Christmas..uhh Holiday Decor/Crafting

Over the past two weeks I've been doing a lot of decor/crafting. The sad part is I haven't even started my actual Christmas presents (well the ones that I'm going to make). But, at least I've purchased all the supplies, and have all of my other gifts bought, so maybe in that sense I'm somewhat ahead.

Idea from family circle

I saw these pinecones in felt, but decided to try them out with paper (standard brown construction and glossy silver) and they make excellent ornaments and/or adornments for presents.
















My mom had this awesome idea to make topiaries and I'm loving the holiday cheer of something fresh and the great pine smell it has brought to my studio.

I decorated my classroom with an array of Christmas things. The wooden tree I bought last year at the Art Museum gift shop and the hand-painted Santa was a Goodwill find for only $5. Ahh isn't he so cute?!

I felt bad about not including other holidays so I found this great Martha Stewart template for dreidel place settings and used a Google image for the star of David to create a make-shift garland. Yep definitely had to include Kwanzaa too. So I used construction paper to create a jig-saw flag and put the commemorative stamp on top.

For the good old studio I made a quick little garland with dollar store "foam coasters" a glue gun and twine. I also went a little crazy with the baby glass ornaments that I got from Ikea by hanging them on my regular fake tree plant. My Cross Country Kids are the best ever and they signed a fake mum plant to make up for the ones that I got stolen in the fall. I decided I clearly had to add it to my holiday decor so I inserted some colored lights into the flowers. Pretty excited with my new holiday additions. You might even remember my Zebra Zeby (he has an updated holiday tie if you look closely). Can't wait to use these Trader Joe's bags in wrapping and might even make the garland on the sides!

I am thankful for...

1) Beautiful Places in Philadelphia

2) Being able to see my whole fam on Thanksgiving! Made these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies to show my sis and broski-in-law my thanks for having us all again!

Happy early thanksgiving everyone! :]

Sprinkles/Jimmies and Comfort Food

If there is one thing in the world that makes me happy it would have to be sprinkles. Ask my BFF Kathryn, she adores BFFs Kathryn and Abby they adore sprinkles even more than I do. Over the years, I have been conflicted as to what to call them. I suppose on my first introduction, my parents called them sprinkles, but then down the shore, and through a couple of my other friends I started to call them jimmies and sprinkles interchangeably. Regardless of the name, there is something about sprinkles that brings you back to your first ice cream cone. Or more recently, my last Phillies ice cream helmet with sprinkles on top. (Which btw, I'm gonna post one of my Christmas craft projects from last year in order to hopefully inspire me for a new ornament this year--if anyone has any great new ideas please let me know!)

Bedazzled Phillies Ice Cream Helmet

Although we're way past Halloween and I'm just catching up I decided to make a batch of Funfetti Halloween Cookies to give to my kids for Districts and to bring with me for Kelly and her amazing friends in Hoboken.

Cross country girls <3 Funfetti and showing off their decorated nails!

 

My obsession for jimmies continued when I saw this amazing recipe for cake batter and sprinkle bark. I suggest upping the recipe to 3 TABLEspoons of cake batter, and it can definitely be a great idea for the holidays--using red and green sprinkles of course!

And to cap it all off I had a cupcake martini at Hoboken Bar and Grill to complete my sprinkle heaven. I found this recipe on Pinnacle's website that isn't exactly the same, but should taste just as good!
Birthday Cake Martini
1 oz. Pinnacle Cake
1 tsp. dry vanilla cake mix
½ oz. chocolate liqueur
½ oz. half & half
Shake with ice and strain into a
shot glass. Top with whipped
cream and colored sprinkles.

After all that sweetness, I have finally also turned my life around to cooking real meals. (I was sick for about two weeks and all I literally ate was soup. Although I do love myself some soup I was ready for some more heartier meals). Last night I cooked up this Chicken and Spinach Pasta Bake and was very delighted with the homey feel, but also with the spinach and tomatoes I at least felt like I was getting my veggies in too! I opted to use rotini instead of rigatoni and sauteed the onions as I was cooking the chicken in olive oil. It made the recipe go a lot quicker and did not take away from the taste at all. I really have to say that it is probably one of my favorite casseroles of all time because the chive and onion cream cheese makes it oh-so-good! Definitely a go-to-quick-comfort meal in the future!

Simple as it should be

I have really liked Tristan Prettyman's song "Simple as it should be" for a while now. This weekend reminded me of the fact that sometimes when you add other factors in life, whether it's worrying about money, worrying about pleasing others, or even worrying about doing the right thing, you actually stray away from what's right. If there is one thing that I have learned in my past 24 years, even as a toddler, it is that if something makes your stomach churn, it is probably the wrong decision. So with that being said, I tried to get back to the basics and have captured some simple things that have pleased me over the past couple of days. 

..Home-made Halloween peanut butter cups..

I saw Emily Schuman's post and it inspired me to make the cups and use these festive wrappers that I had from last year.

..An old necklace hangs my wreath inside..

Instead of risking my wreath getting stolen, thankfully I hung it up on my closet door, and staring at my G-moms golden chain makes me smile.

Muli-colored/flavored champagne at brunch

Golden luck

Caesars brunch at Mia wasn't just lovely, but also delish! And then I later got to walk on the beach and found a golden good luck stone. 

Sunset in Brig

Pumpkins, pumpkins, everywhere.

Everything about pumpkins makes me happy so I've decided to post some of my favorites that me or my friends have carved/created/painted.

My junior year at PSU we decided to have a pumpkin carving contest. Well I decided to do a tribute to the best cat in the world, Lola. Lola (1) received the "crappiest pumpkin" award. Jessie's Joepa (2) won.

When I went back to PSU as a newly alum and the girls ended up winning Big Tens they had these awesome painted PSU pumpkins (3). "Spirit pumpkins," I'll call them. Obviously, good luck. 

Last year in the Yunk we had a little Halloween carving contest and I feel as though I have perfected my craft a little better than my Lola days. My peace sign (4) even has a little golden glitter.

Last week for our senior meet I decided to surprise the kids with a little senior pumpkin loving. I really do feel like "spirit pumpkins" are good luck, as my girls ended up getting their first win in two years! They then carried their momentum into today where they won their second meet. NBD. haha I'm a very happy coach :)

Hold on..anyway.

This past week has reminded me that life brings us a variety of circumstances and events, both big and small, some joyous and some difficult but the most important thing is to hold onto hope anyway.

Originally I was going to write this post about the fact that all of my fall decorations, that I had placed outside of my apartment to bring cheer had been stolen when I returned from the shore last Sunday morning. It really put a damper on my week, because it reminded me of the fact that I am naive in the sense that I always try to believe in the best in people.  It was also a big dose of a reality check when my one neighbor said "you gotta remember where you live." I guess that is true. I do have to remember where I live and to a certain extent not get as upset when things like that happen, but I will choose to hold onto hope anyway.

Along with holding onto hope, I found out some very sad news this evening which I don't feel appropriate in blogging about. It feels quite frivilous to post anything however; I guess sometimes the only way to deal with reality is to remind yourself of the "vanilla heavens" that do make you smile.

1) "hold on" to some of Summer's clothes

The above outfits can be worn in completely different ways that combine and work. The teal dress isn't the exact one that I've worn, mine is an M. Rena surf shop find. The lace shirt is from Charlotte Russe and I realized it would pair differently than it is intended as a shirt but as an actual overlay to the dress. By adding the lace overlay it transforms the summer dress into one of Fall's fads. One day to school I wore this outfit with the Jeffrey Campbell Espadrille's and H&M leopard print belt. This weekend, at my friend Katie's wedding I wore the satin belt that came with the shirt and Mossimo Paisley Platform Pumps.

2) "hold on" by recycling

For Katie's wedding I found something a little rustic and personalized on Etsy that hopefully her and the new hubbie will enjoy. I couldn't quite decide what type of wrapping I wanted but in the past year I have found that brown paper bags used as wrapping paper actually looks the most chic when adorned properly because you have a blank canvas to create on and it always feels good to go green! (I used left-over kunzia from my Autumnal wreath, a pine cone from my parent's yard in Reading, yarn I found in a random drawer, and the floral heart was from a newspaper ad. )


At her wedding, Katie had some of the most creative decorations that I have seen. Everything from her guest book of a tree with fingerprint leaves to an old ladder hanging photos of her and Matt was personalized, well placed, and perfectly thought out. My personal favorite was the adorable table decorations.  By recycling baby white pumpkins she created one of a kind candle holders (shhh I may have 'accidentally' swiped one because I liked it so much) and she also used forks vintage forks in clay as her place holders.

3) "hold on" to child-like innocence.
I attended soon to be three-year-old Kyle's bday party on Sunday and it was so much fun to see his delight at every single present that he opened. Due to his mom and dad's great parenting, he also sweetly replied "thank you so much!" after opening each gift.

Tonight I decided to bring back some of my own childhood innocence and created my own "boo ghost cookies" that I'm going to bring to our cross country pasta party tomorrow night. (It's never too early for Halloween!) The recipe is here, but just to note I used Keebler vienna fingers as well as the NutterButters to accomodate for any peanut allergies.

4) "hold on" to Mother Teresa's words:

Let it Fall

The first feeling of Fall weather made me accept that Summer is pretty much over (I knowww there's technically 5 days left). So I decided to go to one of my favorite spots in Delco, Linvilla Orchard, to pick up some fall decor.  Even with it's overcrowding and commercialism feel, it is one place that reminds me of home. Autumn in Reading as a kid was a time to go to the local orchard for apple pies, and all of the road-side stands of local farmers to pick out my favorite gourds, pumpkins, and indian corn to help my mom with her decorating.

Last year, I went to Linvilla closer to Halloween with the mission of picking up pumpkins and also ended up finding the necessary ingredients to  decorate our "stoop" in Manayunk. The decorations ended up being something that I looked forward to seeing when I came home, so this year I chose to go for the decorations first, and decided I'll worry about the pumpkins and carving later.

 

..a mess..

..Fall fun..

..this wreath will be good for all seasons..

..with a touch of kunzia amber..

Lastly,  I wanted to get a gift for a friend of mums and a nice plant pot to put them in. I came across this adorable mug. I was really excited about how it looked, and found a couple of similar mugs on Etsy if you like the combo.

..cup of morning mums..

Makes Me Smile

The past two weeks with school getting into full swing have been a complete blur. The only thing that I felt would be appropriate to blog about are the things that are currently making me smile.

 

..my Keurig with a new zebra mug..

..recycled cards into unit signs..

..colorful hand-picked seashells..

Monkey Business

With this impending hurricane and my dad making me feel all panicky, I felt like there was nothing better to do this morning when I woke up then to bake some good ol' comfort food. I decided to make monkey bread because I hadn't had any since I was a kid (well maybe once in college I think the track house boys decided to try their hand at baking) buttt anyway, I figured it would make me feel happier and it did. It actually served as another purpose, because the only thing I don't like about my studio is that the guy before me smoked. I feel as if there is this lingering smoke smell although some of my friends claim you "can't really tell." I've heard my studio smells like a "hotel room" oohh that's just what I wanted, niceee. So I figured the smell of cinnamon and brown sugar wafting through the small space might just freshen that "hotel room" smell into a homey one. I decided to keep it simple and tried Pillsbury's recipe. I didn't use the walnuts or raisins, and didn't have a fluted tube pan. Instead I used a caserole dish and baked them for more like 40 mins. (I'm just getting to know my oven, which just could be the reason I had to bake them longer). However, I realized halfway through that it makes the monkey bread that much more gooey and amazing if you move some of the middle stuff that isn't fully baked yet to the top. That way the outside doesn't brown as fast and you get a more even coating of brown sugar goodness--who wouldn't want that?

I couldn't help but include my lovely monkey piggy bank in this image. I think I originally had him in my nursery when I was a baby. But, there is something about tacky ceramic animals that draw me in. In 2009, when I decorated the kitchen of my apartment in Ridley Park I used a bunch of tacky ceramic animals and figureens to create a kitchenette type feel loosely inspired by Honey's Sit and Eat in N. Libs. In Manayunk, the ceramic creatures just weren't really going to function with our decor, but I decided to bring my favorites (monkey and unicorn) and a new addition of a zebra into my S. Philly place. Yup. My inner nerd truly comes out when I see ceramic animals.

Tzatziki Yummy

I'm really trying to be a good blogger, but I hadn't felt inspired to write about anything lately.  I guess it's because I've been spending every single second before school starts doing something that I won't be able to do once 7:30-6 something rolls around (school+coaching). However, today I went to the Race Street Pier, which I've done a couple of times throughout my residence in my new 'hood, and it totally made me at peace and relaxed and I felt the urge to blog. See below and you will understand :p

 

 

As far as this actual post, I'd like to talk about one of my all time favorite foods and the fact that I finally bought a food processor and can make my own! So for something that packs a punch of 23 grams of protein and only 130 calories in one serving, nothing really beats Fage Greek Yogurt (Total 0%). Nothing that is..unless you make it into Tzatziki Sauce.

All summer of been munching on pitas with either tzatziki or hummus and for whatever reason it finally dawned on me that clearly I wasn't a good cook if I haven't attempted to make my own. So I went out and got a basic Black and Decker food processor. I followed this recipe for Tzatziki Sauce and was very happy with my first results. However, I would advise, as some of the reviewers of this recipe do, if you are trying to create Tzatziki with a food processor I would suggest only processing the other ingredients and then folding them into the yogurt. I clearly was too excited to try out my processor for the first time to heed their warnings. I used the 17.6 oz Fage Total 0% and the taste was excellent. But, because I made the mistake of processing the yogurt, it was definitely runnier than I would have liked it. Even though it isn't the perfect consistentcy, the taste is impeccable and I now have a dipping sauce/spread packed with protein and yumminess. If you don't own a food processor get one, I double dog dare you. It's next use of course will be making hummus. <33

3 Things I've been loving about Summer and will be taking into Fall...

1) Foldable sunglasses

Credit: http://www.sunpocketoriginal.com/

Credit: Laura Dougherty, media.patch.com

 2. Al fresco dining












3. 1970s Teal-Green Giant Road Bike

1) So I bought my first pair of "sunnies" in early June. Sunpocket is a former French skiing/surfing sunglasses brand of the 70's that was relaunched in late April and is now a Swedish brand. They make sunglasses that literally fold up and go in your pocket. It took a while for the glasses to come, but the Sunpocket rep, Anton, that I spoke with via email, assured me my sunnies would arrive as promised and they did. I opted for the Sunpocket II Shiny White ($65.00): Sunpocket Webstore. I would totally suggest buying the retainers (I bought pink with these) because as functional as it is to have them hang around your neck, it also creates a nice necklace accessory as well! *See photo.

Other brands with these foldable sunglasses started to become popular this summer ranging from the American Eagle ($6.99) lowest priced/unreliable: AE Online to the more expensive RayBand Wayfarers ($155.00) Ray-Ban Online. I've heard Urban Outfitters has actual Sunpockets in their stores and one version is available online: Sunpocket Vintage Folding Sunglasses. I would definitely suggest stocking up on a few different pairs so you can rock this trend into fall and even bring them out on the slopes come Winter!

2) When the weather is nice out, why would you ever stay inside? That's my philosophy as far as Summer dining and I'll definitely be taking that same motto into Fall. Down the shore in Brigantine, New Jersey it was a great to be able to go straight off the beach and onto Laguna Grill's new outside deck which opened July 4th weekend. If you want a last taste of Jersey Shore craziness and don't feel like going all the way to Seaside, Whitebrier's (Avalon) Saturday happy hour can you give you that same feel. The inside sweltering hot/beerfoaming/fist-pumping is nicely contrasted with the relaxed outdoor seating and half price sushi. But this happy hour isn't for the meek at heart--be prepared to fight your way through a crowd inside and maybe witness a bro-brawl outside.

Back in Philly, Media has an amazing "Dining Under The Stars" (photo above) every Wednesday through the end of September. They close off State Street, place tables in the streets, and provide live entertainment. If you can't wait til Wednesday for your al fresco dining, a delicious Media restaurant that provides rooftop dining is the Asian Fusion, Azie. Also, if you are looking for another good roof-top dining spot, you can head over to University City, and check out City Tap House. Be prepared for a UPenn college crowd come fall, but the 60-beers-on-tap, updated regional bar cuisine, and beautiful terraces with firepits, overlooking Walnut Street, make it worth it. Lastly, if you haven't made it to the Piazza at Schmidt's in Northern Liberties yet this Summer for their 104.5 concert series, make sure you check it out come fightin' Phils playoffs. It is a great spot to grab some lawn chairs, have some outdoor refreshments, and watch the game on the big screen. (I'd also five-star recommend a PYT burger, and an adult shake!)

3) That's my new bike Betty. I actually bought her in good old Berks County, PA at Spokes. I got her for only $120 and was pretty excited to find a great condition (they think 70's) roadbike, with the awesome teal green color. This way I can use her to get around the city, and if I choose to do some tri's come next Summer (it's always a long-term goal but never happens)--she'll be the perfect transition without having to pay the grand price tag. I suggest investing in a good helmet. Mine actually cost about $40 (more than 1/3 the bike) but everyone keeps saying when it comes to your head it is worth it. I guess so. <33