Fab Friday Faves 11.11.16

Happy Friday my Darlings!  And a very big thank you to our Canadian and American veterans that have fought for our freedom, both in our lifetime and before.  We owe you everything that we have and we don't thank you enough.  I will be leaving shortly to go to a Veteran's Day parade in Leonardtown, MD, just down the road from here.  It does make me sad that today is not a day off for everyone in the US, so that everyone has the chance to go out and show respect to our veterans.  In Canada, Remembrance Day is a statutory day off and most people use the morning of the day to go to a ceremony and wreath laying. I really miss that but I am hoping that this parade and ceremony will fill the void.

Of course the big news this week is our new President Elect, Donald Trump.  I know a lot of people are shocked and saddened by this news, and there have been protests and violence coming from both sides already.  I hope that people stop this and start working together to make the country a better place instead of just relying on one person to fix all of the problems that have taken hundreds of years to create.  I could not vote in the election as I am not an American citizen, but I live here and am just as effected by the results as anyone else.  While I don't think that Trump was the best choice, I don't think Hillary was either.  Both candidates obviously have checkered pasts and policies that I agree and disagree with and I really hope that cooler heads prevail and that there are enough smart people working with Mr. Trump that he can do positive things with his time in office.  I do not believe he is a horrible person but I do worry about things that he has said and things that he plans on doing.  I worry about rights for women, people with disabilities, minorities, immigrants and people in the LBGTQ communities.  I worry about the environment, as this is a critical time on our planet and whatever reason you think climate change is happening, there is no denying that it is and we need to do what we can to slow it and prepare our people for what it is bringing.  I worry about our children hearing our leader saying horrible things about people that deserve the same respect as everyone else and them thinking it is okay to demean others.  I worry that gun crimes are going to keep getting worse and worse with no control and education and I worry that we are going to sever ties with our allies around the world and even make enemies that we need on our side in the face of the terrorism that we already see on a regular basis.  I believe in being optimistic and that everyone deserves to prove themselves, so congratulations President Elect Trump, please prove half of the country wrong and prove to the other half that they made the right choice.

That being said,  besides the excitement in the country, I had a very quiet week.  I hung out with Lindsey and the kids quite a bit, and on Sunday, Josh and I had our first day together in over two months.  We went to Ellicott City, the prettiest little historic town I have ever seen, just north of here near Baltimore.  Earlier this year, the town was devastated by a flash flood.  It is built over top of two different rivers, like, literally the rivers are under the basements of the businesses on Main Street downtown.  So, when the flash food came, it gutted all of the old buildings leaving nothing but the shells.  One person was also killed.  Most of the businesses are currently rebuilding with only a couple having managed to open at this point so we mostly just wandered the streets but it is beautiful and heartbreaking to see what these people lost.  We also went to Patapsco Valley State park across the river from Ellicott City and it is one of the prettiest state parks we have been to.  We wandered some trails, walked across the swinging bridge and checked out a little waterfall.

Alright, like I said this week was quiet, so my Five is a bit lackluster, but I did my best!  Enjoy!



1. I went out to Gilbert Run Park for a walk and this place just keeps getting more and more beautiful.  The Fall colors here are amazing!



2. I saw a Facebook recipe the other day for Red Wine Hot Chocolate so I tried it out last night.  mine didn't look this pretty but where has Red Wine Hot Chocolate been all my life?  Wow! Thanks to warandcheese.com for the photo.



3.  I started watching Sarah Jessica Parker's new show on HBO "Divorce" a few weeks ago and I am addicted.  The show is amazing and deep and funny and of course SJP is an absolute goddess.



4.  We eat roasted vegetables all the time but Fall is my favorite time to have them because of all the delicious root veggies filled with flavor and color.  I picked up some parsnips, beets, rainbow carrots, different varieties of sweet potatoes and zucchini at the Farmer's Market and they are amazing.



5. Christmas Oranges are out!  Or Mandarin's or whatever you call them and they taste so good!


Today I'm linking up with:

Jennie @ The Diary Of A Real Housewife

Jerri @ Simply Sweet Home

Paula @ Sincerely, Paula

Lauren @ Style Elxir

Erika @ A Little Bit Of Everything

Heather @ Life In Leggings

Katie @ Cup Of Tea

Karli @ Sept-Farm

April @ A. Liz Adventures

*Recipe* Thai Curry Coconut Butternut Squash Soup

It's finally Fall weather, and nothing says Fall like a hot bowl of soup.  Especially Butternut Squash soup.  I've tried a few recipes over the year but I think this is my favorite.  It has so much flavor and just the right amount of spice but not enough to make me sweat!  I also love soups that have toppings and this one has a few.  So throw on a sweater and some fuzzy socks and whip up a quick batch to enjoy!


Ingredients

-1 tbsp Canola oil
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-1 small yellow onion, diced
-1 tsp Ginger, freshly grated
-1 1/2 -2 tbsp Thai Red Curry Paste
-2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
-4 cups butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
-1- 15oz can coconut milk
-juice of 1/2 a lime
-1/2 tsp Sriracha
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
-1/2 cup Cilantro, chopped to garnish
-1/2 cup unsalted, dry roast peanuts, chopped to garnish
-optional, Naan bread to serve.

Directions 

-Heat oil in a large soup popover medium heat.
-Add the garlic and onion and sauté until soft and fragrant, about 3 minutes.
-Add in ginger and curry paste and stir to combine with onion and garlic and cook for 3 more minutes stirring often.

-Add in the butternut squash cubes and pour in the broth, stirring to combine.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat and cover and simmer.
-Cook for 20 minutes or until squash is tender.
-Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes.
-Pour the soup into a blender in batches and blend until smooth.

-Pour the blended soup back into the soup pot and heat over medium heat until warm through, stirring occasionally. 

-Before serving, remove from heat and mix in the coconut milk (saving a few tbsp for garnish), lime juice, salt, pepper and Sriracha. Mix well.  
-Pour into bowls and drizzle remaining coconut milk on top.  Swirl the coconut ilk with a spoon or toothpick.
-Sprinkle with chopped cilantro and peanuts.
-Serve warm with Naan bread. 

Thanks to Host The Toast for the awesome recipe!

Nashville Girl's Trip Pt. 2

Well, I dropped the ball again, it has been almost a month and a half since I have been back from Nashville and I am just getting around to part 2 of my blog.  At least there are only two parts, am I right?  Anyway, here it is.  This was our Sunday and Monday and my Tuesday exploring this beautiful city.  So, enjoy! 

Bright and early Sunday morning we headed back over to the area where the Opry is, to the Cumberland river, and boarded the General Jackson Steamboat.  This is a massive Steamboat, and gorgeous.  I think we all felt like we were stepping back about 80 decades when we boarded.  We were there to attend "Sunday in the South" a morning gospel show and brunch.  

Probably one of the best breakfast buffets I have ever been to, mostly because they had chicken and biscuits and gravy.  HELLO!!

The singers and musicians were also phenomenal.  When we booked the gospel show we questioned whether we would know the music and enjoy it but it turns out we knew all of the songs and could sing along with everything and we really enjoyed their enthusiasm and audience interaction.  

After breakfast and the show was over, we had about an hour to explore the boat, enjoy the view and enjoy some more music outside.  It was once again ridiculously hot but still an amazing experience.

Downtown Nashville skyline from the river.

'Merica

Finally after the Showboat, we got some time for some real, live shopping!  We went to the Opry Mills Outlet Mall.  This was probably about the best outlet mall I have ever been to.  We all ended up with purses and fun things. 

Talk about a busy day, our next event was Nicole, Miranda and I.  We were going on the Off The Wagon Pubcrawl.  A wagon pulled by a John Deere tractor around downtown Nashville for a couple hours.  Is there anything cooler than that?

We brought our own booze and a bartender on the trailer poured it for us.

We got to see some awesome Nashville sites that we wouldn't have had time to otherwise.

#squad

As the night wore on and the city got busier, we were sort of celebrities, everyone waving at us and taking pictures of us.  We were pretty cool! haha

We stopped and picked up a group of girls from NYC that had been on the Wagon the previous two nights and still had a bunch of booze on board.  They were a lot younger than us but they were fun!

We went straight home after the pub-crawl ended and ordered food and watched a movie.  It was actually a really nice evening.

Monday was our last day... we were getting tired, but we still looked hot!  

This was our special shopping day, Tiffany!  Miranda got a gorgeous necklace and we all got to dream!  

Tiffany happened to be in the same area as the Juice Bar I had been super excited to go to.  It is owned by my favorite reality TV family, the Chrisleys.  The Chrisley's weren't there but I did have the best juice I have ever had!

Todd creeping through the door.

Just down the street was the Bluebird Cafe, where so many country superstars got their starts and come back to when they feel so inclined.  Actually, two days after we were there Garth showed up unannounced and played a show here.

We needed lunch so we went to one of the most famous BBQ joints in Nashville and the US, Martin's.  Delicious!

We headed back downtown after lunch and I finally got to go into the Johnny Cash Museum!  Yay!  It was full of fun facts and TONS of memorabilia about my favorite country star.

He was such a sweetie!

Cheesy, overpriced pic!  

We tried to go to Ryman auditorium, which was home to the Grand Ole Opry for a lot of years but it ended up closing just as we got there.   So we went for a wander.

We weren't sure what to do so we went for a drink to Flipside a few miles from down town.  A super cool retro little bar and restaurant.  It is also owned by Canadians so there is poutine and Caesars!

After a few hours there we went looking for dinner.  Miranda and I really wanted steak but we could not find one for the life of us.  So we got some mussels.  Well I did, and I must say there were pretty much the best mussels ever.

After dinner, we went across the street to loser's Bar and Jon Pardi was playing a little concert there and it was awesome!  We got to hear Head Over Boots and Dirt on My Boots.

We found another bar across the street for some final drinks.  It was a total Chicago style bar which was cool except some jerk put a bunch or Christmas music on the Jukebox, it was September.

When we were close to leaving, I recognized a guy that walked in.  It was Luke from this last season of the Bachelorette.  I wasn't going to bug him but Tara went and asked him if I could get a pic with him.  He was super sweet.  We pretty much went home after this, we really needed to, as all the girls had to be up at like 5am to head to the airport.

I said goodbye to the girls in the morning and got up and cleaned for a couple hours and made my way to the Titan Stadium area of the city, right across the river from downtown.  I really wanted to walk across the pedestrian bridge, it was a beautiful view and Titan Stadium is super cool looking.

I wandered downtown for a bit and saw a few things that I hadn't seen and checked out a few gift shops.

I got lunch at Merchants restaurant, a gorgeous high end old hotel.  I got Duck Fat Tater Tots and Johnny Cash Iron Pot Chili.  Delicious.  The guy beside me got the dish on the right OMG.

I had to Uber all the way back to the Airbnb and then back to the airport so I was running out of time, but I hadn't been able to go to a coffee shop all weekend so that was my final stop, and it was totally worth it for this Dirty Chai.  

 I had an amazing time in Nashville and I hope the other girl did too.  I can't wait to take Josh back there with me.  It is such a good time and so our vibe!  Thanks to Miranda, Nicole, Tara and Sarah for the best girl trip!