Snickerdoodles

I love Saturday mornings! Saturdays are when I get to stay in bed late and snuggle with my boy. First thing this morning, said boy rolls over and says "Can I ask you a serious question?" (The last time he started a conversation that way he asked me to marry him.) Sure, babe whats up? He looks at me and says "can you make me cinnamon sugar cookies?" I just had to laugh. Of course I can make you cinnamon sugar cookies, but I think most people call them snickerdoodles.

 I found the recipe for these at Smitten Kitchen. She has tons of great recipes and amazing photos with all of them.

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
16 tablespoons (2 stick or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon, plus more if needed
2 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 400°

Sift together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Scrape down sides of bowl. Add eggs, and beat to combine. Add dry ingredients, and beat to combine.
You may want to chill the dough before rolling. I didn't because I simply don't have the patience, but I did stick it in the fridge between batches just to be on the safe side.
Combine remaining 1/4 cup sugar and the ground cinnamon.
Form balls of the dough, and roll in cinnamon sugar.
Place about two inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake until the cookies are set in center and begin to crack (they will not brown), about 10 minutes, rotating the baking sheets after five minutes. Transfer the sheets to a wire rack to cool about five minutes before transferring the cookies to the rack. In theory, they can be stored in an airtight container up to one week.

And, as I am wont to do, I played around with the camera in between mixing and rolling.

This is one of my all time favorite gifts. I am not sure what most 21 year olds ask for, for their college graduation, but this one asked for a stand mixer! It may be my very favorite appliance of all time and it has certainly gotten a lot of use over the years. Anyone who bakes anything should really, really make the investment!

ABW

I can't believe August is almost over! It started with a celebration among friends and family and kept getting better...

As of last Tuesday, I am officially employed! w00t!

This was my biggest fear moving back home. When we moved out to KC it took forever for Ryan and I to find jobs. Even when we did they were not exactly what we had planned on. I was not looking forward to repeating that first year. Luckily, this move was much kinder. Ryan is working on campus while he goes to school and I am the newest resident counselor at Alternatives for Battered Women. 

I am so grateful to a) be employed and b) to be employed in a field that I am passionate about. It is a challenging field to be sure, but I have been fascinated by it since I started as an intern at KCAVP two years ago. I am amazed by the souls of the people that work in this field and make it their life's work to make this world a safer place for the people they serve. I am happy to number myself among them.

On a slight side note, I will apologize for my blogging being a little lax lately due to training. Once I get settled in my new job and start on my normal schedule I hope to get back into a rhythm with both crafting and blogging, so stay tuned =)

Summertime

...And the living is easy

2012 Has been a great year for Ryan and I. So many wonderful things have been happening! Let us start from the beginning. 

In February, Ryan got accepted into his top choice for Grad School! This also meant that we would be moving back to NY state and closer to most of our family. 

In March, Ryan asked me to be his wife! I, of course, said yes! 

In May, I graduated with my Master's in Social Work. 

In June, we made the move east. 

And just yesterday was my birthday!! 

All of these things were just waiting to be celebrated so, my mom threw us a party! It was so nice to see all of my family and close friends, some of which I hadn't seen in nearly 10 years, and others I had been eagerly waiting to meet. We spent the weekend at my mom's camp enjoying the fresh air and each others company.

I am so grateful for the wonderful people I have in my life and the great things that have been happening in 2012! I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend my birthday weekend either!

Scrappy Scarf

This weekend I organized all of my fabric scraps. In doing so, I found a couple pieces I had cut out easily over a year ago. I had a cute scrappy cotton scarf in mind, but I never got around to cutting out more than three pieces. With my newly organized fabric stash I was able to find the rest of the pieces I needed to sit down and whip up a scarf.

I know it is summer and no one needs a scarf, but I love them as accessories in any season. This one is made out of lightweight cotton so its light and airy and perfect for an upcoming camp party I will be heading to!

Banner Bandwagon

I have, unintentionally, avoided banners until a few weeks ago. All it took was one custom banner for a friend and I was hooked. I love making them! I love the way they come together and how easy it is to make two very similar banners so completely different.

Here are some links to the banners I have available on Etsy.

Baby Banner

Name Banner

Happy Day Pennant Banner

The Little Things

The last few weeks have been a lovely treat for me. After settling in I have been able to spend time with my guy and my hobbies. I have been reading, baking, and crafting. There were a few days in there that is was simply too hot to do anything, but I enjoyed those days too. It is, however, getting around to the time that I have to get my butt back to work. I have had a couple interviews recently and am hopeful about my prospects. But, until then I will continue enjoying every moment of my lazy days. Here are a few photos of some of my endeavors.

 

After making one banner I kind of fell in love. This one is for the party I am having back home in a couple weeks!

This is the whole banner along with my perfectly messy craft room. If its a mess it means I'm up to something.

The last time we lived in Rochester, Ryan "obtained" a giant sized, classroom white board from RIT. He has since cut it into 3 more manageable pieces, one of which found a home in my craft room for project planning.

Fun with fonts. These are the return addresses that I put on our moving announcements. I am quite pleased with the way the "Rochester" font pairs with my own handwriting. I am fascinated, recently, with font pairing. I love the way it looks when the perfect fonts come together. Unfortunately, I am horrible at finding the perfect fonts. 

Finally, I baked some banana bread today, which left my house absolutely perfect. It was wonderfully cool upstairs and when you walked down the stairs you were met at the bottom with the smell of baking treats! That is truly one of my favorite little things.

Welcome Home

One of my very best friends came to visit us in our new home this week. She also brought with her 2 beautiful Hibiscus plants and loads of vegetables from her neighbor's garden. Just seeing her was gift enough, so these extras were, just that, extra!

This woman is one of the greatest people I have known, one of those friends that you know, with all your heart and soul, will be there for you at the drop of a hat no matter what you need. The kind of friend that, even though we lived half-way across the country from each other and didn't talk as much as we wanted to, I still feel close to. When she came to visit it was like we hadn't missed a beat. So, thank you, my dear, you are amazing!