Awesome List 5/18/2012

It’s getting to be the end of the school year, so a lot of big, awesome things are happening.  Like:

1.) Graduating Pre-K.  Our son has gone to preschool for four years, and at last, he has finally ‘graduated’.

Full disclosure – I thought these graduation ceremonies for five-year-olds were ridiculous and superfluous – until I had my own five-year-old.  Do you see how cute he is in that mini cap and gown?  Come on.

2.) Ice cream.

I think Evan’s pose says it all, here.

3.) Local festivities.  We live near a small regional airport, and every year they put on an air show.  I have missed this event three years running (somehow I always have a rehearsal on the date of the show), but Jon and the kids love it.  They can check out old planes and see some stunt flying and this year they got autographs from some of the pilots, too.  They came home baked from the heat of the tarmac, but happy.  Maybe the cotton candy has something to do with that, too…

4.) Neighborly love.  As you know, Evan is in a little baseball league, and some of the folks from our block came to cheer him on at his Saturday game.  They came decked out with signs and a ridiculous amount of enthusiasm, which was wonderful.  We felt the love.  And Evan got the golden game ball, to boot!

It’s a short list this week.  I haven’t been feeling like myself, so I’ve been lacking in personal awesomeness. But fortunately, I’m surrounded by undeniably awesome people and good things that can pick up the slack.  And at least I had a good lunch this week, right?

UPDTAED:  Guess what else is awesome?  My sister and her husband are celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary today!  Double digits, baby!  Many happy years to Amy and Dwayne!

My lunch is better than your lunch

I’ve blogged about this sandwich before in passing, but I think it’s time I devote an entire post to the wonder that is the Pan Bagnat:

This sandwich is so good, you guys.  You have no idea.

I can get this sandwich in only one place – at Maison Robert Chocolates in Chamblee.  It’s anybody’s guess why this great chocolate and confection shop also sells an awesome sandwich, but I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.  The sandwich is there and I can buy it and eat it; that’s all I need to know.

The sandwich I love is actually a variation on a true pan-bagnat (thanks for the info, Wikipedia), which is basically Salade Nicoise on white bread.  My beloved version switches out brie cheese for the tuna and anchovies, and I couldn’t be happier.

Let me explain what comprises this sandwich.  First, the bread: it is simple, round and white and merely meant to help you hang onto the contents of the sandwich, not as a whole-grain taste sensation.  Unpretentious bread.  I like that.

The contents?  Tomato, cucumber, lettuce, shredded carrot, olives, fresh basil, hard-boiled eggs, and brie cheese, drizzled with a bit of balsamic vinegar and olive oil.  It sounds like a hot mess, but it tastes like something your lunch only dreams of being.  I even pick all of the olives off and it is still my go-to, death-row-menu sandwich.

I have no hope of making this at home – the people at Maison Robert bake the bread in-house, and I’ve never seen anything in the grocery store that could hope to match its sturdy yet unassuming texture and flavor.  Maison Robert has a lock on Chamblee-area Pan Bagnat sandwiches, and I’m happy to go there to keep their monopoly alive.  Long live lunch!

Weekly Photo Challenge – Blue

I was sitting outside my son’s preschool when I captured these two birds on a wire with the sky as a blue backdrop (edited in Pixlr):

The Awesome List 5/11/2012

This week’s awesomeness includes:

1.)  Look ma, no cavities!  I took Evan in to the dentist this week, and he came out with a good report.  If you haven’t been to a pediatric dentist recently, let me tell you that they are really going over the top to make going to the dentist an almost-enjoyable experience.  Imagine a doctor’s office painted in wild colors, with games and toys and big screen televisions playing movies in the waiting area.  Then, I’ve heard (parents don’t go back to the doctor with their kids), there are video games to play while the flouride sits on their teeth and tvs on the ceiling for them to watch while the dentist is as work.  When they leave, they get a balloon and a light-up toothbrush.  Can we start getting some comparable perks in the gynecologists office, please?  I know I’d feel a little more relaxed during my annual exam if I could be cruising Pinterest on an iPad.  Just sayin’.

2.) A good haircut.  I shudder at salon prices.  Ever since a stylist in London combed through my hair with its $12 haircut from Great Clips and commented, ‘You have a good haircut.’, I’ve been sold on the cheapo cuts you get at the walk-in places in strip malls.

However, I have matured a bit.  I’ve recognized that a good haircut grows out better than a cheap one.  I usually get my hair cut only every three months or so (I’m lazy about it), so paying good money for a cut can be worth it.  I now semi-regularly spend what it would cost Jon and I to go to dinner on a haircut at a nice salon.

I strayed from this wisdom a few weeks ago, and entered a Great Clips.  After leaving and realizing that my haircut was crooked, I decided to return to a salon and get a ‘real’ haircut at a place that takes appointments and washes my hair and mostly leaves it uncrooked.

Now my haircut is crooked just because I’m tilting my head…

3.) Cheap kiddie pools.  Since the weather has decided to skip spring and head straight to summer, Jon got the kids a little pool to splash in.  They pulled out their new water guns (thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!) and splashed and ran and did everything kids are supposed to do.  They even got their Dad cooled off after mowing the lawn.

      

4.)  Mental health professionals.  I took this picture while waiting to see my counselor, and I just want to give a shout out to the folks who are helping me keep my angst in check.

5.)  Field Day.  Remember that?  Hailey had Field Day at her school today.  The entire playground was seething with kids running, jumping, skipping and hopping.  She did the 50-yard dash and here she is with her class, doing the tug-of-war:

Experts may say that kids are more sedentary nowadays, but I didn’t see any of those kids today.

6.) 30 Rock.  I know this is a week late, but Episode 620: Queen of Jordan Two: The Mystery of the Phantom Pooper was one of the funniest half-hours of television I’ve ever watched.  Exquisite.  And if you don’t like the title, you’re probably not a fan of the show.  Your loss.

Until next week, my friends – stay awesome!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Unfocused

So, WordPress sends out an email every week called the Weekly Photo Challenge.  It has a different theme every week, for instance, ‘Sun’ or ‘Journey’, and asks bloggers to post pictures to their blogs on that theme.  I decided to get in on the fun this week, with the theme of ‘Unfocused’.  I took these pictures at an amusement park in Pennsylvania called Dutch Wonderland.  Situated right in the middle of Amish country, the theme park is smaller than what you’d expect from a Six Flags or Disney park, but still packs in the fun.  Where else is milking a fake cow or posing in a horse-drawn buggy considered entertainment?

    

But now I’ve lost my focus on the ‘unfocused’ picture theme…  Here are those shots:

Jon took Evan on the bumper cars, and at first, I was intent on getting a clear shot of them. But then I surrendered to the speed of the ride and took shots of everything rushing by me with a slower shutter speed.  I love the ‘ghostly’ look of the people in the cars, especially against the immobile yellow tires and cones in the middle of the rink.

I hope to do more of these Weekly Challenges, as I want to experiment more with my camera skills.  We’ll see what comes up next week….

The Awesome List 5/4/2012

The following awesomness was observed this week:

1.) Parallel parking on the first try.  For me, parallel parking is tricky, at best.  It can involve a lot of jockeying to get the van the appropriate distance from the curb and from the cars behind and before it.  When it goes smoothly, with one curving reverse turn and a small hitch forward into just the right position, it’s cause for a celebration.  I always take a picture with my phone, to preserve the fact that at least once, this once, I was good at parallel parking.

2.) Going all Mr. Miyagi on a fly in the house.  Okay, I didn’t snap the thing right out of the air with chopsticks, but I did surprise it by scoring a hit with my kitchen towel while it sat on a nearby stool.  Fwap!  No more fly.  There was nothing more to do with the towel but put it in the laundry, but hey, those things are versatile!

Dish towel/fly swatter

3.) School pictures.  Remember getting all dressed up to get your picture taken at school?  You wanted your hair to be perfect, you cursed fate if you had any zits, and you tore through your closet searching for just the right outfit to be immortalized in.  Well, we did all that when we were older, and my kids haven’t reached that angsty stage yet.  I don’t even bother to dress them up much, as usually I’ve forgotten they’re getting their pictures taken at all.  Hailey did make a request to have braids in her hair this year:

Picture of a picture, pardon the glare…

Evan just got his spring pictures back (some schools take pictures twice a year now) and the result is the most dressed-up shot yet:

I even remembered to get his hair cut a few days before picture day!

What’s trippy is looking at their first school pictures….

     

4.) Family outings.  I did blog about my unexpected experience with Coke Zero while at a baseball game this week, but the whole family was there at Tuner Field, watching the Braves play and enjoying the carnival-like atmosphere at the stadium.  If you’ve never been, imagine a state fair or something along those lines, with a very expensive baseball game in the middle.  There’s a large kids area inside the stadium, with a treehouse and a mini baseball field, and a rotating slate of activities.  There are bands playing and long lines for the pitching games.  There are concession stands every four feet. There are silly things like this:

I don’t know what the statue of liberty has to do with the Atlanta Braves, but, okay.

There is a spot way up at the top of the stadium with giant-sized adirondack chairs in the shape of Coke bottles and an enormous three-story Chic-fil-a cow that does the Tomahawk Chop every time the Braves get a hit.  There’s also a place to run down a baseline like a real player – the kids love this:

     

Oh, and somewhere, the Braves were playing the Pittsburgh Pirates.

6.) Living within your means.  Our hardwood floors are starting to show some serious wear in the kitchen area, and I got an estimate on refinishing them.  Unfortunately, the way our home is laid out, nearly the entire first floor would need to be redone, at a cost of close to $2000.  That’s distinctly un-awesome, but I’m going to look at the silver lining and say that what IS awesome is not going into debt over flooring.  Also, I think this means I get to go rug shopping.

Stop by again next Friday to find out what’s awesome!

Ativan

I’ll commit to a deep level of oversharing with all of you and tell you that I’ve been seeing a psychiatrist lately, for a variety of reasons.  I’ve also been going to CVS a lot, to pick up prescriptions.  With the latest batch rattling around in my purse, I wrote this haiku:

Anxiety swells

Shake out a measure of calm

Take with a full glass

There – an Ativan haiku.  Enjoy.

Never say never

I never, ever, drink soda.  I drink coffee, water (La Criox when I’m feeling fancy), wine (red), beer (nothing ‘light’) and sometimes tea (decaffeinated).  But Coke and all its carbonated cousins leave me cold, frankly.  The fact that they are cloyingly sweet and calorically empty turns me off.

If I’m honest, I feel a little superior, being such a beverage purist.

For instance, I don’t order value meals at fast food restaurants, because I don’t want the half-gallon-sized fountain drinks that are included.  I pay more for my food just to avoid drinking soda!  Oh, so pure!  While my husband slurps away at his frosty beverage, I smugly sip my tepid bottled water, brought from home.

From machsources.com

You know what happens now, right?  Yeah.  I come to see the error of my ways.  The scales of beverage snobbery fell from my eyes due to a combination of the Atlanta heat, a baseball game, and some unshaded seats.

Since Evan is now playing baseball in our town’s ‘little league’, we thought a family outing to an Atlanta Braves game would be a fun way to spend an afternoon.  We were hoping that the seats we bought would be in the shade, but you know what they say – wish in one hand and buy cheap seats with the other and see what you end up with.  Our seats were completely exposed to the Southern sun on a day with 80+ degree heat.  We were all coated with sunscreen, but the fact that we had broad-spectrum coverage was a small comfort when we felt we might melt away, dripping right down the concrete steps onto the Terrace Level below us.

We had brought water from home (so pure!) but even I had to admit that it’s cooling power was nil.  Jon knows I hate the sun and the heat, so he suggested that I go out to the shaded promenade to buy the kids some foam tomahawks (go Braves!).  Oh, and could I pick him up a foot-long, too?

Glad for any excuse to get out of the sun, I went and bought the kids their toys and stood in line to get a hot dog for Jon.

And then, I knew I needed something else, something to help me beat the heat, and right away.

I ordered the dog and I also ordered the largest fountain drink I could buy.  The souvenir cup filled with Coke Zero.

Me, with my very first souvenir cup.

Oh, sweet bliss.  After the first sip, I was instantly cool.  I clutched the ice-cold cup and returned to my seat in the sun with the family.  The kids waved the tomahawks, Jon ate the hot dog, and I nuzzled my frosty friend, pressing it to me like it was a prized possession.  For as long as I was sipping it and holding it to my cheek, it may as well have been 70 degrees and shady outside.  The heat?  No bother.  The sun?  Didn’t exist.  The cold, sweet goodness in that cup somehow had the power to keep the unrelenting rays of the sun at bay.

So, if you yourself are a lover of icy sodas, you may be glad to know that this beverage purist has had her comeuppance.  The next time I find myself in the blazing heat at a ball game, or shadeless in a hot car, I will not hesitate to order the largest fountain beverage available to me – preferably Coke Zero, in a plastic cup so large I could bathe my kids in it.

Because frankly, it leaves me cold.

P.S.  Here’s the rest of the family, trying to keep cool and watch the game:

And here’s just another random thing – I find it disturbing that at Turner Field, the condiment stations are right next to the bathrooms:

This is gross, right?

The Awesome List vol.7

I haven’t posted a thing all week – forgive me.  Some awesomeness has been noted this week, though, so here’s my list for this week:

1.)  Stilla Lip Glaze in Dreamy.  Now, this is my current favorite lip gloss.  I just finished a tube and hiked over to Sephora to get some more.  It was nowhere to be found.  Alas, it was a ‘limited edition’ color.  Now why would they do that?  I was a bit afraid that I’d have to try to find a new favorite shade (white people problems!)but thanks to the resellers on Amazon and Ebay, I now have a new tube and a spare.  The interwebs, FTW!

2.)  Game night!  Some friends hosted a game night, and I got to see my husband impersonate Marilyn Monroe over the steam grate.  Priceless.

3.)  Visits from old friends.  A good friend of the family came through town and we had her over for dinner.  One great thing about old friends is that they don’t judge you when you realize you’ve run out of propane for the grill and you have to order pizza for dinner instead of grilled chicken.

4.)  Working hard.  I’ve met with my recital friends for our upcoming (May 20) program four times this week.  It’s been a little intense to work together and really concentrate our energies, but I know it will be worth it.  Be there if you can – Panoply of Song at Alpharetta Presbyterian Church, May 20, 3:00 pm.  (It’s also awesome to use your blog to promote yourself.)

5.)  Child labor.  Evan want to save up for an Angry Bird plush, so we’ve given him chores that he can do for points to earn the toy.  So far, he’s wiped down the bathroom sink and shined up the appliances in the kitchen, and now he’s dusting the blinds.  He’s got a ways to go to earn that bird, but if he can keep this up my house will be cleaned by his little greed-power for a week or two.

6.)  Lunch breaks.  I’m a ‘stay at home’ mom, whatever that means, and I rarely go out to lunch.  I’m not on a set schedule, so whenever I get hungry, I usually eat some leftovers while standing at the kitchen counter, checking Facebook for the twentieth time that day.  But this week, I actually went out with a friend and sat down and paid someone to bring me lunch.  It was worth it – a sit-down lunch with a friend should be one of life’s necessities.  There are no troubles that can’t be eased by conversation over sushi (white people problems!).

Okay, maybe I’ll get a post out this week and not leave you all hangin’!  Happy awesomness!

 

 

The Awesome List 4/20/2012

Time for our weekly Awesome update, starting with:

1.  Being a kid.  Remember playing on a Slip N Slide?  For our kids, it’s not so distant a memory…

2.  More flowers, this time from my caring spouse who wanted to show me some support when I was stressed.

3. Great bread, and FREE great bread.  The farmer’s market where I purchase these heavenly croissants is back open, and I got my hands on a buttery little number as soon as I could on Wednesday morning.  I even marked my calendar:

At the market, while bagging my reason for living criossant, the ladies in the bakery booth asked, ‘Do you eat bacon?’  Um…yes.  They proceeded to give me a free loaf of bacon and onion bread which I can find no fault with.  Who’s got two thumbs and mouth full of delicious baked goods?  This gal.

   

4. Getting compliments.  The weather is getting too warm for me to wear a pair of shoes I picked up on clearance, but I wore them out for one last spin yesterday, and the compliments came pouring in.  Okay, they were coming from my choir of middle school girls, but if wearing awesome shoes gets them to pay attention to me AND appeal to my vanity, I call that a win-win.

These boots were made for directing in 7/8 time.

5. Stitch Witchery.  I am decidedly uncrafty when it comes to sewing.  I gave away my sewing machine years ago, as I couldn’t remember how to use it.  I’ve regretted that action several times over the years, but whenever a problem needed to be solved with needle and thread, I just did it by hand.

Then my favorite pair of lounge pants (black knit jersey, older than my daughter, and worn to the perfect feather-weight) sprung holes in them so large that I could no longer fix them by hand or wear them in mixed company.  I thought my MVP pants were going to have to be consigned to the scrap pile.

But through the magic of Stitch Witchery (and the ultimate sacrifice made by an old black tank top) my pants are hole-free and fully wearable.  I used the Stitch Witchery tape, a damp cloth and and iron to patch up the offending holes with pieces of the tank top – sans sewing machine, needle or thread.

Awesome, indeed.  Have a great week, and come back next Friday for more doses of awesomeness.