Dreams Come True: Baking Edition

Merry post Christmas! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your family and friends. I certainly got in a lot of time with all of the people that I love, and that is my favorite part!

While Christmas certainly is not about the "getting," I feel extra blessed this year- for several reasons.
One of those reasons are a handsome (heavily bearded) guy in my life who I am particularly fond of. And I am incredibly thankful for him and all of the things that he is.  And…he may or may not be pictured  below in a very mysterious photo.

I can't help myself. 

Also, I am thankful when he brings these kind of things into my life…
YES.
This happened!

I talk a lot less about baking and a lot more about products on this forum, but the truth is, I spend a lot of my down time baking and trying new recipes. I have wanted one of these beauties for years. YEARS. I thought someday it might happen,  but I certainly didn't expect it to be any time soon. To say that I am thrilled with my new Kitchen Aid would be an understatement. My baking game just took an unexpected step up.

So, yes, I am feeling a little extra spoiled this year, and today I got to put my new dream machine to use! I have had bread-baking on my to-do list for a few months now. For some reason when I see "yeast" and "rising" I get a little intimidated. But with the help of my kneading attachment, I went ahead and tried it out.

My little adventure today….

Woo!

I got this recipe here if anyone is interested. 

Anyways, on a more serious note, I really am feeling overwhelmed with a lot of love this season. And as much as I feel the love, I also have seen how much shorter life can be than we anticipate. As much as we believe that our loved ones will be with us forever, sometimes that is just not the plan. The holidays are a great time to see our families and friends and let them know how much they mean to us. But, so is everyday. Starting today, don't  forget to say "I love you" and maybe hug a little longer. Each day we have with each other is just another day to show how much we care.

Merry (post) Christmas!
And stay tuned… of course I have some new products to review.

Current Favs

Hey! It's about time for another addition of current favorites. It's Winter time and that means I am cringing and running to and from my car like a giant baby. It also means I am spending a lot more time buying random items and products than I EVER should be. So, without any further delay….

1. Isotoner Gloves

If you live anywhere where you find your body in pain due to the temperature, do yourself a favor and grab a pair of Isotoner gloves. Why I have never owned a pair of these prior to this year is BEYOND my understanding. This has literally been a game changer for me. I actually don't hate my life as much when I am driving to work in the morning. And I can touch the steering wheel again. Bonus!

They have a lot of cute and practical styles. And I now own two pairs.  Pictured below are my favorite pair. 

Women's Cable Knit Gloves- Thinsulate Lined in Ivory

2. Eyeliner discovery

This is more of an announcement. I know I am not the first NOR the last person to do this, but I have started using my eye shadow as an eyeliner- and I LOVE IT. 

In my Naked 2 palette  there is shade called "Blackout". A few weeks ago I had a crisis in which I was not at home and realized I had forgotten my eyeliner. I improvised with a fine tip brush and this shade…. and I couldn't believe how much I liked it! It was such a smooth and soft look as opposed to the sharp lines you get from a pencil. I honestly haven't even used my eye liner since. I have had the best experience when I put my eye shadow primer very close to my lash line before I start. Simple, quick, and a better look if you ask me! 

3. Talenti Gelato

Oh man. As if I need any more caloric intake during this season, I made a huge mistake and bought a couple of pints of this heavenly concoction. I don't even have anything to say except for if you are having a bad day, locate this at your local grocer and wait for the turnaround. 

I am a huge fan of the Sea Salt Carmel and Fudge Brownie flavors. 

A fancy picture from their website. My mouth is watering. 

That's all for now! 

XOXO, 

PSA: Arctic Zero Follow Up

Some of you may have read my PSA about my feelings on my Arctic Zero purchase. Not good. The folks over at Arctic Zero (Hi Lindsey and gang!) must have stumbled across my post, and they contacted me regarding my feelings about their product. 

The next thing I knew, a box showed up of all of the flavors Arctic Zero had to offer! 

Lindsey advised letting the ice-cream thaw out to a creamy state and then giving it a try. I have to say that I STILL haven't tried all of the 6 flavors they sent me, but I will tell anyone who is looking to try this, that Sea Salt Carmel is where it's at in terms of this product. 

I finished at least half of the pint. 

So, here is my new verdict. This product is not ice cream. It's just not. And if you have a sweet tooth like I do, it may not be satisfying to you. But if you are looking for a solid substitute for a frozen treat- by all means- give this stuff a try!

And as a side note, a big THANK YOU to the Arctic Zero team and also an A+ for your amazing customer service efforts. Whether or not I ever fall in love with AZ, I will be extremely impressed with your business efforts. 

 

Thanks again!

Love Radiance

This post is LONG overdue. A couple of weeks ago I had to run a quick errand at the NE Crossroads Outlet in Gretna. My plan was to be in and out in approximately 5 minutes.

Until I saw they opened a Bare Escentuals store..that day… as in an hour before I got there.

It would take you a few minutes of browsing this blog's history to find out I LOVE Bare Escentuals make up. So when I found out that the first 100 customers were getting $25 off of every $50 spent, I had a mild heart attack... to say the least.

I stocked up on my usuals, but I also bought blush from their line. For some unknown reason, I have NEVER used their blush. I love my NARS blush in Orgasm and have always felt like blush is somewhat…expendable.. for use of a better term. Anyways, since I was getting a crazy good deal, I decided it was time to see what their blush was all about.

It's called all over face color, but I use it as a blush- in "Love Radiance" and I have to say, I am a big fan! No big surprise considering I haven't stopped using their products in about the last 10 years.

All Over Face color in "Love Radiance"

Anyways, I don't think I got over my excitement from this unexpected deal for the next 24 hours. I called everyone who I thought would care and fell asleep smiling because I knew another deal like this wouldn't be coming anytime soon.

Sometimes I can't even believe how lame I am.

Anyways, try the blush out if you haven't yet. It doesn't disappoint!


XOXO,

PSA: Arctic Zero

Hey guys.

I am going to make this short and sweet, a little PSA if you will.

Ice cream is good. I want it every night. Actually, I would take a little ice-cream after every meal. It makes everything better.

I stumbled across Arctic Zero on a health blog and thought… hmmm…. could it be? A pint of ice cream for 150 calories? Sign me up!

So I purchased it (FYI - I have only seen it at Hy-Vee and Wal-Mart) and brought it home. Post supper time, when I typically start debating if I should drive through Runza for a twist cone, I busted into the freezer for my first AZ experience.

I sure was excited. I purchased the cookies and cream flavor…. as it is my standard go-to flavor in the frozen dairy department.


Experience as follows:
First bite: Mmmm. Cold. Frozen. Mostly like ice cream. Not as creamy, but good.
Second bite: I guess it tastes like cookies and cream. Sort of.
Third bite: This tastes pretty watery.
Fourth bite: Why is this called cookies and cream?
Fifth bite: Am I eating frozen sand?


There was no sixth bite, gang. Don't waste your $5-8 (depending on where you get it) for this poor ice cream substitute. It's just like I thought… if you want dessert, go big or go home.

Talent Lists

Friday through Sunday of this past weekend was devoted to meeting up with some of my girl friends. We voyaged to Denver and got in some serious QT. In typical gathering style, we purchased a few bottles of wine, Oreos, chips and ice cream for our first evening together. Our spread looked like we were suffering from one giant, collective break up.  Which, by the way, we are not.

Side note: Who do I need to contact to get Blue bell ice-cream in Omaha/Lincoln? Or am I missing it somewhere? HELP.

Anyways, while we were chowing down, one of my friends mentioned her “talent list.” Wait… what? I don’t have a talent list. Also, what is that?

Apparently a couple of the ladies had previously done this. In short, a talent list is pretty self explanatory. It’s a list of things you are talented at. And it’s supposed to be specific.

As in…

Giving= unacceptable talent list material

Thoughtful gift giver= acceptable talent list material

… or something. I think. So, we started making our own talent lists. Some talents are funny. Some are random based off of past events. Some are obvious.

Even so, it is so much more difficult than it sounds. A million things begin to run through my mind. Mainly, what am I good at, anyways? I don’t know! I can’t think of anything. I am certainly not athletic. I have taken the strengths finder…  are those talents? Nope… too vague.  Panic was setting in as I realized I actually didn’t have any talents. Well, this is upsetting. I am not good at being put on the spot, I know that much. We will call that an anti-talent.

The activity ended up turning into something that I am quite certain a group of guys would never partake in: essentially going around and identifying what we thought each individual was talented at. And let me tell you… this is an activity that you should do with your people. (It is better fueled with wine and sugar, but do as you please).

I am sure you are all dying to know what my talent list ended up looking like. Unfortunately, it’s written on a paper towel and is not in my possession. And it’s certainly not my point. My point is somewhere along the lines of “how we see ourselves is so much more negative than how the people who love and care about us, see us.” See,  I was literally incapable of thinking of more than a few things that I knew I was “talented at”. But these women, who have known me for (some) shorter periods and (others) a long time, had no trouble identifying my talents.

Que: so many warm and fuzzy feelings. And I swear it wasn't (just) the wine.

As an activity (if you aren't hurting for a little free time), jot down a few things that you believe yourself to be good at. If you are familiar with your talents, by all means, continue on! But if you, like many of us, struggle to come up with more than a few, ask a close friend or family member to identify a few of your "talents." You will most likely be surprised to see how you are perceived by the people who know you best.

Let this be a reminder to us to never forget to tell the people we love what we really think is great about them. We all have less than pretty qualities. But for most of us, the good qualities outweigh the bad. Find the good in others… and focus on those things.

  

The Motherboard

I believe this has been my longest blog hiatus, ever. About two months ago, my computer decided to pull the ultimate prank and refuse to turn back on. It started doing this frightening beeping sound when I tried to charge it.   Though I know nothing about computer repair, something told me this was not good.  I hesitated to google the symptoms. Everyone knows how that goes… one minute you have a sore throat, and the next you are dying of a rare disease. Same for computers. So… I did it anyways because I like to get the facts up front. It didn’t sound good, and I was scared.

Like any normal person would do, I went into denial and put my computer in the closet, hoping it would rest up and turn on in a few days.  Well, fast forward a few weeks, and my computer wasn’t making the healthy recovery I had hoped for. I caved and took her in. A week went by before I got the official diagnosis… the motherboard. I am sure my blank stare encouraged the computer repairman to dumb down his spiel and say “We need to send it away to get repaired or replace it. It’s shot.” Wait, what?! I have only had this MacBook for about 3 years. Don’t these things have like, lifetime warranties? Aren’t they indestructible? Am I making these things up?  I saved my temper tantrum and instead told him to do what he needs to do… what do I know anyways?

Well gang, my computer is finally healthy. Coincidentally, I still haven’t picked her up. Blogging from my phone is tricky, but I like the challenge. And I didn’t want to leave anyone hanging any longer. That is, of course, making the assumption that anyone is “hanging.”

 

Anywho, it is Fall! Over at my apartment, I am bathing in pumpkin scented everything. Literally. Have you guys tried Pumpkin Latte and Marshmallow from Bath and Body Works? I was like a kid in a candy shop when I saw the fall scents were out. I smell like pumpkins, my apartment smells like pumpkins, I am ingesting pumpkin flavored goodies…. It’s chaos around here. If you go and buy anything pumpkin scented (to wear) this Fall, I would make it THIS. Yum.

 

 

So, I am going to keep this short and sweet because typing for an extended period of time on my IPhone screen makes me want to gouge my eyes out with a spoon.  

 

XOXO