Back to Reality...

As my track out return approaches, I am taking a moment to weigh the positives and negatives of summer coming to an end. Let's start with the cons so we can end on a positive note, que?


Cons:
1) No more 2 hour breakfasts while bs'ing on the computer and catching up on Real Housewives episodes
2) White shoes, shorts, dresses, etc are in storage until April (if you don't follow this rule we have a problem)
3) The pool will be closing and my skin will return to a shade that proves I am of Irish/Welsh descent
4) Strawberries, blueberries, bananas and watermelon prices will skyrocket
5) Bye bye nightly cookouts
6) Can no longer play Will Smith's Summertime




Pros:
1) I get to see my kids, all 22 of em!
2) Jeans and slacks = less shaving!
3) The pool will be closing and I will therefore postpone getting skin cancer a few more years.
4) Pumpkin. Nuff said.
5) Tailgating and FOOTBALL!
6) Too soon for Christmas music?

What are your fave/least fave things about saying adios to Summatime?

DC Recap

Phew, so I'm back. Unless you have been under a rock or haven't watched TV this week, you know my beloved Hokies lost to Boise State Monday night. Sadly, this was the main reason we traveled to DC so pretty huge bummer. Luckily, we had many other fun things on the agenda to ease the pain and the experience of being at Fed Ex field was almost worth it in itself.

I'm not going to give you a full recap of the trip because A- I am tired since I'm back to work and B- You probably don't give two s**ts and just want to see pictures. Well, enjoy!

Super sweet memorial if you haven't gotten a chance to see it yet.
Too bad it wasn't around years ago so great heroes like my great grandfather could have seen the beauty in person.



Subway riding and walking all over the Nation's Capital. Funny thing is that I grew up here and had seen almost of of this stuff multiple times. Moving away makes me realize how lucky I was to have so many pieces of history right at my disposal. Plus, planning field trips would be a zillion times easier if i lived up there!

Visiting George and Martha's Crib- aka Mount Vernon
The Nats suck, but their stadium is super sick and my man Abe pulled out the win in the Presidents Race.

Am I obsessed with Picasa collages much?

Spontaneity is sexy...

So Matt and I have been going through a spontaneous streak lately. What we eat for dinner, movies to watch, introducing the idea then booking a trip to NYC the week of Christmas in a 20 minute period (more on that at another time...)

Case and point- this past Saturday we had typical plans of cleaning house, going to the gym, and running errands around town. As I was getting ready for our scheduled errands, he asked "wanna go to the beach"?

My typical reaction: "Sure, and I'd also like a million dollars, but we planned to run errands. Plus, I don't want to drive 3 hours to turn around and come back the next day. Plus, what would we do with the dog, gah!"

My new spontaneous self: "Yes! When do we leave?"

So we packed up our stuff and our pup, gassed up the car, and headed down to Holden Beach. This is Papi eating in my lap en route since he'd been rushed out the door before.

I was impressed with myself for embracing a trait that I frankly am not. And my husband finds this new leaf hotter than "slut shoes" and cleavage. I plan on making the most of our "newlywed" period and making it last for a few more years. But who knows, as spontaneous as we are lately we may just up and adopt triplets tomorrow (Please dear God, notify the authorities in that case because we are NOT qualified for that).

Proof that there is a God

There are many reasons I believe in the big man upstairs (yes, I realize it's 2010 but I still think he's a man). I often am affirmed of this belief through nature. Beautiful sunsets (like this one from Sunset Beach, NC), perfectly placed clouds, shooting stars, and more commonly: flowers. I mean, they are stunning, right!? In my perfect world, I'd have flowers in every room of the house...but someone else would tend to them.

You see, there's a few things I'm good at: teaching, bargain shopping, and killing plants (and fish, but that's another story). Whether they are fresh store-bought, delivered, or planted and grown in my own backyard; sooner than later my once beautiful plant dies.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Matt and I try to tag team the yard duty so our place doesn't turn into a s**thole and one day we can sell it. I walked out in the yard the other day and looked down in disbelief at our dead grass and brown spots throughout the yard. But then I looked up to see our tree and my spirits were lifted! That's right folks, Carrie planted a tree TWO years ago and it's still alive! Sure, we assumed it had been dead for the past 8 months, but that's beside the point. This thang is a trooper!

My relationship with the tree didn't start off so hot. I arrived home from work one day to see it sitting on our front porch. I read that it was a wedding gift and since we were leaving for our honeymoon the next day it had to be planted immediately. Fan-friggintastic! Instead of packing I'm going to be planting a tree, which I have never done before in my life. I thought it would take about 15 minutes. Well, I live in North Carolina and all we have under grass is clay; lots of it. It took 1 1/2 hours to dig, plant, and cover and by the end I was sweaty, exhausted and covered in clay.

A month later I was pretty sure the tree was a lost cause.

Matt- "Maybe you didn't dig a big enough..."

me- "SHUSH, it's friggin dead, whatever"

Thank you tree for restoring my faith:)

Pick your poison...I'll pick mine from NC

You know what I like? Beer. Good beer. And I like it often.

Now that that's out there...

I don't remember my first beer, although I assume it was in college at a frat house. It was most likely Southpaw, Keystone Light, or maybe Bud Light if the party throwers were really trying to show off.

What I have learned through my ongoing research over the past few years is that these beverages are hardly beer. They are grossly mass produced, additive-ridden, beer flavored wannabes who are the laughing stock of the bar. So basically, unless I'm on the beach all day or it's free...you won't see me drinking it.

So what DO I like to drink from my high horse? I'm glad you asked! I have visited many local breweries here in North Carolina and have found that the tastiest and most unique styles of beer were created just a few miles down the road. Below are some of my top choices. Enjoy!

1) Shotgun Betty of the Lonerider Brewing Company: I'm usually not a Hefeweizen gal, but this beer changes the rules. It's a wheat beer with a banana clove finish (yes, i said BANANA) and it's soooo delicious. We visited the brewery in person earlier this year, but you can also purchase Betty from Harris Teeter in the Raleigh area. Do yourself a favor a try this today!

2) Spring Bock and Octoberfest of the Carolina Brewing Company: Not to be confused with many other breweries that use "Carolina" in it's name, CBC is actually located less than 5 minutes from my house here in Holly Springs. Their Carolina Pale Ale is sold rampantly all over the triangle(and it happens to be Matt's overall favorite beer), but it's their seasonal beers that I find the most delicious. The Spring and Fall brews are my favorite and you can attend FREE tastings of all their beers every Saturday afternoon.

3) Gaelic Ale of the Highland Brewing Company: This deep amber beer

is quite bitter for my usual taste, but something about it keeps me coming back. I've never been to this brewery, but definitely plan on making the 3ish hour drive to Asheville some day as I hear it's an amazing place to visit, listen to music, and enjoy a brew or two. This is also widely sold In North Carolina groceries and bars.

Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

So, I realize it has been almost a week since I posted and I feel I owe you a reason, an apology, or something of that sort. And by you, I am referring to the possibly 12 people who read this regularly;) Ummmm...it's HOT, like incredibly hot. When I finally get to relax at home, the least desirable thing has been the thought of a warm machine running under my fingers as I search my brain for creative interpretations of life's events.

How hot has it been? I'm glad you asked...

• Green grass is a thing of the past. My neighborhood has been donning a new beige color.
• The paint of the trunk of my car started peeling in June and the hotter it gets, the quicker it sheds it's skin. I can almost hear the parents saying "wow, they really don't pay teachers enough" when they see me get in and out of this quirk-filled 10 year old necessity.
• My daily dedication to P90x is more like 4-6 days per week. I mean, I sweat on the way to work, at recess, on the way home from work, and anytime I go to the car, so that's burning calories, right??
• My husband told me at dinner this week that I smelled like "recess". Considering he hasn't had a recess since the 5th grade, I'm pretty sure that wasn't a compliment and he was recalling his fellow preteens starting puberty, yet not yet applying deodorant.

I love the summer, and am an outdoors girl through and through. However, College Gameday Saturday, jeans and a sweater, and a pumpkin flavored beer sounds glorious...

Go Shawty, it's yo birthday...

Saturday and Sunday, July 17th and 18th, 2010

My husband is definitely not the romantic type, but he is incredibly thoughtul and puts lots of purpose behind his plans for birthdays, holidays, etc. We knew we couldn't afford to go all out in celebrating my 26th (fine by me as I am still unable to drink dirty martinis over a year after the last time people celebrated me) but he managed to plan a fun evening in Chapel Hill

Rain put a damper on our "window shopping" on Franklin Street, but we did mange to pop in a few stores and replace my sunglasses which ended up on the bottom of Jordan Lake last weekend (Guess who thought it would be funny to push me off the boat?)

We then drove a mile down the road to Carrboro for a surprise dinner at Southern Rail Restaurant and Bar. It is literally comprised of the old train station and some restored train cars and is by far the most unique place I can remember eating. All the pictures, doorways, signs, and even hardware has the look of the olden days. We had a view of the actual traintracks on one side and the open courtyard between train cars on the other. The food was mediocre, but the Bloody Mary topped with pickled okra (how's that for southern living) made up for it. We grabbed another drink in the former train station where a bunch of old dudes rocked out, and we were by far the youngest spectators around. I give Southern Rail a B+

After dinner, we met up with some buddies at Milltown and finally headed to Cat's Cradle to see one of our favorite bands, The Love Language perform. The LL performed a great show, but the most memorable part of the evening was the opening band. Their band name? S#!tHorse. Yes, you read that correctly, except without the censoring. It was more like a circus act watching these guys between the seemingly homeless lead singer and the scantily clad woman wearing a horsehead mask on stage. I've been working hard to erase that image from my memory.

Today, I am looking forward to some pool time, but the reality is that the majority of my day will be spent rotating laundry, grading papers, cooking, and cleaning. Guess the birthday fun is over for this year. Cheers to 26!

Happy bday to me!

July, 16th, 2010

Another year older, although somedays it feels like I have aged many years since last July. It was great to spend the day being showered with gifts and cards at school, then get wined and dined by my inlaws and hubby last night.














Have you ever been to Tribeca Tavern? Well, you need to go! It's another great venture of Rocky Top Hospiltality which has satisfied my appetite for years through Twisted Fork at Triangle Town Center, Michael Dean's, Bogarts, Hi5 and many more. TT boasts a cleverly named burger and sandwich collection made primarily with local meats and cheeses. Matt enjoyed the Blue Devil (fried jalepenos, carolina feta cheese, etc), his Mom and Pop went for the Wolfpack (2 patties, bacon, bbq, etc), and I had Jimmy the Greek for the 2nd time (can't go wrong with a greek salad on a lamb patty). Honestly the only bad thing about this place is the wait. We were told 20 minutes and waited an hour to be seated. This never really bothers Matt and I since we just hit the bar and wait it out among rather laid-back company. However, people who aren't drinking or have kids to keep entertained would not be fans of this long wait.
I give Tribeca Tavern a: B+

After dinner we visited our favorite movie theatre, the Galaxy Cinemas in the Crossroads Cary area. It's cheaper than other theatres, waaaay less crowded, and serves booze! They show all the independent movies and oscar noms that you'd never see at your local Regal Cinema. We saw Cyrus, the newest Duplass brothers film which debuted actual movie stars in the leading roles for the first time. It is nice to see Jonah Hill and John C. Reilly and a more serious role that they surprisingly actually pull off. Marisa Tomei is as always, superb.

"You no big Paaaaapi"

Monday, July 12th, 2010

Tonight is one of the most fantastic nights in baseball: The Home Run Derby. These are so much fun I can spend the afternoon watching retro derbies from the 60's on ESPN Classic. So many great hitters over past decades have appeared in this event and players claim it's what they most look forward to watching. It's not hard to see why...

Josh Hamilton and multiple others opted out of this years contest, but there is still reason to watch.

The best part of this years event? Watching the guy we named our dog after hit bombs for fun:) David "Big Papi" Ortiz will hit in his 4th Derby this year and although he's far from the favorite, you never know what Ortiz is capable of. He does have 18 homeruns already this year (pulling himself up from a miserable start) and boasts 335 in his career- not too shabby.

Big Papi is definitely the most likeable guy going up to bat this year, as evidenced below in one of his many commercial appearances.



If Ortiz does fall short, just please don't let Nick Swisher win...

Satisfy your tummy and your wallet

Sunday, July 11th, 2010

Nothing says summer like these:

Lemon squares are beyond delicious. Here's the recipe for creating summer in yo mouth:)

Ingredients
Crust: 1/4 cup granulated sugar , 3 tbsp butter,(softened), 1 cup all-purpose flour
Topping: 3 large eggs , 3/4 cup granulated sugar , 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice , 3 tbsp flour, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/8 tsp salt, 2 tsp powdered sugar

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.
Crust: beat 1/4 cup granulated sugar and the butter at medium speed until creamy. Lightly spoon 1 cup flour into a dry measuring cup. Gradually add 1 cup flour to sugar mixture, beating at low speed until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Gently press mixture into bottom of an 8-inch square baking pan. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes
Topping: While crust is baking- beat eggs at medium speed until foamy. Add 3/4 cup granulated sugar and next 5 ingredients, and beat until well-blended. Pour mixture over partially baked crust. Bake an additional 350° for 20 minutes or until set. Sift powdered sugar evenly over top. Cool in fridge to make cutting easier.

Saturday, July 10th, 2010

Can you believe that it costs between $8-$10.50 to see a movie in the theatre now! Yea, me neither which is why we rarely drop that kinda cash seeing newer movies. Thank goodness for poor people like us there is the Blue Ridge Cinemas, aka the $1.50 theatre. It's not state of the art, and you'll want to bring some hand sanitizer, but it's only $3 for a movie date!

This weekend we decided to finally see Date Night. Not so into romcoms's, but Love Tina Fey, love Steve Carrell, so this was a sure thing. It's was good, not great, but pretty good. Maybe I'll appreciate it more when my life resembles their's a bit more and I have to pay a sitter to get away from my multiple children once a week. Great cameos, original idea, but overall very predictable. I give it a: B.

Idiots Guide to reading quality books

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

So, I'm not exactly what you call a "reader".

Yes, I know that I teach kids how to read and comprehend and predict and infer and all that, but the truth is that I just don't really love longer books. This is why I teach 3rd graders how to read rather than say, 11th graders. I love short stories and magazines and newspapers, but it takes a special book to keep me hooked for 500 pages.

These are the types of things I typically read...

<-- Chelsea Handler's hilarious latest installment of an interesting childhood, mind blowing amounts of one night stands, and poor physical and moral choices

A son who lives with his dad and literally just writes down sh*t his dad says -->

(Check out his webpage and twitter feed for bites of this ridiculousness)

I feel like I should be a more respectable reader though so I am making an effort to branch out of my comfort zone, hopefully with your help. Here is my first attempt:

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo- By Stieg Larsson - 608 pages -

An international publishing sensation, it combines murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue into one satisfyingly complex and entertainingly atmospheric novel.

So, I still have pretty much no idea what its about, but I'm going to give it a shot. At best, there are 2 other books in the series. At worst, at lease they are making a movie of it...

Family and friends along the NC coast

Friday through Sunday, July 2nd-4th, 2010

This was a BUSY holiday weekend for us, but it was also a great one! Rather than a long recount, here are a few snapshots of the awesome people we were able to catch up with.

< ----My cute grandparents

My BFF Kim --->

Matt's middle school buddy and his uber cute lady

BFF Sarah and hubby Jason (stolen from their recent trip)

Cutest 3 yr old on the planet and her parents who

fed and entertained us all weekend

Hot as Hades

Saturday, June 18th, 2010

Being of Irish and Welsh descent, I don't exactly tan easily. It takes about a month for me to get a "base", then I lose about 20% of my tan every day I am not in the sun.

For this reason, I have to force myself to sit poolside at least 1 day a weekend to keep a summer glow of some sort. Matt tries to accompany me, but he can be outside for 30 minutes and stay darker than me for a month afterwards; he also doesn't have the stamina to ignore to 90+ degree temps and read/people watch for 2 hours. Wuss...