snow tires!

i adore living in the great state of minnesota. i honestly do. so much to do, so many places to go, and pretty pretty snow! the only thing i hated about snow is driving in it. perhaps it's because my lil' civic couldn't handle the slippery road conditions, causing white knuckles and migraines. sure sliding around corners is fun when no cars are present. in fact, i'll admit, i secretly would make my car slide around corners for the fun of it! however, i don't enjoy the sliding around corners when other cars are present. or, oh, i don't know, trying my hardest to get up a slightly snowy hill to find my tires just spinning spinning spinning, until 10 minutes later, i'm finally up that small hill with a long line of traffic behind me, cursing at me, and God knows what other sorts of gestures!

for the past couple winters, my husband and i have talked about buying snow tires. "they'll make such a big difference!" he says. yea right. i was skeptical. extremely skeptical. my solution was to sell the lil' black beauty and get a big SUV with 4-wheel drive. unfortunately, the budget says no go on the new car. so finally this winter, we ordered the snow tires.

i drove with them for the first time today. oh. my. God. i have been missing out! what a huge difference! still a little slidey at parts, but not nearly as bad as it had been! in fact, driving in snow is no longer a terrifying experience for me! sure the commute this morning was long and slow, but i didn't have to worry about spinning out or not being able to make it up that hill or sliding around a corner into the cars stopped ahead!

my advice to those in snowy climates: SNOW TIRES!

lessons learned in ice resin

i decided to play with a new medium today for making necklaces: ice resin!! the wonderful thing about ice resin is that i can create those beautiful dome necklaces that i adore so much. today was the first trial using ice resin and here's what i learned:

1) mix a smaller amount! i had to throw away too much unused product. next time i'm mixing half of what i did today! (1/4 of a cup next time...)
2) mix gently! otherwise, lots and lots of bubbles to get out. no fun.
3) thoroughly seal the paper before pouring the ice resin. oh yea, and allow adequate dry time for the sealed paper.

the most important lesson learned today is lesson 3. if the paper isn't sealed (and dried) thoroughly, the ice resin seeps through the paper causing a dark, discolored look. which = not pretty!

next time i'll take my time and not be so anxious to play with the resin and hopefully my necklace will turn out fabulous! wait. not hopefully. it WILL turn out fabulous!

p.s. as soon as i have fabulous necklaces made, i'll sell them on etsy.com and i'll post a link to my online store at that time.

it's the most wonderful time of the year...

so i just got done with the 1st annual cookie baking/mimosa drinking/movie watching day. what a success! we made super yummy cookies, drank super yummy mimosas, and then watched one of the best christmas movies ever: elf! the only thing that would've made today even better is if my az ladies could've been here :) days like these make me so happy yet so homesick at the same time. strange how that works!

wheat thins...

wheat thins are my crack. i can't leave any wheat thins in my line of sight or I will eat them all. seriously. all of them. i'm addicted. i have to hide them from myself or i'll eat an entire box! damn you, wheat thins, for being so tasty!!

and i digress.

Open Letter to AZ Weather

Dear AZ Weather-

While I appreciate your desire to remind those in the great warm state of AZ what cold weather feels like, I do have one concern. I will be visiting AZ for Christmas and have but one request. Please please please bring back the warm weather Arizonans have come to know and love, if only for the week of 12/23/09 - 12/29/09. You see, living in the frozen tundra known as South Central Canada AKA Minneapolis, MN, I already remember what cold weather feels like. In fact, the current temperature is -5 degrees. There is no need to punish the already punished. So it is with great respect and admiration that I ask you, AZ Weather, to please warm up to at least mid-70's while I am visiting.

Sincerely,

Me

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

So my grandmother happens to be one of the best cooks/bakers that I know. Thankfully she passed that wonderful trait on to my mother who then was amazing enough to pass that trait on to me. I know, I know. I'm a lucky gal! Recently my grandmother sent me a recipe for these soft and chewy chocolate peanut butter cookies. omg! Seriously, these cookies are so yumtastic that I don't think there are words to describe their chocolaty, peanut buttery goodness! So I thought I'd be pass along the recipe to you, lucky reader o' mine!



Soft & Chewy Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies
1 package (2 layer size) Devil's Food Cake mix
4 oz Philadelphia cream cheese (softened)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg

Preheat oven to 375. Place all ingredients in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on a low speed for 2 minutes. Beat on a medium speed for an additional 2 minutes. Shape the batter into 1 inch balls. The batter will be mostly dry, but that's okay! When you start making them into balls, they batter will stick together. Place the balls 2 inches apart on baking sheets. (I lightly greased my baking sheets, but I don't think it was needed). Flatten each ball in a criss-cross pattern with the tines of a fork dipped in sugar. Bake for 7-8 minutes, or until the edge of the cookies are set. Cool for 2 minutes on baking sheets. Remove to wire racks and then cool completely. Makes 3.5 dozen cookies.

You can also add 1/2 cup of chopped cocktain peanuts before shaping into balls. It would probably give the cookies a nice sweet and salty mix. I opted not to because I'm not a fan of nuts in my cookies, but if you like nutty cookies, then go for it!

P.S. Sorry for being m.i.a recently... married life has been a little hectic! I'm going to do my best to post at least once per week. thanks for hangin' in there!

room envy

i am in insane amounts of love with this room. the color contrast is amazing! the hot pink with the grey is perfect. i want it in my house. now. check out the rest of the rooms here.

{image via DesignSponge}