Wedding

some of my friends spent a good chunk of our adolescence planning their weddings. they knew what their dress would look like, what they would use as guest favors, what colors they would decorate with and so on.

i hated men until about 24--and so i didn't think a lot about what i wanted my wedding to be like. assuming i got over my all consuming hatred of men and tied the knot, i did have a small list of things i wanted. back in those days my ultra romantic wedding wish list looked something like this:

• elopement (which fulfills the "ultra romantic" requirement on my list. clearly, i read too many cheesy novels as a kid)

• white pantsuit in lieu of wedding dress (NOT like ellen, LIKE christy brinkley circa 1994)

• delicious post ceremony dinner (because nothing says celebration like an opportunity to eat my emotions).

michael and i were married on Friday. here is how i did on my oldie wedding wish list:

• i think, technically, if you invite your parents it doesn't count as an elopement (but i am so glad we did invite our parents--i mean seriously a wedding without parents?!?).

• the white pantsuit turns out to be one of those good in theory, bad in practice things. wedding dress shopping is hard. i gave up and bought a purple dress (accented with beautiful peonies picked out for me by my lovely mother.)
  

• we had the most amazing dinner at oceanaire (i'm still full and it is sunday).

so even though i basically bombed my wedding wish list (1/3 is kinda bad)....i am so happy with how things worked out. Isn't it just the best when something works out better than you'd imagined it!

Paging Mango Itchybald to customer service...

your "mother" left this message for you:

DON'T move to san francisco....

(please)
lauren leaves tomorrow. i think i am going to have a mental breakdown. thank goodness for g-chat. laureny even though i am so sad you are leaving--i hope sf is perfect, warm, and swarming with eligible gentlemen. i can't wait to come and visit!

and seriously let's DO this cooking blog thing. it will help us keep in touch.

Dare to Dream

Today I have a post on Dare to Dream. Dare to Dream is a blog started by Whitney Johnson. Whitney's dream is to help other women pursue their dreams. She uses her blog as a tool to help connect, encourage, and support women as they work towards their goals. If you are interested, please feel free to read through the articles and leave a comment.

(I think leaving a comment entitles you to be entered into a draw for a $75 spa gift certificate)

By Popular Request...

Levian Knockoffs:
2 sticks of butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
3 1/3 cup flour
2 cups chocolate chips
chopped walnuts to taste.

that's right no vanilla.

mix ingredients. chill dough overnight (i have NO idea why but it makes a huge difference in how the cookies turn out). shape dough into 12 "patties" (yes it only makes 12 but they are big so instead of eating a dozen cookies like i normally do, i just eat four). bake at 350 for 16-18 minutes. this temp/time combo will give you a cookie that is slightly crispy on the edges and soft and chewy in the middle. They should look something like this:

(picture poached from lauren's blog)

oh and by the way....i totally won the cookie eat off...and i have the love handles to prove it.

Help Your Self to an Opinion

sometimes forming an opinion about issues is difficult. i'd like to say i have an opinion about the financial crisis, or the auto bailouts, or obama's economic stimulus plans, but based on the media coverage i've seen and read, i'm just confused. it is hard to find analysis that isn't overly emotional or ideological, analysis that is based on research and facts instead of just public opinion, analysis that presents both sides of an issue. intelligence squared is here to make opinion forming easier, one debate at a time. using oxford style debating (one motion, one moderator, two groups of experts facing off), intelligence squared helps inform the public about policy debates by putting experts on each side of an issue into conversation with each other. if you are looking to form an opinion on anything from is it ok to pay for sex to should illegal immigrants be allowed to stay in the usa, chances are they have debated it over at intelligence squared.

you can buy tickets and watch the debates live in nyc or if you are cheap like me you can listen on npr.

what issue do you want to form an opinion about?

Eat Your Heart Out Mrs Field:

so it took:

6 cups of flour

4 eggs

a pound of butter

two days and two tries,

but i did it. i made a perfect chocolate chip cookie; slightly crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. a levian bakery knockoff.....actually i think they are better. sorry sarah, no chickpeas in these (i decided to master "normal" cookies before i branch off into experimental baking).

and just in case you are interested, our cookies consumed count is:

mercedes 4 michael 4 (but if you count all the dough i ate, i'm the clear winner)

Bennett for Senate

for most of my life i've been a liberal; a left of center pinko commie liberal. i like my socialized medicine, farm subsidies and government owned utility companies.

never in my wildest dreams did i imagine sitting down with a republican senator and actually LIKING what they had to say. funny how things work though, because that is exactly what happened this morning when michael and i had breakfast with senator bob bennett (r-utah).

so why do i like him? while answering a question about the difference between the republican party and the democratic party senator bennett said simply:

the republicans are the party of free markets and the democrats are the party of big government.

until just a few months ago i would have said that government sponsored solutions are the best way to fix america's problems, but economics 101, milton friedman, and michael carey have convinced me otherwise. i think the free market is the answer and senator bennett thinks so too

(and for bonus points with me, he supports comprehensive immigration reform).

now i have been sitting here all evening wondering if supporting a republican makes me a republican and if i am comfortable with that label, and what i actually think about each party's position on the issues i personally care about. this is confusing stuff! i like obama. i hate a lot of republicans. where does that leave me? i'm probably getting carried away here. don't you think worrying about my political affiliation is putting the cart before the horse, i mean i can't even vote yet!

Commencement Day

let me tell you: harvard does it right. when i graduated we sat in an auditorium for like 5 hours while they read the names of every student who graduated from the faculty of arts and sciences. it was long. it was boring. i fell asleep. for michael's graduation we got to sit outside and munch on a delicious lunch while they read the names of all the people we didn't care about. totally painless....which is the least they could do after three looooong years of law school.

here is to the class of 2009!

michael with his parents marjean and george

me and michael