My Childhood

My parents are in town for a week and they brought with them my childhood (one small fraction of the total childhood, I should say.)

Yes, my childhood can be summarized in mainly one word:

Books.  I read them constantly and wherever possible.

And now I'm reliving my eight year old self.  Topher asked me how they are and all I could say was:

I don't find myself connecting with the 13 year old characters as much as I did in my youth.

Shocking, I know.

Gooey Goodness Tuesday: Homemade Oatmeal Cream Pies

Howdy, my loves! I shared these lovely creations with friends on Twitter (are you my friend? Be my friend!) and I am so excited to roll them out to everyone!

I began in search of a fantastic cream cheese icing, and I ended up here, with homemade oatmeal creme pies, improved with said cream cheese icing.

Some might call them a whoopie pie, but to me, they're a great replacement for the yummy Little Debbie original.

I recommend refrigerating the icing for a few minutes to let it stiffen before you pipe it in between the two cookies  so that it's strong enough to support the "sandwich" effect.

The cookies themselves are chewy, and the perfect balance of sweet and slightly not, as it uses only brown sugar.

The icing, I think, is yum.  If you want sweeter/less sweet, simply adjust the confectioner's sugar.

As for the recipes:

Adapted from Safeway brand oats (I know!)

Let me know if you try something different and improve upon this simple idea!

I'm talking 'bout ABCs, baby 123!

Happy Monday, everyone!  Come Friday, it will be APRIL! Can you believe it?  Friday will also mark the eleven month anniversary for Topher and me!  Wowza!


I'm loving bandwagons, and I'm hooting and hopperin' on this one!


It's my ABCs, everyone!


A. Age: 25. A quarter century.  Had that lovely quarter life crisis.  Or, have one everyday, it seems.


B. Bed size: Queen. Or Full.  We're currently debating about this.  It's all sixes, anyway.


C. Chore you hate: I asked Topher this question.  His answer? Everything.  I deny this- I derive great satisfaction from taking something dirty and making it spotless- things like bathrooms, even.  That being said, getting started on any chore sucks.  Especially picking up my room. Bleh.


D. Dogs: Yes! A little pooper I call Boom Boom Boomer!

E. Essential start to your day: Silence first. Then, 2 glasses of water. Finally, NPR's Morning Edition. Oh, Steve Innskeep.


F. Favorite Color: Yellow. Love it. Second favorites include green and pink. Yay.


G. Gold or silver: Prefer silver, but can appreciate gold's place in our world.


H. Height: 5' 8''


I. Instruments you play: None. Boo. I played the trumpet for two years, and I really, really need to learn the cello Toph gifted me for our wedding.

J. Job title: Program Director. 


K. Kids: Someday- as in, 4-5 years from today.


L. Live: Gaithersburg, Maryland.


M. Mom's name: Cindy.


N. Nicknames: Topher calls me Plumpy (a reference to Love Actually.)   It was funny until I actually began to feel plumpy. My dad called me Tiger growing up.


O. Overnight hospital stays: Just at birth. KNOCKIN' WOOD!


P. Pet peeve: Incorrect grammar or punctuation.  Lordy.


Q. Quote from a movie: I have two favorites!

"That's my boat" - Forrest Gump

"Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit, bullshit!" - Forgetting Sarah Marshall


R. Right or left handed: Right.


S. Siblings: One, brother, 30, Colin. Best brother a girl could truly ask for- protective, hilarious, intelligent, kind.


T. Time you wake up: Between 7 and 7:50, depending on the day.


U. Underwear: Kind of obsessed with it, having hundreds of pair and all.  Favorite brand is Body by Victoria- especially the super soft hip huggers.   I don't discriminate on types, though I can't really stand thongs now. Who needs something up your butt when you can avoid visible lines with boy shorts?

Image from Victoria's Secret- Body by Victoria.

V. Vegetables you dislike: Mushroom and eggplant.  It's absolutely a texture thing here- the squishy, slimy texture drives me nuts.


W. What makes you run late: Breathing? I wish I could tell you, because I'm perpetually 5 minutes late. Le sigh.


X. X-rays you've had: Teethies!


Y. Yummy food you make: Anything that involves butter, brown sugar and chocolate can pretty much be combined and baked into something amazing in my kitchen.


Z. Zoo animal: I hate zoos.  I think it's inhumane to keep animals caged.  I do support preserves, like the San Diego "Zoo" and other locations that work to keep animals from extinction or the like.


Join in on the ABC's! And Happy Monday!


Also, what's your favorite Jackson 5 melody?

Vlog Friday: Post High School Reality

Welcome to Vlog Friday! I'm back video-ing this week- HOORAY!  

I think this week's topic is BRILLIANT, so if you get a spare fifteen minutes to record and upload, come back and tell me and join in on feeling slightly bad about yourself as I did.  Oh my high school self...

Personal Photo

Did I mention that I had a very strange habit of taking pictures with poles? Usually doing weird shiz like that above. I can't believe I posted this online.  If you use it for anything, I will sue you.

Ok, let's get to it.  I reflect on career, life and love as I imagined it would be, and as it actually is...

Join us next week as we vlog in honor of April Fool's Day!

• What is the best April Fool's joke you have ever played or had someone play on you?

Did you join in this week? Comment below and let me know so I can link to your wonderful vlog!

We Vlog Friday.  Do you?

• Adventures in Love and Happiness
• Folly Life
• Forget Me (Not)
• Blogimony
• Heart on Homestead
• Life's Journey with a Smile
• Doctor Princess

Even if you don't vlog, tell me:

How is your current reality different from what you imagined as a happy high school student?

Going Rhode Island Rogue: ROCK OUT & LOBSTAH!

I've very much saved the best for last. So good that there are even videos, but to protect the innocent, I am going to spare the very nice matronly women who were dancing the night away like it was 1982.

Oh, but it was glorious!

Uncle Rhode Island took us to a bar on the beach where his friend's band was rocking the night away.  It was wonderful to have reckless abandon to drink beer without having to consider how we'd safely drive home.

The band was quite good - you wouldn't even think that they were all over 40 and overcoming the major tribulations that life throws at the middle aged.  There was a great deal of jumping and even, just even, we were NEARLY lucky enough to witness a forty-five year old man attempting to crowd surf. He settled for a running leap off of the stage.

Even better, of course, was the crowd. Topher and I were the youngest people within a fifty foot radius. Ah-mazing.

In the picture below, I'm sparing you the acrobatic feats of the older woman with her miniature back pack, dancing the night away. Oh but if you look closely, you might just spot 'er...

And there was even a DISCO BALL!

We ourselves were also, ahem, rocking out.

Oh, but the fat lady hasn't sung yet because there is still LOBSTAH TO BE HAD!

Champlin's, where we ate, has a fresh fish market downstairs and a restaurant type place upstairs.  We stopped into the market first...

And take a freaking look at these HUGE lobsters!

We "settled" for twin one pounders, a diet pepsi and a vat of butter.

Yes, I know that's a lot of lobster pictures. I can't help it- they're so red and YUMMY!

We also snagged some clam cakes:

And golden fries:

My lobster is gonna GET YOU!

Nice little lobstah....GET IN MA BELLAY!

That's better.

Lip smackin' over here.  Anyone else a big fan of sweet, luscious shellfish known as LOBSTAH?

Going Rhode Island Rogue: Around Newport

I lurve Rhode Island.  If you get the chance, I really do recommend you head over or up or down for a visit.  Though, I do recommend waiting until it's a bit warmer- like May or June.

My dearest Uncle, the one who did our ring ceremony, lives in Rhode Island.  He is the director of a few dorms at the University of Rhode Island, and the first day we were there he took us on a quick tour of campus.  It was seventy and gorgeous.

I have a handsome husband. I lurve him too.

After a delicious dinner at a local Thai restaurant, we took a drive down to the coast for some sightseeing.  And, lo and behold, what did we find but none other than Mrs. Potato Chip's wedding venue!

One of my favorite things to do while visiting the Island of Rhode is take a tour of the amazing homes that are known as the "Newport Mansions."

In particular, I love this house below (though, it's an awful picture) because it served as the house used in the film "The Great Gatsby" with Robert Redford.

Le sigh. Check out that oceanic view.

Ah, yes, the illustrious Breaker's Mansion, the summer cottage home of the Vanderbilt family.

And below, check out the home of the Claiborne Pell, the U.S. Senator who proposed and pushed for the implementation of the Pell Grant.  Thank you, Senator Pell for allowing hundreds of thousands of people to attend college who would not have been able to without your amazing support.

After our wonderful tour of gorgeous homes, we drove around Newport, enjoying the sights- including the church where John F. Kennedy married Jacqui Kennedy (Onassis). Again, another crappy picture.

You can't head into Newport without grabbing a bowl of clam chowder.  This one, from the Black Pearl, is famous and award winning for it's deliciousness.

And, of course, if you see a giant anchor, you have to photograph yourself next to it.  New England rules, here, y'all.

What's the must-have food in your hometown or favorite location?

Gooey Goodness Tuesday: Rhode Island Cupcakes!

Hello friends! I missed you this weekend!  Tis now appropriate to tell you all that I was away from my computer in no land other than:

RHODE ISLAND!

Oh land of illustrious rhodes!

How good this tiny little state was to me and Topher this weekend! How good and how wonderful and how delicious it was unto us!

(I couldn't tell you before because it's not internet safe to tell the world that you're gone for four days, didn't ya know? Thus, my facebook, twitter and blog world was eerily quiet! But I'm back! Hoo-Rah!)

This week's Gooey Goodness comes directly to you from the streets of Newport, Rhode Island and the hands of the cupcake gods of the world.  Oh my, brace yourself.

I'll be extrapolating on our loverly adventure through the smallest state in our union throughout the week, but today...TODAY! Today I present:

Cupcakes from Cupcake Charlie's!

On our second day in Rhode Island, after a delicious lunch at a nearby pub, Topher spotted the happy land of cupcakes and I had to partake!  I dragged my husband-person, uncle-person and myself across the street to enjoy the sweet happy time of the cupcakes our choice.

And what were our choices?

Dearest uncle Mark dove for the "Grammy's Carrot Cup" (carrot cake)...

Happiest of husbands chose the "Hostess with the Mostess" (chocolate cake with cream filling and a glorious knock off of a well known pastry)...

And I, yours truly, happiest of sweet toothers, chose a scrumptious "Peanut Butter Pleasure" (chocolate cake with fudge filling and peanut butter icing)...

The verdict? Get thee to Newport and Cupcake Charlie's! Yum hum drum, it was good.  The perfect balance of sweet but firm icing and moist cake.  Clearly, I hated it:

What's the best cupcake you've had lately?

And if you'd like a preview of this week's posts, get excited: