fabby friday.

Y'all. I'm getting married in less than 20 days. WHAT.
Leave it to me to choose the most stressful time of year to tie the knot. Ha!

A few things keeping me sane (plus my friends, fiance, family, etc. You guys are the bomb dot com.):

A new trend I could totally get behind that Peter would likely never allow me to get behind.

REAL LIFE HOGWARTS. I can't even.

I don't know where they got their cookie butter, but I feel some Trader Joe's cookie butter pancakes coming on!

The Secret Life of Passwords - great read!

A very interesting article highlighting a (tragic) phenomenon among Christians called, "Moralistic Therapeutic Deism".


I'm going to see The Nutcracker ballet tonight and pretend it's Christmas-y weather outside instead of a high of 72*. What are your weekend plans??
-e.

fabby friday.

"When did we forget that we are human beings, not human doings?"

I know I am totally late to this bandwagon, but if you're not listening to the Serial podcast, you're doing it wrong.

The Theory of Everything, which I saw over Thanksgiving weekend and can't quit thinking about.

This. Is. Awesome. I love Top 40 hits, y'all.

The 2015 Pantone Color of the Year! I am totally on board.


You'll have to forgive my relative silence over the next few weeks. The holidays + moving + planning a wedding are taking up quite a bit of my time if you can imagine that!
-e.

em + the kitchen - chipotle chicken chowder.

Even though the weather outside isn't truly cooperating with the season (60* in December? REALLY?), I'm still choosing to move forward with my favorite seasonal recipes.

For me, that means helloooo soup season!

I love a good creamy + hearty soup which is why this one is so right up my alley.

Plus, Peter can't eat it due to his poultry allergy so that's more for me! (He is so lucky to have me. Hahaha.)

The 2 cups of cream in this recipe just serve to provide me with an extra layer of fat for my winter hibernation so I have no problem with it. Plus, it's delicious.

Chipotle Chicken Chowder

(adapted from here, serves 6)

Ingredients:

6 slices of bacon, cooked + chopped

1 onion, diced

4 russet potatoes, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 cups chicken stock

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces

2 cups heavy cream

1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce OR 1/4-1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder**

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

S&P to taste

In a large soup pot, fry bacon until crispy. Set aside and chop when cool.

Add diced onion and potatoes to bacon grease and cook for about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft.

Add garlic and cook for about a minute more until fragrant.

Next, add chicken stock and cut up chicken breasts into pot. Bring mixture to a boil, then simmer for about 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Add heavy cream and spices; simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

At this point, you can either top each serving with your chopped bacon bits or do as I did which was to just throw it all in with the soup to add a bit more flavor.

**A note about chipotles in adobo sauce and/or chipotle chili powder: This site is super helpful and will alleviate any nerves regarding this ingredient. It's a fabulous one that I use often because the smoky + spicy flavor can't be beat!

I'm okay with pretending the weather is wintry outside if it means I get to have hearty soups like this one!

-e.

fabby friday.

Mmm! Happy day after Thanksgiving! I hope yours was full of family and food like mine was.
Colorado has long been my happy place and this trip has been no different!
Enjoy some link love and try not to punch anyone over that thing you must have on Black Friday.

This story (+ short video) of a sweet Pittsburgh detective is utterly heart-warming.

Kinfolk has guides for lots of cities around the world.
Planning a trip? Check here first for the best places to eat, drink, and visit!
So glad I found this before my trip to Seattle/Portland next summer!

This planner! I want! It would be the perfect accompaniment to me getting rid of my smart phone which is something I have been seriously, actually contemplating.

On that same note, the coolest girl you know probably uses a flip phone. Hilarious read.

This is of course overpriced because it's Anthropologie, but that doesn't mean I don't LOVE it and want all my gifts wrapped in this.

Just...so perfect.

Are you a Black Friday participant?

I enjoy it from the comfort of my own home with a computer in my lap.

-e.

em + the kitchen - olive oil + herb drop biscuits.

Last week we had an ICU family Thanksgiving potluck at the hospital and I was way more excited about it than I should've been because I looove cooking for people. My validation as a human comes from when people enjoy my food. I AM CRAZY.

I signed up for "bread" and "sweets" because I can't help myself, y'all.
I tried for a pumpkin layer cake that totally crumbled, so I picked up the pieces and made cake balls that tasted awesome, but looked janky because white chocolate is not my friend. Why do I do this to myself?
However, the winner of my two dishes were these drop biscuits which I have now made 4 batches of because they're just that good. I also plan on making them again for real Thanksgiving in Colorado which involves me getting on a plane with whole wheat flour, but they're totally worth it, you guys.

These are the perfect solution for your starchy Thanksgiving woes if you're nervous about figuring out yeast rolls. Plus they're (you know, moderately) healthier!
I mixed these in my food processor which is the quick and dirty way to make pastry dough. I love it.


Olive Oil & Herb Drop Biscuits
(from Taste, Love, & Nourish)

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup cake flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 tblsp grated Parmesan
1 tblsp fresh herbs, chopped
2 tblsp cold butter, cubed
2 tblsp EVOO
1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450*. Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper or Silpats.

Put flours, baking soda, salt, black pepper, parmesan, and herbs in food processor. Give it a couple of whirls to really mix the ingredients together and to chop up the herbs some more.
Add cold cubed butter and olive oil. Pulse until pea-sized lumps form in the dough.
Now add the buttermilk and mix until dough forms a ball inside processor. There may still be clumps of flour and that's okay!

Spoon out balls of dough about 1/4 cup in size onto cookie sheet.
(I consistently got 14 biscuits out of each batch I made.)

Bake for 12 minutes. Enjoy warm!

What have you been assigned to for your Thanksgiving meal?
-e.

the liebster award.

Hello all!
I've been nominated for the Liebster Award by the ever-fabulous Hayley (accidentally typed "Hayler" first which I don't hate) at Roots & Whim! I am totally blushing over here having been so thoughtfully picked!
The Liebster Award is an award given by new bloggers for new bloggers. I googled it to check out the origins and found about a million different sets of rules, so I'm changing mine up juuuuust a little from what Hayley did.

Rules:
1. Link back to the person who nominated you.
2. Answer questions given by the nominator.
3. Nominate 5-11 other bloggers with less than 1000 followers. (Stats taken from bloglovin'.)
4. Create 11 questions for the nominees
5. Notify all nominees via social media/blogs.

Questions I've Been Asked:
1. What's the first blog you remember reading faithfully? Most definitely todaysletters.com. It's fabulous and so, so sweet and encourages readers to love their spouses well.
2. What is on your bedside table right now? Hah, half-read library books (& Sons, Endurance), my recently-received happy mail from ABM (!!), thank you notes for dayz (still need to be addressed), and a very official document to make Peter my beneficiary (not filled out).
3. Who is an entrepreneur and/or blogger that you look up to? Probably Emily from Today's Letters (above) or Molly Yeh from mynameisyeh.com. Both grow their own food (to some extent) and have sweet, simple lifestyles that I love. They both focus on the important. Plus Molly makes a mean funfetti cake.
4. What is a favorite recipe of yours? Chocolatecakechocolatecakechocolatecake.
5. What is some helpful blogging advice you've received? Probably to blog about what's important, more personal details, and to make friends throughout the blogging community. Or at least that's what I've picked up. It makes me more real and gains followers who genuinely care.
6. If you could be on any reality TV show or game show, what would it be? The Amazing Race!
7. Sweet or savory? Oh gosh, sweet 100%.
8. If you could travel ANYWHERE right now, where would you go? Everywhere? Ha. Tough question! Maybe India. Or the Fiji Islands.
9. If you could change your name, what would you change it to? Hah, I have honestly never thought about this. Something weird, probably. I like Leo.
10. What's a weird quirk you have? SO MANY. I can't (more like refuse to) say any words right. Peter struggles to understand what I'm saying half the time. Blog = blerg. Food = nomkins. Biscuits = biskeys. Beer = burr. YES, I KNOW MOST OF THOSE ARE FOODS.
11. What's one of your favorite posts from your blog, and why? This one. Because it was a pretty rough time in my life and was one of my most read posts. It's me being totally open and real and word-vomity, but people understood and felt me and encouraged me in spite of how crazy I felt.


Questions I Am Asking:
1. How do you take your coffee?
2. What is your dream job?
3. Name a guilty pleasure of yours.
4. What is your favorite flavor of pie?
5. I just bought you a yacht! What are you going to name it?
6. What is the most adventurous thing you've ever done?
7. Dark, milk, or white chocolate?
8. What is your favorite holiday, and why?
9. Who is your favorite person to follow in the blogging world?
10. What is the last full album you purchased?
11. What is your favorite thing to blog about, and why?


Bloggers I Nominate:
1. Jayda @ Avocado Grove
2. Casey @ A Girl & Merle
3. Brittaney @ Brittaney Penney
4. Gabrielle @ Dishes & Dreams
5. Jamie @ A Girl Named David
6. Michelle @ Mind of Meesh

Thanks again to Hayley! You are the sweetest!
-e.

fabby friday.

Happy Friday! I hope y'all have a fabby weekend.
This week has been nuts and I expect that's how they'll all be until the wedding!
Sorry for the lack of posts. Hopefully, I'll be able to get some more cranked out over the next few weeks. For now, some links:

The sort of friendship I yearn for

Hah! Portrait of a dog.

It's like someone read my mind. The 10 Best Restaurants in the Bishop Arts District.

Image inspired by this article - The Cult of Busy.

I just love that last article. It's really very interesting.

In the grand scheme of things, we choose how we spend our time. We choose to make ourselves busy or not. Which are you going to choose?

-e.

fabby friday.

Every other blogger does this, so why not me?
(In all honesty, I've just been reading some great things lately. Maybe this will become a thing. There you have it.)

I've been saying this for years. Taylor Swift is becoming my spirit animal and I DON'T KNOW HOW TO FEEL ABOUT IT.

If my heart were an article, it would probably read something like this.
Or this, which is a much more serious article shedding light on human trafficking in India. Vote for the story to give the journalist more access to bring this issue to light.

And if my heart were a graphic, it would definitely be this:

Happy Friday!

I have a hot date planned for my man tonight and he has no idea what we're doing! ;)

What are your plans??

-e.

do you have FOMO?

I assume we've all heard of FOMO before - the "fear of missing out".

I have self-diagnosed FOMO and my poor fiance is all too familiar with it. He's even gotten in the habit of asking whether we can have a weekend where nothing is planned. I tend to pack things in because what if that thing I say "no" to ends up being awesome and we didn't go??

Then, okay. You didn't go.

Enter JOMO - the joy of missing out. Instead of being so focused on what you might be missing if you say "no" to that social engagement; instead of scrolling through your facebook newsfeed to see what all your friends are up to while you're not there; instead of being everywhere else except for where you actually, physically are - why not try being perfectly content in your present situation?

Randi Zuckerberg (yes, that's Mark's sister) promotes this theory of JOMO, summarizing it as “there is nowhere I’d rather be than exactly where I am.” Yes! I need this to be my new mantra

This has apparently been around for a while, but I hadn't heard of it til this month because - *gasp* - I guess I missed out on it.

I'm determined to really start living this out. I'm not sure exactly how it will look, but I know I need to make a game plan or I'll just fall back into my phone-checking-during-dinner, wasting-precious-daytime-hours-on-Pinterest lifestyle.

Do you have FOMO?

How do you combat it?

-e.

happy mail.

Okay. File this under: things I wish I'd thought of.

A Beautiful Mess blog just lauched a subscription box similar to the ever-popular birchbox, stichfix, etc. However, this particular monthly box is filled with $50 worth of stationery, cards, stickers, and notepads (and for a price tag of way less than $50!). It's the gift that keeps giving! I get a box filled with adorable paper goodies and someone else is gets a sweet, handwritten piece of snail mail from yours truly!

(image via A Beautiful Mess shop)

You'd better believe I've already pre-ordered mine and cannot wait for the first box to come mid-November! I am forever looking for sweet cards to send to people I love, so this makes my heart (and my mail!) especially happy.

Raise your hands - who wants some snail mail??
-e.