my attempt.

My attempt at a gingerbread house...made me realize why I could never be an engineer...

taking a breath...

With the holidays rapidly approaching, it can be really hard for me to appreciate all of the simple pleasures that are around us.

another first..

Well, by the time I managed to get out of my PJs and get out of the house, and make the trek to Balducci's today to get molasses, it was way too late to make my gingerbread house...so instead I made my very first red velvet cake.....in mini form!

The pictures don't really show it, but the cakes are only about 4" in diameter...

mmm good

made my first (low fat) broccoli chedder soup!!! it was DELICIOUS :)

next to conquer...gingerbread house from scratch...

Recipe From: www.fitnessandfreebies.com

Broccoli Cheese SoupLow Fat Recipe
Ingredients:

1 quart (4 cups) water

6 cups broccoli florets

1 cup chopped onion

1 clove minced garlic

1 cup plain nonfat yogurt

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 (10.5 ounce) cans reduced sodium chicken broth

3/4 cup water

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:

>Bring 1 quart water to boil in large soup pot. Add broccoli and cook for 7 minutes or until tender. Drain and set aside.

>Spray a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium heat until hot. Add onion and garlic and saute until tender. Add broccoli and onion mixture in a blender or food processor and pulse blend into small pieces.
>Combine yogurt and flour in a large saucepan and mix well with a wire whisk. Add broth and next 4 ingredients and stir well. Cook over medium heat for 20 minutes or until thickened. Add broccoli mixture and 3/4 cup cheese and heat until cheese is melted. Top with remaining cheese and serve.

Recipe makes 10 Servings Broccoli Cheese Soup; Serving Size: 12 ounces

PS..good cause

This past semester, our office planned a hunger banquet with Oxfam America to increase awareness about global problems, specifically hunger. This holiday season they are doing a great thing by having 'Oxfam America Unwrapped'. You can purchase a goat, chicks, school supplies for a reasonable price for countries that have nothing and it is the perfect gift for the "do-gooders" in your life.

Are we merry yet?

*sigh of relief*
Semester is over, passed all of my courses mostly with flying colors, and here comes the holidays!!! Work was cancelled today because of this winter dumping we are receiving, so Kristian came over to get snowed in with me, stay in our PJs, work on his drawings/website, and relax before the upcoming week. So first on the agenda, we made a delicious hot chocolate treat LOADED with goodies. homemade marshmallows, chocolate chips, whipped cream, chocolate chips, cocoa powder and a candy cane topper!! :) Next on the list...wrapping my last gifts and taking a nap while he works on his stuff.

This Christmas I've been thinking a lot about Grams. I miss her, but her hand made ornaments are up on the tree are comforting to know that she'll ALWAYS be in our hearts.

got milk?

I am completely restless. I know I should be writing my "personal narrative" for class right now. You know, I would actually be willing to write a pretty extensive paper if I didn't have to relate it to "course material" about all of the...you know what...nevermind.

That's not what I wanted to share...

It is really really hard to think about all of the small little positive things that happen and are around us in the day-to-day. A lot of times stress, exhaustion (, and carbs) get in the way of seeing some of the tiny little pleasures that are surrounding us.

So as I complain and procrastinate...

Today was a VERY cold day here...my hands actually went numb as I was walking to class. My body wasn't used to it, it was really longing for the flip-flopping, tank topping, sunglassing sunshine that graced us with it's presence for far too short of a time.

Enter delicious caffeine filled beverage from heaven.

Now, honestly, I've really been trying to cut back on all of the Starbucks runs. I mean iced-coffee, fine, but as the weather started getting cooler I was "treating" myself to delicious non-fat vanilla lattes that were costing me over $4.00!

I then researched how much it would be to buy an espresso/cappuccino/latte machine and let me just tell you, the president of the USA could not, let alone a lowly program assistant for a local community college, afford such extravagances.

So now, I'm left with my creative twist on a latte...and while that includes only regular coffee, some vanilla syrup-like chemicals, and manually shaken up milk (c'mon I had to get the foamy-ness somehow)....it was the highlight of my afternoon.

As I leaned against my counter, observing the milk droplets that were scattered all over my kitchen after my "manual foaming" *, I sipped my experiment and I'll tell you, I don't need some barista to create those fleeting moments of euphoria....oh no, not I.

*manual foaming: the art of placing warmed milk into a cocktail shaker, and shaking violently...

Mona!

we went to the city last night to see Mona which was a really great indie movie :)








very tired now.

Oh, Lake George..Summer Adventures

the village of lake george from the lake


we had great weather :)


day trip to Howe Caverns

View from the deck

white wine sangria...delicious

sunset from the lake


tubing.


wonderful view from the lake

pre-fireworks sky

shepard beach in lake george

sunset

beautiful moon


fireworks!

fishing

great food

more caverns



fires!

more great views!

duckies!

more fire!

our independence is wonderful

ah independence day..

for july 3rd, we hung out in sono at angies house, sipped wine and watched the fireworks. it was really great being outside. angie's landlord has an amazing garden that just makes you feel like you're in another country...completely removed from norwalk.

note to self: fireworks are really hard to take pictures of from a distance...

creative deliciousness in the kitchen

today we had a marathon-barbeque celebrating the 5th of july!!!

well...not really...but it was celebrating the weekend, and we were in wonderful company filled with LOTS of laughs, singing, silly-ness, and just a ton of fun.

we had enough food for probably three times the amount of people that came, but it was all enjoyed VERY much.

the food was snacks, guac, beer, chicken, michelle's fluff.....everything you can imagine...but some of the great crowd pleasers were simple, adorable, and DELICIOUS

joe's wonderful fruit salad. summer really can't be beat for quality of fruit, and this was showcasing all of the delicious, ripe fruits that are available now..it was really amazing.

good ol' guac. avocados, tomato, onion, garlic and lime juice...so simple, but SO delicious :)

michelle found this recipe idea online, and it definitely eye candy. she made fruit-ladybugs which came out adorably..and seemed to be a really fun project to do with kids...taste buds were loving them :)

The american flag cake...the no-bake secret. yummy yummy.

what a nice surprise!

kristian and i were making my american flag cake today, and cutting up the strawberries...and look at what i found:

how wonderful is that????

...i think that's pretty wonderful.

favorite you tube video ever.

my favorite you tube video ever.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=V5BxymuiAxQ&feature=PlayList&p=6A28B3B96E790BDD&index=14

an ode to george

11 days.
tomorrow it will be 10 days.


i will be taking my yearly journey to one of the most relaxing places in the world for me (so far). granted, i will take a tropical beach and a pina colada any day.


this journey is to one of the most simplistic vacations there can be.
Nancy has been extremely generous enough to let me take this trip up to her cabin for the past 5 years. When you're up there, you have the bare essentials and it's fabulous.

This year is also special because it means that i am done with summer courses (and the headaches, ulcers, an panic attacks they bring)

i can't wait.

of course I will be documenting the 'simple pleasures' up in the cabin, although since it is such a simple life up there, they will have to be posted when i return.

a short search for the simple things...

To start my search for the simple things...I took a look at my own environment first.
Two things came to mind.
The first is organization. while it seems the opposite of simple, and sometimes finding organization is extremely confusing, stressful, and complicated. However, when it is found, it can be one of the most simplified pleasures, especially in the home. I took the afternoon to go through my overwhelming t-shirt, tank top and comfy-pants drawers to purge all of the absolute *crap*that I've been collecting for years.

the result: a breath a fresh air.

Now while I probably seem like a nut-job to everyone in the world for finding a sense of nirvana after organizing my clothes (that should have already been organized in the first place), it made me proud and definitely gave me an amazing sense of clarity.

The second thing that gives me absolute joy in life is a basic, simple, vanilla iced coffee from Starbucks. MAN. Nothing can give me such a surge of relaxation than a fresh, iced cold cup of goodness. On the other side of the spectrum, there are few things that are as sad as the very last sip of vanilla caffeinated goodness.

Now yes, when I go to Starbucks myself and order my frosty beverage myself, its great. BUT, what an ecstatic feeling can come from someone loving you enough to bring a surprise delivery of the goodness-in-a-cup :)

the beginning

while this is not really the beginning of my love for the simplified, it is the first time i've decided to actually document it. i really do not know when the first time was that i received such a surge of giddy-ness from these 'simple' things. however i know that during the complicated and stressful times in life, it is much more than a cliche to 'remember the simple things in life'.