TGIM

thank goodness it's monday.
seriously. i need a vacation from my weekend!
friday, petro's opened up at dollywood. to many of you, that may not be a big deal, but around these parts, it's a pretty huge deal. dollywood's been around almost as long as petro's has, and we're the first branded food to make it into the park. i'm pleased to say dolly had her a petro… and enjoyed it! she's like east tennessee royalty around here! {sorry, no pictures because our signage wasn't up and also because dolly is NEVER photographed eating or drinking anything.}
friday night, i worked the mocha club table at drew holcomb and the neighbors concert at the historic bijou theater. no pictures there either because i wasn't sure what to expect as far as the set up and it was pouring, and all i have is one of those big honkin DSLRs and i didn't want to be "that woman" at a concert… especially considering i was old enough to be most of these people's parents. by a long shot. sigh. the theater was {well, it still is} beautiful and the concert was awesome. mockingbird sun opened for them and i now have a new favorite country band. click on their link and you can download their little EP. for free. for reals!
saturday we had a funeral {with the world's slowest receiving of friend's line… EVER}

and then had to go get some fertilizer for our hay bale garden. the "recipe" called for ammonium nitrate, but that's incredibly hard to find. i guess it's because of the explosive properties and the propensity for folks to make bombs. we got something close to it and hustled on home because we were having folks over for dinner.
so clean, clean, clean… thaw some tuna steaks. make some mango salsa, get the asparagus ready. toast some chopped almonds, butter and italian bread crumbs for said asparagus. make some curry cranberry wild rice. make a salad. prepare a fresh veggie tray with roasted pepper hummus. make a lemon cake. slice some strawberries. make some white chocolate sauce. oh. and take a shower.
i love entertaining… especially when i do stuff ahead of time and have time to just be with our guests. we talked alot about education, motivating and loving students, encouraging teachers… it was a great evening. one of our guests is the founder of reach them to teach them… and i'm a huge fan. no photos because a) who has the time when you're doing all of the above, and b) i didn't want to be "that lady" who photographs food, etc. and then has to explain what a blog is and why i have one {something i'm hard-pressed to understand myself!}.
sunday was church, lunch with boy wonder and the hubs, and then down to UT's botanical garden to take pictures of one of my girls in my small group. she wanted a photoshoot with her friends for her 17th. this is the same location mckmama will be shooting in april when she winds through knoxville. i'm pretty stoked about her visit. i just wish i had kids at home for her to do her photo-mojo. 

so yeah. exhausting.
i've never had so many links in one post!
hope you're having a fantastic monday!