A "Hearty" Treat

This past Christmas, I received the most delightful book as a gift.  I wouldn't quite call it a cookbook, although it does have a number of delectable and darling recipes but it also has other random elements in it including crafts and specialty drinks and table settings... It is an eclectic book, to say the least... It's overarching theme/ the title of the book is: "The Vintage Tea Party" and it basically covers any variation of tea party ideas you could dream of. 

I also want to mention that I received the book as a gift from my dad.. which makes it that much more adorable in my opinion.  I suspect my mom and Anthropologie may have helped in this gift choice, but still. 

Anyway, despite receiving it for Christmas, it has some awesome stuff in there for all holidays and non-holidays.. So today I want to share with you a Valentines Day related recipe from the source:

TOASTED CHOCOLATE HEARTS

Probably one of the simplest little "dishes" ever, I think this would be the perfect V-Day breakfast... The book claims it takes about 10 min to make and it combines chocolate and hearts, so I don't see how one could go wrong with busting this out for their loved one.  

The ingredients are as follows (makes 6):

* 1 brioche loaf
* 6 tablespoons of hazelnut chocolate spreah (ahem.. Nutella)
* 1 free-range egg, beaten
* 10g (1/4 oz) butter
* it doesn't mention this in the recipe but if you can get your hands on a heart shaped cookie cutter, that may cut down on time and increase your accuracy later on.. just sayin.'

And the instructions:

1.  Cut 12 slices of brioche, each about 1/2 an inch thick.

2. Spread 6 slices with a tablespoon of hazelnut chocolate spread each.  Place the other 6 slices on top to make sandwiches.  Cut into heart shapes (this is when your cookie cutter should be used, if you have one).

3.  Coat each sandwich with a little beaten egg.  Melt the butter in a frying pan and fry the sandwiches on a medium heat until golden brown on both sides.  Serve immediately.

I'm sure I didn't really need to spell all that out for you proficient peeps, but just in case you're an oaf in the kitchen (cough: me), here's the official play by play.

Hope you're all getting amped up for the holiday of lurve.

XOXO

Recreation Creations

In an effort to keep the content on here original and to also make good on my promise from yesterday's post, I want to share with you some truly creative lawn "situations," if you will.  I suspect you are all well-aware of the plethora of lawn games that have been popping up at weddings and other such outdoor events as of late, so I'm not going to regurgitate any of the cute ways to decorate a cornhole board, or set up horse shoes, ring toss, croquet, etcetera.  That being said, however, I do wish to state for the record, that despite me not posting about such aforementioned and other currently common games, I am still very much a fan of any and all lawn games.  So don't be crossing me off any lawn party invite lists, mmkay?  I will be there, in my whites, should the most-likely-adorable invitation arrive.

However, for the purposes of today's post, here are some less common and thoroughly clever backyard/lawn set-ups for your amusement and/or enjoyment.  Let the games begin! #badolympicsjokes

YASSSS!  I hope for the sake of puns, that this is table on top of swimming pool.. A true "pool table."

DIY Outdoor Mini Golf Course.. Rad.

I NEED to try this!

Best. Game. Ever.

Backyard Stargazing... Stellar, man!

And... my favorite.  This will be played at my wedding.  REST ASSURED.

Hope this post has got you all feeling playful!  I think it's gonna be a good week!

Lawn Bowling Legends

Yesterday I had the splendid opportunity of participating in a Lawn Bowling Tournament.  As luck would have it, there is a lawn bowling court on my street (for serious) and I was tickled to be invited to play.  To clarify, I was no doubt invited on account of my sparkling conversation rather than my lawn bowling merit... as I showed up a Lawn Bowling virgin (gasp!).  Although, as it turns out, this gurl's has got some mad L.B. skillz... That's right... ME!  Call it beginner's luck if you must, but do so at your own risk!   I think I'm getting ahead of myself, though...  Let's back up.

As I'm sure most of you are wondering, what exactly is lawn bowling?  While many lawn games can may fall under the "sunbrella" of bowling on the law, true lawn bowling is most akin to Bocce Ball.  BUT there are also some distinct differences.  First being that each player has their own set of four balls, which are specifically fitted to their hands.  Since I, along with all of the other participants in the tourney, had not yet made the investment in their own custom balls, we all had to get our hands fitted to balls prior to the match commencement (as you can imagine, the day was ripe with double entendres, of which, I will leave to your imagination ;). 

Prior to the start of the tournament, all players were given a optional lesson by some "old pros" where we learned that depending on how you're holding the ball it will either curve around to the left or right when you roll it on the grass.   Our "coach" was named "Chick" and it is my opinion, that he was the best... dude knew his stuff and had the most patient demeanor - which is my style of coaching all the way #teambob #biggestloseranyone?

These were not our coaches.. but they could have been.

The objective of the game is to get your ball closest to a smaller white ball, called "The Jack," which is rolled out at the beginning of the game and lined up vertically with the center of the "lane."   The game is played in teams and whichever team's players bowls their ball(s) closest to the Jack, gets the point for that round.  The winning team can earn up to as many points as they have balls within the the losing team's closest ball to the Jack.  Have I got you sufficiently confused yet?  :)

That pretty much sums it up except for the fact that beverages are highly encouraged in addition to proper lawn bowling attire.  (That's a personal recommendation, not an official one, but I felt it should be noted nonetheless). 

As I mentioned before, I fared fairly well and my team ended up coming in 2nd place in the tournament.  And since I never figured out what 1st place won (this may have been due to the "beverages" mentioned above), I wasn't at all upset about our ranking.  Here's a photo my teammate and I had snapped of the proximity of our balls to the Jack in one killer round. 

Yes, I dyed my hair blonde! :)

A lovely way to spend a winter day in C-A-L-I-F-O-R-N-I-A.

*I had originally prepared for this post by gathering some creative and unique lawn game/backyard activity ideas, but I wasn't expecting to get so long-winded in my yarn-tellin' and so, in an attempt to avoid exceeding your attention span, I will be posting about said finds tomorrow.  So check back here tomorrow, y'all hear?

Oh Target, You're Such a Tease

The other night I vowed to make a quick stop at Target to pick up one thing and came out 2 hours later with a receipt for the amount of ¼ of my rent and plans for a whole new upgraded life (made possible by my bevy of purchases)…. Walking out of that store, I felt thinner (because of my new workout clothes... and new intentions), more sophisticated (with my upgraded home accessories), cooler (with my new 'drobe), hotter (with my collection of beauty products), more knowledgeable (by way of a handful of gossip mags) and like a better person (with my new gift wrap and stationery, allowing me keep up with my p̶e̶n̶ ̶p̶a̶l̶s̶ friends by penning them letters and writing thank you notes – #necessary...obvi)… And then woke up the next morning and put 80% of what I’d purchased in a pile to return back to Target.

In light of the recent Target scandal, I’ve changed my behavior towards/at Target:

A: A lot
B: Some
C: Not at all

Answer: C

Oops.  The reality is, there is probably very little that will stop me from seeing everything in Target with rose (or perhaps we should say “Target red”) colored glasses on.  I am INCAPABLE of being objective about pricing if I’m within the Target store/brainwash zone and if it weren't for Target’s return policy and my trusty friend named, “Buyer’s Remorse,” I would be sleeping in an alley next to my [Target] shopping cart by now.

But I'm not quite ready to get off this fun train of disillusion just yet, so I’ve decided that if I’m not allowing myself to keep most of my purchases (since I most likely wouldn’t have done any other than just stare at them and pretend that having “things” changes the way you feel… or who you are (umm… I never thought that)), then I can at least showcase them on here.  That way, I can still stare at them.. just with a thin layer of monitor screen (and just a few more dolla' bills than I can afford) separating me from them.  A perfect solution, if you ask me. 

So here, have a looksee at what Target’s currently tantalizing me with (I'm keeping it just to home products because otherwise.. well, I just can't):

1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  6  |  7  |  8  |  9  |  10  |  11  |  12  |  13

So preeeetty, huh?!  Just look at them! Ahh!

On that note (what note?), I hope you all have wonderful weekends!  Hopefully next week I'll be more "present" on this here bloggity blog.

Word to your mother.

Where The Beer Flows Like Wine

I'm headed up to a little town called Assspen today.  A place where the beer flows like wine and beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano.  I plan on cutting the freshie pow pow and taking full advantage of the apres ski culture (of course).  Speaking of the pow pow (powder), it is reportedly epic right now.

But shredding the gnar aside, these insane snowfall levels also mean something else for me: BOOTS.  And since I have a boot and jacket shopping problem, I could not be more excited to finally have a place to showcase my (inappropriate everywhere else) winter wardrobe.  If I didn't already have a plethora of #coats and boots and the whole kit and kaboodle AND if I was going to start shopping with less than an hour before my departure, this is what I would hope to buy:

From left to right. Row 1: Simone Sweater | Ecote Growler Suede Ankle Boot | Tanuki Faux Fur Russian Hat | Mackage Black Double Breasted Coat | Front Face Leather Legging | Faux Fur Lined Brown Winter Coat Row 2: Affectionate Adieu White Leather Gloves | Zig Zag Beanie | Black Leather Quilted Gloves | Tofino Herringbone Boot | SNO Faux Fur Earmuffs | Brown Faux Fur Tie Up Winter Boots | Fox Faux Fur Patchwork Trapper Hat Row 3: Mexchic Heritage Sweater | Marla Wrap Coat | Multi-Way Sweater | Cracked Faux Leather Legging | The Sierra Sweater | Manchester Tall Boot

Stay warm wherever you are and have a good weekend.  I will being trying not to get my tongue stuck to the chairlift pole.

xoxo