Friday Favorites

Good Morning and yay for it being Christmas Eve Eve!

Being home and on break has been pretty glorious so far. Nothing out of the extraordinary, it’s just… nice No other way to describe it really. I am surrounded by my mom, grandparents and brother (other brother and wife Christine are coming later today), baking/cooking when I want to, exercising at any time of the day, and just ya know, hanging out!

Can’t ask for a better last few days in my opinion… well unless it was about 76 degrees and sunny But really, I need to stop my damn belly aching!

Since it’s Friday, a few days before Christmas, and it’s the holiday season, I am looking forward to doing a more “up beat” post today! It’s time for current Friday Favorites and I have a whole slue of rather random pictures, food, and information to share

Let’s get to it!

1) When I was shopping with my mom the other day at the Paper Store, I saw these “flavor straws” at the checkout and felt strongly compelled to buy them.

A very wise choice indeed! I tried this later that day in a cup of vanilla soy milk and it made the milk have a slight chocolate taste when it was sucked through the straw!

2) Speaking of chocolaty/sugar/fake goodness, remember when I was talking about my absolute favorite sugary cereals a few days ago? Well someone mentioned Reeses Puffs in the comments and again, I felt the strong inclination to eat some asap.

And yes, these were as delicious and sugar-filled as I remember… I was certainly not disappointed at this wonderful peanut butter/chocolate combo.

3) As I have alluded to a number of times, I have been a baking fiend these last few days. The other day I stumbled upon this recipe, and decided to recreate it myself!

The cookies did turn out rather well, and it was a fun challenge to take on. I created a basic sugar cookie recipe and then separated the dough into two equal parts. Like the directions said, I colored one half of the dough with green food coloring and added an extra bit of vanilla extract, refrigerated for 3 hours, and then rolled together!

I had a whole bunch of left over sprinkles from the lame gingerbread man creation I did for an RA program a few days before break, so I used the rest to roll the dough in and add even more festive flair.

I cut the dough into 1/4 inch pieces, baked in a 350 degree oven for 12 minutes and was rewarded with a rather fun and whimsical cookie!

These really were not hard, just a bit time-consuming, as you had to let the dough chill for at least 2 hours. But worth it in my opinion… try these out!

4) Yesterday I spent the day with my grandparents, mom and brother and we were out and about completing various holiday errands. Honestly, it was such a fun time!

• We were all squashed into one car- which was a rather interesting site as we are all at least 5’10″ and taller

•  Navigating to Costco was a quite an experience because we all knew where it was… but we all had opinions on what the best way of getting there was. Bickering, a bit of arguing and laughter ensued the whole trip.

• Costco is always a fantastic time because of the overwhelming size of every.single.in there and free samples of course! Mmm mini red velvet cupcakes… yes please.

• 
• My brother was in desperate need of shoes so we stopped at Nordstrum Rack…aka shoe mecca for rather large feet people such as myself and the broski.

I was lucky enough to snag a new pair of kicks for myself… and on sale too!

I love em

Oh and I saw these Toms… but these might just be even a bit too Barbie for me. Although let’s admit here, they are pretty awesome.

It was just “nice” being out with my family and knowing that I am not being judged by the ones that love me. Having disordered eating has left me to have a very skewed view of myself (duh), so I constantly feel as I am being “looked” at and judged by others. Around my family, this is just not the case. I do want to chat more about this another time… but not now, as I am staying more upbeat and I am not in the mood to write a 3 hour post about that haha

5) While on a family outing, it’s always a good idea to attempt photos together when you are squashed in the back… you might get some winners!

Weee bonding time

6) The present situation this year is great. For Christmas 2011 my family decided to do a “Secret Santa” style gift-giving this year.. meaning that yes, only one present per person! If you had asked me to do this about 5 years ago (or err as early as last year) I would have said NAY, as I truly love to GIVE gifts to everyone, but also receive them too (yep, just being honest).

While I understand that the planning, buying and stress of gathering and giving presents is a tradition, we were simply not up for it this year, and decided on Secret Santa style. It’s actually been really lovely just getting gifts for one person, knowing they are going to enjoy it, and that’s that! It will take some getting used to this year, but it’s nice to change things up. And again, knowing I don’t have to go go anywhere near a mall has been fantastic

7) Finally, our Christmas tree is up and sure as heck is decorated to death!

A pretty good lookin one if you ask me… we like to make the tree look epic My mom and I chose the tree, she did the lights and beads, while I did most of the ornaments… but Gram and Ma helped finish with me at the end.

This is my very favorite ornament… they are my baby shoes from when I was christened at 3 months. Aww

I always HAVE to put this ornament on myself, and near the end too… no ryhme or reason, just one of those traditions.

There you are friends and a very happy Friday to you all

-If you are planning to celebrate this weekend, are you all ready to go? I am this year because of the Secret Santa idea we are trying. Usually on Christmas Eve Eve I am scrambling for last minute gifts, driving around town, facing crowds/traffic…

-What is the gift-giving tradition in your family? Would you be alright with changing it up?

-Has anyone else ever seen those flavor straws before, or have I just been living under a rock? Oh and speaking of artificial food, Reeses Puffs…yay or nay?!

-What is the most challenging, difficult or time-consuming food you have ever cooked or baked? The cookies were up there for me… I know not that hard, but I tend to mess up things like that!

-Do you have a special ornament, or one in particular that has a story behind it?

-A question to everyone, whether you celebrate Christmas or not, what are your plans for the weekend?

Since I will be with family and doing the holiday thanggg the next few days, I won’t be posting/commenting for a bit or as much as I usually do. I think this is for obvious reasons, and I don’t want to be too stressed or feel “compelled” to post when there are lots of festivities to partake in I hope you understand!

Have a nice Friday everyone, and Happy Holidays!!

Tagged as: Cereal, Christmas Traditions, Costco, Dessert recipe, Family, New product finds, Nike shoes, Reeses puffs, Sugar Cookie recipe, Swirl cookies