Divine Brownie Recipe

Last Friday was my dad's birthday. To recognize his big day, I sent him a care package with homemade brownies (from scratch). I tried a new recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks - The Foster's Market Cookbook. There are two amazing Foster's Markets -- one in Durham, and one in Chapel Hill, NC. My group of friends frequented the one in Durham as often as possible in college. They had the best salads and everything was so fresh and tasty. Sarah Foster is the founder and owner, and she used to work as a chef for Martha Stewart's catering company. Anyways...back to the brownies. Here are a few pics from the baking adventures.....

Meet the beloved KitchenAid mixer...

In a word...YUM!
And here is the recipe. Yes, there is a ridiculous amount of butter, sugar and eggs -- but these are seriously worth the splurge.

Foster's Brownies:
*makes 2 dozen 2.5"x3" brownies

2 C. all-purpose flour
1.5 C. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 t. salt
8 large eggs
4 C. sugar
4 sticks unsalted butter, melted
2 T. pure vanilla extract
2 C. semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix dry ingredients, set aside. Cream together the eggs, sugar, buttter and vanilla in a separate bowl. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until all the dry ingredients are moist and blended....do not overmix. Spread batter evenly in pan, and bake 35-40 min. Let cool completely.

Eat, Pray, Love.....the movie!

Am I the only one who hadn't heard that the phenomenal book Eat, Pray, Love is being made into a movie? (side note...if you haven't read it, you simply must! It's a great, easy read) Julia Roberts appears to be starring in the lead role. I'm SO excited....she's the perfect actress for the part, and I can't wait to see this one. Here's Ms. Roberts out and about in Haryana, India:

Summer In A Bite

Right now these are my favorite things:
I know that I should be over summer, and getting excited for fall -- but it has yet to really get cold at all here, so I'm not necessarily feeling it just yet. BUT I am really excited for the weekend. My sister, BIL, and the 2 older kids are all driving here tomorrow! I can't wait to show them the house, visit some fun sights in St. Louis, and then we'll all go to the Rams v. Packers game Sunday. PLUS my sister and I will be able to fit in a run together Sunday morning (fingers crossed there will be no more snake sightings!!!)

Vineyard Vines.... Last Day!

Thinking of Atlanta

When we moved from Atlanta, the city was dealing with some very serious drought issues. At that point, Lake Lanier (the lake that provides most of the city's water) was like 20 feet below its full level (leaving docks stranded), city officials were debating whether or not they could even fill pools for the summer, and nobody was allowed to water their lawns.

Now, they're dealing with horrible flooding. It's been raining for at least a week straight with no end in sight. The pictures are really pretty amazing. My cousin's basement is flooded, our old neighbors have the Chattahoochee River lapping at their decks, and roads are submerged everywhere. Here are a few scary images:

(source: AJC)

And while it's no laughing matter, this did make me chuckle:

Sending positive thoughts and prayers for SUN to my Atlanta friends!!

Randomness

I had a great weekend. Nothing too exciting in terms of activities, but it was fun and relaxing and perfect.

• Swung by the mall with SB.....tried on lots of stuff at J.Crew, but only walked away with the first top in the post below (super cute - and could be worn for a lot of different events). I think my checking account breathed a sigh of relief that I only loved 1 item after trying on.....you guys are right, the prices are def. on the high side for some of their pieces.
  
• Had a tasty lunch at PF Changs
• Finished off our Crate & Barrel registry.....purchased one nighstand, 8 green apples to be displayed in the lovely Charleston glass bowl, and 2 cereal bowls for SB b/c he can't drink the milk out of the shallow ones (*sigh*)
  
• SB and I went running twice together.....40 min Saturday morning, 45 min Sunday. On Sunday, it was raining when I woke up - and I couldn't believe it when SB came down the stairs a little later in full running gear. Typically I stay inside if it's raining (or go to the gym, but I haven't felt a need to join one here yet) -- but SB channeled his old x-country days, and was excited to head out in the rain like a hard-core runner. 45 min later, we were all soaked to the bone (including Daisy!) - but it was a lot of fun.
• While running on Sunday, Daisy pulled a rattlesnake's shedded skin out of the bushes right by the sidewalk. Totally freaked me out. If there's one thing I HATE, it would be snakes. Yes. Hate. I will be running with Daisy right by my side by those bushes in the future. Yikes. The old trail in Atlanta by the river has lots of snakes. If it weren't so beautiful, they would have scared me away....but I was just on "snake patrol" every time I went.
  
• Made brownies for my dad's bday....sent them off via USPS today. I'll share the recipe and pics in a future post. They are DELICIOUS if I do say so myself :)
• Watched the Packers and Rams lose....booo.
• Tonight I made a new recipe, and set off all the firealarms in the house by accident. OMG - at least I now know that there is no way we could ever sleep through a fire in this house. Those things are LOUD and they're in every room. I was running around like a freakazoid trying to open doors/windows, fan the air out, pull out the batteries from the alarms (which didn't turn them off??) I called SB, who of course couldn't help -- and then all of a sudden they turned themselves off. They were soooo loud though.

More new favorites....

J.crew has some adorable new additions to their fall lineup. I'm hoping to swing through their store this weekend to try on a few of these pretties:






(don't need the purse above...recently found a new one at Nordstrom that was 50% off -- SCORE!)

Sugarland's New CD

I'm a big Sugarland fan, and the fandom has hit a new high with their new CD, Love on the Inside. My favorite songs are "All I Want To Do," "Already Gone," and "It Happens" - but there are so many more awesome ones. This CD alone got me through the drive to Chicago.

Beautiful Wedding Inspiration

I just have to share a few pics from a wedding featured on Style Me Pretty. First - I love horse farms - and it's the setting for this lovely soiree. Second - the dresses are just beautiful, and Third - the photographer (Laura Olson) did quite an amazing job capturing all of the fun. Enjoy...

(PS - speaking of wedding pics....I'm waiting to post mine till I have the CD with all of our images (without the photographer's watermark right over the middle). Of course that means choosing the 16 for our album first....and that seems to be an impossible feat right now. Hope to share them soon!!)

Channeling the interior designer within...

Right now our new house is a bit of a blank slate. One of these days I'll take pics to share (with SB's approval...he's kind of nervous about the idea of sharing toooo much info on this - which I do understand). We have a large "great room" downstairs. There's a flat screen tv over a lovely fireplace mantle, and nice white built-in shelves on either side. Beyond that...the room is empty. This week we received the delivery of our new sofa....it's a beautiful sectional from Pottery Barn. Here it is (side note....this delivery meant that SB and I moved his "man-iture" (aka: giant leather couch and enormous arm chair--what is it about men and these giant pieces of furniture?) upstairs to the loft space. That's right....UPstairs. The guys who delivered the new sofa turned down cash to do the job (???!!!)...so it was left to the two of us. (sidenote #2...we need neighborhood friends!!! especially large masculine ones who can help SB move things) We did manage to do it, but it was pretty challenging (and hilarious at the same time).

A few weeks ago we also received the arm chair for this room (from PB too). This is it:

So now we need to get a side table, a coffee table, accessories galore, and a few things for the walls. When we go into our fave home decor stores, I always feel the need to buy everything exactly as they display it. I know, I know - it's sooo boring to do it that way. I mean, I don't want my room to look exactly like the PB showroom, but it always looks nice, and then bam! you're done just like that. However, I'm trying to expand a bit and piece things together better.

Long story short.....I need some more inspiration! Where do you all find ideas for decorating your homes? Any favorite blogs? (I already read This Young House regularly....but would love your insight into some new ones)

An AWESOME Weekend!

A weekend with my high school friends was just what I needed. The drive up to Chicago was not that bad. Probably 4.5ish hours, minus the awful traffic I hit in Chicago. On Friday night we went out for sushi. It was deeeeelicious. We brought our own bottles of wine (who knew BYOB was such a big thing in the Chi-town restaurant scene?), and shared edamame and tons of different rolls. We ended up talking so much we were the last table to leave.

Saturday morning, 2 of my friends and I woke up to run on the path right by Lake Michigan. It's sort of a tradition for us now. We ran for about 45 minutes -- and were surrounded by lots of different people running, walking, rollerblading, and biking. So many active people in that city - it was great people-watching! After the run, we showered up, ran out for a yummy brunch (I had a bagel with cream cheese and lox) and then caught the end of the UW football game. After that we explored some of the fun shops around my friend's apartment, and grabbed iced coffees in a cute little coffeehouse around the corner. We headed out after that for a semi-early dinner (classic thick-crust Chicago pizza) - and then the big event!!

The U2 concert was everything I hoped it would be. They had an amazing stage/set-up, Soldier Field was completely sold out, and they played all of their #1 hits. Snow Patrol opened for them and they did a great job. Everyone stood the entire show, and pretty much belted out all of the songs with Bono. They are just amazing entertainers -- and the way they used their video boards and stage - it was like art, really.

All in all....a great weekend with great friends :)

Girls' Weekend!!

In just about an hour I'll be driving up to Chicago for a fun weekend with my high school girlfriends :) I'm soooooo excited. We have lots of fun plans on the itinerary - and I hope to return with great stories and cute pics!

I'm really looking forward to the BIG event.....seeing U2 live in Soldier Field!!

God bless America.

Question for Dog People:

Do any of you dog owners out there have wood floors in your kitchens? If so, what do you do about the water bowl situation? If your dog's like our lab.....water flies everywhere! Seriously - I swear there's more water on the floor than down her throat. It seems like somehow it's getting between the bamboo boards, and creating slight water stains. As a new homeowner, I'm totally freaking out!! We had tried to use a doormat with rubber bottom, but the water still managed to get under that. There's one from Orvis that's absorbant - - have any of you tried it??? (here's a pic) I can't tell if it really would be better than the doormat we tried - but all of the reviews are really positive.

Any and all advice will be very much appreciated!!!

Oh J.Crew...

I wish your shoes weren't quite so expensive. These are in my cart right now, but I'm having a hard time justifying the price-tag (especially for #2).


I'm also seriously considering these, from Boden - but it always takes so long for them to arrive, and returning their items can be kind of annoying...Can you tell that I'm feeling the animal print this season? Here's hoping I find something cute at a more reasonable price soon so that I can stop stalking all of the online shoe stores!

Do's and Don'ts of Tennis Fashion

It's hard not to get caught up in the excitement of the US Open -- what with a 17-year-old American phenom making her presence felt (go Oudin!), and underdogs knocking out the big guns left and right. Of course Federer and Nadal are still in contention (but not Roddick...boo) -- so this final week will be interesting!! Of course I watch to take in the unbelievable tennis -- but I always look forward to seeing what the pros wear too! So many of them are very involved in the designing process of their attire. After watching a few outfits that really worked, and a few that really didn't (does anyone else wonder why a few select players can't figure out which fabrics/colors hide sweat stains best....ahem, miss serena!!??)....I figured I had to share a few of these pics. (note, these are not all from this US Open)

DO (x3):Nice and classic, traditional. Glad to see Rafa wearing legitimate shorts, and Serena looking nice.

DON'T:

Now this just takes things a bit TOO far. I mean, you're a tennis player, not a freakin' superhero. Just not my style.....though I guess it's good to mix things up, and keep people guessing. I just think it's way to "hard" for a tennis match.

DO:

So good. So classic.

DON'T:

Ohhhh Bethanie Mattek, a stylist would do you wonders. Who let you wear this? Seriously, who? If only this outfit was her only violation.....but she is no stranger to the "worst dressed" list in the WTA (if there were such a thing!)

DO:
I want to say that Sharapova was the first to design a tennis dress that looked very much like a cocktail dress. There's something about the night matches, the lights, the glitz and glamour of NYC that makes this ok in my book.

DO:Safina keeps things pretty basic. She sticks to pretty traditional tennis gear -- the only thing that sticks out a bit to me is that she has such a long torso, sometimes her clothes look too little. It'd be nice if she didn't have to worry about the skin showing between her skirt and top.

DO (day and night versions): I tend to really like Ana Ivanovic's style. She keeps things pretty simple, but there's always a twist to the standard tennis apparel. This year, she had some ruffles (which are everywhere this fall) - and went with the color of the season...purple.

Questionable:
I don't think I totally mind the dress - I mean, it's not my taste - but there's something about that silver headband that makes me think she's in the wrong decade. What are your thoughts?

TWINS: (haha)There's nothing worse than showing up to your big event and finding someone wearing your same outfit. Looks like Will Ferrell and James Blake should have talked ;)

Long weekend off to a good start.....

Yesterday was pretty jam-packed with awesomeness. Here's how it went down:

• 9am hair cut & highlight appointment. Have I mentioned lately how cheap the cost of living is here compared to DC??? Hair salons would be a prime example. Cut and color there would be in the $180-200 range (awful, I know....and mildly embarrassing that I would actually fork that over). Here....$87! So reasonable :)
  
• Stopped by Starbucks on the way home for a slice of pumpkin loaf, and a latte....mmmmm
• Went to the Illinois v. Missouri football game. It was lots of fun (even though we don't necessarily cheer for either team.....we pulled for the "home state" to win). I met a bunch of SB's coworkers, and we all had fun hanging out in the owners' suite. Good times!
  
• Came home, watched the recorded UGA game (not such a good outcome...dang it).
• PS - how about all of the crazy underdogs in the women's bracket of the US Open?? That Melanie Oudin is at it again, and I'm loving it! Nothing like a 17-year-old American with an upbeat, likable personality to win me over :)

Ok, I'm off for a run! We have to return something to Pottery Barn.....and then we'll probably catch "500 Days of Summer" at the movie theater later on. I heart 3 day weekends!!

I heart summer....

The lovely Short Southern Momma featured this on her blog today, and I thought I'd give it a whirl! Now that it's September, and the air's a bit more crisp -- there are only a few more summer days to fully enjoy these summer favorites:

Summer cocktail: I'd say pinot grigio, or a margarita on the rocks

Summer Movie: This summer I've seen the following movies in the theater: The Proposal; I Love You, Man; The Hangover

Summer Song: Anything upbeat, and that can keep me running in the heat. This summer, I was a big fan of Beyonce's "Single Ladies," and a few choice Lady Gaga diddies :)

Favorite Summer Outfit: After a long day at the beach, I love to shower up and put on a cute sundress for a fun evening. I'm also a big fan of white -- pants + shorts (and still struggle with the idea that the "no white after labor day" rule is kind of over). Plus... any opportunity to wear my tennis gear and play outside makes for a perfect summer day :)

Summer Reading: Any good Jodi Picoult, or Pat Conroy book will always entertain me!

Favorite Summer Moment: Well this summer, that's an easy answer....getting married!! Our July 11 anniversary will be a fun date to celebrate for many years to come!