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The Teardos

The Teardos: February 2013

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Wedding Wednesday

House update: our sofas arrived!! Ft and I went cray-cray last night in our living room and it is actually starting to look like something! Woot! (picture me doing a happy dance) I've been spending the morning screaming bloody murder any time one of the cats tries to jump on a sofa. In theory, this should deter them from the habit. (Fingers crossed, people). Now on to Wedding Wednesday!!

Our pictures today are, oddly enough, from the trip from the ceremony to the reception. I'm surprised as anyone, but the photographer (Zlatko Batistich) got some amazing pics.

The bouquet, post surgery. Eagle-eyed readers might notice that the bouquet had a bunch of sticking-out pieces in it in the earlier pictures. My sister found some scissors and did the ol' snip snip number- and boy, am I glad she did! Soooooo much better- and more like what I had envisioned/asked for.

One of my all-time favorite pictures from the almost 1000. Fred with his best man.

Limos make me giggle. Something about prom and bad Vegas movies...

Okay, my "trip to the reception" plan has hit a snag. Apparently, there were only 4 pictures that got transferred to my iPad.

So, to fill out the usual 5-picture format, here's a blast from the past:

 

That my mom and dad!!! Aren't they adorable?! I love everything about this picture, from my mom's supremely fabulous dress and speaking of fabulous, check out those ruffles on my dad's tux! Classy.

 

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Saturday, February 16, 2013

Valentine's Redux

Or Leslie's excuse for sappy crafting

Or How to decorate for Feb 14 while pretending not to care

 

So... In my mind I'm a modern lady (insert a Beyonce song of your choice here...) and have no need for overwrought Hallmark holidays. In reality, however, it would appear that I am very much a Martha-Stewart-wanna-be-no-holiday-is-too-small-to-decorate-for kind of girl. *hmph*

And so, in this masquerade of modernity, we invited a couple of new friends (who just got married! Say it with me now: "Awwwww!") over to our house for a simple (yeah, right) dinner.

So I thought I'd share with you guys some poorly taken pictures of things I crafted together from stuff I had lying around. (That is actually true. I tried to go for a cost-neutral holiday.)

A Valentine's wreath: pink & red yarn wrapped wreath with pink crocheted half moons with red felt flowers.

Red card stock hearts hanging above the breakfast table.

Red felt flowers hot-glued to a styrofoam sphere atop a wooden pedestal.

Guest baskets: Christmas Valentines crackers, along with silly foam heart glasses and, the hit of the party, Model Magic in pink and red.

The whole table, before lighting the candles, in its iPhone picture horribleness glory.

 

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Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Wedding Wednesday - Ash Wednesday edition

It's Wedding Wednesday! Back by popular demand (aka. my mother) this is a comment-less version as we've just returned home from services. The pictures today are from the ceremony:

 

 

 

**All photographs by the amazing, wonderful, stupendous and highly recommended Zlatko Batistich**

 

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Monday, February 11, 2013

Flip

The first time Leslie and I went to a Flip Burger was in Atlanta, with Leslie's parents. The man behind this modern take on the traditional burger joint is Richard Blais of Top Chef fame. He is quite an intelligent chef - thinks outside of the box (sometimes WAY outside), but all the while maintains the integrity of the food.

When moving to B'ham, we were elated to discover many fine eating establishments - including the town's very own Flip Burger. After the ordination service from my last post, we decided to treat ourselves to lunch for a successful service (aforementioned obstacles notwithstanding), and Flip seemed like a logical place to go.

Living in Birmingham Lesson No. 1: NEVER under any circumstances go to The Summit on a Saturday. Doing so will put you in mortal peril. Imagine one gigantic complex comprised of several swanky satellite strip malls (Saks and the like), with traffic jams that rival the worst rush hour anywhere. Consider yourselves warned.

After several minutes of frustration with the native (read: BAD) drivers, bless their hearts, and finally discovering a Mini-sized parking space, we entered Flip and were surprised that there was no wait. Apparently everyone else needed their Juicy Couture fix.

We sat down and perused the menu, gazing upon limitless choices of utter deliciousness. In spite of the ensuing burger feast, something wasn't making sense. I saw various burger prices: 7. 7.50. A 9 here, a 9.5 there. The occasional 10+. This very-recent-former New Yorker thought to himself that there was no way burgers from a boutique burger shoppe could be this cheap. It must be that these prices were just for the various proteins. Clearly things like, you know, a bun were extra, and the descriptions near each burger must be merely suggested toppings for, naturally, a surcharge per item. I turned to Leslie: "I'm confused... How does this work?" Leslie looked baffled: "Come again?" Me: "I don't remember Atlanta being like this..." "Huuuuuuh???" Leslie says, and I'm thoroughly convinced the next words out of her mouth will be: "Stop it - you're making a scene...".

Come to find out, it is possible to get a really well-conceived/executed burger for less than my near-and-dear Landmarc burger that, the last time I ordered it, was pushing nearly $20 due to a $3 cheese hike. Apparently there's a looming dairy crisis. Who knew?

And what fine burgers they are. I ordered the Farmer, with grass-fed beef, cheddar, and apple chutney. Salty and sweet - one of my favorite flavor combinations. Leslie had the Korean - a pork patty topped with braised pork belly, kimchee and a delicious sauce that reminded me of Korean barbecue. On the side: onion rings - the second-best I've ever had, only topped by Craftsteak at MGM - served with beer mustard on the side. Fried pickles with buttermilk ranch were also delicious.

And then, there are the milkshakes. Leslie had a pumpkin pie-inspired one that was very tasty, and for me: the foie gras milkshake. This was a whopping $8, but worth the price of admission. Not to mention the fact that it's made with liquid nitrogen and comes out "smoking." Honestly, the whole thing left me a little cold (Haha! - get it? Cold? Milkshake? LN2? Anyone? Bueller?). Though I was expecting the foie to take center stage a bit more and you could only detect a faint hint of fatty/iron-y goodness, it did add an incomparable richness to what otherwise would have been an ordinary vanilla milkshake. And with that, it was certainly the best vanilla milkshake that I've ever had.

Flip - we will be seeing you again, but not until I have a few more go's on the trainer...







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Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Wedding Wednesday

I can't believe it's already been another week! Time is flying by.

In unpacking news, our bedroom now resembles an actual bedroom (as opposed to a storage room) and we're so close to being done, I can almost taste it. Our brand new sofas shipped yesterday so I am hoping they will arrive soon!

An on to ''Wedding Wednesday''! The 5 pictures today will be from the photo shoot before the ceremony. As I said last week, we chose to take our pictures ahead of time. An unforeseen result of this was a really fun time of celebrating with our nearest and dearest.

Our wedding party!

This picture runs a close second for being our favorite.

I like this picture, but I think it kind of looks like I'm annoyed....

The church isn't air conditioned so we provided these fans. (Which the rain made unnecessary)

Although Fred and I went to the same school, we were not there at the same time.

However, we did have the same teacher and we were so honored he agreed to play our wedding!!

 

**all photographs courtesy of the amazing Zlatko Batistich**

 

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