married life, part 1.

i have a secret.  even though it's only been a few days more than a week of being married, i really like it. obviously, that's not that surprising, because why else would i have married him, right? but, there's all of these added perks: like someone else to clean the bathroom or take the dogs out.  and the food, my God, the food! when you're dating, there's always this voice in the back of your head that whispers, "don't eat the whole cupcake," or maybe "leave a little on your plate." well, maybe not for you, but it's mostly been there for me for the past, oh, 15 years.  except a few weeks before the wedding, sam and i were eating at Outback (i know, we live in Birmingham and need to get the desire to eat at chain restaurants out of our blood!), and i was hungry. like, hadn't eaten in 24 hours hungry.  so i finished every last bit of my salad, steak, and sweet potato, plus the appetizer and bread. and the waiter, he commented on it.  twice. his exact words? "that's beautiful man; she's a keeper," because i ate all of my food. so maybe, i don't really have food issues in front of sam. all that to say, i've certainly felt a little free-er about eating my full share!

we ate a lot in Savannah.  the city is definitely made for eating. all of the magazines and guidebooks encourage it, and who are we to go against the recs? we had pizza, fresh seafood, and y'all, we ate at Paula Deen's the lady & sons.

 *my plate: fried chicken, mac-n-cheese, black eye peas, creamed corn, and mashed potatoes

it turns out that we were lucky enough to be in Savannah on a rainy Sunday where the lunch buffet for the most Southern restaurant on the planet wasn't completely full.  we did have to wait until 2:30 to eat that Sunday lunch, but yes, it was worth the wait.

*Sam's plate: fried chicken, bar-b-q, mac-n-cheese, rice, mashed potatoes & gravy, green beans (salad & bread off to the side)

Our cute waiter, a Southern transplant from Pennsylvania, told me that Paula's tea had converted him. now, he drinks Southern sweet tea or none at all.  isn't that the cutest?  I think my Southern accent outed his; either that or he heard sam and I ponder if his was real or not because about halfway through faking a "hey y'all, can i get ya some more?" he told us it was fake.  (as if i didn't already know!) but we forgave him when he told us how some of the cooks had been with Paula for at least 15 years. and how every recipe comes straight out of the cookbook. the gooey butter cake, for example, better make 145 squares...that's a lot of cake. i can't even show y'all pictures of my dessert because, sadly, i could not finish it.  or my own plate, but i can show you sam's: he was a trooper and didn't leave anything for the dogs out back. after much testing, though, i concluded that my mom cooks about the same.  so yes, it was delicious, but it wasn't exactly anything new.  i guess i never knew how easy i had it.  mom's Sunday lunch never had a 3 hour wait!

 *that's just bones and sauce, y'all.

we had a great mini vacation.  it was nice to rest, watch a bunch of movies in a great hotel, and spend all day walking around a gorgeous city. Savannah was beautiful: all southern and spanish moss-y. i have a feeling that if you want a great St. Paddy's day celebration, you should head that way. the city was still partying the weekend after. (plus, they have no open container rules! birmingham, why don't you take your cue from a sister city?) Highly recommend. (the marriage and Savannah)