Viral Video Vendredi: My Top 5 Songs from 2004

The year: 2004

Age: 16

Occupation: Junior in high school 

Major events: Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake's epic Super Bowl performance/nipple-gate; Laguna Beach premieres on MTV; Facebook launches; series finale of Friends; Ronald Reagan dies; W re-elected for 4 more years; Tsunami strikes South Asia  

My life: Bee-bopping around town in my yellow VW Bug; playing soccer; shopping (I shudder now at the thought of going out all day to shop "for fun"); AIM (RIP SAACHICK88); CBHS football games; and BURNING CDS.

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Yes, you read that correctly. I received my first iPod (a green iPod mini with my name etched on the back, obvi) for Christmas in 2004, but before this miraculous thing called an iPod found its way into my heart, I did what any other high-schooler did: illegally downloaded music on Limewire and burned thoughtful CDs for all of my BFFs. 2004 was also a time when music videos were still popular and you could catch all of your favorite songs on VH1 Jumpstart while you got ready for school. It makes me sad that the youth of today will never know TRL and the glorious days of fat Carson Daly, who coincidentally was my first celebrity crush (what?) and whose picture I snipped out of Teen People and taped inside my Spacemaker pencil box in 7th grade.  

I love how songs can transport you back to a specific time and place and can evoke such strong memories and emotions. I Googled "top songs 2004" to see what was popular 10 years ago, and I have picked my five favorite songs for your enjoyment. I highly suggest that you do the same and take your own trip down memory lane...

1. Jay-Z - Dirt Off Your Shoulder 

If you really want your mind blown, then search for the Dirt Off Your Shoulder/Bittersweet Symphony remix on Youtube. 

                           

2. Maroon 5 - She Will Be Loved 

I saw Maroon 5 open for John Mayer in February 2004, and no one had any idea who they were. I guess they've done alright. Notice that John Travolta's wife plays Mrs. Robinson in the music video. 

                           

3. Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway

The perfect song for the teenage girl who just wants to spread her wings and fly.

             


4. Nelly featuring Tim McGraw - Over and Over

Oh to be young and to feel love's keen sting. HS girl + HS boy = angsty teenage drama . 

            

5. Chingy featuring Ludacris and Snoop Doggy Dog/Snoop Dog/Snoop Lion - Holidae Inn

Pop-rap was really popular in high school and made any saddle-oxford wearing, all-girl's school attending girl feel a lot cooler than she actually was. I also just realized that Holiday is spelled weird - Holidae? Who knows. I am sure this music video is gross, so anyone who is easily offended just skip this one. 

Honorable mentions go out to every single song on Ashlee Simpson's classic first CD, Autobiography, and any Avril Lavigne song ever (whatup Sk8ter Boi).

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SAACHICK88's Away Message: BRB off to Indigo to get a new outfit for the game. Go Brothers!$@!

The Incredible Edible Bread

My first attempt at baking bread did not go so well. 

I followed the recipe's instructions to a T (or so I thought), and when I went to form my dough into a ball after letting it "rise" all night, I was left with nothing more than a soupy, sticky, doughy mess. I had no idea what went wrong, so I Googled "baking bread troubleshooting." I quickly found out that I had made two mistakes: 1) I did not activate the yeast in warm water before adding it to the flour and 2) The water that I added to the flour was too cold. Welcome to the amateur hour, Molly. 

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The second time around I wanted to bring my A-game, so I busted out the thermometer and carefully tested the water temperature when activating the yeast and when adding the water to the flour/salt/yeast mixture. I mixed everything together, covered the bowl, and said a little prayer. 

The next morning I slowly peeled back the saran wrap and touched the dough. It was definitely tackier than the first time and looked like it might actually hold its shape! I dumped the dough onto a floured cookie sheet and threw some more flour on top of the dough, trying to make a ball. The recipe said that this step should take about one minute, but my dough was clearly spreading too fast and sticking to my hands, making it very difficult to form a ball. Luckily Matt was there to assist, and we added a considerable amount of flour to the dough to help keep its shape. The recipe mentioned nothing about having to add flour, so I am not sure if this is basic baking knowledge that I should have already known or if I am totally incapable of following instructions. I finally formed the dough into a football-shaped loaf, sprinkled some sea salt on top for good measure, and popped the loaf into the Le Creuset (and prayed again)...

....And look what came out of the oven! 

The crust was nice and flaky and the bread, though a little dense, tasted pretty good for my first time! Next time I will definitely add some rosemary or other herbs to give it more flavor. For dinner that night I made baked goat cheese marinara using some of the fresh cheese that we purchased the night before at the Atlanta Cheese Festival. The homemade bread was the perfect accompaniment to the dip, which we polished off easily. 

I foresee many more bread making attempts in my future, because from what I gleaned online, practice makes perfect in the world of baking bread.

Atlanta Cheese Festival

 

This past Friday, Matt and I attended the second annual Atlanta Cheese Festival, a surprise date that I gifted to him for his 28th birthday. Neighborhood chili festivals are great, but I have been dying to attend a specialized food festival with a little more flare. When I stumbled upon the Atlanta Cheese Festival's Facebook page a few weeks back, I was instantly intrigued. Cheese? We love cheese! We feasted on a cheese and meat plate the night we got engaged (famished after putting off dinner for a few hours while we called family and friends), and we went to France, a cheese-lovers Mecca, for our honeymoon. 

Parisian window shopping, G&G style

This year's ACF was held at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, which I am ashamed to admit I had never visited despite having just celebrated my three-year Atlantaversary. The festival only lasted from 6-10 pm (and one hour of that time was reserved for our VIP craft beer and cheese pairing), so I wanted to get there right at 6 to get our money's worth. When we arrived we were greeted with a cheese backdrop perfect for snapping that perfect, Instagrammable couple's pic (or in our case two solo shots because we are awkward and never ask people to take our picture). 

We quickly scanned our tickets, slapped on our wristbands, and headed inside. I was ecstatic when I realized that the ACF's set up would allow us to tour all of the gardens throughout the night. The timing of the event was perfect too, as the gardens were decked out for Fall with mums, pumpkins, scarecrows, the works. 

                                       

                                        

                                       

                       

#Twinning

                                     

                                      

We only had a few minutes to look around before the craft beer and cheese pairing began at 6:30, so we bee-lined it for the nearest table of cheese vendors and woofed down samples like it was our last meal. We quickly realized that pacing ourselves would be key, and that having a drink to sip on in between samples was crucial to cleansing the palette. 

After our ten-minute cheese binging session, we headed off to one of the ABG's side houses where the beer and cheese pairing was being held. Each participant had the following placemat at his/her seat: 

                                    

Each of the 5 cheese samples was paired with a beer from Rogue Ales, and one of the lead moderators was Rogue's head brewmaster, John Maier. The head of each farm also served on the panel in order to speak to the individual cheese selections.

                  

As this was a tasting and the beers were large, we were grouped into threes with one person designated as the pourer. Based on where we sat down, Matt and I were unfortunately split into different beer pouring groups, and as luck would have it I was paired with the two most obnoxious tasting group members. Group member #1: Hipster male in his mid-thirties and a self-professed homebrewer who, when not constantly offering his own side commentary, was texting his wife pictures from the event. I came to find out that the wife of group member #1 was at the wine and cheese pairing taking place next door, and that she did not like cheese. Um, excuse me? That makes absolutely no sense Mr. Hipster, and I hope you are the DD tonight because your wife is subsisting on wine alone at the CHEESE festival that you bought tickets to attend. Group member #2: Extremely annoying woman who was chosen as the group pourer and shouted out questions/commentary to the panel without being called upon throughout the entire presentation. She also called me "young lady" throughout the night like I was a misbehaving six-year-old. Ugh. #1 and #2, naturally, did not mind each other's rudeness and chatted and clinked glasses the entire night, while I kept close to Matt and tried not to make eye contact.

My favorite cheese of the night.

Overall, Matt and I thoroughly enjoyed the beer and cheese pairing and learned some interesting facts about the brewery and creameries that were featured, but we would not pay to do it again in the future and here's why: 1) The moderators were extremely long-winded and each member of the panel commented on each pairing, which was definitely an overkill; 2) It turned out that a lot of audience members were homebrewers and they were constantly asking brewing questions. I am all for asking questions, but some of the audience members needed to dial it back a bit and let the panel finish their stories (I'm looking at you, group member #2); and 3) Most of the audience committed my absolute biggest pet peeve, which is talking while other people are talking/presenting. This action makes my skin crawl and literally causes me to tense up and get angry. I think it is so incredibly rude to hold a side conversation while someone is taking the time to speak, not to mention the fact that we paid extra to attend this event and that money partially goes down the drain if I cannot hear a word of what the panel is saying. The head moderator tried to rein in the unruly ADULTS, but it was of no use. 

The pairing ended about 15 minutes late, so we chugged our remaining beers, grabbed our swag bags, and booked it out of there as soon as the last comment from the panel was spoken. 

The event was set up throughout the gardens in a farmer's market style, with over 100 vendors selling everything from cheese (duh) to crackers to spreads. The vendors came from all over the US, and each one was very hospitable and eager to tell us about their products. Unlike other food festivals where you are allotted a set number of tasting tickets, festival goers at the ACF are allowed to try as many vendor samples as they can possibly stomach before going into a lactose coma. We wandered around to all of the vendor areas and ended up purchasing three different goat cheeses, pimento cheese, rosemary crackers, and a dipping sauce. We would have bought more but we ran out of cash and not every vendor had the ability to run cards. 

The VIP package provided us with 4 drink tickets each (the general admission tickets provides 2 tickets), which after consuming beer samples at the tasting and a lot of cheese samples, was more than enough. People were definitely getting testy with the long lines for alcohol, but after getting the lay of the land we realized that the line was only long at the drink booth right in the center of the festival, and that there were a ton of other drink stations hidden away with much shorter lines. 

The ACF's main attraction is The Meltdown, a grilled cheese cook off between some of the best restaurants in Atlanta. This year's competitors included Miller Union, Cooks and Soldiers, Restaurant Eugene, Muss and Turners, and Highland Bakery, just to name a few. At the peak of the festival, the lines to get samples from these amazing restaurants were incredibly long, leaving many people disgruntled. Muss and Turners was even out of samples and had closed up shop by 8 pm, but that was the only restaurant that we saw that had a supply issue. We waited for the lines to die down a bit and eventually were able to try all of the samples that we wanted, so I won't let that experience deter me from coming next year. A lot of the grilled cheese entries contained pimento cheese, which is not my favorite seeing as I loathe mayonnaise (I am my mother's daughter), so that crossed a lot of potential tastings off of my list. Everyone is allowed to vote once for their favorite entry, and at the end of the night I cast my vote for Restaurant Eugene's grilled cheese (cheddar, sliced apples, caramelized onions), while Matt dropped his vote into Highland Bakery's jar (pimento cheese with fried chicken). Neither of these restaurants won, however, and the trophy was awarded to Homegrown for the second year in a row.  

The victorious grilled cheese from Homegrown

With our bellies uncomfortably full of delicious cheese, we sauntered out of the gardens as the bluegrass band played its final tune to close out the night. We had a great time at this unique event and enjoyed stepping outside of our date night comfort zone. We look forward to going back next year and will hopefully persuade some friends/fellow cheese lovers to go with us! 

Viral Video Vendredi: Lemurs, Beagles, and Elephants

If you were a high-school girl in the mid-2000s, then you know that today is not just a random day in October, but the best day in October (apologies to those with October birthday). 



 

These days it seems like all news is bad news, so imagine my delighted surprise when I stumbled across HuffPost Good News, a website wholly dedicated to "good news, inspirational stories, and positive views." Finally, a website where I could read about the good in this world! Tip - if you "like" their Facebook page then the articles will stream on your Facebook feed, which is how I see these stories on a daily basis.

Three of the more recent stories that I loved were about animals: lemurs, beagles, and elephants to be exact. These stories may not bolster my worldliness or expand my knowledge of the economy, but they make me smile and that's alright with me.

Lemurs and Lollipops

             

I wish I enjoyed anything as much as these lemurs are enjoying their lollipops.

Beagles and Airports

           

Going to the airport would be infinitely better if there were cute little beagles running around all over the place. US airports need to jump on the doggy lost and found bandwagon ASAP, because not being able to pet the bomb-sniffing dogs (who I know are fighting the good fight) at American airports is just torture.

The Elephant and the Ditch

                                 

I can't help but picture the adult elephants charging towards the baby and shouting, "Help is on the way, dear!," just like Robin Williams did in the revelation scene of Mrs. Doubtfire (see the 2:28 mark).

Happy Friday, everyone!

The Monthly Challenge Challenge: October 2014

                                                               

I feel like most people (myself included) view January 1st as the only point in the calendar year where they can start something new, and that if they can't achieve something in the first month and keep it up for the entire year, then they have failed. They say that it takes 21 days to form a habit, and one month is obviously longer than 21 days, so why not find something new each month and give it a try? If it sticks, great. If it doesn't and you at least gave it a shot, then you get an A for effort and can feel good about yourself for beating the one month challenge. 

I'll admit, I am definitely too Type-A/OCD to start a one-month challenge on any day other than the first of the month. So, when I realized that October 1st was quickly approaching, I did not want to miss my small window of opportunity to try out a new recurring blog post entitled "The Monthly Challenge Challenge." The purpose? Try out a new monthly challenge each month and blog about how hard it is to do something for 28/29/30/31 freaking days great I am doing. I hope to keep up with the Monthly Challenge Challenge for at least six months (or until I run out of ideas) and maybe pick up some good habits along the way. 

So.....naturally the first step is to think of a challenge or steal one from someone else and get going. A dessert-free month? Hell no. Halloween is in 30 days and the month of October is strictly reserved for eating my weight in pumpkin flavored treats like every other American. Give up alcohol for a month? Ha. It is football season and we are headed to Charleston at the end of the month, a place known for its amazing food and drink scene. Also, pumpkin beer (see previous comment). A 30-day Pure Barre cleanse that will single-handedly annihilate our only-one-spouse-is-working-right-now-income? I wish, but pass.

This may be harder than I thought...maybe I should start with something easy, something that I actually have a shot at doing for an entire month. Then, when I conquer the month's challenge, I can run up the interior stairs of our condo building with Matt a few steps ahead of me, blasting the Rocky theme song from the iPhone he is holding as I make my triumphant ascent to the top.

                            

After some reflection, I decided that my first monthly challenge would be VERY simple: read every single day. Doesn't matter when or where or for how long, just dust off my Kindle and read. Last year I read all the time and was semi-addicted to seeing how many books I could finish by the end of the year (grand total: 21). Number of books read thus far in 2014: 7. Woof. No bueno. Though I can blame the Christmas 2013 acquisition of my iPad all I want, there are still many factors that make this lackluster reading year unacceptable: 1) I have 4 already-purchased books waiting for me on my Kindle; 2) I have access to 1 free book to keep and 1 free book to rent per month for being an Amazon Prime member; 3) I have an amazing library of e-books at my fingertips that I can check out for free from the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library; and 4) The Kindle app allows me to read pretty much anywhere as long as I have my iPad or iPhone with me.

I'm going to kick this challenge off with one of the books that I purchased months ago and never got around to reading: The Goldfinch. 

This book has gotten nothing but rave reviews and was described by one of my friends as being "Gone Girl good." Wow. That is high praise seeing as Gone Girl was probably one of the most page-turningly fantastic books I have ever read. Digression - I CANNOT WAIT FOR THE MOVIE TO COME OUT! I hope it lives up to the hype or there may be a coup staged by all American women who read the book and subsequently turn up en masse and pissed off to host Gone Girl book burnings.

If you haven't read Gone Girl then don't worry, there is still time! The movie comes out in two days, and seeing as this book is highly addictive, you can definitely finish it by then if you start now. For those of you who have read it and want to watch the trailer for the 20th time, here it is:

           

My plan is to publish an update post midway through the month and then again at month-end to let you all know how I did. If you have suggestions for a monthly challenge then please leave a comment and let me know! 

P.S. If you like what you are reading, then please click the blue "join this site" button below the "Followers" section to the right to become an official follower of Generals and Gingers. Thank you for reading!

P.P.S. The calendar above was designed by a fellow W&L alumna, Inslee Haynes. Inslee's work is amazing, and you can purchase her 2015 calendar here.