My rocknroll weekend and tornadoes

My weekend- Saturday morning i picked up my niece and went to garage sales. I totally scored on some vintage Christmas items!! I got that awesome Christmas tree that is narrow for a window sill from an estate sale. Then the next stop, I came across this box of vintage hand blown glass ornaments that are 2 layers in the box. Yall i got for 2$ on those ornaments.  I also grabbed some old silver items for my Steampunk party for Holliween.  I also bought a bumper boat raft that goes in the pool for 2$! It was originally 160$, then had a clearance sale price of 57$ from Macy's and i paid 2. Yay!! My nieces had fun playing with it on Memorial Day when they came over. I wish there would have been 2 of them. It does a good reverse and you can steer it. 

 The BFD concert was a long lineup of bands : The Dirty Nil, Glorious Sons, Bad Wolves, Thrice, LIVE, In this Moment, Seether, and Shinedown.  We missed the first 3 bands because Todd didn't want to go down there in the heat all day. I did want to see Bad Wolves but it was a good compromise because we still got to see 5 bands.  It was soooo fun!! We went to this event 3 years ago when Shinedown was headlining then.  I was not too familiar with Thrice but i ended up liking them. There were people that knew every word to their songs so they were popular.  Live was of course excellent and one of the main reasons i bought the tickets. That was my 3rd time to see them and i saw Ed Kowalcyk when he was solo.   In this Moment was a shocker. They were very much all about the theatrical side and WOW did they!! Truthfully, i wasn't a fan of them live but have since listened to them on Spotify and i like many of their songs. The singer is female and she's a screamer.
Seether was flipping AWESOME and i would definitely see them again !!  Shinedown never disappoints and they were the headliner for a reason. Great stage performance - lots of fire and lights, etc.  I just really enjoy them and pretty much like every song they do.  It was a great concert and i got my moneys worth!

Oh did i mention i got a tattoo our last day in Amsterdam? I got a raven for my mom. When she turned 50 she got a raven tattoo, i was going to do the same last year when i turned 50 but didn't quite make it.  I am so happy with it! 

Our gardenia bush that smells amazing the second you open the back door. I am so happy to have it! 

Yesterday, we were under Severe weather and tornado alerts in our area. My supervisor came running out of her office and told all of us to head home now because it was heading our way. Some funnels had already been seen and wasn't sure if they were going to touch down. A few minutes from home, the radio broadcast told exact times that the weather was hitting our area. It was 2:07 on my clock and the storm was going to be over our house at 2:20. The alert said clearly to Take Cover!! I rushed home and let dogs out of kennel and we ran outside in the rain so they could take potty break. I was yelling Hurry Hurry hurry!! Then we ran into house and i scooped them up and got into bathtub.  The dogs were so good and they could tell something was up. They didn't fuss and try to jump out .  Once it passed over- we had thunder and sideways rain, we got out.  Todd is in New York and Jersey this week on business. They too were under tornado watch. 

Everything is Ok at our house. Just debris and leaves to pick up but no damage. Unfortunately, the tornado hit down an hour east of us and tore things up pretty bad. They got hit last year too so its so sad.  I saw today that the US has had over 500 tornados in the last 30 days. yikes!! 

Stay safe!!

Family gals and new places

Last night, we had a girls only family dinner. My aunt Tammy lives out of state in California and Idaho ( yes both). She is in town because we had my great aunts funeral this past Saturday. Aunt Edith was my grandma Mimi's older sister.  I suggested us all getting together one night this week so that we could hang out, have a glass of wine, and have fun outside of a funeral.  Last night was best for everyone so we met in Addison which is suburb of Dallas that was in between where we all live.

We had dinner at a great new place that i had never been to before. It was called Ida Claire's.
 On the website, its introduced as  Ida Claire- South of Ordinary... an intriguing, southern inspired destination for relaxing suppers, slow weekend brunching or a meeting hub for business lunches and happy hour.
Instead of happy hour  they have a Vinyl hour. They select a vinyl record and play it in its entirety from 3 to 6 with drink specials and appetizers only available then.  We had vinyl red  ( only 5$) which was their house blend and it was so good!  We asked our waiter to tell us what the label was called and he said Haze.  I'll be on the lookout for that!
The menu was very unique. Everything on it had its own twist of something different . They're most sold item is their homemade  fried chicken that is battered and fried at time of order. They also have chicken and waffles that came with egg sunny side up. Thats what scared me,  LOL- i hate runny eggs.  I had the shrimp and grits with the piquant sauce on the side and i never added it.  The grits were parmesan grits and they were wonderful!
This is just the Supper plate menu: I recommend you clicking on my link above and checking out their appetizers, drinks, and site items.  So good!
Wood Grilled Chicken
AFRICAN SPICED HALF CHICKEN,
COLLARD GREENS, GOLDEN
RAISINS, DELICATA SQUASH,
MASALA TOMATO SAUCE
• 18 •
Shrimp & Grits
TEXAS GULF PRAWNS,
BACON, PARMESAN GRITS,
SAUCE PIQUANT
• 19 •
Wood Grilled Snapper
CAST IRON SEARED OKRA,
CAMPARI TOMATOES, ALMONDS,
MINT, BASIL CHIMMICHURRI
• 19 •
WILD ISLES
SEA TROUT
MOROCCAN SPICED,
ROASTED BEETS, PICKLED
GRAPES, PRALINE PECANS,
FENNEL, LEMON YOGURT
• 22 •
Nashville Hot Fried
Chicken
SPICY CRISP HALF CHICKEN,
PIMENTO CHEESE TOAST, PICKLED
CUCUMBERS AND ONIONS
COOKED TO ORDER. FRESH TAKES TIME.
• 17 •
Pecan Smoked
Pork Chop
ASIAGO GREEN BEANS, FIGS,
BASIL, TASSO BUTTER
• 19 •
Chicken & Waffles
BACON LACED BELGIAN WAFFLE,
SUNNY SIDE UP EGGS, CRISPY
TENDERS, COFFEE MAPLE SYRUP,
BLACK PEPPER GRAVY
• 15 •
Wood Grilled Redfish
ROASTED CAULIFLOWER,
SPICED HAZELNUTS, GOLDEN
RAISINS, SAFFRON AIOLI
• 26 •
Braised Beef Short
Rib
GRILLED BROCCOLINI,
TOMATOES, OYSTER MUSHROOMS,
CORNBREAD CROUTONS


We ordered a slice of their pie of the day which was coconut creme and a slice of their Vice cake ( chocolate cake with bacon in the ganache icing).  All it was so good!!
The decorations were awesome. Yall know that i collect bird cages right? Well i was in Heaven because in one corner of the restuarant, they had at least a dozen of cool vintage birdcages hanging from the ceiling with lights in the them.  I'm already thinking of doing that at my house somewhere!
On the back patio is an airstream decorated so cool. You can actually dine in the car and of course it was always reserved. They had old vintage metal patio chairs outside.  On one of the walls inside they had old plates like hundreds of them hung.  I didnt get pics of everything.

Its always fun to try new places and especially when its good and yummy! I'll definitely be back.

It was nice to visit with my cousins that i really dont get to see very often unless its a funeral or family event.  We all said we would try to do better and get together more often. I hope so!! 

Letter X- is 10 in Roman numerals

 It is really hard to think of a post on the letter X.   The symbol “X” means 10 in Roman numerology. So I am going to write about 10 things I am really happy about.

  I went to an estate sale this past weekend and really scored some fun stuff at great prices.  I stopped by on Friday on my lunch hour and only spent a few minutes there. On Saturday , they lowered the prices to 50% off everything.  Woohoo!

1. I got this bag of vintage clothes pins for only 1.00$.  I bought a small bag that had 3 in them from an antique store around Christmas and paid close to 5$.   So this purchase made me really happy!

2. I bought this beautiful ( to me) handmade full size quilt that I’m in love with.  I love the bright colors and it has orange in it. For those who don’t know, Orange is my all time favorite color!  I have an old wood ladder in my hallway that has quilts draped over the rungs.  I like being able to grab one and curl up on the couch with.

 3. I bought a wooden wine box that had pretty spools of various lace all for 5$.

 

I bought a lovely vintage lamp for only 10$.  I have seen these same lamps go for close to 50$.  And the sockets all work

1.  

   

   I bought a box of fun vintage buttons , and some spools of thread and some bias tape ribbon all for 2$.  You pay a dollar now just for one or 2 of the button sets at junk shows and antique stores. 
2. 
   

   
3. I got to celebrate my 2^nd cousin’s 40^th wedding anniversary. Dad and Deb were there and we had a fun evening.
   
   

   
4. I got a 30% off coupon at Kohl’s which really makes me happy. I rarely get those. They had a sale on house slippers where you buy one pair – get the 2^nd pair for one penny.  My dogs ate my new pair I got for Christmas so I grabbed some for me and mom.  I bought Mom a few other fun things and wrapped her package last night. I just need to go to post office and mail it to arrive by Mother’s Day. 
    
5. I started my rule again where if I buy a new shirt- I donate a shirt out of my closet.  I have a coworker that has 2 boys and her husband cant work. She is on very tight budget and never buys for herself. She loves getting my shirts and I picked out 3 for her that I think she will like.   One of them is a new one but I took the tags off and she doesn’t know.   She would get mad if she knew I bought it FOR HER so its what I do.  I love it!!
    
6. While going through some clothes last night, I also have 2 bags of clothes to donate to a charity I support: Genesis Womens Shelter .  It supports abused women who flee from their homes with nothing, and they also help provide resources for employment, and other support to them.
    
7. This Friday will be May 1.  My birthday is in May and several other friends and family celebrate in May.  I am getting older and that is a blessing! Every day to wake up and be alive is a true gift.  I celebrate my birthday all month. 
   
    

So my numbers got totally messed up. haha!!  I cant seem to fix it either.  Don't try this at home kids. 

We need to make a point to think of at least one thing a day that makes us happy. It's very easy to list the irritations.  

Happy Tuesday yall!!