Shopaholic in Alabama

Happy Weekend and Happy Easter! I hope you are enjoying a wonderful time with family and friends. This weekend I am feeling especially grateful because my dear hubby is at home, and we are concentrating on spending quality time together. Today we are planning to attend a "Worship On The Water" service before driving over to Mobile to visit both of our parents and families. The service on the water is very casual, so I won't be dressing up today. This feels a little strange for me, even DH is wondering "what should I wear"? HA, feels weird to go to "church" on the sand.  Saturday we spent the day at the beach (after I went for my 4 miles, which I haven't been doing lately). The day was gorgeous and temperatures were in the low-mid 70's. I captured some pictures to share - hope you enjoy!  How are you spending this holiday weekend? Hope it's a great one! 

It looks like our area has made it through Hurricane (now Tropical Storm) Isaac just fine. We are headed home tomorrow to assess any possible damage and try to get things back in order. I anticipate getting back to regular posts by Thursday or Friday. Thanks to everyone who has emailed, sent texts, called, etc to check on me. I really appreciate it.  It certainly could have been much worse - and our friends in coastal MS and LA are experiencing the worst of Isaac. I hope they are all ok.  It seems like a cruel joke to endure this on the 7th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina - the day that changed so many lives forever.  More later and until then, hope everyone is doing well! 

Caution: if you love seafood, you will probably be hungry after seeing this post!  As you will remember from Friday, I was very concerned about what was going to happen over the weekend. My Nanny was doing very bad, and my mother in law was in the hospital. Luckily, Nanny is feeling better and MIL was released home on Saturday. So, this weekend the DH and I were able to enjoy a nice dinner out for my birthday. Thank goodness, it was nice to be able to go out together and relax! He's been out of town a lot lately, and I've been working my tail off. (well not really - it's still here unfortunately, but you know what I mean!) One of our favorite restaurants here at the beach is Louisiana Lagniappe. Located at San Roc Cay in Orange Beach, Louisiana Lagniappe never disappoints. We've been going there for years (even before we lived at the beach). When we lived in Destin, we went to the LL there often too. We even have a favorite waitress (Tracy) and we always request ...

It was the day after the 4th of July. I was the only one at my parent's island home who had to go to work. Everyone else played on the boat all day - here are the results!  My husband, father and brother in law went deep sea fishing, about 30 miles south of Dauphin Island, AL. These are trips I normally do not miss, so I was sad about that. However, we are planning to have a fish fry tonight so at least I'll be able to enjoy the fruits of their labor!                        Hubby with two nice Red Snapper he caught             My Father with a Cobia and Red Snapper he caught                Brother in Law with my nephews and their dog Last but not least, here is my favorite picture of the day. The husband insisted they wait to clean the fish until I came in from work, so I could "see them". HA! So we were on the dock taking pictures, an...

Baby, it's hot outside! How are you staying cool this weekend?  

TGIF! Are you getting ready for a fun weekend, or have you already started your 4th of July holiday week? Of course summer on the Gulf Coast means fun in the sun - and let's face it - the folks at Southern Tide know all about having fun in the sun. Since the brand's inception in 2006, it has become wildly popular. We love it here at the beach because it embodies the lifestyle we are lucky enough to live. (Work, beach, boat, fish, repeat).  Speaking of the upcoming 4th of July holiday, what essentials are in your beach bag? My perfect beach bag would include all the above items - which would guarantee a fabulous beach day. What's in the bag, you ask?   1.  Ray Ban Wayfarers - I'll be honest, I grew up wearing these glasses and I'm thrilled they are back and more fabulous than ever!  2.  Dior Addict Lip Glow - I love all of Dior's products, especially the Addict fragrance. Recently, I tried the Lip Glow and am now addicted (just as they promised)! ...

Source: dricksramblingcafe.blogspot.com via Lori on Pinterest Here's what happens when it rains allllll weekend (anywhere from 12" - 21" from Mobile, Gulf Shores to Pensacola). We stay inside and we cook, then we eat! We watch old movies and we eat some more.  I don't even want to confess how many HOURS I spent on Pinterest this weekend (those who already follow me probably know, I was a pinning fool for the past few days). Pinterest is dangerous to me, because I find so many new recipes I want to try. Friday night, I found the above recipe for "Dauphin Island Shrimp Salad" - and hey, I was at Dauphin Island already...so I sent the DH and my Father to the seafood market on Saturday morning and viola - Shrimp Salad!  Giving credit where it's due: if you enjoy southern cooking, especially with seafood - you simply must check out " Drick's Rambling Cafe ". His blog is chock full of so many marvelous recipes! The author is from...

Source: bing.com via Lori on Pinterest Source: countrymusicfans.tumblr.com via Lori on Pinterest You all might remember - I have been looking forward to my three day weekend that started on Friday! And wouldn't you know it? As I write this post, it is pouring outside! We were planning to go boating today, and possibly do a little fishing as well, but so far it's not looking too good!  Source: Uploaded by user via Lori on Pinterest Source: jacklail.com via Lori on Pinterest Here's hoping the sun will peek out - if only just for a few hours! In the meantime, enjoy some images of our fabulous Alabama beaches. Hopefully I'll have "real" photos of my own to share again soon!  Source: google.com via Lori on Pinterest Enjoy your Saturday! 

Cheers to a long weekend! We plan to enjoy wonderful drinks, good food, sit in the sun, go fishing, and rest! Hope your holiday weekend is off to a great start! 

Welcome to the latest edition of Salt Water Saturday! Last Saturday, I was fortunate enough to enjoy a wonderful day in the boat with my sister and parents. My DH was out of town for work, and my sister's DH took their boys fishing so she could relax for a while. Wasn't that sweet of him? We started out in the boat and went down to the west end of Dauphin Island. You can only get there via boat, as the island was broken apart by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. It's an amazing place where you can relax and not worry about traffic, tourists feeding seagulls (one of my biggest pet peeves), screaming kids, and whether you're looking thin enough to brave it at the beach in front of tons of people.  There are lots of shells on this particular stretch of beach. Many of them are perfectly shaped, but of course some are broken. We like to pick up shells to bring home and use in crafting projects. My favorite thing to do with the shells is fill a clear vase with one...

It's my first time, so please be nice to me. Today I'm linking up with my friend Daphne over at Flip Flops & Pearls for (Semi) Wordless Wednesday. In addition, I am sharing the fruits of my labor - the Coastal Holiday Tree!  After countless hours spent glittering, crystallizing (is that a word?), and hot gluing for the past few days - my tree is now up and decorated. Unfortunately, I didn't have a tree topper that went with the coastal theme. My solution? Take a roll of ribbon up to the florist and have them make me a pretty bow!  As you all know from my previous crafting, I started by just making starfish - then I made a few sand dollars. After finding a huge bag of sea shells that I'd forgotten about, I decided to experiment with making some of those into ornaments. What do you think? I must apologize in advance for the photo quality (or lack thereof), I could not get the lighting right to save my life. It probably didn't help that I was taking pictures ...