And the Doughnuts? Sublime.

I apologize for that title.  It's a stretch of a pun involving a lyric from Guys and Dolls.  If you say you recognize it, I'll know you're just trying to make me feel better.  Either that, or you're as big of a musical nerd as I am.  Moving on.

What do cupcakes, whoopie pies, and cake pops all have in common?  Not only are they trendy, cute, sweet, and delicious, they are also versatile.  All of these individually-sized desserts come in a variety of flavors.  Doughnuts should be no different.  I know, we're changing gears here from dessert to breakfast, but why not?  They're sweet, too.  They can be fruity or chocolaty.  Light and flaky or deep and rich.  Atlanta's Sublime Doughnuts, conveniently located near Georgia Tech off of Tenth Street, has captured this versatility.  See for yourself:

Top to bottom, then left to right:

• Deep Dark Chocolate Fudge Icing
• Honey Glazed Cinnamon Swirl
• Caramel Apple Fritter
• Dulce de Leche
• Fresh Strawberry N Cream
• Raspberry Filled Heart with Dark Chocolate
• Red Velvet Cake
• Elvis Style Chocolate Banana Fritter
• S'mores
• Nutella
• Chocolate Wild Berry Fritter
• Oreo

...and that's only about half the menu.

One of their signature doughnuts is the Atown Cream.  It's a Boston Cream doughnut in the shape of the letter A.  In fact, you can custom order doughnuts in the shape of any letter.  How cute would it be to serve monogram doughnuts as wedding favors?  Or to get a birthday cake that's not really cake at all, but instead doughnuts that spell out "Happy Birthday?"

I found that each doughnut was light and fluffy, but packed with more flavor than your average doughnut.  More flavor and less sugar is always a good thing.  Among the dozen we chose, the Raspberry Filled Heart was my favorite when it came to appearance:

...and the Fresh Strawberry N Cream was my favorite when it came to flavor:

They weren't kidding when they said "fresh!"  What about you?  Have you found any hole-in-the-wall doughnut shops in your neck of the woods?

SFC: Week 4

Yikes!  I can't believe it's almost May and this post series is already a month in!  Spring is flying by, and this challenge will be over before we know it.  How did I do with my goals this week?  Let's find out!






What have you done this week to help you achieve your goals?

1. Create a realistic plan to buy a house within the next year.  We got our (state) tax refunds!  Okay, so that's not really anything that's within our control towards house-buying.  But, we did put every penny away in our house fund.

Occasionally, I've been getting a little discouraged when I think about just how much we'll need to save in the next few months.  I don't know if we'll end up with as much as we wanted, but we're trying really hard to get there.  I'm just trying to focus on that!

2. Maintain a minimal level of clutter.  Little by little, our apartment is getting cleaner!  I inventoried all of our wedding crap that we need to sell.  I cleaned the bathtub.  Dave cleaned his office.  It's getting there.

3. Act like newlyweds in order to feel like newlyweds.  With Passover and Easter this week, we've talked a lot about our faiths, traditions, and plans for the future.  I love how much we're able to compromise with our two different backgrounds.  I think it'll make raising kids a lot easier someday!  We had a compromise dinner of Passover brisket on Easter Sunday.  It rocked.

4. Make more good meals.  Meals have been better.  Snacking?  Not so much.  One proactive approach we took with this was to make a whole bunch of hard boiled eggs.  They're great snacks: filling, satisfying, full of protein.  It's a lot healthier to pack one of those for a long afternoon at work than it is to grab something from the snack machine.

5. Remember why you're building your family's roots in Atlanta.  I met up with a friend at Cafe Intermezzo the other day.  One bite of dessert there and you'd never live anywhere else. 

What did you do this past week to make you feel good about yourself?

This sounds kinda silly (and not fun), but I started the process of changing my last name.  I went to the courthouse, the Social Security office, the Tag & Title office, and the DMV.  I also mailed in the paperwork to change my physical therapist license.  I still need to talk to the folks in charge of my student loans, my alumni association (including my sorority), and my bank.  It's one thing off the to do list and it makes me actually feel married.  That definitely feels good. 

Fill in the blanks:

Love comes naturally to me.  I care.  About everything.  A lot.

Relaxing does not come naturally to me.  I'm much more relaxed when I'm getting crap done, if that makes sense.

I wish tanning came naturally to me.  I love my porcelain skin, and I'm sure I'll be thankful for these genes when my peers start to get really wrinkly.  But right now, I have a tiny sunburn on the side of my neck that's peeling and it makes me hate my life a little bit. 

What is your favorite Easter candy?

Reese's eggs!  Among all the Reese's products, they are the perfect chocolate-to-peanut butter ratio.  We got a giant bag at Sam's right before the wedding, hoping that our wedding party (or whoever was in our apartment on any given day) would devour them.  They were too late. 

Finally, the positive picture of the week!

Every few days, another friend adds some wedding pictures to Facebook.  I have hundreds of pictures of the same moments from twelve different people, but I still get excited with each notification.  This is mostly because with each new bundle of shared photos, there's always at least one absolute gem.  I'm talking about that one shot that no one else got.  When my sister posted pictures (that her friends had taken with her camera while she was up there next to me), I noticed this shot with my pregnant bridesmaid.  This mom-to-be also served as our ring bearer, which I'm really excited to tell her future son about someday.  She's getting really tired of being pregnant, and she's due any day now, but I just wanted to post this picture to remind her how beautiful she is and how much I love her.

How's your spring going?  Any updates on your goals?

Sunday Brunch: Passover

When I was little, my mom always had me bring a driedel to December show-and-tell sessions.  We were living in North Carolina at the time, and I'm sure most kids in our area had never met a Jew before.  I remember feeling like a strange, exotic animal on display at the zoo.  My classmates would run home and tell their parents about this weird thing that they learned; almost instantly, I'd receive phone calls from my 7-year-old friends inviting me to church to save me.  Now that I'm all grown up, I've learned that most Christians are kind and nonjudgmental (in fact, I married one).  Religion has turned into an interesting topic of adult conversation, and talking about customs and beliefs is a wonderful way to learn about different cultures.

On that note, I'd like to spend this Easter Sunday morning sharing a bit of my culture with you.  Today also falls during the days of the Jewish holiday, Passover.  It's basically the story of Exodus from the Old Testament.  Watch The Ten Commandments or Prince of Egypt; I'm not gonna bore you with the nitty gritty.  We were slaves in Egypt, and now we're free.  It's a time of celebration, most of which involves lots of wine, food, and family.  Oh, and eating these nasty crackers called matzo.

Matzo is unleavened bread.  The reason we eat matzo on Passover is to signify the sacrifice our ancestors made to get the hell out of Egypt stat before the pharaoh changed his mind.  They didn't have time to bake bread, so they put the dough on their backs and fled.  The harsh desert sun cooked the bread, but it was flat.  We're supposed to eat this, and get rid of our leavened bread (or if you're a laid back Jew like I am, you just feed it to your gentile husband).

The good news is that even though matzo is kind of dull, there's a lot you can do with it!  I'm sure you've heard of matzo ball soup, but did you know it also makes a pretty good sandwich?  I'm a big fan of the fancy PB&J: almond butter and TJ's pumpkin butter.  It can also be used to make french toast...which brings us to...

Imagine for a moment that you have invited some folks over for Passover Brunch.  You're dressed to the nines in your fabulous springtime hostess gear:

 

{1-4} Anthropologie

Then, you wow them with some serious Kosher nosh:

Matzo Brie (or Matzo French Toast)

Ingredients

• 3 matzo
• 2 large eggs
• 1 T skim milk
• 1.5 T butter
• Maple syrup, powdered sugar, fresh fruit, or all of the above

Directions

Lightly beat the eggs and milk in a large bowl.  Well, the bowl doesn't really have to be that large, but it does have to be deep.  You'll see.

Crush the matzo into 1-2 inch pieces and throw it in the bowl.  Toss to coat (this is where you'll thank me for using a deep bowl.  Let it sit there and soak for at least 40 minutes.

Melt the butter in a large pan over medium-high heat.

Add the matzo with tongs.  Cook for about 3-5 minutes on one side, then flip with tongs and cook another 3-5 minutes.

When it's done, it should look and smell like french toast.  The texture will be slightly more chewy.  Plate it up pretty and you're good to go!

What's your favorite Passover or Easter Brunch dish?  Got any good entertaining recipes to share?

SFC: Week 3

Well, it's week two for me, but week three of the challenge so...err...just go with it!








To refresh your memory, the Spring Fever Challenge is all about setting goals in an effort to improve one's own mood and to inspire others to do the same.  I'm tackling this challenge with a twist: I've set goals related to being a newlywed!

What have you done this week to help you achieve your goals?

1. Create a realistic plan to buy a house within the next year.  When we last left off, my husband and I had purchased Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace course.  We received our at-home kit and have been diligent about working through it, and we've really stuck with our plan to save whenever possible.  We've both made sacrifices, and it's really nice to see the results of our efforts showing up in our savings account.  To be honest though, I'm not really digging the course as much as I thought I would.  I find the fifth grade reading level insulting, and occasionally Mr. Ramsey makes comments like "Barbara Bush was the greatest first lady we've ever had," which isn't even true.  If we're going to go Republican here, at least Mrs. Reagan taught us to say no to drugs.  But I digress.  The point is that even though it's not as enjoyable as I thought it would be, we're still giving it the college try.  I'm proud of our dedication.

2. Maintain a minimal level of clutter.  We vacuumed, bathed the dog, and we've been really good about keeping our beautiful new dishes clean.  However, I really want to make some more progress with the clutter in our closets, office, etc.  Maybe this goal needs a little more work next week...

3. Act like newlyweds in order to feel like newlyweds.  One thing I really like about this one is that we've been a lot better about eating together sans TV.  We have a horrible habit of eating dinner on the couch in front of the TV, which leads to catching up on endless hours of DVR.  Evening productivity gets sucked away, and we have too much background noise to have any quality time together.  We've been turning the TV off during most dinners, and just enjoying each other's conversation.

4. Make more good meals.  This requires a little extra creativity this week, since it's Passover!  I'm not the strictest Jew in the world, but I do try to observe the whole hametz thing (avoiding leavened food) every year.  Dave and I made brinner (breakfast for dinner) this evening.  We had fresh hashbrowns mixed with scrambled eggs, salsa, and reduced-fat cheddar.  It was high in protein, low in fat, and filling!  Added bonus: eggs and potatoes are wicked cheap.

5. Remember why you're building your family's roots in Atlanta.  Before sundown yesterday (when I could still eat noodles), Dave and I tried a new restaurant, Pho 24.  Dave had never had Vietnamese food before, and I hadn't had pho in ages.  It was a delicious hole in the wall off of Buford Highway, Atlanta's greatest nook for ethnic food.  Plus, we had a Scoutmob coupon for 50% off, so the two of us ate a ton and still ended up with leftovers for a grand total of $12.

What did you do this past week to make you feel good about yourself?

There are few things that make me happier than making new friends.  I'm an extrovert and I thrive by feeding off of others' energy.  I love meeting new people, I love finding things in common, and I love having memorable conversations.  This past weekend, Dave and I traveled to New Orleans to meet up with about 25 of my fellow Weddingbee writers.  I had only met a handful of them previously.  It was good to see some of the girls again, and wonderful to meet new people whom I had spoken to online for months.  Did we spend some money that we could have put towards the house?  Yes.  Was it worth it?  Absolutely.  New Orleans-themed blog posts coming soon!

Are your SFC goals your ultimate goals or steps to your ultimate goals?  Do you find it easier to set big goals or do you like making mini-goals?

They're kind of both?  I really like my goals, and I think they're good things to keep in the back of my mind forever.  Saving money and working on a relationship are life-long necessities.  Still, I think they're just part of my ultimate goals: owning a home and starting a family.  We're working towards that first one, and we're definitely not ready for the second one yet!  I think I like making goals this way: having a larger goal and having smaller partial goals that feed into it.  Mini-goals help you see progress, but big goals give you something to work towards. 

What are some of your ultimate goals, things on your bucket list? 

A lot of the things on my bucket list are just that...things.  Owning a home that has a library with a sliding ladder, seeing SNL live.  Many of the items involve travel, though, which is definitely a priority of mine.  Still, my ultimate goals have more to do with where I am as a person (individually, romantically, and professionally), rather than what I have. 

If you could achieve only one more thing in your life, what would it be? 

The ultimate achievement would be raising a child.  I've always wanted a family, and I chose a career that would accommodate that.  I know I'm not ready yet, but I hope I will be soon.

Finally, the positive picture of the week!
 
 

When we were in New Orleans, we volunteered with the Lower 9th Ward Village.  This community center is located in an area that unfortunately received a lot of Hurricane Katrina's wrath.  There will be a post soon with more details, but in the meantime, please enjoy the optimism and beauty in this graffiti.

On that note, in what unlikely places have you found beauty and optimism?

Organic and OTP: L'Thai

Maybe it's all this talk about house hunting, but something's got me thinking about the suburbs (otherwise known as the area Outside the Perimeter, or OTP, here in ATL).  Some of my favorite places in Atlanta are its quirky, hole-in-the-wall, off-the-beaten-path, intown eateries.  Would I miss out on such indulgences if I moved OTP?  Well, thanks to Scoutmob, I recently learned that good food exists in Suburbia, too!  Oh Scoutmob, you've never steered me wrong!

Dave and I took my dad out to dinner for his birthday at L'Thai, an organic Thai restaurant.  The original L'Thai is located in Tucker, but this particular location is part of Smyrna's West Village.  West Village, by the way, is super cute.

 {image via Smyrna Vinings}

My dad works for a large hotel company, and has enjoyed conducting training sessions for fellow employees all over the country.  Occasionally, training has taken him abroad.  Some of his fondest travel memories took place during his trip to Bangkok, and he often speaks of Thailand with a tinge of nostalgia in his voice.  When we told him we were taking him to try a new Thai place right near his suburban home, he was pretty psyched.

L'Thai is apparently the only organic Thai restaurant outside of Thailand.  I know!  I was surprised, too!  I believed that claim as soon as we stepped inside the restaurant.  Traditional details met modern decor, and every smell we encountered confirmed that this place was legit.

We were served promptly, and often.  In fact, several different waiters and waitresses visited our table intermittently.  Though they were checking on us pretty consistently, it never felt intrusive...just attentive.  The owner of the restaurant stopped by a couple of times just to chat, and he could not have been more charming.

We started off with basil rolls, which were different than I expected.  I'm accustomed to basil rolls that look like this:

{image via Thai Pavilion}

The basil rolls at L'Thai looked like this:

Don't get me wrong, both versions are delicious, but they are different dishes.  The basil rolls typically found at thai restaurants consist of rice paper filled with shrimp and pork, rice noodles, and basil.  The basil rolls at L'Thai were all veggie and much lighter, yet somehow still just as flavorful.  Plus, I really liked the presentation.  Bite-size pieces were perfect for sharing!

For my entree, I had the Pra Ram Long-Song.  This was a chef specialty consisting of lean, grass-fed beef smothered in peanut curry sauce and served on a bed of spinach and broccoli.  It was big enough to turn into two meals, but good enough not to. (And possibly healthy enough?  Maybe?  There was green stuff in there!)  Okay, okay, I ate the whole thing!

We had turned in our dessert menus, assuming that we were too stuffed after our delicious dinners.  But then, my dad started up with the nostalgia again, this time about some mango sticky rice dish.  I told him to ask the waiter if they had such a thing.  My dad asked, almost apprehensively, hoping that just maybe it would live up to his expectations.  They waiter smiled, and said that of course they had it!

When they brought over our dessert, I was a little surprised by the appearance.  Shouldn't rice look like rice?

Apparently, this appearance is normal.  The sticky rice looks that way because of all of the brown sugar. *drools*

It was an excellent meal.  I learned a lot about Thai food, I had a great time, and it was a pretty good deal thanks to Scoutmob.  What's your favorite Thai dish?  Do you have a favorite Thai restaurant?

A Newlywed with Spring Fever

After a week of cleaning, working, and getting back to the real world newlywedded bliss, I'm more than ready to make my triumphant return to blogging on a regular basis.  My blogging buddy Amy over at Life's Journey with a Smile started a new series that I just couldn't resist taking part in, and I figured it was a great way to kick things off!








Here's the quick and dirty: the Spring Fever Challenge is all about one of my favorite topics, positivity.  The writers participating will share their goals for the season in an effort to improve their own mood and to inspire others to do the same.  Since Dave and I are newlyweds, we decided that tackling this series together would be a fun way to start our marriage on a positive note.  Dave's a pretty private guy, and I can't imagine him blogging, but we've come up with our goals together, we'll be working on them together, and I'll be sharing them with you.

Without further ado, here is the Spring Fever Challenge: Newlywed Edition!  Unfortunately, this series started last week while I was on my honeymoon soooo today is kind of a two for one...which means it's a little longer than these posts will usually be.  Bear with me!

What are your goals for the Spring Fever Challenge, why did you choose them, and what is your plan of action to make them happen?

1. Create a realistic plan to buy a house within the next year.  I love our apartment.  It has crown molding and vaulted ceilings, and it's a pretty good price for the amount of space we have.  However, it's right next to the very noisy I-85, we've outgrown linoleum kitchens, and the apartment complex itself has really gone downhill (have I mentioned that my car was stolen out of our gated parking lot?).  Our lease is up in February, so we started researching other opportunities to rent, as in townhouses or single-family homes.  We were shocked to find out how much 500 more square feet and a small backyard adds to a rent payment!  We figured now was as good a time as any to become home owners.  If we come up with a plan, start saving, and start looking, hopefully we'll be able to accomplish this purchase next year.

2. Maintain a minimal level of clutter.  During the months of wedding planning, our guest room was filled with all kinds of crap.  Now that the wedding is over, we have even more crap!  We have wedding stuff that we no longer need and would like to get rid of, presents that we need to find homes for, and old housewares that have since been replaced and need to go to Goodwill.  We are slowly but surely trying to reduce these piles.

3. Act like newlyweds in order to feel like newlyweds.  Keep your mind out of the gutter!  I'm talking about spending time together!  Dave and I have been together for six years and we've lived together for three.  Even though we got back from our honeymoon last week, the honeymoon's been over for a long time.  Now that we're married, I want to try even harder to keep things romantic.  We'll try to spend more time together, rather than with other friends.  We'll try to go on more dates (we're big fans of takeout and 30 Rock on Netflix Instant Watch The Big Night In).  Most importantly, we'll turn the TV off more often and have more conversations.

4. Make more good meals.  This one's going to be tough for me.  I love to cook, but I really love to go out to eat.  This goal will not only help us to eat healthy food, it will also help us to save money, thus working towards goal number one.  I think meal planning and thinking ahead will be a big part of making this goal a success.

5. Remember why you're building your family's roots in Atlanta.  When Dave and I moved here for our higher degrees, it didn't take long for this city to grow on us and convince us to stay.  After graduation, we started our careers here and plan to eventually start families here.  I want to remember why we chose to stay.  Spring is so beautiful in Atlanta; it's important to get out and immerse yourself in it.  Be outside.  Do something touristy.  Go someplace new.  Explore.  Yep, I'm psyched about this goal.

What have you done this week to help you achieve your goals?

1. Create a realistic plan to buy a house within the next year.  We paid off most of our wedding credit card bills, and we bought Dave Ramsey's at-home Financial Peace course.  I've heard great things about it and when I completed my purchase on his website, it forced me to pay with a debit card.  If credit cards aren't even an option to purchase the course, I feel like we'll have a lot to learn!  (Um, that's how you get miles?) Hopefully this will get us started on a strict budget to help with saving.  Then, we'll just need to start looking!

2. Maintain a minimal level of clutter.  Yesterday, Dave and I went to Bed Bath & Beyond and Crate & Barrel, returned some items, and completed a few registry categories.  Then, we went home and emptied out our cabinets.  We packed everything up to take to Goodwill, and we filled our cabinets with our new presents.  This put a serious dent in our clutter pile, and now our kitchen no longer looks like it belongs to college kids.

3. Act like newlyweds in order to feel like newlyweds.  I gotta hand it to Dave on this one.  I woke up this morning to the smell of freshly made breakfast.  Our dining room table was set with our new dishes and our new silverware, and he had plated a spinach and feta omelet, as well as a cup of blueberry yogurt topped with bananas.  We ate breakfast together, without TV, without the internet, just talking.  It was lovely.

4. Make more good meals.  We had my dad over for dinner the other night.  Dave grilled a lean yet flavorful steak.  I cooked quinoa in MSG-free/reduced-fat beef broth, then stirred in sauteed veggies.  I also put together a salad with homemade balsamic and agave dressing.  The meal was high protein, low carb, low fat, and not too pricey.

5. Remember why you're building your family's roots in Atlanta.  I came back from our honeymoon with a little cold, but I pushed myself to hang out with friends on Friday.  I was so glad I did.  We had a great time, and it was nice to remind myself how lucky we are to have found such wonderful people in this town.  We are truly blessed to have such awesome people in our lives.

What does this challenge mean to you?

I'm noticing, as I'm describing my goals and explaining what we've done already to work towards them, that many of them overlap.  I think there's an underlying theme of establishing a strong foundation for our marriage, which causes me to take this challenge very seriously!  As I said before, positivity is such an important quality to have in your life.  Why not work on a project to stir up a little more positivity?

What did you do this past week to make you feel good about yourself?

Now that life is starting to return to a state of normalcy, I've found that I have a lot to catch up on with loved ones!  I'm trying to get to them one at a time.  This morning, I talked to my mom for about an hour.  Hearing about our wedding from her perspective was really fun! 

Is your mindset future-oriented or living in the now?  How does this impact you when you are working towards a goal?

Ohhh I am definitely a planner.  I'm very much future-oriented, and I have to make a conscious effort to stay in the present.  When working towards a goal, I often find that I get ahead of myself.  Making to do lists is helpful for me, especially when I assign myself different tasks for different days.  That way, I force myself to only focus on one thing at a time.

Is there someone in your {real} life that inspires you to strive for the best?

Honestly?  Me.  I'm a total perfectionist...not so much with other people, but I'm very hard on myself.  I strive for the best, and I'm often disappointed in myself if I fall short.  As far as inspiration goes, it really depends on the goal and the task.  For example, if it's a professional goal, I'm often inspired by my colleagues or my former classmates.  Regarding these goals, I'm inspired by my husband.  We want these things for us, which is why we've decided to tackle this challenge together.

Let's get to know each other!  What is something most people (er...fellow bloggers) don't know about you?

Dave really loves bad movies (think Sci Fi made-for-TV), and I'm slowly being sucked in.  Last night, we watched The Room, which is reportedly the worst movie ever made.  I agree that it was bad, but it was awesomely bad.

Do you read blogs on the individual websites or via Google Reader?

There are a couple that I have bookmarked and will read individually (like Weddingbee), but I love the convenience of Google Reader and use it often.  If I'm on Twitter and someone tweets a new post, I'll go to the direct link, but usually I use the reader.

And finally, the positive picture of the week!

{image by Evan Hampton / via his Tumblr}

Spring, Atlanta, love, and Coke...who could ask for anything more?  What about you?  What are you doing to spread positivity this spring?

I'm a Married Spud!

Last Saturday began as any ordinary weekend morning.  No wait, that's not right.  It was the opposite of ordinary!  I woke up before the crack of dawn, my apartment became instantly crowded, and I spent the next few hours in a cloud of make up and hairspray.  The cloud cleared, and my bridesmaids raced me over to our wedding venue.  I met Dave under the chuppah, and we exchanged some very significant words.

Yep, we are now married!  It's crazy, it's surreal, and it's AWESOME!  Married life is good, and our wedding was absolutely spectacular.  Every time I talk about our wedding, I feel like one ginormous cliche.  "It was the happiest day of my life."  "Everything was perfect."  "It was better than I ever dreamed it would be."  I'm embarrassed to admit that all of these words have come out of my mouth, but I don't know how else to describe it!  It really was the perfect day.  We had gorgeous weather, our decor came together really nicely, and everyone keeps telling me how much fun they had!

Our friends and family are starting to post pictures on Facebook, and it's been fun seeing our wedding through their eyes.  While we're waiting on our pro-pics, I thought I'd leave you with this photo (taken by a friend's Blackberry!) in the meantime.  It was the first photo we were tagged in on Facebook, and I think it's my favorite so far because it perfectly sums up the emotions of the day: Dave is gesturing the universal symbol for victory, I'm holding my dress like a little girl pretending to be a princess, and our guests are smiling and waving flags.

I just wanted to poke my little married head in and let y'all know that everything went swimmingly.  The wedding was fabulous...and our minimoon in Asheville, though brief, was very relaxing.  Asheville is apparently a pretty neat little foodie town, and I have some delicious posts in store for y'all in the very near future!  I promise to be back to a regular posting schedule soooooon!