Bacon wrapped pimento cheese stuffed okra

I grew up mainly in the lowcountry of South Carolina. Because neither of my parents are Southern, I did not eat a lot of Southern cuisine when I was a kid. I probably would not have enjoyed much of it anyway because I was such a picky eater. I'm a quarter Italian and I did not even like spaghetti sauce for the longest time!

Over the years my palette has expanded greatly. One food item that I did not give a chance until a couple years ago was okra. It took living in California and having dinner with a friend from Washington state for me to try it. And it was delicious! Of course, it was the fried variety, so how could that not taste good?

Fast forward to moving back to the South... We have planted our vegetable garden and I included okra. It has been growing quite nicely lately and I have amassed a lot of okra from it. I did not realize the plant has such beautiful, delicate flowers.

Having never cooked it before, I searched Pinterest for some recipes. I found one that sounded perfect... bacon wrapped stuffed okra! The actual recipe calls for a shrimp filling. I'm still a picky eater; I don't eat seafood. But I was planning on making pimento cheese with our homegrown pimento peppers. Wouldn't that taste amazing stuffed inside a bacon wrapped piece of okra? I think so!

Fourth of July gave me the perfect opportunity to try this dish. It was easy to assemble and tasted FANTASTIC! It is just as good as fried okra...if not better.

For the pimento cheese, I kind of followed the recipe from Eleven Magnolia Lane. It's OK, but I've had better. I just have to find the recipe! Feel free to use your own favorite recipe or store bought (if you have to).

For the okra, I followed the instructions from I Heart Publix. The recipe suggests using regular bacon and not thick cut bacon. I happened to have thick cut and it worked out just fine.

Design: Play Date

One of the "unofficial" socials of the summer for our base's spouses' club is a play date. From listening to parents, I have learned that play dates are popular. They seem like a fantastic way for parents to get some grown up time while the kids run around and burn off some energy. Sounds like a win-win!
 
Fonts Used
Play Date (how appropriate, right?)
Franklin Gothic Book
Milasian Circa Personal

Design: Summer Dinner

Do you ever feel stressed out and tense and you're not entirely sure why? I have been feeling that way lately. My jaw has been really tight and I have to keep reminding myself to relax. The worst part is that I do not really have that much to be stressed about. I have a few events coming up, but nothing I really need to be overly stressed about. On the plus side, it has made me get down and do some yoga. I have been so slack about working out lately (hmm...that probably has something to do with my stress level). I found a new yoga channel through a Pinterest post; it's called Yoga with Kassandra. She has a lot of Yin Yoga videos which focuses on holding poses for a few minutes so you get a nice, deep stretch. I thought these videos would help me de-stress a little bit. I've been enjoying them so far.

One of the events I have coming up is a dinner with my Alumni Chapter. Really it's an excuse to have dinner with my friend, Cheryl. She might be the only one RSVPed so far, anyway. But that's OK! I used to stress out about lack of participation from people in the group. But I have learned (and still have to remind myself of this from time to time) that it doesn't matter who actually comes. All that matters is that I give them the opportunity to build and develop relationships. Only they can choose to use the opportunity.

For the dinner, I created a simple invitation. It follows the template I've been using for these types of events. But I do love the background I found on Shutterstock. It's perfect for summer!

Fonts Used
KG Hard Candy Solid
Cursif
Bell MT

Design: Coffee

I am having a blast creating fliers for our base spouses' club. We recently voted to merge with the Enlisted Spouses' Club which means I will have many additional projects to work on. Yay!!! I have started to prep a few items such as a newsletter and trifold. The project I have had the most fun with so far has been creating some new logo options. I cannot wait to see which one is chosen! I have a favorite, but I will share more about them soon.

An event we have coming up is a coffee meet up. The summer is really casual and we do not have an "official" socials, but I'm glad they have a couple events planned. A lot of people move in the summer, so it is beneficial to have an event for people to get their "feet wet" with our group.

Fonts used:
Rhumba Script NF
Bodoni MT
Milasian Circa Personal

Design: Movie Night

My creative outlet has a new beneficiary and I could not be more excited! I am now officially the PR chair for the Officers' Spouses' Club (OSC) here at our current base. I loved this position so much at our last base and and I am so thankful the spot at this base opened up for me. I am just getting into the swing of things and will not have a whole lot to do until the end of summer since the club takes a break over the summer.

Knowing that I would be in this position and because I anticipate organizing more Alpha Omega Alumni Chapter events, I decided to purchase a Shutterstock subscription. Whenever I make invitations or fliers, I find so many cute images from Shutterstock. But to use them (without the annoying watermark) you have to buy them or have a monthly subscription. I was tired of being limited.

For my first OSC flier, I was asked to create something for the upcoming movie night. They have these once a month. I downloaded my first Shutterstock image. It was so hard to choose because they have thousands of images. I plan to use this template for each month's movie night but update it with the new movie. It will be quick and easy to edit and post.

Fonts used:
Broadway
Bodoni MT
Milasian Circa PERSONAL

My goal for the OSC PR position is to create some new "branding." We may be merging with the Enlisted Spouses' Club and a fresh look sounds like a good idea. Part of new branding is finding some go-to fonts. My newest addition and my pick for the new logo is Milasian Circa PERSONAL. I love finding new fonts!

Design: Beach Day

I absolutely love being back in South Carolina! One of the best things is the ability to plan get-togethers for the alumni of Alpha Omega. While living out of state, I was able to plan or help plan the annual Alumni Weekend, but a lot of ladies find it hard to attend. We have folks living all over the state and I like to encourage people in the various areas to meet together. Being back allows me to facilitate these gatherings.

Currently I'm about 2 hours from the beach and it has been calling me. I thought it would be fun to organize a beach day with the Alpha Omega Alumni. Summer is always busy with people traveling, so I am not sure how many will be able to come. But I figure I have to at least try.

Fonts used:
Hawaiian Punk
Meganhand

Tending my garden

Growing up, my mom was always gardening. We moved just about every three years (unrelated to the military), so she had a lot of opportunities to start new gardens. And for the most part we always lived in new construction houses, so the yard was a clean slate to begin with. However, while I was younger did I have any interest in gardening? Of course not. That changed once we had our first town house in Ohio.

While renting, we were pretty limited in what we could do in the yard of each house we have lived in. We have planted several flowers and such in containers, but that is hit and miss with me.

When we moved here and bought our first house, I had my first real chance at a garden. This is a new construction house, so the yard was a clean slate. It came with grass and some plants in the front flower beds, but everything else was on us.

Being an environmentally-friendly person, I was most interested in creating a bee/butterfly/hummingbird garden. Bees are essential to our food production system. Pesticides and such are causing large amounts of casualties among bee communities, so planting bee friendly plants and flowers and avoiding pesticide use is super helpful. I made my list of plants and flowers to look out for and headed to Lowe's.

Chocolate mint

Citronella...my attempt to keep the mosquitoes at bay

More herbs

Lime basil and lemon balm both smell fantastic!

The cilantro (behind the salvia) has doubled in size over the past two weeks. I better start using it before it's taller than me.

We also wanted to plant some fruits and veggies. We had a tomato plant in California that did really well and we wanted to try a few other things.

Two apple trees and a magnolia tree

Strawberry flower

Okra

Broccoli

We planted three blueberry plants. Two are really tiny and we're hoping they grow nice and tall with lots of blueberries.

Watermelon! We attempted watermelon while in California, but it never really produced anything. Here's to attempt #2!

Did I mention we adopted a dog?

As you can see my blogging has been pretty lax lately. I guess I just haven't been inspired to compose blog posts lately. Plus I have been busy working in our yard making it match my visions and plans. Gardening can take up a lot of time!

But that is beside the point. Part of this blog is to share what has been going on in our lives and a big event was adopting a dog! Charles has been wanting a dog, specifically a retired greyhound, for years now. We almost adopted one when we were stationed in Ohio. But since we had just adopted the kitties and because they were so small, it was not the best time to bring a greyhound into our household. Racing greyhounds are used to chasing small prey during the course, so the greyhound adoption group thought it could be a dangerous combination with small cats and a retired racer.

When we moved here and purchased a home, I figured it was time for Charles' wish to come true. We worked with a group based out of Columbia, SC. They pick up dogs from race tracks in Orlando, FL and bring them back for a bit of fostering while they adjust to the post-racing lifestyle.

My ideal greyhound was 1) female 2) smaller in size and 3) Brindle coloring. Luckily, the greyhound rescue group had that exact dog for us! It worked out perfectly.

Meet Suzie Q! If you're a fan of the Calvin & Hobbes comic strip, you will remember that there is a character named Susie. But Charles is also a big fan of Creedence Clearwater Revivial, so we combined the names from the comic strip and the song.

The morning after we brought her home, we all participated in a 5k on base. We intended just to walk the course, but once she saw everyone running she had to jog, also. She became tired about half way through and we walked the rest of the way.

Greyhounds have very low body fat compared to other dog breeds so jammies and jackets are necessary in cold weather or in air conditioned places. We bought these cupcake jammies on Etsy. Aren't they adorable?

Suzie has taken over the loveseat and claimed it as her own.

Congratulations Captain!

I have been so bad about blogging since the move. Trust me... I have a lot of things I could be sharing with you and my lack of writing is not because I do not care.

One big thing that has happened lately is that Charles promoted to Captain! He asked me to create an invitation for the promotion ceremony and luncheon to send to the folks in his squadron. Because he is working with a Recruiting squadron, his co-workers are spread out between South Carolina and North Carolina. We figured the majority would not be able to come in from out of town, but we wanted them to feel like they could if they wanted to. It was mostly people from the headquarters, where Charles works.

For the ceremony, we visited a local park called Swan Lake. There is a building called the Iris Market that you can rent out. It worked out perfectly because they provide the food and decorations so we did not have to worry about anything. The actual ceremony took place outside since it was such a nice day. We watched the weather all weekend because it called for a high chance of rain the day of the ceremony. Luckily, it only rained right after the ceremony ended and stopped after everyone was finished eating. We hired a photographer (pictures coming soon) and were so glad the rain did not stick around so we could get some good group shots with Charles' family after lunch.

I am so proud of my husband and his Air Force career! Captain is a nice honor and achievement. It will be fun seeing what the next several years hold for us.

Fonts Used:
Janda Elegant Handwriting
Felix Titling
 

Design: Alpha Omega Alumni Dinner 2017

My life is slowly returning to normal. We closed on our house this past week and have been unpacking boxes and putting things away. It is HARD work! Most everything is put away and unpacked. I am loving my new house and the huge kitchen island I have now. Yesterday our fridge was finally delivered and we could buy groceries. That first grocery trip after you move is always massive (and expensive). The first thing I made in my new kitchen? Brownies, of course!

Part of getting back to normal is my upcoming Alpha Omega Alumni Weekend! Usually this is at the very top of my priority list this time of year, but I haven't been thinking so much about it yet. I did make time to create a flier for our Alumni dinner which is always the first event of the weekend.

Fonts used:
Cursif
KG Hard Candy Solid
Vingy

Design: Columbia Dinner

It has been awhile! We made it to the East coast and are awaiting the closing of our house. I am so ready to be out of the hotel room.

Being back in South Carolina has given me a chance to plan some events for my college sorority's alumni chapter of which I am president. The first event was a dinner in Columbia. And naturally, I had to make a flier to promote it. I miss being the Publicity chair for the Officer Spouse Club in California. It gave me a lot of opportunities to create fliers. Now I am going to have to make up my own excuses.

Fonts used:
Cursif
KG Hard Candy Solid
Bell MT

The Holy City: Pitt Street Bridge

One of my all-time favorite places in my hometown is called the Old Village. Charles and I got married at a church in that part of town and our reception was right down the street at Alhambra Hall. A couple blocks away is the Pitt Street Bridge. Whenever we are in town we make an effort to stop by for a stroll. If you go around Sunset you are almost guaranteed amazing photos!

The Holy City: Audubon Swamp Garden

Magnolia Plantation is also home to the Audubon Swamp Garden. Charles had wanted to visit Cypress Gardens while we were home, but they were still closed from the crazy flooding that happened in October. We figured the Audubon Swamp Garden would give us a little taste until we can return and visit Cypress Gardens.

We saw several alligators while walking around Magnolia Plantation and the Swamp Garden. This one was the closest, but luckily we were not eaten.

The Holy City: Magnolia Plantation

Another attraction I have never visited while living in the Charleston area is one of the many plantations in the area. We found a Groupon for Magnolia Plantation and decided to check it out. I did not realize that several of the plantations were close to my in-law's house. Convenient!

When we first arrived, we encountered a peacock in the parking lot. They are such beautiful creatures! Later, while walking around the gardens, we came across his counterpart--a pea hen. We recently learned that is the name for a female. We have been watching 72 Cutest Animals on Netflix. Together they are called pea fowl.

The garden was lovely. They are lots of paths to walk down and wonderful views overlooking the water.

We saw sooooo many of these guys throughout the gardens. Must be a nice place to live!

These flowers reminded me of the flowers in Alice in Wonderland. One of my favorite movies!

We did not tour the house on this visit, but the lower level consists of the gift shop. It was a lot larger than I expected and filled with lots of neat items.

The bamboo garden. It was neat to walk among such large bamboo plants.

Cypress "knees"