The Village Theatre

I was thinking today about how when you meet a new person, you initially never know what that relationship will turn in to. I don't just mean guy and girl romantic relationships - but any relationship. Upon first meeting someone, you never know if that person will eventually become one of your closest friends, or ultimately just an acquaintance whose name you can't even remember. When I stop and think back to when I first met some of the people closest to me, I think it's really neat to remember how those friendships started, and then grew.

This made me think about how my grandparents met. (I'm talking about Mamaw and Papaw, my dad's parents.) They actually met when she was 16 and he was 18 while working together at what was then called The Village Theatre, in Highland Park Village. (Now it's called the Regent Highland Park Village Theatre.) I got online and found a picture of The Village Theatre from 1948, right around the time they would have been working there. And here's a picture from inside the theatre that same year. Years later they ended remodeling, and in the process removed the balcony and divided the theatre up into 4 smaller theatres. Papaw worked as an Usher, taking tickets and leading people to their seats. (He's not in this picture, but these are they types of uniforms they wore then.)And Mamaw worked at the concession stand. (Nope, that's not her either.) How cute is that though? The usher and the "candy girl" began dating, got married, had two sons, and have been happily enjoying each other's company for the last 65 years!Here's a recent picture of The Village Theatre. I love that even though it opened in 1931, today it looks exactly the same! You don't find that often in this part of the country. In cities like Boston, everything is a historical landmark of some sort, so the buildings remain standing and well cared for year after year. Unfortunately in Dallas, you just don't see that very often.
While I was trying to find these pictures online, I read that they actually closed this theatre last fall. Apparently they are remodeling it, and some places said the theatre will reopen, while others said it will become more high end clothing stores. What'd I tell ya - Dallas just doesn't keep the good buildings around.

Either way, I think it's cool to think about my grandparents meeting and falling in love there so many years ago. :)

My new "office"

I've worked in the Congenital Heart Surgical Unit (which is the cardiac ICU for kids) at Medical City Children's Hospital for about two and a half months now, and so far I'm loving it! About a month ago, we got to move into our brand new unit! It is SO nice. A few days before we moved the patients in, all the nurses had to come in for training on our new equipment. I got there a little early, and took a few pictures and thought I'd share them.

This is the main nurses station area of the unit.
Same area, but a few steps back, looking at the patient rooms across from it. At the end of the hall, looking into a patient room. This is inside one of the patient rooms. All the blinds were closed in this room, but basically all of the rooms have the back wall full of windows, which is nice. The two things hanging from the celing on each side of the crib are called "booms". This is where your main monitor is, and where the majority of your electrical outlets are, where you plug in your suction, and pretty much anything you'd need. It's nice to have them because they are completely adjustable, and can move pretty much anywhere in the room. This makes it possible to orient your room in any direction you want, depending on what equipment you need to make room for. So instead of having to always put the head of the bed against a certain wall, you can put it wherever you want, and move the booms to fit your needs. SO nice! This is the other side of the room. I didn't get a good picture, but my nurse friends will know what I'm talking about. Below the TV is our supply cart. They are twice as wide as they were in the old unit, so we can store more supplies directly in the room instead of having to run to the clean utility room to get them. They lock, so we can also keep our patient's meds in the drawer, including narcotics, so again, it prevents you from having to run all over the place to get what you need. The wooden cabinet on the wall is a wall mounted computer, so you can chart in the room. The window to the left of the TV is where the nurse can sit and chart outside of the room, and still be able to see in. This is nice if you have two patients next door to each other, so you can see them both at the same time. Although there's also a window between each room so you can always see your patient next door. This is the view of the unit from outside that room we were just in. That's all the pictures I have of the new unit. Everyone loves being able to work in such a nice new area. If any of my Children's friends are interested in a tour, I'd be happy to take you... especially if you'd consider coming up there to work with me full time! ;)

I Heart Chicken Parm...

I branched out tonight and made something other than baked chicken... one of my all time favorites, Chicken Parmasean. Okay, okay, so it's still in the chicken family, but this time I had to coat it, and pan fry it, and bake it, and turn it... there were multiple steps I had to follow which upped the cooking difficulty for me, so I consider it branching out. I found the recipe on a healthy cooking website, so it was actually fairly low in fat and calories - a definite plus! And since I got a late start on dinner, I just paired it with a ceasar salad - fat free dressing, of course. :)

Logan asked me to save the recipe, which means the meal was a success! If you're interested in the recipe, here it is:

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 breast half)

Ingredients
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
3/4 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Cooking spray
1/2 cup jarred tomato-basil pasta sauce
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 450°.

2. Combine first 3 ingredients in a shallow dish; place egg whites in a bowl. Place panko in a shallow dish. Dredge 1 breast half in flour mixture. Dip in egg whites; dredge in panko. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken, flour mixture, egg whites, and panko.

3. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan; cook 2 minutes. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Turn chicken over; cook 2 minutes. Coat chicken with cooking spray; place pan in oven. Bake at 450° for 5 minutes. Turn chicken over; top each breast half with 2 tablespoons sauce, 2 tablespoons Parmigiano-Reggiano, and 3 tablespoons mozzarella. Bake 6 minutes or until chicken is done.

Nutritional Information
Calories: 401
Fat: 16.9g (sat 6.4g,mono 7.6g,poly 1.3g)
Protein: 44.4g
Carbohydrate: 15.9g
Fiber: 0.6g
Cholesterol: 95mg
Iron: 1.8mg
Sodium: 719mg
Calcium: 352mg

I took this picture of Logan, patiently waiting for dinner to be ready. I thought it was cute.
If anyone decides to try the chicken parm, be sure to let me know how it turns out for you!

Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Connell!!

This past weekend, Whitney and Cody got married!! The wedding was absolutely beautiful - even if the venue did change 28 days before the big day. :) (We think it made it even better.)

We started the weekend out with a bridal lunch at the Pyramid Room at the Fairmont downtown, and then headed over to the Nail and Spa for manicures and pedicures. (Love that place!)Next was the Rehearsal. The wedding took place at the Meyerson Symphony Center downtown. Here is a shot I got of Whitney and Cody practicing their vows. Afterwards we headed over to the original El Fenix for the Rehearsal Dinner. We had tons of yummy Mexican food, wine and my favorite - Sangrias! Here's Dee Dee and I.And one with the bride-to-be!The next morning, everyone headed back over to the Fairmont to get ready. Whitney getting that gorgeous gown on at the Meyerson!Whitney and her sweet mom, Ginger, just a few minutes before the ceremony. Aren't they beautiful??The bride and groom at the reception!I LOVE this picture of Whitney and Cody cutting the cake. (Click on it to enlarge it. It's worth it to see how happy she is.)Feeding the cake to each other. No icing anywhere! Dancing the night away...Towards the end of the night...With my sweet Children's friend, Angela. I love her! MY hubby and me! :) (It's a little blurry, but it's the only one we got together all night.)

Congratulations again Whitney and Cody! We love you guys, and can't wait till you get back from your honeymoon!

Cooking...

Turns out I still really enjoy cooking, and I don't think I'm half bad either! (My only consistent critic is Logan though, and he's pretty easy to please when it comes to food. Works out well for me!)

For some reason, I like taking pictures of my "cullinary masterpieces" when I'm finished. I guess coming from a family that ate out every meal, cooking something at home is an accomplishment to be proud of, so I feel the need to document it. Indulge me. ;)

Anyway, the other night I baked chicken, and roasted veggies, rosemary potatoes, and asparagus. The chicken wasn't the best I've made, but I've got the sides down!

Next time I'll try to branch out and attempt a slightly more difficult meal...