Sunday, September 25, 2011

Five Things I'm Loving Right Now....

Five Things I'm Loving Right Now......
(in no particular order)

1. Chopped
We don't have cable, and quite frankly, if we did there are probably only a few stations I would watch: Food Network (for the awesome food-related shows), TLC (for Say Yes to the Dress and similar shows), CMT (so I could watch country music videos in the morning) and the Hallmark channel (for the movies). While most of the shows I would enjoy can't be found online (so far as I've seen), I've been lucky enough to find a few, including Chopped on Hulu. Which is nice because then I can watch one of my favorite Food Network shows without having to have Food Network. Score!

2. Plaid Shirts
Somehow I have developed a love of plaid shirts. Maybe I am embracing my inner cowgirl (ha!). Maybe I just think they are cute. I tend to think it is the latter, because to be perfectly honest with you, I don't think I'd make a very good cowgirl. Anyway, I keep my eye out for cute plaid shirts and am now up to 5 (one for each day of the week!). My most recent one is the green flannel shirt in the picture. And with fall weather moving in, a plaid flannel shirt sounds like the perfect thing to wear!

3. Pumpkin!
What can be better than pumpkin in fall? Pumpkin muffins....pumpkin coffee....pumpkin donuts....the list goes on, and it is all so good!!!!


4. "All Your Life" by The Band Perry
I was introduced to The Band Perry a year or so ago. And I liked what I heard but didn't listen to them too much. Well....recently I discovered this song and I think it is one of the cutest songs. The music video is just okay....the song is so cute. Of course, I'm a sucker for cute, sappy songs, so I guess it makes sense I'd like this one. Probably why I like country music so much....most of it drips with sappy.

5. The Pioneer Woman
Have you visited The Pioneer Woman's website? If you haven't, you need to. She has everything from recipes (with amazing food photography!!!) to photography tips, to home & garden tips, to, well, everything in between. Have fun exploring her extensive website!!!

Saturday, September 24, 2011

I think I should go here. I mean, I usually do get lost in corn mazes, and it looks like I might actually be able to complete this one...... :)

Monday, September 19, 2011

Of Pumpkins....

We had a late summer this year. Late, as in, it hardly showed up before the calendar started to inch closer to Fall. Unfortunately, not only was summer late, but it was, overall, short.

Fall hit last week. The official kick-off to fall was when I bought a Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks. I was on my way to work for a staff meeting and figured that coffee would make a long meeting much more enjoyable. Now, I don't drink coffee very often, but lately I haven't been able to drink it at all because it has been making me feel very jittery. I guess Laura + Caffeine is not the best combination. BUT! Starbucks must have the magic combination because I, so far, have not had a jitterbug-reaction to Starbuck's coffee. Too bad the coffee I can drink happens to be the most expensive coffee in town.......

Anyway, if you haven't tried their Pumpkin Spice Latte, you are missing out. It is probably one of the greatest drinks ever invented, and they only have it for a couple months out of the year. So next time you're out, stop at Starbucks for a Pumpkin Spice Latte.

So, that was my kick-off to fall.

But, really, it isn't fall until I make something with pumpkin.

So I made these muffins.

And they were divine. Just as they had been last year.

Go grab a can of pumpkin and try them. You'll be so glad you did.

Happy Fall!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

09.11.01 - Ten Years Later


September 11, 2001.

I will never forget it.

To read my thoughts that I wrote last year on September 11, which I don't think I could state better this year, click here.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

September 10, 2001

I'm sure that most Americans can remember where they were and what they were doing on September 11, 2001.

But what about September 10?

I remember exactly what I was doing on the night of September 10, 2001.

I was at the library. You see, I was 14 and had just started high school and my mom and my friend Aley's mom were meeting to discuss plans for our biology co-op that fall. Aley and I had schemed up a way to get our moms to let us come along so we could hang out and talk at the library for awhile while our mothers bored themselves with lesson plans. We roamed the aisles and discussed which books we had read. She had, of course, read many more of the classics than I, so she told me about which ones she liked. We perused the videos and the kids books. And finally we found ourselves some comfy chairs where we could just sit and talk.

Why do I remember this?

Because I remember hearing that the night before the September 11 attacks, the terrorists were sitting in a bar in New York City, rejoicing over what they were about to accomplish. And I remember realizing later that while they were having an early celebration for their soon-to-occur attempt at tearing our nation apart, I was enjoying myself at the library. I didn't realize it at the time, but I know now that I was enjoying my last night of true innocence of the evils of the world. I was at the library, talking about nonsense with my dearest friend.

And the next morning, the world stopped turning and everything....yes everything....changed.

A world that I had never thought about was about to be revealed to me.

A world where the innocence I had once known was stripped from me overnight. The world did not feel as safe as it used to. And I knew it.

We may all remember where we were when the world stopped turning....but where were you the night before everything changed?