Pink Glitter Pumpkins

During my research of restaurants in Chattanooga, I found two places we could potentially go for dessert near our hotel. One of those places was The Ice Cream Show. We decided to go visit it on Friday night after having dinner at The Blue Plate. It appeared to be an easy walk from both our hotel and the restaurant.

Sep 11

Sep 11 The Blue Plate

Before going to Chattanooga, I did some research of a few restaurants near our hotel and the convention center. One of those restaurants was The Blue Plate. The menu looked very intriguing, and it was only two blocks from our hotel. After our first full day of JoeCon, we decided to go here for dinner.

Sep 9

Sep 9 Weekend with Nannie and Bob Bob

Randomness, Kids

A few weekends ago, Brad's parents {aka Nannie and Bob Bob according to Melody} came to town to visit. They live about 3.5 hours away, so we don't see them near as much as we would like. It has become really hard the older Melody gets. Traveling with a two year old just isn't easy. So we were super excited when we found out they were traveling to us!

Sep 7

Sep 7 Creamy Lemon Chicken

Creamy lemon chicken is a name Brad and I made up for this recipe. This is a recipe he actually got from his mom, and I am not sure of her source. We don't make it enough because I honestly forget about it. We tend to get in a rut and just eat the same things over and over. But this really is a great chicken recipe to have in your back pocket.

Sep 6

Sep 6 Seasons Restaurant

While visiting Chattanooga back in June, we ate at our hotel restaurant Seasons. We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn. We ate here because it was our arrival evening, and we wanted something quick and easy but semi-nice. So we thought the hotel restaurant would be just that.

Sep 4

Sep 4 Last Day Before Preschool

Kids

So I was struggling with the idea of being away from Melody when she started preschool. Even though it is only 8 hours a week, it was super hard to come to terms with. But it was needed for her. So on her last day before school, I decided to have a mommy and me day.

Sep 2

Sep 2 JoeCon 2018

Vacations, Randomness

The main reason for our trip to Chattanooga was to attend JoeCon. Brad has always wanted to go, and this year was the last year for it. Since it was so close to home, we decided this was the year to attend. I have broken down each day from my general perspective below, but Brad has more detail and knowledge on his blog which is included under each day.

Sep 1

Sep 1 Happy Birthday Daddy!

Randomness

We celebrated Brad's 35th birthday Thursday! Unlike prior years, this year he wanted breakfast at McDonald's for his birthday instead of waffles because he had to work. So we didn't start celebrating with him until he was home.

Aug 31

Aug 31 Hidden Valley Simply Dinners

I recently discovered this breading kit when scrolling through the Ibotta deals. It looked interesting, and since Brad and I make baked chicken so often, I thought it would be nice to mix things up.

Aug 30

Aug 30 Hilton Garden Inn Chattanooga

When we went to Chattanooga back in June, we decide to stay at the Hilton Garden Inn that is in downtown. We had a lot of Hilton points from a recent stay during our home repairs, so we wanted to use them on this trip. Therefore a Hilton property was a requirement for us. Since we had so many points, we decided to stay in some sort of suite. Two hotels offered suites, but one was sold out by the time we opted to book. So we ended up at the Hilton Garden Inn in a Junior Suite.

Aug 28

Aug 28 Creative Discovery Museum

Vacations, Kids

Since our primary reason of visiting Chattanooga was for Brad to attend JoeCon, we wanted to make sure and do a few things for Melody while there. I did some research, and we decided to try the Creative Discovery Museum. It was literally right next door to our hotel {we shared a parking lot}, and by visiting the Tennessee Aquarium first, you can save a few dollars per admission. It looked like something Melody would absolutely love, so we decided to try and fit it in our schedule.

Aug 26

Aug 26 Melody starts PRESCHOOL!

Kids

We decided to enroll Melody into preschool this fall. Since I am a stay at home mom, the doctor recommended she either start school or do a mother's morning out to help her spend more time with other kids and develop more social skills. So we opted for a preschool we toured in the spring and loved. It is very small, affordable, and we loved the facilities.

Aug 24

Aug 24 Garlic Bread

We eat bread with most meals, so I have been trying to find some new ways to make it besides simple rolls. I decided to try and make a simple garlic butter spread that I found online. It's very quick and easy, and you are likely to have most ingredients on hand. My only recommendation would be to reduce the parsley at least in half.

Aug 23

Aug 23 Camping with Nana and Grandpa

Randomness, Vacations, Kids

My parents recently went on a RV trip to Safe Harbor RV Resort in Nashville, TN. Their first night happened to be on a night Brad was traveling for work. I decided to tag along for the one night since he wouldn't be home, and it would give Melody and I something fun to do. We've been camping with my parents to a few campgrounds, but this was the first time we have been to this one.

Aug 21

Aug 21 City Cafe Diner

Back in June, we went to Chattanooga for JoeCon 2018. It was hosted at the Chattanooga Convention Center at the Marriott Downtown. I did some research on surrounding restaurants since we would be there during lunch hours for a few of the days. One of the restaurants I read about was the City Cafe Diner. Most of the reviews I read online were fairly positive. So I wrote it down as a possibility if we found ourselves looking for somewhere to eat.

Aug 19

Aug 19 Bluewater Grille

When we went to Chattanooga back in June, we ate at Bluewater Grille. We actually debated between it and Big River Grille, but we ultimately decided on Bluewater because of its menu. It had more options that sounded better to us at the time.

Aug 17

Aug 17 Gourmet Grilled Cheese

We have been trying to find a good meal to have during the week that Brad can eat before mowing the grass. We didn't want something super heavy, so Brad came up with a fancy grilled cheese. We loved the old gourmet grilled cheese from Atlanta Bread. They no longer have it though. So I googled and combined a few recipes to come up with the one below.

Aug 14

Aug 14 Gymnastics

Kids

We decided this summer to let Melody try gymnastics. When planning the fall/spring, we contemplated different activities for Melody to participate in. I really wanted Melody to try dance. She loves to dance around the house. Brad wanted to try gymnastics. He thought Melody would love the activity aspect. We were hesitant to do both since she is also starting preschool in the fall. Gymnastics offered a summer session, so we decided to give that a try and see how Melody reacted to determine if we wanted to also do it in the fall.

Aug 12

Aug 12 Our Trip to Chattanooga