Whether we’re out searching for our ideal partner, building relationships with friends, or already happily settled in a 50-year marriage, it’s no surprise that we spend the better of our lives seeking affirmation from the people around us. On a recent trip to Seattle, we gave ourselves plenty of “nothing” time–time to really back away from our busy day-to-day lives and think about what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, where our lives our headed. Every night at the hotel, Richard would look over and grin when he saw me just sitting on the bed and hugging my pillow, thinking.… Read more
Cookies
Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Crumble Peanut Butter Mousse Parfaits for #SundaySupper
Semi-serious writer’s note: I am currently struggling through a prolonged, increasingly aggravated case of carpal tunnel onset. While I’m doing my best to keep this blog running in the meantime, if I don’t reply right away to your comments or leave comments on your blog, don’t think I don’t care–I do! It’s just this silly problem, so I’ll get back to you as I can 🙂 thanks for reading!
My first time on a red carpet was at my friend’s Netflix celebration, which took place at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles a few months ago. Sparkly gowns, diamond … Read more
No-Bake Cookie Butter Avalanche Cookies
So apparently one of my students lives next door to me.
Forgive me if I don’t jump for joy.
Living next door to any of my students–as you can probably imagine–isn’t exactly my idea of a delightful development. I guess this means I’ll have to actually put on pants now when I open the windows.
Kidding. I’m totally kidding. (Except maybe on laundry day.)
Though this news has made me self-conscious enough to stop blasting Taylor Swift out the open window at odd hours of the day now, weirdly enough, my first reaction when s/he asked me if I lived … Read more
Funfetti Sugar Cookies
When: Last Thursday. Location: Starbucks Coffee Shop. What: Story material. Lots of it.
If you have spent any time in my company or on my blog, you’ll appreciate how much I love meeting strangers. When I walked into the coffee shop last week for a late-night study sesh, I had no idea what the next four hours had in store for me.
Here’s a spoiler: It’s not a romance story. It’s something much better than that, believe it or not.
It’s a story of humanity.
The funny part–and my personal favorite part–of the encounter was that it … Read more
One-Bowl Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
This weekend I did nothing. Nothing except go to my first women’s basketball (and Harry Potter themed?!!!) game, drop in with a friend to a grad housing social filled with free veggie rice bowls + orange soda, swim at a club meet, have an epic girls’ night sleepover watching Dirty Dancing (first time!!) + Grease + 10 Things I Hate About You, annnnd eat dim sum. Also known as dim yum. Also known as say whattttt.
I might have graded a few papers here and there, and done a lesson plan along the way. I dunno, it’s pretty hard … Read more
Coconut Oil Cranberry Hootycreeks {guest post for Brunch with Joy}
Linda from Brunch with Joy and I met a few months back through Sunday Supper–she’s one of the loveliest ladies on the planet, and I immediately fell in love with her vibrant blog. Since I began blogging back in 2012, I’ve had the chance to meet so many amazing people like Linda from every nook and cranny of the internet. Today, I’m the lucky gal who’s guest posting on her blog–check it out!
In today’s post, I’m sharing a very near-and-dear story about one of my closest friends, M. We met in the unlikeliest of circumstances, separated … Read more
Thick, Puffy Ginger Molasses Sugar Cookies
{a year in Facebook statuses}
Every once in a while, I stop spamming my feed with #bakerproblems and share something meaningful. Today I’m spreading the holiday joy with these warm, puffy, thick, ginger molasses sugar cookies and a glimpse back at where this year has taken us…
{December}
Sitting at Starbucks, I bought a large coffee for a homeless man who was asking for any type of help people could give. As I continued working, I watched him, fascinated, as he limped around outside, cup out but constantly in motion. Then I realized that he was taking napkins and wiping … Read more
Coconut Oil White Chocolate + Chocolate Chip Cookies
There are two types of people in this world who can afford to wait around for miracles to change their lives.
Immortals, and dead people.
I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t spend the better part of my many daydreams sighing after a miracle to sweep me off my feet. Usually this miracle saunters up in the guise of a tall, gorgeous man with a charming smile and perfectly manicured fingers sweeping through wind-tossed dark bangs, but sometimes it’s a publishing contract for my new YA novel or–if I’ve been watching one too many interviews of The Hunger … Read more
Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies for #oxogoodcookies
Today we’re going to play a game of Mind Meld. Question: “What three associations to mind when I say the word, “Oregon’?”
Got your answer ready? Good, let’s compare…
If you’d asked me this question 10 days ago, my answers would have been something like:
- Oregon Trail. I mean, let’s be real here–who didn’t think of Oregon Trail lickety-split? Who among us can forget (am I dating myself?) that wonderfully pixelated covered wagon trundling along a two-dimensional river; your passengers dying of dysentery because you decided the “Rest for a while” option was for chumps; and the tiny box
Guest Post from Blahnik Baker: Hazelnut Macarons with Chocolate Ganache
Folks, I haven’t felt this excited since I heard that these brand spankin’ new episodes of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon would be hitting the screen after nearly a decade of muffled silence. I told Zainab I’ve been crazy busy lately doing Grown-Up World things–like maniacally hurling homemade spiky shells at my fellow street-sharers on a FIVE-hour commute–but really I’d rather just lock myself in my dust-infested closet with my laptop and gorge on unhealthy amounts of Sailor Moon.
And maybe try like the moron I am to eat the pixels right off these gorgeous macaron photos Zainab sent me.
Have … Read more
