Wow, it’s been almost a month since I last posted. I’m sorry for putting the blog on the back burner, again. With the pandemic still in effect and the Black Lives Matter movement, I have turned my attention elsewhere. I’ve missed you all, and I will dedicate more time on here! I’ve had this post drafted since I shared the April Quarantine post back in May and I finally made the time to finish this one.
Let’s jump in to where I last left off! This is going to be a super long post because I did a lot more in May.
May 1st: Stephen received a cupcake from work. He has been working during the pandemic, so he got a little something sweet.
May 2nd: Stephen’s dad sent us this recipe, so I made Strawberry Almond Bread. It was fantastic and I thought it tasted so much better cold! Does anyone else think strawberries in hot foods are weird or is that just me? I’ll be sure to share a FWMD post on it soon so you can make some because I highly recommend!
May 7th: I bought bags of almonds because I wanted to imitate the ones you can buy in the mall. I made the candied almonds and I fell in love with them.
I never realized how simple they were to make! If I knew that, I would’ve made them years ago. Although, the skillet was super sticky so I wasn’t the biggest fan of cleaning up.
May 8th: We had Smoothie King for the first time in a long time it feels like! We ordered through the app and I ordered myself the wrong thing, but I still drank it.
It had a weird syrupy taste that I wasn’t too fond of, but lesson learned.
May 9th: Haley graduated college with a bachelor’s degree! Although she didn’t get to walk the stage, I’m such a proud sister, so I made this cute little slide show.
Also on this day, I picnicked with Alexis and her sister at Love Circle. We ordered takeout from P.F. Chang’s.
I ordered the Buddha’s Feast [extra spicy] with Kung Pao Brussels Sprouts, and the sprouts are my new favorite food item. They were so delicious, and I liked them better than my actual meal!
*I made oven roasted Brussels sprouts this past week and they were to die for! I think if I cook them in the Kung Pao sauce that I make they would taste identical!
The sky was super dreamy and the city is pretty to look at.
I wish I had an actual camera because these photos don’t capture the beauty of the sky on this night.
May 10th: On Mother’s Day, we both FaceTimed our moms and it was nice to see everyone together virtually.
Continuing with the garlic clove experiment, I’ve been cutting the stalks every couple of days. They are growing so fast! This picture was taken on the same day:
This is what they looked like on May 16th after being cut on Tuesday:
I think they’re all about to reach their end since they haven’t been growing as rapidly as they were in the beginning. Plus, they’re getting crinkly, darn. This was pretty cool experiment to see how garlic cloves can grow stalks just from being in water.
*I had to throw them away the weekend before Memorial Day. Mold started growing, yuck.
May 16th: I made the cheesy garlic biscuits, but I think some of the stalks were too ripe and bitter because that’s all I tasted. I was disappointed. I’m going to tweak the recipe since they were missing a flavor too.
On this day, this is how much the garlic cloves grew:
This equalled to just a tad bit more than 1/4 cup, which is what the recipe called for.
May 22nd: We went to visit our relatives since it was Memorial Day weekend. Stephen drove while I read The Notebook. It’s been years since I read it and there were some parts that really resonated with me, but I’ll save that for the book reviews that I’m working on! It’s a really short book and I ended up finishing it like the next day.
We stayed most of the weekend with Stephen’s parents since he had to go back on Monday. I planned to stay until Sunday, the 31st. His mom recently bought a Bichon Frise so we were all on our toes with her, but she’s so stinking cute!
My mother-in-law and I also made a huge cinnamon roll and it was delicious! I’ll have to make it here too at some point, but I’ll probably need some friends to help finish it because it was huge.
I cut a small piece of it pre-picture, but I think you get the idea of how large it was, haha.
May 24th: Stephen’s dad grilled up some meats and his mom used her air fryer to make onion rings. It was a fun weekend of relaxing and catching up!
I went out with Luna a few times and she’s a photogenic little pup.
We stayed with Haley and Reece on Sunday so Stephen could drive back the next morning and for him to visit my family a little bit.
May 25th: Stephen left around 10:30 AM and this was also the day that my dad finally bought a Jeep! He’s been wanting one for forever and I’m so happy he finally got one since he deserves it. Also, I saw Mason the day before and the reunion was so sweet!
I’m already missing him terribly.
I’m not sure why he likes to sit in the soil but it’s inconvenient because the pieces get stuck to his tail and I have to pull them all out! Also on this day, my brother Nick and his wife Hannah dropped by to visit for a little bit. It was my first time seeing Hannah in person while being pregnant and talk about a difference! Baby Levi will be due in less than 10 weeks, so time really flies since we found out in like February they were expecting.
Haley and I had a little catch up time with Katelyn. We went to Olive Garden for dinner. This was the first restaurant I went to since the pandemic. What made me feel a little better is how there were paper menus and that we were one of three tables in the huge dining area; plus it’s a smaller town, so I didn’t feel as uneasy being there. It did make me sad that they threw the papers away, or hopefully recycled them. I’m not completely sure, but I somewhat understand why they don’t use regular menus and sanitize each one of them.
Haley ordered the Lasagna Frita while I had the Chicken and Shrimp Carbonara. I can’t remember exactly what Kate ordered but it was a ravioli dish.
May 27th: Haley and my other sister, Callie, went to eat at Sir Fry Cafe downtown since I used to go a few times a week whenever I went to the community college campus that’s downtown.
We ordered the Crab Rangoons [not pictured] as an appetizer but we weren’t huge fans of them. Callie wanted to try them. She and I ordered one of my favorite dishes: Curry Basil Noodles! My dish was extra spicy and with tofu. I ordered a spring roll too and the noodles tasted better than they had the past few times I’ve had it.
I don’t even remember when it was, but my mom cut my hair super short. This is probably the shortest I’ve had it since like senior year of high school, so it’s a huge difference compared to it being down to my waist.
We also took Mason to get his rabies shot and he did so well in the car! He used to be super terrified of car rides and would get sick.
May 29th: Both of my parents took Friday off from work so we, minus Callie, took a day exploring the mountains in the Jeep!
We left around 8:00 AM to have breakfast at Cracker Barrel, then went to Cherokee National Forest & Pisgah National Forest and there was a sidewalk where you could walk around.
I put tripod to use so we could have a few pictures.
It was supposed to rain but luckily it held off for most of the day!
For lunch, we ate at the Captain’s Table in Hampton, TN. We ate out on the deck and got to see this pretty view. There were no bugs and we got a constant breeze, so it made for a wonderful lunch!
I ordered the Calamari with their homemade chips and a Caesar salad [not pictured].
After lunch, we drove to Roan Mountain. We walked up the mountain for a few minutes but turned back because we weren’t properly dressed to hike and it was about to start sprinkling.
If you ever get the opportunity to hike at Roan Mountain, do it because it’s such a beautiful view and fun trail!
After we got back, Haley and I stole Mason from our parents’ place to hang out with us.
Nick and Hannah visited us again in the evening, so we got to catch up a little longer. The sky that night was really dreamy to look at.
May 30th: Mason stayed with us the previous night and I made him hike up the small hill behind the house with me to get a little exercise.
Some daisies were growing and I couldn’t pass up taking photos of them.
Reece, Haley, and I went to eat at Bagel Exchange for lunch. I ordered what has become my usual: the #14 Newcomer with half of a #1 NY’s Finest and Chicken Orzo Soup.
I know it’s hot outside and it’s summer, but the soup is just soulful and delicious.
The meat looks less than usual, but it was still a lunch that hit the spot!
We brought my parents some bagels back and then I hung out at their place for a little bit to sort out some of my book totes while Haley and Reece visited his family. I have 6 totes totally and I keep saying that I’ll sort them out and sell some, but it’s so difficult to choose which ones to part from!
For dinner, we ordered food from the restaurant I worked for, Edo Sushi Bar & Grill. I ordered the Pad Thai, which I was obsessed with when I first started working there.
May 31st: It was officially time to go back to Nashville. I had planned to leave the 30th, but Stephen was nice and let me stay one more day. Haley, Callie, and my dad met Stephen about halfway. I think we all got back around 1:00 or 2:00 PM but I can’t be fully sure.
For dinner, Stephen made us this yummy steak meal that he cooked the previous week.
That’s. a wrap on the highlights of May for me!
Unknown date: I don’t remember when Stephen and I did this or if you’ve heard of it, but we saw a video of the “Draw on my Back” challenge and we did our own.
Stephen drew a tree on me. 
I attempted to draw an owl. on his back.
The left picture is when Stephen drew on my back the first round. He laughed at my drawing of a tree and couldn’t believe how I drew what I did.
Then, it was his turn. I will admit that my drawing was a little tougher but he realized how difficult it was to draw solely from touch! I stink at drawing in general, but this was a fun game to play.
Last Thoughts
I don’t want to exclude the tragedy of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement that is taking place from this post. It has been a few weeks since his death took place and it still weighs heavily on my heart. Instead, I would rather make a separate post regarding the movement because it’s something that we need to be aware of and do better as a nation to prevent future injustices.
For now, I’ll end this post on a slightly happier note: My 25th birthday is this Saturday!
- How are you feeling at the moment, really?
- Have you dined in a restaurant yet or are you choosing to order takeout?
- Have you attempted any quarantine challenges? [On TikTok, playing games, etc.]
- Tell me about some activities you have done lately!
