Fill in the Blank Friday

As always, thank you to the lovely lady over at The Little Things We Do for the questions. 

 

1.   The phrase or punctuation I overuse most is  I'm really not sure what the right answer to this is.  

2.  Today I am thankful for    getting my life back in gear.  Gym 5 days a week, baking 3-6 days a week, tv, keeping house, cooking, and snuggling with my babe.

3.  My best friend is    my sister.  I wish she was always in snuggling/pinching distance.

4.  A quirky thing about me is     Once I start a project, I need to finish it, no matter what time it is, or how tired I am.  If I've really got my mind set to it, there's no stopping me.

5.  This weekend I     am going wedding dress shopping with my mom, Elise, and Nancy.  We are hitting two plus sized stores and then possibly going to David's Bridal to look at a dress I liked and some bridesmaids dresses.  

6.  Something that worries me is    My sister ending up too far away from me.  I want us to always be together and raise our families together, and I really want to make it happen, I don't want to compromise that part of my future dream life. 

7.  On my night stand you would find       A little ring tree/dish with my engagement ring and other things hanging from, my phone plugged into the charger,chap stick, bobby pins, lotion, and probably a nail file.  There also may be a box of tissues, but I'm not sure.  I make Chris be the one to be in charge of the alarm clock and what time we wake up.  When I have a clock on my side I spend too much time worrying about what time it is and how much longer I  have to sleep, and whether that will be enough, or if I'll be tired, thus making myself stay up worrying and be tired.  It's a problem that developed quite seriously when I had to get up early for work at the bakery.  When he's away I just use my phone.  Now I'm getting up earlier than him as a reflex, but when I don't, he hits the snooze and wakes me up.  Usually just in time for work, but I like to be there early so I can leave before 5.

 

And with that it's time to leav e work.  It's 4:09 pm and that's plenty late enough for me.  Happy Friday!

 

Julibean <3

If You Were an Ocean I'd Learn to Float

Ah so of course Elise sends me a link as soon as we both get to work in the morning and it is an adorable save the date video featuring my song recommendation from yesterday. It's fate <3 Absolutely love it!

by Mallory over at MGB Photo

I have never posted a video before, so let's see how this goes,

Julibean <3

Song I'm Digging

I'm loving this cover of this song.  No idea who did it originally, but I was really into the tone in this girl's voice.  God I love me some Juno soundtrack.

All I Want is You
Tristian Prettyman

Julibean <3

Song I'm Digging

Song that I am in love with today:

Fall For You
Secondhand Serenade

Absolutely love it.  Have been singing it around the house a lot the past week or two.

Julibean <3

My Mama

We may not get along all the time, but I love my mama like nobody's business.  And yes, I do call her my mama.  No, I am not from the South, or any other region of the U.S. where they say y'all, and hon, and mama, but yes, I do say all of those things.  On a daily basis usually, or at least in my regular vernacular when they are appropriate.  So here's a cute picture I found of me and my mom getting ready to go to her old school's annual mother-daughter dance. 

Aren't we cute? 

I also love the facial expressions in this one. 

 Love you Mom!

Julibean <3

Fill in the Blank Friday

1.   I am currently obsessed with       updating this blog. lol. And baking and nesting the condo.

2.  Today I am    sick of work    because,    it is incredibly boring and it is Friday and I would like to be at home baking.  Plus it's raining, and I never feel like doing anything when it's rainy.  I hate getting the bottom of my jeans wet.

3.  The age I am is    22     and the age I feel is    usually older.  Chris and I are a fairly legit couple in a remarkably adult setup and situation for a couple our age.  We've got the house, the jobs, the cars, the bills, the loans, the wedding, the dinner at home, the wine, the gym, the house guests, the home improvement.  Luckily we're waiting a good 5 years to have any babies, so we have time to enjoy the time we are spending building our lives together.  Sometimes I still feel young and immature when I think of what I want to spend money on and accomplish.  Mostly it's baking equipment, and I'm still not quite ready for my own business, but I'm working on it.  

4.  My favorite place is     the library, my kitchen, the beach house with friends.  I love sleeping in that huge bed, sleeping in, having the sexy time, seeing the light come through the wooden blinds, walking out on the patio to read a book in the sunshine and watch the reeds and grass sway back and forth, bbqing with friends and having a beer and smoking a clove when the sun goes down.  So perfect.

5.  Something I have been procrastinating is    cleaning the condo.  We've been meaning to do it for ages.  The second bathroom is an ungodly disaster and hasn't been cleaned since before Cynthia moved out.  Our bedroom is in serious  need of vacuuming, and the front hall and kitchen need to be mopped.  We also have to sweep up the patio and clean the tea stain that I spilled on the doorstep. lol.

6.  The last thing I purchased was        a mani/pedi at the spa attached to the gym.  I had a giftcard from the in-laws, so I guess I didn't exactly purchase it.  Before that, it would have to be lunch or coffee with Cynthia, and before that, dinner at the bar for trivia and food shopping at the Sam's Club.

7.  The thing I love most about my home is       The way the light and breeze comes in the patio door when I'm baking on a saturday morning or making pancakes for Chris on the weekend.  I am so ready for spring and to re plant some basil and whatever else I can think of that would grow nicely on the patio.  Any ideas?

 

As always, thank you to the lovely lady over at The Little Things We Do for the questions. 

Sugar Cookie Cutouts

This was the first time that I had ever made sugar cookie cutouts and I had so much fun doing it that I am looking for any excuse to make them again.  Do you need sugar cookies for something?  I'll get a cutter for it and go nuts!  I see them all over the internets, some people even have bakeries that all they do is make cut out cookies and sell them in gift bags and platters.  Some of them make their own cutters and do corporate logos and custom cookies and stuff.  It is so cute and so much fun.  Once I got the hang of the consistency of the frosting, it was easy and very enjoyable.  Only issue.. This makes a huge fucking mess when you're finished.  I found a great recipe for sugar cookies.  I am not usually a sugar cookie person, I think they're boring and seriously lacking in the flavor, texture, and chocolate departments, but these cookies were different.  They were thick and soft and chewy and delicious.  The royal icing added a really nice complement to the cookie.  I made some valentine's day themed ones for Chris.  Too bad it took longer than I had anticipated and I was barely finished with them by the time he had to get on his flight to Florida last week.  However, I brought them to work and they were INHALED.  Seriously, the cookies were all gone before 11 a.m. and there are only 3 of us in the office.  And now for a photo montage:

I also wanted to see how the cookies tasted plain as regular cookies, so I made a tray of those as well.

I didn't actually have a heart shaped cookie cutter, so I did my best to improvise with a teardrop shaped one that I had in my toolbox.  The results weren't too bad, but I did order some heart shaped ones online for the next time.  Fuck yeah amazon prime, you are my goddess.

I also made a bunch of square shaped ones to make into stamp cookies for "love letters".

My workspace, covered with powdered sugar.

Cooking in our kitchen is pretty difficult because we do not have enough counter space.  Also, the really free spot is right on top of the dishwasher, and since I cook so much and the dishwasher is running more than half of the time, it's tricky to roll out dough when steam is like pouring out from under the counter.

I made royal icings and colored them with my gel food colorings.  Note to self: next time, make about 3x as much icing.

Let the cookies cool completely before icing so the icing doesn't melt and run all over the place.  I used this cute little three tiered cooling rack that my mom got for me.  My family knows me so well now that every time I come home or get a visit from a family member, it is complete with little baking gifts.  When I went home last weekend, I came back with a square shaped muffin tin and a can of cherry pie filling.  Love you Nanny!

I saw this idea online somewhere and thought it was so cute.  Much more interesting than just making a billion heart shaped cookies.

I cannot figure out why blogger insists on posting these photos sideways.  They are saved in the proper orientation, but no matter what I try to do, they keep uploading sideways.  But they were the good photos of the cookies, so I'm posting them anyway and if you like, you may turn your head to look at them. 

The aftermath.

Like an idiot, I was so tired after making all of these cookies all day that I left the dishes for the next day.  I knew that I was making a mistake, but I just didn't care at the time.  It did take a long time to do the next day, but I was surprised at how clean my squeeze bottles came out of the dish washer.  Also, we have the smallest sink in the world.  It is so shallow, it's like impossible to fill a pot with water or do anything in there.

Most of the cookies.

After a while I got concerned that maybe you wouldn't be able to tell that the stamps were actually stamps, so I made a little envelope and a stamp that said love letter.  Can you say overkill?  Haha I'm such a dumb ass sometimes.

Julibean <3