47 Cent Pants and Homemade Chicken Wings

Sweet Sesame Teriyaki and Traditional Hot Wings

The beautiful South Carolina sunshine has finally arrived and this week was another busy week. We must have been doing something right this week because Friday was our lucky day. We went to Anderson for dinner and if anyone's from around here, you know Anderson only has like 5 restaurants so the wait time on weekends are usually ridiculous. We pulled up to Texas Roadhouse and got "rockstar" parking. Then, we went inside and had to fight the crowd to put our name in to get our buzzer. They said the wait time was going to be 10-15 minutes (short time for Anderson-good news right?!) and then immediately our buzzer went off. I thought maybe it was a mistake but our table was ready immediately (getting better) and so were the warm yeast rolls! Yummm! Our service was fast and great and afterward we decided to do some shopping. It was then that Kevin found $0.47 pants on the clearance rack at Old Navy (best!).

Clemson vs. UNC

Our lucky/happy streak rolled into Saturday when we got tickets to the Clemson v. UNC basketball game at Littlejohn. (Thanks Melissa!!!) The game was a close one and a lot of fun. After the game, Kevin and his dad installed our new kitchen faucet (it's been broken since last Sunday) and I went for my long run. 8 miles this week! Thanks to the nice weather I've been able to start training outside. The sunshine is suppose to continue all week...I can't wait! Today, Kevin and I took Stanley out for a walk by the lake and snapped some shots. It was extremely windy but we all still had a nice time. We also made our first batch of chicken wings. De-lish! Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and we decided to celebrate this coming weekend with a trip to Cherokee to try out the new Paula Deen's Kitchen. Can't wait for those gooey butter cakes! Gourmet fried chicken and mac 'n cheese here I come!

White Chocolate Lemon Streusel Bars

Sweetened Condensed Milk 1 can (14 oz)
Fresh Lemon Juice (1/2 cup)
White Chocolate Chips (2 cups or 12 oz pkg)
Butter, softened (2/3 cups)
Light Brown Sugar, 1 cup
All Purpose Flour 1 1/2 cups
Pecans, chopped 3/4 cup
Quick Oats 1 1/2 cups
Baking Powder 1 teaspoon
Salt 1/2 teaspoon
Egg 1

 1. Heat oven to 350 F
2. Lightly grease 13x9x2 in pan
3. Combine milk, lemon juice, and chocolate chips. Mix well.
4. Beat butter and sugar in mixer until blended well.
5. Stir together oats, flour, baking powder, salt and pecans.
6. Add to butter mixture and blend well.  Add egg and blend well.
7. Press egg/crumb mixture evenly over crumb mixture.
8. Save about a cup of the crumb mixture to sprinkle on top.
9. Spread lemon mixture evenly over crumb mixture.
10. Sprinkle saved crumb mixture over lemon mixture gently pressing down on crumbs.
11.  Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned.
12.  Cool completely then slice.

In the past few weeks I've been able to do a bit of baking! At the Twig's cooking class in January we got to taste these white chocolate lemon streusel bars and...I have since made 3 batches! Mmm Mmm! I love to bake and I'm always looking for new recipes. So please feel free to share!

Well, I can't believe February is already here! This has already been a very busy year. On Monday, we received a new student in our class. He is a very sweet, very young student -- 5 years old. Most of my students are around 9 to 11 years old. So as you can imagine, I've had to do a bit of adjusting! I've learned that it takes a lot more energy and attention to keep up with a 5 year old! It's been a really great experience. Speaking of ages...our niece Elise turned 3 years old on Thursday! (am I really old enough to have a 3 year old niece?!) Happy Birthday Elise! Her cake, presents, and decor were decked out in Disney Princesses and she went ice skating (like the Princesses On Ice show we viewed in December) for her birthday. I am so glad we've been able to spend some time with the Sammis family in the past few weeks. Soon they will all be leaving us to move up to VA. Natalie, Bryan, Elise and Carson will all be greatly missed! We love you and hope to visit you sometime this summer so go ahead and furnish the guest room. =)

Other than baking and visiting family, I've been able to keep up with my training for the big race and even visit with some old high school friends. We went to dinner and a show at the Peace Center. It was nice to get back together with friends and catch up on everyone's life. It's so weird to think we're at the point where it's no longer high school, sports, and prom, but grad school, careers, and husbands! Sometimes life just flies by and I've made a promise to try to slow down and remember how much I need a Girl's Night every once in a while. You should do the same!