Book Club- Can you feel the excitement?!?!?

Update 10/15/08: We've chosen "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen for our first book club book. We'll be meeting on November 5 to meet and discuss. I've already finished the book and really recommend it to anyone who wants a different type of read than you're used to. Join us for the meeting if you can!! (Don't you want to fly in for this, Sus??)

So I've been wanting to start a book club for a while. I attending a couple of book club meetings when we moved to McKinney a couple of years ago, but after attending a few times with NO ONE speaking to me, and perhaps EVERYONE looking at me like I was a psycho as I went around and introduced myself, I decided that the McKinney Woman Book Club was not for me. Boo. So I continued to read the books that they were reading (they picked really good ones!) and just didn't attend the meetings.

A couple of months ago, I went to a restaurant and there was a group of ladies who were talking about the books that they wanted to read that year, and drinking a lot of wine. I seriously contemplated going over and sitting down, introducing myself and simply announcing "I'm in serious need of a book club. I'm not leaving." But then I thought back to the looks I received in the last book club I was a part of, and decided against it. Boo again.

I'm close with several gals in my life group and they know of my book club-craving angst. Yet one of these friends, who shall remain nameless, is so scared that I'm going to try and drag here into this book club thing, that she told me that she's only ever read one book in her entire life. She's lying. I got it out of her that she's read AT LEAST three books!! I digress.

So last week I went to my Tri Delta Alumnae meeting and just happened to mention that I wanted to start a book club, and three girls around me were like "ME TOO!!!" So I'm happy to report that there is officially a book club in the making here. I've gone ahead and selected four books, from which the other girls will vote on which book they want to proceed with. For those of you out there who secretly want to be a part of my book club, here are the initial selections. Has anyone read any of these? Any favorites? Any suggestions for future reads?

1) Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

2) Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

3) Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi

4) Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

I would LOVE it if you wanted to offer an opinion and read along with us!! Seriously, I'm one of those HUGE dorks who loves stimulating book conversation. Or, a good reason to get together and drink wine!! It will also give me an excuse to make the cake balls I saw on Jennifer's blog, and have been wanting to try ever since!

Looking forward to the good reads!! From one book club-crazed girl to all of you guys- make it a wonderful day!! :)

Ugly Cake

So, I have some news. I'm not perfect. Wait, what?!?! You already knew that???

Well, further incriminating evidence of my imperfection has come to light. Boo.

A couple of Saturdays ago was Brian's 29th birthday. (He swears its the last one he's ever going to celebrate, but I digress.) We've been on a tight budget for quite a while, and so there was no expectation of any big presents or anything, but I've always insisted that birthdays are BIG deals, no matter what. (Note to all friends out there- birthdays are freaking big deals. Don't forgot it.) Anywho, I started out the day well enough, waking before Brian and watching TV in the living room until he woke up. And then he woke up. We had breakfast, watched college game day, etc. He got on the phone with his Mom and Dad for a long convo and CRAP!!! I completely forgot to tell him Happy Birthday!!! As soon as I realized my error, I ran out into the garage where he was on the phone, screaming "Happy Birthday!" at the top of my lungs. As if screaming it louder would overcome the fact that I'd forgotten for the last 2 hours.

So we go on about our day, we talk about what he wants to do that day, what kind of cake he wants (CRAP!! I'd forgotten to get the stuff for his favotrite cake!!), etc. So I go to the grocery store and get all the stuff for strawberry cake plus the stuff he wants for dinner. I come home, and start whipping up the perfect strawberry cake (except it's not- this is the cheap recipe that doesn't require 2 pints of fresh berries, variety of unusual ingredients, etc. This is the cheap substitute.)

Because we've only been in this house for a short time, I've not had the chance to really do a lot of cooking in this oven. So even though I put the cake in for two minutes less than the shortest recommended time, the edges were very crispy. So I cut the edges off (and ate them- don't judge me.) and waited for the cake to cool. Once cool, I started icing the cake. And I don't know where I went wrong. The icing was just not working with me. It stuck in all the wrong places, pulling bits of cake off, and then I couldn't get it to stick in the ragged nooks and crannies (where I had chopped of the crispy edges.) You know how you start with a vision of how something is going to look, and it just doesn't end up that way? Well, once my cake was iced, it was not the picture-perfect birthday cake.

So, I decided to add sprinkles. That's what everyone does when their (insert pastry good here) isn't looking so good, right?? I went for red because it's Brian's favorite color. What I got was a poor excuse for a birthday cake. Don't judge me.



Now, I know my friend Susan is laughing hysterically right now, because she's apparently great at this stuff. She competes in this stuff, people, and I know right now she is thinking "How does something end up looking that bad? Remind me to NEVER let Kelli near my kitchen!"

Anyhow. So I make Brian the ugliest cake I've ever seen (ok, maybe not the ugliest, but it does look like the cake you made when you were in the third grade and decided to make your mom a cake for her birthday!) AND I forgot to get him a card when I was at the grocery store.

I suck. I know. I'm the worst wife- and the worst baker- there ever was. The cake, I'm sad to inform you, was not great. It tasted like it was out of a box. Which it was. Because, let's say it together, I'm the worst wife ever.

But I think Brian may have liked it. :)

Don't judge me.

Fours

Four, Four, Four......

Stolen from Jennifer Y.'s blog (who always has the best chain blog posts...)

A) Four places that I go to over and over: PRstore, Christy Stout's house, WalMart Neighborhood Market, McFBC

B) Four people who e-mail me (regularly): Lindsay Stout, Melissa Lester, Old Morgan and Mom

C) Four of my favorite places to eat: Luigi's, Banana Leaf, Studio Movie Grill, Gran's house

D) Four places I would rather be right now: in bed (took this from Jennifer- good call!), Bahamas, the lake, getting a massage (Also from Jennifer)

E) Four people I think or who I'd like to respond: Hmm. Christy Stout, Ashley Coleman, Ashly Gann and Nikki Cole (but this one's doubtful b/c she hasn't even started her blog yet!!)

F) Four TV shows I watch: Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Army Wives, Psych

Okay... Your turn!