. I can't even begin to explain how awesome that weekend is. It's an endless weekend of bands, parties and all kinds of ridiculousness. Can not wait!

Y'all have a great Wednesday!

Ready for tiny umbrellas in my drink.. Or something like that.

I have always had a great love for cool weather, leaves changing colors and everything associated with the fall season. But, since this fall and winter have seemed to last for an E-TER-NI-TY, I am certainly ready to pack those seasons away and welcome spring and summer with open arms. In honor of it reaching above 70 degrees today in DC, here are a few outfits, assembled by Mrs. Lilien, that express my love and eagerness for the nice weather and fun that will be had in the months to come. They are all pretty awesome too, so you can find the sources at the link above.

Especially love the Kate Spade wedges and the hat from Nordstrom.*

This one is a bit extravagant. But who doesn't love sparkles and champagne? Um, just check out those Christian Louboutin heels. Plus you can't wear white until after next Sunday.. Easter, remember?

That necklace is fantastic. Not to mention the fish S&P shakers. Great gift idea, just sayin'.

And, because I still have to see Alice in Wonderland.. Love the key necklace.**

Adam is coming to DC tonight, and I can not wait to see his reaction to the surprise I made him. It's going to be great! Updates to come on Monday..

*J. Crew also has really cute Fedora hats right now. If you're into that.

**Also love the key necklace I received for my birthday last year from Adam. :)

Everyone have a great weekend! Until next time..

Travels and Surprises

Or just go out of town this weekend. And that I will.

I'm headed to the Shenandoah Valley this weekend with Adam and his fraternity. Couldn't be more excited to spend a fun weekend, with lots of fun people, doing absolutely nothing.

And, I have a HUGE surprise for Adam for the weekend. And since he probably won't read my blog before then, I have actually been able to keep this a secret from him! This is rare for me, as I have a problem with keeping surprises a secret. I'm hard to surprise since I am so observant, so I hope Adam will be happy with his gift.

So, come back later to see what the surprise happens to be! Have a great Wednesday!

Oh, and a very happy Spring to all of you as of Saturday!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Just wanted to share with you my lunch today, since I was a bit creative and it was yummy. I made a spinach salad with dried cranberries, walnuts, Gorgonzola cheese and a honey dijon vinegarette. It was salty and sweet, which is a nice diversion from the usual dinner leftovers and sandwiches. Please forgive my poor presentation. You get the point I'm trying to make, right?

And in memory of St. Patrick, here are a few photos of my visit to Dublin, Ireland, two summers ago. As well as a few more London and Paris pictures thrown in there. Enjoy!

Our tour of the Guinness factory in Dublin, Ireland

Typical phonebooth photo.. All crammed in there!

Pouring my own pint of Guinness in the factory

Courtyard at Trinity College in Dublin

London Eye

 

Big Ben.. I know.. where's my fanny pack, right?

Dance party.. totally normal..

In King's Cross Station.. on my way to Hogwart's.. Bahaha.

Eiffel Tower in Paris, France

Louvre Museum in Paris

Adam and I on our first date.. No big deal.. Ha.

Best six weeks of my life.. any who, I hope everyone enjoys the rest of your St. Patty's Day! I'm making tacos for dinner and watching all the great Wednesday night shows on TV. I also will probably start packing for Hampden-Sydney this weekend! Yay!

St. Patty's Weekend in Columbia

I can honestly say that driving a total of 1,000 miles and being in a car for almost 16 hours is well worth a weekend in Columbia, SC. Especially if that weekend happens to be St. Patty's Day in Five Points. Not to mention, I got to spend some time with my fam. It was much needed and much appreciated.

On Friday, we left DC at 8:30 a.m. This was an accomplishment in and of itself. With the Starbucks and conversations flowing, we made it to SC in about eight hours. Not bad at all considering the stops we made and the little amount of rain we encountered. I dropped Christa and MK off in Columbia and headed to L-Town.. what?*

Then, I got to meet this guy. Love at first sight. His name is Cooper and he is one year old. My parents rescued him from the pound and he is a big ball of love. He loved to pose. :)

I could have stolen Cooper and never given him back; I love him so much. He is the sweetest, most adorable puppy ever. He is a Petit Griffon Basset Vendeen, which means small, low to the ground, rough or wire coated and from the area of France called Vendeen. I can't wait to see him again!

After the love fest with Cooper, we went to dinner and then came home to relax. It felt nice just to be in my parent's house, since I hadn't visited since Christmas.

On Saturday, I drove downtown to Samantha's apartment. We had Chick-fil-a bisquits, mimosas and bellinis while everyone finished up getting ready to head out. We went to a few friends' houses before making it down to the actual festival, and we had a blast! I feel like I saw alot of people, but there were still so many friends I would have liked to have spent time with. It's so hard to see everyone in just one day. And, the friends that I did see, I definitely wished I could have visited for longer. Hopefully I will make it down to Columbia again in the next few months. Here are a few photos from the day.

And, here is a little throwback. So glad the weather was better this year!

On Sunday, I woke up pretty early to drive back home. I wanted to spend just a bit more time with my parents and Cooper before heading back to DC. My dad surprised me with a carwash, which was much needed. All the snow we've had this winter has taken it's toll on the cleanliness of my black car. It has been caked in salt from the roads for months now. So, thanks Dad, even though I ruined the surprise!

The drive back was not bad at all. It took about the same amount of time, and was filled with lots of funny stories and moments that are all too ridiculous to mention on my blog. If you know Christa, you know it was an entertaining ride. Just ask poor Keith, who rode back with us. The only guy, riding in a car with three girls, talking about God knows what for hours. You get my point.

On a separate note, I am excited to mention that I have a few friends getting married this summer and fall! A big congratulations to Megan R. and Megan H., whose weddings are in July and Lauren B. whose wedding is in October! I know I'll (hopefully) be able to participate in at least two more of these traditions below.

This is Meredith's wedding to Paul last August. It's a ZTA tradition. Love you Merey!

Y'all have a great day! I'll be posting about homemade pizza later on. A big thanks to Mom for surprising me with my very own pizza stone! Can't wait to try it out!

*Get it? L-Town.. what? OK, you really only get it if you went to LHS. Or ever went to a sporting event associated with the school. Or town, for that matter. Alright, let's move on.

Tomato Mac and Cheese

Oh, Paula. I feel like that's what I say everytime I make and devour one of Paula Deen's recipes. Seriously y'all, they are like heaven, plus a stick of butter. This one is very simple and as I watched her and her son, Jamie, make it on TV, I was immediately excited to get in the kitchen. I have become a firm follower of Crock-Pot Mac and Cheese (as have my family, friends and boyfriend, who all seem to eat copious amounts of the stuff whenever I make it.) But, I figured I would try this one out. Who doesn't love mac and cheese? And, tomatoes on top? Hello?!

Ingredients:

1/2 stick of butter
2 cups uncooked macaroni
1/2 minced onion, less if you don't like a lot of onion
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning
3/4 tablespoon dry mustard
1/4 tablespoon paprika
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 ripe tomato, cut into slices
Pepper

Recipe:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a baking dish with cooking spray. Boil the macaroni in a large pot over high heat until cooked to package instructions. Drain and pour into the baking dish to cool. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large saucepan and add the onion, constantly stirring until softened. Add the flour, salt, dry mustard and paprika and mix well, making sure there are no lumps. Stir in the milk slowly and cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Add in the Cheddar cheese and  stir until incorporated and melted. Pour the cheese mixture over the macaroni and stir gently to combine. Cover the macaroni with tomato slices and sprinlke with salt and pepper. Bake for 35-45 minutes until bubbly. Serve hot! Once again (I feel like I say this everytime), I dug in before Randan reminded me to take a picture. I apologize, but you get the gist.

Eat and smile, my friends! This one is a keeper.

On another note, this time tomorrow, I will be on my way to the great state of South Carolina with MK and Christa in tow. I'm excited to see my family on Friday night in Lexington, and be in Columbia on Saturday for St. Patty's Day in Five Points! Thank goodness the weather is having mercy on us this year! In the past we have endured freezing temperatures and tornadoes, but this year's forecast has changed from high 50s and rain all day to the newest forecast of 70 and sunny all day! I CAN NOT WAIT! In the meantime, I will be daydreaming of green beer and floppy, glitter-shamrock headbands..

Have a great weekend!

Updates on my life

Here are a few updates from things I haven't had time to blog about lately. They range from awesome to just, plain awful. Enjoy!

Although the Winter Olympics in Vancouver have come to a close, I still think this is worth mentioning because, well, it's pretty neat. A few weeks before the Games, I was invited (with a guest) to watch and celebrate the Opening Ceremonies at the Canadian Embassy here in DC. Of course, I was not going to pass up this opportunity, so Adam and I were definitely on board. We got all dolled-up and headed to Pennsylvania Avenue to see what was in store. The invite said "winter casual." I assumed this would be like any other event in DC; about 100 guests, dressed like they just came from work with light snacks and a bar. We arrived to see that "winter casual" actually meant "dress warm because yo' butt is going to be hanging around outside in 35 degree weather surrounded by ice sculptures and 500 of your closest friends, lines for days to get food and drinks, all while snowboarders jump on trampolines and do flippy-tricks, gamers play winter sports on the Wii systems and you try to figure out how to cope with all of this." Sound like a party? Well, it was. It was really fun. I'm not going to lie, we didn't stay too long because we were pretty much starving and freezing, but we did get these awesome mittens as a parting gift. If you remotely glanced at the TV during the two and a half weeks of sports, you may have noticed all the fans wearing these in the stands. There's a neat Canadian maple leaf on the other side. Pretty cool, eh?

Valentine's Day. A day to go out with your honey and drop tons of cash on a dinner and gifts and everything else to show how much you caaaaaare about each other. Not. Adam and I are definitely low maintenance when it comes to gifts, and Valentine's Day is no exception. He gave me a few books and a new Winter Sports video game for the Wii and I gave him a few CDs and some fruity candy. We also stayed in for dinner and cooked steak, mashed red potatoes, asparagus and garlic-cheddar bisquits. It was fun and relaxing and cheap. Just the way it should be.

Fast forward to last week. On Tuesday morning, I was sitting at my desk at work and felt a tickle in my throat. By Tuesday night, I was laying in my bed, consulting with Courtney, my nurse roommate, about what was wrong with me and why my lungs were swollen out of my ribcage, my back was in intense pain and I couldn't breathe when I laid down. I was nervous at how fast the sickness had affected me. Needless to say, I took the day off on Wednesday and went to the doctor's office. They did all kinds of swabby, throat-violating tests and determined that I had bronchitis. I should have known. It's the first week of March. I get sick with the flu/bronchitis/cold symptoms every year at exactly the same time. I even have proof from an old prescription cough medicine bottle I found in a drawer from last year with the date March 4, 2009 on it. Crazy, I know. You know what's even crazier.. what they made me wear while I was in the waiting room.. for an hour. It was awkward to say the least. If I had been in a better mood, or even felt like talking to anyone, I would have explained that it was just because I had a bad cough. You would have thought I was dying of the Ebola virus, from the stares I got. Regardless, I got some medicines and took the rest of the week off. I layed-low all weekend and I am almost back to normal. She, my wonderful doctor, told me that the cough could last a bit longer than other symptoms, so I am anxiously waiting for it to fly the coop. In the meantime, please enjoy the photo below.

Alright, here is the last of the updates. And this one is great. Last night I made Asian Grilled Salmon with Roasted Cauliflower with Parmesan. Thanks Giada!

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower
1/2 stick butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup milk
1 clove garlic, whole
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Plain breadcrumbs

Recipe:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Blanch the cauliflower for 2 minutes, which basically just means drop it in, stir and take it out of the pot after 2 minutes. Transfer the cauliflower to a buttered baking dish.

In a small pot, melt the butter. Add the flour slowly and stir until combined. Continue stirring for 2 minutes to cook the flour. Make sure there are no lumps. Slowly add the milk, stirring until the milk is incorporated and there are no lumps. Add the garlic clove and pepper flakes and stir the sauce of low heat until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon. Add the Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Stir to combine. Pour the sauce over the cauliflower to cover. Top with a sprinkling of breadcrumbs.

Bake until the breadcrumbs are golden and cauliflower is cooked, about 25 minutes. Serve!

So, that's it for now on the life updates. I'll have plenty more later. I am cooking a Tomato Mac and Cheese tonight, and this weekend, I will be visiting Columbia for St. Patty's Day in Five Points! I could not be more excited to see all my family and friends!! I'm also really excited to finally meet this guy! Cooper is my parents' new dog! Well, new since the last time I was home. Y'all have a great day!