Ding Dong!

The snow is gone! (almost). Sorry sad snowman, but good riddance! After a week of shenanigans, I am looking forward to being able to go places again :)

Seattle-bound!

Tonight we leave for Seattle to go and rock some Holidays! Woo-hoo! I'm so excited to pet my dog, drink some good coffee, eat some good thai food and hopefully see some snow. Since I'm guessing none of you people will be working, I'm not going to stress about posting over the holidays. But I'll be documenting the visit home the entire time, so that there's something to check out when y'all get back to the grind :)

Snow People, on flickr memeber Simonk's photostream via
Wooster Collective.

Road Trip to Vegas!

Wishing well to my buddy Wendi as she drives with her husband, their unborn BABEH, her mother-in-law, their bulldog mix and all of their belongings in a giant Budget truck from Baltimore to fabulous Las Vegas over the next 4 days. So excited for them - good luck with your new adventure in your new city you guys!

Chicken Pot Pie

This turned out so awesome. My recipe gives the option of either using cream of mushroom soup or making your own sauce, as well as making your own dough or using store-bought. I did it the harder way but I think this would be great using the shortcuts as well. YUM. {chicken pot pie recipe}

Linzer Cookies

Do you have a spare 4 hours to devote entirely to baking and assembling cookies? You do?!?! Then you have to try this recipe. Ok so these cookies were ridiculous, and took a whole afternoon (pleasant though) to make. I know. But they look real purdy and are delicious {directions on recipemogul}

My Weekend, if yer curious

Hey All! Well, I filled the weekend with errands and a lovely Meetup with some delightful ladies at the Gaylord National Resort on the Potomac in Maryland. It was a festive afternoon, with brunch at Pienza Italian Market in the faux-outside pavilion. We met Mrs. Claus (!) at the buffet and were serenaded by the band playing Caribbean-style Christmas music (weird).This is a giant tacky glass tree that was in the atrium-area of the hotel. "The Awakening", a sculpture at the National Harbor in MD. Keene and I ran some errands Sunday and swung past the newly remodeled space in front of the Capital Building - it's really nice and open and you get a great view.

Two Holiday Drinks

"Hot Apple Pie" and a "Peppermint Hot Toddy". {both via hwtm}

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HOT APPLE PIE

Ingredients
2 oz Tuaca
hot apple cider
whipped cream
cinnamon stick for garnish

Directions
Pour the Tuaca in an Irish coffee glass.
Fill with hot apple cider.
Top with whipped cream.
Garnish with a cinnamon stick.

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PEPPERMINT PATTY

Ingredients
1 oz. peppermint schnapps
½ oz. créme de cacao
1 tsp. créme de menthe
5 to 8 oz. hot chocolate
About 1 oz. whipped cream
Shaved chocolate

Directions
Pour liqueurs into a glass mug, fill with hot chocolate and top
with whipped cream. Garnish with chocolate shavings.

Apple-Cheese-Lager Bread

You guys! This bread was so yummy and easy to make that I'm absolutely going to make it again. {directions on recipemogul}

AOTD: The CAT CAM

This is Cooper. He's a kitty living in the Greenwood/Phinney neighborhood of Seattle who documents what he sees as he scampers about. "Once a week he wears this light weight digital camera fastened to his collar, which snaps a new photo every 2 minutes." Check out his flickr page with some fantastic images. {via MyBallard}

AOTD: Ork Posters

These city neighborhood posters are awesome! You can purchase your own prints on their site, Ork Posters. {via shelterrific}

Updates from the Capital Hill Neighborhood

A few of the neighbs are still supportin'.

This house stood out to me because it's the only non-rowhouse-style home I've seen in a while. And it's just sitting there like it's all normal. It's also for sale: a wee 2.6 mil.

So just like Halloween, it's also really easy to cutesie-up some houses around here at Christmas time. Aren't these wreaths super classic and festive? Love it.

Two Cities, and time for comments

Ok people. It's time for y'all to stop reading this blog in secret and not commenting. I'm over it. Comment with your favorite thing about your city or else. I will also accept a personal email since I haven't heard from some of you in a while.

After living in DC for 4 months, I've been thinking a lot about the things I love about my new city and my old city.

DC Faves:
The Metro
Seeing the Capital Building on a daily basis
Obama lives here (as of January 20th!)
People are SUPER friendly. You can't go outside without someone talking to you, it's great
Architectural details - finals, window boxes, tiles, stained glass
Year-round sunshine, what a concept!
Proximity to New York
No one living here is from here, everyone wants to make friends
FREE museums

Things I miss about Seattle:
Fog
Evergreen Trees
the COFFEE
the FOOD
The Mountains
Ocean air
Microbrews
Open Space
Year-round mild temperatures
My family and friends

I think I could watch this all day

Two Cute Crafts

Check out these two cute crafts I found: A Flower Pinwheel Pattern from Heather Bailey and an adorable Bowling Bunnies game from Bitter Betty. {both via Craftzine}

Guerrilla AOTD

Random teacups appearing on the streets of Amsterdam, and some creepy cute-by-day, demonic-by-night lamp post art.
{both teacups and lamp posts via wooster collective}

AOTD: Aaron DeMut​h

My awesome friend Paula just shared her fab illustrator friend with me - her roomie from Beantown, Aaron. Aaron has a show coming up in Cambridge, on December 6th {more details at www.55norfolk.com and on his blog, assorted cats drawn}.