From the category archives:

Pensacola

Sum It Up!

by agirlandhermutt on January 7, 2011

Its officially a full work week into 2011. So far so good! I’m getting up earlier, getting to work earlier, and feeling great!

I promised a recap and that’s what is going down today. Ready for a collage post?! Smile I’m putting my Picasa collage maker on overdrive kids!

During my time at home I had some awesome homemade eats (recipes coming soon!)…

We ate at some fantastic restaurants. Including Native Café out on Pensacola Beach…

Cactus Flower Café for some yummy Mexican cuisine…

Jimmy Buffet’s Frank & Lola Café for the world’s most awesome mac & cheese…

And of course, no trip home is complete with a visit to The Fish House for some gouda grits and shrimp!

I stayed well hydrated. Winking smile

I enjoyed all the festive decorations at the house.

My favorite part…Christmas Presents!!!

But the most important part of being home, I got to spend some quality time with my parents and their pups!

After some serious family time, it was time to make the 2nd leg of my trip to the ATL for NYE!

The Scientist and I spent the first night at Hotel Indigo, a cute boutique hotel, smack dab in the middle of Atlanta. So cute and so fun!

We enjoyed a classic meal of fish & chips at Publik Draft House.

Then we passed out. Seriously. SO EXHAUSTED! Good thing, because the next day was NYE! We went to the FSU vs South Carolina Chik-fil-a bowl game at the Georgia Dome with my buddy, Allison and a few of her friends. We started with tailgating and cheered in the new year with a win for FSU!

The next day the kids all indulged me with a trip to the new World of Coke! Little hint should you visit…don’t do the taste testing before the 4D ride. Wow. Not a good combo. Winking smile

We did some touring around ATL (thanks AZ!) and ended up eating our final meal of our vacation at Pura Vida, a tapas place that has a Top Chef contestant as their chef! (Is anyone a Top Chef fan?! Please tell me you are!!!) The stand out dish…red wine ice cream with caramelized goat cheese. Sooooooooo good.

And then…back to Boston! I returned to this little HAIRY guy.

My trip was awesome. My family was amazing. My friend was a great host. The Scientist was a fun travel buddy. Christmas and NYE 2010 can go down in the books as a success!

Oh, and one last thing…Guess who got a fun new apron from Mum and Pops Morgan?! THIS GIRL! A Girl & Her Mutt is starting of 2011 in style!

Thank you so much for spending a part of 2010 with me. I hope you will join me on my culinary adventures, traveling, and plain ol’ fun in the new year!!!

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Life Is Good!

by agirlandhermutt on September 14, 2010

My favorite book arrived in my mailbox on Saturday…the IKEA 2011 book! Even Korkapoo was excited!

Ok, well he wasn’t so much excited as trying to move it so he could find his spot on my bed. Caught in the act buckaroo!

I have a serious obsession with IKEA (example here). When I first moved to my new apartment I needed furniture and I needed it yesterday. My cute little living room looked like I picked it up right off the display floor and transported it home.

Fortunately it has since been “Erinfied” and has a lot more character going on. I promise! I have been circling and marking like a nutzo in the catalog and I see a shopping trip in the future. Woot!

Ok, enough gushing about a weird furniture store. On to more fun things! This past Sunday The Scientist and I headed out to Prowse Farms for the Life Is Good Festival. Who doesn’t enjoy a great day of festivaling and music?!

It was a little overcast on Sunday, but it wasn’t blazing so I was a happy camper.

We showed up just in time to see OK GO hit the stage.

If you haven’t heard of them or their music, you MUST watch this video to get their vibe. Totally worth the watch.

Their show was FANTASTIC! They have so much audience interaction. At one point they asked if anyone in the audience played the guitar. Some guy raised his hand so the band brought him on stage to play with them. How great is that?!

They were super creative and how all kinds of cool instruments on the stage, including hand bells. The Northeast loves them so hand bells!

The lead singer even came out straight into the audience to play. I love getting up close and personal with the band.

We had a little break between bands so we did a tour of the festival grounds.

It was a kid friendly festival. Seriously kid friendly.

There was someone making these crazy balloon hats. They were insane and even larger than you can possibly imagine!

They were everywhere!

Life is Good is all about being green, even when it came to our beer.

We watched Brett Dennen for a bit and then got some munchies, including a veggie sandwich from The Fireplace.

They are certified green!

Get in my belly you yummy thing!

In order to stay away from disposable water bottles, people were encouraged to bring their own refillable bottles.

Our next stop was to see Boston natives, Guster, over at the main stage.

I loved that Guster even had a fun pretty video guy. So stylish! This guy spent most of the time asking people to move out of the way. I couldn’t help but laugh every time he “shooshoo”ed people out of the way.

We booked it back over to the other stage just in time to see Corrine Bailey Rae take the stage. I’m in love with everything about this lady. She has the amazing accent, even better hair and is so tiny in person!

And then…the big event…JASON MRAZ!

We were kind of far back, but we could hear perfectly. My camera just couldn’t handle the mega zoom needed to get Jason perfect. Whatev. Check out the major stage he was on!

I was so impressed with the festival. It was well organized, there were great musical acts, and everyone was right on time. I love punctuality!

LIFE IS GOOD and even better at a festival!

Speaking of a great time, the other day I received a lovely little email from one of the managers at Fish House, my fave restaurant in Pensacola. They had read my stellar review and wanted to thank me for being a great customer. Check out how they said thanks!

Yay! I can’t wait to use this on my next visit home. Hey Mom & Dad, part of dinner is on me!

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Who is your fave singer and/or band? I’m the biggest No Doubt, Jason Mraz, John Mayer, The Kin and Blondie fan.

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Its another day in paradise…

by agirlandhermutt on September 9, 2010

On my last day in Pensacola, I participated in my most favorite activity ever…spending time with my family!

We started off with the classic breakfast of “sausage” and eggs. My parents served up some soy sausage with maple syrup. My fave! There were also some serious scones involved.

I also snuck in an early morning photo with my Moms. *MUAH!* She=the best!

I decided that for our last day I would take The Scientist out to the beach to play some putt-putt golf. I’m a golfer from way back and used to love this little course on the beach.

We got there and this is what we were greeted with.

Seriously? How embarrassing. The whole course looked like this! The carpet was peeling and the cute waterfall and river that I remembered ended up a little Sahara Desert.

We still had a great time (tied!) and I tried to make it up to him with another frozen delight at Bamboo Willie’s.

I’m pretty sure I enjoyed this little pit stop more than he did. Mmm….delicious frozen drinks!

Our last stop was to downtown Pensacola. We took a little walk past Pensacola Bay.

I could have stayed there all day, but our stomachs were grumbly. We visited Hopjacks. With 64 beers on tap and some yummy pizza, we were all set.

Have you ever had corn on your pizza? I hadn’t either! I’m a fan apparently!

The rest of the afternoon was spent just relaxing in the CENTRAL A/C and laughing with my family. Our final dinner before heading back was at my favorite restaurant, The Fish House. They are known for the gouda grits and I’m known for chowing down on them.

We all got a version of the two dishes below. You stick with what is good, right?

Our meals were OUT OF THIS WORLD. Everything was fresh and tasted so yummy. It was so great to support the Gulf Coast community with some local food eatin’.

We said our good-byes to the sand and sun with some fully bellies and a smile on our mugs.

I have some great memories of Pensacola. I was born in Pcola. I lived there for 18 years. My parents have been there for almost 40 years. It will always be my home and I have some seriously fond memories.