Fuddy Visit!

Kelly, Jon and Susanna "stopped by" on their way home from a week at the beach! We were so excited to see them... and we had a great lunch and afternoon visit.

Susanna's very interested in Smarty... Smarty kind of curious, but more put off by her presence.

Smarty (the cat in the bag) and Susanna's fascinated.

My mom gave Susanna an early (and maybe her first?) 1st Birthday present - a dolly and kitty!

Susanna loves Smarty's weird mousie on a spring toy. More so than Smarty does, incidentally.

Babies these days... she likes to pretend everything is a phone. Remotes are ideal for this. (It was for me)

Awww, cute little smile!

Our outdoor photo shoot. OMG, so freaking hot.

Don't run away! Those 8 or 9 hours in the car back to PA will be fuuuun, we promise!! (wink wink)

Sweaty Jamie & Kel.

Susanna and my momma. Near the end Susanna started playing with the digital cameras.

Original artwork by Susanna:
(she pressed the button...)

And this one is a little more..."artsy"??

Just a fabulous day at work!

I haven't been blogging much about work, just because I try to keep that separate so as not to get myself in trouble :)

Yesterday, I had a great day at work! I thought it'd be a good time to just kind of answer the "How's your internship going?" question.

It's going well! I'm enjoying the assignments I've been given, getting acclimated to the corporate culture and got a really good review from my boss yesterday. We also worked out a deal where I can scale back my hours once school starts next month in order to extend the internship another month...taking me to mid October. So it's cool because I can kind of stick around longer and get more exposure to different types of projects. I think they're open to keeping me as a co-op for next summer as well, which would be great! I really like it a lot!!!

And Scott is doing well too! He is meeting with lots of folks in his department and beginning on his initial assignment. It's about computers and education... that's where I drop off on understanding his field. :) We got some decorations for his office last night at Michael's!! His little office is so pitiful - 4 white walls...

Isn't She Lovely and Say Goodbye to Hollywood

We did it!!! Mission Accomplished!! :) Last night we spent, oh, I don't know, 8 hours at the dealership and got ourselves a brand spanking new 2009 Ford Fusion. We feel really good about the deal we got - a tremendous discount through IBM (woot!) and decent rebate incentives. We got it at Crossroads Ford in Cary, which we'd highly recommend. We just need to find some obnoxious bumper sticker about BUYING AMERICAN :)

So, here are some pictures. I don't have a fancy blog with music, but if you're sitting at home and have access to Stevie Wonder's Isn't She Lovely, that'd make a great soundtrack for the Fusion's first photo shoot.

Isn't she lovely?

Our decked out car... Scott convinced me that black leather isn't just for boys. And we also have Sync, so we can call people just by speaking commands. Just have to figure out how to work that... And we have satellite radio till Christmas.
So shiny and new! It smells great too!

The tires. It's a man thing. I don't even have to say this, but Scott took this picture :)

The one where Scott plays Vanna White. He has the sweet new ride at work today. I think I kind of rocked his world this morning when I suggested wearing a long sleeved button down - he was like "no, it's too hot" and I was all like "Oh snap, don't forget you have A/C on the way to and from work now!" So... a whole new world of possibilities!

And now for the tribute to the Jeep. I'm going to ask you to cut off Stevie Wonder and put on some Green Day Good Riddance (The Time of your Life). Or, if you don't have that, I think Say Goodbye to Hollywood by Billy Joel would also work.

Sad face...

We scrubbed that thing HARD on Sunday to make it all shiny and non-junky looking.

AHHH, the Jeep is totally gonna run you over!

Sniff, sniff...no longer a two Jeep household. (PS, I think we're about to spend a lot less on gas!)

Since we had a hard and a soft top, we got to CRAM all of it in the back seat. And Smarty liked to chill with it inside.

Another one with Scott saying goodbye.

For what it's worth,
It was worth all the while.
It's something unpredictable
But in the end it's right
I hope you had the time of your life.
-Green Day

Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes
I'm afraid it's time for goodbye again
Say goodbye to Hollywood,
Say goodbye my baby.
-Billy Joel

Trading up, Good-bye Jeep!

So, we're doing it! Finally trading in Scott's Jeep Wrangler for a new car. We are totally pumped to seal the deal (hopefully) today on a new Ford Fusion. We'll wait and post pictures once we get that bad boy home, but we test drove and spent some (...a LOT) of time at the dealership Saturday and think we're pretty ready to go. I think Scott's most excited that it'll have air conditioning :)

So, in honor of the Jeep's last day in our care, I decided to write a goodbye letter.

Dear Wrangler,

Where to begin... I've known you for a long time. Back when we first met you were my boyfriend's sweet convertible Jeep, and I thought you were oh-so-cool. We went to the beach together and so many places I can't even begin to recount them all. But, I'm not gonna lie, my main memories are probably a little more shall we say on the Debbie Downer side. You had a tendency to mess up my hair, it became obvious that the CD's that went into your CD player would come back out looking like they'd been used as a coaster and a frisbee in a frat house, and need I even mention that more often than not the inside of you was covered with pollen and smelled like a tent? And don't get me started on the windshield "jiggling" incident of a few months ago on the way back from the beach. Not cool.

I digress... we had some "times"...we'll just leave it at that. The only reason I'm feeling a tad bittersweet is because I know that you and Scott were buddies... and I know how much he's going to hate saying goodbye to you. Twice yesterday he said "I wanna keep my old car (you)... I don't want a new car." But that's just the nostalgia talking, don't get all excited, Wrang. If you had a little more to offer in the air conditioning department, we might be able to stick it out. Oh, and speaking of stick, that's another weakness of yours.

Oh, not to make you jealous, but your replacement has sync, so we can call people without picking up a phone. And play ipods...It's gonna be killer.

So, it's been real... and you'll be missed.
Love,
Jamie

... and we did a "photo shoot" yesterday after the car-washing extravaganza! It's so ironic that we did all this work to clean the Jeep inside and out just to get rid of it! Cross your fingers that the dealership is feeling generous in their trade-in division...

Erica's visit

The only thing Erica was ADAMANT that we do on her visit to NC was see her alma mater - UNC. So, we made a visit to campus and downtown Chapel Hill. One theme for the weekend is the importance of checking the weather. It was a very weird weekend - actually kind of rainy a lot, which is bizzare for NC where we have a big draught. So here's a general what we did and what the weather was like...

Thurs - Jamie worked, E slept in and read, went for a walk. It was a beautiful day, hot as blazes but sunny.
Friday (the 4th) - gorgeous day #2 ... we shopped.
Saturday - freaking 3000% humidity, no sun, and IDK, like 85 degrees. ALL humidity, it was miserable. SOOO, this was our day to go walk around campus leisurely.
Sunday - POOL DAY...and it was overcast. Yeah, we're planners. Way to go!

But we had a blast, no surprise. It was a lot of fun to spend some quality time with Erica again... we laugh a lot.

Around campus at Carolina...

I like these two of me and Scott bc if you switch the faces we're making you'd have one really weird pic and one good one. We're so out of snyc.

See?

Far away of Jamie & Erica in the well thingie. It's the iconic thing on campus...kind of a big deal.

These are the faces of some happy and not miserable girls, don't you think?

Up close turned out pretty good.

Aw heck, let's do Erica & Scott.

Congrats Ash & Rob!

...they're engaged folks, as of this weekend! (And thus dies my dream of having Ashley Sutton marry a man with a last name beginning with "S". I guess the monogrammed towels will have to be sent back...) Rob will make an excellent addition to the family... I *guess* it's alright!

Anyway, congrats guys! We're very excited and happy for you. I have some wedding planning books you'll love.

We went to the Cheesecake Factory last night to celebrate. YES, you read that right. Scott and I ended the 4-yr freeze out on "The Factory" after getting food poisoning from them after we first moved to NC. We survived, but I will admit it was a little tough hearing them detail all the special "c-cakes" they offered.



Here's the rock... very hard to photograph. It's big. And shiny, and Ash is not bashful about showing that bad boy off!! :)



And here's the family...people were surprisingly nonchalant about walking right on through as we were taking this - like we usually just stand perfectly still by the fake palm tree in the waiting area, coupled off and very close together. Must be an Ebert thing...

A terrible recipe for kids, and how we spent our 4th

Erica's here! We've been having a great time so far! Last night we ended up renting Rendition - a movie about how the US skirts the law to detains terror suspects... um, not the most "Yay America, happy Independence Day" movie... It was very, very good though.



Last night, we made a recipe from my cookbook "Silly Snacks. Classroom Treats and Cookie Dough Fun"... a cookbook intended for teachers and/or mothers since most of the recipes are like cookies shaped into pigs or hamburgers or something cute that kids would just gobble up. Well, Erica and I were looking through the cookie dough fun section and decided to give the Cookie Pizza a go. HOLY crap, it takes a LOT to make me say this, but it is so rich. What mother in her right mind would feed this to her child, it's like pure sugar. It's like a sugar cookie topped with fudge topped with m&m's. The only situation I can think of where I'd feed it to a child is if I was babysitting and handing the kid off shortly and really despised the person I was handing him off to.

Cookie Pizza

1 18-oz package refridgerated sugar cookie dough
2 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 14-oz can Eagle Sweetened Condensed milk (we used Fat Free, cause we're health NUTS. Obv, w/ the cookie pizza and all...)
2 c M&Ms
2 c mini marshmallows (we omitted)
1/2 c peanuts (also omitted)

Directions:
1. Preaheat oven to 375. Press cookie dough into 2 ungreased 12 in pizza pans. Bake 10 min or until golden.
2. In medium-sized saucepan, melt chips with sweetened condensed milk. Spread over cookie dough. Sprinkle with M&Ms and other toppings.
3. Bake 4 min or so. Cool. Cut.

Buffalo Chicken Tenders

OMG...these were crazy delicious! The hot sauce was hotter than I expected...maybe heating it up (temp-wise) made it hotter (spicy-wise)? Either way - I LOVED these... they were so so good. They were easier than they seemed like they'd be too.

And like all breaded chicken that I've ever made, re-heating them in the oven is highly preferable to heating them in the microwave bc of the mushy factor.

Oh, and in random news - I served it with some Hidden Valley Ranch dressing we had in the fridge that expired June 29 08. Guess what day we ate it? June 29th. Isn't that vierd?

Buffalo-Style Chicken Strips with Ranch Dressing
Got it from Amber's Delectable Delights

Ingredients
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon onion powder (I omitted)
1/2 teaspoon salt (I omitted)
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper (I used crushed red pepper flakes instead...though IDK if they're the same thing. I don't think they are... eh well.)
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups coarsely crushed cornflakes (I used whole grain Total - it was awesome!)
1 pound chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch-thick strips
Cooking spray
1/3 cup hot sauce (such as Crystal) (I used Franks Red Hot)
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco) (Yeah, I omitted this too.)
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup fat-free ranch dressing
4 celery stalks, cut into 1/4 x 3-inch sticks
4 carrots, cut into 1/4 x 3-inch sticks

Directions
Preheat oven to 400°.
Combine first 6 ingredients in a shallow dish, stirring with a whisk. Place egg whites in a shallow dish. Place cornflakes in a shallow dish. Working with 1 chicken strip at a time, dredge in flour mixture. Dip in egg whites; dredge in cornflakes. Place on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken strips, flour mixture, egg whites, and cornflakes.

Lightly coat chicken strips with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes or until done, turning once.

Combine hot sauce, pepper sauce, and Worcestershire in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in butter. Drizzle hot sauce mixture over chicken. Serve with ranch dressing, celery, and carrots.

I heart blogs, and google reader

This is a PSA of sorts... I just wanted to share with you all the magic that is google reader. Here's a little informational thing about it.

Now, pretend I'm on an infomercial:

I used to click through all the blogs I check every day and be all like - dang, no update, next blog. But with this - it just highlights the blog when it's updated so you don't have to waste your time. You don't even have to visit the site. It's so easy, a caveman could do it. If only they could figure out a way to lose weight without changing your diet or exercising, and dumping spaghetti noodles into the strainer without burning your hands. I bet Google will come up with something for that... Oh, and it's free. No money required to use this gem of a tool. Just a computer and internet...which are not free. So you just need those two things THEN it's free.

And I know I've mentioned this before, but I love blogs. Here are some of my favorites:

Things Younger than McCain - This just makes me laugh... one of those funny/true/scary things.

Huffington Post - I subscribe to this one, but geez, I have a job, and there's no way I can keep up w/ the rate at which they post stuff. But the ones I do peruse are good articles, and I think it's making me more liberal. Yikes.

Dooce - So funny, great photographer and she lives off her blog, which would be awesome. And I love the monthly notes to her daughter...such a sweet idea.

Postcards from Yo Momma - just plain funny - people send in emails and IMs from their mothers. Luckily I have nothing to contribute to the site!

Wake Photography - This is my friend Kelly's (also love her blog) old roommate Kerri who I've met a few times. She's a fabulous photographer (and person :) ) and I enjoy browsing her nature and outdoor photos as I stare at the wall in my cube.

I also love subscribing to Food Blogs - because you can tag posts individually... so (see where I'm going with this?) I have a whole tag called "recipes I want to make" and I pull in the good ones! It makes me feel so efficient. Some of the good blogs are:

Ambers Delectable Delights
Good Things Catered
...and a Cookie for Dessert
Pioneer Woman

...and if you look at these sites' blog rolls you can find a bazillion other cooking blogs. Cookbooks are so 1990s. Oh and I must warn you - if you're hungry, don't look at those blogs bc your stomach will get mad at you. Apparently taking pictures of your food is like the new cool thing to do.

(Though I can only laugh at the thought, I will acknowledge that these are not paid advertisements. Don't I wish. Just my personal endorsements. )

New York City!

Woohoo! We booked our trip to NYC last night, and actually got what feels like a really good deal on airfare! We're going for 1 day and 1 night, then heading to NJ (just outside the city) for Tim & Cara's wedding on August 9th. It'll be a fun reunion of all of Scott's college buddies!

So far for our NYC day, we think we're going to do The Met and go to a Mets game (cute, right?) We *might* go to Top of the Rock...but we're kind of on the fence. Anything else super fabulous and fun we should hit?