please hold...

Don't worry, I have not abandoned my 12 days of christmas posts... I've just gotten a bit off track. I spent the past two days making 5 batches of cookie dough, about 50 tamales (both vegetarian and pork) 10 different batches of icing (two different consistencies and 5 different colors) and made a whole bunch of gifts. I am so beat! Luckily, all the cookies are finished for my cookie post (the one that was originally going to go up yesterday and which pretty much kept me from posting) and I have a couple fun holiday movies to tell you about (which I'm supposed to post today) I'm about to go out to dinner with my parents and hopefully when I get beack I will have the time (and energy) to edit all these photos and put up the posts. if not... well, then you'll be getting three posts from me tomorrow! haha. anyways, have a lovely evening and stay warm!

<3

5th Day of Christmas

Don't read this if you are my mom, dad, or sis!

 Today is another homemade gift post. yay! This is a fun, creative, and sentimental idea that is perfect for close friends or family. Photo frame collages :)


I started by buying a few cheap frames from goodwill and walmart. 2 of the frames were 99 cents, one was 3$. I love cheap presents.

I made the collages right on the backs of the frames. that way, they were the perfect size :)


First, I found some pretty paper (scrapbook paper from craft stores like Michael's or Joann works really well) and glued it onto the frame backs.

Next, I glued little paper triangles on the frame backs to hold pictures- I made frames for my parents and my sister, so i used one picture of me, my mom, and my sis, one of me, my dad, and my sis, and a few pics of just me and my sis. Using triangle photo holders instead of gluing the pictures right onto the frame backs keeps the pic from getting messed up and makes it possible to change the pic down the road.

On my parent's collages, I also included a little quote from a book or poem that is special or meaningful. 

I filled up the rest of the space in the frame with glitter-glued names and pretty little details.

Overall, I think they turned out really well!

The frames cost me 5$, the scrapbook paper was 1$, and I had the ribbon, glitter glue, and pictures on hand- meaning, these three sweet, pretty gifts cost me 4 dollars total- 1.33 each! That's good spending, if you ask me- and homemade, sentimental gifts tend to mean more than really expensive gifts anyways. 



I'll be back tomorrow with some fun cookie recipes and decorating tips!
Happy holidays :)

<3
Em

4th Day of Christmas

I drove home today. Stew and I stayed up too late last night doing random things like investigating steam clouds coming from college buildings and watching episodes of castle. That meant that I woke up at 11 am instead of 9 am, as I had originally planned, and ended up getting on the road around the same time I had been planning to arrive. It didn't really make a difference though. The 3.5 hour trip went by pretty quickly... I listened to my ipod and got to sing really loudly to songs I probably wouldn't play if stewart had been with me... but I still missed driving with him :)

My dad got home pretty soon after I did and we drank tea and made a fire and chatted until my mom got home. Then the three of us ordered some take out from Chi's, our fave chinese place. We all picked it up together and ate (sooo delicious...) and talked for a bit. Now they're out in the family room watching an episode of The Good Wife and I'm in my bedroom being a good blogger and posting my day of christmas post :)

Since today was a long day of travel (and I'm sure it was for some of you, or will be in the next few days), I'm planning on having a nice, cozy, warm night in. And what better to go with that idea than a good book to read? In tonight's post I'm going to recommend five different books to you that I find to be particularly enjoyable to read during the holidays or when I want to curl up inside away from the cold weather. Pick one or more of them up at the public library and bring it along to read on the airplanes/car ride, during downtime on christmas, or whenever the weather outside is particularly frightful.

1. Any Agatha Christie Book

There's nothing quite like curling up in bed with a good murder mystery novel, is there? I love getting absorbed in the intricate stories and trying to put together the pieces of the puzzle. My fam has a huge box of these because my mom and her sisters were big fans when they were younger. They're short but very good reads.

2. Rumi's Book of Love

 Poetry can be really wonderful to read on a calm, quiet night. My mom bought this book for me a couple years ago and I just love it. Rumi's poetry is so beautiful and doesn't have the excessive frills that can make some poetry difficult to understand or enjoy. His words are simple and full of wisdom.

3. The Notebook

Who doesn't like a good romance novel? Most people have only seen the film version of The Notebook, and everyone has an opinion about it that they're determined to stick to. I encourage you to forget about these opinions for a moment and go pick up the book, because, as is usually the case, it has much more to offer than the movie. I first read it when I was 14 and I absolutely loved it, but I don't think this book is restricted to adolescent girls alone (the movie on the other hand...). Anyways, it's the kind of guilty pleasure novel that anyone with a general fondness for romance can enjoy.

4. Rootabaga Stories

My Aunt gave me these books when I was younger and I loved them. They're meant for children, but they're so fun and quirky and interesting that I think adults could enjoy them too. I still do, anyways. I think reading a couple on a cold wintery night would be a very pleasant way to pass the time.

5. The Time Traveler's Wife

I just had to include this book because it's what I'm going to be curling up with tonight! I have less than a hundred pages left (it has about 550 I believe) and I'm pretty sure this is going to become my new favorite book. It's such an amazing story- the movie makes it mostly about henry and clare's love story, which is definitely present (and then some) in the book, but it's also a story about their family, their separate lives, henry's condition, their friends, chicago... so many things. It's so beautiful. It's the kind of book that makes me want to become a writer and create something just as beautiful of my own. Agh. It's just so good, and so captivating, and so enjoyable to read.

I hope out of those few books you can find one to spend some time with this season... or, maybe you already have a book you're enjoying! if you do, tell me what it is so that I can check it out :)

<3 Em

3rd Day of Christmas

 Today's post will be short and sweet. Last night was Stewie's and my "christmas", since we aren't going to be together for a whole month (christmas and new years included). I had my last final in the morning and afterwards stewie and I sold our textbooks and did some last minute shopping. Then we came home, made some yummy brownies, opened each others' presents, and played cards and boardgames for the rest of the night. It was a lot of fun :)

I bought stewie a 25$ gift card for Game Daze (a store in the mall he really likes), the book "heat wave" (pretending to be by Richard Castle but actually by some unknown author.... if you've seen the tv show "castle" you'll know what I'm talking about), the first season of castle, and a pack of eco-edition bicycle cards (stew collects packs of cards).

Stewie bought me a really pretty incense burner and this awesome hat:

He also got me something else but he ordered it online and it hasn't come yet so I don't know what it is :)

Anyways, we slept in this morning and were exceedingly lazy all day. It was a perfect day weather-wise in my opinion- overcast when we woke up, sprinkling softly throughout most the day, raining a bit harder during the afternoon. It's still cloudy now and raining just a touch. I love it. It would be cool if it was snow, but at the same time I like that it feels all dark and stormy and wintery and I can still wear a dress and thigh-high socks with a thin cardigan. Stew and I watched a lot of castle today, got sandwiches from baggins (they are sooo delicious!), and then I took him to work at 5:30. Then I cleaned my room and packed big-time because I'm driving 3.5 hours up to prescott tomorrow, and then on tuesday my fam is driving out to cali to spend christmas at my sister's apartment, and then 2 weeks after that I'm going to mexico for the rest of the holiday! I'm really excited about it all... it's just a bummer that stew can't come with... but I know he will love having the apartment all to himself (he's expecially excited to clean it once all his roommates leave... haha).

despite all this crazy traveling, i still plan to on posting all my 12 days of christmas posts... I'll probably be doing a fair amount of blogging actually, cause I'm bound to have lots of free travel time. So yay for that! The rest of tonight will probably be more packing (getting all the stuff I have over at stew's apartment plus presents and things that need to be taken up north), picking stew up from work, and watching castle later. For the 3rd day of christmas I've put together a little holiday playlist to lsiten to while I/you go about my/your thursday night business. Some of the songs are actual holiday songs, while others just remind me of the holiday or winter season, or are just good songs :) haha. enjoy!

<3
Em

2nd Day of Christmas

Don't Read this if you are my Mom, Dad, or Sister :)

 Welcome to the second day of holiday posts :)
This year, my family and I are giving presents that are either homemade or recycled (meaning something we already own or find at a thrift store). I'm a pretty good cook, so making homemade food items seemed like the most logical thing for me to do (hence the infused vodka from yesterday). I'm putting together a whole baskets of treats for my sister and parents, so you can expect a few more fun holiday-themed edibles. Today, I'm going to share a recipe for apple butter.

Preserves make a great holiday present, because they're food (and who doesn't love food?) but they don't have to be consumed right away- meaning that your gift will stick around for awhile instead of being eaten and forgotten about by boxing day. I don't know about you, but I'd rather get a jar of jam or salsa or tomato sauce over a plate of cookies any day.

A lot of preserves are surprisingly easy too, like this apple butter recipe. I had most of the ingredients on hand already (I only had to buy apples and a couple medium sized jars from goodwill- about 7$ altogether for two gifts- that's what I'm talking about!) and the cooking isn't very involved- you basically just let everything boil on the stove until it turns into apple butter :)

The recipe below is for 1 batch, which is about 2.5 cup or so. I didn't measure, but it filled up one medium-smallish jar with some left over. Feel free to double the recipe if you need more- I ended up making it twice because I had to fill two different jars.

Apple Butter
Ingredients
2 pounds apples (a variety of types is best- I used granny smith and pink lady the first time and granny smith and braeburn the second time)
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup water
pinch salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Juice of 1/2 a lemon

Instructions
Start by sterilizing your jars. Do this by putting the jars and lids in a large pot, filling the pot with water, and then putting on the stove to boil. Once the water is boiling, let boil for 10 minutes. Then, remove from heat but keep jars and lids in the water until you are ready to use them.

Meanwhile, peel, core, and chop up the apples.

Put the apple in a medium saucepan along with the vinegar and water. Let boil for 15-30 minutes, stirring occasionally and mashing with a fork.

 When the apples are mostly a mushy applesauce texture with only a few lumps, add the remaining ingredients and stir. Continue to boil an additional 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently, until the apple butter is thick.

For very smooth apple butter, allow to cool slightly and puree in a blender or with a stick blender. When apple butter is the desired consistency, remove jars from the water and fill 1/2 inch from the top. Put the lid on very tightly. Return the filled jars to the water and return to a boil. Boil an additional ten minutes.

I'm pretty sure that if you buy your own canning jars they will come with instructions as to how to check that your jars have been properly sealed. I bought mine at goodwill, so I have no such instructions... so, just to be safe, I froze my sealed jars and will thaw them in the fridge before I give them. This also means I don't have any pretty pictures of them al decorated to be given... but I'll fix that later :)

I'll be back tomorrow with another fun craft/recipe/something else holiday-y 

<3

1st Day Of Christmas

Yay!! I can finally start posting all my fun 12 days of christmas posts. Now, I can't afford to make gifts for a ton of people- pretty much just my immediate family, in fact. Regardless, I'm going to have to post disclaimers at the beginnings of some of these posts so that some people don't accidentally read them and find out what they're getting from me haha. So... mom, dad, sis, don't read this until after christmas!

Alright, let's get to it! One of the first things I decided to make this year is infused vodka. Originally I was going to make a whole bunch and give little bottles to all my friends and family, but I'm not made of money so I decided that just my immediate family and one or two close friends will be receiving these.

Aren't they pretty? By the way, please excuse the crappy photo quality in this and the next few posts. Like I mentioned a few days ago, I left my nikon d40 charger in prescott over thanksgiving, so I've had to resort to using stewie's little coolpix. needless to say, they aren't exactly equals when it comes to photography. please bear with me :)

Anyways, I wanted to make two different types of infused vodka. I knew I wanted to use rosemary in one of them, because there are giant bushes of rosemary growing outside one of the buildings on the U of A campus and it seems like a damn shame not to use some of it for culinary purposes.

I decided lemon would be a nice compliment to the rosemary flavor. When I started brainstorming about the second infusion, I knew I wanted it to be very christmasy/wintery/holiday-y. So, I decided to use cranberries, apples, cinnamon, and cloves. Kind of like a mulled cran-apple cider!

I started with plain old 10-dollar plastic handle vodka. I had about 1.5 handles. Now, I didn't want to give my friends and family crap vodka but I didn't have the money to buy something more refined. However, I saw on a Good Eats episode once that Crappy Vodka, when filtered with a run-of-the-mill charcoal water filter, becomes Good Vodka. Hooray! So, I just strained the vodka through my water filter a couple times and it did the trick. I mean, the taste didn't make me want to kill myself so I assume it did the trick. Obviously I threw out the filter after that. No vodka-flavored water for me, thanks!

I kept the vodka in the filter until I was ready to use it. For the first infusion, I used about 4 or 5 sprigs of rosemary and the peel of one lemon. I cut the yellow peel away from the lemon (rather than zesting it) and tried to get as little white pith as possible. I also added the juice of half of the peeled lemon and about 2 tbsp white sugar. I put all of those things in one of the empty plastic handles (I rinsed it out with very hot water first- that's why there is whitish condensation obscuring the view in the next few pictures)

Then, I filled it up with half the vodka- it came to about 3/4 of the way up. I put the lid on tight and shook the handle until all the sugar was dissolved.

For the second infusion, I used one pink lady apple (cored and thinly sliced) and about 1/2 cup cranberries, a slit cut in each one to release flavor. I also added two whole cinnamon sticks and about 5 or 6 whole cloves. Finally, I added about 1/3 cup white sugar- the sugar isn't to make the vodka sweet like a liqueur, more to just bring out the flavors. I repeated the process of filling with vodka and shaking.

I let the vodka sit for five days at room temperature, shaking up each handle a few times every day. I taste tested on the third day and check to flavors and then again on the fifth day before I decided to strain.

In preparation, I set out a large bowl (large enough to contain all the vodka), a mesh strainer, paper towels (coffee filters would work to), a measuring cut with a pour spout, and 8 2.5 oz bottles (cleaned beforehand with soap and hot water).

By this time, both vodkas had changed color. The lemon-rosemary was a nice, pale yellow and the cran-apple spice was a pretty shade of orangish-red. I had already strained the lemon-rosemary vodka when I took this picture, but you can get an idea of how both vodkas looked after sitting for five days:

To strain, I lined the mesh strainer with a paper towel and positioned it over the bowl. I poured the vodka into the strainer slowly, allowing it to filter through into the bowl. I then used a measuring cup with a spout to scoop up the vodka and pour it into bottles.

After everything was strained, I was left with 8 bottles of pretty, lightly colored, wonderfully scented/flavored and perfectly clear liquid.

I decided to decorate each bottle with a navy blue ribbon and a little recipe card for a cocktail that could be made with each type of vodka. Obviously I had to actually test the recipes I had come up with to make sure that they were worth making- and I'm glad I did! I think I came up with some really awesome holiday drinks.

The first recipe is for a Lemon-Rosemary Fizz. It reminded Stewie and I of a mojito- only lemon takes the place of the lime and rosemary takes the place of the mint! It's very simple, very refreshing, and very good. Here's the recipe:

1 oz lemon-rosemary vodka (I used one full shot glass to measure)
3 oz sparkling water
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp honey, agave nectar, or simple syrup (I used honey- delicious)

Combine in a cocktail shaker with ice and STIR, do not shake (shaking with cause the sparkling water to build up gas and the cocktail shaker will explode on you. Trust me). Strain into a glass and garnish with rosemary or lemon zest, if desired.

The second recipe is a cran-apple spice martini. This one was my favorite (stew liked the fizz better I think). It tastes just like how the holidays ought to! Delicious, sweet, slightly tart, and full of warm spices. Here is the recipe:

1 oz cran-apple spice vodka
2 oz apple juice
juice from half an orange

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and then strain into a glass. Garnish with cranberries if desired.

yum yum yum! Well there you have it: cheap, delicious, and easy infused vodka. It's such a great gift! And, I posted it early so that there is still time to make it for holiday presents this year ;)

Happy first day of [blogger] christmas!

<3
Emily

Movie Mondays: Life as a House

Today's movie monday is a movie I know very well. I first saw it around age nine or ten, and it was one of the first R-rated movies I ever saw. You know how sometimes kids will watch a movie and then like it so much they just want to watch it over and over again because they don't know of many other good movies to watch? That's kind of how I was like with this film, meaning it pretty instantly became one of my favorite movies and was rented for any and every sleepover until the only movie store copy was too scratched to watch and we bought our own copy. Because of this, when I think of this movie now it reminds me of a kid's film, even though it's rated R and I technically shouldn't have been able to see it until I was 17. So I'm going to recommend it to you anyways, in hopes that its an enjoyable movie to those who didn't first watch it in elementary school lol.

The film is Life As a House, starring Hayden Christensen, Kevin Kline, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Jena Malone. All four of them are marvelous.

 Kevin Kline plays George, a divorced, middle-aged architect who is diagnosed with terminal cancer. With only a few months left to live, he decides he wants his last act to be tearing down the shack his father left him and building a beautiful new house to leave for his teenage son. His son Sam (Hayden Christensen), however, is caught up in a world of drugs, depression, and general teenage angst- the kind that involves hating his parents and his life but still caring about what everyone else thinks. Sam plans on spending the summer getting high in his friend's cabin in Tahoe, and is less than pleased when his father insists that Sam will be spending the summer with him. As the days roll on, however, Sam begins to clean up with the help of his father and the charming girl next door, Alyssa (Jena Malone). Meanwhile, George begins to reconnect with Sam's mother and his ex-wife, Robin (Kristin Scott Thomas). Most importantly, though, Sam and George begin to understand each other and reform the father-son relationship they once had. 

Now, keep in mind that I fell in love with this movie at a pretty young and cinematically inexperienced age, so my opinions might be slightly biased and skewed as to how good this film is. Personally, though, I thought the setting was absolutely beautiful, the characters were pretty well-developed, and a great deal of the script writing was very well done.

Overall, it's a really touching story about love, loss, family, and the possibility to change. I think it just recently went up on Netflix instant, so watch it if you have a chance. Here's the trailer:

Fleeting Life

A boy I went to school with died recently. I didn't know him, but Stewart did, and so did a lot of my other friends. Regardless, it's another name to add to the slowly growing list of my peers who have passed away well before they really should have.

Life is such a funny thing. We settle into a sense of comfort, believing things to be permanent and sure, but in reality nothing can be sure. When someone dies, especially someone very young, it seems like a wake up call, reminding us that our futures are not secured. We might die any moment. Someone we love might die at any moment, and there may not be any warning.

The fear can be gripping. It's easy to get lost in worry about what might happen. Unfortunately, trying to constantly keep everything and everyone safe from a sometimes harsh and unfair world is not any way to live. So what can be done?

We have to live anyways and accept the inherent risks in doing so. Ignoring the fact that our lives could be swept away from us at any time is the only way to make sure our lives are worth living. It is sad when someone passes away before they have a chance to do all the things they wanted to in the world, but sadder still when others give up the hope and desire to go after their own dreams in an effort to stay safe.

When people my age die, I feel so very sad about what they will not get to experience. I just assume that my future holds grad school, a good job, a loving husband and children... but I, too, could be swept away before I ever get to see any of these dreams materialize. This would be devastating, but I put these thoughts out of my mind so that I can enjoy the life I am blessed enough to still be living. Life is fleeting, but it is also wonderful.

It doesn't seem fair that some people live to be 90 years old while others die before they reach their 20s. The tragedy of Cameron's death can be seen as a reminder of this unfortunate reality, but also as a reminder that we should all be out there, living, loving, laughing, feeling, doing, lest we lose our chance to.

I urge you all to do so.

with love <3

Givaway over at Sometimes Sweet

I keep forgetting to mention that Danielle over at Sometimes Sweet is holding another huge giveaway this month. One very very lucky commenter will take home a ton of amazing stuff, including this gorgeous wooden ring:

head over there now and get in on all the awesomeness!

Be back later with a real post :)

quick update and some tunes for your friday night

not to be redundant, but I'm crazy busy these days! So busy, that it was wednesday before I realized I had forgotten to do a movie monday. total fail! Oh, well, the craziness has pretty much come to a close now- I only have 2 finals left and they aren't until tuesday and wednesday. Other than school stuff, I've been taking care of all sorts of holiday things! I went shopping all over the place to find affordable but still nice gifts/things to make gifts. We went to two different goodwills, ross, 2 different walmarts (a grocery store and a department store), the tucson mall, michaels, joann's, and albertsons. And I'm still missing four things on my list. ah, well. I've been up to my ears in all kinds of fun cooking and infusing and glitter-gluing and I'm excited to show you guys some of the stuff in my upcoming 12 days of xmas posts.

Meanwhile, I thought I'd show you guys a couple videos from a 2-girl swedish band my friend Claire turned me on to recently. I love their folksy style and it seems just right for winter/fall.

although, it's freaking 80 degrees in tucson. wtf?

anyways, here is First Aid Kit- I might go more in depth about them sometime down the road but for now you can just watch and listen :)



aaand a holiday one!



have a great weekend!
<3