christmas is here

I made it.  It's officially Winter Break.  The papers are written.  The house is clean.  Presents are almost all wrapped.  Just a couple more presents left to buy.  I have never in my life been this late buying Christmas presents.  Arg!  Should be done tomorrow.  And I'm going to start the Christmas baking tomorrow!  Can't wait.
Divinity
Penoche
Cranberry bread
Lemon Pie
Chess Pie
Black Forest Cupcakes
Chocolate Pie
Can't wait!  It's my favorite baking of the year.  I've been watching Christmas movies all day.  Well, I actually started yesterday with A Muppet Christmas Carol while I did laundry.  And then today White Christmas and Love Actually.  I've also been recording stuff on.... some movie channel.  I have Prancer waiting to be watched.  So excited!  I'm still trying to get in the Christmas mood.  It's been hard with school and work but I'm doing Christmas music non-stop and Christmas movies.  Yay :)  

grad school and domesticity are not friends

I am a grad student.  I work full time and am doing my internship.  This means pretty much two full time jobs plus homework and class.  So not a lot of time for cooking, baking, decorating or vacuuming.  Sigh.  I love the first three and don't even terribly mind the last.  So now that I've written my paper for the weekend, I'm making a list of foods I desperately want to make.  Christmas break cannot come soon enough.

Pumpkin cake.  If I can find my recipe I will be making this for Thanksgiving.  Yum.  Hopefully in cupcake form.
Chocolate cream pie.  Absolutely must make this for Thanksgiving.  Can't wait to use my new pot to make it in.  No more hoping there are no chunks of non-stick coating in my pudding.
Doughnuts.  I really want to try homemade doughnuts.  We are buying a deep fryer, this might be the first thing I fry in it.  I even have a recipe for glaze.  Thank you Betty Crocker.  I love you.
Turkey.  We are buying a turkey and I am going to make my first ever attempt at making one.  A little nervous.  I'd rather do it now than when a thousand people are coming to my house for Thanksgiving.
Divinity.  I made it a couple of years ago and it was the most terrifying thing I have ever made.  Boiling sugar for 30 minutes without stirring.  Arg!  But now I have a Kitchen Aid mixer (that I am in love with) so I think the mixing part should be easier. 
Beef stew.  I saw them make one with chocolate in it the other day on Food Network.  I think without the chocolate it would be good.

Come on Christmas break.  Can't wait for a month of no school.  And getting to cook.  And read for fun.  And now it's time to watch football and vacuum. 

shoes

Um, I love shoes.  I mean really love shoes.  It's all Shoe Carnival's fault for giving me that lovely discount for all those years.  Let me tell you, I still have shoes in my closet I bought when I worked there that I have never worn.  Wasteful, I know.

But working there made me super cheap about buying shoes.  I refuse to pay full price for shoes.  And I hate to pay much for them in general.  Last spring (well about this time last year-ish) I found some shoes at DSW that I loved.  They were expensive for me $60 or so.  Originally $100, so a bargain but still way too much.  And they didn't have my size.  So it wasn't meant to be.

Fast forward one year later.  I happen across a shoe website with major discounts.  Hello new best friend.  There are the exact shoes I was looking at for only $25!!!!!!!!!!  Perfect for summer.  Mesh with straps across the top.  And work approved.  Fabulous since I hate wearing sneakers in the summer.  And last summer I alternated between some white mesh Pumas that got dirty super fast (which I hated, they were cute!) and a pair of grey Nike skimmers that I turned pink with a cheaply made free beach towel from work.  So I am pretty excited about these shoes.  It will make winter that much less sucky.  What was that, you want to see what they look like?

 

I really could not be more excited.  I can't wait to get them in the mail.  New shoes are way more exciting than text books.  Just saying.

spring...

I can't help it.  I said I would quit whining about winter.  But well, that was a lie.  A big fat snow covered lie.  I know, I have friends who live much farther north and have much more wintery weather to contend with than I do.  But I hate winter weather.  I really do.  Snow isn't really so pretty when it's keeping you from doing things like celebrating Christmas or the Super Bowl. 

I'm tired of my snow boots.  Oh so tired of them.  I am ready for flip flops and capri pants and ridiculously large sunglasses (even though I wear those all year round). 

 

Oh yes, I want them in every color they come in.  They would be perfect for the lake.  And for work this summer (Yes, my job is that casual).  And for life in general.  I want bright pretty colors.  And flip flops.  Oh, flip flops.  Why must you be so fabulous and so tempting.  My toes need to be out in the sun, getting that tell tale lake tan from fishing and laying around at the lake.

 

If you know me well at all you know that these are the same basic flip flops I have been wearing since about my sophomore year of college.  Time for a new style, well maybe.  But these are the best kind of flip flops in the world.  And I can't wait to pull one of the.... five pairs I own out of my closet.  Four of the five pairs are ancient and ratty but I can't get rid of them.  Don't judge me.

 

Long story short, I cannot wait for spring.  I know, come July I will be whining about how hot it is.  But remind me of the snow and I will be very appreciative of the sunshine. 

cooking adventures

I'm trying a new food for the Super Bowl party tomorrow.  A while back we went to 810 Zone for lunch.  We checked out the menu before going and had decided we had to try an appetizer they had -- crab rangoon with shrimp.  Holy cow, it was delicious!  I of course, declared that I could make them at home.  Have I ever made crab rangoon?  Well, no.  But I can google.  So I have 2 recipes I am putting together to make them how I want.  Just plain crab rangoon this time.  Didn't want to waste money on shrimp if they were going to be gross.  So, here's hoping.

stripes

So I have recently discovered I like stripes.  I don't think I realized that I kept buying things that were striped.  My kitchen stuff is striped.  My beach bag that I can see hanging on my bedroom door taunting me is striped.  My new shoer curtain is striped.  Hm, who knew.

It's snowing.  Again.  I wish I could say I love snow.  I really do.  I love it in the abstract.  If I could stay at home curled up on the couch with hot chocolate and a movie I would like it much better.  But when I have to drive to work in a snow downpour, I like it much much less.  I can't wait until I get to have snow days again!  When I buy a new car, it will definitely have all wheel drive.  I can't get up hills in my little car in the snow.  It's so sad.  I am considering one of these....  In a few years.

 

A grey Pontiac Vibe.  Yeah, I love Pontiac.  Even though they don't still make them.  That's just mean.

I found some cookie cutters that I am pretty sure I need.  Unfortunately they are sold out on the Williams Sonoma website.  So I am watching some on eBay for a pretty reasonable price.  I mean they are fabulous.  Yes, I'm excited about cookie cutters.  I can't help it.

 

 

And now it's time for some Friday night homework.  Fabulous.  Oh thank you grad school for taking over my life.  I hate you. Thanks.

going to...

Get warmer.  Hello spring!  Okay, maybe not really but the snow is melting.  I can see grass.  I looooove it!  I didn't even wear a coat today.  Hooray.

I am being insanely productive today
-Wrote lesson plans for an entire month
-Doing a thousand loads of laundry (okay, more like six or seven, but still a lot)
-Almost finished my genogram for family class
-Cooked turkey burger and corn (not together) for dinner
-Bought groceries
-Oh and I went to work
It's been a good day.  I love days when I can get lots of stuff done.  Makes me happy.

We went to Iowa this weekend to see Brad Paisley.  I know, who goes to Iowa in January but it was so much fun.  The concert was amazing.  And we found fabulous places to eat.  Well, one in particular.  It was a seafood market that has fresh fish and such shipped in daily.  Oh holy cow.  I want to eat there every day.  Fresh, home made clam chowder and crab soup.  Yum!!!!!

That friends, is Brad Paisley in front of the screen for one of his songs about fishing.....

oh why

Why is the weather man always right?  It makes me sad.  We got six more inches of snow yesterday.  That makes a grand total of 18 inches.  I drove past a snow drift taller than my car.  Driving is.... well a challenge.  It is too cold for them to use salt so they're using sand.  What does sand do?  Glad you asked.  It creates this lovely sludge that makes it nearly impossible to drive.  It took me 45 minutes to drive what usually takes 20.  But I made it home safely.

They called a snow day today and tomorrow has already been cancelled too.  No snow days for me, still go to work to hang out with the kiddos.  So ready for regular school to start.  And for the snow to go away.  I wore 3 pairs of pants this morning when I left my house -- under armour pants, jeans, and some amazing sweat pants over my jeans.  Attractive! 

This is the view from my porch (through the window -- it's too cold to go out again).  That snow is not on a hill, it's drifted that much.  Fantastic.  Here's to warmth and summer time and flip flops and hot days at the lake.  I can't wait!

on living at the north pole

So, apparently I have moved to the north pole and did not realize it.  There has been snow on the ground for nearly 2 weeks now.  It snowed Christmas eve.  A lot.  And the snow has not melted.  It snowed more last Tuesday.  And then it snowed more Sunday.  It's supposed to snow tomorrow too.  The weather forecast.... ug, it's not getting any better.
Wednesday -- Hi 22, Low 3  90% chance of snow
Thursday -- Hi 5,  Low -6
Friday -- Hi 0, Low -10

Seriously!  I live in the midwest.  I am not impressed.  I have been wearing warm fuzzy boots for oh, about 3 weeks now.  I busted out the Nikes today because I was so tired of boots.  And my feet froze.  I am permanently wearing a bright orange (oh, so unattractive) Columbia coat and a white Columbia hat.  Otherwise I might freeze to death.

I hate winter.  I drove over the lake the other day.  It was frozen.  Then I drove over it again and it was frozen and snow covered.  I mean, really?  C'mon now.  We don't have weather like this.  Or we shouldn't.  A high of 0, now that's just ridiculous.

I want to live in a cup of hot chocolate.

I bought curtains tonight because all the cold air comes in through my crappy apartment windows.  I also bought a space heater.  I have great hopes of being warm again.  Sigh.  Hurry up summer time!