Monday, November 15, 2010

22 going on 70

As strange of a dream it might be for a 22 year old, knitting has been a hobby I have always wanted to master.  So, with all of the new time on my hands I decided to try it out.  A friend and I enrolled in a beginner's knitting class that was taught at Carnegie Hall in downtown Lewisburg.  It was great, and left me wanting more!  Knitting takes patience... which I'm learning slowly.  But, it is a blast.  I cannot describe the joy of finishing a project, and the excitement of knowing that I was able to create something wearable from a few yards of yarn.  It's actually not as hard to learn the basic as I would have thought, and although I could see myself spending all of Jason's loan money on hand spun yarn in a cute, enticing shop downtown... there are other ways of getting off a bit cheaper.  There is a great website, www.ravelry.com, where you can print out free patterns, read other knitter's blogs, buy yarn, and just admire everyone's work.  It is great, but the best part is it is free!  :)  And instead of buying all of the tempting knitting books; I've been catching up on my knitting skills with tutorials on YouTube.  I find that I'm becoming more excited about starting a new knitting project then hanging out with friends on Friday nights. Lame?  Yes.  But when my closet is filled with lovely hand spun, and hand knitted scarfs... you too may want to start staying in on weekend nights.  :) 




I have finished a few projects, but so far; my favorite is this grey, cowl neck scarf.  I'll keep you updated, and hopefully my skills improve...I just keep telling myself that the mistakes are what make it unique. :)


Tuesday, November 9, 2010

The Bakery

This past Saturday, Jason and I went to visit the local Bakery in Lewisburg... which is creatively named "The Bakery".  The special for the day was tomato soup served with a grilled cheese sandwich on tomato basil bread.  It was heaven, and gave Chelsea's, in Baton Rouge, a run for their money.  The baker asked if Jason and I were brother and sister or husband and wife, and when Jason cleverly answered "both"; the baker's laughter was uncontrollable.  It led to a great conversation about Lewisburg, the "O" school, living in Louisiana, visiting New York, and being asked to hang out with some of them outside of the bakery.  I was amazed at how quickly they offered their help, advise, and friendship.  It made me feel like a Yankee.  While Louisiana is known for their southern hospitality, I'm not sure that they truly compare to the hospitality at The Bakery.


So... If you ever need to feel loved in a small town where you know no one.. find a local bakery.  I'm not sure if they are bored, or just happy to be among the smell of sweets and good food all day.  But for whatever reason, they are officially the nicest group of people ever.  And yes, I am stereotyping.  :) Bakery employees = Nice people.  Try it out for yourselves.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

pumpkin lattes in fall

 As fall is slowly fading, I realize how much I will miss it.  I love the colors that fall brings to the normal neighborhood streets and my apartment's patch of grass.  In this small town, I feel I've been able to appreciate fall more than ever before.  I've developed an addiction to the local coffee shop, The Wild Bean, and their pumpkin lattes.  They bring out the very best of fall.  I am convinced of it. :) I've started a collection of leaves.  Jason laughs when I stop to pick one up, but every leaf I find seems to be a little bit different than the last.  My collection is growing immensely... I am sure I will have to find a plan and home for all of these leaves soon, but for now I'll just admire them on the bookshelf.  The temperature is slowly dropping, and winter will soon be here.  I'm excited for snow, but my wardrobe is not prepared.  I will have to do some sale rack winter hunts soon!  :)  Until then, I may just stay cooped up in the cozy apartment, and practice my knitting skills.  




Here are a few sites of Lewisburg in the fall. :)


The Wild Bean

Our Neighborhood

The park in our neighborhood

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Days like that should last and last

Just an update on all of the fun that happened this weekend..


To start, Saturday we had a basket of wine and cheese delivered to our front door!  Which meant, our picnic was practically already put together.  :)  Thanks Mom!



Saturday evening we went to see "Death of a Salesman" at the Greenbrier Theatre.  It was phenomenal.  Jason and I were fighting back tears the whole second half.  The Greenbrier Theatre is very small, but so charming.  I would say it sat around 100 people or so... which made it very intimate and nice.  The cast was so talented, but the actor who played one of the brothers, Biff, was my favorite.  This show was supposedly one of the best at the theatre because all of the actors were called in from outside of Lewisburg.  So to sum it up, Experience it sometime.  You will not be disappointed.


For Sunday, I wanted to bring back the spirit of our honeymoon in Mayan Riviera, Mexico...So we started our morning with a yummy Mexican breakfast burrito.  I just wish we could have had the resort to bring it to us in bed. :) After breakfast, Jason had to meet up with a study group.. which gave me a chance to get the picnic together.  Since we were already blessed with a basket of heaven,  I just made sandwiches, and packed some fruit to bring with the wine.  Jason came home from studying, and the bike fun began...  I was determined to ride our bikes down the river trail, but being that we don't have a bike rack - we had to get creative.




  
After a good 30 minutes... We were successful.  :)  We had a great ride down the trail, and the picnic was perfection.  Something about the river trail is just so peaceful.  Everything always feels right here.  I can't believe such a beautiful place is only a couple miles from our apartment.




 We finished the day off relaxing at home.  I made Chicken Alfredo, and we stuffed ourselves until we were miserable.  Later, we had a candle lit Pandora jam season.  Wonderful music and a nice scented room is a great recipe for a deep night's sleep.  I would say our anniversary weekend celebration was a hit.  I realized how much the little things in life make days like that so special.  I wish it could have lasted forever.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

One year down... many more to go

Tomorrow makes a year since Jason and I were married.  As typical as it is to say.. it honestly doesn't feel like it has even been 3 months.  Maybe it was because of the big move and him starting medical school, but it flew by.  Everyone has always told us that the first year is the hardest.  After dating throughout high school and college, we had been together for seven years before we were married.  I think we were already so use to each other's quirks and weird habits that we didn't have much to learn in the first year.  (other than what to do in the bedroom) lol! So in all, I would say our first year was a success.  We are still in love, I still clean up after him, he stills puts up with me snoring, and we are both still as boring as the elderly.

To celebrate, tonight we are going to see "Death of a Salesman" in downtown Lewisburg.  I'm excited to have a night out on the town.  I've discovered today that the best thing about being a med student in a small, artsy town is getting the student discount everywhere.  Jason and I saved 15$ on the tickets.. so for all of the millions of Lewisburgers reading.. make sure to tell everyone you're a student.  It's almost as fun as being a senior citizen! :)

Tomorrow, we are going for a bike ride and picnic on the Greenbrier River Trail.  We have a nice rock picked out, but now I just need to come up with a scrumptious on-the-go lunch menu.  My best friend, Martha Stewart, just had an appearance on Oprah where she demonstrated how to make grown up grilled cheese sandwiches, and homemade bloody marys... I'm thinking that could be a hit, or maybe just a nice bottle of wine and some great cheese and crackers.  I'll let you know the outcome, and post some pictures of the trail soon.

But in honor of my first love and our very first wedding anniversary....







Natchez is calling my name

After a very fun day with the most adorable kid in Lewisburg; I'm baking scrumptious brownies for a pot luck tonight.  I'm excited to meet new friends, and get my mind off of cute, cuddly, chubby cheeked babies.  I'm having enough of a hard time without putting one in arms reach.  Which makes me think babysitting is not my calling for the moment... but maybe brownies are.

Neiman Marcus Brownies were a staple in Christmas get-togethers at my grandfathers.  They are insanely unhealthy, and that is what makes them fabulous.  So when I eat them.. I try not to think about the cream cheese, sugar, and chocolate that I just mixed in.  Instead; I do what Jillian Michael's suggests, and imagine myself with a tiny waist and tight butt (but I'm pretty sure the positive self encouragement wasn't meant to be used while baking sweets).  The smell is starting to fill the apartment, and my heart is instantaneously wishing I had a Christmas tree and fireplace.  Something about these brownies scream home and Christmas.  Maybe that's why I love them.  Just a little pre-holiday celebration to get me through the next couple of months.



Hopefully,  your mouths are watering and you will indulge with me tonight.   Because, I never like eating chocolate alone.  :)

Thursday, October 14, 2010

... and the fun begins

As a newlywed to a med student, I am not only broke... but very bored.  In an effort to entertain myself and keep up with all of my friends and family from home, I have decided to start blogging about my experiences in Lewisburg.  Being that Lewisburg has the population of about 2000 people.. I can't promise it will always be exhilarating, but I can promise lots of smiles.  Follow along while I attempt to decorate our boring, white walled, taupe colored carpet apartment into something that represents Jason and me... and hopefully lures in visitors.  I will also share my attempts to cook, all of my explorations, and personal embarrassments.. (which happen more than I would hope).  :)  It should be interesting.. so hope you enjoy!