All things love

I realize this post will appear to contradict it, but I am not the biggest fan of Valentine's Day. I am rather fond of love, affection, romance and devotion, but I prefer them in small doses on a regular basis instead of grand gestures once a year. That being said, it was the end of an extremely emotional week and I did go a little overboard on the baking side of the holiday. Side note: baking is my favorite form of therapy.

First up: Heart-Attack Donuts
One of my favorite blogs, A Beautiful Mess, posted this recipe last week and I was instantly obsessed. Plus I needed a snack for our first book club meeting and I knew these would be a hit! They were ridiculously easy to make and the chocolate wine frosting was to die for. You can find the whole recipe here.

I even had enough left over to put some in a little tin for the AGD Secret Valentine Exchange!

Second project: Wine Gummies
You read correctly. While the recipe was simple enough, my first attempt was a complete fail. I tried to use a red wine I had leftover from my demo job but it sat for too long and just tasted terrible. I quickly dumped that batch and switched to a cheap $2 sweet Moscato and that worked beautifully. You can find the recipe along with other variations here.

Since the options for romantic dinners in Kirksville are basically limited to Ruby Tuesday's, last year Spencer and I decided to skip the two hour wait for a table and opt for take-out Chinese food paired with a movie at home. He always spoils me with flowers and my favorite wine, too. We did the same thing this year and it is by far my favorite tradition of ours.

We were forced to leave my dorm room for a few hours this Valentine's Day to attend guest artist Brian Hsu's piano recital. He played three Debussy preludes, a Liszt Ballad, as well as the four Chopin Ballads. Of course I love hearing my favorite Romantic composers and I was completely blown away with how impressive his performance was. 

On one final note, I want to include my favorite poem in this love themed post. It's Shakespeare's Sonnet 116:

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no; it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests, and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

Leggings Are Pants

I don't care if you disagree.
To each his own.
Like everyone else in the mid-west, I have been perpetually frozen for the past two months.
This state causes me to lose motivation.
Which results in cycling through every pair of leggings I own until I am forced to do laundry or buy another pair.
On some days (such as this one) said coldness requires me to double up the leggings.
Frequent trips to the restroom are then in order from the extra pressure on my bladder,
Thus resulting in general unpleasantness. 
Or maybe it's from tomorrow's statistics test.
Either way, it's a most unpleasant Monday. 

Book Club

One of my goals this year is to stop wasting so much time on procrastination. Most nights I find the whole day has gone by and I feel as though I have accomplished nothing. I spend way too much time on Pinterest pinning things for my dream life instead of making that life a reality. In an effort to change this, Lois and I have decided to start a book club. We are hoping to complete one book per month and meet every other week. To our great delight, there was an overwhelming amount of interest in our idea. However, I'm keeping my excitement in check since I know most college students won't actually have time to accomplish additional reading.
For our first month's selection, we have chosen Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. We wanted books that would be enticing, quick reads. Since this one is being made into a movie later this year (with Ben Affleck, none the less) we thought it fit the bill perfectly. We will pair it with a little wine and chocolate and call it a success!

The Big Game

It should not come as a surprise that I'm not a huge fan of the Super Bowl. But since watching football is one of Spencer's favorite pastimes I try to make time for the activity he enjoys. We spent the afternoon at our friend Rob's house and the men were kind enough to grill hamburgers. I chose to make homemade mozzarella sticks and they were a huge hit! 

• 1 package string cheese, cut in half
• Dip in milk, then in breadcrumbs 
• Bake at 425 for 10 minutes

Super easy and they tasted great!

I managed to restrain myself from pulling out my knitting project, but Gone Girl did make an appearance. For tips on covertly reading during a super bowl party, click here. 

 

December/January Update

 

I spent the majority of Christmas break traveling. From Kirksville, to St. Louis, to Kansas City, to St. Joseph, to Denver and back again. Amtrak and I became good friends and I finally finished my goal of reading the Harry Potter series as well as a fascinating booked called Jane Austen and Game Theory. Just another reason to love my favorite author!  

Spencer and I had loads of wonderful dates together. One of our favorite breakfast spots is The Kolachi Factory (right), but we also enjoyed a romantic dinner at Pietro's where he chose the cheese bread and I chose the wine. Hey, relationships are all about compromise! 

My friend Lois hooked me up with a gig doing wine demos at various grocery stores in the St. Louis area during the Christmas season. The best part was keeping the leftovers and at one point I was up to over 20 bottles.

Since I was only working a few afternoons a week I had plenty of time to craft and visit old friends. One of my favorites, Whitney, took me to the oh so lovely London Tea Room where we enjoyed scones and Lavender Earl Grey Tea. I'm so blessed to have a friend who shares my interests in traveling and literature, and every time we get together it seems like hardly a day has passed. 

I always think homemade gifts are the best, and with all my free time I was thrilled to accomplish quite a few! I made two fleece blankets; a Phi Kapp one for Reid and a pink dachshund puppy one for Crystal (Spencer's sister-in-law). I finally started and completed a knitting project resulting in a scarf for Mallory, and the men all received beer coasters.

 We are enraptured with BBC's Sherlock Holmes and are always sad to wait yet another year for a new season.

In an attempt to return to a healthier state, we gave up fast food and soda. It's difficult in college when it's such a convenient option, so instead we are trying to be better at planning our meals ahead of time. Typically we use my meal plan for lunch and Spencer's groceries for dinner. My most recent endeavor was a pot roast which was fabulous, if I do say so myself. 

 Now it's back to the grind with the last semester of school. I'm preparing Beethoven's Sonata Op. 14 No 2, Debussy's 1st and 2nd Arabesques, and Chopin's Posthumous Nocturne for my senior recital at the end of April. Additionally, my British Literature teacher, who is the head of the department, flattered me by recommending I submit one of my papers for the Student Research Conference. Spencer has officially registered for the Becker CPA review program and will soon be consumed with studying. I know I will be seeing much less of him, but I'm so proud of how committed he his to his career. My own career search is a slow one. At the moment I'm applying for Event Planning jobs in the St. Louis area, but I am also considering an easy nanny job so I'd have the financial support to start my own company. Lois and I have decided to start a book club in an attempt to fill all the extra hours we both have. Our first month's selection is Gone Girl and we are already seeing an overwhelming amount of interest from our friends. Hopefully it will be something we continue long after our college years have ended. 

The Little Apple

We had such a wonderful time visiting Reid in Manhattan, KS this past weekend. It was the initiation for the Fall '13 pledge class of Phi Kappa Theta on Friday, and of course Spencer wanted to be there to support his new brother. I guess it's my lot in life to be surrounded by handsome men! Since the ritual is top secret I spent my evening (sans complaints) at "The Dusty Bookshelf" picking up a few wish-list items. The next morning Reid took us to a local favorite, Varsity Donuts, where I was in heaven selecting the Red Velvet and Pistachio, while Spencer stuck to the regular Chocolate and Glazed. After that we saw the movie American Hustle which was a hit all around. I must admit, we had a difficult time keeping up with the enthusiastic freshman and are glad to be back to our slow paced life in Kirksville.    

Steals and deals

Got all these fabulous finds for a total of under $20! I do love a good deal :)