Winter Break Reading List

Happy day after Christmas all!  I spent my morning in front of the fire ordering books from Barnes & Noble with my Christmas Gift Card (thank you Aaron!)  It has been the perfect morning for such activities since this is what it looks like outside:

Here is what made it onto my reading list for this break:

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

The Last Letter From Your Lover by Jojo Moyes

And of course a cookbook:

Food Network Magazine Great Easy Meals: 250 Fun and Fast Recipes

What are you reading?!

Merry Christmas Eve and No Yeast Cinnamon Rolls!

So I thought I would start this post by wishing each reader Merry Christmas in numerous languages. Then I remembered a time when I was working for Wells Fargo and they had these cards printed with "Thank You" in about twenty five different languages on the front.  One of the phrases was not spelled correctly which, was only noticed after many had been mailed out for Customer Appreciation week.  Needless to say I did not want to pull a Wells Fargo so I'll stick with the language I know, Merry Christmas Eve!

Please note the standard Maya/Marley standoff taking place as I write.  Maya must be getting old because she gave in and let Marley have the new toy (this could very well be a first).

The news is also doing a segment on lingerie at the moment and their models appear to be about twelve years old.  That's what I get for watching Fox 5.

Now onto what we really care about, cinnamon rolls.  I love cinnamon rolls, especially on Christmas morning and this recipe from Kristen over at Iowa Girl Eats is great.  Not only do these taste amazing but there's no yeast to deal with.  Don't get me wrong, I bake with yeast but sometimes there just is not enough time to wait for it!

No Yeast Cinnamon Rolls

Filling

3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons butter, melted

Dough

2-1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for rolling out dough
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
5 Tablespoons butter, melted and divided

Icing (the best part!)

3oz cream cheese, softened
4 Tablespoons buttermilk
1 cup powdered sugar

You should preheat your oven to 425 degrees.  While that's going on mix the filling ingredients together in a small bowl.  

In a separate bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  In a separate  bowl whisk together buttermilk and 4T butter.  Add the liquids to the dry ingredients and stir until just mixed.  If you mix too much your cinnamon rolls will be tough.  Then kneed slightly until the dough forms to a ball.  

Split the dough in half and roll each half into a rectangle on a lightly floured surface .  Spread the filling evenly amongst both sheets of dough and then roll each sheet of dough from one end to the next forming a log shape.  Proceed to slice each log into eight pieces.  Place all (16) cinnamon rolls in a non-stick or sprayed baking pan and brush the tops with the remaining melted butter.

Bake in oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

While the rolls are baking mix together cream cheese, powdered sugar and buttermilk until smooth.  Add buttermilk one tablespoon at a time to avoid getting to thin of an icing.  When the cinnamon rolls come out of the oven drizzle with icing, allow to cool just enough, then enjoy!

I hope you each have a wonderful Christmas if you celebrate (and an equally wonderful day if you don't)!

 

 

Fun Friday 12/21/2012

Hello!  I'm so happy the Mayan's were wrong and you are all still here to read my post.  Welcome!  So today's Fun Friday is a mix of facts, my Christmas list, and gifts I have already received.  My brain is a bit soupy from this last week of class and school I mean work (see!) so sorry about it being all over the place!

1) At 12:00 I will officially be on vacation (along with all of my co-workers) until January 2nd.  Thank you Dr. Lee and the Board of Trustees at NU!  One of my favorite holiday gifts :)

2) I'm also happy to announce that I do not go back to school until January 7th. This will mark the beginning of my last quarter as an Undergraduate Student and the official countdown to GRADUATION!

The following were on my Christmas list this year just in case Santa needed ideas (not to be read as a hint list for any last minute shoppers in my life) Trust me, Santa's presents have been under our tree since the first week of December:

3) How cute is this measuring cup set from Anthropologie, seriously!  Plus they would go perfect with our new kitchen.



4) I also really liked this necklace from the Etsy shop Sticks and Stones NY.  I'm usually not one for necklaces or gold but this little gem really caught my eye.



5) I'm also in need of some rain boots like these because our yard gets muddy in the rain and our dogs+mud+any of my shoes = disaster.  Plus they're cute:



6) And a new straightener for my hair.

As for gifts I have received

7) This self filtering water bottle from our "End of the World" Christmas party at work



8) A USB powered Christmas tree for my desk



9) Bagels and Coffee



10) Plus a multi-use scarf, the softest knitted afghan ever because I'm always cold at my desk, a picture frame, potpourri, a dice game and a lotto ticket.  All of which I do not have photos of; my co-workers are the best!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend leading up to the holidays.  I hope to catch up on so sleep and spend hours upon hours with our families.  See you Christmas Eve!

San Diego Readers, HELP FIND LACY!

12 Questions I Have Answered About Christmas

I have seen quite a few of these holiday surveys floating around the blogging world so I thought I would compile 12 of my favorite questions and answer them for you. T-6 Days!

What is your favorite Christmas movie moment?

I love when Clark Griswald chops the tree down and it falls through the bedroom window of the neighbor’s house.

Margo: Why is the floor all wet Tod?!

Tod: I…..DOOOONNNN’T……KNOOOOW…..MAAAARRRRGO!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iByfqls-xbU&w=420&h=315]

When do you open gifts?

I think Aaron asks me to open Christmas gifts as early as November! No but seriously, it seems like we celebrate all month long.

Do you believe in Santa? If not, who convinced you that he’s not real?

Of course I believe in Santa. What kind of crazy question is that?! This is how I feel about my relationship with Santa: [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jyCfRHumHU&w=560&h=315]

What is your happiest Christmas memory?

Driving home from my Grandparent's house on Christmas Eve with my brothers and sister and we'd look so hard for Santa in the sky. There were a few times I know I saw him. This is only one of many favorite memories though.

Describe an ornament that has special significance to you.

This ornament is the first one I bought for the first christmas tree we had in our first new house.

When it comes to decorations, are you a Griswald or a Grinch?

Griswald. Our lights are up the day after Thanksgiving and we have our tree as close to December 1^st as we can.

What is your favorite version of a Christmas song? I have two, it’s my survey so I can have two favorites. Here they are:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9GtPX6c_kg&w=560&h=315]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dl8uLm7Ku4&w=560&h=315]

Would you rather be a partridge in a pear tree or a lord a-leaping and why?

Partridge in a pear tree. I love pears so I presume if I lived in a pear tree I could eat to my hearts content.

What do you usually eat on Christmas morning?

Cinnamon rolls. My aunt use to make them and sent baskets of them home on Christmas Eve. That tradition stopped but I still make them in our home.

Real tree, fake tree or no tree?

Real tree. I grew up with a fake tree until I was about 15 but Aaron and I have always had a real tree. We go to the lot, pick one out, don’t unwrap it and hope that it is hole-less when we open it at home. So far so good!

Christmas pajamas… yay or nay?

Yay. We open them at Aaron’s Aunt and Uncle’s house on Christmas Eve and wear them home (at least I wear them home. Ha)

Where do you spend the holidays?

I think the better question is where don’t we spend the holidays. This year we will spend a day with my Mom’s side of the family and all my cousins, an evening with my grandparents, an evening with Aaron’s dad’s side of the family and grandpapa, and then we’ll hop from my parent’s house to Aaron’s parents’ house and back to my brother’s house at various times on Christmas Day. It’s always a busy season and we LOVE it.

PS: Aaron just deemed himself the rule maker of our house in order to invoke a rule that allows him to read my posts early. Nice try.

We Will Remember

Hello Reader Friends and Family,

As I sat down to write last night I had a very difficult time getting out my planned post.  With all that happened on Friday in Connecticut I can't bring myself you to jump right back into that normalcy just yet.  I am going to take today to appreciate all things in my life and participate in the blogging world's day of silence.

All of those affected by this have been in my prayers and will remain there always.  We do not know the heartbreak they feel or what it is like to to endure such devastating circumstances.  We are however experiencing a heartbreak of our own for those children, educators and their families.  Gina Homolka over at Skinnytaste  said it very well:

We Love You. We Pray for You.

We are Heartbroken for Your Loss.

And Chelsey over at Clean Eating Chelsey posted a nice verse of comfort I think we all can appreciate:

This time of year becomes so chaotic.  I now appreciate the chaos, for I am blessed with family and friends who are still here to celebrate this season with.  Thank you for visiting today.

 

 

Fun Friday 12/14/2012

Hello Everyone!  Some very exciting things have happened this week so let's get to it!

1) My Dad was Spotlight Employee of the Month at his work this week!  They featured a photo of him, what he does for the organization, who his family is (thats us!) and why he enjoys working where he does.  I shared it on my Facebook page too, if you missed it you should probably check it out!

2) My sister-in-law Stephanie was hired as preschool teacher in a 2 year old class!  I'm really excited for her, congratulations again!

3) I received my first set if Invisalign aligners on Wednesday and a really awesome travel toothbrush.  There's a hidden compartment in the end that has a built in, refillable, toothpaste holder.  It's pretty sweet.



4) My Mom got to go to Disneyland (intended to be read with the slightest twinge of jealousy) this week.  She really loves the place so I'm glad she got to go!

5) My sister finished one of her last quarters in college today and turned 22 on Monday.  Both kind of big deals.

6) We also got our new return address stamp in the mail!  Naturally I can't post our full address to the entire world wide web but hopefully you get the idea.



7) Somehow I made time to make homemade peanut butter cookies.  I've been wanting cookies for weeks (and I don't buy them from the store out of fear of eating them ALL) so I finally broke down and made some and I'm thrilled that I did.



8) On Wednesday evening I got home around 6:30 and the girls were starving.  In my traffic induced haze I accidentally fed Maya Marley's food.  This wouldn't be a huge deal if Maya was not allergic to Marley's food, which caused her to wake up with a horrible cough. Luckily she was fine after one dose of her medication. Fur baby mother FAIL.

9) And on Monday this blog had 119 reads by the end of the day.  THANK YOU ALL!

10) As of today there are only 11 more sleeps until Christmas and this weekend Marley might experience her first snowfall (it is "sleeting" as I type this).  Both of these things have me dancing around like a potty trained three year old after drinking a giant sippy cup full of water on a five hour drive.



I hope you all have a very enjoyable weekend, stay dry if you live in San Diego and be safe on your travels!

Grumpy Cat

Happy Wednesday all!  If the first half of your week has been anything like mine you've already seen the allergist and orthodontist, completed two homework assignments and dumped an entire Nalgene bottle filled with water on yourself at a stop sign.  Let's hope you've done more exciting things than that!

Anyway, I was introduced to Grumpy Cat.  Grumpy Cat is something I think we can all enjoy and use to get through the mid-week.  You're welcome.

http://www.happinessisahotpierogi.com/2012/11/i-love-grumpy-cat.html

http://socialeyezer.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Grumpy-Cat-Disappointment-Meme.jpg

http://thunderfeeds.com/reader/news/crappy-holidays-from-grumpy-cat[/caption]

http://mashable.com/2012/12/04/grumpy-cat-interview/

http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/grumpy%20cat%20meme

 

Until Friday.........

Nat Rat Turns 22!

If you couldn’t tell by the title of this post, today is my taller little sister’s birthday!  To honor her 22 years on this earth I thought I would share with you some fun facts about this little gem.

1)      She is 2 years, 6 months and 4 days younger than me.

2)      When we were little I may or may not have cut her once with scissors and shut her finger in the car door. (SORRY!)

3)      She is far more eccentric than I am:

4)      We have conversations like these and crack ourselves up:

5)      She is smart, like reeaalllly smart, like Physiological Sciences major at UCLA smart (and she's almost done!).

6)      She is my opposite. She’s tall, I’m short. She’s blonde, I’m brunette. She has blue eyes, mine are green.

7)      When I use to drive to LA to pick her up and bring her home for breaks she would have these solo dance parties in my car. I swore she was going to cause an accident.

8)      She has various nick names that include: Natalie, Nat Rat, Rat and her all-time favorite Baby Bon.  The last one she has our brother Chris to thank for, it came from a baby doll commercial and my sister could not stand being called that (so you should all probably start calling her Baby Bon, at least for today).

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI4ssz1mvqo&w=420&h=315]

9)      She is one of my best friends and I am so thankful to have her for a sister. I hope she has a most wonderful birthday (even though it’s finals week). I love you, Nat Rat, Rat, Baby Bon!

Someecards.com

Fun Friday 12/07/2012

Happy Friday!

 

1) I felt this was a nice reminder especially this time of year. I don’t know about you but my next few weeks are booked, mainly with really awesome friend and family related things (but also visits to the allergist and orthodontist plus 4 more short papers, 2 lectures and a final for school).

Via Pinterest

2) Aaron made dinner last night! (I don't like my food to touch)

3) After my post on Wednesday I say AMEN! to this:

someecards.com via Pinterest

4) We are getting married in roughly 10 months and Aaron can’t figure out why I haven’t started to practice writing my “new name”. The reaction to my “no” response is sheer disappointment; I guess I’ll get to it!

5) Baked bacon. Try it. It is much less messy and tastes just as good. Line a cookie sheet with foil, place bacon on foil, and bake roughly 20 minutes at 400*. You can even place them on a cooling rack while baking to avoid having to drain the pieces from the grease before eating.

6) My Grandfather turned 96 yesterday! When he was born unemployment was at 5.1%, the first stamp was $0.02 and federal spending was at $0.71 billion. I called to wish him a happy birthday and we talked about his day and his dinner at Anthony’s. He asked about how our house was coming along and whether or not I had all of my Christmas decorations up yet. I am so lucky to still have two Grandparents in my life and with all of their faculties at that!

7) Here’s a friendly warning for all of you Costco shoppers, they do not ship packages in discreet boxes, see:

This was one of Aaron’s Christmas gifts and it came to our house just like this. Naturally he got home before me the day it arrived so needless to say it has been opened and is in use. Merry Christmas?!

I will be fundraiser attending, babyshower-ing, ugly sweater-ing and homework-ing this weekend (see fact 1). Tis’ the season, I hope your weekend is Merry and Bright!

Unsolicited Driving Advice……..From a Woman

So as most of you know, unless you are new here (In which case I say hello, welcome, it’s nice to have you) I drive…… a lot.  During my commute I see several driving habits that could be improved upon that I would like to discuss here. This is certainly not directed at any of my readers, I just can’t help share the things I see each day .  I’m going to precede my recommendations by making the statement that I by no means am a perfect driver. Having said that, I still feel there are far worse drivers out there than me so let’s get this show on the road (pun totally intended).

1)      Turn signals. You have them, use them.  I loathe getting behind people who stop in the middle of a lane out of nowhere only to discover that they were stopping because they were turning.  Contrary to popular belief I am not a psychic and did not know you were turning.  Had you used your signal I would have known but I’ll assume you were out of blinker fluid today.

2)      Off ramps.  When traveling to work and home you generally use the same off ramp EVERY DAY!  Don’t pretend like you have no idea where you’re headed and then wait until the last absolute minute to get over and then get mad at people for not letting you in.  This brings me to my next point…..

3)      If someone lets you in SAY THANK YOU, do you not have any manners?! Your parent’s would be ashamed of you!  It is as easy as waving, because let’s be honest, you are darn lucky someone was nice enough to hold up traffic so you could get in the exit lane that you should have gotten into a mile ago.

4)      Traffic reports.  I realize there is traffic; I have been sitting in it for the last hour thank you very much reporter.  What I would like to know is WHY I am sitting on the freeway going nowhere. I strongly believe that if we knew there was a stalled car three miles up we’d be more patient while sitting on the freeway.

5)      And finally, for the love of pancakes, slow down people!  You will never make it on time if you get pulled over or crash.  Seriously.  If I’m driving 70 someone is up my bum in the slow lane wanting me to drive faster.  I don’t know about you but the State of California gets enough of my money as it is, I certainly am not going to willingly give them more in the form of a speeding ticket thank you very much.

Happy mid-week to you all, I hope you encounter more pleasant drivers than I do, especially during the holiday season :)  Have a wonderful day!

Weekend Through My Phone

As I sit here typing this on Sunday evening I'm listening to one of Aaron's childhood, and still family friends, be interviewed live on FM 94.9 as a local musician. Congratulations on your success Spero! (You can check out their music video at the end of this post!)

Now onto the weekend through my phone!

On Friday night we had dinner with Aaron's parents, picked out our Christmas tree and went to Costco, where Aaron had to pretend to eat part of the gingerbread house just because of the sign:

I then spent Saturday morning tackling my pile of homework and enjoying some spiced apple cider from Trader Joe's

Then on Saturday evening I ventured out to the post office in our town. How cute are their decorations, seriously?!

I returned home to enjoy this delicious beer while we decorated our house for Christmas!

On Sunday I slept in for the first time in a very long while. I then finished my homework, did the laundry and cleaned the house before I made dinner.

After dinner I found time to give myself a manicure (also the first in a very long time) and watch Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas

I hope you each had an enjoyable weekend doing whatever it is you decided to do (or not do)! Now as promised, a music video from Spero:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvXTkwPbgqY&w=560&h=315]

Fun Friday 11/30/2012

Welcome to the last Friday in November!  How did that happen?!

1) I had an appointment with the Orthodontist this week.  After having my wisdom teeth removed over the summer it  was decided my jaw needed realigning from the movements the wisdom teeth had caused.  Lucky for me I do not have to have conventional metal braces (we hope)!  I am a candidate for Invisalign.  For those of you who do not know what that is, it is basically a form of clear braces that come in the form of trays which are molded to your teeth.  You change them out every two weeks and with each new set your teeth begin to move into their proper place. My treatment is estimated to take about 12 months.  I will be almost done in time for the wedding and I can simply pass on wearing them the day of our wedding, easy as that (we hope)!  I should get my first set of trays in two to three weeks so we'll see how it goes.

2) Since I had the stomach virus last Friday I have an aversion to all foods and drinks Thanksgiving related. That being said, I have not had coffee in a week now.  I know I enjoy coffee but I can not get beyond the mental block just yet to drink it.

3) Lucky for me I came across this tea when I was at Trader Joe's.  It is so good. I've been drinking at least two cups a day. I love it.



4) I also tried these this week:



Our water has a tendency to turn our whites yellow so when I got a coupon for these pods I though I'd give them a shot.  They actually work really well.  I have a new favorite white long sleeve that Marley slapped her muddy paw on last week and after washing it with this pod (in addition to our usual detergent) you can't even tell there was a spot. My shirt is so white!

5) Speaking of Marley, she got her stitches out this week and now she doesn't even seem like a puppy.  She is as tall as Maya now and only about 10lbs shy of weighing the same too.  She's also lost three teeth this week, which kind of freaks me out especially when she tries to eat them.  All of this at only 6 months old. Oy!

6) This week I celebrated my 2nd anniversary with National University.  Two years ago I started this job with no idea what I was getting into.  The only thing I was sure of was that it was completely different from what I was doing in banking and different was what I needed.  I have never regretted that decision, even if I do drive over 100 miles a day to be there.

7) I enjoy what I do, work with people I really like and I still come home to this beautiful place.



8) And last but not least, another one of my favorite Christmas tunes by a very talented group:

http://youtu.be/NY4J8yBf6vg

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  We will be getting our tree and decoration for Christmas...oh and I'll be doing a tone of homework.