Oh, Atlanta
Oh, Atlanta. Every time I say that phrase I start singing the old Alison Kruass song of the same name in my head. As I mentioned a few posts ago, I was in Atlanta presenting at a conference over the weekend and into this week, which means I got some quality time in Hotlanta.
Item number one to discuss, while I love the association that was hosting the conference, they picked a really shitty venue. It was at the Atlanta Airport Marriott and it was in the middle of freaking nowhere. I am so use to staying in downtown Atlanta when I go, so I was a little thrown to be out in the middle of nowhere. But there was literally nothing on the exit, no food or gas, just a lot of hotels on wooded lots. If you got back on the freeway and went down exits, it was super sketch. The physical hotel was nice, the location just sucked. I was also annoyed that I had to pay for parking ($11 a day) and I was in the middle of nowhere. I get it if it is downtown and parking is limited, but this was the middle of nowhere. So, don’t stay at that hotel if you are looking for something to do while in town. If you need an overnight stay because of the airport, go with it!
Item number two, driving in Atlanta sucks. Sucks big time. As ANYONE who knows me well, they know that I hate driving in big cities, I just hate all that congestion. I also had a rental car, a Chevy Impala, and that thing is a BEAST compared to the little matchbox I drive, so you can only imagine the nightmare of it all. I cussed a lot. I braked a lot. I stayed in the right lane a lot. At the end of it all I was super happy to turn in that rental and be done with it all!
Item number three, I have been to Atlanta so many times over the years, I feel like I know my way around and where things are at in the mega-city. The thing I realized is that I don’t know a lot of great Atlanta spots… which really sucks! I have favorite places to eat, but they are normally specialized chains that I can’t find anywhere near my small little town. So, my goal for the next time I go to Atlanta is to find a new place to eat…. a yummy local one. Suggestions?
Wednesday Wedding Tips: Think Before You Say Yes
Wednesday Wedding Tips: I realize this was LAST week’s news, but I’ve just now had time to get around to it… when in doubt, do not get married. Kim Kardashian, bless her heart, just should not have done it. 72 days, really? 72 days?
Look, I get it, you can get caught up in the craziness of it all. Planning a wedding involves lots of people kind of losing their minds in the dream and the details. PLUS, cold feet are supposed to be normal. Add to the fact that it seems our society has us programmed to get married and have a wedding, I can see how it happens. But here are a few things that I think one should keep in mind before planning a wedding that costs ungodly amounts of money (do you know how many times over I could have paid off my student loans with the amount she spent on one wedding?)
- Date someone for longer than like five months before getting married
- Listen to the people you trust the most in the world when making giant life decisions
- Make a decision about where you are going to live when you are married, raise your kids, BEFORE getting engaged!
- Never have mini-horses at an engagement celebration. Unless you are having a party for someone under the age of ten, mini horses are never a good sign of things to come.
These are just my opinions, but really, a wedding is a first step to something that is much, much bigger… a marriage. I just think that warrants some serious, in depth, argumentative and compromising discussions BEFORE you decide to spend your life with someone… let along spend a ridiculous amount on a wedding.
Translation Tuesday: Hotlanta
Translation Tuesday! I have updates coming later this week on my travels to Atlanta for a conference, I know, I go to a lot of conferences. What can I say, I do really good work and need to highlight my office to others in the field on how amazing it is and how they can learn from us… the joys of my field. 😉
So, the subject of today’s translation is that lovely location… Atlanta, Georgia. But it has some other nicknames as well:
- The ATL. This is also the three letter code for Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, which is one of the largest airports in the country and a hub for Delta Airlines.
- Hotlanta. Maybe it has to do with Sherman burning the damn city to the ground in the Civil War, that clearly made it hot. Maybe it is because it seated in the hot fields of Georgia where the scorching heat is unbearable by nature and is made worse by the fact that it is a major city. Or perhaps it is because there is so much going on in the city that it is just the place to be and therefore it is majorly hot. Whatever the reason, Hotlanta is the name!
Really, I can’t remember when I first start I heard either of these, but they are a part of my regular vocabulary now. Any other well-known Atlanta nicknames I am forgetting?
Translation Tuesday: The War of Northern Aggression
I got to explain this one to my students on the trip to Charleston last weekend: The War of Northern Aggression. Also known as “That Late Unpleasantness,” “ The War Between the States” or as it is known to most everyone else other than those below the Mason-Dixon line, the Civil War.
The War of Northern Aggression is the title that many Southerners call the Civil War. It was viewed at the time, and sometimes still is, as the North trying to suppress the rights of the states to the South. The South wanted to secede from the Union of the United States of America, the federal government wouldn’t have it and tried to stop them. Many say it was all about slavery and the Southerner’s right to own slaves, which we all agree now was a horrible institution. Southerners claim it was about the rights of the state to govern themselves, not be governed by the federal government. It was about that, but that argument itself was based on the fact that Southerners wanted to decide for themselves if slavery should be allowed. Thus, the South left the Union, the Union said no way and we have the War of Northern Aggression.
Hundreds of books have been written on this topic…. That is as simple as I can get it down in blog form. Now, try to explain that to a bunch of college students on Saturday morning.
And one of my favorite quotes using that phrase: “That is the War of Northern Aggression. You remember which side if the Mason-Dixon line you are plopping your Yankee ass down on.”
A New Love in Charleston!!
I had a fun weekend… another trip to Charleston, SC! We loaded up a minivan and took some of the exchange students I work with to the Holy City for the day. It was a long day, but a blast… I have the most amazing students ever and they made it a great day.
For all of the millions of times that I have been to Charleston in my life, I am still amazed at all the cool things there are to do in that lovely town. This time I found a new gem that I had never noticed before and it is HEAVEN ON EARTH. I am ready to jump in my car for another road trip just so I can experience this place again…. KAMINSKY’S!
It is on North Market Street and is a tiny little hole in the wall that has the most amazing desserts I have ever had. Seriously. Their whole menus I yummy drinks and fabulous desserts. It was a really small space, with a lovely old bar, and giant display case of desserts. The tables had this deep blue marble tops that were beautiful. The servers were a riot and the while the food was delicious, the whole place kept making me think of the old movie, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. The menu and the servers kept saying things like “ most excellent” and “awesome” or “ most awesome.” That was kind of funny.
Kaminsky's- Note the lovely display case behind the window!
The best part about going with a group is that you get to sample what everyone else around your table ordered. I had the most amazing brownie sundae… a warm and gooey brownie with three scoops of vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, caramel and pecans… it was a little bite of heaven with each bite. A couple of us ordered that. We also had on the table a red velvet cake and cheesecake combo, Italian crème cake, and a butternut toffee tort. For drinks there were hot chocolates, hot chocolate and banana flavoring, coffee. There were lots of forks and spoons and sharing… it was do good!
Check out their web site listed below. The menu for the desserts changes daily, so you have to go stand in front of the display case and drool over all the options in front of you before you order. But it is soooooo good, who cares! I will be stopping there my next time in town!
Simple Pasta Yumminess
The only reason I can even tell you about this recipe is because I had a coupon. Blame it on Philly Cream Cheese and their new marketing of their new cooking crème all over the place…. There was a $1 off coupon in the paper, the ads looked good and that is what lead to this yummy meal. Now, the majority of this recipe came off of the cooking crème package, I made my own modifications, feel free to make your own.
Needed:
– Two to Three chicken breasts
– One package of frozen stir fry veggies (with lots of broccoli)
– One container of philly cooking crème
– Thin Spaghetti
Steps:
- Bake chicken (I recommend organic) and then cut into pieces, about one inch to one and a half inches
- Drop stir fry veggies into large nonstick skillet and cook for a few minutes. Add in chicken.
- After about two minutes, add in all of cooking crème. Cook together for about five minutes or so. Stir often.
- In separate pot, bring water to boil and cook pasta (I use organic, whole wheat)
- After draining water from pasta, add pasta to skillet mixture and thoroughly mix everything. Cook for another two minutes or so
- Serve warm and with a salad and good bread
Easy Pasta
This was super easy to make and very good! It was also great because it reheated very easily and I got several meals out of it. Give it a try sometime!
Translation Tuesday: Heavens to Betsy
Translation Tuesday! I came across this the other day, I don’t actually use it, but it was cracking me up, so I had to share. HEAVENS TO BETSY!
Heavens to Betsy is generally a phrase that is used when someone is surprised, or at times when someone is exasperated by the situation. Examples:
- Someone walks up behind you and scares you. Instead of saying holy shit (like I might) one could exclaim: heavens to betsy!
- Or, a child you may be watching (your child, or in my case, a little step-sister) and they ask the SAME question for the tenth time. You may say, heavens to betsy! The I don’t know when we are going to get there!
I really should try to use it more. All my friends completely agree that I need to curse a little less! As I have mentioned in previous posts, there is a t-shirt company that I LOVE that makes shirts with cute Southern saying on them, SweeTea Shirts is the company and their Heavens to Betsy shirt is pictured below!
http://www.sweeteashirts.com/shop/short-sleeves/heavens-to-betsy-ss
Heavens to Betsy
Deep Fried Cookie Dough and Pig Races: The State Fair
The State Fair… it is nationwide thing, but I think we do them bigger, better and definitely more deep-fried in the South. Granted, I haven’t been to a state fair in another state, but we do everything BIG and deep fried down here. It is here for about two weeks with rides, competitions, food and concerts each day and at night the fairgrounds light up the eastern part of the city in a pretty glowing light until midnight.
Now, I have been to the state fair a number of times, but THIS year I got to take a group of exchange students (exchanges from North American continent)! So much fun to see their reactions to all of the things we do down here. We all agreed though, that there is something about the state fair that reminds us of Charlotte’s Web. All the lights and the sense of fun and the smell in the air… it makes me think of the last part of the book with Wilbur and Charlotte are deciding on one more word to use and Templeton the rat is running around the fair grounds. Anyway, here are the top things I experienced at the fair this year:
- Deep Fried Cookie Dough
So amazing. I think I love it more than funnel cake… and I love me some funnel cake. It is basically break and break chocolate chip cookie dough, dipped in cake batter and fried. Then it is sprinkled with powdered sugar. You bite into it and it is warm and gooey and so amazing.
deep fried cookie dough
This picture below had all of us in stiches from our laughter!
If only I wanted to marry a carny...
- Pig Races
I went to my very first pig race at the fair. They were surprisingly cute and the announcers were really funny. At first I thought it would be a horrible mistreatment of animals, but they looked pretty well cared for… unlike the petting zoo at the other end…. Those animals terrified me.
pig race
- More food
I went with the hot dog, French fries and root beer float… but it was fun to be in a group because everyone got different things and we could see what they looked like. There were funnel cakes, deep fried mushrooms, deep fried snickers bar, caramel apples, stuffed chicken wings (stuffings such as: mac and cheese, stuffing, jalapeno, and so forth), and the bacon cheeseburger with Krispy Kreme doughnuts and buns (all I could do was stare at that one as they ate it)!
up in the air
We all passed on the rides, but we did look at the animal and flower competitions in-between seeing a hypnotist and the pig race. Lots of new experiences overall and I can’t wait to go back next year… I am going to try the deep-fried Kool-Aid then!
airy creations
Meet Me in St. Louis!
St. Louis, MO. You know, I consider it the Midwest, the gateway to the West and all. The famous point of embarkation for Lewis and Clark on their exploration of the West. I guess it was considered Southern as a result of the Missouri Compromise prior to the Civil War and all of that drama. So, it fits into the southern blog. Or, even if it didn’t… who cares, it is my blog and I can write what I want to. (Yep, I was singing it’s my party, I can cry if I want to in my head while I typed that!)
A couple of weeks ago I was in St. Louis for a conference. My boss and I were giving a presentation on an initiative in our office, it went really well and we only had two open seats in the room! So here is my review of that little trip.
It was actually my second trip to St. Louis, I was there for a conference a few years, but stayed in a different hotel. This trip was to the Hyatt Regency at the Arch and it was a good hotel overall. I had a giant king size bed, a view of the Mississippi river, and a really lovely shower. They also had the best service that I had in years… from the housekeeping staff, to the servers to the front desk staff… all amazing. The only things I would change are: there needed to be another chair or sitting item in the room, they needed to clean the rooms a little more quickly, and they needed to actually CLEAN the rooms in more detail… the dust ruffle had dust in it and the carpet along the walls needed to be vacuumed.
The metro in St. Louis is actually great to use. Easy to follow, clean and pretty cheap. There are two things that amazed me about the system. First, so many of the stops were OUTSIDE and not covered. It snows in St. Louis, why would they not be covered? Also, you never had to scan a ticket or show a ticket to get on. Yes, I bought tickets every time, but the honor system… really? Amazing.
The arch was cool as well. I didn’t go up in the arch… the small elevators I just couldn’t take it! But I did walk around the base and in the park around there. I don’t have any good feedback on food, which is odd for me. There was just not a lot of good local options around the hotel.
Finally, the coolest experience I can recommend is to be in town when there is a St. Louis team in the running for a sports trophy. We ended up grabbing appetizers in a bar after we got to town and it happened to a winner takes all game in a series for the Cardinals to advance to the play offs. Coolest thing… be out in a city win the team wins (even if it is an away game). The energy was amazing!
I am sure I’ll be in St. Louis again in the future, hopefully with better food options!
Wednesday Wedding Tips: The Thank You Card
So, my background in weddings has been explained well enough at this point. My random knowledge of all things etiquette has not been explained. Blame it on the fact that my mother drilled Emily Post into my brain as a child… I know which fork to use in any situation, the proper form of address, even how to curtsy. And where does this fit in with a wedding tip? Well, many places actually, but the focus for today is the thank you note.
I take the thank you note VERY seriously. Actually, I have gotten thank you notes for MY thank you notes! Here is the deal… if people go out of their way to do something for you: buy you a gift, come to an event in your honor, travel to see you, help you plan something… heck, help you make multiple trips to a car to make you life easier… you send that person a thank you note! (This counts for bridal showers, weddings, bachelorette parties, bridal parties, luncheons, etc)
Now, you can use whatever sort of stationary you want… I don’t care if you mail it or hand deliver it or slip it under the door. Here is what MUST be done though in order for it to matter and be good. 1) Use the person’s name in addressing it. 2) Tell them how much you appreciate the thought and the help/gift/ time/ travel. Be specific. 3) Mention why it matters to you. Finally, and this is very important, hand write the damn thing. I know it may take time, I know it makes the hand cramp, and I know it may involve a lot of thank you cards… but dammit, if someone takes the time to buy you a gift (s), come to an event honoring, you and travel to get there, etc…. you can take the time to hand write a thank you note to them. A side note to this, YOU (or the groom… the bride and groom can both be involved here) should write the notes. Not a family member or friend. I had a friend who was the maid of honor in a wedding and the bride had HER writing the notes- horrible! She even wrote her own thank you note!
One more tip… the of the moment trend in weddings… thank you cards with pictures from the wedding printed on the cover… adorable! I highly recommend it!
Translation Tuesday: Right Quick
One of my roommates from college, Brit, was in town yesterday. We met freshmen year and have been friends ever since and we lived together senior year. Brit is from Pittsburgh (Shittsburg, but we can forgive her for that) but she now lives in England with her husband, Kevin, who is in the air force and is stationed there. They were in the States for a couple of weeks to celebrate their son’s first birthday with family and they met me for lunch. It was the very first time I had met their adorable son and the first time I had seen Britt and Kev in years… they have been all over the place with his job!
So, we meet at a sandwich shop adjacent to campus and spent a couple of hours catching up, eating and walking around. Kev made the best observation as I was giving them a tour… “ You know you are old when you are walking around your alma mater and pushing your baby in a stroller.” Yep, we are all old (with or without the baby stroller).
And WHAT exactly does this have to do with Translation Tuesday? Well, this lovely phrase was mentioned by Britt as her favorite and most used southern phrase: “right quick.” This lovely phrase is an often used term by Southerners across the region. Right quick is a way of saying…. Do this really fast, or really quickly. I am going to take a shower right quick. I’ll meet you in the car right quick. And so on. It is actually not a phrase I use that often, but many others around me do! And with that, I am going to get ready for bed right quick : )
Wednesday Wedding Tips: Be a Good Actress
Translation Tuesday: Bless Her Heart
I’m back! Back from several days in St. Louis… but more on that later this week. It is Tuesday, so here is a brief translation for the day: Bless Her Heart.
One of the things the South is known for is good manners, seriously. Manners and charm. People smile at one another down here, men hold open doors for women, you are trained to say sir and ma’am from a young age, please and thank you are a given. Manners we do well. So, it should come as no surprise that even when we are speaking ill of someone, it is covered up in a nice way.
I was reminded of this last week while I was in St. Louis at a conference. I was talking with a participant about my home city and complaining about how horrible the public transportation is and that the company that runs the bus system can’t even run it correctly as a business. I said “ they just can’t seem to keep the company from going belly up as a result of their bad management, bless their hearts.”
My comment is really not that mean, but it illustrates the point. It also points out how easily it has slipped into my vocabulary. A good Southerner with a strong command of the vernacular can deliver the most scathing criticism and wrap it up in a sweet and sunny bow by smiling, saying it with a Southern drawl and those three little words: Bless Her Heart. Also any number of pronouns can be used: her, his, their, your, etc. If they are really good, you won’t know you’ve received a put down until you process it later. So the next time you hear, “bless your heart” look to see if you are being put down.
That concludes our vocabulary lesson for the day!
Ick, bugs, ick.
I just killed one. It was not a kind death… I poisoned the bastard.
And by poisoned… I mean with a spray bottle. In the middle of the hallway. I don’t like to step on them… it gets messy. What the hell am I talking about? The bane of the South… the palmetto bug. Nasty little bastards.
A palmetto bug is native to the South, and is basically a roach on steroids. Seriously, they are huge. I just killed one in the hallway, it is about two inches long, and about a half inch wide… big. Not only are the suckers big, but they can FLY. Yes, that’s right… a flying cockroach. I can’t make this crap up. I guess they like living in palm and/or palmetto trees… which we have a lot of around here, hence the name.
I can’t remember the first time I saw one, but I am sure I screamed my head off. Now at this point I don’t scream… I look for the nearest bottle of Raid and squirt the bastard. I realize it is not the most humane thing to do, but it is a cockroach…. The squished guts are annoying to clean up. I actually don’t see that all that often in my apartment, which is a good thing… it kind of depends on the season, and even then they are usually dead already. Now, outside it is a different story… be careful about walking under trees.
So, that is your lesson on the South for this Monday. Be aware if you hear a random buzzing about somewhere, a palmetto bug may come flying out at you.
Food Friday: Pineapple Upside Down Cake
I’ve never been a fan of pineapple upside down cake. I prefer the frosting on cake. However, I found myself baking a pineapple upside down cake last Monday for a staff birthday on Tuesday… and I actually liked the cake! It wouldn’t be what I requested for my birthday cake (hello Italian cream cake) but it was pretty tasty. The recipe is below:
Ingredients
- One box yellow cake mix and indigents listed on box.
- ¾ stick of butter
- Little more than one cup of packed brown sugar
- Can of sliced pineapples (and the juice from the can!!)
- One small bottle of macchiato cherries
- 9 x 13 cake pan
Steps
1- Preheat oven to 350, melt butter in cake pan
2- Once it is melted, take it out of the oven and sprinkle brown sugar all over the pan. Make sure it is spread out.
3- Place pineapples in pan, spread them out over the pan.
4- Place one cherry in the center of each pineapple
5- In separate bowl, make cake mix according to the box instructions- except for the water instructions on the box.
6- Mix pineapple juice with water so that it equals one cup. Add this to cake mix.
7- Spoon mixed batter over pineapple and brown sugar mixture. Make sure to do this evenly!
8- Bake in oven for about 35 minutes
Once cake is thoroughly baked, remove from oven and let cool. Flip onto flat plate so the pretty pineapple brown sugar side shows! Served best warm and with ice cream J
Pineapple/Sugar bottom without batter
Oh, and I maybe had a little issue with one corner… little stuck, but not bad for the first try.
batter!!
The final product…
final product
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