Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Last night, we finally made it to a Braves game!

A little while before we had planned to leave the house, there was a torrential downpour (which is not really what you want to see when you're about to pay a lot of money to go sit outside for a few hours), so we made a stop at Target.

For only $1.67, you too can own a blue trash bag with a head hole.

But, as luck would have it, the rain moved on before we even got to Turner Field and left a breezy, cooler temperature behind! It was great weather for baseball.

While the game itself is fun, I think the Braves do a great job with all the other entertainment at the stadium.

Such as:

 Specialty Hot Dogs during Batting Practice
(Andrew's favorite "Georgia Dog" down front - dog, slaw and Vidalia onion relish!)

Tomahawk BamBams, Courtesy of Publix
(My hair courtesy of post-rain humidity.)

The Giant, Tomahawk-Choppin' Chick-fil-A Cow

The Delta Mini Cooper "Jet"

(What I wouldn't give to be allowed to drive that around town a little...)

The Home Depot Tool Race

(I cheered for Hammer. He turned and ran in the wrong direction halfway through. Andrew cheered for Drill. He fell and broke his drill bit.)

Not Pictured: The Talkative Kid Behind Us

Kid 1 (to the man behind him): Hey - you see these? These are Transformers. See - I brought them with me. Cause I've already been to THREE Braves games.
Kid 2: I thought you said this was your FIRST time...[side eye]

Kid 1: See this red part? That means they're Transformers.

Man: Well, see that down there? That's Eric Hinske. And he's about to transform into a homerun hitter.

Eric Hinske: cccrrrrrack Homerun.

The end.

I did actually watch the game, but I could only pay so much attention with Brian McCann being on the DL and all.

If you missed it, the Braves recently played a 19-inning game that lasted well into the wee hours. This one was much quicker (thank goodness), and they won!

We had a great time out at the ballgame, but alas no peanuts or Cracker Jacks. (I did enjoy a pretzel with cheese and a fountain Coke close to the end of the game. I placed this order with the waiter Andrew, and he gave me "a look." When he got back though, he said, "They had a cash register button for CHEESE CUP.")

Thanks for a fun night, Bravos!

So far today, we have finished another jigsaw puzzle, grocery shopped, Bed Bath & Beyond shopped, and watched more baseball. Next up is a pantry reorganization (with the help of Skinnygirl margarita - don't judge) and dinner to gear up for another week. Tomorrow is the start of birthday month in this house!

Hope you've had a good weekend!

Legal, Lunch & Lesson

I didn't have to go in to work today, so I took the opportunity to go down to the SSA office and legally change my name! (Just shy of 10 months to the day from our wedding...ahem. The office is only open 8:30-3:30, Monday-Friday, though. That's my excuse.)

Even though my sweet husband gets to keep his name, he agreed to accompany me during his lunch. 1. The SSA office is in downtown Atlanta. 2. I'm not big on midday, solo MARTA trips. There's no cushion of commuters. 3. I'm always "better safe than sorry." So, I met him at his office, and he drove us down.

Let's just say there was an "interesting" bunch of folks there. I try not to judge, but two different security guards said "I bet you're here for a name change" as soon as they saw me.

So now I am officially, legally Mrs. L! (Womp womp - yes I try to leave our last name off this blog.)

To the SSA's credit, I waited for only 20 minutes, and the process took less than 5. I was prepared for much worse!

After the legal portion of today's activities, we went across the street to have lunch at Room at Twelve. It was delicious!

This new Blackberry doesn't appear to have a flash.

Concentrics Restaurants have Summer Swag each year. You get half off (up to $25) just for showing the certificate or flashing it on your phone. It's a great deal! We each got more yummy food than we could finish for only $12! Lunch at Twelve around 12 for $12. (You can get a copy of Swag here.)

Andrew had to get back to work, so we headed for this funhouse-looking deck that had been the only apparent place to park without valeting or having a monthly membership somewhere.

 Yes, that's the Downtown Connector. Not much room for error in this deck.

He had dropped me at the door of the federal building before parking, and while he was waiting to buy his lot ticket, some people came by and asked if he wanted their all-day pass because they were leaving. The guy in front of him in the ticket line said, "Hey, today's your lucky day! Just remember to pay it forward."

And, upon our return to the lot, we did. To the booting company.

Lucky we got a discount on our lunch.

Lesson learned. Happy Friday! :)

Menu Monday

Cute Salad at 29 South

Back into the kitchen this week! Here are our summery selections. :)

• Garden Pasta Salad with Crusty Bread
• BBQ Pork Burgers (adapted from here) with Hasselback Potatoes & Fruit
• Chicken Caprese Sandwiches with Zucchini Fries
• Hoisin Steak with Cucumber Salad and Roasted Cauliflower

What's cooking at your house?

A Short But Sweet Post

We didn't do too much this weekend, and it definitely feels like summer is winding down! Maybe it's all the "Back to School" displays that are already out.

Yesterday, Andrew helped move his brother into a "grown-up" apartment (Congrats, Tim!), and I caught up on all the laundry and housework that was neglected due to vacation. That's always a kick in the...

Today, we stopped to browse at The Dump, but that was about the extent of our activity. (Once I told Rachel that she should try "the dump" when she was looking for new apartment furniture. I guess clarification is necessary when you name your furniture store after a trash collection facility.)

Annnyway.

I started pinning yesterday. So many pretty, want-it, love-it and delicious things on that site! Among them - "Lemon Crinkle Cookies." The recipe is from an LDS lifestyle magazine's website, which is not normally where I find recipes, but... YUM. They are so good.

They're a pretty basic butter cookie with just a hint of lemon. The directions below are "by" me, so feel free to click on over to the original site for the original directions. ;)

Ours are not as pretty as the picture on the website.
It doesn't matter because they are still delicious.

Lemon Crinkle Cookies
(makes about 2 dozen)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 whole egg
1 tsp lemon zest
1 T lemon juice (fresh)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cup AP flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350.

Prep:

-In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
-In a small bowl, combine vanilla, egg, lemon zest and lemon juice.
-Sprinkle powdered sugar on a plate and set aside.

1. In a stand mixer, cream butter and granulated sugar.

2. Add in the vanilla, egg, lemon zest and juice mixture.

3. Slowly add in dry mixture. (Scrape sides and re-mix if necessary.)

4. Scoop heaping teaspoons of batter and roll in powdered sugar, coating each cookie and forming into a ball.

5. Place coated cookies on greased cookie sheet.

6. Bake 9-11 minutes, watching for cookies to have a matte appearance and become slightly brown around the edges.

7. Cool 2-3 minutes on cookie sheet and transfer to wire rack.

Enjoy!

A batch of fresh cookies in the house sure does help Monday come easier.

Vacation, All I Ever Wanted

Vacation...had to get away!

This week, the blog we took a little--you guessed it--vacation! To say it was much needed is an understatement. :)

On Saturday morning, we headed through the depths of non-Interstate south Georgia to get to Amelia Island, Florida. (We only forgive the state for its Gators because of its provision of nearby beaches.)

In our "off the beaten path" adventure, I'd say we were a mix of charmed/amused/confused by all the little towns of only a few hundred people. (Have you ever seen a "QUIET DEATH IN THE FAMILY" road sign with a woman proudly weed-whacking right next to it? We have!)

If you choose this type of route, your GPS will also be likely to direct you onto some curiously named roads, such as:

But, luckily, those weird and winding roads do eventually lead to the beach!

We were fortunate enough to be able to stay at a marsh-side condo (belonging to...let's just say...a "benefactor" of sorts) at Amelia Island Plantation.

It was super quiet, and our only neighbors were 12,000 mosquitoes and about 42 lizards of various sizes and levels of creepiness.

See -- looking in the bathroom window. Creepy!

There aren't too many exciting photos to share because we didn't do much. Which was exactly the plan.

We called this "Da Mehn Pool" because it was close to (yet so far away from) the Main Pool at Sandals in Jamaica.

(You know. In case you hadn't heard.)

One of us is an ocean lover. The other prefers to only swim in bodies of water in which she can see the bottom.

One night before dinner, we tried to take a nice picture in front of the marsh. We took several test shots--flash, no flash, move up, move back, balance the camera on the patio table, etc.

After taking at least moderately successful ("good enough, there are six mosquitoes on my right leg alone") test shots, we posed and smiled for our picture together!

LOL

After the "photo shoot" that night, we had dinner at PLaE. PLaE = People Laughing and Eating. We made sure to laugh while we were eating.

Andrew got a whole fish. I didn't laugh while he was eating it. It had teeth.

 Light Bulb S&P Shakers

The next night, we ventured into downtown Fernandina to walk around and have dinner at 29 South, a restaurant we went to and loved several years ago.

I've heard about this pork chop ever since!

 Sweet-Tea Brined Pork Chop with Macaroni Gratin & Blackberry Ginger Preserves

2008 / 2011

My Fried Chicken
(Centering of this photo courtesy of an extra glass of wine. A portion of the sale of each glass went to Save the Whales! I hope the whales fared better than this chicken.)

Dessert was "Coffee & Doughnuts."

A mound of mocha ice cream...

...dumped out to reveal doughnut bread pudding underneath! Mmmm.

We rounded out our vacay with one last day of pool-lounging, drink-sipping and general doing nothingery. (Special thanks to the resort for listing "Lunch Liquor" loud and proud on our bill.)

On our last night, we went to the Ocean Grill for a grand finale dinner. I was expecting some generally over-hyped "hotel food," but it was legitimately delicious!

Our "Signature Drinks"
(See also: About Me -->)

We had Caesar salad (prepared tableside!), shrimp and grits (he), Steak Amelia (she), and a trio of cheesecakes for dessert.

We were super sad to leave the next day but made the transition a little easier by making a stop at a fave we usually visit in St. Simons.

Six-ish hours later, we were back in the big city, and tears were nearly shed.

We adored ya, Amelia!

Dog Days

It's too hot to blog. (Or, more accurately, it's too hot to go out and do anything worth blogging about.)

So instead...in honor of the dog days of summer: puppies!

Toby & Rocco

(in their baby days)

Bless their sweet little precious hearts.

(Summer) Menu Monday

Summer laziness is creeping in a little this week, but that's okay. If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen as quickly as possible.

Chicken Creole - better than expected!

A vs. W Interpretation of "A Scoop of Rice on Top":

Has anyone else noticed the continued increase in food prices?? I'd heard about it in the news, and now it seems like we fail to meet our grocery budget each week. We aren't buying any more/fancier food than usual, but the total keeps creeping up.

Recently, it has helped that Publix is sending me weekly $5 off coupons to get me to try them out. (I've been "trying" them every week for oh, say, the last two years. They also think my name is Shannon. Oh well - Dear Publix, Shannon thanks you!)

Anyway, moving on from that side note, here's our menu for the week:

• BLTs with Chips & Fruit (Told ya...lazy. But bacon's on sale!)
• Chicken Skewers with Grilled Romaine & Mashed Yukon Gold Potatoes
• Fettucine with Spinach, Ricotta & Grilled Eggplant
• Lazy CrockPot Sloppy Joes with Dijon Slaw & Roasted Cauliflower
• Chicken Parm with Roasted Broccoli & Orzo

The Asian pork burgers from last week were super cheap and way tastier than they should have been with only four ingredients!

Try them for a beef alternative. Our equation = pound of ground pork + 2T low sodium soy sauce + 2T sweet chili sauce + 2 cloves of garlic, minced. Yum!

Weekend Randoms

If there's one advantage to this blog, it's that it has reminded me to start taking pictures again! I used to take lots of pictures but dropped off for awhile.

This weekend, we did almost nothing noteworthy, and I still uploaded about 40 pictures from my camera today.

So this post is really just randoms with pictures.

We did zip/zilcho/nada on Saturday. (I mean really - we got up at 8 and took a nap at 10. What can I say, we were totally out of coffee.) But, we did manage to pull ourselves out of our state of sloth to go to ONE midtown kitchen for dinner.

I thought all of my food was particularly beautiful (as it was tasty)!

Heirloom Tomatoes with Whipped Ricotta and Pickled Blackberries

Blackberries Photographed by Blackberry

Bacon-Wrapped, Oven Roasted Shrimp with "Melon Carpaccio" (a.k.a. shaved cantaloupe) and Balsamic Onions

Today was for tidying, menu planning and grocery shopping. To make those parts of the day more fun, we added in lunch at YEAH! Burger.

Westside Provisions District

YEAH, we did get fried pickles, french fries and onion rings. Wanna make something of it? Luckily I forgot to take a picture of my food or you would have seen the latter two next to my Coke float.

~

Truly randoms:

• I forgot to blog about this little find after our shopping day in Macon.
  
  
  
  Can you tell what it is? Besides super cute?
  
  
  
  
  
  It's a case for a contact lens case! Just in case one case isn't enough.
  
  

• We finally got all our honeymoon photos organized and into their album! Only 280 could make the cut, so we had to prioritize. Do you want to know what the real-life version of a desktop photo folder looks like?
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Each summer, California Pizza Kitchen does a "Don't Open It" promo in which they give you a sealed card on one visit. You bring it back during the sweepstakes period--don't open it yourself, obvs--and they reveal your prize.
  
  
  
  
  Last summer, we kept our card in a safe spot and excitedly took it back in. It was quite the ordeal as they called the manager over to our table to tear open the card and then complete the scratch-off portion. We got 10% off. Congrats, you win $2.
  
  This year we got another card. Andrew wanted to redeem it last weekend, and I said no. He wanted to redeem it again today. Expiration date? 7/3/11. Fail.
  
  And then we went ahead and opened it/scratched it.
  
  
  
  Epic fail.
  ("You're lucky that didn't say we won $10,000!!" -Andrew)
  
   
• And now for a botanical update.
  
  I'm happy to say that our geraniums are not only living but thriving! I learned how to "deadhead" them on YouTube, and they've been blooming away ever since.
  
  
  
  
  The only thing I don't understand is that the little bloom pods take forever to actually sprout, but then the time between bloom-full bloom-shrivel is only a couple of days. Luckily, they're in a revolving cycle now, but for awhile there we had nothing but bloom pods.
  
  
  
  
  Awhile back I mentioned the pothos plant that we got at Home Depot. After several failed houseplant attempts, I went looking for one that I couldn't kill a strong little plant. The tag on the pothos said, "Care: Very Easy."
  
  Here it was when we brought it home (excuse the phone pic, it was for tweeting purposes):
  
  
  
  
  And look at it now!

Better learn how to prune this thing. Back to YouTube.
(Keepin' it real: I had to move a pile of shoes to take this picture.)

Hope you're having a good weekend, and as I once heard someone say: Don't let your Monday ruin your Sunday!