Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Take Me Out To The Ball Game









Adam won free L.A. Dodgers tickets a little while ago from a raffle at work. I wouldn't say we are huge baseball fans, and I don't really like to watch baseball on TV. But I think going to live baseball games is fun because of the down home, laid back atmosphere at baseball games. So we were excited. Friday was the game and we invited a great friend of ours Luther, who brought his ADORABLE four year old nephew, Braylon.

I got to sit in the backseat with Braylon as we drove to the stadium, and he was so amazing at the games on my iPhone. Much better than me. How is that possible? He's four! His favorite was definitely the game Flight Control. And every time he would crash a plane he would just laugh and laugh. After we got home from the game that evening, I told Adam I was not interested in having a baby right now, but I definitely would love to have a four year old.

When we got to the game, we were shocked by what good seats we had! I mean we were field level right behind home plate! If you are going to go to a game, that is definitely the way to go-Executive style. To complete the Dodgers experience, we grabbed some Dodger Dogs for dinner. Well, actually we had the Super Dodger Dogs. Because at the concession stand, The Super Dodger Dogs were labeled as 100% beef and the regular Dodgers Dogs weren't. So I didn't know what I would be eating if I had a regular Dodger Dog. Which is slightly terrifying, even though when you eat any hot dog you are basically putting your life on the line anyway.. . But the Super Dodger Dogs tasted delicious.

The Dodgers were playing the Colorado Rockies. And the Rockies got a home run really early in the game and held on to the lead until the 7th inning stretch. And then all of a sudden the Dodger's just kept getting home run after home run. It was super exciting and I was glad that we attended a game where they won.
We had a great time at the game, and it made for a great Friday night, and a great kick off for the weekend.

Song of the Day: Cheap Seats by Alabama 

Monday, August 29, 2011

To Market, To Market

Angel's Flight

Chop Suey

I Love the Old Men with the Fruit

Inside the Market

Peanuts!

Economy Meats

Dessert Bar

Beans
View from Metro Station
I went on a little adventure on Thursday, I decided to take the subway to Historic Downtown L.A. to check out Grand Central Market.  I had never been down there, and I had heard it was a very fun/interesting place to hang out. It is and I loved it! Grand Central Market is L.A.'s oldest open air market, and it has been opened since 1917.

When you first come out of the Pershing Square Subway Station, you get the prettiest view of some of the  skyscrapers on what is known as Bunker Hill. Then, you come across the beautiful Angel's Flight Tram, which was built to take you to the top of this very steep hill. You can ride it for just 25 cents. But when it was first built, it only cost .10 cents. Darn, inflation!

After checking out the Angel's Flight, I headed over to the market. The market was so much fun and there was so much going on. There were people haggling over prices, butchers dressed in traditional uniforms, business men catching a quick lunch before going back to work, and little old ladies trying to lure you into their fruit stands, whispering in your ear that their bananas are better than the other people's bananas. That's what she said.

I took a bunch of pictures, and I had a slice of raspberry and lemon cake from a dessert bar, that was AMAZEBALLS, before heading back home.

It was so good for me to get out on my own and have a little adventure. When I first moved here three years ago, I was so intimidated by this big city. I was scared to drive the freeways, and I was scared to take the subway on my own. One by one I conquered all those fears, and if you ask me that is pretty darn cool.

Song of the Day: Head Over Feet by Alanis Morissette

Thursday, August 25, 2011

The Creamiest Peanut Butter Frosting Recipe Ever

Adam's favorite cake of all time is chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting. And in the years before Adam and I moved in together (also known as the pre-historic years) all I ever heard about was how his family made the best peanut butter frosting ever. So two years ago, when Adam's birthday rolled around, and I was throwing together a little surprise party for him, I knew I had to make him his favorite cake with his favorite frosting.

I got the recipe from my mother-in-law, and the frosting turned out pretty well. But to me it was a little sticky and missing a little something.  So I doctored it up just a little and came up with the perfect recipe for this frosting. And let me tell you it is AMAZING. It is the simplest, creamiest, and tastiest recipe ever. I swear to you! Try it now. You won't regret it.

I asked Adam if he liked mine or his mother's frosting best, in a totally teasing way, but he refused to answer.  Boo, Adam. It is totally mine by the way. And if my mother-in-law is reading this, I'm only kidding!

This recipe is enough to frost one two layer 9 inch cake or one 9x13 inch cake. But I usually double this recipe because I end up eating spoonfuls out of the mixer, and Adam loves to have leftovers in the fridge!

Ingredients:
  • 1 Cup Creamy Non-Generic Peanut Butter (The Recipe is Only as Good as the Peanut Butter Brand! I suggest Jiff!)
  • 2 Cups Confectioners Sugar
  • 2-3 Tbsp of Cream or Milk
  • 1 Stick Butter (Not Margarine)
Directions:
      1. Cream the Peanut Butter & Butter Together in an Electric Mixer until Well-Combined.
      2. Then, Add the Sugar and Cream (or Milk) and Mix Away Till Smooth.
      3. You can add a little more milk if the consistency is not as smooth as you would like after mixing. 

     

Monday, August 22, 2011

The Pike at Rainbow Harbor

The Pike at Rainbow Harbor in Downtown Long Beach is one of our favorite places to spend the weekend or meet our friends for dinner. It is really nearby and it has lots of restaurants, bars, a big movie theatre, an aquarium, and a lovely pier. Not to mention it is just a pretty place to hang out. Historically, The Pike was an old amusement park in Long Beach complete with rides, games, and junk food. But eventually Knott's Berry Farm and Disneyland became uber popular and the Pike became less and less profitable. So it was eventually re-tooled to what it is today. But they still honor its reputation as an amusement park with a Ferris Wheel, Cardboard Cuts Outs, and a huge walking bridge shaped like a Roller Coaster. To me, this place is awesome.

Song of the Day: 18th Floor Balcony by Blue October

A Perfect Sunday Treat

Today was one of those perfect Sundays. The Goldie (also known as the boss of the house and the dictator of the morning wake-up call) let us both sleep in a little bit on the later side. And then I decided to head out by myself to catch an early showing of the movie, The Help. Yes, Adam would have come with me if I asked him to, but sometimes I enjoy going to movies by myself, and I knew it wouldn't have been something he would be really interested in. The movie was absolutely fantastic, everyone in the theatre was laughing and talking back to the screen.

When I got home, Adam told me he was going to cook us some dinner. Adam never cooks dinner, mostly because I am so much better at most of the dishes he is WILLING to eat. I can rock out some spaghetti, and even though Mac-n-Cheese is pretty foolproof, I have some tricks up my sleeve to spice it up a bit. Secrets that I won't share with Adam because then maybe he will no longer need me to make his Mac-n-Cheese, and then where would our marriage be? Our very union hangs in the balance, you see.

But hamburger helper is one of those really easy dishes that he makes so much better than me. And I don't know how he does it, but maybe it is because it takes him over an hour and a half to prepare. Which is a ridiculously long time, but whatever works for him, works for me. So who am I to complain? Although sometimes I do anyway, I mean when you're starving an hour and a half is a long time!

So I got to go off and take a nap while he was cooking, and when he woke me up dinner was ready. Imagine! What a treat not to have to cook our traditional Sunday night dinner for once! So I have to say thanks to my wonderful husband for a fab end to a lazy Sunday.

Song of the Day: Raise Your Glass by P!nk

Monday, August 15, 2011

This Weekend...

We grabbed lunch at a new place, Stacked. At Stacked, you build all your food totally custom on an iPad. I built a blue cheese burger topped with caramelized onions on a pretzel bun. And Mr. Picky, A.K.A Adam, had a plain old turkey burger with ketchup, which apparently was the BEST THING EVER. Actually, my burger was pretty much the BEST THING EVER as well. Then, we took part in our favorite past time, used book shopping, and devoted much of the weekend to thumbing through our new treasures.

I cooked our customary, delicious spaghetti dinner.  And together we watched three episodes of Dr. Who on the DVR (which Adam has gotten me hooked on unfortunately, and I say unfortunately only because he sucked me into something so wonderfully dorky). Together, we bathed a very stinky, yet very water phobic golden retriever. Who spent much time hiding from us behind the couch, once she caught wind of our devious, master plan. 

We donned our Green Bay Packer Jersey's for the first pre-season game and were disappointed in the loss, but thrilled just to have some football back on the TV. 

We love weekends.

Song of the Day: Forever & Always by Parachute

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Little Green Under the Sea

Yes, that is my beautiful green ipod chilling in a ziplock bag full of rice. And it is not just in there because I thought putting my ipod in a bag of rice would be a cool photo opportunity (it totally is, by the way). Nope, it is there because my poor, beloved IPOD decided to go for a swim in the toilet the other day. Yeah, kind of gross I know.

You see, on Wednesday mornings I get up extra early because I have to be at work at the butt crack of dawn. When I get up on Wednesdays foggy and tired, Sarah and Adam are always dead asleep snoozing away. Honestly,  I'm always kind of resentful that morning because I want to be in bed too! But that thought isn't fair since I get to sleep in almost every other day of the week, and Adam  is super sweet and walks Sarah on those mornings (which is usually my job) because I don't have the time. But you know, I'm not a morning person, and a tired Brittany knows no logic.

I like to rock out to music when I'm getting ready for work, it is just a good kick start to the day. So even though I'm resentful of Adam sleeping, I do the respectful thing and listen to my ipod instead of the stereo (umm,wait, who has a stereo anymore? I meant I listen to the speakers on my computer), while I straighten my annoyingly, stubborn and thick, blonde curls and put on my make-up.

So as I was rocking out, I knocked my ipod off the sink and into the toilet. I momentarily thought of leaving my ipod there or just trying to flushing it. Because even though the toilet was totally clean, the idea of putting my hand in there totally skived me out.  But ultimately my love of my ipod won out and I fished it out. And of course it was totally busted and water logged.

But I had a light bulb moment and I sent off an SOS text to my niece who is just as clumsy as I am, who once dropped her iphone in a lake. AND IT SURVIVED.  She put it in a bowl of rice for five days and it  rose from the dead like Lazarus! So that is what I'm doing. Chilling my ipod in a bag of rice that I got from a ready made risotto mix that I had sitting in my cabinet. I doubt it will work. Maybe my ipod is picky like my husband and prefers a less fancy rice like Uncle Ben's ready rice?  Maybe it doesn't like rice at all.

If it does not survive it will join a long list of technological items I have manged to destroy over the years including two cell phones, numerous lap tops, and two previous ipods.Technology and me obviously don't mix.

Song of the Day: Grace Kelly by Mika

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Orange County Fair









Saturday, we headed out to the Orange County Fair for Fun, Food, and Frivolity. Look at that alliteration! The first thing we did at the fair was feed the goats. And those goats were rather sweet to us, but I think that had more to do with the fact we had food more than anything else. Duh. And man oh man were those goats hungry (or greedy)!  One goat tried to eat my shirt and another grabbed the feed holder out of my hand!

We also checked out the rides and decided to race down the Goliath Slide. That slide was was so high and when I was actually sitting at the top, I actually started to get freaked out! I don't know what I thought was going to happen to me on that slide, but I swear I saw my life flash before my eyes. I survived the slide obviously, and I even won the race (because I'm just a tad more awesome than my husband. So there).

One of the coolest things at the fair was the Ice Sculpture tent. They had so many detailed and colorful handcrafted ice sculptures. I couldn't help but feel I just stepped onto the set of The Little Mermaid. And it was freezing in there! They offered us blankets before we went in but Adam and I wanted to tough it out. I mean he is from Wisconsin, so he can definitely take a little cold. And me I just wanted to prove myself!

Last but not least, we indulged in a little artery clogging fair food. Burgers, fries, and of course Deep Fried Oreos. And the deep fried oreos were definitely a master piece. Ooey, Gooey, Soft, and topped with chocolate and sprinkles, I mean how can you go wrong?

For more pics from our day at the fair, check out our flickr set here.

Song of the Day: Bullet Proof by La Roux

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

ScrapBookin' All Night Long

In between the internship, class, taking Sarah for walks (& talking to her in an obnoxious baby voice), watching unhealthy amounts of reality TV, and napping, I manged to squeeze some scrap booking in. I'm still way behind and I can't wait to the day I'm up to date because then the task will be much much easier.

 My main reason for scrap booking in the first place because I'd like to think years down the road our kids will love looking at this scrapbook to see that their parents were once a lot of fun and did stuff and weren't always old fuddy duddys. Because don't all kids think their parents are terminally unhip and old as dirt?





1. Bridal Shower
2. Bachelorette Party
3. Our Nephew Caden
4. Our Superbowl Party
5. Valentine's Day Scavenger Hunt

Song of the Day: Halo by Beyonce

Monday, August 1, 2011

Moments from the Week

One day I was sitting at work, fifteen minutes out from lunch time, dreaming about what I would grab for lunch from the 7-11. When someone placed 100+ envelopes in front on me, and asked me to stuff them and close them. My first thought was why couldn't they have given me this when I arrived four hours ago? And all my visions of 7-11 slurpees vanished from my head. My second thought was I'm going to stuff these envelopes like no one else can, and they will keep me around forever and forever because of my awesome envelope stuffing skills. Amen. So I stuffed and licked 100+ envelopes, wishing they had an envelope closer. When I finished I triumphantly plopped all envelopes in front of my boss, and said man oh man my tongue is sure numb (thinking this might emphasize my awesome skills). And she said, "You licked all those? I had an envelope closer in my office." Ouch.

One afternoon, I was headed to Downtown Disney to see my cousins who were visiting California from Arkansas. I was in wall-to-wall traffic on the 5 and listening to the radio. And George Strait's song, "Here for a Good Time," was on the radio. And the lyric, "I'm Not Here for a Long Time, I'm Here for a Good Time," struck me as highly ironic. Because I was pretty sure I was there for a long time and not a good time.

Thursday, I was off of work and had a few hours before I needed to go to class. I had a few dollars left over in my portion of "fun money" as allotted on our weekly budget spread sheet. And I thought it would be a sweet thing for me to pick Adam up from work and take HIM out to lunch for a change. So I whipped out my handy dandy cell phone and dialed him at work. I said, "Let me take you out to lunch today." And he said, "But I packed a lunchable today."  How third grade is that?

Song of the Day: King of Anything by Sara Bareilles