Highway Gospel, Football, Cupcakes and Mastodons.

After having friends over this weekend, The Canadian and I headed to Nova Scotia on Saturday. Some good friends of ours spent the last few years filming a documentary that was showing at the Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax. We saw it as the perfect opportunity to get out of town for the night and support their cause.

I was excited to head out on my second trip to Halifax but I had one hang-up -- would I be able to watch my beloved VOLS battle the Gators? I haven't been able to watch a game all season and this was a big game so I insisted that we track down a sports bar as soon as we got into town. Obviously, I have my priorities in line. 

At the bar we sat down right in front of the big screen as the game was coming on. There was one other man sitting at the bar so we struck up a conversation. The man immediately noted my dislike for Florida and said he agreed with me. After a minute of idle chatter we realized that we both hail from Atlanta. Not only that but we're both from the same suburb and we graduated from the same high school! What are the chances that I would meet an alum from my little Georgia high school sitting at a Canadian bar? See? This is why you should always be on your best behavior.

We watched the game and I fell further in love with Tyler Bray. I know he's not perfect, but he's the best we've had in a while and I love him.

And I'm loving Coach Dooley's orange pants. I'm even friends with his pants on Facebook. That's right. The pants have their own page. Did you know the pants were imported from Europe and then had to be dyed three times to get the shade of Tennessee orange just right? That's dedication, people. It's how we roll up in Big Orange Country. 

The next day we awoke and headed out to a fantastic hole in the wall for breakfast. And I ordered a chocolate milkshake. What? It comes in an old fashioned metal thing-y. At least I had eggs benedict on the side. Don't worry, I get my protein in.

 

After my breakfast of champions The Canadian and I hit the streets to spend some time cruisin' around down town before Highway Gospel (remember? the reason we were there in the first place) started. The most important stop of the day? Nope, it wasn't lululemon (although the store was amazing). It was Susie's.





Because the chocolate milkshake wasn't enough I felt the need to push myself further toward a diabetic coma by ordering a Peppermint Patty and Death by Peanut Butter cupcake.





Then I gave The Canadian a lesson on my new strategy for eating cupcakes: tear of the bottom and place it on top of the frosting. That way you get equal parts cake and frosting in every bite. I'm a genius. You can thank me later for revolutionizing your cupcake-eating strategies.





Eventually, finally, we made it to the Film Festival where we met up with Ally, Craig Jackson, and Chris.

We were there to see a screening of Highway Gospel, which is a documentary about skateboarding life. Craig, Chris and a few other guys spent some major time traveling across Canada, in a VW van, following the long board skateboarding circuit and getting some amazing footage of it. They met some three crazy characters along the way and based the documentary off their lives. It's quite the story! It's amazing to watch the film on the big screen while sitting next to Craig, the producer, and realize that he was actually there for all those crazy events. For those of you who don't know, long boarding is a type of skateboarding where you race down hill on windy roads. I'm not sure how legal it always is to host these races, so you can just imagine the type of crowds it draws. These people are crazy awesome and it was really interesting to get a little insight into the world of long boarding.





After all the years, work and money these guys put into the project it was really cool to watch their dream come to fruition as the movie rolled at the Atlantic Film Festival. I was so proud!





After the screening The Canadian and I headed home. On our way we stopped for gas at the coolest gas station ever! It has a Mastodon! I was in awe.





So in awe that I made it black and white.





And I made it sepia. Just for fun.

It wasn't the best part of our trip. I swear. The film was. Good job Craig, Chris and Jaret!

Dinner Party.

Friday we had a few friends over for dinner and it was so much fun. You know you're all old and married when you start having your friends over for dinner -- but I'm okay with that. With the exception of last Thanksgiving, I have never ever made dinner for anyone other than The Canadian. I'm too embarrassed because I really don't know how to cook. The problem with making full meals is they don't usually come with exact directions, I don't know what goes together and I definitely don't know how much to make. But, I gave it a shot and no one died from food poisoning. As far as I know. Score for me!

This was my general plan: 1. Try to do what my mom does when cooking for a group. 2. Call my mom when I get stuck. 3. Try desperately not to call my mom more than once every five minutes because she is on vacation in California.

The phone calls to my mom began the night before because I couldn't even come up with anything other than a salad and mashed potatoes. I was thinking veggies too...but I was at a loss for the meat. She suggested pork tenderloin. She said it was easy. Easy? Sold! I didn't really know what pork tenderloin was but I figured the nice butcher at the grocery store would be able to point me in the right direction.

He did. He handed me 3 really gross looking pieces of meat. Note: I hate raw meat, its slimy and it makes my skin crawl. So, I went home and tossed the tenderloin in a bag of teriyaki sauce to marinate, per my mom's directions.

Friday before everyone came over I attempted to do what my mom does before a dinner. I set out all the dishes and serving pieces I would need as to avoid running around like a chicken with my head cut off.

I set out the glasses. (Note: I'm a fan of the mixed-up-non-matching wine glass collection for two reasons: 1. everyone knows which glass is theirs  2. i like shopping for them, it's a hobby 3. it doesn't matter if one breaks - that was three, sorry)  

I set the table.

I got to finally use my fun, new individual salt and pepper shakers. A set of 6 for $12 on amazon.com? Its the perfect stocking stuffer.

I admired my new chandelier in the dining room. Remember the old one? Ugh.

And I put out all the ingredients I would be needing after our friends arrived. This helps them think that I know what I'm doing. And it cuts down on the natural disaster zone that my kitchen becomes.

Anyway, the final menu was what I like to think of as 'user friendly.' And it follows the basic rule of 1 carb, 1 veggie, 1 protein:

• Pork tenderloin (marinated in teriyaki, cooked at 350 for 45 minutes. simple)
• Roasted veggies (broccoli, califlower, asparagus, mushrooms, red pepper, and onion cut the night before then drizzled in EVOO with garlic salt, cooked at 350 for 60 minutes and stirred every 15)
• Rosemary smashed potatoes (red potatoes boiled for 20 minutes, smashed with cream, butter, rosemary and salt)
• Bread (thrown in the oven for 10 minutes)
• Salad (not fancy: lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, avacado)
• Blueberry Cream Pie (cooked the night before, click here for step by step recipe)

Our friends, Mike and Christina, brought over some wine and the most delicious bacon wrapped water chestnuts I've ever had. I told her I'm stealing this recipe and marketing it as my own.

They also brought over this sweet little thing. She's so adorable and looks just like her momma. It's like Christina just opened her mouth and spit her out.

The Canadian spent the majority of the night trying to win her over. He offered her a teddy bear, talked to her and even read her a story. But every time he ask if they could be friends she would sweetly respond, "No." It was hysterical. The man loves kids and here was this sweet little girl looking him straight in the eyes and telling him they could not be friends. Priceless.

I'd love to show you photos of how the rest of the evening went, but my camera was forgotten after dinner was cleaned up (by my awesome husband, might I add). We spent the rest of the night talking, drinking and having a good time. 

It was such a great night. We should do it again now that I have a little more faith that I can serve a poison free meal. 

Christina and Carla - please let me know immediately if anyone suffered ill effects from my dinner! Thanks.

In My Utopia.

Let's pretend, for one second, that we are all just sailing off into the sunset. In this utopia there are none of the following:

~ Headaches caused by my perpetual dehydration even though I continuously buy myself fun cups to drink out of for motivation.

~ Gigantic burns across my forearm from taking the blueberry pie out of the oven.

~ Alarm clocks singing Bon Jovi that I repeatedly manage to sleep through thus causing mass chaos in my morning routine.

~ Newfoundland dogs that fling drool all over my walls to the point where I am about to give up and buy a can of drool and just paint the wall in drool and hope that everyone thinks its a new trend.

~ Grocery stores that refuse to sell products that are common in America and crucial to my baking, and therefore my sanity.

~ Dress codes at work that do not allow me to wear my pajamas during the day.

~ Buildings without air conditioning. It takes 84 degrees to a whole new level.

Don't get me wrong here. I'm not complaining. Well, okay. Maybe I am a little bit. But I don't really mean it. It's the headache talking. It's causing my temples to throb and my eyes to close. I shouldn't even be near the computer right now. But these aren't real complaints. My arm doesn't hurt that bad (yes it does) and I would much rather wake up late to Bon Jovi than wake up late to Neil Diamond.

There were plenty of great things today too. I swear. There is a blueberry pie in my kitchen. I made it to the gym. I got some new art work hung in my bedroom. I even managed to talk to my mom for a minute.

But like I said, I shouldn't be allowed near my computer while I'm in fun-sponge mode.

So, on that note, I'm out.

Have a good day!