Friday Favorites

January 18, 2019 No Comments

My current favorite gloss that I’m using everyday during this crazy winter season! It reminds me of my favorite Bonnie Bell gloss from when I was a kid, but more adult and has vitamin E to help keep your lips hydrated. Here are some more of my favorites from the week!

Maintaining proper form in working out.

Fascinating facts about The Wave, one of my favorite works of art.

A Place for Us.

Stovetop macaroni and cheese.

My favorite podcast of the week.

Garlic butter rolls.

I am endlessly looking for new ways to cook chicken thighs.

Drawer dividers to work on my joy of tidying up.

Winter casual chic.

How to fall asleep fast and stay asleep.

Disney Eats, Traveling Disney Style

Disney Snack Round-Up

January 16, 2019 No Comments

From classics to new finds, I’ve rounded-up some of our favorite snacks from our Disney trip! We share a lot of snacks on our trip, just because some are typically large snacks, and also to cut down on the sugar overload. I’ve marked through the post snacks that we’ve split, or got individual servings, to give you a better idea of the portions.

First up, the dole whip. You will not ever find a Disney trip that I don’t get a dole whip. Ever. We typically buy two and split them.

Second, classic Mickey bars. The boys always request these, and our favorite spot to eat them is anywhere shaded. We buy individual ones for these because they get messy really fast and they aren’t that big.

Third, Mickey pretzels. These are always good, which is why we make a stop for one on every trip. We typically get three and split.

Fourth, Gaston’s cinnamon roll. My recommendation is to ask them to warm the roll (it’s supposed to come warm, but ours didn’t). We got one and split it, it’s very sweet.

Fifth, Mickey cinnamon roll. This was less sweet than Gaston’s cinnamon roll (which I liked), but I didn’t like the chocolate sauce that much, plus it melted super fast. We got one and split it, but it wasn’t nearly enough. I’d get two.

Sixth, the Mickey rice krispie bar with m&ms. This is the ultimate sugar rush, but delicious! We got two and split them.

Seventh, the shaved ice in Epcot Japan. These are huge, we got one and split it.

Eighth, the school bread in Epcot Norway. This is a spice-flavored, creamy bun, and it is not super sweet. It wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, but it’s worth getting once just to see what all the hype is about. We got one and split it.

Pastries in Epcot France. Definitely get your own. Not that they aren’t shareable, but typically you won’t want to share (featured are the duo and parfaits aux fruits):

And finally, these apple cider donut holes were my favorite. I’d maybe share it, but I think you could get individual ones and easily eat them all. These may be seasonal, but I found them at the Isle of Java spot in Animal Kingdom:

Happy snacking!

Family Style, How was your weekend?, Mini Cupcakes

This and That

January 14, 2019 No Comments

This is how the boys usually wake up during the week:

This is A helping me shop at Whole Foods, one of our new favorite stops:

These are the puzzle pieces of our popsicle puzzle that we are currently working on:

These are the watermelon margaritas B and I had with our nachos and tacos Friday night:

This is the great shrimp lo mein B made this Saturday night:

And this is the Mickey from Mickey’s 90th Birthday Tsum Tsum set that A got for J’s upcoming birthday:

Birthday Tsum Tsums will make for a very excited seven year old!

Friday Favorites

January 11, 2019 No Comments

We are definitely back in the swing of school, work, and basketball games. This weekend I’m looking forward to working on a narwhal project with J, finishing up reading The Library Book, and celebrating my Dad’s birthday on Sunday! Next week is going to just as busy as this one was, so I’m glad for the downtime!

The puzzle I got for the boys and I to work on this weekend.

A colorful beachside home.

Chicken chilaquiles that I learned how to make while listening to a podcast on the way to work.

Grown-up lunchables.

Tips for tidying up, but don’t take it too far.

Palm tree design.

The boots I have in my shopping cart at Nordstrom.

Sketchbook inspiration.

And finally, an Oahu travel guide.

Favorite Recipes

Hermits

January 8, 2019 No Comments

Don’t ask me how they got their name, because I have no idea. However, these little spiced cookies are my Dad’s favorite and my Nannie (my Dad’s Mom) used to make them every year. Now my Mom makes them, and we have all joined in at one point or another to help make multiple batches of these throughout the holiday season. Even though the holidays are over, you can still make a batch and enjoy the fact that they are slightly healthy because they have raisins.

Hermit Cookies

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp clove
1 1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup shortening
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbs milk
2 large eggs
1 cup raisins

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and salt. Set aside.
On medium speed cream shortening for about three minutes.
Add sugar to butter and mix until light and fluffy about 3-4 minutes.
Scrape down the sides and then add in the eggs and milk. Mix until it resembles cottage cheese (so slightly lumpy, but well mixed).
Add all of the flour mixture to the bowl. Mix just a little by hand (so it doesn’t puff out when you start the mixer), and then mix on low speed only until blended, then add in raisins and mix.
Divide by scoopfulls onto parchment lined pan.
Bake for 12-15 minutes.
Will keep in an air tight container at room temperature for 5 -7 days. In our house they rarely last that long.

Disney Eats, Traveling Disney Style

Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe

January 7, 2019 No Comments

Nestled in a corner of Frontierland is Pecos Bill’s. We stopped here for lunch after we finished our morning in Adventureland, and before our fast passes in Frontierland started. I had visited Pecos Bill before, but hadn’t been in quite a few years because I was unsure how well the boys would eat the premade tacos. Obviously I should have checked the menu and reviews more closely because this was actually the perfect spot for the boys.

A and I split the beef tacos, and what you get on the tacos is just that, beef. Then you can make your way over to the toppings bar and add whatever you want to your tacos. This is an awesome way to split a meal and make it customizable. So as you can see we made our own choices…

J was on a macaroni and cheese kick this trip, so that was his choice:

We also saw some country bears on the way out!

Here’s a breakdown of our Magic Kingdom plan focusing on Adventureland and Frontierland:

Pirates of the Caribbean
Jungle Cruise
Dole Whip Snack Aloha Isle
Pirate Adventure Kiosk
Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse
Lunch: Pecos Bill
Thunder Mountain 11:40-12:40 FP x 2 A &B
Splash Mountain 12:35-1:35 FP x 2 J & N
Tom Sawyer Island
Haunted Mansion FP x 4 1:35-2:35
Peter Pan FP x 4 2:40-3:40
Finish pirate scavenger hunt

Friday Favorites

January 4, 2019 No Comments

Our winter staycation is officially over in two days. We are trying to slowly get back on our schedule before we go back to work and school next week. I’m also trying actively to not panic about the traffic increase due to a major road closure near us and if I’m going to need roller skates like Ross in that episode of Friends to get from class to class because of our main building being remodeled. And, it’s still raining! For now I’ll be working on some lesson planning, we’ll be playing board games, watching football, and doing some organizational preparing for the new year!

Places to go when visiting Atlanta.

Creating a mindful nighttime routine.

How to create an effective bullet journal.

Degas book to add to my reading list.

Chicken faijita bowls for lunch.

Ingredients to always have on hand.

And finally, subway tile backsplashes creating light in the kitchen.

Family Style

Happy Holidays!

December 24, 2018 No Comments

Happiest of Holidays! We are cookie baking, about to be present opening, and spending lots of family time together! I’ll be back to share more Teacher Tuesday’s, recipes, Disney reviews, and more after the New Year!

Friday Favorites

December 21, 2018 No Comments

Pregame pep talk.

This week my grandparents arrived and we are looking forward to a weekend full of cookie baking, gingerbread house decorating, and our annual Feliz Navidad dinner. We’ve also got a couple of basketball practices and maybe going to see Mary Poppins Returns mixed in as well. And of course the boys are counting down the days to Christmas. Let the holiday festivities begin!

A calming playlist.

On creating a balance of home responsibilities.

Brush pens and dual tip markers on my list for my art journal.

White chocolate and cranberry biscotti for Christmas morning coffee.

Mail order caramel.

A new cooking memoir to add to my reading list.

Cilantro lime dressing for our side salad on Feliz Navidad.

Garland inspo for next year.

The biscuits I’m making for Christmas Eve.

Two weekend looks, one with buffalo checks and one with a cropped sweater.

Love this home that combines comfort, neutrals, and pops of color.

Lunch soup.

Finally, ringing in the new year with a holiday medley.

How was your weekend?, Mini Cupcakes, Philosophical Cupcakes

Recently…

December 20, 2018 No Comments

We’ve been enjoying our last chances to “drive over the mountain” before it closes for an entire year and every errand is going to take a lot longer (as is our drive to work…bring on the podcasts!).

I’ve been crafting and drawing in my art journal to deal with my current prednisone always on brain (one of the side effects of having asthma with kids who give you germs in the south in the winter).

We picked up McDonald’s for lunch on Saturday after J’s game and J chose hot cakes, because obviously.

I was reminiscing of my sister and I making sugar cookies when we were little, just the two of us. It’s funny now because sugar cookie making usually consists of five fairly loud kids. I probably shouldn’t include fairly.

We had an early riser this week. That’s not typical during the school week, they like to save their early rising for the weekend, ha!

And finally, you know when you are eating and suddenly have this uncomfortable feeling someone is watching you? That’s Dasher.