Hiatus

My sincerest apologies, but A is for Awesome will be going on hiatus until the 2nd week of May. We are moving into our new place on April 30th and have a ton of stuff to do!

See you in two weeks.

Weekend To-Do List

I have a bad habit of creating overly ambitious weekend to-do lists.

2 days, Meg, it's only 2 days.

I feel like if I'm at home, I need to be doing things constantly, so I overbook.

Good thing I'm not an airline.

1. Get boxes & pack at least 10 of them. My brain cannot comprehend the fact that we're moving in 2 weeks.

2. Make homemade coffee ice cream.

3. Referee 2 lacrosse games on Saturday & go running at least once. The games are 2nd and 3rd/4th grade... which means I'll get little to no exercise. I basically get to watch a cluster of 8 girls go after a ground ball for the entire game. (Hey, I was them once!)

4. Sunday night: family dinner! Make roasted potatoes.

5. Clean the bathroom and the shower. My most loathsome task! I'll probably put this off until next weekend. I won't lie about it.

6. Take box of books-to-donate to the 2nd hand bookstore on Church Street. See if they'll give me store credit. Cha-ching!

7. Pick out outfit for Sheri & Matt's wedding on April 23rd. I'm thinking the short black dress with ruffles down the front from Ruche. But what shoes...

8. List external hard drive on eBay & look for a new one formatted for PC.

9. Scour Craiglist for furniture deals. $675 for old plaid couches is NOT a deal. I'm not sure what these people are smoking that makes them believe their old crap is worth that much money. THIS is what I'm talking about.

10. Get outside as much as possible & soak up some sweet sweet Vitamin D!

[I miss squinting]

 

Hope you all have a productive weekend!

We took a hike

Does anyone remember those cheesy public service accouncements on TV that tried to encourage teens to do something other than play video games?

Some hip actor would yell at you through the TV, "GO OUTSIDE & DO SOMETHING!"

Well, on Sunday, we did just that! We went outside and did something.

That something happened to be taking a 4+ mile hike on this awesome new trail through the woods. It was 10 minutes from our apartment and we didn't even know it existed until just recently. I guess advertising is not in the Parks Department budget.

The trail was probably a huge victory for our town's version of Leslie Knope.

We got suited up in our fancy hikin' shoes & even packed a little backpack of water and snacks. I mean, who knows when you're going to get lost in the woods, right?

We were definitely sore the next day. And I even got a blister.
Hardcore.

Happy Place

Yep, another Monday.

Let's just all close our eyes and imagine our happy places, shall we?

This is Happy Gilmore's...

And this is mine...

[Photo courtesy of House of Turquoise]



The best thing about spring

Tim grills the main course & all I have to do is make a side dish.

I can't tell you how much this simplifies my life.

Yes, we ate all 2 pounds of that steak.

The first and best cheesecake I've ever made

Let's get one thing straight. I hate baking.

It's messy, time-consuming and by the time I'm done and the 3 bowls, 4 spoons, measuring cups and spoons, mixer attachments are washed & the counter is wiped clean, I don't even want what I just made anymore.

I much prefer the carefree-ness of cooking to the preciseness of baking.

However, my hankering for cheesecake over the weekend pushed my dislike of baking aside and I went to work.

Step 1: Find an amazing recipe.

Step 2: Survey pantry & acquire missing ingredients. Plus a 9" non-stick springform pan. (Thanks, Devon & Paul!)

Step 3: Throw on a sweatshirt over my pajama shirt (it's 4pm...) and head to the grocery store.

Step 4: Pick up random things that are not on the list.

Step 5: Drag grocery bags 2 blocks to apartment because there were no close parking spaces.

Step 6: Unload groceries & haul out baking equipment.

Step 7: Follow recipe to a T and then...

Step 8: Have a minor meltdown when I read the last line of the recipe: chill in refrigerator overnight. Son of a bee sting!

[The aftermath]

Step 9: Eat cereal and a pint of blueberries for dinner since husband is out at the bar watching the Phillies game and I don't feel like cooking.

Step 10: Watch the rest of Season 1 of Dexter (amazing!) and go to sleep dreaming about eating an entire 9" cheesecake on Sunday.

[Drop in strawberry sauce]

[Get your swirl on]

[Bake & chill for an ungodly amount of time. Top with extra strawberry sauce & savor. Try not to make any weird, semi-sexual noises. Oh, you'll want to!]

The results? So worth the time & mess. Better than any cheesecake I've had at a restaurant. Yes, that includes Cheesecake Factory. In your face!

Uh, is work over yet? I really need another piece.

See what happens when my husband makes the grocery list

My love of list-making is no secret. My love of proper grammar & spelling is also not confidential information. So when we were in a rush to get to the grocery store and I was still wrapped up in a towel getting ready, I decided to recite the list (in my head) to Tim so he could jot it down on paper. And he decided it would be fun to misspell as many words as possible.

He's not actually at a 3rd grade reading level, I swear.

And you know what?

It was hilarious!

Especially when I read OG. Which was apparently short for orange juice.

I love how we can take a boring task like grocery shopping and find a way to make it something fun to do together :-)

It's official. My husband is one sweet dude.