I Wanna Be A Domestic Goddess

When Birchbox sends me something weird...

2012-02-11T11:45:00.001-05:00

...I look like I am playing dress-up for the Grammys tomorrow.

Because that is the only venue where these could be appropriate.

Birchbox is a monthly subscription to a box of beauty product samples. I get really excited when my Birchbox arrives because normally the samples are fun and perfect and worth the ten dollars per month I pay. There are few misses along the way but these cat-eye eyeliner stickers? Biggest miss ever.

Naturally, I had to try them out whether they were ridiculous or not.

Here's the shocking twist: I didn't hate them.

But where the heck would I wear these in a non-joking manner? To work? Never gonna happen. To brunch? I'm a bit classier than that. I am all for being creative but unless you are trying to win most outrageous outfit at the Grammys, don't wear these in public. At home, wearing your leopard print bathrobe waiting for a cake to finish baking? Totally wear them. Just realize that you will be painfully aware every time you blink.

The real reason to wear these stickers though? They'll cover your crow's feet.

Sweet Valentine's Treat Ideas: Pretty Pretty Petit Fours

2012-02-10T04:58:00.001-05:00

Five days.
Five delicious treats.
Five fun packaging ideas.
Five ways to say Happy Valentine's Day without spending too much.

Once upon time a I was a Girl Scout. Though sometimes I do not think I had the normal Girl Scout experience. Because we went "camping" we stayed at a ridiculously nice ski lodge. This probably formed the basis of my thoughts on camping: "If it isn't fancy and indoors, I am not interested." But Girl Scout also formed the basis of my thoughts on petit fours: "Delicious, dainty, and reserved for special occasions." Petit fours were always served at our fancier events and I always loved them.

And never ever had them again until last October at Tiffany's for Fashion's Night Out. Delicious, dainty, and reserved for special occasions held true. And since then, I have been looking for proper occasion to try making them myself. Valentine's Day seemed to fit the bill. A little box of petit fours would surely make someone you know happy on Valentine's Day

And my favorite part of this project was that that box is just one of the boxes that monthly Birchbox delivery arrives in. They are seriously the perfect gift boxes and I love reusing them.

What you need for this project

Petit Fours
A small box
Ribbon, paper, stickers, etc. to decorate the box.
Adhesive

Plan of Sweet Attack

First, make the petit fours. I will not lie, they are not easy to make. Well, they are relatively easy until you get to the poured fondant stage and you will wish you had just gone to the bakery and bought some petit fours. Mine are nowhere near perfect but I still think they are cute.

And I own any success I had in making them to this post {here} by Lisa of Cupcakes and Cupboards.

Decorating the box was much easier than making the petit fours. Thank goodness.

Take a sheet of paper and cut it so that it can be centered on the box. (If you are using a Birchbox, the paper should be 4.5 inches wide). Apply an adhesive to the paper and press onto the box lid. Crease edges and tuck onto the bottom of the lid.

Place a sheet of wax paper on the bottom of the box and place the petit fours inside.

Place paper covered lid on the box. I am huge fan of repeatedly wrapping ribbon around a box at different angles and what not. Using adhesive, secure the end of the ribbon on the bottom of the box.

Then wrap the ribbon round and round however you would like.

I added a bit of a sparkle to my box with a little attached attached via a mini clothespin. A perfect petit four box!

Hope you enjoyed all of the Valentine's Day baking and gift ideas this week! What crafty treat do you have planned for your Valentines?

Sweet Valentine's Treat Ideas: Tic-Tac-XOXO

2012-02-09T04:55:00.001-05:00

Five days.
Five delicious treats.
Five fun packaging ideas.
Five ways to say Happy Valentine's Day without spending too much.

While I had so much fun baking and creating all of the Valentine's treats that I put together for this week, today's treat is one that you can actually have fun with. X and O is all about hugs and kisses...and tic-tac-toe! Sprinkled shortbread cookies form the perfect playing pieces on a sparkly tic-tac-toe board.

Give your Valentine a bag of playing piece cookies and little board to play on and they will have a fun-filled and action packed Valentine's Day. (My 9th grade English teacher, Mr. Tate, always described things as "fun-filled and action packed." The phrase has always stuck with me.)

What you need for this project

Shortbread cookies (which will require small X and O cookie cutters. Mine were from the Wilton Alphabet set {here}.)
A 9-inch square piece of cardboard.
A piece of pretty paper. I used sparkles.
Adhesive
A treat bag
Ribbon

Plan of Sweet Attack

Bake shortbread cutout cookies. You can use whatever shortbread or cutout cookie recipe you would like. I used this shortbread recipe from The Pastry Case {here}. Once I had cut the dough out into the X, O, and heart shaped, I brushed the cookies with a bit of milk and doused them in sprinkles before baking. No sprinkle slippage that way.

The heart cookies are for snacking on while playing, of course!

Using a paper cutter, cut four half-inch by nine inch strips of paper.

Using a scrapbooking adhesive, glue the strips down on the cardboard. I centered the trips on the 3 inch and 6 inch marks.

Place your playing pieces (5 Xs, 5 Os, and some hearts) in a treat bag and secure with a ribbon. Your Valentine will XOXO it!

Be sure to check out all of the other delicious treats featured earlier this week! Marshmallows! Cookies! Cupcakes!

Sweet Valentine's Treat Ideas: Hey Cupcake!

2012-02-08T04:56:00.001-05:00

Five days.
Five delicious treats.
Five fun packaging ideas.
Five ways to say Happy Valentine's Day without spending too much.

Cupcakes are the perfect gift. In my world at least.

They are just so dang hard to wrap up and preserve the prettiness of the cupcake while providing adequate smush protection. This little cupcake box is both pretty and protective!

And that flower on the top is made of cupcake liners! A great way to use up the odd liners you have lying around.

What you need for this project:

Cupcakes! Bake your favorite cupcake flavor. Or your Valentine's favorite! Or buy some at your favorite cupcake shop!
Single cupcake boxes. You can find these at Joann's, Michaels, or A.C. Moore. Or buy them on Amazon {here}.
12 Cupcake liners for each box you are making. A variety of colors and sizes works best but use whatever you have.
Scrapbooking brads
A smaller than standard hole punch or an awl
Baker's twine, yarn, or ribbon

Plan of sweet attack

Bake and frost or buy your cupcakes.

Fold 12 cupcake liners in half so that the side with the design is on the outside.

Place each folder liner inside of the other so it looks sort of like a paper taco. If you are using multiple sizes of liners, stack from smallest on the outside to largest on the inside.

Poke a hole through all of the liners near the fold. If you are using a hole punch, you will not be able to poke through all 24 sheets at the same time. I had to do two at time and line up the holes. If you are using an awl, congratulations on having an awl. I had never heard of one until I read these instructions {here}.

Once you have a hole poked through all of the liners, secure all of the liners together with a brad.

Begin pulling the edges of each liner forward, one-by-one.

Once all of the liners have been pulled forward, tug each liner clockwise a bit to give the layers some variety. Play around with this until the flower takes a shape that you like.

Place the cupcake inside the box.

Close the box and tie it shut with baker's twine, yarn, or ribbon.

Apply an adhesive to the bottom of your cupcake liner flower (either double sided tape or a scrapbooking glue dot works best) and secure the flower to the top of your box. And you have a sweet cupcake gift to give to your Valentine!

Stop back all week long for more delicious and crafty Valentine's Day ideas!

Sweet Valentine's Treat Ideas: Sign your letters in Xs and Os

2012-02-07T05:00:00.001-05:00

Five days.
Five delicious treats.
Five fun packaging ideas.
Five ways to say Happy Valentine's Day without spending too much.

Girl Scout cookie delivery begins next Thursday and then we can all sit back and inhale a sleeve of Thin Mints. But what about a little warm-up for that big event with a little sleeve of Valentine's Day cookies.

What you will need for this project

Cookies! I use this recipe {here} recipe for my cookies. I found my X and O cookie cutters at Sur La Table but you can use whatever cutters you would like!
Treat bags (4.5 inches by 9 inches). Find these at Joann's, Michaels, or A.C. Moore.
Paper, either cardstock or slightly-heavier-than-printer-paper will work.
Stapler

A Plan of Sweet Attack

Bake your cookies. If you are frosting or using royal icing, then you will need to bake and decorate a day before packaging to allow the frosting or icing to dry. When selecting your cookie cutter make sure they are no bigger than the dimensions of your treat bags. My cookie cutters were 4 inches high to fit within my bags.

Cut a sheet of paper to 4.5 inches by 6 inches. If you are using a different size treat bag, just make sure to adjust the dimension so that the width of the paper matches the width of your bag. Fold the paper in half and decorate one side of the fold. I printed on sparkly paper and embossed it (again, I would emboss the world if I could!)

Slip your cookies in the bag.

Slip the decorated sheet of paper over the bag on both side and staple in place.

Your Valentine is sure to love this sweet sleeve of sugar!

Stop back all week long for more delicious and crafty Valentine's Day ideas!

Sweet Valentine's Treat Ideas: Heart-shaped marshmallows

2012-02-06T07:21:00.001-05:00

Five days.
Five delicious treats.
Five fun packaging ideas.
Five ways to say Happy Valentine's Day without spending too much.

A few weeks ago, I made homemade marshmallows for the very first time and they were amazing. And while I was preparing them, I immediately thought that they would be such a great Valentine's Day treat! In pink! And heart-shaped! And maybe strawberry flavored! All wrapped up in a cute bag!

What you need for this project:

A good marshmallow recipe. I use Brownie Point recipe {here}
A small (6 1/2 inches high) paper bag. Brown or white will work but white will probably look better.
Ribbon
Scissors
Hole Punch
Stickers, stamps, markers to decorate the bag. I used a heart stamp and embossing supplies.

Plan of sweet attack

Marshmallows need at least 10 to 12 hours to set so I prepared my marshmallows the day before you plan to craft.

After the marshmallows have set, take two heart-shaped cookie cutters and spray them (inside and out) with cooking spray and cut through your sheet of marshmallow and rolling the cut marshmallows in a mixture of powdered sugar and potato starch (I use a one-to-one ratio of the two ingredients.)

Using different sizes of heart cookie cutters adds a bit of fun to the mix.

Now decorate your bag! Try to leave the top inch or so of the bag undecorated. If you are not super crafty, just use stickers. If you are crafty, run wild with it. I stamped and heat embossed mine because embossing makes the world a better place.

Once your bag is decorated, take your hole punch and punch two holes across from each other, approximately 1/2 inch from the top of the bag.

Thread an 18-inch piece of ribbon from front to back on one hole and then from back to front on the other hole.

Open up the bag and fill it about half to three-quarters full with marshmallows.

Tie the ribbon into a bow to close the bag and you have a cute little bag of treats to give to your Valentine!

Stop back all week long for more delicious and crafty Valentine's Day ideas!

Savory Sunday: Grocery Store Carb Meltdown

2012-02-05T07:24:00.001-05:00

I am most definitely someone who prefers to do her grocery shopping early in the morning, cup of coffee in hand, empty aisles. I find it very peaceful. The store is calm, the staff are in a good mood, everything is in stock.

Yesterday due to a variety of issues, I found myself doing my grocery shopping at 2:30 in the afternoon. On the day before the Super Bowl. I nearly had a crowd panic attack right there in front of the 2 for $4 Thomas English Muffins. (I bought the Cinnamon Raisin ones of course.)

I watched in horror (and clung to my box of Peanut Butter Cheerios) as a little boy who I think was old enough to know better threw 12 boxes of cereal on the floor while his mom laughed and called him silly and left the boxes on the floor. The mom also had the ugliest purse I have ever seen. It. Had. Pom-poms.

I watched in annoyance as two people chit chatted away blocking the main pathway to the check-out lines, forcing everyone in the crowded store to cut through their conversation, at which point one of them uttered "How rude!" Even Stephanie Tanner would know who the real rude ones here were. (I wanted to toss my Jell-O Pudding Cups at them.)

Saturday afternoon grocery shopping. Never Again. (It makes me buy too many carbs.)

But now it is Sunday and it is savory.

This was not a particularly busy week but my meal planning was definitely off this week. And that meant for dinner this week I had grilled cheese which was delicious as always and a pseudo-pizza attempt on a slice of bread that was not good at all.

But my lunch this week was amazing, so amazing that I forgot to take a picture.

Mexican Egg Muffins

My coworker Kim told me about these. And since Kim is the next pickiest eater in the office after me, I knew that if she loved them then I probably would too. The recipe, by Beth of Beth's Journey, takes everything amazing about Mexican food (beans! cheese! salsa! ole!) and bakes them in an egg mixture. They are so filling and delicious! And has me wondering what else I can bake into an egg mixture!

Deliciousness rating (scale of 1 to 5 saucepan): 4

Back next week with more savoriness. And pictures of the savoriness. I promise.

Happy Savory Super Bowl Sunday!

Why must Static Guard smell so bad?

2012-02-03T05:01:00.001-05:00

The minute the air gets dry in the winter, the sparks fly.

Sparks of the static nature, of course.

I am electric in the winter. An electricity that overpowers the strongest of dryer sheets and the most potent of humidifiers. I walk the streets humming my person winter anthem "It's electric boogie-woogie-woogie" as my dress clings to my tights and my hair levitates in the air by sheer force of static.

And so I have to keep a bottle of Static Guard at the ready at home and at the office. It is the only thing that helps.

The daily Static Guard spray down is like a winter rite of passage in my world. And with every spray, I am overcome with the nauseating scent of Static Guard. What they call "Fresh Scent," I prefer to call "Floral Scent Gone Horribly Rancid." Static Guard smells awful.

In a world where there are 18 scents of Febreeze and 13 flavors of Cheerios, why oh why has somebody not developed a different scent of Static Guard. Or even better, an unscented Static Guard!? Why must my static woes only be solvable by something thats scent lingers grossly in the air like the remnants of a pack of smokers exiting the elevator post smoke break?

I {heart} Crafter's Night at Paper Source!

2012-02-02T04:59:00.001-05:00

The problem with a Christmas birthday is that you never really get to celebrate your birthday on-time with your friends. I do always get to celebrate it with my family but holiday travel plans and the general chaos of the holidays makes it virtually impossible to schedule any sort of celebration. So I tend to like dragging out my birthday celebration well into January. And sometimes I hijack other people's birthdays. (Kidding! Sort of!)

But it was a December/January birthday celebration last Thursday with my January birthday friends Shirin and Lexi. (And yes, it was a celebration on a "school night" something I generally do not allow because I am so strict about my 9 p.m. bed time. And I basically cannot function mentally after 9:30 p.m.)

We kicked the night off with a the Valentines' Day Crafter's Night Out at Paper Source Bethesda.

The crafting tables...

Lexi and Shirin getting crafty!

My favorite part of Crafter's Night Out is always the snacks. They had these gummi hearts that were so amazing, I need to find out where they bought them from!

I have always had a blast at my Paper Source classes. I have also only attended classes that were not jam packed with people. This class sold out and there is a huge difference between a full class and a not-so-full class. There was a lot going on and everyone was at difference stages and abilities and it just felt like there were a million different things going on. Since I am, admittedly, a little bit ahead of the crafty curve, I finished early and just did some shopping in the store while the rest finished. I think I need to stop raving about these classes so they don't sell out. (Kidding! Sort of!)

After the class, we headed down Wisconsin Avenue a bit for a birthday dinner celebration at The Capital Grille, where the staff went all out to help us celebrate. Our table was covered in birthday confetti and we were treated to a platter of sweet birthday treats!

Crafting, dinner, and dessert! A perfect December/January birthday celebration!

Bake It Seasonal: Date & Pistachio Cupcakes

2012-02-01T04:56:00.001-05:00

I am now going to shatter any grand illusions you may have about how the seasonal fruit is chosen for Bake It Seasonal. Generally, the day before the last day of the month, Shirin emails me or I email her asking "Hey, what fruit are doing for Bake It Seasonal next month?" And then the two of us separately scramble to Google what fruit is in season for the month. Well, welcome to the time of year when nothing is in season.

And that is how we settled on baking with dates for January. Sweet, delicious dates.

I really had no clue what to make with dates; absolutely nothing was jumping to mind. As I flipping trough the Betty Crocker Big Book of Cupcakes, I landed on the page bearing the recipe for Dried Cherry and Pistachio Cupcakes. And I was quickly subbing in dates for the cherries in my mind wondering if it would work. And it did! A few other recipe tweaks and I had these amazing cupcakes!

A vanilla (with a hint of almond) cake dotted with chopped pistachios and chopped dates...

...and topped with a vanilla almond buttercream.

Delicious.

A few months ago, my friend Shirin of Diary of a Messy Kitchen and I were discussing the one day sale on peaches that Whole Foods was hosting. In the way conversations tend to evolve between people who blog, we decided it would be fun to start a monthly feature highlighting something we baked using a fruit that was in season. And with that, Bake It Seasonal was born.

Each month, we will bake something using that month's chosen fruit. The recipe can be original or taken from a book or website. The only rule is that the key ingredient should be that month's fruit. Then, we will each post what we made on the last day of the month.

Be sure to pop over to Shirin's blog {here} to see what her Bake It Seasonal creation was! If you joined in Bake It Seasonal this month, post a comment with a link to your delicious treat! For past Bake It Seasonal feature, click {here}

If you would like to join Bake It Seasonal, we would love to have you join in! There are no rules. Just bake something with the monthly fruit selection; the recipe can be made up or taken from somewhere (just give proper credit) and post it on your blog on the last day of the month. Send me an email at iwbadg@gmail.com if you would like to join in Baking It Seasonal.

The February "fruit" will be bananas.

Take Note {and Write a Note} Tuesday: Red Bird & Twigs Moleskin

2012-01-31T18:54:00.001-05:00

This morning, I am loving the sweet simplicity of this moleskin journal by UnaOdd

At just 3.5 by 5.5 inches, this journal can easily be slipped into your handbag and brighten up a cold winter's day! Purchase this journal {here}.

Each Tuesday I feature the most adorably delightfully beautifully stunning notebooks and stationery that I can find. I love love LOVE notebooks. I have a vast collection of notebooks that I either own or admire from afar. And stationery is just as fun. Because writing sweet notes is fun. Because getting mail is even more fun. Previous Take Note Tuesdays can be found {here}.

Have you seen or bought a notebook or journal or stationery that you love love LOVE? Send a link to it to me at iwbadg@gmail.com and it could be featured in an upcoming Take Note {And Write a Note} Tuesday!

Create a Cupcake Flavor and Win! (And help fight poverty!)

2012-01-30T16:21:00.001-05:00

At the beginning of the year, I was offered the Official Store Blogger role at Whole Foods Market Bethesda. Naturally, I accepted. While I had written for the store blog a bit last year, it was in an "on my own time" capacity, now I get to slip my MacBook into my monogrammed pink Lands End tote and head to the Marketing office at the store for a few hours a week to write and brainstorm and laugh with the Marketing team.

And on my first day in the office, I announced "I think we need to do something with cupcakes."

And a few brainstorm sessions later and I am excited to announce the first ever Whole Foods Market Bethesda Battle of the Cupcakes to benefit the Whole Planet Foundation while provide grants to microfinance institutions in Latin America, Africa and Asia who in turn develop and offer microenterprise loan programs, training and other financial services to the self-employed poor.

Battle of the Cupcakes could be the sweetest way to alleviate poverty! We are looking for one amazing cupcake flavor to sell in the Whole Foods Bethesda bakery to raise money for the Whole Planet Foundation. 100% of the proceeds from sales of this cupcake will go to the Whole Planet Foundation.

And because you are all the most clever and creative bunch, we want your help to create this amazing flavor! One entry to this contest via I Wanna Be Domestic Goddess will be a finalist (There are prizes!) All you have to do is come up with a cupcake and frosting combination and enter it in the Battle of the Cupcakes. You just have to come up with idea for the cupcake flavor and the frosting flavor. We will handle the recipe creation!

Each cupcake flavor entry must contain at least one ingredient that Whole Foods Market sources from a country that has received microcredits through the Whole Planet Foundation. One of the following ingredients needs to be included your cupcake entry (The country or countries Whole Foods Market sources it from is listed after the ingredient.)

Bananas (Costa Rica, Honduras)
Blueberries (Argentina, Chile)
Cashews (India)
Chili Powder (Tunisia)
Cinnamon (Vietman)
Cocoa (Sierra Leone
Coconut (Phillipines)
Coffee (Bolivia, East Timor, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Uganda)
Dates (Pakistan
Hibiscus Juice (Senegal)
Mangos (Haiti, South Africa)

How to Enter

In comments below, post a cupcake flavor, frosting flavor, and any fillings or garnishes if you desire! Be sure to use at least one of the ingredients listed above!

There are four other ways enter a flavor:

Tweet your cupcake and frosting flavor combination to @WFM_MoCo using the hashtags #Bethesda and #CupcakeBattle.
Post your cupcake and frosting flavor combination on the Whole Foods Market Bethesda Battle of the Cupcake Official Contest Page. (This page isn't working quite yet! As soon as it is, I will link to it!)
Leave a comment on the Whole Foods Market Bethesda store blog post {here} with your cupcake and frosting flavor combination.
Complete an entry form in store. The forms are available at customer service, on the bakery counter, and at each of the registers.

Again, all you have to do is come up with a cupcake and frosting combination and enter it in the Battle of the Cupcakes. You just have to come up with idea for the cupcake flavor and the frosting flavor. We will handle the recipe creation!

Entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, February 8^th. You can enter once through each of the five methods of entering the contest. So you can come up with five different cupcake entries!

No purchase necessary to enter.

Winner Selection

One finalist will be chosen from each of the five ways to enter so you can enter all five if you would like A panel of judges will select the winner from the five finalists and the winning cupcake will be sold at Whole Foods Market Bethesda during the entire Whole Planet Foundation fundraiser, February 22^nd – March 31st.

Cupcakes will be judged on

Including whole planet ingredient
Creativity
Deliciousness
Whole Foods Market Bethesda customer appeal

Prizes

Each of the five finalists will receive a prize pack loaded with baking supplies and an official Battle of the Cupcakes t-shirt. The winning cupcake flavor creator will also receive a $100 gift card to Whole Foods Market and bragging rights, of course! All finalists and winners will be notified on February 14^th, 2012.

So start dreaming up an amazing cupcake idea now and enter it in the Battle of the Cupcakes!

Savory Sunday: What could you eat every day for a month?

2012-01-29T09:06:00.001-05:00

One of the crazier news stories making the rounds this week is the story of the 17 year old girl in the UK who has only eaten McDonald's Chicken Nuggets since age 2. As one can guess, she was recently hospitalized due to several vitamin deficiency and anemia and "inflamed veins in her tongue." Now, I love chicken nuggets more than the average person my age probably should but I eat them once a month at most.

As I discussed this story with some friends at work, we all tried to come up with a food that we could eat every day for a month (every day for 15 years is ridiculous) and I think we all settled on pizza. Cheese, bread, tomato sauce, is that ever not going to be delicious?

Naturally I was excited to try a recipe this week that was a variation on pizza. A very delicious variation.

Chicken with Pepperoni-Marinara Sauce

(The most delicious dishes never photograph well. It is like a rule or something.)

I had to laugh a bit when I was reading the reviews for this recipes on the Cooking Light website after I had made it. A reviewer commented that her 2-year old called it "Pizza Chicken"! Because that is what I have been calling it all week. This dish is delicious if you love pizza as much as I do, and if you are 2-years old, apparently.

Deliciousness rating (scale of 1 to 5 saucepan): 5!!!!

Tuscan White Bean Soup

When I try a soup recipe, I am almost always disappointed in the flavor of it. Perhaps I am a Campbell's Soup Kid that never quite grew up but homemade soups always taste bland to me. Apparently what has been missing in my soups all along was a the rind from Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. The flavor this adds blew my mind! I made this soup for a recent Magazine Monday feature on the Whole Foods Bethesda store blog {here} and will definitely be making it again! It is a great vegetarian option and you can load it up with a few extra veggies.

Deliciousness rating (scale of 1 to 5 saucepan): 4.5

Which food could you eat every day for a month?

Winner, Winner, Christmas Dinner!!!

2012-01-27T05:00:00.001-05:00

Give me a good craft competition and my competitive side rears its sequin covered side.

So I am currently hopping around, tossing glitter in the air celebrating the news that my Christmas card from won the Paper Source Christmas Card Design Contest I entered it in at my local store.

I am so excited. I feel like I won the Golden Globe of crafting. Next year, I want the Oscar!

Full details on my Christmas card available {here}.

Fab Find Friday: One Line a Day Journal

2012-01-27T04:47:00.001-05:00

As much as this blog serves as a diary of sorts for me, over the course of any day there are random little bits of laughter, sadness, annoyance, and every other emotion that happen and that are not really anything that I would write about, they are just life. But some of them, especially the funny ones, I want to remember. I have never been one to keep an actual diary mainly because it seem awfully labor intensive. I just wanted something simple. So I was so excited to receive the One Line A Day journal for Christmas!

The concept of the One Line a Day Journal is to write one line a day for five years. So very simple. And you can start it on any day of the year.

I jot down a line every night before I go to bed and even now, I love paging back through and reading them. Especially the funny ones. Walks to Subway with my coworkers on Subway Friday have been provided me with ample comic relief for my Friday entries. And it is such a great place for recording those stupid things you do every day that you can only laugh at yourself for doing.

The One Line A Day journal can be purchased {here}. I highly recommend it!

Fab Find Friday features items that are Rebecca Approved and Beloved. Basically, it is like a weekly Oprah’s Favorite Things without the unlimited disposable income and probably no car giveaways. And hey now that Oprah is retired, maybe my Fab Find Fridays can take over!!! For previous Fab Finds, click {here}.

{my sweet dc} Frosting: A Cupcakery

2012-01-26T05:01:00.001-05:00

Each week I play a tourist with a sweet tooth in the city I currently call home, Washington, DC visiting bakeries, ice cream shoppes, maybe even a food truck or two. I visit a sweet destination in the DC Metro area, tell its story, and review the delicious treat or treats that I tried there. But I will also tell you what else you can do when visit that place: shops, tourists destinations, restaurants, and how you can get there via public transportation. So sit back and enjoy a sweet trip. For more on how {my sweet dc} started, click {here}.

The DC market is so sweetly saturated with cupcakeries that it seems to defy economic logic in this rough of an economy. And yet most of them seem to be not only surviving but also thriving. To be honest, I find it baffling. But if being baffled is the side effect of having a cupcakery in my neighborhood then I think I am okay with that.

Frosting: A Cupcakery is the lone cupcakery in the Friendship Heights neighborhood that straddles the border of the District of Columbia and Chevy Chase, Maryland. And the neighborhood is all the sweeter for having it!

(Yes, it snowed here!)

The small shop is a perfect gathering place

with cute decor inside. Love this built-in!

The Sweet Factor: On this visit, I had bites of two cupcakes, the Elvis Pretzely: The King of Choc & Roll and the Edelweiss. The Elvis Pretzely cupcake has a pretzel cake bottom with white chocolate ganache and chocolate covered pretzel, pretzel crumbs, and coarse sea salt. The Elvis Pretzely has milk chocolate and white chocolate options. Obviously, I picked the white chocolate.

I liked the crunch factor that the pretzel crumbs added and the sweet and salty contrast was amazing!

And the Edelweiss might be the best cupcake I have had in recent months.

The almond cake and almond frosting combination was heavenly and I had to stop myself from eating it all and going into a sugar coma.

The DC Factor: Is there a greater DC factor than the fact this is my beloved neighborhood of Friendship Heights?! Kidding, of course! But this is where I live and I can recite everything I love about it for hours and hours. But the Cliff Notes version: shopping, shopping, shopping: Neimans, Saks, Bloomingdales, Anthropologie, BCBG, Sephora, World Market, TJ Maxx, Nordstrom Rack, Loehmans, Cole Haan. It is all right here.

Frosting and sprinkles and other things of note: Small orders of cupcakes are placed in paper bags. Larger orders are put in pretty blue boxes. *** There is seating available inside and on the patio (when it is not covered in snow). *** Cupcakes are available for sale after 11 a.m.; prior to that, coffee and breakfast treats are served. *** Frosting now has a Saturday morning running club (the owners are both runners) which includes a three-mile run from the bakery and ends with a breakfast treat and coffee at Frosting. Hmm, almost enough to make me want to run. *** The menu flavor menu varies by day and can be viewed {here}.

Getting there: Frosting is located at 1 Wisconsin Circle in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Take the Red Line to Friendship Heights and take the Western Avenue exit. When you get to the top of the big escalators, there are four possible exits. Continue straight ahead to the Western Avenue and Military Road Exit. At the top of that exit, turn right and walk through the bus stop. Frosting will be right in front of you. Such a detailed description, right? This is my daily commute, minus the daily Frosting stop. If only my metabolism allowed for that....

The Sparkle Factor: I first visited Frosting when it opened nearly two years ago and I am so pleased to see the improvements in cake and service it has made over that time. It is just nice to see a little cupcake shop survive and thrive. When I walked into the shop on Saturday, it was bustling with activity. Four middle school boys sat on the barstool attacking their cupcakes post-soccer practice while one of their moms kept a watchful eye on them. A mother and her young daughter sat coloring at another table. And a couple looked to be having a very serious conversation at another table. It has become a neighborhood hangout and I think that just sparkles.

Visit the Frosting website {here} for more information.

DIY Bracelet Bonanza

2012-01-25T04:56:00.001-05:00

On my trip home over Christmas break, my dad mentioned that he was going to start making bracelets. Given that my parents are two of the most talented and craftiest people on the planet, I had no doubt he would be crafting up some perfect bracelets in no time.

When he asked what color bracelet I wanted, naturally I replied pink! And a pink bracelet arrived in my mail box last week.

It is made from parachute cords and I love it. And as one of my coworkers told me, parachute cords are super strong so if I ever find myself in a situation where I am wearing the bracelet and need to repel down a wall, I now totally can.

(And yes, that is the sleeve of my leopard print bathrobe. Please don't think that I am not someone who lounges about in a bathrobe all day; I needed to snap some pictures before dashing off to work one morning and had not quite gotten dressed yet so it had to be done.)

Inspired by my dad's new found bracelet making skills, I was inspired to try making this bracelet that I spotted on Pinterest. (That picture is from the original maker of the bracelet, Henry Happened. Obviously, it is not me since there is no leopard print bathrobe sleeve anywhere to be seen.)

Pinterest has a magical way of making something so easy! And in reality, not so easy! FInding the cord ribbon proved to be the first challenge. None of my usual craft stores carried and my mom couldn't find it anywhere either. So I turned to ebay where I discovered that this type of cord is known by the completely klassy name of rattail. And I purchased a few different colors from this seller who quickly shipped it my way. Bead and rattail in hand, I was read to make bracelets!

When you graduate college and grad school, your professors encourage you to keep all of your textbooks for your professional library. I have been a professional for about 8 years now in my actual field of study and never once have I used my textbook library for professional use. I have, however, used them to anchor down craft projects, quite frequently actually. My professors would be so proud.

Now I am not sure if the original maker of this bracelet had a special kind of beads or magic fairy dust but my ribbon kept slipping off the beads instead of circling it like hers. Reading through the comments on the original post, I was not alone in this problem. So I turned to that which I always turn in times of crafting failure: my hot glue gun.

A tiny drop or two on each bead kept everything in place. Sure it also left some hot glue strings on the bracelets but picking those off will be like free entertainment the next time I find myself in a boring situation: It's a bracelet and an activity!

The final bracelet does not look as perfect as the one pinned on Pinterest but I still like it!

What Pinterest find have you made?

Take Note {and Write a Note} Tuesday: The Anti-Valentine's Day Card

2012-01-24T04:52:00.001-05:00

I had every intention of putting together a second post of Etsy Valentine's Day cards to complement last week's selections because there are just so many creative options. But then I stumbled upon all of the Anti-Valentine's Day cards and after I stopped laughing at all of them, I knew I had to share them.

one: Snarky Valentine's Day card by Foglio Press

two: Anti-Valentine's Day card by adelynStone

three: Valentine's Day Bacon by 4/Four

four: Happy Singles Awareness Day by Vixens Empire

Have you seen or bought a notebook or journal or stationery that you love love LOVE? Send a link to it to me at iwbadg@gmail.com and it could be featured in an upcoming Take Note {And Write a Note} Tuesday!

Snack of the Week: Harney & Sons Hot Cinnamon Spice Spicy Black Tea

2012-01-23T08:42:00.001-05:00

Every time I read a magazine where a celebrity the key product to their diet/fashion/fitness/beauty routine, I roll my eyes in a major way. Because, yes, of course we'd all be thin/fashionista/fit/gorgeous if we had a meal delivery service, Christian Louboutins, daily personal trainers, and/or $200 tiny tubs of Creme de la Mer. But over here in average person land, those things are not reality.

So I really cannot think of anything I bought because I read or saw that celebrity had it.

Until now.

I was paging through Lucky magazine and on the last page of the magazine they always profile a celebrity and their favorite things, generally eyeroll central for me. This month's issue featured Hillary Scott, the lead singer of Lady Antebellum. I like Lady Antebellum's music and like most country music singers, they seem nice and real, like they could be your neighbor.

The first item Hillary listed was that she never leaves the house without 5 packets of Harney & Sons Cinnamon Tea.

She raved that it tasted so good and for some reason I trusted her. Given that I am coffee's number one fan and generally find tea to taste solely like warm gross water and hate that it stains my teeth so much when coffee does not, I surprised myself when I found myself Googling the tea. When I discovered that unlike Creme de la Mer, I could afford this celebrity's favorite product. Amazon.com had it and it was Prime-shipping eligible so with a click of the computer, the tea was on its way to me.

And friends, this tea is amazing!!! It is like drinking cinnamon red hots. I love it!

I spent a snow-covered Saturday morning sitting in my comfy chair with a stack of magazines, a book, and a mug of tea.

A perfect morning! This tea gets both a celebrity endorsement...and mine.

Who knows, maybe I have turned a tea-drinking corner? I do have a trip to London coming up pretty soon and I really want to do a few afternoon teas so I better get some tea drinking practice in beforehand!

Purchase the tea on the Harney & Sons website {here} or from Amazon {here}.

Snack of the Week is a weekly feature where I profile the best snack that I am eating. Equal parts healthy and indulgent are how I aspire (and sometimes fail) to eat my way through life and I try to reflect in these snacks. All snacking is done with a budget-friendly mindset as well. To read previous Snacks of Week, click here.

If you have any suggestions for snacks you would like me to try and profile, please email me at iwbadg@gmail.com. Unless it is super weird or expensive, I will probably try it.

Savory Sunday: A not so good hummus among us

2012-01-22T06:21:00.001-05:00

A watched pot never boils. And a watched microwave redefines the length of a minute.

Or three minutes as the case often is when waiting in the lunch line to use the office microwave. Without fail, I watch the seconds tick down for the meal of the person in front of me in line: fiiiiiiiive, foooooooour, threeeeeeeeeee, twooooo, one! Victory is mine! Well, maybe not. But at least the microwave is mine. Wait, the person in front of me pulls his or her dish out, stirs it a little, glances over at me, gives a nervous giggle, and says with smile "It needs a few more minutes, I think."

Office microwave rage, it's the new road rage in my world.

Onto this week's Savory Sunday, one of which needed only 30 seconds in the microwave. The other of which is fish, which should never ever see the light of day in the office microwave. There is no exception to this rule.

Baked Asiago Hummus

I am a Sabra Hummus girl through and through. But when I spotted this baked hummus recipe in the January issue of Better Homes and Gardens, I was intrigued enough to try it. (And I loved that it didn't have tahini in it, mainly because tahini is expensive and I hate buying it for recipes that I am not sure about.) The recipe calls for a chickpea puree topped with caramelized onions and cheese. I was super excited about it. And well, I should have known better and stuck to the Sabra. The texture was weird and the flavor of the caramelized onions absolutely dominated which I was not so wild about.

Foil Packet Salmon and Roasted Aspargus

Courtesy of the little meal planning kick I have been on, I have pretty much eliminated the weeknight trips to the grocery store to get ingredients or dinner as needed. But when I saw that the Friday one-day-deal at Whole Foods was the Alaskan sockeye salmon, I made an exception and stopped in to buy my Friday night dinner. I put my piece of salmon in a aluminum foil packet with some olive oil, basil, oregano, and garlic and baked it for 25 minutes at 350 degrees. When that finished, I roasted some asparagus that I tossed with olive oil and a bit of garlic at 425 degrees for 8 minutes. It was a most perfect dinner!

What recipes are you loving this week?

Fab Find Friday: Bissell Nano Vacuum

2012-01-20T04:55:00.001-05:00

I am a bit of an expert in living in a small space. My tiny palace measures at just 450 square feet and I really could not love it more. I love being able to step through the door and survey my entire kingdom with one simple glance.

And I really love it when it comes to cleaning. One it really forces me to keep things clean because even the tiniest of messes in a small space looks like a big mess. And two, it is not a lot of space to clean. Granted, cleaning still sucks but at least there is less of it.

Recently I was desperately in need of a new vacuum cleaner, one that actually worked well on my mix of carpeting and hardwoods, was not too expensive, and did not take up much space at all. I spent a week researching options and ultimately landed on the Bissell Nano Compact Bagless Upright. I saw the word Nano and my Apple product-brainwashed self immediately thought, "huh, it must be small." And the reviews on Wal-Mart's website from other buyers confirmed that many of them lived in tiny palaces like mine and loved this thing.

When the vacuum arrived, I would not necessarily call it tiny but it also isn't huge.

I keep it tucked away in a corner of "dead space" so it is not really an eyesore. Bonus points that the vacuum matches my area rug.

But good gracious, this thing can clean! Apparently my old vacuums were terrible because the amount of stuff I have cleaned up since getting the Nano is incredible. it has made me rather addicted to vacuuming.

I also really like that to empty the canister where all of the vacuumed up particles go, all I have to do is press a button on the canister over the garbage can

and the base of the canister opens and drops its contents into the garbage can.

And I do not have to touch anything!

I am certain that there are more amazing vacuum cleaners on the market but for $58 (and 97 cent shipping) and a small space, this thing is perfect for me.

Now, you must excuse me, I am sure there is a particle of dust waiting to be vacuumed somewhere around here.

Hockey game fashion etiquette and other things I've thought about this week.

2012-01-19T04:52:00.001-05:00

My Metro commute often overlaps with that of Washington Capitals fans heading to Caps games at the Verizon Center. Is there a hockey fan rule that instead of wearing a coat you must wear a hockey jersey over four hundred layers of clothing? Because I never see them wearing coats but always see them looking like the Pillsbury dough boy with their jerseys over what I assume are seven sweatshirts. I have been to the Verizon Center; I have even been there for Caps games, in fact. And I wore a coat. I do not remember it being an issue. Then again, I spent the whole first period cheering for the wrong team because I got the jersey colors mixed up. So clearly I am not the expert. But I was on Metro on Sunday and it was COLD outside and none of the Caps fans were wearing coats! One guy was even wearing shorts!

Why is a roll of parchment paper so much wider than the average baking sheet? Is there a standard use for it that I am overlooking that requires it to be so wide? I cringe every time I have to trim it to fit and waste paper. (My counter is normally not that cluttered!)

A few weeks into the new year and I holding true to most of my resolutions "Simplify. Slow down. Say no. Make time for my workouts. Write more. Read more. Shop less." And collectively that means I have had a lot of much cherished quiet time and I adore it and am actually really quite selfish with it. Which is probably why I have been so crafty as of late. Because I actually have time for it! And it is why I have had so much time to listen to my full iTunes library on shuffle. Which is a bit like walking down musical memory lane. I love how a song can take you back to a moment in life, a scene in a movie, a television show. And it also has me wondering a few things like Whatever happened to Five for Fighting? Or Everclear? And more importantly, why do I have a HIllary Duff song?

I was obsessed with John Grisham books with I was in high school. A Time to Kill, The Pelican Brief, and The Firm, I really did not love any of his other book but these three books are some of my favorite reads. My well-worn paperback copies of these books still sit on the bookshelf in my room at my parent's house. And now I am absolutely loving the NBC series The Firm that picks up ten years after where the book ended. I love this idea! (And I also love Josh Lucas as Mitch McDeere so much more than the movie's Tom Cruise in the role). So many times when I finish a beloved book, I take time to think about what would happen next. I have a vivid imagination so I love the tales I can spin. But also love watching this concept on television. Can we do this with The Pelican Brief too? And in like ten years, maybe with The Help too?

Happy Thursday everyone!

Hearts, Rosettes, and Sparkles!

2012-01-18T08:21:00.001-05:00

While I seem to own enough Christmas decorations to cover every square inch of my tiny palace with festive decor, my stash of Valentine's Day decorations is much more limited. So sparse that I do not think I had any until my mom sent me a box with a few decorations. While I was putting those up, I was in the mood to craft a few more.

I have made a few of fabric rosettes wreaths in the past few months, always using a round wreath. My mom and I found some heart-shaped wreaths at Joann's while I was home for Christmas. Rather than cover the wreath in fabric strips as I normally do, I decided to cover it with yarn.

Covering something heart-shaped proved to be a wee bit tricky with all of the angles but a little hot glue helped with that. And it kept me busy while watching the Golden Globes on Sunday night. (And a little hot glue also led to the worst hot glue gun burn of my life.)

Fabric rosettes are a great way to use up any fabric strips you might have! There are several tutorials online for them but I found this one by Craftaholics Anonymous to be the most helpful.

Once you make a few rosettes, the process is very natural and you can churn them out rather quickly. It took me under ten minutes to make the five rosettes used in this wreath.

The finished wreath is rather festive, isn't it?

And because I seem to be on a mission to glitterfy the entire alphabet, I made a little LOVE banner

Combined the wreath and banner bring a little Valentine's spirit (and a glitter puddle) to my door!

Take Note {and Write a Note} Tuesday: Etsy Valentine's Day Card Favorites

2012-01-17T07:40:00.001-05:00

A peek at the calendar this morning had me shocked that next week is already the last full week of January! Time seriously flies and so does Cupid's arrows, Valentine's Day is almost here! Time to start picking out the Valentine's Day cards this week and next week on Take Note Tuesday! For those who think of the holiday as a Hallmark holiday, how about we make it an Etsy holiday and show some love to these great Etsy vendors and their amazing Valentine's Day card designs.

one: Nerdalicious science card by Shop Gibberish - Periodic table love never gets old!

two: Made for each other card by Star Fly Creations - PB & J references will always be my favorite.

three: Red & White Hearts by Rainy Day Colors - Love the simplicity of this one!

four: Project Lifecycle by The Wallaroo - I think requires having sat through project management classes to appreciate this one. But I have and this made me laugh.

five: Green & Black Hearts by A Paper Affair - A valentine in non-traditional colors!

six: Screw Valentine's Day by Art for a Home - This designer has a bunch of funny and sarcastic Valentines. You need to check them out!

Snack of the Week: Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop-Tarts Mini Crisps

2012-01-16T09:06:00.001-05:00

Every time I see a yogurt commercial where the person takes a bite of yogurt and then swear that the yogurt tastes just like chocolate mousse/raspberry cheesecake/lemon pie or whatever dreamy dessert they were craving, I have but one thought: What kind of craptacular bakery or restaurant are these people getting their desserts at that yogurt, YOGURT! can be a worthy substitution.

While I am certainly not an expert on dieting or weight loss, my philosophy is that if you are really craving something decadent, then eat it. In my experience, avoiding that decadence and trying to eat substitutions usually leads to more calorie consumption than if I had eaten the thing I was really craving. And as long as this is not a daily occurrence, it really is an example of everything in moderation.

The lone exception to this rule? Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop-Tarts. Because given the chance, I would eat these every single day. And at over 400 absolutely empty calories for a packet of this deliciousness, it just cannot be a daily thing.

So I absolutely squealed with delight when I rounded the corner at Giant last Saturday and discovered that the Pop-Tarts Mini Crisps now come in my beloved Brown Sugar Cinnamon.

Heavenly little 100 calorie packets!

Tiny little Pop-Tarts.

I will not join the false yogurt commercial claims and say they taste just like the real Pop-Tarts. But for 100 calories, I like it!

If you have any suggestions for snacks you would like me to try and profile, please email me at iwbadg@gmail.com. Unless it is super weird or expensive, I will probably try it.