Tidbits: 11.30.12

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Salted Caramel Brownies - yes, please.

Minnesotan companies encourage employees to share their time and talents.  Love!

Are leaders born or made?

Still have Turkey leftovers?  These are delicious.

What you might have missed: Ugly Basement Part 2, Madness, Thanksgiving Weekend recap, and 3 tracks from Fleetwood Mac.

Tomorrow I'm kicking off my holiday series Merry and Bright.  Are you ready?!

xoxo,

Al

Thanksgiving Weekend.

I am still recovering from Thanksgiving weekend.  I had a lovely five days (!!) off and it was so wonderful. K and I ran up north for Thanksgiving to have dinner with my parents and grandparents.  Super lowkey but just what I needed.

On Thursday, we took a morning walk before our feast.  Don't be too jealous of my awesome Polaris Racing hat.  It was cold!

How could anyone ever get sick of this view?

We were just so excited for Thanksgiving!

We probably won't be able to get up north until Christmas so it was fun adding a couple holiday touches to the cabin.

After our "grueling" walk, we settled in to watch the big guy in red close out the parade and watch some football.  We get one channel at the lake, so K got only one game.  But it's better than none!

I tried to snap a couple photos of everyone before dinner.  It was so fun having my grandparents there!

After dinner, K and I skyped his parents to wish them a Happy Thanksgiving.  I just love technology!

We played a game of Settlers of Catan.  I am seriously obsessed with this game.

The snow started falling during our game and covered the ground with a couple inches.  Perfect way to kick off the holiday season!  

We drove home on Friday to enjoy the rest of the weekend relaxing.  A little decorating to get the house in the holiday spirit.  On Saturday, we celebrated Spence's birthday with dinner, presents, and Catan. 

It was the perfect weekend.  I am so thankful for my family, and so grateful that we could spend some time together.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!

xoxo,

Alex

Madness.

A song for your Tuesday.  This one is on repeat over here.  Enjoy!

Tidbits: 11.23.12

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Loving the pop of color inside her kitchen cabinets!

Confession: I sometimes judge people by their bookshelves.

Fall in love with another dream house.

How fun is this cloud?!

This girl is amazing!

And what you might have missed: Delicious banana bread recipe, how I decorated for Thanksgiving, and we hosted our first Friendsgiving!

Happy Recovery Day!  Are you doing any shopping?  I avoid the sales and decorate for the holidays!

xoxo,

Al

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Friendsgiving 2012.

Photo by Megan Landberg

We hosted Friendsgiving this weekend.  Friendsgiving is slowly creeping up the list of my favorite holidays.  As I've grown older, I've realized there is nothing more special than a night with good food, good wine, and good company.  Friendsgiving did not disappoint.

Photo by Megan Landberg

We roll potluck style with this group of friends and it works out so great!  Our feast consisted of delicious brie cheese appetizer, turkey (my first!), stuffing, sweet potato casserole, rolls, cranberries, gravy, and broccoli salad.  Dessert was unreal with homemade pumpkin pie, a variety of bars and Monster Cookies!  Add in some wine, beer, and Rumchata and you have a good night!

K and I finished it off with a little bonfire outside as we toasted to finally finishing our yardwork for the season.  The leaves are bagged, hoses and patio furniture put away, bulbs planted, and more hedge cut down.  All that's left is dealing with the gutters.  But that's for another day.

I'm pretty excited that we get to do this all over again tomorrow!

xoxo,

Alex

Decorating for Thanksgiving.

Hi y'all!  Can you believe Thanksgiving is on Thursday?!  I keep thinking to myself that this "semester" is flying by and then I stop and realize I'm not actually in a semester.  It might take a while to get used to that fact!

Saying I love the holidays is a major understatement.  I'm so ready to make our home a magical winter wonderland, but I've promised K that I would wait until after Thanksgiving.  So instead, I decided to ramp it up a bit for Thanksgiving!  Here's a look at how I added a little autumn magic to our home.

Before the hectic Christmas rush begins, take a moment to remember the importance of Thanksgiving.  Spend some time with your friends and family.  Express your gratitude and count your blessings.  I know I will.

xoxo,

Alex

p.s. Happy Birthday to my awesome brother, Spencer!

Can you tell I'm excited for winter?!

Simple Banana Bread.

In a perfect world, I would have chocolate chip banana bread every single day.  Seriously.

As luck would have it, we ended up with a ton of bananas that were going ripe a little too fast.  What's a girl to do?  Make banana bread.

I was getting a little tired of my old go-to recipe.  It called for applesauce instead of butter, but you know, you just don't always have applesauce on hand.  I needed a simpler recipe.  Enter Simply Recipes.  

Elise's Banana Bread recipe looked like just what I needed: minimum ingredients that I already have on hand and easy no-fuss preparation.  Plus, it's tried and true, handed down through friends and family.  Perfect.

I made it just like she said except I added a pinch of cinnamon.  Everything just tastes a bit better with cinnamon, don't you think?

Banana Bread
adapted from Simply Recipes

3-4 ripe bananas
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon (I might make it 1 Tbsp next time)
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of flour (all-purpose or GF all-purpose)
chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix butter and mashed bananas together.  Add sugar, egg, and vanilla.  Mix in baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.  Last, add the flour.  Mix well.  Pour into a 8 or 9 inch bread pan.  Bake for 1 hour.  Recipe makes one loaf.   

One note:  While you don't need a mixer for this recipe, I did use mine to beat the bananas smooth.  We like our bread without tons of fruit chunks.  

It turned out great!  K gave it his stamp of approval so I know it's a winner.  I'm going to make a GF version tomorrow so I can enjoy it too!  And I just might add some chocolate chips...

Do you have a go to Banana Bread recipe?  

xoxo,
Alex

Tidbits: 11.16.12

New Lonny!

I might have to try this gluten-free stuffing.

Obsessed with the Northern Lights.

Fur & flannel blanket tutorial.  Perfect for winter.

I'm moving to San Francisco...if I had $14.9 million.

And in case you missed it: 5 shows I'm watching now.

Thank you to everyone who supported the CGL yesterday during Give to the Max Day!  Minnesotans raised over $15 million for our nonprofits.  How cool is that!

Hope you have a great weekend!  We're hosting Friendsgiving (which means I'm cooking my first turkey!) and I'm so excited!  Can't wait to get our friends together again!

xoxo,
Alex

Give to the Max Day = TODAY!!

Hi all!  Quick post to let you know that today is Give to the Max Day, a 24-hour online giving spree to support Minnesota nonprofits.

 I have worked with a group of amazing people to develop the Center for Girls' Leadership (CGL) over the last year because we believe we can make a difference as advocates for gender equality in Minnesota.  I am sure you receive many requests for support throughout the year, but I'm going to make just one more.  

This past weekend, we held our first leadership camp for 21 middle school girls.  It was an amazing day and I was so impressed by the girls' excitement to develop their leadership potential and define their personal values.  But my favorite moment of the day came when I asked the principal how she thought it was going.  She pointed to one girl who was laughing in the group and told me she hadn't seen that girl smile all year.  That moment made it clear to me that we are making a difference in the lives of girls through our leadership programs.  And this is just the beginning.

Please consider making a donation to the CGL.  It's easy.  Just head to our giving page (http://givemn.razoo.com/story/The-Center-For-Girls-Leadership) and make a donation.  We have a bunch of giving incentives for you, too!

Donate $15, and we'll send a birthday card to the person of your choice (gee, that seems perfect if you are always forgetting dear mom's birthday!) OR we'll sign you up for the CGL "Inspirational Quote a Day for a Month Club".

Donate $25, and we'll send you a customized Zombie Escape Plan (because you never know when they'll attack).

Donate $50, and you get your choice of a $10 Caribou or Target gift card.

Donate $100, and consider yourself lucky. We're giving you 3 dozen assorted cookies and yes, this can be redeemed for the holiday season.

Donate $500, and you've earned an hour-long personal yoga session for you and 4 of your most flexible friends.

Donate $1000, and we'll love you forever. We'll show that love by showing up at your house and cooking you a gourmet dinner for up to six people. Who doesn't love a good dinner party?

Alright, that's it!  Thanks so much!

xoxo,

Alex


photos by Megan Landberg

5 TV Shows I'm Watching Now.

I love TV.   Great shows make me laugh, make me cry, keep me in suspense, and expand my imagination.  In no particular order, here are five shows I'm watching now that are doing just that:

[The League]

[Grimm]

[Nashville]

[Scandal]

[Parenthood]

Are you a TV junkie?  Are there any shows I should be watching?!

Tidbits: 11.9.12

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Boy Meets World sequel in the works.  Hell yes.

Using your home to reach your dreams.

30 panda photos.  Yes, I'm obsessed.

Tips for Autumn Floral Arrangements.

100 paintings in 100 days.  Love it.

What you might have missed: I shared my thoughts on keeping a Gratitude Journal and then shared my secret Ugly Basement that thankfully is no more.

Have a fantastic weekend!  I'm facilitating our first ever Girls' Leadership Camp with the Center for Girls' Leadership for 20+ girls!  I'm too excited to sleep!

xoxo,

Al

Bravely.

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Gratitude Journal.

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I journal.  Yeah, I blog too, but I have been keeping a personal journal since I was about 8 years old.  And last November, I took a moment each day to write down what I am grateful for.  November just naturally brings about a feeling of gratitude for me.  Maybe it's Turkey Day, maybe it's preparation for Christmas, I don't know.

Anyway, this year, I'm doing it again.  Everyday, I finish this sentence: "I am grateful for..."  I might share a couple with you later but for now I'm going to keep them between me and my journal.

What about you?  Do you write down what you are grateful for November?

Tidbits: 11.2.12

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A slew of questions for a roadtrip, dinner conversation, or just because.

Best roast chicken.  Ever.

100 cover re-designs for the greatest novels of all time.

Love these paintings by Elizabeth Terhune.

Have you checked on the baby panda lately?  He's getting so big!  You can also vote on his name.

Sparkly DIY Tray.

And what you might have missed:  Halloween came and went, my October Foodie Pen Pals was revealed, I shared a plea to give blood if you can, and gave you a glimpse at my life right now.

Have a fabulous weekend!  I have a baby shower on Saturday and then some quality cousin time on Sunday.  I'm excited to take it easy and catch up on some projects!

xoxo,
Al

Overwhelmed.

K played this song for me and I just melted.  Apparently it is used in a beer commercial?  I don't know.  I just love it.