Jennifer Arnold

Viva Las Vegas Part Two

Our first day roaming around Las Vegas was amazing. We hit up a ton of major spots and hotels and walked until our feet could barely stand it! We started at the Palazzo and worked our way south on the strip until we hit the MGM Grand. Vegas is totally different in daylight than at night and the strip is pretty much dead until noon when all of the club goers and night owls wake up and start their day. But me sleep in on vacation? NO way! We were up at seven at out of the hotel by 8:30 with coffee in hand.

The Mirage Beatles Love Entryway. You can even spot a shadowed husband down there!

Quick photo-op outside of the hotel before we started our day!

Street View of the Encore, Wynn and Venetian

The gorgeous Palazzo hotel which we loved. I would stay there in a heartbeat!

The amazing Venetian. No other hotel in Vegas compared to it.

We were really let down with everything else after seeing it. It totally lived up to the hype.

We enjoyed lunch at the Grand Lux Cafe and enjoyed it immensely. We would recommend it if you’re in Vegas and want a cheaper but good meal. It’s very similar to the Cheesecake Factory and is open 24/7.

It was an absolutely beautiful day with better weather than we could have asked for!

We ate dinner at Joe’s Stone Crab and enjoyed walking around The Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace.

The people watching is excellent in Vegas especially in the shopping malls.

We ended the night by catching the volcano show at the Mirage and wandering around the hotel. I was super excited to discover Kardashian Khaos was inside our own hotel although it was closed for the day.

There you have it for our Vegas day one. I have a lot more to

show on day two with the hotels on the other side of the strip! Stay Tuned.

Friday Funnies

Happy Friday! I hope everyone survived the Polar Vortex this week!! The weather here in Mississippi is so wild! We had a low of 9 F on Tuesday and a high of 60 F tomorrow!! Bring on Spring! I lover winter from afar and I am happy that others experience it however I could totally do without it. If I want to see snow or experience frigid temps I will travel for it! I am now sure that my closet is not equipped to handle a real winter! Here are some funny images that made me smile this week!

I hope you have an awesome weekend full of fun and warmth!

I plan to enjoy the warm weather and take a couple of walks as my first goal of

100 miles is fastly approaching!!

Viva Las Vegas Part One: The Arrival

We arrived in Vegas around 11 PM Christmas night! Since we flew back through the time zones our Christmas day was actually 27 hours rather than 24! I could hardly stand the excitement as I had booked a limo to pick us up from the airport that Mike had no idea about. It was a hard secret to keep but in the end he was really surprised! I wish I had snapped a photo of the chauffeur with her little suit on and the iPad she was holding with our names on but hey we were excited so we forgot! The limo was nice and stocked with beer and champagne(my fav) so we had a glass or two as we were on our way! As soon as we pulled out of the airport parking garage you could see the lights of The Strip! The chauffeur asked us if we wanted to go to the Welcome sign and of course we said yes! It is a little park smack dab in the middle of the road at the very end of the strip past Mandalay Bay. The chauffeur was very experienced with taking pictures at the sign and told us where we needed to stand to make sure we got a good shot. From there we rode down the strip to our hotel, The Mirage where we checked in and literally went straight to bed as we had a big day planned starting at 6:00 AM. The Strip is quite overwhelming with people and lights everywhere. It is a very energetic place and the sights are quite spectacular. Here are some pics I snapped in the limo on our ride into Vegas!!

I have so much more to share from this trip!

Easy Hoppin’ John

Last week I shared the collard greens I prepared for our New Year’s feast and today I am sharing the recipe for the Hoppin’ John that we had to go along with the greens! This recipe is as simple as it is tasty! Hoppin’ John is considered a Low Country food and I have grown up eating it all my life in South Carolina. I am not really a fan of blackeyed peas but the rice and the seasoning that the bacon gives really accompany them so well that I do not mind them at all in this dish! As you make this dish your home will smell delicious as the scent of bacon reminds me of home! Feel free to try your hand at some traditional South Carolinan food!

Hoppin’ John

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons bacon drippings
1 cup cooked white rice
2 cups cooked and drained black eyed peas
3/4 cup diced sweet onion
2 tablespoons chicken stock(reduced sodium)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

In a large skillet fry 3 slices of center cooked bacon. Remove bacon (crumble to use on a salad or something later or you can just eat it).
While you’re frying the bacon cook the one cup of rice in a rice cooker or on the stove.
After the bacon is removed, saute the onion in the bacon drippings for about 5 minutes.
Add the peas and cooked rice until heated through and add the chicken stock and stir
Salt and Pepper to taste
Enjoy!

Hoover Dam

The time has come to finally share some of our Christmas vacation! Since we saw and did so much I will be sharing a little bit over a couple of weeks!

We left Georgia on Christmas night to head out west and landed in Las Vegas around 11pm. For our first day I booked us a trip to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. As we set out on this tour it was the first time we had seen the desert since we had flown in under the cover of night. Lets just say it was amazing and it looked more like Mars there than we could have imagined.

The first location on the tour was a stop off at the Hoover Dam. The Hoover Dam is located on the state line of Nevada and Arizona. There are actually two clocks flanking the dam showing the times in the different states. Just like everyone told me the dam appeared much smaller than it looks in movies and on television however, it was a sight to see. The rocks surrounding the canyon show the former water level which was so cool as you can clearly see where the water used to be as the rocks are white in color. There is a lot of history to read about the dam and how it was built back in 1933. We also made our way over the huge bypass bridge but you cannot see anything from the bridge because it is surrounded by concrete to shield cars from high winds. The Hoover Dam is a short trip from Vegas and if you’re out there I highly recommend you to check it out! I am hoping to return and to take the Dam tour!

Our first desert view

The backside of the Dam

Visitors center

Walls of the canyon showing the former water level of the Colorado River

Overpass bridge

There was a lot more to this vacay! Stay tuned!

Winter Decor

Just because you took down those trees and that beautiful garland doesn’t mean you need to not re-decorate. I am talking about gorgeous Winter decorations that have nothing to do with ornaments or Christmas lights. Think snow!! When I think of snow and Winter, I think of white and raw. What does that mean? Raw as in sticks and pine cones because that’s what you see all over the ground in Winter. Here in the south, instead of tons of snow, we see another white substance, Cotton! I am a huge fan of using cotton as decor. I love to see it incorporated all over the home this time of year! I have selected a few examples of Winter decor that I love and decided to share them with you! I hope this inspires you do get a little creative and fight off those Christmas blues!

Stay tuned this week as I plan to share a little of our Christmas trip!

Crock-Pot Collard Greens

Sorry for my absence these past few days! It seems that if you travel for 9 days straight in cars and on planes and are around thousands of people you have a really good chance of getting sick! I am feeling better and am back with a recipe I prepared on New Years Day!

Around the country there are many traditions as to what should be your first meal in the New Year! Here in the south we are no different. Legend is that you should eat collard greens(which represent cash money), blackeyed peas(representing change and cents), corn bread(representing gold) and ham hocks or pork(representing positive motion forward since a pig cannot turn his foot anyway but forward). The saying goes “Eat poor on New Year’s, and eat fat the rest of the year.” So I wanted to try my hand at making this traditional southern meal for my husband as he had never heard of this tradition that I would never miss at my Meme’s house growing up!

These turned out good and they were super easy. I love the Crock-Pot so much because it’s a set it and forget it appliance. Mike was a good sport and tried them and he responded with just how I thought, “they’re bitter.” Well that’s exactly how they’re supposed to taste! Next year I think I’ll cook cabbage instead since it is a green that I actually love! Here’s the recipe if you’d like to try your hand at easy collards!

Crock Pot Collard Greens

Ingredients

3 slices bacon
1 large onion; chopped
2 cloves garlic; minced
3 bunches collard greens; cut
salt and pepper
1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
2 cups water

Directions

Add bacon to pan heated to Med/High and fry until crisp. Remove bacon and crumble.
While bacon is frying, chop and wash greens. I used my salad spinner to get them clean and dry.
Add onion to pan that bacon was cooked in. Sautee for 5 minutes or until onions are translucent. Add: chicken broth, water, salt and peper and the bacon back to the pan. Heat up for about 3 minutes.
Add clean greens to Crock Pot and top with mixture from the bacon pan.
Cook all day(8-10) hours on Low. The greens will cook way down in the pot!
Enjoy!

I hope you had a fabulous New Year and that 2014 will be filled with health, wealth and prosperity!

2013 Superlatives

Today is the last day of 2013. It is hard to believe that 365 days has passed since we welcomed this year! With that said, I want to share some of my favorites for the past year with you! When I think back on 2013 I will smile since I have had quite an amazing year! In 2013 I got married, became a certified Pilates instructor and traveled quite a bit. I have gotten to know myself a whole lot more and have started treating myself with respect and dignity and I hope you have as well! Here are some of my favorite things/experiences in 2013…

Movies

Albums

Songs

Day: June 1

Travel Destination

Holiday

Experience: Wedding weekend

2013 was an amazing year for us Arnold’s and I am looking forward to making 2014 even better!

See you in the new year!

Merry Christmas

I wanted to personally wish you a very Merry Christmas from the Arnold’s! I hope you enjoy this

special day and use it as a reminder of just how important time with friends and family really is!

Our 2013 Christmas Card!

We are headed out tonight on a desert adventure that I cannot wait to experience!

We’ll be back next week with new memories to share!

Friday Funnies

I am officially on Christmas Break(as of yesterday at 5pm)!! Woo Hoo! With the next couple of weeks of there is no telling what I may get into! Anyway, here are the funnies this week!