Chocolate Chip Goodness

Hellloooooo out there!!!!

I'm SO sorry it's been over a week since I've posted out here! I just don't know what my problem is! Of course I haven't been busy or anything... (wink, wink)

Ya, I've been a bit busy lately, but I'M BACK!! I know all three of my blog readers are jumping with excitement at the very thought of reading all about my fun and obstreperous life! :)

So I figured what way to get back into blogging could be any better than posting one of my newest, favoritest recipes!? Chocolate Chip Pie! Several of you know I've been baking these pies like a crazy-person lately--so many in fact that they are concerned I need a "pie intervention!" It just so happens my husband is completely hooked on them. And a few friends think they are simply amazing! And I can definitely eat them, too!

I originally got a recipe from a friend of mine whose family makes these pies for just about every holiday (which, I believe might be a new tradition in my house as well!). Although that recipe was good, I found one that was a bit better because it came out a bit more "firm" and ultimately didn't use quite as much butter. That ought to make it healthier, too, right? Right?? ;)

Anywho, I made yet another pie last night to celebrate my mom selling her house, and I took a few pics of the process so you all could see how yummy and EASY this pie is! So without further ado...

NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Chocolate Chip Pie

Estimated Times:
Preparation - 15 min | Cooking - 55 min | Cooling Time - 15 min cooling | Yields - 8

Ingredients:

• 1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1 cup (6 oz.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
• 1 cup chopped nuts (optional -- I leave them out!)
  

Directions:

1. PREHEAT oven to 325° F.


2. PREPARE pie shell. If using a frozen pie shell, use deep-dish style, thawed completely. Bake on baking sheet; increase baking time slightly. If using refrigerated pie dough, let it thaw for 15 minutes then unroll into pie pan.
   
   


3. BEAT eggs in large mixer bowl on high speed until foamy.
   
   
   
4. Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in butter. Stir in morsels and nuts.
   
   


5. Spoon into pie shell.
   
   
   
6. BAKE for 55 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between edge and center comes out clean.
   
   


7. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm! Feel free to serve a la mode!
   
   
   

This is a super-yummy, very rich and chocolatey pie. I serve with a chilled glass of milk and It. Is. Heaven.

Enjoy!

S'mores Fun!

Hubs and I broke out the fire pit hubs got for his birthday last week and had us some s'mores! LO was all about the marshmallows and chocolate (just like Mommy -- skips the graham crackers!). Unfortunately we didn't get too many good pics since it was dark (duh), but here's a few that show a little bit about our fun evening:






As you can imagine, after the fun of s'mores came the necessity of bath time! I couldn't help but share these cutsie pics of the little one enjoying her bath time.

Shoes!!!

I ordered EIGHT pairs of shoes the other day. EIGHT. And of those EIGHT pairs of shoes? NONE of them fit. Ya. Zip! Zero! Zilch! But, I was able to decide on the styles I really liked (you never can tell when you see something online how much you'll like it in person). So, I returned 5 pairs and exchanged 3 pairs. I got them yesterday and I LOVE them!

Softspots Misa:



Softspots Monarch:



David Tate Spree:



There's one pair I am still waiting on. They are Dansko's and look SO cute and comfy! I can't wait to give them a try!

Bread Bowl Update!!!

Okay, people. Hubs, LO and I made plans today to have lunch at--you guessed it!--Panera! That bread bowl craving just won't go away (No, I'm not pregnant! I feel I have to clarify that every time I use the word "craving.")! Anywho, what did anal-retentive me do before we met there? I called ahead. And asked if they had bread bowls.

"Panera, this is So-and-So."

"Hi, I was calling to see if you guys have any bread bowls?"

"Huh?"

"Um, I was wanting to know if you guys have bread bowls." (At this point I feel like she's thinking I'm calling to ask her if her refrigerator is running...)

"Oh, ya, we've got... uh, four, I think. How many do you need?" (I think she thought I was wanting to purchase just the bread bowls. Like they were bagels or something.)

"I'm sorry, I was just calling because I've tried twice in two days at two different locations to get a bread bowl and they were out. I'm wondering if I come up there for lunch if you'll have bread bowls."

"Oh, ya, I think we've got plenty.... (trails off a bit)."

"Um, okay. Uh, thanks."

"When are you coming for lunch?"

"Huh? Oh, my husband and I will probably meet there around 12:30."

"2:30?"

"No, 12:30."

"1:30?"

"No, 12:30."

"Oh, 12:30. Okay. I'll go ahead and set two aside for you just in case."

"Great. Thanks."

I proceeded to tell hubs this story when I called him from the car on our way to Panera. His response? Ya, we're not eating those two bread bowls she set aside. Really, I'm sure there's no spit in them! I laughed. They'd never do that.

Would they?

Oh, well. It didn't matter. We got there, hubs ordered 2 broccoli-cheddar bread bowls and we were SET! I was so excited I devoured the crap out of that bread bowl. YUM!

What the HUH???!

Sunday... The church service is over. Hubs, LO and I are heading home. It strikes. The thought of a broccoli-cheddar bread bowl from Panera. Yum. We head to our local Panera. Hubs takes LO to get her situated in a high chair while I order.

"Two broccoli-cheddar bread bowls for here, please."

"We're out of bread bowls."

"Seriously? Out of bread bowls?? It's barely noon!"

I tell hubs, we load up LO and head next door to Brixx Pizza instead. In and out of this casual family dining joint in no time. And the pineapple pizza more than made up for the missing bread bowls.

Monday... Hubs takes the day off for his birthday. We decide to hit one of his favorite spots for lunch: Panera. Only this time we go to a different Panera. We walk in, get LO situated in her high chair, wipe down the table, get out her Gerber raviolis and juice, then hubs went to order our 2 broccoli-cheddar bread bowls. He kinda yelled at me from across the restaurant (it was around 2PM--there weren't many people there) that they were OUT OF BREAD BOWLS!

SERIOUSLY?!

Ya. That's right. Two days. Two Panera's. Zero bread bowls. I was flabbergasted to say the least. What was even more retarded? The Panera guy actually tried to say that because the weather has been getting colder, more people are ordering bread bowls.

So, tell me, is it not common where you're from that the weather starts to--I dunno--get colder in the Fall?? Wasn't this something they could've seen coming rather than be blindsided by the increased and unexpected bread bowl demand? Seriously people.

We finished feeding LO her lunch, then hit the road. That's right! I mean, really, we could've had broccoli-cheddar soup in a real, porcelain-type bowl, but really it was the principle of it all. No bread bowls? We're out.

As you might imagine, I sent a nasty-gram to Panera today via their website. Should be interesting to see what they come back with--if they respond at all.

Pumpkin Time!

It's been a busy few days around here! Saturday we spent the day at a local pumpkin farm and LO just loved it! She picked out her very own pumpkin, went on a hay ride and got to ride a little cow train! It was so much fun!






Saturday night we joined the billion other residents in our county at a downtown event. It was C-R-A-Z-Y!! There were people everywhere!!! We barreled through the crowds, enjoyed some food and spent time with a few friends, then headed HOME! LO enjoyed some mini Oreo cookies, hence her chocolate-y face.


Sunday evening we capped off our busy weekend with a surprise party I helped plan for our beloved music minister at the church. It was incredible! We had a great turnout, a ton of "potluck" food, and the best part--we actually seemed to pull of an actual surprise! Woot! Since our music pastor is a H-U-G-E Apple fanatic, we had an iPhone cake made for him. It came out really cute! And we asked all of the guests to wear black shirts, which we put a white Apple logo sticker on. It was a room full of "mock" Apple geniuses! Too awesome!


Of course today is hubs' birthday, and he decided to take the day off! Sweet! We pretty much hung out all day like it was the weekend. I cooked some cheesy stuffed shells for dinner, we bought a patio firepit for hubs so we can have some s'mores fun once the weather gets a bit cooler and we will be enjoying some chocolate chip pie a la mode in just a few minutes! Over all I think it's been a good day for big ol' daddy!

No, Really... I'm Not Dead!!!

I'm SOOOOOOOOO sorry I've been leaving all of my millions of blog readers without quality, interesting, exciting blog content! I promise I'm not dead! And I haven't given up the life of a blogger! Really, I've just been crazy-busy these last few weeks since we returned from our Wisconsin trip. And there's SOOOOOOOOOO much to share! From my sister-in-law's wedding, to the approximately 1,800-mile road-trip, to baby showers, parties and date nights!

Our LO is pushing 15-months old, hubs has a birthday on Monday and we've got 6 of our 9 nieces & nephews with birthdays in September & October. We've been busy! And with the wonderful Fall weather presenting itself these days, we can't help but get outside for some fun. One day last week we met hubs for lunch, then went to a local park. It was the BEST little park EVER! It used to be a rundown, dilapidated old park but some serious money has been put in it and I'm ever so happy about it! There was an entire little playground area just for children under 5 years old, which we got to play on by ourselves! Check out LO enjoying the swing:
Here's LO and I wasting time at The Home Depot while hubs was shopping around for who-knows-what:
And here's one of our crazy girl with crazy hair!
I promise you'll be hearing more from me very, very soon! So stay tuned! Pretty please?

Really, I'm Not Dead...

...I've been on vacation, and then I was sick, and then I was just too durn lazy to post.

But to both of my blog readers, I want to say, "I am alive!" I plan to get back on the posting wagon and share all of the fun that is my life with hubs and LO. We had a wonderful time at my sister-in-law's wedding in Wisconsin, and we had a not-so-great-time after we got back and I suffered some kind of stomach flu or food poisoning of some sort. Yuck.

I'll be sharing some fantastic photos and some fun stories of what we've experienced over the past two weeks since my last post, so stay tuned!

Recipe Time!

Hey, all! Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I've been a bit busy and have been enjoying the new lifestyle I've adapted! Since reading this book, I haven't been able to eat any meat, chicken or pork. And it's actually a good thing! It's been a lot easier than I expected! I'll write more about that later, but I've been sitting on this recipe since last week and I wanted to share it with you! It's a delicious recipe from my good friend H. I made it last week (before I read THE book), so it does have chicken in it. BUT, you can also make it with some fresh veggies instead, just steam them so they're slightly undercooked and use them in place of the chicken! Yum! I hope you guys enjoy this one!

H's Crescent Chicken

Ingredients:
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cooked and chopped
1 can Pillsbury Big and Flaky Crescent Rolls

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided

1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 can of milk


Directions:

1. Separate the crescent rolls and line them around a small casserole dish with the base being on the bottom and just the "tails" hanging over the side.
   
   
   
2. Divide the chicken pieces evenly on the bases of the crescent rolls.
3. Sprinkle 1 cup of shredded cheddar over chicken (add more or less depending on how cheesy you want it).
   
4. Pull the "tails" of the crescents over the chicken and cheese and tuck them under the base.
   
   
5. Pour the soup over the crescents and then sprinkle cheese on top.
   
   
6. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until cheese is slightly browned and soup mixture is bubbling.
   
   
7. Serve with your favorite side dish and enjoy!
   

Bon appétit!

Carnivores Beware!

I like me a good, medium-well done steak. I love chicken. I'll eat pork, too. I've always been a meat eater. And never really thought that much of it. No big deal, right?

Insert book here. Pardon the expletive, but the book is called Skinny B*tch. It caught my attention when I was watching a rerun of The Ellen Show and the books authors, Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin, were guests on the show. I thought to myself, "Hmmm... I could use a No-Nonsense, Tough-Love Guide for Savvy Girls Who Want to Stop Eating Crap and Start Looking Fabulous!" I was thinking it would be all about how fad diets are bad, carbs and sweets should be eaten in moderation and exercise is key to losing weight and looking thin.

WELL... boy was I ever surprised with this book! Sure, I could definitely do without the expletives strewn about on most of the pages. But overall the information contained in this book was absolutely nothing short of phenomenal! Essentially these writers researched the crap out of the foods Americans tend to eat on a daily basis. It went all "scientific" on what's really hiding in some of our favorite foods. It went on to talk about some very intriguing information about the dairy and meat industries that we as consumers have no knowledge of. The reason for this is the billions of dollars these industries spend in marketing their products. They want us to think that milk really does a body good and meat should be an essential ingredient in everyone's diet.

Let me clarify here that I am NOT currently a vegetarian. The thought of becoming one had never really crossed my mind. Sure, I get totally grossed out like every other person on the planet when prepping meat or chicken or pork for dinner. I sometimes physically gag while removing skin or fat or whatever. But after reading an entire chapter devoted to how that meat, chicken or pork gets from the "farm" to your local grocery store, I was convinced that becoming a vegetarian might be something worth looking into. Seriously, every vegetarian saves more than 100 animals a year from horrific cruelty. If you aren't afraid, click on the video below to see just one example of how the chicken suppliers for KFC are treated.



Watch more videos at KentuckyFriedCruelty.com.

Anyway, I'm seriously considering the idea of eliminating meat from my/our daily diet. Of course LO has already beaten us to the punch... she's been refusing to eat meat since the day she started solid foods! But I seriously can't help but think that I'd be focused on what I read in that book if someone were to put a steak in front of me. I'm not about to go overboard and turn our lives upside-down, but I do think there's something about vegetarian and organic foods that I ought to look into.

Do yourselves a favor. Read this book. You should know what foods you're putting into your body and the process that brought them to your table. If only for information purposes. Really. You'll learn about carbs, sugars, caffeine, meat, dairy, exercise and so much more! After all, knowledge is power and you'll definitely find yourself empowered after reading this book! Oh, and I read it all in about 3 hours last night... it's a easy, short read!

My Sickly Self

Sorry I haven't been posting anything new for the past week. I've been battling some kind of nasty head cold that has totally kicked my butt! I think it's safe to say I slept an average of 20 hours a day last weekend (thanks to hubs for stepping it up in the LO department for me), and have been napping every time LO napped since last Friday. I'm starting to feel somewhat better today so hopefully I'll be able to post more soon!

I hope everyone is feeling superrific this week!

Needle in the Proverbial Haystack

I have a serious problem. There is something wrong with me. At least in my opinion, anyway. Shopping for shoes is a necessary evil for me. See, I absolutely LOVE shoes!!! The problem then? I've got big ol' feet! Seriously. Like double-digits big. And even then, the number's not as low as you might be thinking. They're big feet. I've never really thought they looked like aircraft carriers or anything because I feel they are somewhat proportionate to my height. But I've been struggling since high school to find cute dressy shoes that fit. Now sneakers are not a problem--I can always buy them from the men's department if necessary. But sandals, flip flops, peep toes, basically anything in the "pump" or "heel" family is an absolute horror for me.

Those of you with the perfect little female feet (i.e. somewhere between sizes 5 through 9) probably have to make tough decisions when shopping for shoes, like which color to buy or which style you like best. Me? It's only about what will fit. My options are almost null. When I do find something that fits--whether I really love them or not--I typically purchase them only because it's so rare to find a pair of shoes that my heels or toes don't hang off of.

So that brings me to my latest dilemma: shoes for my sister-in-law's wedding. I bought a dress (on eBay for a whopping $9!!) and have been searching feverishly for the perfect (and by perfect, I mean ones that fit) shoes to wear with this lovely floor-length strapless dress.

Now I can't even bother with department stores. You know the ones, where you see the amazing selection of gorgeous shoes with the bright light from heaven shining down on them, the voices of a choir singing, "Ahhhhhhh" in the background? Ya, I can't even bother with that. It's like looking being a child staring at a room full of delicious candy that you're not allowed to have! There's not a single pair of dress shoes in any department store on the face of this earth that carries shoes in my size. Ugh.

Since department stores are out, and since I've already visited every shoe store in my entire county (with no luck!), I had no choice but to turn to the Internet. I checked a TON of stores, such as Piperlime, that don't carry a single shoe in my size. The few random sites I came across that did sell shoes in my size in the color I wanted, I went ahead and bought 'em. Got 'em. Tried 'em on. No luck. Paying for shipping to and fro on literally at least a dozen pairs of shoes over the past few months? NOT my idea of fun. It's like throwing money away. But I have no choice!

I finally came across Zappos a few weeks ago. They do have a HUGE selection of shoes, and, believe it or not, actually had several choices in my size in the color I wanted. I had ordered 3 pairs, none of which fit, so I sent them back. The best part? FREE SHIPPING BOTH WAYS! Finally! I felt like there was hope.

On Monday I went back to Zappos and "expanded" my search a bit. I ordered several more pairs, which arrived today. This was my living room seconds after they arrived:

Like a kid on Christmas morning! Yes. Several pairs of shoes. I dropped about $450 on this order (Side note: Hubs got a call from our credit card company to inquire about the charge... LOL!)

After trying on all of these shoes (these are quite literally my last hope!), the very last pair actually fit well enough for me to make do with them! They aren't at ALL what I envisioned to wear with my dress, but I don't have the luxury of being choosy.

All I can say is, Thank Goodness for Zappos! I love the free shipping and returns, and I was actually impressed with their selection of dress shoes for those of us with unbelievably large footsies.

Ahhhh... Crisis averted. Me got shoes.

A Glimpse at Toddlerhood

My husband is awesome. Seriously! He's been planning on taking the day off today (Tuesday) since Friday, but never said a word about it to me until Monday evening! I was SO EXCITED to hear we'd have one more day together before he headed back to work after the holiday weekend. The best part? Now we were going to be able to take LO to the zoo for the first time! We had originally planned to go to the zoo on Labor Day, but it just didn't work out. It was so perfect to go this afternoon because the zoo was basically empty and we got to roam the place almost by ourselves!

The trip was fun, and we got lots of pictures of the animals and our girl! I'll spare you all by not posting an entire photo album here on the blog, but I did want to share one little glimpse into the "toddler-ness" (i.e. bipolar!) of our little girl!

Exhibit A: So we were at the lion exhibit. It was still early in our trip and the little one was relatively pumped to be there and wasn't in serious need of a nap (yet). She was all smiles and having a fantastic time!

Exhibit A

Exhibit B: I have no idea. Seriously. Is this the same girl? What just happened? Maybe the wind blew wrong or something? Weird.

Exhibit B

Exhibit C: I can just hear what she's thinking: "Mommy, didn't you see me crying? Didn't you? You certainly didn't do anything about it. Should I have been louder? Maybe kick my feet around a bit?"

Exhibit C

Exhibit D: Just listen to her beautiful little brain work: "Sheesh! I guess it's not gonna work with Mommy this time. Guess I'll try again later!"

Exhibit D

Exhibit E: "Weeeee!!! I'm at the zoo!!! I'm watching a big ol' lion! Weeeeeeee!!!!!! I'm lovin' it!!"

Exhibit E

I love this girl like all get out.

Recipe Time!

Lately I've been scouring the Internet for new recipes. I'm tired of the same old chicken! I especially love recipes for my slow cooker. Just dump a bunch of stuff in and forget about it, then have a delicious dinner ready and waiting 5 hours later! I love easy!

One of my favorite recipes growing up was Cranberry Chicken. My mom would make this for us--usually for Sunday lunch after church--and I really loved it! She baked it in the oven over rice, so when it was done, you'd have chicken and rice with a super-tasty cranberry dressing. Yum!

I asked my mom for the recipe. She remembered most of it. Basically everything but the rice part. Sweet! So my next step was to modify it for the crock-pot. Should be super-simple, right? Well, I will admit that the chicken came out delish, but the rice just never managed to cook so the whole thing turned out soupy with crunchy rice. But have no fear! We ended up ditching the rice for my fabulous mashed potatoes (i.e. backup plan).

Since this recipe really is quite good, I thought I might share it with you guys in case any of you are looking for a new and different way to cook the same ol' chicken. Believe it or not, you really don't have to like cranberry sauce to enjoy this recipe. Trust me. Hubs is not a cranberry sauce man but he really likes this dish!

So without further adieu, here is the recipe... with pictures even!

Slow Cooker Cranberry Chicken

Ingredients:
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
1 can whole-berry cranberry sauce
1 cup French dressing

Directions:

1. Rinse chicken with cold water; pat dry.

2. Place cranberry sauce, dressing and onion soup mix in a lightly greased slow cooker.

3. Mix ingredients well, adding a dash or two of salt and pepper. Add chicken to slow cooker, covering it with the soup mixture.

4. Cook for approximately 4 hours on High or 6 hours on Low.

5. Serve over rice and enjoy! Unless you attempted to include rice and some water in the slow cooker like I originally did, in which case the rice would've come out crunchy and inedible. In this case, whip up some mashed potatoes, top 'em with the cranberry sauce mixture and serve with a veggie of your choice!

NOTE: This recipe makes enough to feed our family of 3 (keeping in mind LO only ate a bunch of corn). When I cook dinner, hubs and I always split a single chicken breast and it's plenty for us. You can use this same recipe but with 2 chicken breasts and it'll come out just fine!

Bon appétit!

Where to Dine?

We're in serious need of a new kitchen table. We have a little nook area where our current ugly glass-top table resides. This table was purchased by me pre-hubs from some place like K-mart or Big Lots. In other words, it was cheap. But it has served us well. However, I'm tired of looking at it and am ready for a "real" kitchen table now.

So begins my search. I'm not looking to pay $1,200 for a new dining set. I just want a table and some chairs. But WOW is it proving to be harder than I expected! The first (and really only) table I found online that I liked was the Allegro Dining Table from Crate&Barrel.

With a price tag of only $399, it could definitely be an option. The problem? It's two-fold. First of all, I really don't care for any of the chair options that can be purchased to match this table. Secondly, I refuse to pay $80 for shipping on a table I haven't seen in-person. What if I don't like it? That'd be another $80 in return shipping. Just not worth the potential waste of $160. Especially since I'd have the chair issue to deal with.

On Saturday, hubs, LO and I spent the afternoon visiting various furniture stores in two counties! I was surprised to find there really aren't a lot of regular ol' round tables out there! Nowadays, you'll find a lot of counter height and bar height tables. At first, we weren't thinking we'd like that idea for our kitchen nook area, but after shopping around a bit, I think we changed our minds!

We happened to find the Carlyle collection at Ashley Furniture. It's a beautiful contemporary set with a dark mocha finish, and the one we liked best was the Butterfly Leaf Table (an extension "leaf" is built in to and stores in the table itself).

I really like this set and am hopeful I can convince hubs to bite the bullet and make the purchase. I think I might go the route of calling this our combined 3rd anniversary/Christmas gift for each other. I think that's the international sign that we've been married awhile... combining gifts and making a purchase for the house constitute said gift.

Good times!

Memories...

When I was pregnant with LO, I bought the cutest little baby book from Hallmark. It's completely adorable! And, being the good first-time-mommy that I am, I've kept up with that book like nobody's business. It had pages about our baby showers, a letter to the baby from mommy and daddy, info about her birth, her footprints, and a page for each month of her first year of life. And of course it also had a few pages dedicated to her very first birthday! That book is complete, with the exception of a snip of her hair from her first haircut (since she hasn't had one yet).

So here's my dilemma... What about month 13? So basically after my little girl turns one, I'm supposed to stop tracking her firsts, stop taking pictures and stop writing about the fun we're having with our little one?! Seriously. That's not cool! I mean, really. We just turned her car seat around so she's forward-facing now. But it happened after she turned one. I still took pictures of the big event! And I'd like to write it down somewhere, too! But where?

I've searched online quite a bit and have had ZERO luck finding a "toddler" book that begins at age 1 and goes through 3, 4 or 5. Am I alone in this world in my thinking that I'd still like to "scrapbook" somewhat all the things LO is doing and will do over the next few years? Sure, we'll probably have baby #2 at some point, and I'll have a new baby book to keep up with. But that doesn't mean I don't want to still keep up with our toddler's milestones!

Have any of you seen something similar to what I'm talking about? A baby book that's not really for babies? Like a toddler book that starts at age 1? If anyone has any idea what I'm talking about, PLEASE HELP!

A Letter to the Westin Hilton Head Resort & Spa

Dear Westin Hilton Head Resort & Spa,

Thank you for hosting hubs, LO and I as we spent our very first family vacation together in Hilton Head. We were very pleased that Priceline was able to step in for us to prevent us from paying an overpriced $189 per night for the luxury of staying at your establishment. Frankly, we're not sure our $64 per night was money well spent.

My darling hubs is quite a strong and capable man. If he wanted to borrow one of your luggage rack thingies to unload our luggage, you should have allowed it. Instead, you sent a very-not-needed bellman along with the luggage thingy who insisted on helping with our stuff, even though hubs had everything well under control. When I had the joy of following your bellman up to our room with LO while hubs moved the car (no valet parking, thankyouverymuch), you sure did take your time. Couldn't you tell LO was waaaaay past due for her afternoon nap? I just didn't have the time to stand by while you made small talk with your co-workers. Seriously. Oh, and the fact that you counted the tip hubs handed you before you walked out the room? Tacky.

While I know you were super excited to have us staying with you, the added luxuries were not necessary. Charging us for the sodas and bottled water we removed from the mini-bar so we could refrigerate LO's milk while waiting for your people to bring us the mini-fridge we requested? Not cool. Although it was quite interesting how the mini-bar was apparently all technology-driven somehow since we took the stuff out, put LO's milk in, then put the stuff back in exactly where it was. And magically you knew all about it, even though we never once allowed your staff in our room. Slick. That other luxury? Standing in my own filth as I took a shower? It was over the top. Really, we're those normal, grounded kind of folks who enjoy shower drains that, well, drain.

Now we certainly loved the fact that you removed those insane mini-bar charges after hubs stopped by your front desk and chatted with your manager. What we really didn't appreciate was the unexpected $14 per night "resort fee" we were charged. Especially since I called your hotel after Priceline booked us with you specifically to make sure there wouldn't be any "hidden charges" such as this. And of course I was told there wouldn't be. What really got us was the little card you enclosed in our check-in packet that explained this resort fee, and how it included "complimentary self-parking" and "complimentary" housekeeping-type services (which I was thinking most hotels typically provide for their guests). For your future reference, Webster defines complimentary as "given or supplied free of charge." The fact that we paid for the luxury of parking our own car and housekeeping-type services (which we didn't once use), but yet it was complimentary, but yet we paid $14 a night for it, although it was free, well, we really appreciate that, too.

Sincerely,

mom2lo

Back from Vacay!

Hubs, LO and I returned from our very first ever family vacation, which we spent in Hilton Head, SC! We had a wonderful time on the beach, at the pool and seeing the sights of Hilton Head. Here's a photo recap of our trip! Enjoy!

We stayed at The Westin Hilton Head Resort & Spa. If you recall, we got a great deal on Priceline at only $64/night, which was absolutely fabulous because we really didn't feel this resort was worth the average $189/night price tag. I'll share more on that later...

We arrived Sunday afternoon and headed right over to the beach. LO actually seemed to enjoy splashing in the water with daddy on day 1. Not-so-much on day 2 (as you'll see shortly).

For dinner Sunday night, we headed to One Hot Mama's. We actually intended to eat at the Hilton Head Brewery, but upon finding said establishment, we decided against risking whatever disease appeared to be running rampant in that location. Luckily, right next door, we found One Hot Mama's and had quite the delish dinner! It was hands down the best BBQ pork sandwich I've ever tasted! Yum!


After dinner, we made an impromptu trip to the local Harris Teeter grocery store to pick up some bananas (for LO's breakfast) and soda (for mommy & daddy's breakfast).


Then it was a quick stop at Marley's Ice Cream for--you guessed it!--ice cream! Yummy! LO wasn't too into it, but it was getting late and past her bedtime.

Monday morning, we headed back to the beach. This picture cracks me up because it looks like it was super-foggy on the beach! Actually, it was the condensation misty stuff all over my camera, proving just how humid and sticky it was out there!

Love this shot of LO hanging by herself.

As you can see, she didn't enjoy the beach the whole time we were there on Monday.

Here's our little social butterfly making yet another friend. She kept finding little tots her size to chat with and share her toys with the entire time we were in Hilton Head.

As you can tell, LO had her own plans for our family vacation. She had things to do, people to meet, wandering to do...

These are my two favorite shots of my two favorite people! Daddy and LO on the beach together.


Exhausted after a long day of beaching and pooling.

We did a little sight-seeing while we were there, too. This is the lighthouse thingy near some golf place on some part of the island (plenty of information, huh?).

Ah, The Salty Dog Cafe. We opted not to eat here just because it wasn't quite dinner time while we were on this part of the island, but I thought it would be nice to take a pic anyway.


Outside of The Salty Dog Cafe, there was a lovely little patio with live music playing. Not being one to pass up an opportunity to entertain strangers, LO busted a move. I think there was a Beyoncé move or two in her routine:

Later that night, we headed back towards our hotel and stopped for dinner at Guiseppi's Pizza. It was To. Die. For. I had a delish slice of pineapple pizza and helped LO with her spaghetti and meatballs. Hubs had some kind of a meat explosion wrapped up in a calzone of sorts. It would've been an awesome experience if it weren't for LO's bum. That's right. The poor little thing developed one of the worst diaper rashes ever, and being the horrible mommy that I am, I totally forgot to pack diaper rash cream.

So, after dinner we walked down to the Piggly Wiggly and picked up some diaper cream.

Well isn't that a wonderful note to end this post on? Diaper rash and diaper cream? Fun times. Actually, after the Piggly Wiggly run, we headed back to the hotel, put LO down for the night and started packing up to leave the next morning. I'll share more in another post about our hotel issues... We can't go on vacation and not have problems, right?