A visit to the Lees

I am back and trying to readjust to the time change:)  I left early....very early on Sunday morning to California to visit the Lees: Andy, Rachel and baby Ryan!  When I first arrived we made a quick run through this fast food favorite.

We then went home and got ready to go see Andy play.  Rachel's husband, Andy, is the punter for the San Fransisco 49ers.  This night they played Philadelphia.  I took a ton of pictures...I know, surprise surprise!  Here are a few of my favorites.

In this picture....number 99...that's Manny Lawson, my all time favorite NC State player.  He had just made a big play and I think in this picture he is looking up in the stands at me and saying "Seantel...that was for you".

Although the 49ers lost, it was a great game.  We were on our feet the entire 4th quarter and cheering on the team.  Vernon Davis's 3 year old son sat behind us and every time his dad made a play he would cheer and give Rachel and I high fives, so cute!

Here is Rachel and I after the game.

All the players park in the same lot so after the game I closely watched the guys coming out of the stadium and look who I found....Manny!!

We talked about North Carolina and NC State football and when we went to take a picture, I looked over and he was doing the wolfpack sign, so naturally I did too.  Love this picture!!
So on Monday we went to a team bible study at one of the coaches house, had lunch at Cafe Rosalena and finished the afternoon with frozen yogurt:) 

Monday night we left the boys, Andy and Baby Ryan, home to watch football and we went shopping at Santana Row and to dinner at El Jardin.  These are two things California does right...shopping and food!

Tuesday we took baby Ryan to Half Moon Bay to get his first pumpkin, see the coast and grab lunch.

 

Baby Ryan really liked the pumpkins and was so sweet letting us crazy girls position pumpkins around him and prop him up on the hay stacks.  After we picked out the perfect little pumpkin, we went into town for sushi and a quick look at the coast at Half Moon Bay.

Tuesday night we ordered Pizza and hung out at their house.  The live up on a hill and have a wonderful view from their back yard.

The highlights of the trip were getting to see sweet Baby Ryan, cheering for Andy in person, yummy food, shopping, the fact that Rachel and I got asked three times if we were sisters and most of all just spending some quality time with my best girl friend.  We talk on the phone almost daily so it was such a treat to spend four days together and talk face to face!  Although I wish they lived closer I do love having friends in California because it is such a fun place to visit.  Thanks again Lee family, love and miss yall already!

Movie Menu

One of our favorite things to do is watch movies.  There are some classics that I could watch over and over again, and we also enjoy seeing all the new releases.  I really like to observe the fashion, decor and food while watching movies, sometimes it even inspires me to make a certain dish.  We saw the movie It's Complicated when it first came out.

We decided to rent it recently so I thought it would be fun to make of the food from the movie.  We made Croque Madames and Lavender Honey Ice Cream!

1. Combine milk, cream and lavender.

2.  Heat mixture until foamy.

3. In a separate bowl beat eggs....then beat in the sugar until thick.

4.  Strain milk mixture to remove lavender. 

Let this mixture cool before adding to the egg/sugar mixture, so you don't scramble the eggs...

5.  Add the egg and milk mixtures together.
6.  Cool mixture completely, in refrigerator, before putting in ice cream maker.

7.  Slowly add honey to the ice cream as it spins in the ice cream maker.

Here is the finished product....it was really unique and yummy!

The Croque Monsieur does not really need a recipe, but I will show you what we did.  I started by making my own bread since there are not many gluten free breads at the store that would stand up to this sandwich. If you buy bread for this I would go towards a sourdough or good french bread.  Croque Monsieur is basically a ham and cheese with a fried egg on top.
So to start, preheat oven to 350 and line up your bread slices on a baking sheet.  Add dijon mustard, gruyere cheese and boiled ham.

Brush the tops with melted butter.

Cook in oven until golden brown.

Add more cheese on top and broil/heat cheese.

Fry up some eggs and add one on each sandwich.

Now we are ready for the movie!  By the way if you have not seen It's Complicated, I recommend you go and rent it this weekend!!  Croque Monsieurs and Lavender Honey Ice Cream seem to be the two things we crave when watching this movie so I am glad we could eat and enjoy it with them this time!

State vs VT

We love this time of year.  The look of fallen leaves on our yard, pumpkin flavored goodies, the holidays around the corner and of course...FOOTBALL!  Even though the Wolfpack lost yesterday we are so proud of our 4-1 record!  For this tailgate the guys were put in charge and they did not disappoint!  John cooked a pig and the rest provided the sides.  I made Monster Cookies!  They were really good and the recipe makes a large volume of cookies.

 Yes, a win would have been nice, but overall we had so much fun hanging out with friends, eating good food and cheering the team on!

Baby Roberson

Leighton Dare Roberson

September 20, 2010

7 lbs 1 oz

20 inches

We have all been anxiously awaiting this little girls arrival.  She was born 6 days after her due date and still decided to take her time once her mommy was in labor:)  Caroline and John, the proud new parents, said she was worth the wait!

We drove down to meet her today and she is just pure pink perfection.  I have been surrounded by little boys my whole life and there is just something sweet about a tiny baby girl!

Congratulations John and Caroline!   Caroline, I am so proud of you and I know you will both be great parents.  We are counting down the days until we can come visit again!

Frame Work

I do not like to waste things and I love to craft! I have noticed my obsession with frames lately.  One by one I started turning old and unused frames into useful cute decor around the house.
A picture board in my guest room...

A serving tray with handles...

Memo boards in my office...

I framed a dry erase calendar...

When I got tired of all my earrings getting tangled and never being able to find the matching pair, I used a frame, cute fabric and some sewing pins...and voila!

Miriam my MIL is always reminded to keep things simple in life with this framed inspirational word in her design studio...

Here are some more ideas to inspire you!

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I love the idea of spray painting a variety of frames the same color...just frames...

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Framed mirrors...

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Framed chalk board...

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So if you have an old picture in the attic and don't know what to do with it...pop out the picture and create something brand new out of the frame!

H is for....

Baby Hooper!  My friend Marilyn is expecting a baby boy in October and I helped host a baby shower for her and her "Little Peanut" this past weekend.

Yes she is due in 7 weeks and you can barely tell she is even pregnant in this picture!
We had the shower at Carolina Country Club in Raleigh.  It was an elegant sit down lunch with lots of great food, baby talk and gifts for baby Hooper.

I was asked to make the take away gift for the guest at her shower.  I decided to make the cookies in the shape of the letter "H".  These cookies were a four day event, but well worth it! 

 

 

 

 

Little boys are such a blessing and I can't wait to meet Little Hooper!