An Early Adventure in December

______Last Saturday, my dearest parents and I visited a local bakery cafe for a lovely outdoor lunch since the first day in December decided to provide us with extraordinarily gorgeous weather--the temperature was a perfect 70 degrees, the sun was shining, the birdies were singing, and all was peaceful in the land of Alabama.  We had been to this bakery cafe once before, but this time I remembered to bring my camera.

______Everything at Chez Lulu is made on the spot with fresh, local ingredients--something my family really loves in places we eat at!  The bread and food is made fresh daily, and the cheese, vegetables, and ingredients come from local sources.  We started out with a basket of wheat-berry bread and an olive oil plate, and then my dad and I opted for some deliciously tomato-y minestrone soup (this was also when I learned that I was pronouncing minestrone wrong; it's not "mine-strown," it's "min-uh-stroh-knee").  For my main course, I chose a most scrumptious cheese platter, complete with bleu cheese, locally made goat cheese, and a stinky cheese of some sort... and all were so very delicious in their own special way, and served with a variety of sweet fruits and a tiny bowl of crumbled walnuts.  It was fun experimenting how the varying tastes of cheeses worked together with the fruits and bread and such!  Cheese is quite the magnificent thing--it can be creamy and sweet, or tart and crumbly...

______Ah, but how I ramble!  I do apologize for getting carried away with cheese descriptions.  Cheese is just great.  Cheese for president.  Cheese 2016.

______Moving on.  After leisurely having lunch outside, we strolled a door over to the Continental Bakery which is also owned by those who run Chez Lulu.  We bought a loaf or two of bread and some scrumptious pastries (I had a ever so dense and sweet brownie, but savored it before I was able to snap a picture--you can understand, right, citizens?).  The bakery was furnished so nicely--I just loved how the bread was displayed on wooden shelves and how the decor was so rustic and friendly.  It was like being a kid in a candy shop all over again, but classier, and with baked goods.





______All in all, it was a lovely little trip to make, especially with such decent weather.  

______Do you guys have any local eateries that you enjoy?

A Birthday in July

______For those of you who are fellow Americans, I hope that your Fourth of July was patriotic, filled with freedom, and that the entirety of the day your mind roamed aimlessly on subjects pertaining to bald eagles, stars, and grilled meat.  For those of you who aren't from our stars-and-stripes country, I hope everything was still pretty darn awesome for ya.  I rather enjoyed slumbering away to the sound of fireworks that night--it was comparable to falling asleep to the lovely pitter patter of rain, except less predictable and much more dangerous.

______Also, my birthday is today!  I have turned the ripe age of 19, meaning that the only new action which I can legally perform is smoking (and consequently, getting lung cancer).  Alas, lung cancer isn't really much of a priority in my life right now, and so turning such an age isn't all that exciting. But what is exciting is sitting down for a satisfying meal at our favorite local bakery with our new neighbor-lady; we took her there for lunch today and I decided to bring my camera along and snap a few pictures while we were at it.  I had a very delicious Chicken Waldorf Salad that included chicken, apples, and walnuts with a light raspberry dressing on the side.  It's funny--I used to think that putting fruit into a salad was a rather strange concept, but now it's the only kind of salad I'll probably ever touch.  When my brother comes home tomorrow, we're going to go eat dinner at a lovely, new Italian restaurant, and later scarf down the deliciousness that is homemade cookie cake.





______The presents I received included a lovely new purse (which is the perfect size for lugging my camera around in), some pretty clothing, a Def Leppard CD (I'm currently collecting 80's music), and a year-long Flickr subscription (meaning that now I don't have any excuses to not take pictures due to a lack of online storage). 

______I hope that the start to your July was as fantastic as mine, citizens!