Wonderlust

“All our young lives we search for someone to love. Someone who makes us complete. We choose partners and change partners. We dance to a song of heartbreak and hope... all the while wondering if somewhere, somehow, there's someone perfect... who might be searching for us.” 

--The Wonder Years

Tis the season

The holidays are starting off a little differently this year. My grandparents are coming to Auburn to visit ME! before I go home for week long festivities and pounds upon pounds of stuffing, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie, and so much more. My grandparents have never been to Auburn before, so words can't even describe how excited I am-- except... they are about 6 hours later in their E.T.A. but I'm still happy they're making the trip down to visit. I think I will take them to the basketball game tonight and then dinner somewhere downtown. I thought about taking them bowling, which I think would be very interesting (and fun) but they voted on basketball game, so that's that. 

A Royal Affair

If you're anything like me then you are obsessed with all things royal. Ever since I was little and heard my mom telling the stories of how she followed Princess Diana and Prince Charles' wedding and stayed up at 4am to watch it on TV I have always hoped that I would be able to have the same experience with a royal couple in our generation. Alas, the time has come. Prince William and Kate Middleton have officially announced their engagement. They were actually engaged in October, in Kenya, and kept it very hush hush until now. Kate was given Princess Diana's wedding ring, because William felt that doing so would allow his mother to be there in a special way. The wedding is set for late April, but could be moved to the summer depending on availability and what is convenient for the Royal Family. Apparently, Kate and William are already living together in a sleepy little town in North Wales, and the Queen is thrilled with this. 

In a way, Kate represents a modern-day Cinderella. Apparently, growing up she had a poster of Prince William on her wall. She is a "commoner," and her mom was a stewardess once, but now her family owns their own party supply business and are millionaires- which explains her impeccable clothing choices. She and William met while in college at St. Andrews, and he reportedly paid $300 to watch her in a fashion show on campus. They've been dating over 8 years, with a short breakup, and supposedly it's her loyalty that kept William's attention. While this story may give little girls in England false hopes about becoming a princess someday, it also shows that class barriers can be overcome and it is possible for love to win out in the end over propriety and stuffy expectations [to marry nobility in this case].

Bakingdom: Butterbeer?! Oh Yes, Friends! Butterbeer!!

For everyone else that CAN'T wait to celebrate the premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, here is the perfect drink to get you in the wizarding mood!

Homemade Butterbeer

Makes 6 servings

Ingredients


FOR THE BUTTERBEER
6 12-ounce bottles cream soda [I prefer IBC (which is vegan) or Polar Classics Vanilla, but any will work perfectly]
3 teaspoons butter extract

FOR THE FOAM (Vegan/Dairy-free recipe linked above)

2 cups heavy cream

6 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons butter extract

To make the butterbeer: Set out 6 16-ounce glasses. Place 1/2 teaspoon of butter  extract in each glass. Pour 12 ounces of butterbeer into each glass. Lightly stir, if necessary.

To make the foam: In a large bowl, or the bowl of a standing mixer, whip the heavy cream on medium high speed for 3-4 minutes until it starts to thicken. Add the sugar and continue whipping until very soft peaks begin to form, another 3-4 minutes (if you need to whip more or less, then be sure to do so, the times can vary quite a bit based on environment). Stir in the vanilla and butter extracts, then whip for another 30 seconds or so, until soft peaks form.

Spoon a generous portion of foam on top of each glass of butterbeer. Serve immediately.



Shared by Bakingdom: Butterbeer?! Oh Yes, Friends! Butterbeer!!

If only I could

live in this movie my life would be complete.

"Let the stormy clouds chase everyone from the place. Come on with the rain, I've a smile on my face."

Romance was so vibrant and uplifting back then. Now I feel as if it's practically nonexistent;  between text messages, facebook, gchat, and weekends at the Skybar relationships have become superficial and there's a lack of excitement and emotional connection. Instead of our heart beating quickly when he walks us to the door, (which, unfortunately, rarely happens in most cases) now it comes when we receive a lousy text message. What would it take to make a grown man sing in the rain just from being in the presence of a lovely lady? Why do we, as a generation of independent successful young women, accept anything less than real romance? We have allowed men, as well as ourselves, to become lazy in the ways of love, and I think that's a tragedy. Maybe it's because we seem too busy for real romance, and a simple text message will have to do, but in reality that wastes more time and isn't as efficient as nice old fashioned courting. That's the type of romance I'm looking for. To be frank, perhaps I'm so adamant about this type of romance because I've experienced it before. You may ask why it didn't work out, and I'll tell you it was not because of the lack of romance or interest. As cliché as it sounds, it truly just was not the right time or the right place. Maybe somewhere down the road I'll find it again, but until then I will stick to old movies. C'est la vie, une fille peut rêver.

Appropriate for today

I can make you laugh.

"Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can: all of them make me laugh." --W.H. Auden

Who Knew...

That toast could be so delicious, as well as entertaining? Enjoy!

"Last Leaf" by Ok Go

This moment in time...

Hmmm... Let's look at the list:

Dinner with great friends? (Wine for them, water for me). 

Check.

Reminiscing of and reliving some of the best times of our lives? 

Check.

Remembering why we love each other and go together so well? 

Check.

Planning on staying BFF4Ls, as well as what we're going to do with the rest of our lives?

Check.

All in all I'd say I'm a pretty happy gal. 

Beginning of everything

kissssing:

“I fell in love with her courage, her sincerity, and her flaming self respect. And it's these things I'd believe in, even if the whole world indulged in wild suspicions that she wasn't all she should be. I love her and it is the beginning of everything.” -- F. Scott Fitzgerald

It's nice to be a little kid again

Sunday I got as close to Disney World as I've ever been in my whole life... I went to Disney on Ice. I seriously doubt there was ever a time when I haven't wanted to go to Disney World, but sadly I haven't been fortunate enough to go yet. I felt like I was eight years old again. It was magical, and I found myself reliving the first times I saw the Disney Princess movies (i.e. Cinderella, Snow White, Aladin, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, etc) and it was phenomenal. The characters came alive, and even now it's hard for me to think about those performers having real lives outside of the characters they were portraying. It's nice to go back to being oblivious and believing in magic and the idea that anything is possible with a little virtue and magic dust on your side.

Then and Now

  

Harry Burns: The first time we met, we hated each other.

Sally Albright: No, you didn't hate me, I hated you. The second time we met, you didn't even remember me.

Harry Burns: I did too, I remembered you. The third time we met, we became friends.

Sally Albright: We were friends for a long time.

Harry Burns: And then we weren't.

Sally Albright: And then we fell in love.

-- When Harry Met Sally

The Night Dances

A smile fell in the grass.
Irretrievable!

And how will your night dances
Lose themselves. In mathematics?

Such pure leaps and spirals ----
Surely they travel

The world forever, I shall not entirely
Sit emptied of beauties, the gift

Of your small breath, the drenched grass
Smell of your sleeps, lilies, lilies.

Their flesh bears no relation.
Cold folds of ego, the calla,

And the tiger, embellishing itself ----
Spots, and a spread of hot petals.

The comets
Have such a space to cross,

Such coldness, forgetfulness.
So your gestures flake off ----

Warm and human, then their pink light
Bleeding and peeling

Through the black amnesias of heaven.
Why am I given

These lamps, these planets
Falling like blessings, like flakes

Six sided, white
On my eyes, my lips, my hair

Touching and melting.
Nowhere.

-Sylvia Plath

6 November 1962