I’m going to give this weekend an A. Or…no. Better than an A. I think I’ll give it an A to the 3rd power. An A cubed, if you will.
I know you will.
After a week filled with car problems (and, when I say “problems” I actually mean “total and complete frickin’ failure”), malfunctioning electronics, and broken dishes (I could go on), CK and I were down for some fun. But, you know what? You don’t realize how much you depend on a gigantic, plasma boob tube hanging smack-dab in the middle of your living area until it craps out on you.
You’re then forced to improvise.
After we got back from a delicious Macaroni Grill dinner (complete with an opera singer who was wandering around, singing from table to table? Really? Never noticed that phenomenon before…), we cracked open a bottle of wine and had some ridiculous fun taking turns playing old-school cds, trying to make each other crack up. There was some Firehouse, some Presidents of the United States of America (”peaches come from a can…they were put there by a man”), some Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and of course, some Snoop. It was awesome.
Top-notch non-tv time.
Then, Saturday night we headed downtown to the State Theater to see Chris McCarty. Awesome!!! This is the second time I’ve seen Chris play, and he’s fantastic. I’ve had his cd for awhile, and it’s very good. But, nothing compares to his live shows. I don’t really know how to describe him, but he plays with such obvious joy that his energy is completely contagious. We had a blast.
I wish I could tell you that I was going for “ambiance” with this picture, but the truth is my camera - as great as it is in most situations - kind of sucks in dark places. Here’s the best I could do.
See that smile??
Maybe this one’s a little better?
And, in true St. Petersburg fashion, we ran into some strange rangers right after the show. See, we promised our friend Kimmie that we’d stop at the Emerald on our way out since it was so close to the theater (she’s a bartender there). When we got there, though, there was no sign of Kimmie. HOWEVER. There did seem to be a group of people golfing inside the bar.
No, seriously.
I can’t make this stuff up. Let’s just say I HOPE there was a bar crawl of some sort involved here…
You know, it’s not just anywhere in the country where you can come out of dinner and randomly happen upon the tail end of a gorgeous sunset… But that’s just what CK and I did, coming out of a rock-solid dinner at the Pepper. And, it was the tail, tail end for sure, as you can see in the pics.
My first picture was of a little corner of the sun, still in the sky. See it there all tiny-like in the middle??
And, my second picture - literally a second or two later - was of no sun at all.
The end of another gorgeous day!!
Posted on 15 May '09 by colorcodedc, under Uncategorized. 2 Comments.
CK’s brother and sister-in-law had their baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woo-hoo!!!! Well, technically, I guess SHE really did all the baby having, but still. He’s here!!! Yay!!!
I can’t wait to meet him! We’ll be up in the ‘Burgh for my cousin’s wedding in a couple weeks, so I’m sure we’ll get some baby time in then.
This is the first grandchild in CK’s family, so they all are Super Psyched. This also means that CK is a first-time uncle, so he’s totally ready to be the cool guy who takes the kid to Steeler games (when he’s an approporiate age, of course. There are no Steeler ticket wasters in this family, mister!), lets him stay up past his bedtime on sleepover nights, facilitates his first viewing of The Big Lebowski, and takes him to the bar when he is 18 turns 21. Good times.
His name’s Nathan, and even though I SO want to call him Nate-Dogg, I’ll wait and see what they’re planning on calling him. Nathan? Nate? N-Tastic 2009? He he. Just kidding.
I’m totally calling him Nate-Dogg regardless. 
Posted on 13 May '09 by colorcodedc, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
It’s that time of year of year again! The time when winter gives way to spring and love is in the air. The time when young and old come together to celebrate passion, destiny, bad dancing, and booze.
That’s right, friends. It’s wedding season.
CK and I have four weddings where our presence will be expected this year, and last weekend kicked it off for us in style. We flew up to Richmond, VA (actually Powhatan, VA… yeah, I never heard of it either) to take part in the marital festivites of my oldest childhood friend. K is the girl who I grew up with…who lived four houses down from me for pretty much the first 18 years of my life. What a great time. It was awesome to be able to hang out with the people who made up an entire second family for me when I was young. Her fiance’s family was wicked cool, too. PLUS, my parents and sister were invited, so it was just like a big ole family reunion.
K was SO happy. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her happier. See what I mean?
That is one happy bride, fresh out of the makeup chair!
Sure, it was somewhat of a nightmare getting there. As it turns out, there’s no direct easy way to fly from Tampa to Richmond, so we had to connect…through Philly (naturally). Philly is so ON THE WAY to Richmond. Of course, delays followed, and we screeched into the rehearsal about 10 minutes behind schedule…in shorts and flip flops when everyone else was dressed for a cocktail party. I tell you, we are nothin’ but class. All was forgiven, though, and we went on to have a great time.
To top it all off, CK and I built in an extra day to visit one of my roommates from college and her husband, who have lived in Richmond for a number of years now. We drank a lot of beer, had a lot of laughs, and even had time for a quick vineyard tour of Charlottesville (I recommend the Verdejo). The four of us can sure pack a wallop of fun into one tight timeline.
One down, three to go!
People in St. Pete are nothing if not inventive!!
CK and I were invited to the 4th Annual 4th Avenue Olympics last weekend, yo! Behold:
Well, CK’s been to this awesome event before. But, me? My first time. And let me tell you, it was impressive. Our friends Katie and Chad host the event, and it involves a number of their neighbors (luckily, since we were traipsing through their yards most of the afternoon) and friends getting together for some good, old-fashioned, kick-you-in-the-pants, country-tastic fun. With costumes. And shots!
When we first got there, we all gathered around for the Opening Ceremonies, with each country’s song loaded up on the ipod. Seriously. It was fantastic.
I was representing New Zealand……really for no good reason. (People kept asking me if it was because of that show “Flight of the Conchords.” But, sadly, I’m not that cool. We don’t even get HBO). Most of the big countries were there: USA, Italy, Germany, Mexico, Somalia (I’ll let you imagine what the costume might have consisted of there), and Chad was representing…well, Chad. Hilarious.
The events were: Frisbee Golf (totally awesome and harder than it sounds!), Darts, Egg Races, Baggos (kind of like horseshoes, but with boards and bean bags), and Ring Toss (just like at the amusement park).
Here were this year’s medalists in Frisbee Golf (each on his or her respective podium, of course). I was, naturally, not a part of it. My attempt at a curve on the dogleg of #9? Let’s just say it didn’t get me anywhere good. Or anywhere near the hole.
It was such an awesome time. And, CK took home the bronze!
I didn’t have a whole lot to show for my day of competition… I mean, really, it all fell apart for me after my first jello shot on the back nine of frisbee golf, but what are you going to do? Kiwis do love their tropical fruit gelatin-flavored alcohol. Am I right?
Let me count the ” ‘n’ats. ”
CK and I went to the Pens-Lightning game the other night. He’s a HUGE Pens fan and had stumbled upon some great tickets for Tuesday night’s game.
Word.
I like hockey. I mean, it’s no football or anything (Six-Time World Champs, BABY!), but I do like it. I’m sure if I understood it as much as I understand football, it’d be, well, a totally different ballgame! (Sorry).
So, in a parking lot right by the Forum, CK and I get out of the car as two guys were getting out of their car right behind us. I guess they spotted our Penguins attire (or, in my case, black and gold clothing with no logos whatsoever because I don’t own any Pens stuff and CK wouldn’t let me wear my Farrior jersey, but that’s a totally different story…) because the guy yelled, “HEY! WHAT PART-A PIXBURGH Y’INS GUYS FROHM??” Hilarious. God, I love the ‘Burgh. It just never stops amazing me how Pittsburgh is seriously everywhere. I moved, literally, one thousand miles from home, and I keep running into the neighbors I left behind. And, we’re just one big, heavily-accented happy family.
Of course, we got to talking to them, and Andrew - didn’t catch what part of town he grew up in - lives and works down on Captiva Island, otherwise known as heaven, about three hours south of here. His friend was visiting from the North Hills. Great guys. Andrew told us that if we ever wanted to have a destination wedding, he’d totally hook us up (yes, the four of us became very close in a very short period of time). Wedding, schmedding. But, dudes! Does that place not look awesome?? They have these million dollar homes that you can rent by the week. And, at off-peak times, with the right group of people, they’re not even expensive!!
Ah, to have more vacation days…
Anyway, I’m getting totally off track here.
Let’s go Pens!
Oh, and if anybody has advice on how to fall OUT of love with this guy, look me up.
I heart Paula Deen. She’s just one of the bazillion reasons I heart the Food Network. Her southern drawl, her unbelievably amazing kitchen that I’d actually kind of like to live in (please, thank you), her down-home raunchiness… it’s all part of the (as my friend Hitch would say, “GLORIOUS!!”) Savannah-wrapped package.
I don’t know why I’ve never made this recipe before. I’ve watched her make this at least a handful of times on TV. And, it must be one of her favorite recipes, too, because I see it around all the time: in her magazine, on Food Network’s website…
That’s right, friends. It was finally time for the Fresh Fruit Tart.
And, as per (my) usual, I morphed two recipes together. I used Paula’s recipe for the crust and filling. Hers suggests using various kinds of fresh fruit, which I’m sure would make it both delicious and pretty. But, my friendly neighborhood SweetBay had limited items to offer. So, I opted for strawberries only. The strawberries down here are amazing right now, so I figured I couldn’t go wrong (and, I didn’t).
As far as the glaze, though, I used the one from Ina’s Strawberry Tart recipe. It was just apricot jelly and water, and it made a lot less (it doesn’t take much to glaze this tart), so I went that way instead.
And, BEHOLD!
Oh, the yum that is a key lime dessert! The coolness… the color… the sugary tang!
Not that I didn’t inherit my mother’s love for chocolate…
I just don’t have the same level of love for chocolate as I do for anything key lime…or even regular, old lime of the non-key variety.
I made this recipe on Saturday as part of CK’s Valentine’s Day meal gift. It was so easy to make, and it was SO good.
I pretty much followed the recipe word-for-word. I used fresh lime juice. They were pretty big limes, so it only took three of them to get all the juice I needed. You’d probably need four regular-sized limes, though. I used a tart pan, like it said in the instructions, but I’m sure it would work great in a plain pie plate, too. Oh, and I baked it on the longer side of the time Martha gave (I baked it, I think, between 26-27 minutes) since my oven needs a time boost every now and again.
Happy Baking!
Posted on 18 February '09 by colorcodedc, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
