Well this is just sad. ... And chocolate chip cookies. And babies!

Three months and no blog posts! Not like I have a flock of eager readers tracking my every post and life decision and meal and clothing purchase/recommendation and Hipstamatic photo. ;)

But still. I have such good intentions and then just ... abandon them instead for an hour of repinning on Pinterest, making dinner and eating it with my husband on the back patio and voraciously watching 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' like a proper Trekkie/nerd/pregnany lady on a mission. ... Oh yeah!

Since my last post, I am excited to share that my sweet husband and I are expecting our first child!

I'm 18 weeks and due 8/31/12. This week the fetus is the size of a bell pepper, my uterus is the size of a cantaloupe and my balance is officially non-existent!

I've worked in the same office for 5 years and have started bumping into walls that have never posed a problem before. I am clumsy - actually I have always been clumsy but this whole daily-shifting-center-of-gravity thing is NOT helping: I drop full glasses of water all over the kitchen and myself and trip over rugs. And my own bare feet. I am emotional: I have cried more in the last month than I have in the last 5 years all together. I don't have a love-hate relationship with food anymore, as I did in the first trimester. Actually it's all love now (yay! no more gagging! I have to be grateful that I was spared from some of the most horrific first trimester symptoms, thankfully)

Yes, now all foods are friends again. 

Especially chocolate chip cookies.

Speaking of which I have been on something of a quest recently to find the "right" CCC recipe. I wanted to say "perfect" but that is really relative to who is eating the cookies. Some people like crisp cookies (we don't); some like soft, Famous Amos cookies (I could take them or leave them unless they are oatmeal which must be soft); some people like cookies with crisp edges and chewy middles (yes please!!). Thankfully Kevin also likes the perfectly balanced crispy/chewy CCC so I am working on finding the right recipe for us. I typically just use the one on the package of Toll House or Ghirardelli chips, whichever one I have around. But surely there is a magic combination of ingredients I can use all the time to ensure we have the ideal cookie.

I just recently tried this recipe from Savory Sweet Life which is wonderful and maybe I did it wrong but as they cool they get a little TOO crispy - like, all-over crispy so the chewy part is all gone. Kevin is a dunker (not me) so this can work for him the next day but for me it's just like eating a cracker or something. Not preferred. They are SO GOOD fresh though: like 3-minutes-from-the-oven warm with ice cold milk. M-hmm.

I think these are up next. Don't they look divine?? And I'm loving the addition of the sea salt sprinkle on top. Just that little extra something. And the yummy toasted walnuts sounds AH-mazing.

Of course mine wouldn't come out looking quite this nice but it's worth a try!

On Sale: More items just posted to my Etsy Shop!

Check out my shop here.

Everything is 15% OFF all month long using coupon code 'DECEMBER'!!

Gold Leaf Necklace

Yellow Pom Pom Necklace

Cranberry Trio Earrings

Midnight Cluster Bib Necklace

Lapis Lazuli Droplet Necklace on Copper

Green Turquoise Cluster Necklace on Copper

I'm having entirely too much fun with this ... ;)

Sources for Specialty and/or Quirky Gifts

Been browsing the web lately looking for "exciting and new" (Always gets me thinking...) gift ideas. This year Kevin and I have decided not to really "do" gifts since it gets out of hand and we're trying to save money. If we buy a gift for one person we have to buy gifts for 30 people because that one person knows like 5 people who we also know and ... basically, things get expensive fast.

However ... Kevin has his birthday (30!!) and our anniversary 2 days from each other, followed closely by Christmas. I know how difficult this is (for kids and kids at heart) to have their bday and Christmas so close together; parents tend to combo-gift, which is kinda lamesauce (totally just learned that!), however much I might understand and appreciate its frugality.

So I'm trying to make sure Kevin isn't forgotten: on our Anniversary (7 years) and his very important (to me) and a tiny bit stressful (to him) 30th bday.

All that to say, I found a few interesting sites in my quest for a cool Kevin-worthy gift. I thought I might share since ... well, tis the season.

1. Canoeonline.net for their unique and pretty pieces:

Teak Trivet

Copper Tea Canister

Sake Carafe with Ice Pocket

2. KnockKnock.biz for their goofy and lol-inducing sticky pads and stamps:

Go To Hell Notepad

WTF Sticky Notes 

Deal With This Self-Inking Stamp

3. PerpetualKid.com for their adults-are-kids-too theme:

Personal Library Kit

Chocolate Chip Necklace

Giant Gummy Bear Lamp

Happy Shopping!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I've had such a full morning already! 

Sausage balls and coffee to start the day; the bird is in the oven (fingers crossed! kinda nervous!). 

Kevin is on the roof putting up Christmas lights - it's cool and foggy outside and the cats are watching us from the window. 

When I go out to hand him a tool and come back in the house it smells WONDERFUL!! I've missed that turkey smell on Thanksgiving.

Have a great Thanksgiving day everyone!

One of the place setting with Fiestaweare and vintage linen napkins.

Centerpiece with some of the gorgeous roses from our backyard.

Sausage balls to fuel the morning

The glorious bird! Pictured after one hour of roasting.

The cats watching us from the window ...

Thanksgiving 2011

As I mentioned previously, I am doing my own Thanksgiving 'spread' this year ... all by my self.

This is kind of a big deal.

Every Thanksgiving (and Christmas) since we got married Kevin and I have spent with other people - either friends or his family - so I've just made sweet potatoes or apple pie or something. This year I have a turkey and a ham (Honey Baked of course) and I'm making several sides (I hesitate to call them "vegetables" since they are really so far departed from, for example, steamed broccoli).

Here is my menu:

- Roast Turkey (this makes me nervous)

- Pan Gravy (this also makes me nervous)

- Spiral Cut Ham

- Sweet Potato Casserole (tried and true recipe - delicious!)

- Mashed Potatoes

- Parker House Rolls (a first for me but the recipe looks easy)

- Green Bean Casserole (I have tried and loved more foodie variants but I'm going old-school this year)

- Cornbread Sage Dressing

- Lime Jello Salad (there is just something magical about having this on my plate during the holidays, no lie)

- Cranberry Sauce (yes, from the can; jellied and whole fruit)

So turkey and pan gravy officially make me nervous. I have never made them before. I'm kind of scared. But I'm staying positive!

*I will make a delicious turkey*

*my gravy will not be lumpy*

Part of me kind of wishes we had people coming over, but this year - another first - it's just going to be me and Kevin. I love sharing my cooking with people but sometimes I get so tired of sharing the holidays with family. Does that sound awful?? I know everyone says that is the point of the holidays but when family is nuts and it's just more of a stress and a duty to spend time with them, sometimes it's a nice, well-deserved break to just spend a holiday with your favorite person ever and some pretty awesome food (actually I'm not 100% assured of 'awesome').

Small sidenote: I love Thanksgiving and I appreciate this country but ... I kind of think about these people at Thanksgiving.

What's kind of silly (and always a disappointment for me) is that I have this image in my head of what holidays should be - always have since I was tiny - but they have yet to fully live up to those expectations. That's why expectations are generally to be avoided, I've learned.

Anyway, I have this rose-colored vision of Thanksgiving that entails me getting up early to put the bird in the oven, brew a pot of coffee and put the sausage balls in the oven, turning on the parade and hanging out in my living room with my husband and us laughing and sharing the morning and 'making memories'. I think though that 'making memories' is a little overrated because I'm always making experiences ... sometimes I just don't remember them. Which is why I try living *right now*, in the moment instead of looking back so much.

I love looking back and reminiscing but there is something kind of sad and almost desperate about that. It just makes me a little down. So I try hard to just stay right now instead ... so I can work on making the very most of right now instead of wasting it on being nostalgic. There is no rewind button.

So instead of making up images of what life should be and then being being disappointed, I'm going to appreciate life for what it is.

This year I'm so grateful for ...

- My Husband and Best Friend

- Our Home

- Our sweet cats who are crazy but we love them

- My stable job and the fact that I like all the people I work for (what?! is that even possible?)

- Learning a lot of new things

- Having an open mind

- Old Friends

What are you grateful for this Thanksgiving??

Recipe: Fall Shepherd's Pie

Yes, it's officially cold enough for Shepherd's Pie and heaters and sweatshirts. That makes me happy. Although leaving the house for work and finding out that it's 38 degrees is a little shocking. Not in a bad way, necessarily.

So yesterday afternoon I saw this recipe for Fall Shepherd's Pie. Backing up: This year, I intend to have my first Thanksgiving Dinner. I eat other people's Thanksgiving dinners every year but have yet to make my own. I haven't made my own Thanksgiving turkey! Ever! This is not good and this year changes it all. First turkey, first Thanksgiving in our house at our dining table, not another person's house and dining table. I've been writing up menu ideas and shopping lists and I'm getting my HoneyBaked Ham ordered. I'm feeling very festive.

Anyway, I found this recipe and got very excited about it since it made me feel like Thanksgiving and football (I don't even like football) and cold air and falling leaves and cocoa and Hot Toddys. It's a seasonal twist on the classic recipe: instead of ground beef, ground turkey (you could totally use actual Thanksgiving turkey leftovers, too), cranberries and sweet potatoes. It tastes like those last few bites of Thanksgiving dinner where everything on your plate has become one and there is sweet from the potato and tart from the cranberry sauce and savory from the turkey and gravy. Yeah.

Here is the recipe from Tablespoon.com - they seem to have a thing for rainbow foods but have other non-rainbow foods, too.

I split the recipe in 1/2 because it just seemed like a lot. It still filled two medium casseroles. Quantities below are original, not halved but I've added notes about my process next to applicable ingredients or instructions.

Fall Shepherd's Pie

Preheat oven to 350

2 pounds ground turkey

3 ribs celery, chopped [I still used 3, even though I split the recipe ]

1 onion, diced small 

2 carrots, chopped [I used 3 carrots, but mine were small-ish]

2 T butter [I used 3 T]

2 T flour [again, 3 T ... when in doubt more gravy is always better!]

1 box chicken stock

1 bag frozen corn

1 bag frozen cranberries

4 sweet potatoes

1 Russet potato, though any regular 'white' potato will do [I used 2 sweet and one regular potato]

Pinch Cinnamon & Allspice

1 cup milk

1/2 stick butter

Peel and dice the potatoes. Arrange on a baking sheet and roast til tender [I just boiled them on the stove]

Meanwhile, brown the turkey in a large skillet then set aside.

In the same pan [I added a little olive oil], saute the celery, onions, and carrots. Add and melt the 2 tablespoons butter, then whisk in the flour and let it cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly so it doesn't clump.

Add the cooked turkey back into the pan, then add the stock and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes to thicken the gravy.

When the potatoes are tender, drain and mash them, then mix in the half stick of butter and milk. Mix in the cinnamon and allspice. [I forgot about the spices until the potatoes were already spread in the dishes, so I just sprinkled them on top of the potatoes]

Add the turkey mixture to the bottom of a casserole dish.

Next, mix together the corn and cranberries and add them on top of the turkey. [I warmed the corn and cranberries in the same pan for a few minutes before adding]

Finally, spread the mashed sweet potatoes smoothly over the top and bake at 350 for about a half hour.

When things are getting bubbly and the top is starting to brown, pull it out of the oven.

Allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.

I could not resist extra helpings of this! It's definitely a go-to cool weather dinner from now on. I decided to make it spur-of-the-moment but the ingredients are pretty much kitchen staples (except for the berries, but I did have a couple bags on hand) so you don't have to make a special trip to the store for this recipe.

Enjoy! And let me know if you love it, hate it or made any of your own modifications. =)

Etsy Shop Update

Since opening my Etsy shop this summer I have been making a bunch of jewelry to add to my shop and have worked on improving my technique, trying new techniques and new materials and worked on taking flattering photographs of my products. I was so excited when I made my first sale, too!

Take a look at my Etsy shop. Here are photos of a few of the newer pieces I've posted.



Amazonite and pink swarovski crystals.




Red quartz teardrop necklace.




Bubblegum pink coral bracelet.




Cerulean Blue and Lemon Yellow swarovski crystal earrings.




Crown necklace (matching earrings available).




Smoky quartz and gold pearl earrings.




{SOLD} Mint and silver layering necklace (30 inches).




Natural stone and copper necklace with Webstone, Amazonite, crystals and glass.




Artsy charm necklace with orange blown glass; yellow glass, Chalcedony and green glass on copper.




Orange agate ring wrapped in silver wire and mint green alabaster swarovski crystals.