Is It Friday Afternoon Yet?

Also, how's about I win the lottery or something?

Shoot.  This week has been hard.  It's always hard going back to school, and the first few weeks with students are always challenging.  It's hard to get up early in the morning (7:15 a.m. is way too early for anyone to be arriving at work), and it's hard to wear shoes, and it's hard to get back into the swing of school, especially when I'm suddenly supposed to be doing twice as much work in half as much time.

Add to all that the whole "tiny baby at home" thing, and I'm pretty tired.  I'm basically going to go get myself addicted to caffeine pillz because "THERE'S NO TIME!  THERE'S NEVER ANY TIME!" and then Matt will have to talk me down and tell me that, no, I won't be performing at that Hot Sundaes concert this evening.  C'mon.  Let's just watch it, shall we?

That is never going to be not funny.

Anyway, I was supposed to write a post yesterday because it was the ten year anniversary of my first date with Mr. Matt.  But I didn't because I was exhausted.  We didn't do anything exciting, either, because we both had to work and we're tired and old.  We did laugh, as we often do, about how our twenty-one and twenty-two year old selves would be shocked to see us now.  Matt cooks?  Mandy actually agreed to have a baby?  Science finally figured out how to create the cutest dog on the planet and he lives with us?  Whoa, whoa!  And how'd I get so fat?*  And how'd Matt get so skinny?

We've basically been giving ourselves rainchecks for birthdays and anniversaries and other days of note during the last six months or so, and I'm saving them up to cash in for a week-long margarita binge.  But it sure was fun yesterday to think about that first date, how we went to dinner at Applebee's (because we're classy like that) and then to see Signs (I still can't get out the aluminum foil without being tempted to make myself a hat) and how I was wearing my brown Gap favorite tee that I'll probably never get rid of.

Also, ten years is a long time.  A wonderfully long time.

Here is where I would put in a picture of Matt and me when we were young and first dating, but I don't know where it is, and, plus, we were drunk and busted looking in most of those pictures anyway.  Since I only ever take pictures of Charlie and Mitch these days anyway, look at them instead.  Pretend that Mitch is me and Charlie is Matt if you must.

Oh, wait.  Stop pretending that Charlie is Matt.  

This is totes like our first date.  Matt was drooling over his food and I got up in his face and begged for it. (see, also: the last ten years)

And, whoop, whoop!  The weekend is fast-approaching!  Hope yours is the bee's knees!

*Damn you, sedentary lifestyle, pasta, and Oreos.

Happy Days! (And the Back in the Day Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe!)

Let's talk for a hot second about everything there is to be excited about right now.

1.  It's daylight savings time, baby!  Now, granted this means that I will be extra cranky come tomorrow morning and will, for two weeks, be proclaiming that I am actually arriving to work at 6:15 instead of 7:15, and I will use that as an excuse to do nothing at all because of how tired I am, but still.  Daylight savings time means grilling season, birthdays, and that the clock in my car will be right again.

2.  The beach.  We're headed there soon.  I love the beach, and I am determined to float today.  If the water's too cold, then I will settle for letting Matt dig me a hole in the sand so that I can lie on my stomach.

3.  Being spoiled.  I have my work baby shower tonight, and I'm excited to celebrate CSF with some of my favorite ladies (who are teaching me, slowly but surely, how to be a Southern gentlewoman--Steel Magnolias, here I come!).

4.  My new favorite term, pops.  Shecky and I decided that it was short for popular, and that's it's extra fun when used in conjunction with totes.  For example, "He's totes pops with the ladies."  Matt hates it, and says it's the worst thing ever, something that a huge douche from WB show would say, to which Shecky responded, "Exactly."  Pops is taking off, people.

5.  Productivity.  I've been a damned go-getter this week!  I've done about 200 loads of laundry, my paper grading and recording is up to date, thank you cards are written, and the nursery is in the midst of being reorganized.  (Definitely is in the "worse before it gets better" stage right now, which is making me a little bit crazy, though.)  And tell me that cloth diapers aren't the cutest thing you've ever seen in your life.  (I mean, besides Mitch.)

6.  Mad Men in two weeks!

7.  Presents from my Matt!  Tulips and a Bo Obama stuffed dog for the boy!

8.  And, finally, The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook is here!  It's here!  I've been waiting for a year and a half for it, and it's incredible!  I went and got my copy on Thursday, and have been drooling over it ever since.  Even if Back in the Day Bakery wasn't my favorite place in Savannah, and even if I didn't think that Cheryl and Griff were basically the cutest people on the planet, and even if I didn't idolize Cheryl to the point where I get nervous when I see her because I'm so in awe of her mad skillz, I would love this cookbook the most.  The pictures are beautiful, the instructions are precise without being intimidating, and the recipes look amazing.  There are little tips throughout the book, and little tidbits about Savannah, and it's just wonderful.  Go buy it.  (Or win the baby pool and I'll send you one!)

Last night Back in the Day was having a cookbook release party, and I went with one of my teacher friends. We got there early to get our books signed, and I wish I had been able to take more pictures of the gorgeous decorations.  Those people sure know how to throw a party!  There was even cotton candy!  The place was packed, and there were complimentary sweet treats (I think I subsisted on cupcakes and cookies alone yesterday) and so much happy energy.  Of course my camera died after about 2 pictures, and I'd forgotten backup batteries, so here are some of the pictures that my friend took with her phone.

Then, inspired, productive, and cheery, I came home and decided that I absolutely had to make the chocolate chip cookies from the cookbook.

Shoot yeah!

These cookies are really f'ing good.  They're big, and they're crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, and I might have had two of them for breakfast this morning (one for me, one for the baby!).  Matt approves.  So does the fetus.  My doctor does not, but I'm not listening to him about sugar anymore (not like I was ever really following his instructions about not eating sugar, but I'm not going to feel guilty about not following his instructions anymore).

Chocolate Chip Cookies
From The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook (which you should go buy right now)

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/4 teaspoons fine sea salt
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature (which she says is between 65 and 67 degrees F)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups semisweet chocolate chunks
Fleur de sel for sprinkling

Directions

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line two cookie sheets with parchment.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, and sea salt; set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large mixing bowl, using a handheld mixer), cream together the butter, vanilla, and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes.

Add the eggs and mix for no more than 1 minute; the eggs will not be fully incorporated.  Turn the speed down to low and add the dry ingredients in thirds, beating until just combined, 1 to 2 minutes.  With the mixer running, sprinkle in the chocolate chunks, beating until just combined, about 1 minute.

Use a large ice cream scoop or a 1/4 cup measuring cup to form the cookies and place on the prepared cookie sheets, leaving 2 inches between the cookies to allow for spreading.  Lightly tap each cookie with the palm of your hand and sprinkle with fleur de sel.

Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time for even doneness.  The cookies should be golden brown around the edges but still light in the centers.  Let the cookies cool on a wire rack.  Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature.

What are you excited about today?

Farewell Summer

Well, this is my last post as a woman of leisure.  I go back to school tomorrow, and I'm trying to muster up the motivation to redecorate an entire new classroom, do lesson plans, and face teenagers again.  The two months away have been just lovely (and, obviously, I'm ridiculously fortunate to have a job that provides such nice, long breaks), but right now the thought of being back in a classroom with thirty odd kids makes me want to whine and then sleep.  But by next Monday I'll be good and ready because, if for no other reason, I have no choice.

This summer has been fun and productive.  Matt's birthday celebration this weekend kind of doubled as a farewell to summer, and it couldn't have been nicer.  We went to see Midnight in Paris, which you should go see.  I'm trying to figure out a way to work it into my American Literature curriculum.  

After the movie we stopped by Saigon Bistro for lunch.  (Savannah folk, if you have not been to Saigon Bistro, you are really missing out.  It's cheap and delicious and fresh and awesome.)  Then it was off to the beach for the rest of the afternoon and evening.  The evening beach visit was Matt's birthday request, since we had so much fun doing the same thing last year.  And it was grand.  We really try not to take for granted the fact that we live so close to the beach, and that we can just go out there for a couple of hours when we feel like it.

Matt was happy as a clam all night.

"No, Matt, I'm not going to put these pictures on the internet." 

And then these pretty awesome clouds rolled in, and Matt and Collin were really taken with them. I've never heard people talk about clouds for so long, and with such fervor, as I did last night.  Then I think that Matt got annoyed with me because, while I thought the clouds were pretty great, I did not think they were so great as to merit a full 30-minute discussion of them.  Then I got annoyed that Matt was annoyed.  We finally decided to agree to disagree on the degree of the awesomeness of the clouds.  Oh, marriage.  (Also, maybe I would have found the clouds to be more extraordinary had I not bee the DD for the night?)

Matt stood there, basically having a religious experience staring at the clouds.

And then, when the clouds started to dump rain on us and Matt's hair began to stand up straight (like he'd rubbed it with a balloon), we decided it was high time that we head on up to Fannie's for dinner.  And then it was my turn to have a religious experience--with nachos.

Farewell, Summer!  Until we meet again!

Lucky #31, and Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Hey, hey, party internet people.  Hope you're kicking off a weekend to remember.

Here at the always exciting M Cubed household, I've been savoring my last few days before I go back to work by trying to strike the perfect balance between being a lazy slob and getting small projects done.  Check and check.  Air filters changed, ceiling fans clean, walls cleaned with bleach.  Also, I just changed out of my pajamas.  Shoot yeah.

I needed to get all of that boring, crappy stuff done because tonight is the start of the birthday weekend of everyone's favorite Matt.

No, not this one.

Or this one. . .

Or even this one. . .

Or this one.  (Why are there so many awesome Matts?*)

Hell, even this Matt's got nothing on the one I married (except for maybe some mad footballs skillz.)

Nope.  It's this one, my favorite friend, master griller, voracious reader, dog dad, ellipting fool, super husband, and best laugher alive.  

It's this Matt's 31st birthday, and we're dedicating the weekend to all of his favorite things.  There will be delicious food, booze, lots of kisses (from dogs and wives alike--but not at the same time), and beach fun.  I can't think of a better way to end a summer and begin a new year.

Oh, and there will be cake.  This cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting**.  

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

5 tablespoons milk

1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 oz. cream cheese

2-3 cups powdered sugar

Directions

Whip butter and cocoa powder together in a large bowl.  Slowly add milk.  Add vanilla extract and cream cheese and mix on high until mixture is smooth.  Slowly add powdered sugar until you reach desired sweetness and consistency.

*Way back when we first started dating, Matt and I had a joke (at least I think it was a joke) that we were only allowed to cheat on the other one with people of the same name.  So he could sleep with as many Mandys as he wanted, and I could have all the Matts that my heart desired.  I totally win in this fake being able to cheat deal.


**I have pretty much stopped making any other cake but this one because it is perfect and I never want to eat any other kind of cake ever again for my whole life.  Except for maybe some pumpkin cake in the fall.  And an occasional strawberry cake.  

This and That

1.  Our power goes out approximately 200 times each summer.  You know, big thunderstorms, a little bit o' wind, and the BAM!  No power.  We use these opportunities to walk around the house with candles and pretend that we're old timey--or worshipers of Satan.

2.  The other day I decided to tune in to the last hour of Steel Magnolias on CMT.  As though that weren't emotionally damaging enough, that damned Sarah MacLaughlin commercial came on during one of the breaks.  I think CMT might have some secret deal with Kleenex or prozac or something.

3.  Also, when I hang out with some of the teachers in my department at school, I feel like I'm on the set of Steel Magnolias.  That part just never gets old.

4.  Cassie's birthday was last week. Cassie is also a big time lover of sharks. (She and Matt are basically soulmates when it comes to sharks and dinosaurs and bleu cheese.)  And since it was shark week last week, too, and because my other good friend Martha had sent me this email about shark desserts, I had to make a cake.  Oh, also, I wanted cake.

Um, maybe we had some issues getting the cake out of the pan?  Or maybe a shark took a bite!

5.  Matt started watching the local news a few months ago in an effort to be more involved in the community, and change starts locally and all.  I don't really care for the local news (no handsome Anderson Cooper), but I do like to watch Matt watch the local news, mainly because he loathes the anchorwoman.  He gets particularly mad when she is mean to the weatherman because it's hot outside.  To be fair to Matt, that woman is just awful.  And what did she think would happen during August in Savannah, anyway?

6.  Bought myself some cheap old school marm shoes today.  At Sears, because that was the only place that had shoes that could toe the line between fun and sassy and just plain slutty.  Also, because of clumsiness, I don't think I'm allowed a heel higher than 3.5".  I'm sure you care a lot about this.

7.  Mitch loves banana puddin' from Back in the Day Bakery.  Can you blame him?

8.  Is anything more fun than the night that you go on a huge grocery trip?  So many choices!  So much food!

9.  Matt wants to start blogging again soon, so we're going to give him his own tab.  But what to name it?  Here's what we've got so far.  Matt Attack, The Mattrix, and The Matt Pack.  Votes?  Also, what would you like to hear about from Matt?

10.  I ellipted three days in a row!  That's basically a world record!  Maybe I can go for four today?

Matt: Singer/Songwriter

Man, you know how you know when you're bored and determined to be a waste of space?  Well, it happens when you start Googling yourself.  And that's what I was just doing, because apparently I want to become a pile of gelatinous ooze.  Or because I'm just psyching myself up to make the best ice cream that's ever been made.  I'd go with the former if I were you.*

So, anyway, back to the Googling.  Well, I Googled "matt mandy mitch" to see what that would turn up.**

And among a few other things (one of which was a Mitch Hedberg joke-a-day list), this video came up.



I said that it was some kind of children's church.  Matt said that, no, it wasn't.  He said that, instead, it was some kind of Children of the Corn cult.***  Then he broke out into his own verse:

". . .then we kill our parents with knives--IN THE BACK YARD!"

Isn't Matt the best?


*It doesn't matter anyway, because I was productive enough at school in the last two days to make up for seven weeks of doing nothing.


**Yes, I am a narcissistic dork, but you are, too.  Don't even try to act like you've never done it.

***I haven't actually seen that movie because I don't watch scary movies because they scare me.

Hello There, Mr. Weber.

First of all, you should know that Matt and I never exchange expensive gifts.  For birthdays and Christmas, we usually have a limit somewhere between $30-50.  But this year he bought me a camera.  And it is amazing.  And apparently we decided that for the month of December 2010, we would be ballers.

Because since he'd gotten something so great for me, I felt like I needed to reciprocate.

So I did.

Our grill had broken a few weeks before, see, and I'd seen the way Matt swooned over the ones at the store.  I decided to surprise him with a Weber grill.  I ordered it online, and had a plan to track it like a maniac, intercept the package, and then put it together while he was at work.  Then I was going to hide it in the guest room closet until Christmas morning when I would wheel it out to the living room with a big bow.  And it would be the best Christmas surprise!

Except a few things happened.

1.  I am terrible at keeping big fun secrets.
2. The package was delivered while we were at a solstice party that our friends were throwing, so I couldn't intercept it.
3. I am terrible at keeping secrets.
4. The box was way too big and way too heavy to keep Matt from seeing it. (Even though we had our friend Brian go home before us and hide it in the back yard--he possesses some sort of super-human strength because he moved that seven-ton box all by himself!)
5. I was drunk from the solstice party, and am terrible at keeping secrets.
6. Matt had figured out that something was up, and was very suspicious.
7. Once I got home and he questioned me, all I could do was put my face inside my shirt and laugh a lot.

Finally, Hugh and Cassie said that I needed to just give it to him already, because I was too weak and undisciplined to keep the surprise going.  Plus, we were having Savannah Family Christmas the next night, and it was supposed to be nice and warm out, and then Matt could use his new gift.

So this was Matt's solstice surprise.

And then Hugh--wonderful, smart, patient Hugh--put the grill together the next day while Cassie and I ate sandwiches and went grocery shopping.

Isn't it gorgeous?

And apparently it is awesome, or so says my husband, the grill master. 

I've got to concur, because that hot dog that he brought me and that I ate while writing this post sure didn't taste like it was cooked on any ol' hobo grill, that's for damn sure.

New Camera!

Man oh man it's been a busy few days.  I've been so busy cleaning and decorating and baking and wreath making and phone talking and wine drinking that I've completely neglected to share the arrival of the newest member of our family with you.

Meet Whitey.

I just named him that like five seconds ago, but I think it might stick.

Whitey is my new camera, a Christmas gift from my wonderful husband, who is a poker extraordinaire.*

Here's a picture of the camera that someone else took (kind of hard to take a picture of the new camera with the camera (kind of like vacuuming the vacuum).

Isn't he beautiful? 

He's also really easy to use and takes great photos and feels great in my hands and takes HD video and is quite an upgrade from my DSLR from 2002.  Hugh recommended this camera when we were there for Thanksgiving, and as soon as I saw it I knew it was the one for me.  It also got great reviews and has great features and is a Pentax, so I will be able to buy older Pentax lenses for it. Since Whitey arrived on Thursday, I've probably taken thousands of pictures, and I'm in awe of just how easy he is to use.  I'm still figuring everything out with it, but having a blast doing it.

Here is one of my favorite shots from my favorite camera when I took it to my favorite bakery.

*We share money, and sometimes when you share money and then spend lots of it on an expensive gift for the other, it's like, "Oh, hey.  Thanks for spending all of that money I made on this thing." Anyway,  Matt has not been playing online poker and winning a lot**, and he's definitely not made enough to buy me a new camera for Christmas.

**Because it's illegal to play online poker for real money, or something like that.

Weekend in Pictures

Yes, my costume included a foam menorah and lots of messy hot glue.  I burned myself more times than I'd care to admit.

 Werewolf Bar Mitzvah furry scary gloves.

 Mmmmm.  Favorite cookie made with peanut butter M&Ms.

 It's never not cute when he does this.

 Ahh. . .open window days.

 

 This is where Matt put the Halloween candy so that I could easily find it and hand it out to the trick-or-treaters.  Really, Matt?  Trying to prevent more Butterfinger fugue states?

The Dude and Werewolf Bar Mitzvah.  It was when I saw this picture that I knew with complete certainty that I married someone cooler than me.  And smarter.  Shoot.  At least I'm better than he is at shapes.