Random Things.

Finally. Snow.

It's gone now but it was good while it lasted.

And, a little snow day tradition around here...spiked hot chocolate!

Boozy Hot Chocolate

3 cups milk

3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Whisk all ingredients together over medium heat.

Give it a shot of your favorite liqueur and top it with a marshmallow.

Done.

When the warm air started to roll in, so did the fog.

I heart fog.

Especially out here in the woods.

I also knocked off this idea from a friend.

Laminated fabric under the high chair!

Genius.

The fabric is Jenean Morrison and I think it's called Intermission.

I bought a yard and cut it in half.

Now I have a half yard to play with! 

Here we are taking the girls to the fabric store in town. 
Vivian is Iris's BFF, they are exactly one week apart and her Mommy's name is Jamie too.
Crazy.


How cute are they?

Love them! 

Well, now would probably be a good time tell you that Nugget and I are going to Florida to visit my Mom.

Grandma Beth.

Tomorrow!

We've got to escape this wintry hell!

 That's a joke, of course. If you're not from around these parts we've had a mild winter to say the least.

We had one other freak snow storm this year... in October... when this happened.

I'm a little nervous about it. This will be Iris's first time flying the friendly skies and we're going it alone.

Oy!

I'll let you know how it goes.

  Now we are packing.

How we are going to survive without Daddy is beyond me.

I'm hoping all the newness will be a distraction for nuggie but I know early in the morning and just before bed she'll be missing her Daddy... and so will I.

I plan on bringing my laptop and posting a bit while in Florida so check in with us once in a while.


When I return I'll be revisiting the To Do List. 
Last year's and this year's.
Brace yourselves.

{ this moment }

a friday ritual - a single photo - no words - a moment I want to pause - savor - and remember

inspired by soulemama

5:30AM

  This is the time that the little nugget decided to awaken our household this morning.

And so the house jumped to life at this ungodly hour, the cresent moon still visible through the back windows and the sky still dark.

A whir of foggy mindless coffee grinding (only for G.), tea kettle hissing, tea pots readied and dish washing ensued.

Then, some kind of inertia gripped me. I was set in motion and I could not stop myself. I didn't want to stop. A batch of flax crackers turned to proofing yeast for bread turned to making said bread turned to making almond milk turned to a pot of vegetable stock.

At approximately 6:30AM my kitchen looked like this.

Let's instagram it, shall we.

Everything looks so charming through a filter.

(There's a metaphor there somewhere.)

I  feel grateful for this burst of energy and motivation.

I feel closer to "catching up".

Though we never really catch up. Do we?

That's ok.

It's a reality I've come to accept and, dare I say, embrace.

The bread.

It's a recipe from Amanda Blake Soule's new book "The Rhythm of Family".

I'm not going to share the recipe because you should buy the book.

You can buy her books on her blog soulemama.com  or Amazon.

The flax crackers.

Experimantal recipe.

If they turn out good I'll share it.

The stock.

You can read about it here.

The almond milk.

Recipe.

I froze some of it in ice cube trays for later use in smoothies for Iris.

In particular, this recipe, which I am replacing the dairy milk with the almond milk.

And, for some reason I've been craving this song all morning.

With a nap in progress I think I'll do a quick clean up, make my self one more cup of tea and go watch last night's episode of 

Top Chef.

Enjoy your day!

Resolutions.

I know this resolution thing is all little behind in the times. 

But, as I said yesterday, I'm catching up...slowly.

I'm one of those people who likes making New Year Resolutions.

I'm pretty good at sticking to them too. 

Mostly, because I am realistic about it and I don't do it every year. Only when there is something I really, passionately, want to work on or change.

Six years ago I quit smoking.

It's hard for me to even imagine that I ever smoked.

This year was coffee. 

Or at least the habitual morning use of it.

I mentioned a bit about my coffee drinking here. It has the back story of why I started drinking it habitually in the first place.
You can probably guess.


Exhibit A

I only indulged in (and really enjoyed) one cup in the morning but after a while I noticed I just wasn't myself. 

I was a bit...nasty and impatient.
Thumbs down!

Two things I never want to be. Especially, while trying to be the best mama I can be.

Being sick made this transition very easy.

I didn't want coffee and I felt like crap anyway, so if I had any kind of withdrawal from it I was unaware.

So it's back to my Silver Needle White Jasmine tea.

I forgot how wonderfully fragrant it is. 

What a beautiful way to start the day!

Back.

It has not been an easy road through these holidays and new year.

If you're new here, I have had pneumonia and have been sick since the beginning of December.

I'm not usually the sickly type so it's been a real blow to my daily routine and mental state.

Me no likey.

I just had to let it all go.

The gifting, creating, cooking, projects, knitting, cleaning, blogging... all of it.

Slowly, in the past 2 weeks, I've been catching up.

Chipping away.

I still have so many things I want to do:

Review my 2011 TDL

Make my 2012 TDL

Bake some bread

Make some soup

Finish my 2 knitting projects

Post about it all

blah,blah,blah

It will happen.

My mantra for this year is... simplify, slowly, gently.

So that's what's been happening around here.

Here's a little photo journal of our holidays.

Celebrating my bestie's birthday.

Inseparable since we were 23.

She's gotta thing for pants and underwear on her head.

Christmas morning.

Playing in her new kitchen.

All dressed up to attend Christmas dinner with Daddy.

Mommy couldn't go because she had a 102 fever.

Navy blue cape. Bananas.

Snuggling with a new stuffed friend.

We've hosted a New Year's Day Brunch every year for 8 years.

This was the first year we didn't do it.

Secretly, sick or not, it was kind of a relief.

Maybe taking the year off will boost my enthusiasm for next year's party.

I also turned 35 this holiday season. 

I feel like it was a milestone that was not properly celebrated.

I think I'm going to need a do-over.

{ this moment }

a friday ritual - a single photo - no words - a moment I want to pause - savor - and remember

inspired by soulemama

Ok. I'm gonna break the rules and say a few words.

If you're just visiting for the first time I have been recovering from pneumonia for the past month and a half. I am finally feeling better and catching up a bit. It is not easy with a toddler.

I plan on returning on Monday. 

I hope you'll return with me.

Love.

{ this moment }

a friday ritual - a single photo - no words - a moment I want to pause - savor - and remember

inspired by soulemama