Hopes

Last year my list looked like this:
*Stop purchasing plastic water bottles
*switch my cleaning supplies to planet friendly types
*walking the shelter dogs more
*using products that were not animal tested
*making sure I ALWAYS have my chicobag on me

Looking back I'd say I did a pretty good job of accomplishing
those things. my cleaners are greener, I very rarely take bags
from stores, I ended up actually adopting a shelter dog
that I had been walking, and I did have a Sigg bottle-
I just dont know where it has gone to....time to buy a new one.

My hopes and mini- goals for 2009 are as follows:

*stay on top of creating new things for etsy
(at the least once a month)
*send out cards for necessary holidays and birthdays
*put all of my recipes onto cards
*volunteer or support a new charity
*take Italian classes
*really start the correspondence society
*be the best doggie mom possible
*to battle through my bad moods instead of gettings stuck in them

There you have it.
Some are small and some will take some doing,
but all are within reach.

Happy New Year readers! xo

Year In Retrospect.

It's December 30th.
2008 is almost at it's end.

So today will be a list of 5 events that stood out
from 2008, and tomorrow will be my
5 hopes or resolutions (whichever you prefer)
for the coming year.

These are in no particular order.

5.)NOLA
Last May the bf and I ventured down to New Orleans
for the first time, and now we can't wait to go back!
It introduced us to Abita beer, the Bourbon House,
and so much delicious food! If you haven't been,
it is so worth going down to explore.
There is so much history, beautiful architecture,
and culture you will have a hard time deciding what
to do first!! We had such a great time on that trip,
I can't even say enough about it.

















4.) The House.
The bf moved into our dream apartment in early October,
and it is really coming together as a home.
It's been a lovely living situation, and I'm looking forward
to the summer so that we can have BBQ's on our patio
and planters full of herbs and small veggies.
It's also been nice to have a house that is
truly my own, instead of moving into a home
that someone else had already created.




















3.)The Wine Bar
After getting fired from 2 jobs in 2008,
my employment anywhere was looking bleak.
The economy was tanking, other people were
losing their jobs, and if it weren't for this hostess job
I found on craigslist I wouldn't be at the only
job that I haven't started to hate after a couple months.
Yes, like anyone I still don't feel like going to work,
but I actually love the people that I work with and for,
and I've learned a lot about wine.
I've even started drinking red wine- how about that!
All around it's been a great -albeit sometimes frustrating- experience
(as waiting tables can be) but it marks another year of
avoiding the corporate monster and bringing in
enough money to afford a great home,
a furry friend, and creature comforts.
















2.)The Man
I met Sergio in April when I was volunteer dog walking
at BARC, and he wasn't the most likable or quick moving dog,
but we got to know eachother and have been attached ever since.
I adopted him in October, right after we moved, and he has proven
to be a wonderful dog. (when he isn't in new jersey
showing his teeth or stealing pierogies) He is ridiculously loyal,
energetic, and just all around a funny little dog. I don't think that
I could have ever imagined a dog like him,
but I can't imagine myself without him. I love my mans.















1.) Joelie Bear.
Joelie is my new nephew that decided that he wanted
to be born in May instead of August.
He has survived heart surgery, eye surgery, kidney failure,
and grown from this fragile little preemie (sp?)

















to this sturdy 15lb 8oz handsome bear



















This recent photo was taken around Halloween,
so just imagine how much chubbier his cheeks have gotten
in 2 months. He is the sweetest thing in the world and we are
ridiculously lucky to have him. I can't wait for two things with him,
the first is when he is able to come visit the bf and I in queens, and the
second is when our whole family can take him to Disney World.

Home Sweet Home

It's nice to be back in Queens.
Serg gets so crazy in new jersey,
it's so wonderful to have him back to normal
and not showing his teeth every 5 minutes.
(exaggeration, but he showed them a lot)

Christmas was great though.
Family, food and lots of champagne,
perhaps even too much.

Sadly I still cannot find my camera cord,
so all of these pictures are just going to be trapped
inside until I do.

North Pole aka: New Jersey

It's freezing!!

It hasn't even been this cold in NY

and it already snowed there!

eek.

Today I'm hanging around the house

making potato leek soup for whomever cares to try, 

and my sister and I will be baking cookies.

She has already started with chocolate chip.

Once I find some kind of cord to upload photos

you'll be able to view a bunch.

The Case of the Missing...Things.

This morning the bf couldn't find a piece
to his computer charger, now I cannot find my
camera cable to upload photos.

Which bothers me because I have pretty snow pictures
to post! grrrr. I checked Serg's bed to see if he was hoarding
any weird items, and he isn't.

So here i sit, stuffing my face with cinnamon oatmeal
and bananas, wearing my giant hat that makes me
feel like Cindy Lou-Who. And wondering what happened
to these things.














I'm also extra scatterbrained today because
I'm leaving for NJ tomorrow.
Last chance to get everything done,
and with a sizeable list, I have no idea where
to begin.

Maybe I'll start with a shower and then go from there,
but I'll leave you with a picture of a very handsome man.
and you are a fool if you think I'm talking about Dennis Quaid.

december 17th?

Seems like I say this all the time,
but the year is just flying by.
I think that everyone will agree
that it is hard to believe that 2008
is almost over.

My Christmas shopping is not yet finished
and probably won't be until I get paid on Friday.
Though I love the holidays, I'm looking forward
to saying goodbye to holiday spending.

In other news, my CakeWrecks obsession continues
and in keeping with the holiday spirit, I think that
it is only right to post these photos of Christmas cakewrecks.













































What were the decorators thinking!?
I love it.

etc.

First and foremost a very large thank you
to my parents who have sent the bf and I
a very wonderful and beautiful christmas gift.

Check out this sweet entertainment center from
Pottery Barn. It's from the Rhys collection, and it
fits the feel of our place perfectly.
Just one more step on the path
to making this house, a home.















Last night the bf and I decided to go ice skating
at the museum of natural history. We arrived to find
that the "ice" was actually a recyclable synthetic surface
-which we though was great (at first),
we are all for eco-friendly anything.

We got there a bit early so we grabbed a cup of hot chocolate,
which was so delicious! and watched as everyone that was out
on the "ice" seemed to be falling . This rink was mostly kids
so we just figured that it was their first time skating.

Well, as soon as we set foot on the rink, we found out
why no one was actually skating. The "ice" was awful,
basically cold, slick plastic. Impossible to skate on
and completely disappointing, which was a shame because
it was such a beautiful space and such delicious hot chocolate.

We ended up asking for a refund, because we made it
(with much difficulty) around the rink just once.
And decided that this was not fun, or worth it.
We didn't get the refund but we did get 2 vouchers to
the museum, which was totally fine with us.

After that we went down to Mara's for some
delicious food and Abita beer.
I'm newly obsessed with the fried okra.
soooo good.

The Greatest (greatest greatest greatest)

RIP Bettie Page.

Late Night Gluing

Since I botched the gocco cards
that I had planned to send,
my options were either to
make replacements or buy them.

Since money is tight right now,
I broke out my glue sticks and scissors
and got to work.
I'm pretty pleased with these results.
I've always been a fan of cutting and pasting,
it has much less room for error than printing.
















Thanks to a 2 hour nap that I took this afternoon
I am feeling so much better.
Tomorrow will be back to work,
and getting stuff done.

goodnight!

Success!

Our party was great!

Everyone had a great time,
and we managed to raise $87
for the BARC Shelter too!

And believe it or not Sergio was a perfect angel,
I had told everyone to avoid petting him when they came in.
This allowed him to get used to the crowd of people
without feeling threatened.
By the end of the night he was letting anyone pet him,
and was even looking for the affection.
The bf and I were and are so proud of him!

We also received some excellent housewarming gifts
Rebecca gave me a very special apron, Meghan got us a
pancake, crepe and waffle cookbook, and a dog whisperer book.
Shawna brought us a tealight fountain, Jamie and Steve
picked up a big box of dog treats for the man, and Carly
has added another ornament to our tree.
Captain Hook.




















Thanks to everyone who came out,
we're lucky to have such a great group of friends.

(I'll post more photos once i get my hands on them!)

Like Mother Like Daughter.

I'm in "Mom-party-mode" right now,
trying to get everything cleaned,
cooked, and in order for the party tomorrow.

Which is exactly what my mom does before she
has to entertain people in her home.
Everything gets a scrub down, as much of the food
is made as possible, the drink station was set up
over the washer and dryer.

Sadly, this is New York and washers and dryers
are for the upper class, or just the lucky ones.
So our counter top will be the bar station,
and the other counter will be for all the food.

I'm hoping everything turns out ok,
and that Serg doesn't bite anyone.
I'll be giving verbal warnings at the door.

xo

2 days

Our Christmas/Housewarming party
is on Sunday, so I feel like I am running around
like a crazy person trying to get things done.

I'm working on my last batch of cookies right now
which are the Spiced Cardamom Cookies.
Tomorrow will be the pumpkin muffin
and super errand day.

We did get our tree yesterday so the house
is looking quite festive.
and instead of an angel, we topped
our tree with my red squid.





















I really am a dork for Christmas
but I kinda like it that way.

On a non-Christmas note,
my friend Zach introduced me to
the best website ever.
cake wrecks
This site had me in hysterical tears last night,
the botched cakes are AMAZING.
It is really worth checking out.

holiday scents

my kitchen is filled with the sweet smell
of sugar cookies baking in the oven.
It is heaven!

Today is part 2 of the cookie marathon,
and this is by far the best sugar recipe
that I've seen in my years as a cookie maker.

And believe me i've seen some bad recipes.
In my younger years my mom and I were always
searching for a good recipe and nothing ever delivered,
we always ended up with the good-but-not-homemade
pillsbury sugar cookie cut and bake dough.















But this recipe is tops, and it comes from
Martha Stewart, with my highest recommendations.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2 c all purpose flour
plus more for surface
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick of butter (softened)
1 c sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

~Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl
Cream butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy.
Beat in egg and vanilla until just combined.
Reduce speed to low and slowly add flour mixture,
beating until just combined.
Shape into disk, wrap in plastic, and refridgerate
until firm - about 30 min (or up to 2 days)

~Pre-heat the oven to 325, cut dough in half.
On lightly floured parchment roll out each piece
slightly thicker than 1/8" . Use cutter of your choice to
cut out the shapes and arrange on non-stick baking sheet.
Bake 12-15 minutes until the edges turn golden brown.

for the leftover dough, shape into a disk, wrap in plastic
and pop in the freezer until needed.
This solidifies the dough and makes it easier to roll out again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My dough is a little thicker, so I ended up with fat stars,
but they are delicious so I don't really care.
We can't all be Martha Stewart perfect.

me and the man

the heat finally clicked on
and the little man and I are just
hanging out in the living room.

I had wanted to make another batch of cookies today,
but I lack a cookie cutter, sprinkles, and mixing bowls.
so I'll save that for tomorrow.

I'm on a major budget right now,
which stinks. but the bills at the beginning of
the month always bleed me dry.
I'll be relying on my cash tips for the rest of the week. oy.

I'll leave with some photos of me and the man.
and will post my culinary supply purchase tomorrow.
xo

Makin' Stuff

Yesterday the bf and I had off,
so we spent the day running errands
(two of which failed- i.e: cookie cutter mission
and the quest for the cupcake shop)

We spent the rest of the day around the house,
I tried to print my christmas cards, and they
turned out awful. 3 screen gocco prints are NOT easy.
I deeply admire those who can do them successfully
because I definitely cannot. After some tears,
and encouragement from the bf, I pulled myself together
and vowed to try again. ( as soon as i order some more supplies)

After that debacle, I took my hot apple cider into the kitchen
and focused on my bath fizzies.



















I found the recipe for these in the latest
Martha Steward Living magazine, and it is surprisingly easy!
Many people will be receiving these for christmas.
oh, and they are peppermint scented. yum.

After the fizzies were finished, I started baking.
Our holiday/housewarming party is next Sunday,
so there is lots to do before then.

















The first batch was Chocolate Hazelnut
and with the exception of the first tray
that burnt a little, they turned out awesome!
I'll post the complete recipe in my future cookie post.


Goodness this is a long post.
I'll end with these photos.

I brought back some christmas items
from jersey, and now our apartment is
a little more christmas-y! the tree is in my studio
and below is Lamby, or Lammie. or Lambie
I don't think I've ever written it out before, but
anyway Lamby looks like a supersized slipper
that resided under my mom mom and pop pops tree
every christmas. I was lucky enough to become
Lamby's new owner and he now lives at my house
currently in my studio because he was freaking serg out.