February 14th and All That Jazz

Here in Northeastern CT we've been getting slammed with snow storm after snow storm.  I'm a pro at whining about how cold I am, but I love the snow.  If it has to be cold, I want it to look beautiful.  I don't care that we'll have to make these snow days up at the end of the year.  I'm cozy and snuggled up with a stack of vegan paleo cookies and hot cocoa.  There's nowhere else I'd rather be.

We've had so many snow days at school this week - I'm thrilled about it, but it means that my Valentine's Day display missed its big day. Blind Date with a Book - I didn't come up with this idea, I don't even really remember where I heard it, but I covered books with plain brown paper and then taped hearts to them.  Each heart has a word or two describing the type of book.  I had help with this project-I never could have done it without assistance.  I'm not sure yet how successful it will be, but I'm hopeful!




We don't have a genuine February vacation, but we do have two days off-thankfully the snow days gave us a six day weekend!  I'm listening to Matched by Ally Condie this break.  As far as reading goes, I'm working on Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys. 

Get ready for a paleo chocolate chip cookie recipe.  Stay safe.  Stay warm.  Enjoy the love around you.

Summer Swallowed Us Whole: Where did July go?

Those of you who know me personally know that I'm ambitious, but I procrastinate.  I recently wondered what my life would be like if I wasn't a procrastinator.  I put off imagining what I'd be like, and I made Black Raspberry and Peach Cobbler instead.

Picked the black raspberries myself and the peaches are from a farm in RI.

Gooey, peachy, messy joy

I also went on vacation.  Here's the thing, I will turn 26 in late March.  I haven't yet had a full time job-I currently have five part time ones.  I'll need to get a full time job once I'm 26, but until then, I've decided to 1) finish my thesis and 2) have as much fun as humanly possible and that involves vacations when I can manage them, music always, baking every chance I get and yoga after yoga after yoga.  It also involves run-on sentences.

Magic in the Morning

Grandma's 80th birthday celebration meant matching tee shirts!

See how nicely they matched?

I made some really ambitious new year's resolutions in January.  One of them was to try a new recipe each week, and I have come really close! How many have I written about? Hmm..it's gotta be close to zero, I think.  I also decided to make an effort to see more live music...now that's one I can check off my list.  The Lumineers, The Milk Carton Kids, Old Crow Medicine Show, Feist, The Brotherhood of Thieves, Newsies on Broadway-all amazing performances.  St. Vincent and David Byrne September 23rd, Minus the Bear September 27th, Third Eye Blind/Kevin Devine September 29th, Ben Folds Five! October 13th all add up to a really efron amazing musical year.

13 musicians on stage at once: the milk carton kids, the lumineers and old crow medicine show

I also intended to read a book a week.  I went on a Janet Evanovich binge right around the beginning of December that brought me through to March.  Dangerous addiction.  It meant 18 books, though, so I'm not doing too poorly-plus all the other books I read!  John Green's The Fault in Our Stars is my favorite so far but I read some great historical fiction, Winnie-the-Pooh (again) and what feels like one thousand scholarly articles about Francelia Butler, fairy tales and science fiction.

Unreal brunch.  I need to make this, right?

Everything is Illuminated at the beach

Felt patriotic on a ferry

Summer's not ending in my book

What happens next?  I think I'll make some gluten free rolls, pack for my next yoga teacher training, and think it over...