World of Coca-Cola

One of my many, MANY vices is drinking a lot of soda. My soda of preference is a diet coke or diet pepsi. And Atlanta is home of Coca-Cola and in 2007 they opened a 60,000 square foot exhibition-attraction of all things Coca-Cola. It was both fantastically and grossly entertaining. Fantastic because the exhibits and movies - a 3D show and a cute animation, were well done, funny, colorful and carefree. But it was slightly gross, too because of how easily we (I) can be drawn to the sugary caffeinated addiction found in a 12oz can or 20oz bottle.

Admittedly, I really enjoyed my tour at the World of Coca-Cola. Not only do I drink Diet Coke, I also love pop culture. Throw in lots of colors and a couple of cute shows and I'll certainly consider it $15 well spent. But I felt guilty, too. Because I believe it's a problem how much we drink processed, sugared, caffeinated drinks. And I am so very much a part of the problem. So I may ask myself, 'what am I doing to address my guilt?' Um. Unfortunately, very little. I drink soda 3-5x a week, almost always over 12oz each time. I've tried only drinking it at home and not ordering it when we go out to eat. I succeeded for about 4 months, but once I fell off the wagon, well. You know that lack of fortitude I've talked about before? Yea, sticktoitiveness is not my strong suit. The only thing I can say I consistently do and have for a couple of years is that I never buy soda in plastic bottles. But that's another issue not to be discussed at this time. :)

_

Georgia On My Mind

I've been home for a few days and just now sorting thru the photos I took in Atlanta. As I mentioned in my last post, on my 1st day in a new city, I like to have lunch atop a skyrise hotel.

The Westin is the 5th tallest building in Atlanta at 73 stories high. The restaurant is on the 72nd floor. I got a great birds-eye view of Atlanta up there.

This is the CNN Center, The Georgia Dome and the Omni Hotel. That building is the world headquarters of CNN. Their main newsrooms and studios are located there.

The restaurant rotates in a clockwise direction so the next sight to see was

Centennial Olympic Park, the site of the 1996 Summer Olympics.
The Fountain of Rings is a key feature of the park. The fountain has 251 jets that shoot 12 to 35 feet in the air, and even in mid-50s temperatures, kids were playing in it.

Here's more of a landscape view - the CNN Center, Georgia Dome, Georgia World Congress Center, Olympic Park and flat Georgia lands in the background.

Rotating slightly clockwise and north of the Olympic Park is the Georgia Aquarium in Pemberton Place, along w/ World Of Coca-Cola. I couldn't get a good photo of WOCC from the restaurant though - buildings blocking the view.

(7)Facing north, a major freeway system going to North and Midtown Atlanta.

The Bank of America Plaza building is the tallest in Atlanta and is in Midtown. It's the 8th tallest in the country at 1,023 feet high. In comparison, the hotel I was in was 723 feet high.

The 2nd tallest building in Atlanta is the SunTrust Plaza. Below it, in the foreground is the Hyatt Regency, our hotel and where the conference that Jimmy went to was held. It's funny, because when we're in that hotel, it feels tall because we're on the 17th floor. But compared to the buildings surrounding it, it's puny!

This is the view looking north east. In the far distance I think I make out a mountain range. Appalachians? Ginnie? Anyone? help?

The Marriott Marquis is within the top 20 tallest buildings in Atlanta at 15. At the bottom left of this picture, see the circular building in the shadow of the building next to it? That's the part of the hotel we were in. We were on the 17th floor (out of 22) and looked right into those 3 buildings. Thankfully, neither one of us has claustrophobia issues.

Stone Mountain, east of downtown Atlanta. Maybe next year when we'll have a rental car, we'll check it out.

This is 191 Peachtree Tower. Built in 1990 and at 770 feet high, was taller than the building I was in.

A few "cute" smaller buildings downtown, compared to the skyscrapers, yet still full of personality. south downtown neighborhood of 5 Points.

Georgia State Capitol and Turner Field where the Atlanta Braves play, just south of downtown and 5 Points.

After one full revolution, I was back to CNN Center and Georgia Dome.

I have to admit, I was 'forced' to order dessert, delicious key lime mousse, so I could extend my visit at the restaurant through one complete revolution of the restaurant.That's my story and I'm sticking to it.


_

Midnight Train to Good Eats!

I love Atlanta!

I haven't even scratched the surface of this city, in fact, I've only explored part of downtown and took MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) one stop north for dinner...but it's enough for me to know that this is a might fine city. Not just the sights, but also the Good Eats (which...you may know, that Alton Brown is from Atlanta)!

Jimmy's here for a conference and I get to tag along. Lucky lucky me! But what that means is I'm on my own for the day while Jimmy's cooped up in the hotel conference room for 3 days. Thankfully, I get him back for dinner.

I have a little routine whenever I'm out exploring solo in a city I'm not familiar with. On the 1st day, I check to see if any of the sky-rises have a restaurant on their top floor that offer reasonably priced lunches, ie: under $15.

As luck would have it, just 2 blocks down from our hotel, the Westin has a revolving restaurant on the 73rd floor with soups, salads and sandwiches under $15. Whooo hooo!

So while I enjoyed my lunch, I took lots of photos and got a good baring of where everything was.
This is Georgia's Capitol Building. I'll share more photos in another post.

After lunch, I walked to Centennial Olympic Park, site of the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Then I went to the "World Of Coca-Cola". Both worthy of their own posts later.

Jimmy was out till 6:30 and was ravenous when he finally got out. They served bloody steak on top of some mashed potatoes for his lunch. He is not steak eater, especially when it's bloody. And he won't go out of his way to eat mashed potatoes, but will eat it if it's served. So at least he had some of the mashed potatoes that wasn't contaminated by the meat.

My cousin recommended Gladys Knight and Ron Winan's Chicken and Waffles. In most cases, Jimmy and I won't wait more than 15 minutes for a table. We're just impatient like that. But we had a 45 minute wait and it was so worth it.
I had the Chicken and Waffles, which was called "The Midnight Train"
and Jimmy had catfish and grits. We enjoyed it so much, we joked about going back on Sunday night for dinner. Tomorrow night, we might go back to the Westin and enjoy the nighttime views!

_

Hints of Spring

I'm enjoying the days of sunshine and blue skies we've had lately. The warmth of the sun is revitalizing.
_

Blackout in Chinatown and A Bit of Pukey Cuteness

Jimmy and I went to San Francisco for Valentine's. It was also the celebration of Chinese New Year.
So we were casually driving down Grant Ave, watching all the people, listening to the firecrackers,
and enjoying the sights and sounds of a busy Chinatown.

We heard sirens coming towards us, and as we approached an intersection, we saw the big fire truck quickly coming down the road so (of course) we waited for it.
It turned onto Grant Ave. right in front of us, barely missing that black car you see on the left.

Then stopped, blocking the road, so we patiently waited till we could move. What else could we do? Then another fire truck came up behind us, blocking us in from both ends. A fireman from the truck in back came to us and told us we had to back out, but right at that moment, the front truck moved forward just enough for us to squeeze by, so the fireman told us to go forward.

After we got past all the fire trucks, I said to Jimmy "Dang, I should have had my video camera out instead!" So even though I thought it was too late, I still took it out and start taking video as we continued down Grant Ave. I liked the sounds of the firecrackers.

So, we're casually driving down Grant Ave. again, enjoying the sites and sounds of the city. Then suddenly...

Blackness!

Well, this time, I got it all on video:

then:

Kinda cool, right?

Afterward, we went to Ghirardelli Square for ice cream, of course. And being Valentine's night, the line was longer than we'd ever seen it, but it moved pretty fast. Every time we get ice cream at Ghirardelli, we get it to go and walk to the cable car turn around on Hyde St and listen to the street performer. Then depending on where we parked, we walk along the waters edge at Aquatic Park. It's really quite romantic at night. Yep, even after 19 years of marriage, we can still find romance.



I LEFT MY HEART IN SAN FRANCISCO (Tony Bennett)

The loveliness of Paris
Seems somehow sadly gay
The glory that was Rome
Is of another day
I've been terribly alone
And forgotten in Manhattan
I'm going home to my city by the bay.

I left my heart in San Francisco
High on a hill, it calls to me.
To be where little cable cars
Climb halfway to the stars!
The morning fog may chill the air
I don't care!
My love waits there in San Francisco
Above the blue and windy sea
When I come home to you, San Francisco,
Your golden sun will shine for me!
_

Chocolately Goodness Birthday Cake

Ed and Angie's birthday's are separated by a few days, so when they invited us over Friday night to watch the Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, I asked if I could bring a cake to celebrate their special days.
I know I took this photo in a wonky angle, but I wanted to get Prince W watching his mom and dad blow out their candles.

Does that look like a flat cake to you? Well, it's suppose to be flat. Flat like a sheet. It's Pioneer Woman's Best Chocolate Sheet Cake. Ever. I recommend you check out her recipe and all the step-by-step photos on her blog.

It's deliciously rich and the frosting is sinful. I followed her recipe exactly. Since she shows step-by-step photos, it's a really easy cake to make. It was the 1st time I've made it, but certainly won't be the last. In fact, I still have nearly a quart of buttermilk left, so I suspect I'll need to find another reason to make more before it expires.

But sometimes you just don't feel like eating chocolate cake.Sometimes, jello is much, much better than chocolate cake. Especially when it's served with a sweet smile and a twinkle in his eye.
_

I love the Olympics!

The Olympics start tonight! Yipee!

I am not a sports enthusiast.

But I LOVE the Olympics!
love love love it!

Snowboarding is my favourite (have to add that "u" since the Olympics are in Vancouver, one of my favourite cities in the whole wide world); then skating - both figure and speed, then skiing - freestyle, jumping and alpine; then bobsled and luge. I'll even watch curling 'cuz it's just so Canadian and I love Canada!

Then when they have the cutest mascots ever, I am nearly giddy with delight.

Looking forward to going to the Bowen's tonight to watch the Opening Ceremony!
_

New Friend

We have a new friend in our yard. We've never, ever seen a salamander here before.

btw, did you know there's a difference between salamanders and lizards? I had a feeling they were different, but I had to look it up to confirm. Salamanders are amphibians, lizards are reptiles. Well, yea. duh, of course.

Anyhoo, i guess all the moisture from the rain we've been getting allows certain happy creatures to come out of their hiding places.

I think he's rather cute.
_

A Little Kristin Chenoweth

for you, because there are still a few people out there who haven't heard this song yet. I encourage you to buy it, play it over and over again till you've memorized the lyrics, which I'm thoughtfully included below, then sing it at the top of your lungs.



Taylor the Latte Boy

There's a boy who works at Starbucks
Who is very inspirational.
He is very inspirational because of many things.

I come in at 8:11, and he smiles and says, "How are you?"
When he smiles and says, "How are you?"
I could swear my heart grows wings!

So today at 8:11
I decided I should meet him
I decided I should meet him
In a proper formal way.

So today at 8:11 when he smiled and said "How are you?"
I said "Fine and my name's Kristen"
And he softly answered, "Hey."

And I told him "my name is Kristen, and thank you for the extra foam"
And he said his name was Taylor,
Which provides the inspiration for this poem:

Taylor the latte boy,
Bring me java, bring me joy!
Oh, Taylor the latte boy,
I love him, I love him, I love him...

Well I'd like to get my nerve up
To recite my poem musical
He would like the fact it's musical
Because he plays guitar.
And today at 8:11, Taylor told me he was playing
With a band down in the village in the basement of a bar.

And he smoothly flipped the lever to prepare my double latte,
But for me he made a triple! (And he didn't think I knew)
But I saw him flip the lever, and for me he made it triple,
And I knew the triple latte meant that Taylor loved me too!
I said, "What time are you playing? And thank you for the extra skim..."
He said, "Keep the $3.55," because this triple latte was on him.

Taylor the latte boy,
Bring me java, bring me joy!
Taylor the latte boy,
I love him, I love him, I love him...

I used to be the kind of girl
Who'd run when love rushed toward her.
Till finally a voice whispered, "Love can be yours,
If you step up to the counter and order.

So many years my heart has waited,
I love him, I love him, I love him...
Who'd have thought that love could be so caffeinated?

Taylor the latte boy,
Bring me java, bring me joy!
Taylor, the latte boy,
I love him, I love him, I love him.
Oh, I love him, I love him, I love him.
_

Lemon Yogurt Cake

A couple of years ago, our niece made this when we were in Southern California. It was delicious and the only reason I bought this cookbook. It's Ina Garten's "Barefoot Contessa at home".

Ingredients
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
* 1 1/3 cups sugar, divided
* 3 extra-large eggs
* 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
* 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

For the glaze:
* 1 cup confectioners' sugar
* 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pan.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it's all incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.

When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool.

For the glaze, combine the confectioners' sugar and lemon juice and pour over the cake.

Here's a link to the recipe on Food Network.

The first time I make any recipe, I almost always follow it precisely. If we like it, then the next time I'll make adjustments that suit us better.

It turned out ok, but my niece's was much better and lemony-er. It's a very dense cake/bread. If I make this again, I'd use nonfat or lowfat yogurt, not as much oil and more lemon. I made this loaf a week ago, and there's still over 1/2 a loaf left.

My sister-in-law, who happens to be niece's mom, makes a much better lemon cake and it's a 100x easier and yummier.
_