Monday, November 30, 2015

The Comedy Barn

The Comedy Barn Theater is nestled in the great Smokey Mountains of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Winner of the funniest show, this family friendly variety show features live music, magicians, ventriloquists, comedians and much more! Currently in it's 20th year of entertaining audiences with three show opens during the year: The Family Comedy Show, Comedy Critters Pet Show and A Christmas Show.

I recently had the opportunity to attend the Comedy Barn Christmas Show. The Show featured live Christmas music and dancing. Clog and tap dancers filled the stage with synchronicity and made me wish I had learned tap dancing as a kid. The cast members seemed happy to perform and enjoyment of the Christmas season. Their cute costumes and set also added to the fun!

The show also incorporated animals. These animals seemed highly trained and well treated. Their two handlers seemed like they genuinely care for the animals and their not just an animal but their pets. I personally have a soft spot for pigs so when two pigs came out and performed tricks I was highly impressed. I loved every minute of it! They also featured some dogs doing really cute tricks which included riding a scooter!

We've seen famous ventriloquists before but the Comedy Barn has a gem! Stephen Knowles is a highly skilled ventriloquists that can even make his puppets sing. He can do several voices, sing, blow bubbles while singing and have conversations with his puppet. He is highly entertaining and incorporates comedy into his routine. His personality comes across as genuine as he talks and interacts with the audience.

If you find yourself in Pigeon Forge, don't miss out on The Comedy Barn. They currently offer two shows nightly at 5:00 & 8:15 p.m. Tickets are reasonably priced and don't forget to ask about any discounts! They offer a full concession stand incase you get hungry or thirsty. They also offer tons of great stuffed animals and joke items. There is even some fudge incase you get a sweet tooth!

Friday, November 20, 2015

5 Tips to Get the Perfect Bird

No one wants this to happen to them on Thanksgiving day...
 
If you follow these five simple tips your Thanksgiving turkey should turn out perfect!
 
1. Use the roasting rack
Most people use their roasting pan to cook their turkey in the oven. Before you throw your turkey in the oven you'll need to make sure you've got your pan ready. Don't make a rookie mistake by leaving the roasting rack out of  your roaster pan. You want to make sure that your turkey isn't laying flat on the bottom of the pan. If it does it could lead to overcooked, dry meat or worse burnt.
 
2. Thaw Out.
 
Most people don't realize that it takes a frozen turkey four days of being in the refrigerator to thaw out completely on the inside. So that means by Monday you need to move your turkey from the freezer into the refrigerator. It's said that a turkey can thaw 4 pounds a day while it's in the fridge... so do the math and make sure you give your bird enough time to thaw out. The last thing you want is a still frozen turkey when it comes time to start preparing it.
 
3. Stuff it!
 
Most tables have a bowl of stuffing for you to fill up your plate. Don't forget that the majority of your stuffing needs to be inside your turkey. Stuffing your turkey helps the juice stay inside of the bird and in the meat. It adds flavor to the turkey and helps hold the heat within and cook the inside. In our families stuffing we use apples, celery, and a stuffing mix with no high fructose corn syrup.
 
4. Baste your bird!
 
Juice runs off and out of your turkey during it's oven time. If you use a basting spoon or turkey baster you can suck those juices up from the bottom of your pan and squeeze/pour them all over your bird again. It will help keep the meat nice and juicy! Due this every time you uncover your turkey to check it's progress.
 
5. Brown it at last!
 
Browning is crucial in getting the perfect turkey. Once you know your turkey is done on the inside it's time to finish it up on the outside. You'll need to uncover your turkey and expose the skin to the heat. You'll also want to lower the temperature for the remaining time on your timer. Keep an eye on your turkey during the browning time. You wouldn't want your skin burned after making the perfect turkey on the inside.
 
Don't be shy! Show of this year's Thanksgiving turkey with the hashtag #myturkeybird

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Theater Thursday

 
It's Thursday and that can only mean one thing... it's Theater Thursday! This week's featured movie is a movie that fits perfectly around Thanksgiving and transitions into Christmas... You've Got Mail.

Meg Ryan stars as Kathleen Kelly, a local New Yorker who owns a small book store called The Shop Around The Corner. The shop was her mother's and when her mother died she passed it on to her. Her shop has three workers and it's her passion. Then you have Joe Fox (Tom Hanks), a native New Yorker who's a third generation box store owner of a large chain bookstore named after them: Fox Books.

When Fox Books announces to the neighborhood that they'll be opening a Fox Books Superstore, Kathleen isn't worried. Her staff on the other hand realizes this could put their store and jobs into jeopardy. A few days after the announcement, Joe happens to go into The Shop Around The Corner while spending the day with his aunt and brother and meets Kathleen. When he realizes that she's the owner of the store he hides his identity from her. In the next few days they meet again and his identity becomes known to Kathleen. She's shocked that he's the owner behind the giant superstore that's putting small shops out of business.

Once Fox opens, Kathleen's store begins to struggle. At the same time she confides more and more with an anonymous man that she's been chatting with on AOL. They both choose to remain anonymous with each other and never give specifics. When her world starts to get out of control due to her store she goes to him for comfort. Joe on the other hand confides in his friend who works for him and while he may have a little crush on Kathleen he won't let his business suffer because of it. Will these two be able to be friends? Will her business survive? Watch this movie and find out!

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Wedding Wednesday


We only have 25 days until our wedding! It's crazy to think that over a year of planning is finally get down into these last few weeks! Since our wedding is occurring during the holiday season we have a lot to finish before Thanksgiving and then before our actual day. Being so close to our wedding date and still a few weeks out our vendors are scheduling final appointments and expecting final payments. This past week I tackled the following things and finished them:

Finished the programs
Paid the Cake off
Ordered the Bridesmaids gifts
Ordered our guest sign in photo book
Scheduled our final venue appointment
Scheduled our final DJ appointment
Finalized our linens with the venue
Received our cake topper
Received our tote bags
Did our final appointment with the videographer
 
This week I need to finish our place cards. I need to reach out to our florist (who is super hard to get a hold of but a genius) to confirm the final order and send her the final payment. I need to get ahold of a few stragglers and ask them if they are coming or not because we never received their RSVP cards. I need to order the flower girl/ring bearer gifts. I need to buy two sharpies for people to sign our guest book and special items we will have planned. I also have to make sure three vendors get their final payments! Oh and meet with our photographer to go over our final shot list. I think I should be able to get all of these done in or around Thanksgiving. Let's cross our fingers!
 

Friday, November 13, 2015

Mele Kalikimaka

One of my favorite Christmas trees to put up is my Beach tree.
 

When I moved to California, I wanted to start a beach themed Christmas tree. It seemed very fitting because of my location and the fact that it's maybe a love of 50 degrees on Christmas. I started collecting the ornaments and even ordered a blue tree. Once it all came together I loved how it turned out. I keep adding a few ornaments every year and now it's in it's third year of getting put up. This year I'm hoping to add a few new ornaments to it before the season ends. This is how my tree looks this year.

 







 

Do you have a beach themed tree? If so let me know and share the photos!

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Theater Thursday

 
It's Thursday and that can only mean one thing... it's Theater Thursday! The holidays are upon us and from here till the end of the year, it'll be holiday movies featured! This week's featured movie is, Christmas Under Wraps. This movie also happens to be a part of the Hallmark Channel Countdown to Christmas.
 

 
Christmas Under Wraps stars Candace Cameron Bure as Doctor Lauren Brunell who resides in Seattle and is a 3rd year surgery resident. She's dreamed her entire life of following in her father's foot steps and to do that she will need to get into a very prestigious hospital fellowship. Quickly her life plan crumbles when she learns that she was placed on the wait list for her dream fellowship. Her father rushes to her aid and begins calling all of his contacts in hospitals around the country. In the meantime Lauren searches for another fellowship. Wishing she hadn't placed all her eggs in one basket, she's left with the only opening available.

A head doctor position in the small town of Garland, Alaska. Knowing she has no other options and telling herself its only temporary she jumps on a plane to Alaska. She's greeted at the airport by Andy, a local handyman who will take her the rest of the way into Garland. Once in town she dives into work and her days are filled seeing patients. Lauren quickly becomes the towns favorite person since they haven't had a doctor there in over a year. The locals all want to get to know her and are overly friendly. However... Andy's father who owns the local shipping company seems to be hiding something but what?

When Lauren decides to figure out what he's hiding she's faced with a tough decision. Watch this cute holiday movie that will charm you and make you dream of going to Alaska.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

The Elvis Presley Christmas Tree

I love a good theme tree. I already have a movie tree, candy tree, travel tree and a beach tree. What else do I love? Elvis! Naturally it was time for me to create an Elvis themed tree. I went about collecting ornaments for it all year leading up to the holiday season and even ordered a new tree to celebrate Elvis. The tree I got to show off all my ornaments is the 7 foot Gold Pencil Tree...
I was a little nervous because I've never had a pencil tree. But once I got it out of the box and started to fluff it up, I knew I had made the right choice! I personally think it looks fabulous and Elvis made it even more gorgeous! For the garland I wrapped the tree in this music sheet ribbon.
 
 
 


 
 
I love how this tree turned out! Elvis had so many different looks and styles so I can't wait to keep adding to this tree year after year. I love capturing all of his jumpsuits so those are a must! I think I'll head the Elvis online shop right now...
 
Don't you just love Elvis?!

Monday, November 9, 2015

Bridal Shower

My Bridal Shower was held on Saturday. I didn't have anything to do with the planning or the decorations. So of course with my type A personality and need to organize/control party planning it was extremely hard to just show up. The theme did not disappoint! It was none other than...
If you really know me then you know I love this movie! I feel like I could be Joan Wilder and this movie is a total guide to life. The decorations at the shower were fabulous and went great with the theme. We even had an alligator!





 





Besides the great decorations we had the movie playing in the background incase anyone who was at the party hadn't seen it. Seriously, if you've never seen Romancing the Stone go buy it right now! The party was catered by Chipotle which I love and it fitted the theme! Once we were done eating, I got to open up gifts. This awesome cake stand that I had been wanting for awhile came from my mom.

An aunt of my fiancé found out how much I love Christmas and got us this really cute engagement ring ornament to go on our tree. The day after the party that ornament went directly on to the tree!
 
No party is ever complete without cake. Thanks to Freeport bakery they nailed the color green! Plus the cake was delicious! It had a chocolate fudge filling and was super rich.

The only thing missing was all of my east coast friends and my mom! I was really wishing they could be there but maybe we will do something all together during our wedding weekend? Maybe! I have to say this party wouldn't have come together if it wasn't for my fabulous fiancé. He did a lot of the planning, decorating and organizing! Love you!