Livin' it up in the AC

Okay, so I know I am horrible at keeping up with my blog, but I do my best. I have computer/camera issues that I haven't gotten fixed yet. On to better things......

I recently spent a few days in Atlantic City with my mom. She was there for a conference and I was there to keep her company and spend her money. It was a great trip for me!! Neither of us had ever been to Atlantic City, but I can imagine it is like a mini Vegas (although we have never been there either). There are two really cools things about Atlantic City. First thing, the Miss America Pageant was held there for years and they are very proud of it. Second thing, the properties in the game Monopoly were all named after streets in Atlantic City, i.e. Baltic Ave, Boardwalk, Park Place, Atlantic Ave, you get the idea. There best things about the AC were tons of shopping and eating, which we definitely took advantage of, and then there was gambling. Being non-gamblers that we are, we each put a $5 bill in a nickle slot machine and won nada. The precise reason why we don't gamble, but we were told by Ashley that it would be a sin to come home without gambling at all.

We stayed at the Sheraton and I would definitely recommend that to anyone. For one, it is not a casino, so it didn't have all the commotion. And also it is on Miss America Way and I just thought that was pretty cool. Yes, I had to be a tourist and have my picture made with the road sign. Yes, a car had to wait on me to cross the road and then they watched and laughed as I posed for the picture. My motto......they don't know me and I will never see them again.

Mom and I definitely did plenty of shopping. We could walk out of our hotel and be right on Michigan Avenue, which is pretty much 3 blocks wide and long of stores. They were all right at our fingertips.

We went and scoped out a few of the casinos and took a few tourist pictures. My favorite was Caesar's because they have this huge pier that is called The Pier Shops at Caesar's (how clever). It is three stories tall and on the bottom floor on the end they have a huge water and light show every hour on the hour. We thought this might be a bust, but I have never seen anything like it. It was really great! On the third floor are restaurants. We ventured to two of them, The Continental and Buddahkhan (I can't spell), where we had crazy good food. The highlights were lobster macaroni and cheese and edamame ravioli. It was all wonderful!!

On our last night in the AC, we went and ate at Bobby Flay Steak. For those of you who don't know, Bobby Flay is a chef on the Food Network and is on two of my favorite shows.....Throwdown with Bobby Flay and Iron Chef America. Well I can't tell you enough how awesome this steak was!!!! We ate until we couldn't eat anymore and then we had to get back to our hotel which wasn't fun, but we made the sacrifice.

Here is mom paying our bill at Bobby Flay Steak...she's so proud!

Acting like a tourist again.....

Lastly, in our hotel was the Shoe Bar. The Shoe Bar was named after all the shoes from Miss America Pageant Parades. There is a parade during the week of the pageant and it was initially just a parade, but some of the contestants were not wearing shoes. I guess the officials didn't like that and required them to wear shoes, but to make it more interesting each contestant had to decorate their shoe and the parade was the time to show it off. Well, here is the shoe of Miss South Carolina 1994. Although it may look tacky, it was much nicer than some of the others.

Well, I have more pictures of the boardwalk and different casinos, but I hate to bore you anymore.

Popcorn Update

FYI....the popcorn machine works like a charm!!!! You can make it as buttery and salty as you want. It really is the best purchase I have made in a really long time. Let me know when you want to come over and have some!!! Sorry, it took so long for the update, I got sidetracked eating popcorn.

My New Toy!!!

For some reason, I have always wanted an old fashioned popcorn on wheels. Well, I am now a proud owner of one. We don't have a home theatre or even a big flat screen TV to go along with it, but we can eat very fresh, movie theatre like popcorn. Ashley told me that it was not right to have such a cool toy and not have the big flat screen TV hanging on our wall to go with it. We will just have to make due for now.

I came across this very cool toy on Saturday while I was shopping with my sister-in-law Jaime at some antique and consignment stores. The popcorn machine was in the very back corner of one of the first stores we went in. I made a comment on how I had always wanted one and just noticed there was not a price on it and figured I couldn't afford it and walked on. Well, several stores and an hour later I decided I needed to go back and ask the price of the popcorn machine. Jaime and I had formulated a plan of what we were going to say so that we could get the best deal possible. I was totally prepared to make the man and offer and work some magic. Well, luckily I didn't have to. I asked him what he would take and it was way lower than I ever imagined. SOLD!!!! It has only been used a couple of times, so he says. I brought it home and cleaned it up and it looks like new. Ashley is currently waiting impatiently to get the popcorn popping under way. Needless to say, if this new toy turns out to be a dud, there will be a few disappointed people at the Morgan house.

My new toy!!!

Summer Fun

I have to say one of my favorite things to do in the summer is go to baseball games, major or minor league. The Charlotte Knights, a Triple A Minor League team for the Chicago White Sox, play about 15 minutes from our house. We normally make it to a couple of games during the summer and have a blast!!! Why is it that ballpark hot dogs are always the best? Of course one of my favorite reasons for going is the food and cold beer. Ashley and I went on Friday night with a couple of our friends and had a great time, even though it looks like in the picture that the boys aren't. They were not very happy that I wanted to take a picture. Luckily, they survived.

Me, Ashley, JJ and Drew at the game

Homer, the Knights' mascot, I am not really sure why the Knights' mascot is a dragon......

The view from our 8th row seats

Almost Famous

Do you know anyone that has a novel published in a well known bookstore, like Barnes and Noble? Well, I do. My mother's best friend (and a very special friend to me), Sandie, has been writing books for several years. She just recently had her first book published. It is a romance novel and appropriately titled Hotel Romance. After getting over the shock that someone I know so well has a book published and in all major bookstores, I read Hotel Romance and I absolutely loved it!!! It was an excellent book, a very good summer/beach book. I would recommend it to anyone.

When Ashley and I made our quick trip to Arkansas to visit, Sandie was having her first book signing. My mom and I went and it was very cool!!!

Sandie and I at the book signing

Sandie signing her first book!!

Check out Sandie's book!!!

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Hotel-Romance/Cookie-McGillis/e/9780595435913/?itm=1

Quick Trip Home

So, I know this has taken me forever.......but I am back. I have had some computer issues with getting my pictures off my camera. I am what you would call technologically retarded, but that is a whole another entry. A couple of weekends ago Ashley and I went home to see our family and friends in Arkansas. We had an absolute blast and really needed the R & R, but those trips are just never long enough for me.

Mom and I with Sandie, Kim and Alana (she's gonna be a mommy!!)

Cooking out in Mom and Dad's back yard

Brandon, Alana, Zack and Ashley hanging out by the pool

Yoga

Today, my very good friend Liz and I attended our very first yoga class. I have always been a little skeptical of yoga just because I knew nothing about it. Well, today I found out plenty and turns out I really loved it!! We attended a beginning yoga class which taught all the basic moves and stances. The class was an hour and fifteen minutes long and we came out of the class and felt great!!! Who knew that stretching so vigorously would make you feel so good? On top of feeling good, it was the best stress reliever I have found. We have now signed up for 8 more classes and plan on attending twice a week for a month. I am very excited and can't wait to see how I feel in a month. So, I challenge all of you, if you never have, to take a yoga class. For those of you that live in the area, check out their website and you are more than welcome to come and try with us!! http://www.therockhillyogacenter.com