It is finished!!

Well its over with, National Boards Part 2. And let me tell you my brain is fried and I am a bit of a zombie. But not to worry I stopped and got a Sparks at the store and am about to drink it for some energy AND I have a bottle of champagne in the refrigerator with my name all over it! :) THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to everyone who thought/prayed for me over the past couple of days (or in my family's case month!) I really appreciate it!

We had a very long lunch today. I was done with the second part of the test about 10:30 (there are 3 and the first one was yesterday). So we headed to Starbucks to refill from breakfast and then headed to one of the best burger places ever, Huey's. My favorite is the West Coast Burger with a Turkey patty, my mouth is watering just thinking about it again!

After that we had some time to kill so we just hung out in the activity room at the gym. I have included some pictures from the day.

And the best is yet to come, my class is getting together at Rio Loco downtown for a Boards after party. Look out margarita... Here I come!!!

Namesake Wine

After dinner I went to the liquor store to get a nice night cap for me :) I went to my favorite liquor store down the street from where I live. The guys that work in there are great, always smiling and they always card me and comment about me being from KS and I reassure them that I was rooting for University of Memphis when they played KU last year in basketball... It always gives me the "in" and it is the truth. As a bonus it was ladies night last night and I got 10% off, how am I just finding out about this??? Well here is the bottle of wine I picked up.

So if you don't know my middle name is Angeline, so it was meant to be. I didn't even read the information on it, I just bought it! Here is a little more about it.

Angeline Pinot Noir 2006 from The Russian River Valley
Pinot Noir is produced from fruit that abounds with intense fruit and rich aromas. By "cold soaking" the crushed grapes and fermenting at moderate temperatures, bright fruit flavors are extracted from the grape without harsh tannins. This Pinot Noir is a brilliant, deep ruby color with delicate aromas of raspberry, strawberry and a soft whisper of vanilla. Bright flavors of ripe raspberries and strawberries, layered with subtle nuances of vanilla oak lead to a rich, full fruit finish.
It is produced from grapes carefully selected from the Soracco & Rocking B vineyards in Russian River Valley. Sonoma County is known for its cool winters and warm summers, with a coastal influence that often brings fog to the area. The fog creates a moist blanket during cold weather and cool relief when the
temperature rises.

The nose was odd, my first thought was great this is gonna suck, but the nose and palate were two totally different things, one of the many mystique's about wine. I really liked the taste, very strawberry with a hint of vanilla, smooth and quite tasty. Now I just have to find a Christina wine... Think they have one named Heptig?

Back in business

Yesterday I drove back to Memphis, it was a long drive but I made it safely so all in all a good trip. I was very excited to get off the road, to get settled and then go to dinner with my fellow OD friends at Quetzal, one of our favorite study places. They have the most amazing bloody marys and I always ask for extra spice in mine and last night it hurt, but a good hurt, b/c it was so spicy! Here are so pictures from dinner.

Jason & Tangee (she has been 8 hours away but still in TN for the last 3 months)

Tangee, Erin & Holly

Connie (been in Chicago), Sara (been in SC), Jill & me

Cake!

When I was at home we celebrated a birthday, this was my opportunity to bake! I was so excited to hear that Heather, the birthday girl, liked/loved Red Velvet cake, which is one of my favorites too. So I jumped on the chanc to make one. I used a boxed cake but made the oh so luscious cream cheese frosting myself from Baking Illustrated, the bible of baking books. I left the book at home so if you want the recipe please let me know and I can email it to you... Or Tami if you are reading this, and have time, could you put it in the comments, it is with the carrot cake recipe. Thanks! Okay, so here are pictures of the cake. I was pretty proud of it and the crumbs were easier to do that I thought!

Power bars & other goodies

Okay, I have been a really BAD blogger. National Boards part 2 are coming up in 2 days (please say a prayer for me that I pass, it's okay I can wait... Go ahead...), so that is consuming most of my time and I guess I have put blogging on the back burner. I am enjoying a nice, somewhat relaxing time at home for Thanksgiving break. I am still studying but I don't have to juggle clinic with it so I can blog once again.

A few weeks ago I blogged about a road trip with Erin & Megan, well Julianne & Derrick were going in that direction too, so I put together a big goodie bag for all of us to take on the journey. I made rice crispy treats with dark chocolate M&Ms and some with peanut butter M&Ms, spicy pretzels and power bars (this is a new recipe from a cookbook I got for my birthday).

Power Bars from Famous Name Brand Baking

Ingredients
3/4 cup butter or margarine
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats, uncooked
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 (21-ounce) can cherry pie filling, I used tart cherries without any sugar syrup but just water.
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

• Beat butter and brown sugar in medium bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Combine flour, oats and baking soda. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture; mix on low speed until crumbly.
• Spread two-thirds of oat mixture into bottom of ungreased 13×9×2-inch baking pan. Press down to form crust. Process cherry filling in food processor or blender until smooth. Pour into medium saucepan. Combine granulated sugar and cornstarch; stir into cherry filling. Cook, stirring constantly, over low heat until mixture is thick and bubbly. Stir in almond extract. Pour cherry mixture over oat layer; spread evenly. Top with remaining oat mixture. I used 2 cans of 14.5-oz cherry filing so I did 2 layers.
• Bake in preheated 325°F oven 45 minutes or until golden brown. Cool before cutting. Yummy little power bars in muffin cups to make it easier to eat
  

Happy Birthday Laura!

I want to wish a very happy birthday to one of my best(est) friends, Laura. She is a fellow blogger and she also has an up and coming custom stationary business. I hope she has a wonderful birthday with her family. It is so nice of them to all get together and make a huge dinner for her on her birthday :)

Happy birthday Laura. Welcome to your last year of your twenties... We are going to make it the best year of our twenties yet! Love you!

Happy Birthday Lydia Grace!

It was 1 year ago today that Lydia Grace blessed us with her presence in the world. I am blessed to have so many nieces and a nephew, not by blood, but by heart. It has been a joy to see her grow up and start to play with all the other little ones around. I wish I could be there for her party today but yet again I am stuck in Memphis. I can't wait to see pictures of her diving into her cake! I love you Lydia!

1 day old - of course she had a K-State hate on in the hospital!

Holding Lydia for the first time

I just love these pictures of her in a field of sunflowers. Her expressions are too cute!

This is a video of Lydia just a day old. You can here her "coo" if you listen real close.

Road Trip!

Over the weekend, thanks to some good ol' EtOH, I was able to persuade (or make appealing) the idea of driving almost 5 hours to see O.A.R. live in Fayetteville, AR and then to drive back that very night. Megan has seen them a couple times and loved them and for my dear friend Erin she had never gotten to see them in Memphis or anywhere else, so this was a chance she did not want to pass up. I still can't believe it happened as easy as it did. Erin, Megan & I left Memphis at about 2:30 and arrived in F-ville about 7:30. After some bumps in the road we made it.

This is me an Erin waiting for Megan Megan rolling up to pick us up
Action shot!
Kids, don't try this at home, putting on eyeliner while in a moving vehicle
Who knows how many cups of coffee this is for Megan
It was a long drive but all worth it once Marc and the boys came out

Enjoying the tantalizing sounds of O.A.R.
I only wish everyone could experience O.A.R., they are very entertaining not to mention amazing
The best part was I got to surprise Julianne & Megan in the ladies bathroom. They didn't have a clue I was coming. The looks on their faces was priceless!Erin, Megan & MeIn the parking lot at University of Arkansas getting ready to make the 5 hour trek back home. It was a great spontaneous trip girls. Thank you so much for going and being completely sleep deprived today... Seriously 2 hours is just not enough.The last song before the encore was Joe Cocker's song "With a little help from my friend" sang with the opening band Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights. Check it out!