And the {Liebster} Award goes to....

In the words of Meryl Streep, "Oh boy, no matter how much you try to imagine what this is like, it’s just so incredibly thrilling right down your toes."  That is exactly how I felt when I found out that my new blogger friend, Kerry over at Sunflowers and Sauvignon Blanc nominated me for a Liebster Award!  Seriously, Could.Not.Stop.Smiling!  Thank you so much, KL!  (...and extra thanks for being my first official blog follower!  Seriously...made my year!)

The Liebster Award is an award given to 'up and coming' blogs with fewer than 200 followers.  It's a great way to get to know a few folk in the blogging community and spread the word about newer blogs! (Partly why I'm so freaking excited about this!!!  I'm super new to this lovely little community of interweb delightings so I'll gladly accept and share any love I get!)  "Liebster" is a German word which essentially translates to "dearest," "favorite," or "beloved." 

So, without further ado I am challenged to answer Kerry's 10 Questions for me then I'll create a list of questions for my own list of bloggers to answer! 

And here they are:

1.  When you were a kid what did you aspire to be "when you grew up?"

When I was really little I wanted to be a ballerina.  That translated into wanting to be a writer - which is still a suppressed dream (someday, maybe!).  In High School I figured being a writer probably wouldn't pay the bills, so I developed a fondness for Accounting (kind of weird for a teenager, but hey...it's what I did).  

Spoiler Alert:  I did actually major in Accounting for three years in college before quick switching to Advertising at the onset of my senior year!  And, now....I'm a paralegal....with a predilection for commercials, bill boards, radio jingles, and even some basic print ads!

2.  What is your favorite appetizer to bring to a party?

Although I typically am known to bring desserts to the party, and not appetizers, I typically go with the something that is simple, yet a crowd pleaser, and easy to transport!  ***I'll post recipes of these soon(ish).

Some of my GO-TOs are:

•     Mexican 7-Layer Dip
•     Buffalo Chicken Dip
•     Pickle Wraps and Polish Roses
•     Mini Goat Cheese and Bacon Pops (a recent find)

3.  What is one beauty product that you can't live without?

I'm going to have to go with mascara on this one - I wear it almost every single day, even if I decide that I don't feel like putting a stitch of other make-up on.  I feel like it makes it look like you tried a little harder than you actually did...or, maybe that's just me!? 

Right now my favorite is the Buxom Sculpted Lash Mascara!  The little wavy wand has helped tremendously with my application!  I don't tend to make quite as much of a mess with it!

Some runners up would have to be my beloved Wet Brush and my It's a 10 Miracle Leave in Product - I seriously don't know how I ever brushed my hair before these two love affairs made an appearance in my life!

4.  If you won the lottery what would be the first thing you do (after sensible actions such as paying bills etc.)?

Vacation - With everyone in my family!  They'd all pick their most desired locale and we'd stick 'em in a hat and draw one out at a time!  Not only would it add a little spontaneity to our travels, it would probably be one of the most amazing trips of a lifetime!  Plus, sharing it with my loved ones - BONUS!

5.  Who do you look up to most?

My mom.  She's one of the strongest and most amazing people I know!  She's been both a mom and a dad and managed to pull it off without a sweat!  She always gives the best advice, is there for a laugh or a hug (or both) just when you need it most, and now that I've grown up a bit, she's not only a mom and a dad, but a friend.  If I can someday hope to be even half as wonderful of a mom as she is, I'll have some pretty lucky kids!  Thanks for everything, mom!  You're the best!  Love you!!

6.  What is your favorite t.v. show?

I'm a complete T.V. junkie so this is super tough!  But if I had to narrow it down to just one favorite, I think I would go with Pretty Little Liars!  I've been obsessed since it aired and have seen every episode so far - even managed to get around HULU's efforts to thwart my viewing!

Some runner-ups (in no particular order):

• Grimm
• How I Met Your Mother
• True Blood
• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
• Dexter
• The Big Bang Theory
• Game of Thrones
• Castle
• The Vampire Diaries
• The Carrie Diaries
• Hart of Dixie
• Law & Order: SVU

7.  If you could have any super power what would it be?

I would love to be able to fly!  I'm not exactly sure why, but I think it would be pretty awesome to just fly my way to work; fly over to the store, etc.!  No more worrying about gas prices or car troubles...yes, yes, that sounds great - sign me up!

8.  What is the best advice you ever received?

If it's meant to be, it will be.  If not, it just wasn't meant to be. 

Both my mom and my grandma always said that and it has so much truth to it.  This little mantra has sure gotten me through some tough times!

9.  What do you enjoy the most about the city you live in now?

We currently live in Grand Rapids, Michigan!  Most days I love it!  But...less lately because of all this snow, ice and cold!!!  Ugh, so over it already!  Please bring on the Spring! 

I love the activity - there's always something going on or something to do!  Plus, the breweries are pretty awesome too!

10.  Which do you prefer: vacation to the beach or mountains?

Vacation on the beach, definitely!   Especially if there's also the words "all-inclusive," "daiquiri," or "massage" involved!  I love a nice long relaxing beach vacation where I can lounge, indulge, and catch up on some reading all while soaking in the warm rays of the sun!

Alright, now on to Part 2! 

...and the Nominees are....  {just kidding - everyone listed below is a winner of this Liebster Award!} 

1. The Misadventures of Lennon
2. Lil' Mrs. Chatterbox
3. How We Fit
4. Key Ingredients
5. Reasons to Come Home

No pressure to accept this coveted blogger award but if you do choose to here's what you've got to do!  I've kind of 'tweaked' these to try to find people who hadn't been tagged yet...but mainly just have fun with it! I can't wait to read your answers!

• Answer the 10 Questions I've written below.
• Nominate 5-10 'Up and Coming' blogs you follow to receive the award!
• Create 10 Questions of your own for your nominees to answer!
• Blog about the whole experience and put the award up on your page!
• Have fun!  This is exciting stuff after all!

Questions to Answer:

1. What's your favorite book: a.  Of all time?  b. That you've recently read?
2. What is one thing you've always wanted to do?
3. Why did you start blogging?
4. What advice would you give to your 16 year old self?
5. If there was a zombie apocalypse, what would you do?
6. Do you have any "hidden" talents (or not so hidden talents)?
7. Name one beauty item or product you just can't live without!
8. If 'they' made a movie of your life, who would you want to play you?  And, who would you want to play your love interest?
9. Name the person you most admire and why.
10. If you could pick a 'theme' song to play every time you walked into a room, what song would you choose?

Another BIG THANKS to Kerry over at Sunflowers and Sauvignon Blanc - make sure you check out her page!  It's totally adorable!

Peanut-Butter Banana Nut Muffins

Peanut-Butter Banana Nut Muffins

 

The following recipe will roughly yield 12-16 regular sized muffins, 6-8 jumbo muffins, or around 48 mini muffins.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup white granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 4 large bananas, mashed
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 cup chopped nuts (optional - I used walnuts because it's what I had available in my cupboard!)
• 1/4 cup peanut butter chips (optional)
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips - milk, dark, or semi-sweet (optional - I used milk chocolate...first bag I came to when rounding up my ingredients!)

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350° F and coat muffin pans with cooking spray (ie. Pam or the like) or use paper liners.  Note:  You may need to adjust for dark/non-stick pans - check your pan's instructions or reduce baking temp to 325° F if using one of these types pans to be on the safe side! 
2. In a medium bowl, sift together your dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt) and set aside.
3. Combine sugar, peanut butter, bananas, egg, and melted butter in a large bowl and mix until smooth.
4. Fold in the flour mixture and add in any extras you may want (nuts, chocolate chips, etc.).  Note:  It's best to do this part by hand instead of using a stand or electric mixer!  Over-mixing your batter can result in a dense, deflated looking muffin!  I typically opt for a good sturdy rubber spatula for gently folding the dry ingredients into the wet ones. 
5. Evenly distribute the batter into your prepared muffin tins and bake as follows.  Muffins are done when a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  They will also spring back when lightly tapped.  Note:  Oven baking times will vary just as oven temperatures vary!  It's best to set your timer on the low side and put them back in to finish cooking so you don't end up with little muffin-shaped rocks!
• 10-15 minutes for mini muffins
• 25-30 minutes for regular muffins
• 30-32 minutes for jumbo muffins
6. Let muffins cool in the tins for 2-5 minutes and then move them to a rack to finish cooling the rest of the way.
7. Enjoy!

I made the jumbo version of these after a co-worker gifted me her almost unusable bananas!  They turned out great - wonderfully moist and really seemed to be crowd-pleasers!  I hope you and your loved ones will also enjoy these!  Let me know if you make them what you thought and what if any fun extras you tried adding!!

Five on Friday!

First off:  It's FRIDAY!!  WOOHOO!  {Happy Dance}

Second off:  It's almost midnight so Friday is technically almost over...boo! 

And finally....let's get down to this business!  This is my ... drum roll please....  FIRST EVER LINK-UP!  I'm exciting to get my feet a little wetter in the blogging world!  I'm still not quite sure how this all works, so please don't judge too harshly!  Plus I've had a pretty uneventful week - so this will be a bit random...I mean, I might even throw in a kitty picture for funzies! 

ONE:  I've been having the baking crave again - and perfect timing too!  My co-worker, Brittany, brought me her almost donezo bananas the other day!  I decided I wanted to make jumbo muffins so I didn't have a million muffins looking at me and begging to be eaten!  Plus, it's so much easier to push a few jumbo treats on folks than it is to push a bazillion regular sized treats - who knows?!  I managed to get them all to good new tummy homes over just a day or two!  Hooray! 

I like to call them "Banana-Rama Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Jumbo Muffos!" ...but it's a working title!  I plan to post a recipe soon if you're at all interested - they went over pretty good with the masses!!

TWO:  We are switching Gatsby over to a new food - he was having litter-box 'problems' (I'll spare you the gruesome details) with his old food (Purina One something or other) so I took him to visit his vet and they put him on a special fiber rich food to help with the aforementioned issue, etc.  It did help but we've been starting to see some of the early signs of the 'problem' again, so we wanted to switch it up to something with even less fillers...so with some recommendations we went with Natural Balance Fat Cats.  It's supposed to be low calorie and is still pretty high in fiber - so hopefully everything will work out for my little fur ball and maybe he'll even lose some Lbs!


THREE: I met up with the gals from my ZTA Alumna group for a lovely dinner and meeting yesterday!  We had a great time chit-chatting and catching up - and even managed to get some business done!

FOUR:  We're supposed to be getting another big Winter storm tonight / tomorrow - bring it on Snowmageddon!  Let's see what you're made of!  (Hopefully it lets up enough for me to head to my Mom's and retrieve my cross-country skiis and snow pants!)  If you're out and about in this stuff - make sure to drive safely!!

This is what I'll be painting...

FIVE:  Tomorrow I'm participating in a Wine & Canvass event!  I'm so excited to try this out!  Wine + Friends + Painting sounds like a win in my book! 

Let's hope the instructor is good and mine actually turns out looking like it's from the same general planet as the sample!  It's a picture of the Grand Rapids city skyline over the Grand River!  I loved the Local vibe!



Hope you all had a great week and will have an even better weekend!

I'm going to be relaxing with my Fur Pal, Gatsby, and putting down a cold one!  Cheers! 

Gatsby + Founders Beer = The makings of a purrfect Friday Night In!

Link-Up!

Resolutions and Things I'd Like to Do in 2014!

Okay, so this year I'm going to try holding myself more accountable for my resolutions!  I didn't epically fail last year but there is definite room for improvement!  So, without further ado - here they are - my 2014 Resolutions!

1.  Save more money!!!  I'm on my way here - doing several 52 week challenges at once!

2.  Pay off at least one credit card!  Hoping for two, but I'm aiming low for a higher success rate!

3.  Be better at flossing!  I do floss but definitely not as much as I should!  I'm getting too old not to, there's no excuses - this one is a must!

4.  Get back into my gym routine!  

5.  Devour at least 24 books this year, minimum!

6.  Become a better blogger!  Maybe even participate in a link-up or two!  Any suggestions for good ones are appreciated!!!

Things to Do in 2014!

These are in no particular order and are a little all over the place!  Ranging from things I've always wanted to do, like get a real facial or go sky diving, to things I haven't done in a while, like visit the zoo or go on a vacation!

1.  Go to the zoo

2.  Go bowling 

3.  Play minigolf

4.  Play tennis

5.  Buy a couch - One of my 52 week jars are being allocated for this!!

6.  Take a vacation - And another one here!

7.  Sky dive

8.  Get a Facial

9.  Play Laser Tag

10.  Take a long weekend in Chicago

11.  Make it a point to visit my friends and family more often!

12.  Be more crafty! And, actually finish a crafting project once started!  ...like the scarf I've been knitting for my mom for over a year! :-)

I may add to this list and I'll try to remember to update my achievements as I can!  Wish me luck and help keep me accountable!!  I want to make 2014 a great and successful year!!  What are your plans for the new year?!  Any challenging resolutions or goals?  Is love to hear about your adventures in resolution accountability too, so keep me updated!!  And, good luck to you all!  We can do this!!

Dear 2013...

Dear 2013,

     Overall you were a pretty good year.  I didn't hate you, but then again, I didn't really love you either!  I'd say the scale is tipped in your favor however...'cause I fancy myself an optimist! Anyway, let's take a peek back at a few things I can remember from your archives!

      Well, the biggest thing is that I found out that I would be "promoted" at work - but not for a loooong time - getting closer, but the process is taking much too long for my particularly excitable and 'gotta-have-it-now' mentality!  So, I'm hoping this is one thing I do actually accomplish in 2014!  But, on a side note - got my W-2 today....is it just me or does everyone look at that and go, "Ummm....I most certainly did not make $xxxxx this year!??!  Nuh-uh!  Prove it, If I did...where'd it all run off to!?"  2014 has me super busy already - about to rock out three states - MI, NJ, and OH!  Yikes!  But, challenge accepted if it gets me moving toward my new duties!  The Type-A in me is kind of giddy because it means new bins to organize and a one-on-one date with the label maker!!  WooHoo!!

       And, the car problems you bought me were definitely on top of their game!  I managed to pop not one, but two tires....and my spare....within the whopping span of 2 weeks!!!  Thank you 2013 pot-holes!  I also cracked my rim one of the times - yikes!!  Then there was that awesome day where my tie-iron or tie rod deal(forgive if this is not mechanically correct - I don't pretend to be an auto-bot!) decided to snap...in the morning...on my way to work...in the middle of the road!  I managed to scoot myself over toward the shoulder and thankfully I was still at home (more or less) - it went caput right as I was turning around in the Landlord's driveway.  AAA saved the day and then I got to find out that I also needed new brake pads (not a super shocker) and rotors and this and that...blech - goodbye giant chunk of savings!!  But, on the plus side, I went and ate a delightful plate of French Toast with a side of a Chili Cheese Dog for brunch while I waited instead of working....so, maybe not an epic fail! 

      Some more highlights you graced me with:  I got to know my awesome office-mates so much better!  So lucky to have friends I get to see everyday at work!  And, I started blogging (not well, but hoping I can do a bit better in the years to come!)  I read some great books, and hooked myself on The Mortal Instruments series.  A group of gals and I started and ended a book club at the office, then I started another one - which is kind of still trying to find its wings!  I got to spend some great times with my family - although it never feels like enough!  My mom and I even took a fun trip down to Tennessee to visit family there, and made a couple extra stops on the way down - Jim Beam Distillery anyone?! 

     The saddest thing you brought was the departure of our dear Kitten.  She left us just after Halloween and is and will continue to be greatly missed.  She had the softest fur on the planet and the cutest little short tail ever!! 

    You sure had your ups and downs, but those are the things that make life worth living, even the hard, not so fun parts! I'm looking onward and upward to 2014 and I can't wait to see what new experiences are in store for my family, friends and me!  So far I've made quite a list of things I'd like to accomplish in the new year - but more on that later...'cause I'm gonna try to be a better blogger, you know!