Oh. My. Goodness. What a loooooong weekend we had. I mentioned that we were headed to San Francisco on Friday for a family wedding. There was a ton of numb-your-butt driving, but it was totally worth it to
see family that we haven't seen in a while (some last year, some 4
years ago at our wedding, and some 7 years ago at another family
wedding). Moira was a total all-all star the entire weekend (with the
exception of the last hour or so that we were at the wedding reception
when she desperately needed a nap.). She had a great time playing with
the family and meeting her 8 month old cousin. Lemme do a recap.
Friday:
Up at 3:30am.
Shower and finishing packing/loading the car by 4:15am.
Get Moira out of bed and in the car by 4:30am.
Out of the driveway by 4:45am.
Drive for 11 hours straight.
Stop once for Adam to make an emergency bathroom break (he decided it would be a GOOD idea to drink an entire energy drink during the first hour of driving, resulting in an almost-bladder-exploding situation).
Stop once for gas.
Stop twice to get out of the car and stretch our legs, use the potty, eat, etc.
Don't realize part of the trip is a toll road and we don't have cash to pay. Still waiting for a $4 bill with the $25 violation fee in the mail.
Arrive at the hotel in San Francisco at 3:30pm.
Unpack the car, freshen up, and let Moira enjoy some time out of the car.
Get back in the car and head to the nearest Target to pick up the finishing touches for the wedding gift.
Go back to hotel so I can put together and wrap the gift (it was a grilling gift basket).
Realize one of the pieces of the gift was broken.
Sent Adam back to the Target to do an exchange (I couldn't justify putting Moira back in the car so we all could go and Adam is a trooper anyways).
Hook up with a bunch of Adam's family who were staying in the same hotel at 5:00pm.
Hang out waiting for more family to arrive (including Adam's parents) so we can all go out to dinner around 8:00pm.
Finish dinner and head back to the hotel at 10:15pm.
Do bedtime routine with Moira and fall into bed at 11:15pm.
Saturday:
Up by 6:30am after waking up several times during the night due to road noise, the 24-hour car wash and Carl's Jr. that was next to the hotel.
Shower, dressed and ready by 8:30am.
Load into Adam's parent's vehicle and head to the wedding at 9:00am.
Arrive at the general vicinity of the wedding by 9:30am.
Wander around aimlessly looking for where the actual wedding will take place for 30 minutes (there were multiple parks and parking lots and lots of miscommunication).
Finally get everyone straightened around and to the site of the wedding by 10:15am.
Wedding begins at 10:45am (It was totally fun and beautiful. Clowns officiated and provided entertainment. They had a horn they would honk randomly and Moira was trying to imitate the noise by sticking out her tongue and blowing).
Wedding concludes at 11:15am.
Head over to the reception area by 11:30am.
Mingle with family and other wedding guests, play games, nosh, chit chat, etc for 5+ hours. Moira was in desperate need of a nap, but refused to fall asleep. So stubborn.
Watch the cutting of the cake, say goodbye to family that we won't be seeing later, and head back to the hotel by 5:00pm.
Moira finally falls asleep 2 minutes into the car ride. She has a 25 minute nap in the car.
Arrive back at the hotel and hang out for a couple hours until dinner.
Go to dinner with Adam's parents only at 7:30pm.
Get back at the hotel and say goodbye to a couple more family members at 9:00pm.
Pack up everything we don't need and load it into the car.
Do bedtime routine with Moira.
In bed by 11:00pm.
Sunday:
Up and shower, finish packing the car, and on the road by 5:00am.
Stop off at an ATM to get cash just in case there's another toll road (not making the same mistake twice).
Drive (hit another toll road and pay the toll fee with our cash) for another 10 hours.
Stop once to eat, get gas, and stretch our legs.
Arrive at home by 3:30pm.
Unpack car, take care of Sadie Puppy (who my awesome sister puppy sat while we were gone), start laundry, do some housekeeping for a couple hours.
Go into town and pick up some salad and pizza for dinner at 6:00pm.
Come back home, cook pizza and eat dinner by 7:30.
In bed by 10:30pm
After all of that, I needed some chocolate. In. A. Bad. Way. And I think Adam needed it too. Now, I already have a fabulous chocolatey brownie recipe, which is great if you just want plain brownies. But what I don't have is a brownie recipe that can be dressed to the nines. You know topped with candy, frosting, or even layered with goodies. The brownie recipe I have is far too rich and decadent for such sugary bling. So, I found a plain brownie recipe that is similar to boxed brownies (but of course better) that won't put you in a sugar coma if you added a little extra something-something. This recipe would be perfect in lieu of the boxed brownie I used for the Peanut Butter Cup Brownies. Or use it in a brownie sundae with scoops of ice cream, chocolate or caramel sauce, whipped cream....mmmmm. And it is also perfect for a couple other fancy brownie recipes that I'll be sharing with you eventually. But let's get the horse before the cart here.
Plain Chocolate Brownies
3/4 cup butter, melted
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup flour
Powdered sugar for sprinkling, optional
Preheat oven to 350˚ F. Grease a 9x13 baking dish. Line with a piece of parchment paper that is about 11x17. Grease the parchment paper*. In a large bowl combine butter and sugar. Mix well and add in eggs and vanilla. Stir until combined. Add in cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and flour. Mix until thoroughly combined. Pour into prepared pan and spread evenly. Batter is very thick. Bake for 25-35 minutes. Remove from oven when edges appear set and center is only slightly jiggly. Allow to cool for about 6 hours before cutting into.
Notes:
*I highly recommend the parchment paper in the baking dish. The first time I made them I skipped the parchment paper, but they stuck to the bottom of the pan more than I would have liked.
Also, these are not super chocolatey brownies because they are intended to be frosted or topped with more sugar. These are a nice thin, soft brownie that could be eaten plain if you want (as opposed to the thicker plain brownie that we love in our house). So, if you intend consume these brownie plain, up the amount of cocoa powder to 1 cup.
Source: Adapted from Allrecipes.
Friday:
Up at 3:30am.
Shower and finishing packing/loading the car by 4:15am.
Get Moira out of bed and in the car by 4:30am.
Out of the driveway by 4:45am.
Drive for 11 hours straight.
Stop once for Adam to make an emergency bathroom break (he decided it would be a GOOD idea to drink an entire energy drink during the first hour of driving, resulting in an almost-bladder-exploding situation).
Stop once for gas.
Stop twice to get out of the car and stretch our legs, use the potty, eat, etc.
Don't realize part of the trip is a toll road and we don't have cash to pay. Still waiting for a $4 bill with the $25 violation fee in the mail.
Arrive at the hotel in San Francisco at 3:30pm.
Unpack the car, freshen up, and let Moira enjoy some time out of the car.
Get back in the car and head to the nearest Target to pick up the finishing touches for the wedding gift.
Go back to hotel so I can put together and wrap the gift (it was a grilling gift basket).
Realize one of the pieces of the gift was broken.
Sent Adam back to the Target to do an exchange (I couldn't justify putting Moira back in the car so we all could go and Adam is a trooper anyways).
Hook up with a bunch of Adam's family who were staying in the same hotel at 5:00pm.
Hang out waiting for more family to arrive (including Adam's parents) so we can all go out to dinner around 8:00pm.
Finish dinner and head back to the hotel at 10:15pm.
Do bedtime routine with Moira and fall into bed at 11:15pm.
 |
| Moira watching the sea gulls while Adam tries to find where the wedding actually is. |
Saturday:
Up by 6:30am after waking up several times during the night due to road noise, the 24-hour car wash and Carl's Jr. that was next to the hotel.
Shower, dressed and ready by 8:30am.
Load into Adam's parent's vehicle and head to the wedding at 9:00am.
Arrive at the general vicinity of the wedding by 9:30am.
Wander around aimlessly looking for where the actual wedding will take place for 30 minutes (there were multiple parks and parking lots and lots of miscommunication).
Finally get everyone straightened around and to the site of the wedding by 10:15am.
Wedding begins at 10:45am (It was totally fun and beautiful. Clowns officiated and provided entertainment. They had a horn they would honk randomly and Moira was trying to imitate the noise by sticking out her tongue and blowing).
Wedding concludes at 11:15am.
Head over to the reception area by 11:30am.
Mingle with family and other wedding guests, play games, nosh, chit chat, etc for 5+ hours. Moira was in desperate need of a nap, but refused to fall asleep. So stubborn.
Watch the cutting of the cake, say goodbye to family that we won't be seeing later, and head back to the hotel by 5:00pm.
Moira finally falls asleep 2 minutes into the car ride. She has a 25 minute nap in the car.
Arrive back at the hotel and hang out for a couple hours until dinner.
Go to dinner with Adam's parents only at 7:30pm.
Get back at the hotel and say goodbye to a couple more family members at 9:00pm.
Pack up everything we don't need and load it into the car.
Do bedtime routine with Moira.
In bed by 11:00pm.
 |
| Moira and Daddy at the wedding reception. |
Sunday:
Up and shower, finish packing the car, and on the road by 5:00am.
Stop off at an ATM to get cash just in case there's another toll road (not making the same mistake twice).
Drive (hit another toll road and pay the toll fee with our cash) for another 10 hours.
Stop once to eat, get gas, and stretch our legs.
Arrive at home by 3:30pm.
Unpack car, take care of Sadie Puppy (who my awesome sister puppy sat while we were gone), start laundry, do some housekeeping for a couple hours.
Go into town and pick up some salad and pizza for dinner at 6:00pm.
Come back home, cook pizza and eat dinner by 7:30.
In bed by 10:30pm
After all of that, I needed some chocolate. In. A. Bad. Way. And I think Adam needed it too. Now, I already have a fabulous chocolatey brownie recipe, which is great if you just want plain brownies. But what I don't have is a brownie recipe that can be dressed to the nines. You know topped with candy, frosting, or even layered with goodies. The brownie recipe I have is far too rich and decadent for such sugary bling. So, I found a plain brownie recipe that is similar to boxed brownies (but of course better) that won't put you in a sugar coma if you added a little extra something-something. This recipe would be perfect in lieu of the boxed brownie I used for the Peanut Butter Cup Brownies. Or use it in a brownie sundae with scoops of ice cream, chocolate or caramel sauce, whipped cream....mmmmm. And it is also perfect for a couple other fancy brownie recipes that I'll be sharing with you eventually. But let's get the horse before the cart here.
Plain Chocolate Brownies
3/4 cup butter, melted
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup flour
Powdered sugar for sprinkling, optional
Preheat oven to 350˚ F. Grease a 9x13 baking dish. Line with a piece of parchment paper that is about 11x17. Grease the parchment paper*. In a large bowl combine butter and sugar. Mix well and add in eggs and vanilla. Stir until combined. Add in cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and flour. Mix until thoroughly combined. Pour into prepared pan and spread evenly. Batter is very thick. Bake for 25-35 minutes. Remove from oven when edges appear set and center is only slightly jiggly. Allow to cool for about 6 hours before cutting into.
Notes:
*I highly recommend the parchment paper in the baking dish. The first time I made them I skipped the parchment paper, but they stuck to the bottom of the pan more than I would have liked.
Also, these are not super chocolatey brownies because they are intended to be frosted or topped with more sugar. These are a nice thin, soft brownie that could be eaten plain if you want (as opposed to the thicker plain brownie that we love in our house). So, if you intend consume these brownie plain, up the amount of cocoa powder to 1 cup.
Source: Adapted from Allrecipes.
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