May Flowers

after this winter, and a week of rain showers which i really haven’t minded these beautiful tulips really reminded me that spring is really on it’s way. some great friends brought these over the other day and it made my day in a million ways. always remind yourself of the great people in your life.

Chocolate Chip Sugar (Holiday) Cookies!

Once the exams, papers, projects, and overall stress was over and Eileen and I had some time to finally just…live and enjoy the holiday season we made a little list of reasonable things that we would want to do for our week off from school. I was super excited and it felt good to only have work, itself. It was something like… “real life” minus the frugal grad school lifestyle (haha)

On this night we decided to make chocolate chip sugar cookies! We tend to improvise a lot with choc chips and would virtually add them to well, anything. We also used food coloring added to Betty Crocker cream cheese frosting and SPRINKLES! to decorate 🙂

what’s needed: 1.75 c. all purpose flour // 1 tsp baking soda // 0.5 tsp baking powder // 1 c. butter (softened) // 1.5 c. granulated sugar // 1 egg // 1 tsp vanilla extract // whatever you would like to decorate // *we also added some water (immeasurable) to make the dough easier to work with and mixed

directions: 1// preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 2// prepare the cookie sheet. 3// In a small bowl: stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. 4// In a large bowl: mix together butter and sugar until smooth. 5// beat in the egg and vanilla into the large bowl mixture. ADD CHOC CHIPS! 6// Gradually fold in dry ingredients into the large bowl. mix. 7// Add water, if needed to form a mixture that is dough-like. 8// roll rounded balls of dough (we flattened ours a bit) and space apart on cookie sheet 9// bake 10 min in oven. 10// cool. 11//decorate!

happy baking, friends! and enjoy your great company this holiday season!

Ketch-up Post #1: Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

do you like my play on words?! i love ketchup. and with fries, it’s a must have. so to comply with taking responsibility for my lack of posts this fall, i’m giving you just a tad bit of humor. this series of posts will be giving overall posts on what has been going on in the last few months during one of the craziest semesters of my life..but don’t worry i thought of you, all and certainly have plenty to say! happy reading!

This semester was beyond me. For my <10 posts all Fall and for the ones that were posted, I’m sure you could assume that it’s been nearly impossible to find time for myself, anything social, anything fun, etc. My good friend, Eileen and I decided that we should make a “pact” (which we really did abide by) to do one fun/relaxing/deserving thing every weekend. On this specific weekend, we had lots of work but managed to make these AWESOME pumpkin choco chip cookies! they were a hit with everyone who tried ’em! We also had so many that it’s safe to say that the recipe provided below will make pleeenty.

The recipe is adapted from My Baking Addiction‘s Pumpkin Oatmeal cookies with white chocolate and cherries click {here} to see their version. My Baking Addiction is a blog on baking and cooking with tons of recipes!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Choc Chip Cookies

what’s needed: 2 c. all purpose flour // 1.5 c. oats // 1 tsp baking soda // 1.5 tsp ground cinnamon // 0.5 tsp salt // 2 sticks (softened) butter // 1 c. brown sugar // 1 c. granulated sugar // 1 c. pumpkin puree // 1 egg // 1 tsp vanilla extract // 1 BAG choc chips (bc why not)

directions: 1// preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 2// line baking sheet with foil. 3// combine flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. 4// in a large bowl; mix butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until fluffy. 5// add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla. 6// add flour mixture and mix until all ingredients are mixed in well. 7// fold in choc chips. 8// drop spoonfuls onto the baking sheet. 9// bake for approx. 17 min, until brown. 10// cool and enjoy!

Featured Friend: Brittany, “Love yourself! The Reason I Cut My Hair Off.”

I ‘met’ (quotes bc she is one of my younger sister’s good friends and we’re also from the same home town…but I mean that just means even more to me) Brittany at one of the most pivotal times of my life. She’s holds such a sweet and important place in the entirety of my self-discovery. Our friendship compliments us as individuals so beautifully and I love being an older, guiding figure for her at times. I’m so unbelievably honored to have her featured on my blog as she’s a fellow Education major as well as passionate writer. Here’s her story about her fabulous new hair and what it’s helped her realize. I love you to death!

LOVE YOURSELF! 

The Reason I Cut My Hair Off

By Brittany Lindo

I’ve always admired women who were able to chop off all of their hair and rock the pixie/bob/buzzed look.  They always seemed so confident…and we all know that confidence is the key to feeling beautiful.  Halfway through my first year of college I began to think maybe I could pull something like that off too.

In the past I’ve had some trouble with being comfortable and happy with the way I look.  The media is a very scary place, trust me. I always thought I was too fat, or too short, or just too ugly in general.  With the support of my friends and family I was able to overcome that dark time but even though I started to accept who I am there was still something holding me back.  I would always delay the actual act of cutting off my hair because I would feel too attached to it.  Then I began to realize that over the years my hair became some sort of a security blanket.  I would hide behind my big poofy hair in order to distract others from the other flaws I saw in myself.  I didn’t necessarily hate how my hair looked, I just hated that I used it to further prove that I wasn’t entirely happy with who I am.

So on June 28, 2013 I got the courage to go to my hairdresser and about an hour later, my hair was all gone! Talk about liberating. It has been about four months since the big chop and I can honestly say that I regret not one thing from the experience.  I have gotten so much support from my friends and family and that has meant the absolute world to me.

Not only is shorter hair MUCH easier to handle and style, I began to see myself in a whole new, more positive light.  With my new look, I can see that I was always a beautiful person, inside and out, with long or short hair. The funny thing is that it has always been that way, it just took me a little while to see it. But most importantly, I learned to love myself.  It may not be “normal” for girls to have short hair but I’m not here to impress others. Always remember that YOU come first and if you love it then that is all that matters.

more photos from our visit to Abbott farms!

{see link to first post here}

A visit to Abbott Farms!

my friends Eileen and Kate, and I went apple picking last weekend!! it was the perfect first day of fall and we have tried to do something fun every weekend with our overwhelming weekly work, placement, and school schedules there’s nothing easy about it. so we have to do these things to break the stressful patterns. it was the perfect “upstate” outing and i can’t wait to do it again.

it was my first time and so much fun. we picked macintosh and gala apples and tasted some italian prunes (we had NO idea what they were but thought we’d check them out). they were basically plums and if a little more ripe, they’d be amazing.

abbott farms is a great little orchard with all kinda of fruits it seemed upon our discovery of the italian prunes and some other fruits that were getting ready for their harvest. there’s also a corn maze, hay rides, pumpkins, A BOUNCY HOUSE, and all other kids of things. a great family thing for the weekend and the smaller size of the orchard really

unfortunately abbott was out of their apple cider donuts {i would’ve killed for them} but we settled for some amazing ice cream (i had apple pie flavor- must try) at their little family-run store. there were so many goodies and many were home made. too perfect.

Eileen modeling the world’s most perfect apple of the day. Leaf perfectly in tact and all.

THERE WERE GOATS!!!!!! i was more than excited.. unfortunately didn’t feed them 😦 next time johnny boy, next time.

they were literally the most delicious apples i’ve ever had. apples were never my favorite fruit but since apple picking i’ve been eating multiple a day and with peanut butter. it’s the greatest go-to snack for my long days. they were also so beautiful up in the trees.. the most “prime” were of course 7 feet away and with the appropriate “twist and tug” method.. i struggled with these high ones but boy, they were so worth it.

{i’ll share some more photos in another post– really love some of them. they really symbolize the beginning of Fall!}

a visit to webster pond

an amazing friend from college came to visit Syracuse for a night! we did all kinds of catching up, ate at funk ‘n waffles, and our highlight visited webster duck pond! there were all kinds of ducks there and we got to feed them!!!! i was so excited.

i definitely plan to go again. even if the big geese scare me.

xo|A

the end of the beginning

so another term is under my belt. i finished my first summer term on friday and it felt so awesome. i can’t believe how quickly it’s all flying by and how much things change moment by moment. i feel that i have some amazing, new friends and have never felt so great about what i’m getting my life into. i can’t wait to be with kids, all the time and to be the person that understands them, that advocates for them, that guides them, and is one of their best friends.

my first summer session ended with these beautiful flowers from two very influential instructors that i’ve had- in more ways than one.

given my whole new obsession with flowers this season, i’d say it was pretty fitting.

a very special visit

yesterday, one of the greatest women in my life came to visit me! she’s my former boss and now good friend from my internship at the center for civic engagement at binghamton. she had never been to destiny usa and we hadn’t seen each other since i graduated and syracuse was just so inviting with the incredible weather (for what felt like the first day in weeks).

we started off at the amazing CNY regional market. it’s the biggest and greatest farmer’s market i’ve ever been to. they have all sorts of things– veggies, fruits, breads, jams, pies, meats, gluten free options, fish, cookies, herbs, donuts, pasta, clothing, and MORE. it’s HUGE and just a great environment. i ate the most amazing donut i’ve ever had in my life (good thing bc i sadly missed national donut day this year!) but sadly couldn’t get a photo bc it was just…that darn delicious. i also tried rhubarb for the first time and got some strawberry rhubarb jam…YUM! and also some freshly handmade pasta- spinach garlic. nomz there’s so much that i wanted to get. definitely have to get back soon!

next we hit the mall! and boy, was it a good shopping trip. made some exciting (smart), purchases and it was nice to be in the mall with a girlfriend. afterwards we tried out Tokyo Seoul where i had Korean food for the very first time! it was so delish and really hit the spot. lacking photos of these moments because they were just great and i was completely invested in enjoying (much too often we spend way too much time on our phones and such that we’re not invested in the moment- put down those phones and unplug, people!– something i’m still working on myself but really do love when i “forget” to look at my phone for a few hours at a time…it’s very liberating!)

beautiful orchid- thank you, girl!!!!

we basically explored a little bit of the surrounding areas of syracuse and really enjoyed it. i absolutely love her. she’s so inspirational and a total bad-ass. thank you so much for coming, Christie. you mean so, very much to me.

the 5 types of friends every girl should have.

one of my best friends got me a subscription for “Real Simple” mag this past christmas. at first i was kind of like, “w-t-f am i getting old or what??!!” and then i realized…i, indeed was.

anyway, anyway, as i started reading i LOVE it. i think it’s the perfect magazine for any woman who is in the same phase of their life that i’m in. where you’re just trying to find yourself and look for advice you really only want..nothing unsolicited.

anyway they had a feature in this month’s issue entitled “5 types of friends everyone should have” and i agreed with them (what the whaaaat?!) so i figured to go through the list and give some of my thoughts/reasonings/interpretations.

1. the comic relief: that one person who no matter what, can make you laugh and not just laugh but belly-aching-unable-to-breathe laugh. everything in your world can go wrong but you can loudly exclaim and screech.

2. the challenger: they push you they make you doubt yourself only to do better. you have completely opposite lives but you mesh so very well, arguing with you yet educating you

3. the loyalist: the person you can be a hot mess with. no matter what. they can see you at your worst and love you all the same, if not more.

4. the life coach: the invigorator. you’re too busy for one another but when you talk, you help each other get past the next hurdle of life and you completely catch up and love each other for being there the entire time while you both reach your dreams.

5. the risk taker: the crazy friend who makes you do things you would never do in a million years. they push you to take risks and find deep down what suites you but you’re afraid of.

so many of these people overlap in my life but that just makes me feel all the more special to have the people in my life that i do. i miss my best friends, so much. growing up and moving to all parts of the state (and country) is really tough..but part of life and we’re really good at this now. i love you, ladies!