Summer Shape

Last night I realized there is exactly one month till summer! One month to beach days and nights. One month to BBQs and s'mores. One month until I can bring out the sundresses and bikinis...hold up...bikinis! AHHH! Needless to say, I also realized I had one month to get in summer-shape (yes...for those of you who don't know, there is a shape for all seasons). 

Then I saw these images of Ms. Monroe. An icon of beauty, rocking it in a sundress and on the beach. I'm still going to try and live a bit healthier (cookie blogging will be on hiatus for a month), but I do feel more confident in my summer self image. Thank you, Norma Jeane! 




image via mary ruffle

Almond Blueberry Cookies

I don't know if I'm totally prepared to commit to this statement (it's a big one)...these almond blueberry cookies are in the running to be my absolute favorite cookie! It could be that they remind me of the first Valentine's picnic with my man (the first time I tried this recipe). Maybe I've convinced myself the lemon zest and blueberries make this a "health" food (HAH). Whatever it may be, you need to try these for yourself!

2 c flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c unsalted butter

1 c sugar

1 egg

1/3 c whole milk

1 tsp almond extract

2 tsp lemon zest (1 lemon)

1/2 c chopped almonds, toasted

1 c frozen blueberries, thawed

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder  and salt.

In another medium bowl, mix butter, sugar, egg, milk, almond extract and lemon zest. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Fold in the almonds and blueberries. Chill dough in refrigerator for 20-30 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake about 15 minutes.

Note: I used fresh and frozen blueberries, and fat free (instead of whole) milk. It honestly didn't make that big of a difference! 

recipe via Giada De Laurentiis

New Painting

I've been working on a new oil painting. I'm trying to decide whether I should add a stenciled word (in white or red) or leave it as is...what do you think?

Overwhelmed

It's been a very eventful weekend with family and friends, and I'm beginning to feel the Sunday evening blues. With only a few (six) weeks left of student teaching, planning for the future is starting to get a little overwhelming...Do I move to the city? Will I ever find a full time teaching job? Where do I even begin looking? I'm really trying to think positively, but change is scary! The next few months will be very interesting to say the least!




image via mary ruffle

Happy Ma's Day

Thank you for teaching me how to swim...etc. etc. etc. xo

Daily Struggle

“We frail humans are at one time capable of the greatest good and, at the same time, capable of the greatest evil. Change will only come about when each of us takes up the daily struggle ourselves to be more forgiving, compassionate, loving, and all joyful in the knowledge that, by some miracle of grace, we can change as those around us can change too.”

Mairead Corrigan Maguire

Meeting Giada!

Those who know me, know that I'm a fan (Let's be real, it borders on very healthy obsession.) of the Food Network's Giada De Laurentiis.  I can't say when it started, but I do remember watching "Everyday Italian" in the days following my return from Florence...and feeling very reminiscent of Italian food and verbiage. Flash forward five years, and I still find myself watching "Giada at Home" feeling an odd sense of comfort in her pronunciation of words like spaghetti. 

So, when I heard she was going to be at a local Williams Sonoma for a signing of her most recent recipe book...I decided to go! I felt odd waiting in line to have my book signed. The whole celebrity/fan thing has kinda always weirded me out (I was never one to put a poster of someone on my bedroom wall...ok, Julie Foudy was the exception.), and the idea of waiting to meet and take a picture of a stranger I admired just felt a little creepy. I was relieved and happy to see the crowd waiting outside the store was very normal looking (mostly young Orange County housewives with strollers)! 

After 15-20 minutes of waiting, I stepped up and told her that I really enjoyed her recipes (What else was I going to say? I dressed up as you for Halloween two years ago! hahaha). She responded with a big smile and said, "Thank you." She signed my book...and that was that!