Taste of home

                If Thanksgiving break is intended for relaxation and time with family, mine definitely fulfilled expectations. I spent Thursday cooking with my mom and putting up Christmas decorations. Usually, my family puts off decorations until the last minute, but this year my dad and I had the lights up Friday, and my mom and I had the tree up by Saturday. I’m happy we’ll have the whole month to enjoy them, but was a little sad to leave my newly decked home for my apartment back at school. So, I added some cheer by putting up a few small trees, and Mackenzie helped me hang some lights.

               It's been a while since I've had the time to be creative, so I caught a bit of the craft bug this weekend. With a total investment of $5 at Target, I got enough supplies (along with odds and ends I had at home) to make fun, handmade cards. I was feeling as though it were a bit early to start on these, but I know the next few weeks will whiz by, so I enjoyed the crafty time while I had it. I still believe that something with heart and thought is always better than something bought.

                 My craftiness was not restricted to the Christmas cards. My mom was trying to figure out what to use as a centerpiece for Thanksgiving dinner, and I remembered making this at history camp as a kid. Simply poke cloves into an orange for a air freshening decoration or ornament. I only had enough cloves for one, and did a pattern around instead of covering the whole thing.

                Now that things are cozy and festive, I’m mustering up the rest of my determination to power through these last two weeks. I keep reminding myself how rewarding it will feel when finals week is over. The taste of downtime and comforts of home are giving me the motivation I need to finish things strong.

My mom and I went through with the Turkey Trot 5K for the second year in a row

I'm no marathoner like my mom, but we pushed each other through

We had fun, and even beat our time from last year. I finished around 28 minutes.



          My mom made a beautiful turkey, and among helping with other things, I whipped up this easy cornbread. It came out delicious.  

Here's the recipe from Sparkpeople.com

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup yellow cornmeal 1/4 cup sugar 4 tsp. baking powder 3/4 tsp. salt 2 beaten eggs (or egg replacer equivalent to 2 eggs.) 1 cup 2% milk 1/4 cup cooking oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425.

2. In a mixing bowl stir together flour, yellow cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Combine eggs, milk, and cooking oil; add to flour mixture all at once. Beat just till smooth (do not over beat).

3. Spray pie plate with cooking spray and spoon in mixture. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or till done.

Makes 8 servings.

Number of Servings: 8

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user JENNTX77.

               Lastly, there were two birthdays this week. Happy birthday Mom and Monti!

Stay festive!
Love,

Annie



Turkey Fever

What a (half of a) week. Yesterday, I had jury duty for the first time. I’ll be brief and say the eight hour experience was less than desirable, but now I feel like a member of some strange, selective club.

I managed to break my lazy streak from last week, and am now feeling like the rest of the semester is downhill. Only two papers and a second draft left! It’s amazing to see my pile of read books be so much higher than my pile of not read books. Just got to keep the momentum up for two more weeks, more or less. Speaking of momentum, after forcing those gym shoes on last week I have been running more. I even found a pretty route near my apartment (believe it or not New Haven is not always the most scenic). I’ll be doing the Turkey Trot 5K race with my mom on Thanksgiving. It's nice to see those leisurely runs turn into a decent finishing time.

Tomorrow, I’ll be working—finally some cash flow—and then attending my high school’s Thanksgiving game. For me, as for everyone I hope, Thursday is a commitment free day of relaxing, cooking, and eating.  And for the fourth year in a row, I’ll be spending black Friday at Old Navy. Hopefully, no retail-related stampedes this year!

How will you be celebrating Turkey Day?
Happy Thanksgiving!

Love,

Annie

Liz's yummy S'mores dessert,
Chocolate chip cookies baked in pan with chocolate chips and marshmallows melted on top



Mackenzie was craving rice and beans. Brown rice topped with red kidney beans sauteed in olive oil.
Big shout out to the girl in Spanish aisle that told us how to cook these.



Happy 21'st birthday to Lei!

Four weeks and counting...

I'm in a slump...
     I do like my classes this semester, but after almost three months of the same routine, it can get a bit monotonous. But while I'm hoping the rest of this month rushes by, I'm not sure I want this semester to be over either. Spring semester is always a little less fun--snow storms don't really make you want to put heels on and go out. And after that, I have one semester left (hopefully). So I'm hoping this last full week before Thanksgiving break blows by so I can come back refreshed and ready to enjoy the last few weeks of class in December.
     And thinking about Winter break also has me thinking about January--the new year, my birthday, and my intersession class. Lots of changes...and some new, New Year's resolutions.
     Right now, I'm going to grudgingly put on my gym shoes and try to break this lazy mood.
Love,
Annie


Another outfit from last week. Not sure what I'd call this look. Red isn't usually my color, but I love a change.




Sweater, Hollister (Gift from Kenzie's mom).
 Jeggings, American Eagle
Scarf, Street vendor
Boots, Target




Kenzie and I were craving something different. He suggested nachos.
Ingredients: 1 bag tortilla chips, taco blend cheese, jalepenos, tomato, onion, refried beans
Served with sour cream and guac. Result: mmmmmmm



Elementary, my dear Watson

                When I was leaving my apartment this morning, my roommate said I looked like I was should be going to solve a crime. I was definitely channeling Sherlock Holmes with this outfit, and I love the vintage-y feel of it. Today turned out to be a beautiful Fall day after what felt like a freezing Winter morning. So I was able to go sans-jacket with the cozy sweater. My feet were comfy and warm in my Uggs, which conveniently are the same chocolate brown as my hat. I’m feeling better today, but while still suffering cold symptoms, being stylish and unique put me in a happy mood.

                 Whenever I wear a hat, I feel the need to pump up my eye make-up, so my eyes don’t completely disappear. I layered up on bronze eye shadow and thick liquid liner. This is one of my favorite laid back hairstyles as well—I had Liz give me two French braids last night, and woke up with soft waves this morning.

Walk the dog, and take pics for my blog at the same time? I think so.

I felt like a character from Dicken's time

Pretty blue skies

Hat: Forever 21

Sweater: Gap, gift from Mackenzie's mom

Belt: Borrowed on a long term basis from Mom ;)

Jeans: Delia's

Boots: Ugg (And I'm sure Kenzie would want me to mention he bought them for me a few years ago)

Love, love.

FALL in love

         Friday, I wore sweatpants for the first time all semester. When I feel stylish in my outfit, I feel confident, so I vowed to put effort into my outfits this year. But when it gets cold out, it's hard to find the energy to layer up, so I’ve been sticking to my staple sweater and jeans combo lately. But I’m going to reverse my trend and I'll be posting some fun outfits this week. I wore this out to dinner for Kenzie’s birthday and really liked it—it’s collegiate meets equestrian.

Jacket: Forever 21

Scarf: Borrowed from Mom

Jeggings: Old Navy

Boots: Target

Love,

Annie

From birthday candles to sniffles

                Monday mornings, sniffle, are always a little, sniffle…

                Okay you get it, I’m getting sick. I did make a target trip today to get the whole nine yards: Kleenex (a box as well as the pocket-sized packs for my purse), Zicam, vitamin C, and Chapstick. Yup, it’s that time of the year.

                Thankfully, my cold held off until Sunday so I was able to enjoy Mackenzie’s birthday festivities. We’ll be the same age for the next two months until I turn 21 in January. Friday, I made “Crispy Parmesan Chicken”, a recipe from the November issue of Women’s Health. Liz made brownies, Lei made cookies, and I of course made cupcakes so our apartment looked like a delicious bakery. We had a fun Friday night with our friends, and Saturday Kenzie and I went back to Stratford. I experience this every year—the closer it gets to Thanksgiving the better it feels to be at my parent’s house. Saturday morning, Monti decided to wake me up (guess he didn’t get the memo about the time change), but we fell back to sleep on the couch; besides the cold, I woke up feeling refreshed…which is the only thing keeping me up today, since I was up at six trying to register for Spring classes. Southern's server was crappy once again.

                Another brief rant before I say goodbye for today…

                Saturday, I went to the mall. Saturday was November 6. EVERYTHING was Chritma-hana-kwanza-fied. Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas, and it’s hard not to catch the fever. But come on, can we please hold off until after Thanksgiving?...Oh and hey, snow, you better hold off too.

Stay Merry!

Love,

Annie

Crispy Parmesan Chicken

Ingredients:

·         2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (6 oz each)

·         1 cup bread crumbs

·         2 Tbsp fresh parsley, roughly chopped

·         2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

·         ½ tbsp dried Italian seasoning

·         2 egg whites

·         ½ tbsp olive oil

·         1 ½ tbsp butter

·         2 tbsp capers (I skipped these. Still tasted fine)

·         2 tbsp Dijon mustard

·         Juice of 1 lemon

How to make it:

1.       Cover chicken breasts with plastic wrap and use a heavy bottomed pan or meat mallet to pound them into ¼ inch thickness.

2.       Combine bread crumbs, cheese, and Italian seasoning in a wide bowl. In a second bowl, beat egg whites slightly. Season chicken with salt and pepper to taste (I skipped this too, the Italian seasoning was salty enough). Dip each breast into egg whites and then crumb mixture, pressing to ensure coating on each side.

3.       Warm olive oil over medium heat in a large stainless steel sauté pan. Add chicken and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until crust is browned and crunchy. Turn and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer chicken to platter.

4.       While pan is still hot, add butter. Cook until lightly browned, then stir in capers, mustard, and lemon juice, using a wooden spoon to scrape up any brown bits. Turn off the heat and add parsley.

5.       Halve chicken breasts and serve with sauce drizzled on top.

Women’s Health November Issue

Mmmmmmmmmmm

Liz at the Paddy's Pub table

Mackenzie and Jay

Happy Birthday Kenz!

Time flies

                We’re now past the halfway point of the semester, and in the past, November on has flown by. I’m also past the midpoint in my college career, and have decided I will try to graduate from Southern a semester early. It’ll take some extra work—a class over winter break, two this summer, and an 18 credit course load for the next two semesters. But being so close to graduating has got me thinking, “What the hell do I really want to do?” As of late my plan has been to go to grad school and get my teaching certification, but now I’m even questioning that—and after a change of school one year and a change of major the next, I’m wishing some cosmic sign would throw the answer into my lap. I’ve been thinking a lot about a job in publishing, or even trying to make it as a writer myself. I’m going to take a class in fiction writing next semester and try to flex those muscles. I took a creative writing class over the summer, and among other things, wrote a short story, “The Mug.” I’d love some feedback!

                And as the time has been flying by, the weather has been getting colder and colder. Although Monti’s first-thing-in-the-morning walks have been becoming less and less desirable, and walks to campus more rushed, I am looking forward to a few things about winter: Hot cocoa, skiing, Christmas. But as my Mom always says, “Don’t wish the time away.” I don’t think it needs my help passing by anyway.

Until next time, enjoy some pics from a fun Halloween weekend.

Love,

Annie




I think I was born in the wrong era...

 



Okay, so I have a mild obsession with cupcakes!

 



The flapper and the Greek

 



I decided to dress up as Rosie the Riveter for the fun of it on Halloween

 



Kenzie and I had a blast carving pumkins...the front one is his "puking" pumpkin