video valentine

Here is my video valentine from last year. I planned it out while stuck in traffic on Valentine's Day, made it within two hours, and sent it out to friends across the country. Adam and I had an awesome time making it...but the dogs seemed to enjoy it most of all!

the first valentine of many

Despite being generally cynical, I absolutely love Valentine's Day. I make dozens of detailed cards, bake for everyone I know, and go a bit overboard with heart-shaped crafts. Last year, Adam and I made a stop-action valentine video, and this year, we are hosting a valentine brunch for our housemates. I need to start crafting a bit early this year, since I am going to be in Vietnam for ten days! I scavenged some materials from around the house, and got to work making my first valentine of the season. 

carrot cupcakes

I've been craving carrot cake for days, and I just so happened to find all the necessary ingredients in my pantry. I typically use this recipe to make layer cakes, but it works quite well for cupcakes too. Finely chopped walnuts add the perfect crunchy contrast to this creamy icing.

For cakes:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tspn baking powder

1 tspn baking soda

2 tspn cinnamon

1/2 tspn salt

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 cup light brown sugar

3 large eggs

1 tspn vanilla extract

1 cup vegetable oil

1 lb carrots, ground in food processor

For icing:

16 oz cream cheese, softened

8 oz butter, softened

5 cups powdered sugar

1 tspn vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. In another large bowl, mix sugars, eggs, and vanilla. Pour in oil and whisk to combine. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and whisk until smooth. Stir in carrots. Spoon batter into lined muffin tin, filling each cup 3/4 full. Bake for 20 minutes. Carrot cake stays very moist while baking, so let cool completely before transferring from pan.

While cake is cooling, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Continue beating and add sugar, one cup at a time, until desired consistency is reached. Mix in vanilla. 

Enjoy!

September in January

I was anticipating a pretty crazy weekend, as one of our very best friends was turning 30. Much to my dismay, he didn't want a party. Instead, we spent the weekend doing the simple things he enjoys. After a delicious breakfast of cinnamon apple pancakes, we drove out of the city and hiked through a forest preserve. During a typical January in Chicago, this forest would have three feet of snow, but on Saturday it was 55 degrees, sunny, and quite barren.

 I wore my new snowboots, which was rather silly, considering Adam didn't even wear a coat.

early packing

In less than two weeks, I am heading to Vietnam for an off-road motorcycle trip on vintage Russian Minsks. I'm insanely excited, but we only planned the trip a few months ago and I still can't believe its actually happening. I started gathering my gear today, and restrained myself from packing poofy skirts. I suppose there is still time to throw one in..

We are spending most of the time on mountain roads, so it will be surprisingly cold. During a little Flickr research, I learned that everything we bring will be completely covered in mud.

I bought this leather jacket in pristine condition (from the Gap!) when I first started riding motorcycles seven years ago. It has survived a couple cross country adventures and some serious riding, and I have added a ton of patches along the way. I'm quite proud of it now, knowing that I have inflicted all the wear and tear on my own.

a good excuse to clean

I spent a ton of time organizing my closet when I initially set it up, but lately, I've been wading through piles of clothes to get around. It was a hoarder-style mess. I cleaned the entire shit show in a post-work burst of energy today, and was shocked to find I actually have a floor!

breakfast for dinner!

After all that talk about Noble maple syrup yesterday, I couldn't resist making waffles for dinner. This is my standard recipe when I need to whip up a quick breakfast for party guests who couldn't quite make it home. I usually make these waffles without walnuts, but I had some on hand, so I threw them in.

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tspn baking powder
4 tbsp sugar
1/2 tspn salt
1 cup whole milk
5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 tspn vanilla extract
3 eggs, separated
optional: 3 tbsp chopped walnuts, toasted


Mix flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Mix milk, vanilla, cooled butter, and egg yolks in a medium bowl. Pour the dry mixture into the liquid mixture and mix lightly. Stir in walnuts, if desired. If you have a mixer, place the egg whites in a clean bowl and beat on high speed until stiff peaks form. If you don't have a mixer, do yourself a favor and get one, but for the time being, give your arms a serious workout and whisk those suckers by hand. If you quit before the egg whites are super stiff, you are going to have sad, limp waffles. Bummer.


Very gently fold the egg whites into the batter, and do not overmix! Ladle the batter into a heated waffle iron treated with an oil spray. Cook for 5 minutes or until golden and remove with a fork.

We used Adam's homemade cinnamon butter, powdered sugar, and of course, my new syrup as toppings.

No breakfast is complete without champagne!