Mixtape Mondays!

Since pretty much every state but Hawaii has been snowed on this winter, I'm putting up my winter playlist. These songs are mellow and good for just sitting on your couch watching the snow fall down. The way I make CDs/playlists is very specific. I put them in an order that flow from song to song. The first 20 songs are in the order I have them on my CD, they are in order and end on a sweet note. The last 8 songs were ones that I also like that can go anywhere in the middle of the playlist. Some artists (Norah Jones/Ingrid Michaelson/Anna Nalick) have this vibe in all of their songs so they are on there a few times. Enjoy!

This Is My Winter Song To You

"Winter Song" - Sara Bareilles" and Ingrid Michaelson
"The Hat Song" - Ingrid Michaelson
"Come Away With Me" - Norah Jones
"Just The Way I Am" "- Ingrid Michaelson
"Home" - Michael Buble
"Don't Know Why" - Norah Jones
"Imagine" - John Lennon (glee version is good too)
"Someday When I Stop Loving You" - Carrie Underwood
"One Flight Down" - Norah Jones
"Luckiest" - Ben Folds
"Two Is Better Than One" - Boys Like Girls Featuring Taylor Swift
"Back to Manhattan" - Norah Jones
"What Can I Say" - Carrie Underwood featuring Sons of Sylvia
"Round Here" - Counting Crows
"My Sweet Song" - Toby Lightman
"At Last" - Etta James
"Vegas" - Sarah Bareilles
"Raincoat" - Kelly Sweet
"Fireflies" - Owl City
"Sunrise" - Norah Jones

Bonus songs:
"Yellow" - Coldplay
"Chasing Cars" - Snow Patrol
"Better Days" - Goo Goo Dolls
"Boston" - Augustana
"Let That Be Enough" - Switchfood Featuring Jars Of Clay
"Look After You" - The Fray
"Catalyst" - Anna Nalick
"Shattered (Turn The Car Around)" - OAR

Fashion Friday!!

This week I'm obsessed with Vera Bradley. Now, I know, I have a Coach bag (well, 3 as Matt always reminds me), but there's something about a durable quilted bag with crazy print all over it. I'm gonna be honest, at first, I thought that everything Vera was super tacky and over the top (and let's be honest, some of the prints are), but I'm slowly and happily falling in love. Here are some of my faves:




I'm always looking for a decent sized bag for the weekend and this perfect! The Weekender in Blue Lagoon



And for longer trips, this will fit the extra 2 days worth of clothes I always add in for emergencies. The Large Duffle in Boysenberry (new spring color, I LOVE IT).



Reading glasses are also my new obsession, what could be better than glasses made from Vera? Kimberly Readers in Purple Punch.



Sittin' In A Tree is one of the most loved prints and this towel is huge! I must own it before the season starts up!



Yes, it's a little early to be picking out my babybag before I even POAS, but this is the one! It may not be in Night and Day, but I sure do love that print. It's the least obnoxious and I hope they continue in that path of large print.



Umbrellas are the one thing I always want and then some how lose, or forget it in my car when it's raining... but this one is super cute! Who wouldn't use this if it was in their car? The print is Very Berry Paisley.

Now, on the same general topic, Old Navy has a new print for summer:



I'm not sure if I love it or not, I might just get a solid color, but I thought of Vera right away. It's catching on! The copy cats just better do it right! Vera is teetering on the line of being amazingly hip and being oldfashioned and gawdy.

So far so good Vera! I'll hit you up this summer when I have extra funds!!

Thankful Thursdays

I feel the need to be thankful everyday, but I'll only write about it on a day where it seems catchy due to alliteration.

I'm thankful for how quiet it is in the morning. The house is generally clean (because I'm neurotic and can't go to bed with the house in shambles), the coffee is sweet and everything is calm and peaceful. Please remember this time when there is a screaming baby running around throwing mushy cheerios at everything and you wondered why you wanted kids... To demonstrate how peaceful, enter my smiling kitties:

Tipanga "Tippy" Rose: sniffler and sneezer, but all around beauty queen-sweet face.




Bear: Giant, wild jungle cat, contained in a house and forced to snuggle.



I'm thankful that these furbabies don't cry and let me sleep through the night (most times, unless awoken by a sneeze in the face, which is most unpleasant).

I'm thankful for my best friends who keep me sane during times of utmost craziness.



Although most of them live in Maryland, we talk all the time. We even visit each other quite a bit. These girls know me better than I know myself. Being around them is as easy as breathing because they just let me be who I am. I wish we lived closer together, but maybe this is the way it's meant to be. I love them for keeping me real and standing by me. "You're friends know who you are, but your true friends know why".

And finally:

Vitamin Gummys!! For those with those giant vitamins that make you feel nauseous, fear no more! Behold, the gummy vitamin is really tasty and not at all hard to take or digest! They also make a prenatal which I plan on using because swallowing pills is one of my least favorite things to do.

Thanks Thursdays!

Tasty Tuesdays!

Today's recipe is in honor of my mom's birthday Carrot Cake!! Thanks to the ever popular and lovable Annie's Eats:










Carrot Cupcakes
Yield: about 20-22 cupcakes

Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
2½ cups (12.5 oz) all-purpose flour
1¼ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. grated nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
½ tsp. salt
1 lb. (6-7 medium) carrots, peeled
1½ cups (10.5 oz) granulated sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
4 large eggs
1½ cups canola, safflower or vegetable oil

For the frosting:
12 oz. cream cheese (not softened)
7½ tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
3¾ cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt; whisk together and set aside.

In a food processor fitted with a shredding disk, shred the carrots (you should have about 3 cups). Add the carrots to the bowl with the dry ingredients and set aside.

I don't have a food processor so I just shredded carrots by hand... it didn't take as long as you would think.



Wipe out the bowl of the food processor and fit with the metal blade. Process the sugars and eggs until frothy and thoroughly combined, about 20 seconds. With the machine running, add the oil in a steady stream through the feed tube. Continue to process until the mixture is light in color and well emulsified, about 20 more seconds.




Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl. Stir in the carrots and dry ingredients until incorporated and no streaks of flour remain.




Scoop evenly into the prepared cupcake liners.



Bake for about 20-24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan at least 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.



To make the frosting, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the cream cheese and butter on medium-high speed until well combined and smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Mix in the vanilla extract. Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar until totally incorporated, increase the speed and then beat until smooth. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired.








Matt likes them!



Here I am in my new apron!

Mixtape Mondays

In honor of my new running obsession, here is a portion of my running play list on my ipod. It keeps me going! I've been consistantly improving, yesterday I ran 2 miles!!







Run To The Gym


"This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" - Fallout Boy
"Feels Like Tonight" - Daughtry
"How Far We've Come" - Matchbox 20
"If I Had You" - Adam Lambert
"Strip Me" - Natasha Beddingfeild
"We Are Who We Are" - Ke$ha
"Runaway Baby" - Bruno Mars
"It's My Life/Confessions II" - Glee
"My First Kiss" - 3Oh!3 featuring Ke$ha
"Love Drunk" - Boys Like Girls
"Stronger" - Britney Spears
"Express Yourself" - Madonna (the Glee version is good too)
"Everytime We Touch(remix)" - Cascada
"All Dressed Up In Love" - Jennifer Hudson (Sex and the City soundtrack)
"Rockstar 101" - Rihanna featuring Slash
"Bottoms Up" - Trey Songz featurnig Nicki Minaj
"Love Like Woe" - The Ready Set
"Untouched" - The Veronica's
"When I Grow Up" - The Pussycat Dolls
"Super Girl" - Krystal Harris (watch out! serious throwback here)

Now throw these on a playlist and hit shuffle! These beats will motivate you to run and be fierce!

Wordless Wednesdays

How can a blog have a 'wordless' post (besides this intro i mean...)? Well that's easy, a picture is worth a thousand words! So here is 15,000 wordless words about my lovely house.

Sipping Saturdays

Most likely my favorite new blog weekday post themes. This is where I'll post what I really loved drinking this week (or what I'm drinking today).





My favorite coffe combo right now is:

















Starbucks Christmas Blend Espresso Roast and Fat Free Hazelnut Creamer... mmm winter in a cup.

And now for the best alcoholic mixture of the week, behold:

























Raspberry Sparkletini by Verdi is the best $6.50 you can spend. It's the brand of champagne served at our wedding (didn't know it was that cheap at the time, but most bubbly is) with a splash of raspberry. Now add it with an equally bubbly and flavorful orange soda and it is a girly, spritsy glass of fun!