A Champion's Dinner

The hubs went to Jacksonville to run his first half marathon this weekend. He did stellar, 1 hour and 51 minutes, I am so proud of him. And yes he wore his medal all night he received for completing the race! He traveled there with his best friend Lat and his girlfriend Alice, who would be staying with us too. I wanted to have a hearty meal ready for them when they got back in town Sunday night because I knew they would be exhausted and hungry. On the Menu is White Chicken Chili and Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread. The White Chicken Chili Recipe comes from my new blogger friend Chassity at Look Linger Love. She promised me it was a crowd pleaser and she was right. It is super easy which is always a plus in my book and delicious! I have searched long and hard for a good White Chicken Chili recipe and this is it! Trust me and Chassity when we say this Chili is the bomb.

WHITE CHICKEN CHILI


Onion, garlic and herbs simmering

Chicken added to saute with herbs

Chicken Broth, white beans, and green chillies added

The finished product! You can get the recipe HERE on Chassity's blog.
**Note: I added a sauteed onion to Chassity's recipe.**

The Jalapeno Cornbread is from my favorite gal, Ina. It is out of her Barefoot at Home Cookbook. The cornbread smelled so good cooking I immediately ate a piece as soon as I took it out of the oven. I didn't even wait for it to cool:) It melted in my mouth, it was so tasty! I need to get the leftovers out of my house before I polish a whole pan of this bread off!

JALAPENO CHEDDAR CORNBREAD


Dry and Wet Ingredients mixed

The white sharp cheddar cheese, scallions and fresh jalapenos.

Cheese, peppers and onions added to mix.

Deliciousness, make this asap.

Cornbread Recipe
This is the perfect meal for a cozy night at home.

A Few of My Favorite Things

I have been thinking long and hard about something exciting to write about but I am stumped. I think my brain is fried from all this thought about Christmas and last minute shopping. I can not believe Christmas is less than one week away!! YIKES! But I am so excited to spend a week with my family and for Sterling to celebrate his first Christmas. I thought I would share a few of my favorite things. These things are essentials in my daily life!

7 For All Mankind "The Skinny" Jeans. I wear these jeans literally everyday. I love them so much I have two pairs so when one is dirty I have a back-up. And trust me one pair is dirty pretty much everyday with a baby!

Rebecca Taylor Blouses. I Love Rebecca Taylor. My closet is filled with tons of her clothes. Her blouses are my daily wardrobe staple. I love them paired with my skinny jeans and flats.

Maybelline Mascara. Been wearing this since Junior High and I still love it! I have one eye with blond eyelashes and the other is black so I have a hard time covering the blond one. This works the best and I have tried many others!

NARS Bronzer in Laguna. I wear this everyday it gives me the perfect amount of color. Most blushes are way too pink on me and this is the perfect rosy bronze color.

Tory Burch Reva Flats. To say I am obsessed with these shoes is an understatement. I love them. They are comfortable and stylish. I own way too many pairs but I do wear them almost everyday!

Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream. This is the best face cream ever. It is so thick and really moisturizes your skin. I slather it on every night. It is cheap too, like $12 for a huge jar and I swear it works. I alternate between this and LaMer because Mama can't afford LaMer for everyday use!

A huge purse. I just switched out my huge Gucci to this Louis Vuitton because I thought it was more fall/winter like. I got this purse three years ago for my birthday and I am still obsessed with it. It is the perfect size and easy to clean!

Vera Wang Bouquet and Chole Perfumes. I do not feel complete unless I have perfume on! I alternate between these two lovelies. I like floral scents and thees two smell amazing!


Kiehl's Avocado Eye Cream. Super thick and moisturizing. Can't say it has taken away my dark circles but I like to think it helps!

What are your daily essentials?

Today was a Good Day

Today I woke up with a pounding headache, most definitely a result of the 3-4 glasses of red wine and few sips of champagne I had at our Girl's annual Christmas Supper Club last night. I thought hmmm today is gonna be a long day. Well Thursday turned out to be a wonderful day.

I started off by meeting my sister in law for lunch at 5 Loaves. One of the most delicious and affordable restaurants here in Charleston. I downed an aleeve with two cokes for my headache. I then enjoyed half of a Turkey Reuben with a mixed greens salad that had roasted potatoes, mushrooms, sunflower seeds and blue cheese. Pure heaven. I will be recreating this salad at home.

Sterling and his beautiful Aunt Britton

After lunch we walked to Sugar, a local bakery here that makes the most decadent sweet treats. I picked up 4 cookies. I told myself that half were for Matt, when I knew in fact I would devour them all, before he even got home from work. I picked out Butterscotch, Ginger Molasses and Sugar with M&M'S (I am eating that one as I type).



Then I headed to our Thursday playgroup where I enjoyed some wine (hangover gone) and we did a gift exchange with the kids. We did another photo-op in all their cute Christmas outfits. Easier said than done, the kids were not happy with all the picture taking!





Later when the hubs got home, we sat out by our fire pit drank a goose (a term we coined for grey goose and lemon juice straight up, our signature drink of choice) and grilled some hot dogs with truffled tator tots. Now I love a gourmet meal but I am also down with dogs and tots. Truffle oil on tator tots is the best thing ever- try it asap if you never have.


To quote Ice T "Today was a good day."

10 Months

I can not believe in two short months my baby boy is going to be a year old. I know I sound like such a broken record always talking about how fast this first year has gone by, but its true! My sweet baby is slowly turing into a toddler. He likes to hold his own bottle now, he likes to hold the books when I read them, he wants to feed himself, and he so desperately wants to walk. My little man is becoming so independent. Good thing is he still likes to cuddle and give me hugs. These have been the best 10 months of my life. Each day is like Christmas morning when I walk in his room to get him up. He always gets so excited and greets me with the biggest smile ever. Best part of my day Happy 10 months to my beautiful son. I love you so much!

Haute Mommies

I am very proud to be a mom and I really pride myself on taking good care of myself. I try to put together stylish outfits, wash my hair a few times a week, workout and eat right. Just because I am a mom doesn't mean I need to be frumpy and unkempt. I gather alot of inspiration from other moms. I just got my January Glamour and Instyle issues in the mail and I was super excited to see Reese Witherspoon and Gwyneth Paltrow on the covers! They are two of my favorite mommies, that I really admire for staying stylish and making family a priority. I have already mentioned my girl crush on Gwennie several times, but I also love me some Reese. I love that she is a southerner, takes her kids to church, likes to cook, dresses stylish and not to mention dates hot guys (poor Jake, he has so downgraded with Taylor Swift). How fabulous does Reese look in her Glamour magazine spread? She makes me kind of want to cut bangs, a bad idea for someone with wavy hair like me but they look so great on her!




Instyle has always been my numero uno magazine of choice. They just went up another notch in my book by featuring my girl, Gwyneth this month. I recently read an article in which Leighton Meester said Gwyneth would show up to film their movie Country Strong with no make-up on and still looked gorgeous. Of course she did, she always looks flawless. I on the other hand would have dark circles, splotchy skin and bad roots! I could only find this one picture from her Instyle shoot, so if you don't already subscribe go pick this issue up! There are many gorgeous pictures of Gwyneth inside and tons of great fashions! What moms inspire you?

It's My Lucky Day

It must be my lucky day. Two of my favorite men have separated from their long time ladies. Now, I never wish for a divorce or break-up for anyone but I never really got these couples in the first place. I will admit Scarlett Johansson was a definite step up from Alanis Morrisette but I always thought Ryan could do better. Don't get me wrong Scarlett is pretty but seemed kind of weird. Zac and Vanessa were just too young, he needs to get out and date around. Now if only I lived in Hollywood, wasn't married and could snag these two hotties up! I wonder who their next conquests will be??

Get Your Soup On

With all this frigid weather, all I want to do is eat soup. Last week we had French Onion soup (Paula Deen's recipe- delicious!) Monday, leftovers Tuesday and Roasted Carrot and Ginger soup Wednesday. My poor husband both nights asked me what our main dish was and I replied "umm, its just the soup." I sometimes forget that men like to eat way more than women. It is unbearably cold here today, they said we could even get a snow flurry (crazy for Charleston), so all I want is soup for dinner again. I decided to make a more manly soup in hopes that it would keep my husband full and serve as a real main dish! This is a recipe I have adapted from my mom. It is super easy and can just simmer until you are ready to eat! I like to serve with toasted Parmesan Bread.

The cooked sausage and onions

The chicken stock and veggies simmering

Tortellini added


The finished product!

TORTELLINI AND SAUSAGE SOUP
-1 PACKAGE CHEESE FILLED TORTELLINI (IN THE REFRIGERATOR SECTION)
-1 POUND ITALIAN SAUSAGE (WE USE HOT)
-1 BAG BABY SPINACH
-2 ZUCCHINIS SLICED
-2 CARROTS DICED
-1 ONION SLICED
-1 CAN DICED TOMATOES
-1 PACKAGE HIDDEN VALLEY POWDERED RANCH DRESSING
-8/10 CUPS CHICKEN BROTH
-PARMESAN CHEESE

COOK THE SAUSAGE AND ONION TOGETHER UNTIL SAUSAGE IS COOKED THROUGH AND BROWN. MEANWHILE IN A LARGE POT OR CROCK POT POUR THE CHICKEN BROTH IN AND SIMMER ON MEDIUM HEAT. ADD ZUCCHINI, CARROTS, SPINACH, TOMATOES AND RANCH DRESSING PACKET. ADD IN THE SAUSAGE AND ONION. RIGHT BEFORE SERVING ADD IN THE TORTELLINI AND COOK ABOUT 5 MINUTES. SERVE SPRINKLED WITH FRESH PARMESAN CHEESE.