Ten on Tuesday!

Thanks as always to the lovely Chelsea at Roots and Rings for hosting!


1. How did your parents decide on your name?
Funny story.  I was supposed to be a boy.  Like absolutely-positively-definitely a boy.  So that meant I was supposed to be Robert Tyler.  Robert Tyler didn't really work for me, obviously, when I was not a boy as promised.  I think Meredith Ann was just a sort of "Oh lord we can't call her 'baby girl' forever" reaction.


2. Do your initials (First, Middle, Last) spell out anything fun/funny?
Another funny story.  Way back forever ago when I started this blog, I needed a name, and the reason it's called Thank You Ma'am is because my initials spell MAM.  That's also why "ma'am" is spelled wrong in my URL.  But it was really just too much trouble to ever incorporate into the layout/whatever, so it's not really obvious.  Now you know!

3. Did you take your middle name from childhood or did you take your maiden name as your middle name? (If unmarried, what do you plan to do?)
Come September, I'm going to take my maiden name as my middle name.  Mine right now is just an afterthought, it's what half us 80s babies were named, and it's more just a conjunction than anything.

4. Are you or will you name your children thematically (ie. same first letter, all of same origin…)
As much as I love the Duggars, those J names scare the crap out of me.

5. Did you decide on baby names as a little girl? Did you stick to them or change your mind?
My favorite names as a little girl were Kim and Ashley.  I have no idea why.  They're certainly not now. And I have no idea where Peggy Sue, Twyla and Tallulah (my animal names) came from.  Also thinking about baby names just makes my ovaries clamp down, so I don't really do any baby-name deciding.

6. Does your family have any names that have been passed down through generations?
Yes - the oldest boy in my family gets named James Pinkney.  I'm not kidding.  Not only that, at one point we had like four generations all alive which makes for some creative naming.  JP, Jimmy, Jay, and Jake.  Too. Much.

7. Do you look at the meaning of the name or just the name itself?
I think my name means something goofy like "Protector of the Sea."  I really don't think I even know what any other name means.  Do people still do that? 

8. Do you name pets with human names (Sally, Henry) or with pet names (Fluffy, Mr. Bo Bo)?
Well, I guess they're sort of human names, just not names you hear every day.  Peggy Sue, Twyla, Tallulah?

9. Are there any names that you have an affinity or dislike for based on a childhood experience/someone you once knew?
Goodness, hard one.  I really don't think so.  There were definitely people I had strong feelings for both ways as a kid, but I don't think I really attach it to any of their names.  We all had such generic 80s names that none of them really stuck with me.

10. What are some of your favorite names? Why?
All these name questions.  Don't really have any as of late.  Though we've decided that if we get another dachshund, it will be Lisa Marie.  And no, I'm not kidding about that either.

Weekend Update!

I had a glorious weekend at the lake, but it's making Monday and going back to the real world much harder today.  I always start my weekends on Thursday afternoons due to being a spring-semester 3L and thus having the Schedule of Dreams, so we're starting the weekend recap there.

I went to lunch with my friend S, which was wonderful because I feel like I never see her anymore.  We went to Noodles & Co. because I am sheltered and have never been, and boy was it amazing.  I was trying to be somewhat healthy, so I ordered the Bangkok Curry, which was delicious.  I was jealous of S's truffle macaroni and cheese though - the one bite I had was just to DIE for.  But the Bangkok was good too, and for less than 300 calories, you can't beat it.

But then of course that I-was-so-good-at-lunch moment did not matter at ALL, because we went to The Fresh Market in search of a king cake for S.  Well, Fresh Market certainly had some king cakes.  Along with every other kind of cake/muffin/pastry/pie ever invented in THE WORLD.  And y'all, I am seriously a sucker for dessert. I don't like chocolate, but put anything else in front of me and I am liable to gobble it down like a hungry bear.

See what I mean?  How was I to resist this?  I had to get an ultimate pecan cinnamon roll.  And also immediately snarf it in the car.  I mean, there was practically a gun to my head.

On Friday, we went down to the lake.  Even if it's not summer, the lake is still gorgeous.  It was our neighbor's birthday and they were having a party, so they invited us over to celebrate.  I wish I had some pictures, but all the preparation I really did was throwing some beer in a Bi-Lo bag, grabbing a jacket, and heading next door.  I especially wish I had some video though, because their friends from across the lake brought their yellow lab, Reina, and she played with Peggy Sue for HOURS.  Peggy looked like a rabbit on a rail running around their yard.

If you're wondering about the rest of Peggy's weekend, it involved a lot of barking at ducks and growling at the occasional jumping fish, eating sand from the beach, and getting covered in cobwebs from underneath docks.  I'm pretty sure it was epic by wiener dog standards.

Saturday was our much-anticipated low country boil.  Oh my goodness, it was so worth all of the anticipation.

It really isn't hard to put together, and it makes for an amazing meal for a huge group of people.  For about 15 people, you'll need:

• 5-10 lb. bag of red potatoes
• 24 frozen half-cobs of corn
• 5 lbs. of shrimp (frozen is fine)
• 3 or 4 Hilshire Farms kielbasas
• About 2 capfuls of Zatarain's Shrimp and Crab Boil concentrate

We do ours in an outdoor cooker/turkey fryer - basically just a giant pot with a gas burner.  Start the potatoes first (half them if they're on the bigger side).  Cover with water, boil until nearly cooked.  Add the corn, then the sausage, then finally add the shrimp for the last 5-10 minutes.  Drain out the water, which basically involves just pouring the liquid off the top and into the yard, and dump out on a big table lined with foil or newspaper.  Grab as much as you can and enjoy!  We didn't have a single leftover.

After we enjoyed our amazing dinner, it was time for the Carolina/Dook game!  Honestly, going into the game, I was a little nervous.  I just knew that the tar heels didn't have much of a shot.  I was shocked and amazed when we had a huge lead, and was giddy when we won.  

If you don't come from the Carolinas, you might not realized that the Dook/Carolina game is the biggest event of basketball season (or really any season), unless we happen to be in the final four or something.  I spent several nights of my college career out on Franklin Street after we beat Dook, gathering around bonfires, singing the alma mater, and yelling "GO TAR HEELS" until I couldn't talk anymore.  We were about an hour and a half away from Franklin Street Saturday night, but we cranked up our own bonfire, and I have to say it was an awesome victory celebration.

We finished up the night playing Things.  I'd never played this before, but it's an awesome party game.  It's sort of like Apples to Apples, but with a little more creativity.  One person reads a card, which might say something like, "Things you shouldn't say to get out of a speeding ticket."  Then everyone writes a response, gives it to the reader for that round, and then we go around guessing who wrote which answer. The object is to be the person who guesses the most number of responses correctly.  It sounds silly, but like Apples to Apples, it gets more fun as the night gets later.  I definitely recommend it for your next party!

Last night, PB and I came home and had a little date night at Ruby Tuesday - a salad bar and a glass of sangria was just what I needed to say goodbye to the weekend.  

All in all, a beautiful weekend.  What was amazing about your weekend?

In case you're wondering where I am...

I've been doing things such as this since Friday night:


Expect a full recap later! Hope you had a lovely weekend!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Couldn't resist linking up with Jamie for WILW!

Here's what I'm loving on this sunny Wednesday.

Getting excited for a low-country boil with some awesome people at the lake house!

{Photo from our trip to the beach last summer - makes my mouth water just looking at it!}

That my silver glitter TOMS that I found on eBay for a song have shipped!  I know, the point is that they help kids in need.  But I figure, someone already bought them, so a child in need did get her shoes, and my poor law school self saved over half on them.

This sunny, ruffly dress:

That the new Target bathing suits are out!  I'm loving this teal polka dot one:

That it's going to be time to load up my cornhole boards for a tournament this weekend to go along with our low-country boil!

What are you loving this Wednesday?

How to be a Redneck: Recipe Edition

I've been going through my cookbooks, and I had SUCH a hard time picking out what to share with y'all, because I could really make this post a 24 part series.  There are lots of things I am leaving out.  But I hope this will get you off to a good start, because food around here is seriously about being delicious.  Like Paula Deen says, I am not your doctor.  I don't pretend that any of this is heart healthy, allergen-friendly, organic or all-natural.  But I will promise that it is darn good, and sometimes, one needs to stop worrying about such things, make an Elvis special, and tear through it.  So in that spirit, I give you my favorite, most wonderful redneck culinary ideas.

Some of the best things I've ever cooked have come from the cookbook that my sweet grandmother made for me.  She wrote out all of my favorite recipes and organized them in a recipe binder.  It's one of my most favorite possessions - it has all of her best recipes written out in her neat little handwriting.

I have made this recipe as a perfect, simple go-to pound cake recipe.  It's delicious with some homemade cream cheese frosting, or you can even add a little lemon to the standard frosting recipe.  A few things you should know:  1) You really do need to start with a cold oven.  2)  Don't make any substitutions.  No seriously, buy the Crisco.  3)  It works best if you buy nice cake flour.  Swan's Down or Gold Medal are a must-buy.  Don't be using any cheapie flour, because texture is essential and I don't want your pound cake turning out all weird.  3)  Make sure you grease your pan all over with Crisco and then flour it, and shake it.  This is a terrible pain, but what is a worse pain is when your pound cake sticks and you are cursing the world.  4) Love, relish, and devour your cake.

Some of the best recipes come from little church cookbooks.  These two in particular are from the Mt. Gilead Lutheran Church cookbook, and I use them all the time.  The Dijon chicken is one of my all-time favorites, and it's one of my go-to recipes when I don't have time to make a big fancy meal for dinner but I want something truly yummy.  The Chicken 'n' Coke recipe makes a moist, awesome barbecued chicken breast that goes great with mac and cheese.

Besides my grandmother's cookbook, one of my favorite cookbooks is Pit Stop in a Southern Kitchen, by Martha Earnhardt and Carol Gordon Bickford.  Yes, as in Dale Earnhart and Jeff Gordon's mamas.  It has every standby recipe you'd ever need for appetizers, main dishes, desserts, and even for what to do with that deer meat that I know you all have hanging around the house.  

I grew up eating gallons of oyster stew at my grandmother's house.  You buy the oysters in their happy little plastic container, you mix them up with milk and margarine (yes, I know it's bad for you, it's fine, you'll live) - and you have a delicious, warm supper.  Make sure you have some saltines to go with it!

When I was in college, I was in a sorority, and I think the main reason that I stayed with it was because we had a house where they fed us 2 meals a day, 5 days a week.  And Tom was our old hippie-with-a-gray-ponytail chef, and I swear he was intent on fattening all us sorority sisters up.  One way was with the Elvis special sandwiches.  If I saw that on the menu, you better believe I was trotting myself down to the sorority house and loading my plate up with six of them.  Also great for those days where you don't feel like eating anything after a long Saturday night out.  The King was a partier - I'm sure this is why he came up with such a delicious idea.

I first had these at our church ladies' Christmas party (along with some of the most delicious sangria ever, which is a recipe for another time and theme).  I must have eaten 25 of these delicious things, and I don't know how I made it through 23 years of life having never been exposed to these little glorious gems.  Make them for your next party, people will worship you like a goddess.

Goodbye February, Hello March!

At the end of the month, Nora over at Walking with Nora always posts a list of things she doesn't want to forget about that month. February was a pretty darn good month for me. I'm happy for spring, but I hope the next few months go as well as February has!

Sitting in Three Monkeys with J, talking about everything you could imagine for hours, on a Sunday night, just because. * Sitting in front of a fireplace in the mountains with a glass of wine and a bowl of hot vegetable soup. * Being out at Longhorn with PB on our first real dinner date in months, ordering a giant Texas Tonion and eating the whole thing ourselves just because we could. * Spending a whole afternoon listening to Pandora, folding laundry and spring cleaning with every window in the house flung wide open and all of the fans on, relishing 80 degrees in February. * Walking 5 and a quarter miles with Mom and Peggy Sue, and feeling wonderfully drained afterward. * Being a greeter at church, meeting so many sweet people from our church that I haven't gotten a chance to speak to yet. * Going shopping for bridesmaid dresses with J and Mom, and finding some awesome shoes for both me AND my girls. * Taking Peggy Sue to the lake for the first time, and letting her run around and explore while I sat in the sunshine. * Cooking out with my family, enjoying the screened porch while we waited on chicken and vegetables to grill. *

* Feeling more secure, more hopeful about the future, and hearing more good news than I've heard in a long time. *

Ten on Tuesday!

This week’s questions are from Stefanie at The Stallings Life. And thanks as always to the lovely Chelsea at Roots and Rings for hosting!

1. What type of cell phone do you have and how would you rate it?
I am an iPhone JUNKIE.  Seriously, I don't know how I lived before, it changed how I do everything.  I swear after I first got it,  I didn't even need to touch my laptop for a week because my iPhone did everything I needed.  Okay enough about my fantastic iPhone.  But seriously, I love it.

2. What has been your most serious injury?
Thank goodness I don't really think I've had many "serious" injuries.  I think probably the worst was when I burned my butt on a metal slide as a kid.  It was on a church playground, during a family reunion, and I had on nothing but my Sunday dress and my little ruffly bloomers.  The slide was so hot that it burned them into my butt, I had to wear dressings for two weeks, and the doctor's office thought my mom was a child abuser.  Fun times! I still shudder when I see one of those things sitting out in the sun.

3. What is one movie you hate and why?
I'm going to throw it out there and just say that as a general rule, I really, truly hate any action movie.  Even if you tell me it's a classic, like Terminator or something.  I will still hate it.

4. How many email addresses do you have?
I have my current email, my lawyerin' school email, and then I went ahead and made a new gmail for when my name changes after I get married.  (Nerd alert.)  So I guess I have three.

5. What website do you waste the most time on?
Probably Facebook.  I find myself just gravitating to my bookmark on my browser mindlessly all the time, even if i just checked it five minutes before, or clicking on the icon on my phone if I have a spare minute and feeling just a twinge of boredom.  It's a bad habit probably, but I love the eff bee, and I just can't give it up. 

6. Which mexican restaurant makes the best salsa?
There's a place here called Andele that I just love.  They bring you three huge bottles of different types of salsa and some of it will make you want to scream, it's so hot.  But I love mixing some of that in with the mild salsa and making my own little combination.

7. What is your dream car?
I don’t really have one. I love my FJ, I don't care if PB hates it, I'm keeping it for the next 100 years or until it's time for all of us to get flying cars.

8. If you could spend up to $100 with no strings or restrictions or guilt, what would you buy?
If i have $100, I always feel like I need to put it toward something practical, or at least our honeymoon fund.  But really, if I were to go out and spend it guilt-free, right this second, I'd definitely get a massage.  And with anything left over, probably a fun new sundress or a few tops from Target because it's starting to feel like spring!

9. What is your favorite board game?
I guess Taboo isn't really a board game per se, but it's definitely my favorite game-from-a-box.

10. How often do you change your hairstyle?
I haven't changed it at all (other than that minor coloring in the mountains) in...2 years?  Maybe 3?  Unless you count the constant state of oh-Lord-my-hair-needs-be-longer-please-let-it-get-longer-ASAP stage I'm perpetually in lately, but I don't count that as a major change because it's so gradual.