gettin' physical

So last night was my second attempt at Zumba. Surprisingly, I like it alot. This is surprising considering I have not done any sort of routine exercise for like 8 years, when I had to finish off my PE requirements for college by taking a yoga class. Really I have no excuse not to go every week and embarrass myself with how uncoordinated I am. It's two miles away and sometimes I get a free ride there, it's free because my job is awesome, and I have all the time in the world on Tuesdays. No excuse. And as I said to my husband, as he rolled his eyes at me, "if I look this good now, imagine how awesome I'll look if I exercise."

white chocolate peppermint oreos

 I feel like December hasn't even started, and yet here we are just days away from Christmas. I have been trying to get in the holiday mood, but without snow on the ground or it even being cold out (I am really not complaining) I have been finding lots and lots of little things to do to make it feel more festive.

These are white chocolate and peppermint covered oreo cookies. They are incredibly delicious and super rich. Seriously, these things look and taste great and they are so simple. I suggest making them to impress your friends and family.

What you need:

Double boiler (but I used a pan with a stainless bowl over it in replacement)

Wax paper

A spoon

Food Processor (or anything that can chop up peppermint candy)

White Chocolate, about 20oz.(chips or almond bark)

Red food coloring (just a little if you want them extra pretty)

Oreos (I almost made it through one package)

First lay out your wax paper on a solid surface. Heat up pan with water in it, put double boiler/stainless dish on top and melt chocolate in it, stir frequently. The water makes it so your chocolate won't burn. In food processor crush peppermint candy (I used starlight mints because I had them, but candy canes work great). Once the Chocolate has melted, reduce heat and mix most of the candy into it (save the rest to sprinkle on the tops). Add a little red food coloring to boost the color already mixing into the chocolate from the candy. Drop oreos into chocolate peppermint mixture and thoroughly coat using a spoon to help. Shake coated oreo to make even and place on wax paper. Sprinkle remaining peppermint candy over covered oreo while still warm so that it sticks. Let harden for about an hour, or put in fridge to help it along. Pull off wax paper and enjoy!

ladies night

So awhile back I was invited to join some of the most wonderful ladies in town on a night out, and it was nothing less than entertaining. We had drinks and dinner and more drinks... oh and several emergency bathroom trips (maybe we won't eat at that restaurant again). But we made it to the end...note the bar stools in the back are already up. Oh and the booty shaking contest we witnessed added a certain amount of sophistication to the evening. Nothing but class here.

glitter, garland, and gluttony

Today just might be cookie day. I have been putting it off long enough so that I can still have some left for Christmas. Funny how I was super excited to get all my decorations up like a month ago but put those off because I thought it might be too early, and now they are piled up on the floor with glitter spilling EVERYWHERE (Seriously, my living room looks like the inside of a strip club). Lesson learned, decorate when you have the ambition to do it! Also, it is never too early to decorate for Christmas. I mean really why do we put so much time and effort into decorations if we are only going to have then up for a few weeks? That 30 feet of garland I have strung across the living room is not coming down for at least a month dammit! So I think a double recipe of Ethel's Sugar Cookies is in order for today. I am not sure if it's all the Martha Stewart I have been watching, or the hunger for sugar that is driving me, but either way cookies are getting baked.

long time, no cider

Well, that was way longer of a break than I ever intended on taking. Why you (all two of my devoted readers) may ask? I had a glass of apple cider sitting on my nightstand one morning, left over from the night before, and my husband's cat (I am still unwilling to say "our" cat when telling this story) had the clever idea to knock it off in order to get my attention. Of course my laptop was sitting on the side of my bed, leaned up against the nightstand, and subsequently was both hit by the heavy glass and doused in sticky cider. The computer worked at first and even hours later seemed okay, but things took a turn for the worse and it was pronounced dead two days later.

Have you ever seen the inside of a laptop, it's crazy! I ripped the whole thing apart before actually surrendering in defeat. It's sad because never has my computer, since the day I got it, looked so clean and nice due to my cleaning every part of it in the attempt to revive it. But now I have obtained a new shiny much faster much better (sorry old computer) one, and I now feel connected to the world once more.

eek!

Look who I found lurking around on my porch this Halloween.

This guy is pretty massive, and as long as he stays outside and not in my house he's cool with me. Maybe he'll scare away the trick-or-treaters. I didn't buy any candy for them so I hope that's the case. Am I the mean lady on the block or what? Oh well.

cheers to ten years!

So exactly ten years ago today...yeah that's right TEN... I met a boy that I later married.

photo by k. holly studios

The story of how we met is actually quite funny. The short version is that I was on a date with another guy who introduced me to my future husband that night at the movies. It must have meant something because he kept the ticket stub all these years.

It may have taken us three years after meeting to actually start dating, and six more past that till we were married, but I feel very blessed to have a decade of friendship with my husband. Love you!