Fire and Lobster and Gamecocks... Oh My.

It has been a pretty eventful weekend here in the Snyder household. And it has also been my last weekend off until after the holidays. Hence the eventfulness. We had to squeeze every last bit of projects, rest, relaxation, and fun time out of the past two days.

It is important for my sanity.

And I don't think we could have gotten any luckier on the weather situation. It has been absolutely gorgeous. In fact, I will go ahead and say that the weather was perfection.

And I don't go around throwing out that word a lot. When it comes to weather.

Our weekend started off with the building of a fire. And a fire is one of my most favorite things in the whole entire world. In the fire place, of course. Or outside as a campfire.

I'm not crazy or anything.

I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE the sounds, the warmth, the beauty, and the smell. In fact, rumor has it that Bath and Body Works has finally answered my prayers and has created a candle with the campfire smell.

I am beside myself with delight. And must acquire a coupon in order to buy one this week.

Anyway, Kev sure knows how to make me a happy girl. Build me a fire and I will do ANYTHING you want. As long as it involves sitting on the couch, enjoying the fire, and eating a good meal.

I loved every single second of the warm, crackling fire. I even got down on the floor. Right in front of it. And stretched out as close as I could possibly get without my Dad ( Kev) telling me that I needed to back up and be careful.

Saturday, was filled with working on projects. Like cleaning out the garage. Cleaning out my closet. And working on a special project that I am devoting an entire post to - just because I think it is so darn cool.

I also managed to throw a little gym time in. I am down to blowing my nose only a couple times a day - instead of minutes, and managed to take two classes in a row. It felt really good at the time - even though I am super sore right now as I am typing this. I also think that I learned how to kill someone with my bare hands. Who knew that the combat class could get so intense. ?? I felt like I was fighting for my life.

Saturday night ended up back in the Lodge room. For another fire.

Yes, Please!

But this time, we decided to eat supper in there. While we watched the USC game. On our special Gamecock tv trays that we got for Christmas last year....

My supper plan for the night was to recreate "the Lobster Roll" from the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot. You know, one of my favorite things. Except for that Lobster is EXPENSIVE. Like insanely. So, after I spent way too much time trying to find fresh lobster - that wasn't gator meat- that was already pulled off of the shell.... the "seafood" guy told me to buy a can of Lobster. On the canned meat aisle. It was the size of a small tuna can. And cost a million dollars. So, I only bought one and stressed over how I was going to make a decent meal out of a smidge of meat.

But then Kev suggested I get some crab meat and mix it with the lobster. And I jumped up and down and kissed his sweet head and told him that I owed him my first born child and bought a lot of crab meat.

And it worked perfectly. Along with onions, celery, green pepper, tarragon, salt and pepper, dijon mustard, and LIGHT mayo...


The flavors were incredible! I toasted some whole wheat buns and added some romaine lettuce. And squealed OUT LOUD with every bite.

Oh. And I made some home made potato chips to go along with it. They are baked in olive oil, salt, and pepper.

The Gamecocks won. Surprisingly. I've stopped assuming they will win and that way I will be pleasantly surprised. :)

Sunday was filled with finishing our projects. And then Kev offered to make ANOTHER fire for me.

I'M IN HEAVEN RIGHT NOW!!!

Now if only I could get him to let me sleep in front of the fire.

And just because I blogged about doing it. And never followed up with how it all turned out... I wanted to tell you about my vegan/vegetarian Thanksgiving dishes. And the non-vegan turkey that I roasted.

Well, it was pretty good. The turkey wasn't the best and was a little dry even though I marinated it in soy sauce for like a million hours. Kev thought it tasted better the next day when it sat in it's juices over night. But the side dishes. HELLO YUMMY! I made green bean casserole - without cream of mushroom soup. And even found some organic, fresh fried onions to put on the top. Wow. I could eat it every day. And then there was the stuffing/dressing. Fresh sourdough bread, mushrooms, dried cherries, and a million other incredibly fresh ingredients. Where have you been all my life. Iloveditsomuch! AND didn't feel too full, or bloated, or got the "Thanksgiving sweats" after finishing this meal. It was fresh, and healthy, and just right.

And now I've added something to my bucket list. "Cooking a GOURMET, HEALTHY Thanksgiving meal". I would just love to prepare a feast of yummy fresh foods. And I would make every one dress as pilgrims and talk about things like travelling on large boats and throwing tea in the water.

Except for I can't remember for sure if it was the pilgrims that threw the tea in the water... or just another angry, fed up group.

History class was after lunch. Which meant nap time.

And now I'm going to enjoy the rest of my fire. Because tomorrow starts another week of work which will involve getting ready for Black Friday. Our biggest day of the year. And this may be my last night to relax.

And stuff my face with roasted marshmallows.