7 years ago today...

Paul and I had our first date! (this picture was taken on our actual first date) We had been matched on eharmony.com a couple weeks prior to that and had been talking on the phone and emailing. He was living in New Orleans and I was in Montgomery. I had a friend in Gulfport MS which is almost half way so we arranged for him to pick me up at their house. He was a little late but called to let me know he was on his way. After he came in and met my friends, Teresa and German and their kids, we left and went to TGI Fridays there in Gulfport. There was a wait so we walked across the parking lot to a Books A Million for a little while. Dinner was good, a steak for him and a pasta dish for me. After that we drove along the coast near the beach.
It was a great first date!

Who's #1 now Tuyen?!

The first picture was taken at our Super Bowl party before the game.

This one was taken after the game.

Before and After

I always love those makeover before and after shots. They are never smiling and have no make up on in the before pictures! Just got my hair cut and colored yesterday and had Paul take my before and afters:) The first one looks like a mug shot. Hopefully that's as close as I will ever come to one!

Tea for Five

We went to one of the February Teas at the Orlando Brown house at the Liberty Hall Historic Site this past weekend. This is our third year to go and we celebrate our dear friend Martha's birthday. This year Yvonne was sick so her daughter Krista joined us along with her daughter Caroline. We had a lovely three course meal and enjoyed hearing about the poet and artist Robert Burns Wilson who wrote several sonnets for the Brown family. John Brown who built Liberty Hall and the other properties on the grounds was Kentucky's first US Senator.

Our wedding cake

My dear friend Jennifer made our wedding cake for us. She used the red velvet cake (see post below) and cream cheese icing that goes so well. She only put pecans in the icing between the layers since it's not very pretty on the outside with all those bumps in it! I still have this cross on the dresser in our room. Paul and I ate the top layer on our one year anniversary. It was still really good! Every time I make Mrs. Sims' Red Velvet Cake I want to call Jennifer and thank her all over again (and have a few times). It's really a somewhat complicated scratch recipe.

Mrs. Sims' Red Velvet Cake

Mrs. Louise Sims in Montgomery AL gave me her recipe for her red velvet cake back in the early 2000s. It is just the best, full-fledged authentic red velvet cake recipe there is in my opinion. I loved it so much we used it for our wedding cake (which I will show in another post). Saturday Mallory helped me make one for a friend from church for her birthday. Michael also helped lick the bowl.

This recipe calls for two 1 oz bottles of red food coloring.

I typed the recipe up some where but when I can't find that I use this original one from when I wrote it down while talking to Mrs. Sims on the phone. (It's not clear at all how to make it so if you ever want to make this cake please email me and I will get you the recipe that explains the steps better!)

Super Bowl Champs!

So happy for my hubby who has been a Saints fan all his life! New Orleans is extra special because it's where we lived when we first got married and where Mallory was born! Way to Go Saints!