Thursday, January 31, 2013

Porch Dining, and My First Giveaway!!

Hello there my lovelies! I've been having a great week so far, and the greatness is not even close to over! Here's why:

1. There's something fun happening at the end of this post....
2. We get to wear jeans to work today (even though it's Thursday)
3. I have my family birthday dinner at my house tonight, with just my smaller, immediate family
4. Tomorrow night is my whole family dinner at my Grandparents house, shared with my Grandmother, because her birthday is just five days before mine! and,
5. Dinner with friends on Saturday night for a small birthday celebration! Hooray! Lots of good things this week.

So first of all, I want to recap my birthday dinner date with my sweet boyfriend from Tuesday night! We decided to splurge a little bit, and try a new restaurant here in town, The Front Porch. And this joint did not disappoint. 

We got there pretty early trying to avoid a crowd, and it seems we had perfect timing. We went right in and sat down immediately. It was a nice night out, so we chose to take advantage and actually sit out on their front porch! And it was so nice out there. It felt great, and it was decorated so beautifully! They have giant, gorgeous chandeliers, but to fit the slightly nautical theme, they're hung by giant boat ropes. And it looks really awesome. 

This is the best the waiter could manage apparently...
We had looked at the menu online the night before, and we had both pretty  much already decided what to get. I got Shrimp & Sausage Strozzapreti. Holy yum people. They make their pasta noodles in-house there, and it was so fresh and yummy. They weren't skimpy with the shrimp on it either, so that made me happy. And it was a huge plate of food. I couldn't even eat it all, so I brought home a cute little to-go box. Jeff got Ashley Farms Chicken Chevre, and his was super yummy too. It was goat cheese-stuff chicken, wrapped in bacon! Soo good. 

And then I wanted dessert to celebrate my birthday (the proper way), so I thought we could share one. But Jeff gave the go ahead for us to both get one! So I got Whoopiemisu - which is espresso-soaked whoopie pies, layered in a little cup with white chocolate mousse and cocao powder. So it was like a jazzed up tiramisu, and this baby was the jam. I ate the entire thing. And Jeff got a giant slice of Peanut Butter & Oreo Ice Cream pie, and his was super delicious too! But he couldn't eat his whole piece. 

Top L: my pasta. Top R: my whoopimisu. Bottom L: Jeff's pie. Bottom R: Jeff's chicken, with potatoes & asaparagus.

So a quick review: we both had super delicious entrees that we both loved, and they were great portion sizes. (Not like most fancy restaurants where you pay a ton of money, for the tiniest bit of food.) We both loved our desserts. The atmosphere was great. Our waiter was super nice. It was all very quick service. This place definitely gets two thumbs up. We will absolutely go back one day. It's not the kind of place we can afford for just any random night, but it's totally worth it for special occasions. 

After the movie, we stopped by Redbox and rented "Moonrise Kingdom." We had already seen it, but we liked it a lot, and wanted to watch it again! It's just such an easy, silly, cute little movie, and it was perfect for a chill birthday night after such a yummy and filling dinner. It was a wonderful way spend my birthday night, with my love!

******************************************************************************************************

And now for the second portion of this blog post... Today I'm finally doing my very first giveaway! (I know, I helped host one a couple of weeks ago, but I'm not counting that one, OK?!) This is in honor of my birthday this week, as well as reaching 300 followers yesterday! I had been thinking about doing one, but wasn't sure. Then all of a sudden yesterday, I just made the decision real quick, and headed to Target! I decided to keep it pretty simple, and I'm just going with a few of my favorite things!


Notepad: I love making lists and notes, so I have about a million of these around my house and work all the time.
Lotion: Always, always keep a baby lotion in my purse. I hate it when my hands get dry!
Washi Tape: Who doesn't love this stuff these days? It's just a super simple way to make something a bit cuter!
Burt's Bees Chapstick: I am seriously, literally addicted to this stuff! I think I currently have 4 tubes of it...
Candle: They make me so happy! I love the way they make a room look, and love the way they smell!
Nail Polish: I just love painting my  nails, and this is a pretty pink, perfect for spring time!
Earrings: My favorite jewelry. I can never have enough. In fact, it's hard to give these away, 'cuz I want them myself!
Moulin Rouge: This is definitely one of my favorite movies. I know every word to every song, and love to sing along!

See? Simple. But I think it's a pretty good little bundle of stuff! :) So here's the deal for the giveaway:

1. You have to be following me. Period.
2. Just leave a little comment on this post! I want to hear something good, so tell me something fun/good/exciting.
3. Leave your email in the comment, so I can contact you if you win.
4. You have until midnight Saturday on night to comment. I'll choose a random winner Sunday, and verify you're following me. And then I'll announce it on Monday. 
5. Duplicate comments will not be counted.
6. United States and Canada only please. (Sorry if I actually have followers elsewhere!)

Guys - I love, love, love having this little blog space of mine. It's grown rapidly, and unexpectedly, and I'm still so amazed at what's been happening around here lately! I'm humbled and grateful and just so excited. Thank you, THANK YOU to all of you lovely followers, readers and friends! Can't wait to see what else this little blog of mine can do, and what else she has to offer! Looking forward to wherever this takes us next :)

31 comments:

Tiffany H. said...

Congrats on 300! Hmm something exciting?....my baby slept 9 hours last night! That's exciting to me.

tiffanyhutto at ymail dot com

Erin said...

First off- totally jealous you get to wear jeans today. I think our office has had jeans day like 3 times EVER, haha!

You guys are so cute!! I think it's a great pic of you lovebirds ;)

And something good?! I just filed my taxes last night haha! Feels good to have it done!

Gina Alyse said...

I adore this post! The restaurant looks so nice--I had a great time trying to imagine what all the foods tasted like. They look yummy :)

Something good and exciting is that I have a day off work today to catch up on a lot things I have to do!

Have fun with your birthday dinners this weekend!

xo, gina

Laura said...

I agree with Tiffany about being jealous you get to wear jeans today :) I am a recent follower of your blog and love your little side of blog world.. Hoping that one day I can build mine up as you have yours :) (p.s. I am a fellow list maker as well so I know how important it is to have CUTE list pads! ha)

Kaley Grant said...

ohhhhhhh I love me some giveaways. Something good: I got a 90% on my Physics quiz that took me 2 hours to complete! HA. THere were only 10 questions.

I miss you!

I think you have my email already. Cuz you love me.

Kimmyyy83 said...

Yay for 300! My 30 in 30 list is up today inspired by you! Love this little bloggy!!

Kimmybows1@gmail.com

Jamie K. said...

Moulin Roouge is also one of my fav movies of all time! I am craving to see the live show as it's currently (or was) circling the US at small theatres!

I think this would make the perfect birthday present too since your announcing on my birthday ;)

let's see fun fact- I am a dork! ha. I am 100% clutz and have had three concusions in my life... one from walking and talking AT the same time and not paying attention! :)

jamiekdunn@gmail.com
Congrats on 300 followers and your first giveaway!!

Holly said...

Wow all that food looked delicious!

I'm hosting my first give away too!
Hope you can stop by and enter!
Sunshine State of Mind

xoxo
Holly

Sarah said...

YUMO food :)

Love this giveaway :)
Something good: TOMORROW IS FRIDAY :)

sar789 {at}live{dot}missouristate{dot}com

Breanna said...

Congrats on 300 followers!!!

Wanna hear something kinda sad? I've never seen Moulin Rouge!!! I know, right??

So this is definitely a must-have giveaway :)

friebr01@luther.edu

Veronica Lee Burns said...

What an awesome birthday dinner date. That restaurant looks quite yummy! Your desserts are mouth watering, I think I'd had to go with your husbands pick though, chocolate and peanut butter are my weakness (I'd probably eat the whole thing haha).

Hooray for your first giveaway! Congratulations on 300 followers, that's seriously amazing! I can't believe I've surpassed 200, it's crazy!

soo anyway, I follow you! So yay for that! (I mean your blog is cute and fun, I've been following for a while but kept missing your posts, keeping up now with bloglovin!)
Something exciting, TOMORROW is FRIDAY, hallelujah! My husband has Saturday off (for like the first time since before Cmas) so I get to spend the day with him! And that's super exciting...at least to me.
My email is mrs.veronicaleeburns@gmail.com

Sara Blinder said...

Your suppers looked delish. Not going to lie though - the desserts looked better! I'm super jealous you can eat on a patio in January. That definitely doesn't happen here!

Something good? The alarm didn't go off this morning but we only slept in by 10 minutes. :-)

Cindy said...

Thank you so much for offering such a lovely and generous giveaway. I am definitely keeping my fingers crossed. As for something fun AND exciting... I'm taking drum lessons!

Also, congratulations on reaching 300 followers! I'm sure you will have 1,000 before you know it. :)

GFC: Cindy
Name: Cindy Aiton
Email: clogzilla(at)yahoo(dot)com

Shane Prather said...

Congrats doll so exciting for you!! !

Hmm I have a few big interviews next week :)

xo Shane
x3shanerx3@gmail.com

Erica said...

I would love to win!! Fun fact: Saturday is my bday :)

Hilary said...

Can I just say I love your blog's name? Those are some of my favorite things :).
Something exciting... well, I've been having one hell of a week, so getting a (late) birthday present from one of my besties pretty much made my day!
x Hilary
hilary . l . adams @ gmail . com

Miranda said...

Happy late birthday!

My best friend and her boyfriend went to The Front Porch for their anniversary a few weeks ago. They said it was good, but from the looks of your pasta it's gotta be amazing! I'm gonna have to try it out.

Congrats on the growing of your blog!

Miranda
mmh10j@my.fsu.edu

Amy @ Living N Learning said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

Amy @ Living N Learning said...

Congrats on reaching 300 followers!

Hmmm something good I can share is that I get to wear jeans to work every day! It's good to me at least. ;)

Looks like an awesome giveaway, hope to win!

Email: livingnlearningbyamy@gmail.com

Allie @ Tales of a TwentySomething said...

I love all the stuff up for grabs! Especially those pretty earrings :)

Something good? ITS FRIDAY!

talesofatwentysomethingblogger@gmail.com

Mallory Castleberry said...

Happy Birthday (late) and congrats on 300 followers!

Something good... I lost 5 pounds this week.

mallory315@gmail.com

BoldButterBaby said...

Happy Birthday!

Something good... my cold is making me lose weight. Yahoo!

boldbutterbaby@gmail.com

Chrissy Delacy said...

Happy Birthday! :)
Something good: I finally got off my butt and followed up on the comments on my blog and have been blog stalking.. ahem.. reading your blog all morning :)

Stephanie @ Life, Actually said...

Congrats on getting 300 followers AND happy birthday! :)

I have never seen Moulin Rouge, but have always wanted to!

I'm a new follower - found you through Sarah at Silly Incantations.

Your blog is super cute and can't wait to read more!

Hope you have a fantastic weekend!!

stephylee00@gmail.com

Alex Green said...

Those chandeliers are GORGEOUS! Happy birthday!

Something good is that my husband and I had a lunch date for the first time in a while today, and it was super yummy (and so nice to get out for a bit with him!).

goodgirlgonewife@gmail.com

Veronica Hill said...

I'm not totally sure what whoopimisu is but it looks AMAZING! What a fun birthday dinner :)

Something good is that it's Friday! Yay! 2 whole days with my man...well minus the time tomorrow I am meeting a girlfriend to get manicures :)

veronicalynnhill(at)gmail(dot)com

Jennifer said...

Congrats on 300! Love this giveaway! I have a similar one on my blog this week!!! Go enter!

Stopping by from "Friday's Letters"!

Ramblings of a Suburban Mom

Ricci said...

I totally just ate lunch but all that food is making me hungry again!!!

Happy late Birthday!!!

SMD @ lifeaccordingtosteph said...

My favorite things giveaways are fabulous!

Something good: my nails are painted my favorite color (Essie Merino Cool). And I've been watching Downton Abbey all day!

Kimberly H said...

Congrats on hitting 300 followers! You are an amazing blogger and I LOVE all of the fabulous recipes/food pics that you share in your posts. Happy Birthday, and thank you for the giveaway!

latteandaprayerblog at gmail dot com :)

MeetTheBrowns said...

The food looks delish!