Is there anything better than sitting down with a hot cup of coffee (or tea) and relaxing? Most of our crafts are brainstormed during one of these peaceful moments. We came up with this centerpiece concept late on a weekend night. We knew we wanted an inexpensive Valentines craft that wouldn’t take too much time to complete. Also, best purchase during the Valentine season? – A Heart Paper Punch. 
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Football Family Wreath
Happy Super Bowl LIII Everyone! Super Bowl Sunday is right up there with the traditional national holidays for our family. We are ALWAYS together eating way too much food and yelling at the TV (I’m sure they can hear us if we are loud enough). Last year my team became the Super Bowl Champions, FLY EAGLES FLY! This year none of our family’s teams made it to the big game. Instead, we are hoping for a great game with some amazing plays. We all have different teams in the NFL but luckily we agree on two College teams. The G & O are colored for The University of Utah and Notre Dame. The T,E,A, and M are for Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers, and Denver Broncos.
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It’s a Puppy Pawty!
I am definitely a proud dog mom. My furbaby is turning four in February so we are throwing her a “Puppy Pawty”! We put up decorations, make a lean organic meat cake with mashed sweet potatoes as frosting and spoil her with a new squeaky toy (this year it will also be a new collar but don’t tell her!). I’ve seen the trend of chalkboard birthday signs and it looked like fun! We had an extra chalkboard, some chalkboard pens so I started in on doodling to create the final product. The best part? If I made a mistake I could erase and try again!
Friends Who Inspire Me
My Advice: Surround yourself with people who support and love you. I’ve found myself many times in friendships that were not a good fit or could be considered “toxic”. People can grow in different directions and I’m here to tell you; it’s OKAY if that happens. It’s never too late to find new friends and friends that last a lifetime. *Raising my champagne glass* Here’s a quick toast to my friends I’ve found over the years that are true girl bosses and inspire me.
Shoutout To My Mom!
I’m lucky enough to be close to my mom. Between this blog, cooking, shopping and life – we just get each other. People say we are alike and that is truly the best compliment I could get. She is an incredible person inside and out. If I end up being half the woman she is, I will be proud.
College Friends Forever
This girl is AMAZING. I’ve known her since college and we have been close ever since. Even though she is in a different state, we text and call consistently. I want to cry a bit thinking about it because through everything, she has my back and I have hers. She takes life on with a smile and has the most caring heart.
B-Squared
Not only do we share the same first name, I’m pretty sure we have the same thoughts 90% of the time. Between clothes shopping, coffee runs, and our chats about life goals – we’ve become great friends and push each other to be who we want to be. She deserves the world and I can’t wait for the world to see what she has to offer.
It doesn’t need to be a special day to tell someone you value their friendship. I certainly got very lucky with the girl friends I have in my life!
Friends Who Laugh
This girl friend is someone I trust and have tons of respect for. Even though life gets crazy and we don’t see each other as much as we would like to, when we do, we laugh A LOT. She is such a great friend and wonderful mom to her sweet little girl.
What would your quick toast be about one of your friends? Comment below to spread the love but more important send it to them!
Sweethearts Wreath
Walking down the aisles of a store from January to mid-February is a bombardment of Valentines gifts, colors, and candies. Tucked away in the aisle is also a piece of nostalgia… Sweethearts. The chalky hard candies with phrases from “Call Me” to “Be Mine” (or the newer additions like “Text Me”) bring back sweet childhood memories.
The candies have evolved quite a bit from the original form. The Smithsonian describes that the candy maker Necco created a version of the current treat when the company started in 1847. It started out as a scalloped shell with a paper fortune in the middle. The red writing was added 14 years later in 1861 by the founder’s brother who invented a machine that could press red vegetable dye into the candy. The shape went through many different forms before settling into its heart shaped delight in the early 1900’s. Even though they have made adjustments to the phrases and flavors, Sweethearts still hold a sentimental place in my Valentines memories.
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New Year to be more YOU
Happy New Year Everyone! The end of the year crept up on me quickly and I cannot believe that it is already 2019! There’s a lot of changes and new adventures ahead just in the next few months and I can’t wait to share some of them on here.
My main job right now is in an office and I enjoy it quite a bit. My coworkers are great and every day I learn more than the day before. My company offers a mentorship program and I participated in it during my first year. I had a wonderful mentor who taught me so much and I am lucky enough to still keep in contact with. When I “graduated” from the mentorship program she gave me a cute sign that says, “Do The Thing You Long To Do”. Some days I find myself staring at the sign perched perfectly by my computer and dream of what I really want to be doing. I wish I could say it’s a clear vision of an end goal but it tends to be grouped into thought bubbles of cooking, crafting, travelling, writing and how they can intertwine. That’s one of the reasons I started this blog in the first place! It’s an outlet for me to be inspired by beautiful things, write, and find more balance in my life. 
In this New Year I hope that you all find the thing you long to do and start taking steps (small or big) to making it come true!
Cinnamon Roll Cookie Makeover
My ideal morning is waking up to a hot cup of coffee and a warm cinnamon roll. To add a new spin, these are cinnamon roll cookies that taste delicious dunked in a hot cup of coffee (tried and true!). It’s okay to have cookies for breakfast if it’s these right? One of the components to this cookie that might make it taste the most like the sweet bread is the addition of yeast to the dough mixture. It’s been a busy day of Christmas activities, so we made the dough and rolled them before throwing the logs into the refrigerator and heading off to lunch and then the Nutcracker ballet. Once we got home we sliced and baked these fun treats.
4th Day Before Christmas – Cinnamon Roll Cookies
Cinnamon Chips + Cookies = A Perfect Pair
Has anyone ever heard of Cinnamon Chips before? I have not so this discovery is revolutionary! This cookie combines cinnamon chips and one of the most underused spices in baking (in my opinion), Cardamom. The combination of the two adds new flavor and depth to the normal snickerdoodle cookie dough recipe. Cardomom adds an additional spicy component and accentuates cinnamon when used. Is there a baking chip you have found that was amazing to you?
5th Day Before Christmas – Cinnamon Chip Chai-Spiced Snickerdoodles
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Gingerbread Love
Whoever created gingerbread is a genius! Thankfully for everyone on this blog, my other passion is history so I went on a quick research adventure to learn more about the spiced treat (While of course snacking on some gingerbread of my own). Although ginger originates in Asia, most of the credit to today’s popularized “gingerbread” flavors seems to be by the Europeans in the middle ages. Elizabeth I is mostly credited with decorating cookies into “gingerbread men” after having some made that resembled guests. Even better, George Washington’s mother, served gingerbread to the Marquis de Lafayette and the confection was passed down for generations in the family (I recently finished Washington by Ron Chernow so this fact made me quite excited to learn).
6th Day Before Christmas – Gingerbread Spritz
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It’s a Pie! It’s a Cookie! It’s a Pie Cookie!
There are so many different pies that we make at Thanksgiving! Pumpkin, Apple, but my favorite is Pecan Pie. Cold Pecan Pie is my after Thanksgiving snack, and what I have when I take a break decorating the Christmas tree. But wait, it’s not Thanksgiving, it’s almost Christmas! What are we doing talking about pies then? Well, the cookie on the 7th day before Christmas we are making pecan pie thumbprint cookies.
7th Day Before Christmas – Pecan Pie Thumbprint Cookies
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