Baltimore Bonanza

Now that I have the inauguration post out of the way I can tell you all about the rest of my adventure on the east coast.

JFK was snowy:



I couldn't sleep AT ALL on my red eye flight so I arrived at my final destination ALLLLLLLLLL bleary-eyed and unable to complete full sentences. Luckily, the only thing on our agenda for the day was BOTTOMLESS MIMOSA BRUNCH. Those three words, in that order, are my favorite three words ever.

We went to Kooper's Tavern in the Fell's Point area of Baltimore for BOTTOMLESS MIMOSA BRUNCH. Our waitress warned us that the window for bottomless mimosas ended in an hour and fifteen minutes (stupid flight was delayed because of all that bastard snow in NY), but we are career mimosa drinkers and DON'T YOU WORRY -- we got our $10's worth. And then some. We finally hit the mimosa wall after like five pitchers. Divided by 4 people.

Brunch was followed by shopping in some CUTE stores that, if I was sober and/or not going on 30 hours without sleeping, I would have enjoyed a lot more. Instead, I found a display couch and parked my butt.

We eventually made it back to Danielle and Mike's house where I enjoyed a shower and the best nap EVER. Rejuvinated, CK and Danielle and I ventured out onto the FROZEN TUNDRA to get dinner. The thing that is equal parts awesome and dangerous about CK is that you go "Crab dip and ice cream both sound really good right now" and the next thing you know, you're at a DESERTED grocery store (it was during the Steelers/Ravens game and these people take their football VERY seriously) throwing $30 worth of crab and boxes and boxes of things to deep fry into Danielle's cart. Normally I just go "Crab dip and ice cream both sound really good right now" but I'm too lazy to do anything about it so I have a bowl of cereal.

So we had my idea of the PERFECT dinner: APPETIZERS! Fried ones, even.



And cheeeeese!



The best worst chips I've ever tried:



They put Old Bay on EVERYTHING out there.

Orange you glad for change?



One thing we DIDN'T buy:



What the heck, cookie decorators??

So despite being EXHAUSTED, I had a really great day.

The next day was also awesome because I was in the same company but also because IT SNOWED:



We spent some time oggling our fancy train tickets for the next day:



And then went to lunch at a wacky diner where dusting must be a full time job:



It was right around the corner from the bakery in Ace of Cakes, but I totally wussed out and didn't want to get out of the car to have my picture taken. I could blame the cold but really, I was embarrassed. So instead, we only did a drive-by:



After that, Danielle took CK and me on a driving tour of Baltimore. There are TONS AND TONS of quaint brick buildings and it took me a minute to figure out that I think ANYTHING with brick buildings is quaint because we don't have brick buildings in CA.

Another factoid I discovered while touring the Baltimore area: It was late January and people still had their Christmas decorations up. Lights on and everything. Some even had Christmas AND Valentines decorations up. What's up with that, Maryland??

We decided to brave the FRIGID, FRIGID COLD and hike up a "hill" that looked out over the Baltimore harbor. Danielle was like "Would you rather climb up the stairs (she knew my thighs were BURNING from boot camp abuse) or take the path up the hill?" and I couldn't figure out what hill she was talking about because all I saw was a gentle slope. It's the San Francisco in me, I'm sure.

Here they are standing at the bottom of the mountain:



(And okay, in that picture it defintely looks hilly'er.)

With CK at the summit:



The harbor was frozen:



Danielle and I both have dandruff problems:





Then, after a couple of trips to Target (or before? I don't remember), the three of us had pedicures:



I swear, as soon as I win the lottery I'm getting that stupid tattoo removed.

And then because you can't go to Maryland without eating crab, we went out for some famous crab cakes, where we ate too much and then came home and followed the crab cakes up with more ice cream before we set the alarm for 3:30AM and hit the hay.

[insert inauguration bonanza here]

And then I went home. Tired but inspired. And missing my friends. Wah.

Picture Post!

I just uploaded the pictures off my camera so here ya go:

1. This was one of my Christmas presents and it was SO not like my mom to do this, so I loved it:



It was a box with 20 or so pictures of boots that had been cut out of the newspaper (who knew there were so many boots to be found in the paper??) and underneath them all:



was a check for boot camp.

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwl, thanks Mom.

2. Today's lunch making process.

The ingredients:



The simmering:



Getting a chicken soup facial:



The dumplings have been added:



The end result:



It wasn't as totally ASS KICKIN' delicious as the soup I made last week, but this one (from Cooking Light) was definitely worth making again. And next time I'll make sure I have all the ingredients, but FYI, the dumplings come out just fine without the baking powder and the parsley.

Things

Awesome Things:

1. Creamy Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup from the latest issue of Rachael Ray Magazine. I hate to use this word because RR is way over the top with it (and most of her stupid made up words), but it really is more of a stoup than a soup:



The recipe serves six, but I used the WW recipe calculator to figure out the points if I doubled the serving size and omitted the oil and used whole milk instead of heavy cream and a HUGE serving is only 8 WW points. Like, it was SO BIG that I could have eaten half of it and been perfectly happy. Another tip: The box of rice I bought had a seasoning packet in it so I threw it into the soup too and it was all very tasty. Next time I make this I'll use the seasoning packet again, but I'd omit the salt in the recipe.

2. Sean Penn's Into the Wild. I don't know how it ended up on my Netflix list, but I sat down to watch it yesterday and maaaaaaaaaan...it was the best movie I've seen in a while. I don't want to ruin it for anyone who's gonna RUSH OUT at my suggestion and see it, but I totally get why Chris McCandless would go out there. Even *I*, the Queen of All Things Clean and Organized, sometimes wonder why I allow society, the law, other people, whatever to tell me what I can and can not do. I am a human being and I am part of nature. But then I remember that I *like* society and order and that I am not a caveman.

But maybe in my next life, I dunno.

Things that are Tasty but Require too Much Effort:

1. The Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls. The rolling process was way oozier than depicted on TPW's website and the mess was UNLIKE NO OTHER, what with all that sugar and melted butter all over my counters, but ultimately, the cinnamon rolls are good. Are they mind blowingly amazing? Maybe, if you like cinnamon rolls, but since I'm not a HUGE fan, they were just okay. Definitely not worth the time or the mess unless you know someone who REALLY likes homemade cinnamon rolls.

And also? One of my least favorite scents EVER IN THE WORLD? Maple. Like if I eat pancakes I have to wash the dishes IMMEDIATLEY because I can't stand the smell of old syrup...so when I came home from boot camp this morning and opened the door and was hit with a wall of maple funk from the glaze, I choked.

Things that, Initially, are NOT Awesome, but that Turn Out Okay:

1. Sitting in HORRENDOUS San Francisco traffic for 90 minutes, all to go three miles to my old boss's house for a mini cocktail party. He lives right in the middle of all the onramps to the Bay Bridge and there was a five car pile up on the bridge last night so OH DEAR GOD it was horrible. I would have just bailed and gone home except that A) I was trapped and B) I was 50% of the guests. I ended up being super late, but it was nice to see them so I'm glad I hung in there.

1a. I accidentally got on the bridge when I left his apartment and I didn't want to drive ALL THE WAY to Oakland only to have to cough up $4 for the toll and drive back, but once you're on a one-way street leading to the bridge and only the bridge, you're kinda stuck. Luckily, I used my awesome brain power to remember that I could get off on Treasure Island and turn around for free, so I did, but I wish I had someone with me because BOY HOWDY the view of SF from TI at night was awesome. It's the same view as from the other side of the bridge, I suppose, but closer. Plus, all the buildings still have their Christmas lights up so it was really beautiful.

2. Getting up before dawn, talking yourself into going to boot camp and driving out to Kezar Stadium, only to find yourself there, standing in the 45 degree fog with five other women, only to get stood up by the coach. But really, just getting out there is half the battle so one chick left, but the rest of us ran around the track, did some dips and pushups and abs and BADA BING -- I earned myself a workout sticker for my calendar.

Things I am Doing Today:

1. Driving down to The Jo with Carrie so she can get her hairs did while I run errands and then we're meeting up with Christa and Kaki for the annual drive through Vasona's Festival of Lights. It's an old-timey tradition that we're keeping up with even though none of us actually live anywhere near Vasona anymore.

2. Eating more of that soup.

Miscellaneous Update

1. My carpool posse (I think I forgot to report here that we've been joined by a third person) and I were driving home last night and a Tori Amos song came on and we were discussing which album it was from (and I'm horrified that I actually have any knowledge in this category) and I remembered that OMG! One of the magical things my phone can do that I don't even bother trying to understand is that it will tell me what song is playing! So I busted it out and proved myself wrong -- it was not from Tori's Little Earthquakes album.

The boys were FASCINATED with the magic of it all and they spent like 30 minutes discussing how it worked and asking me to tag new songs. It must be listening to lyrics. No, because the sample it took from that last song was before the words started. It must be picking up a radio feed from the radio station. No, because it worked when I tagged a song I heard on Jon Stewart last night.

They just couldn't accept that it was MAGIC.

Those of you on Danielle's latest CD exchange can thank the magic for helping me identify two songs that I'm listening to on HEAVY rotation and that will also be included on my contribution.

2. I'm wearing white pants today and I'm really unsure as to whether or not I am seasonally appropriate. I'm wearing them with a brown v-neck sweater, animal print heels and gold accessories, but I'm concerned I look like I don't know that it's autumn. What Would Clinton Kelly Say? WWCKS? I wouldn't dare wear them except that I bought them in late September and they weren't even a clearance item. FASHUNS ARE TRICKY BUSINESS!

3. If I still worked at PG&E today would be a holiday. Bah. On the upside, traffic, or the lack of traffic I guess, was fantastic this morning.

4. Tiger needs your good thoughts:



Carrie's checkbook does too. Yikes.

5. My parents ILLEGALLY smuggled apples from Sarah's dad's farm in Iowa back to California and now my dad is going to try to grow the seeds out here. I think it's kind of awesome for reasons I can't really define, but here's a blurry picture of the ILLEGAL apples:



And for the record, my mom said that the agricultural checkpoint guy didn't even ask them if they had any fruit with them, so she didn't LIE, but I'm sure that if I think hard enough, I can come up with an example of how I got in trouble as a kid for non-disclosure. HOW CONVENIENT FOR YOU NOW, MOM! Heh.

6. My friend Carey said that her #1 favorite sandwich of all time was peanut butter, mayonnaise and Lawry's seasoned salt. This isn't the first time I've heard freaky reports of the deliciousness of peanut butter and mayo, but SEASONED SALT? So I waited until I had some bread and then I busted out all the ingredients and gave it a shot:



I only made a small piece and I probably should have used two sides of bread because the salt on my teeth was kinda ick, but all in all, it wasn't half bad:



She said I should try it with a tomato too, but I think the above research was sufficient. I get why, if you grew up with it, someone might love it, but I don't think I'll be getting into the habit.

7. I cooked something! Pancetta, French Lentil & Spinach Risotto, specifically. It was pretty good, but it was better as leftovers (and after I added more salt).

Cooking the pancetta:



The onions, shallots, garlic & leeks:



It smelled fantastic:



I love risotto but all the standing around and being patient and stirring KILLS me:



But in the end it was delicious and Weight Watcher friendly: