The Grut: Livvy's Birthday Edition

My lovely roommate Livvy is now a quarter of a century old! We had quite the celebration last night...it was wonderful!

Happy, happy [late] birthday, liv!

Xoxo

Tuesday Night: Roommate Dinner

Here at The Grut, Livvy recently started the brilliant tradition of alternating who cooks for the whole house on Tuesday evenings. Livvy is the chef extraordinare, but so far we have all successfully cooked delicious meals for the house!

Two weeks ago, I was in charge and I made all the fixings for personal pizzas (including the famous homemade dough, compliments of my mom!). We had fun preparing them together and they tasted fabulous.

Last week, I came home to the aurora of cajun cuisine and I was thrilled. Camille had prepared an amazing kinua jumbalaya, a delicious salad, and warm, french bread.

Rita showed us all up this week with amazing chicken stuffed with feta cheese and spices, wrapped in bacon. Just typing about it makes my mouth water. The asparagus, rosemary potatoes, and bread were delectable as well.

 We are loving this new little tradition because its a healthy, inexpensive way to make sure that we all eat one meal together each week…and a good way to make us practice our culinary skills!

xoxo

The Loveliest, Outdoor Weekend

True to Nashville character, we had a randomly warm weekend in February, and everyone was thrilled! This winter has been long (although nothing compared to the winter I experienced last year!)...

My friends and I took full advantage of the sunny, 70 degree weather this weekend…walks, outdoor meals, wiffle ball games, picnics, national margarita day, outdoor study sessions, and just soaking up that sunshine! 

 

 

 

We all happily bid adieu to Seasonal Affective Disorder, winter coats, and icy mornings. Nashville springtime, we are ready to welcome you with open arms!

xoxo

Life as of Late...

As I laid awake in bed last night, I ran through so many various topics and events that I have been wanting to blog about lately but have not found the time for. So, this is my "catch all" post. Here is how I have been spending my time lately…

The Fabulous Friends Valentine Dance…which is an annual event that I always love attending. This year it raised over $80,000 for African Leadership.

 

I spent the weekend at "Winter Camp" with my freshman d-group, which was quite the flashback to my high school days. It was a blast, but not much sleep was acquired.

Chocolate covered strawberries at our weekly Bachelor viewing party. Yum!

I have been puppy-sitting this little fur ball, Beyonce! She is just too cute!

And I have mixed emotions on this topic, but next week is my last week of tutoring/testing for the year. I will miss my [usually] precious kiddos, but the free time in my schedule is much needed.

Even in this freezing winter weather, I love me some Jeni's ice cream!

Camille left flowers beside all of our beds for Valentines cheer. There are perks to living with four single ladies!

This winter, I am loving the booties [and so are all my friends!]

And, despite all the busyness, I love love love to stop for little lunch dates!

What has been occupying your time this winter? I hope you are finding the joy along the journey in whatever you may be doing.

xoxo

Our Debut as American Doctors

My best friend since birth, Emily, is spending the year in East Asia. It has been an amazing adventure for her thus far, but she has been sick pretty constantly for the past three months. 

After tons of Asian doctors, a plethora of meds, and a week in the hospital in Shanghai, they prayerfully decided Emily had to come home to America to get this health issues taken care of. 

She was super bummed, so we decided to spice up her homecoming with costumes and poking fun at all the sickness misery she has been dealing with lately. After much discussion, we decided to dress as doctors in scrubs and mouth germ covers. We accented with american themed accessories and made festive signs to demonstrate our love and excitement.

 We knew she would be exhausted after 30 hours of traveling alone while being sick, but our goal was to make this homecoming as wonderful as possible, despite the circumstances! 

The reunion was sweet! We are SO happy to have Emily on American soil, even if she is missing East Asia and only here until her health is back on track. And even though Chic-fil-A closes at 9pm and her flight didn't arrive til 10:30, we had to bring her favorite American meal!

Em, America is happy to have you back, even if its short lived! We love you!

xoxo

What do The Bachelor, New Zealand, and Puppies Have in Common?

…They were the focal points of the lovely gathering at our house last night! 

Our group of fun girlfriends gathers every Monday to watch The Bachelor, laugh at the absurdity of the show, and catch up with one another. 

 

This season, I must admit, has been less exciting than usual. But last night, since they were traveling to New Zealand on the show, Rita offered to prepare some New Zealand delicacies from her time abroad there. And, of course, we had some delicious New Zealand wine, too. 

As an added bonus, Alison brought her newly acquired, 8 week old, St. Bernard puppy to join the festivities. She was adorable and obviously the most exciting part of the whole evening!

How cute is that little chubby fluff ball?! And her name is Beyonce which makes her that much cooler!

xoxo