I really need to cool off...

I'm feeling crazy from the heat!
Here is a little pix of the Crescent (more on it below) that cooled me right off!




I also love this pix:

I mean seriously, I can't get cool. I want a bathtub full of ice cold jello.. what? That's not weird...
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I’ve been needing to post for a couple of days. Life is getting away from me lately!
I wanted to share our antipasti plate I made for DH and my brunch yesterday:



I LOVE this stuff and we just munched on it all day. He then made us great steaks on the grille and I made a simple iceburg wedge salad with blue cheese dressing, chopped tomato and bacon. I love this salad with steak.
It was a good day.

We are gearing up for a trip to AR to visit Patrick’s mum and some of my family in Eureka Springs (YEAH!) next week.. We are leaving this coming Saturday. We will be gone a week. I will take lots of pix of Eureka.. it’s such a cool place, we used to go fairly often when I lived in AR. It's got a fantastic artist community and I love alot of the "fringe" society that lives there. I would certainly fit in! It reminds me of a little European village with lots of gingerbread looking houses, it’s in the Ozark mountains in AR. When I was a teenager I wanted to buy an old house there and turn it into a B & B. One of my sister's got smart and moved there. My sis Tommy works at the famous Crescent Hotel there and has arranged a great room for us. Tommy and Jessie I am SO excited! No REALLY, REALLY I am excited. I miss my sisters - I will get to see two of them, I have too many to count now.

So, The Crescent is rumored to be haunted. http://www.prairieghosts.com/cresc.html

Maybe I will have a ghostly visit? I am sure I will have enough to drink that I will eventually convince myself that I have anyway! It always happens at that hotel. Years ago when I was in my 20's my granny and I stayed there and I heard laughing in the middle of the night that sounded strange to me. I was sure it was an evil spirit.

They have a great spa.. I deserve to indulge, right!

When I was growing up we went to this hotel several times. I love it. The hotel was built in the 1800's. The entire town is amazing, it is very Victorian.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka_Springs,_Arkansas

It's been many years since we stayed so I am really excited. Check out some of the pix:










Most excited about the fact that my sis lives right in the middle of Spring Street (Eureka was famous for it's springs, one claimed to cure blindness in the 1800's).

Anyway she lives right in the middle of downtown.. It's fantastic and I can't wait.

Spring Street, Eureka Springs, AR:


The totally cool flat iron building downtown:






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We also love the ThornCrown Chapel in Eureka.. http://www.thorncrown.com/

Architect for this amazing steel and glass chapel in the middle of the woods was Fay Jones. He was my step-father's professor in college. It's an amazing structure:






Well I have spent WAY too much time on this post.. as you can see I am really looking very forward to my trip home. It's been I think 4 years since we have been back to Arkansas.

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Tonight I am making a tenderloin roast and Italian (the fat style) green beans. I like these more than regular or French green beans but they are a bit more carby.

Oh and lastly.. on the weight loss front. I am holding at 42 pounds total lost. I have really slowed down in my weight loss (1/2-1 pound a week) and I am going to see about stepping it up when we get back from AR. I WILL stay LC (with help from my sis!) while I am there though.

Well got to run!
Have an excellent week.