Friday, March 23, 2012

PicFrame

PS -- Is anyone else as into the iPhone apps PicFrame and Instagram as I am?! Since I usually take roughly 20 times as many photos as needed to remember a place, I'm obsessed with making collages from my phone pictures. These are my two favorites from Big Sur: 

Crazy beautiful ocean views. 

Hiking and yurts, best combination ever!

Big Sur



I have been all over the place this Spring Break. But my first destination was Big Sur, which was a magical, mystical place full of yurts, hikes, hippies, cheese, wine, and the most comfortable bed ever. Or maybe that was just my trip. Either way, it's a beautiful place. Read on if you'd like to see a small fraction of the absurd amount of pictures I took and hear a bit more!

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Happy Spring!


Today is the first day of Spring! Hurray!

The picture above was taken last week on my trip to Big Sur with the manfriend, but I figure since it was during my Spring Break it still counts. More to come on that later!

Go celebrate springtime!

(Relatively) easy cinnamon rolls

Baking has always been one of my favorite things to do. Well, it would probably be more fair to say that eating baked goods has always been one of my favorite activities, but eating the ones I bake myself is even better. Over the years, this has ranged from a remarkably precocious attempt at chocolate cream puffs when I was 11 or so to single-handedly keeping the fridge stocked with classic chocolate chip cookie dough in high school.

And then there's my more recent incarnation as a baker, a persona that seems only to emerge when I absolutely should be doing other things: finals week. The last week or two of my life saw many more hours devoted to new recipes than to studying. Fortunately, with only two classes on my plate last quarter and minimal work during finals week, I made time for just enough studying balanced out by far, far too much cooking and baking.

But regardless of where my time should or should not have been spent, the point is, I successfully created possibly the most delicious cinnamon rolls ever. There are still enough recipes in the world that I've never tried that I'm inordinately proud of the ones that turn out successfully, to the point where I may or may not send my mom pictures of every new pastry for guaranteed approval.

I mean, look at these babies.


I made them from this recipe, and while I wouldn't exactly call them "Everyday" cinnamon rolls, they weren't difficult and the results were more than worth it. Oh, and if you want to try them, do not ignore the tip of using dental floss to cut the rolls! So handy and so simple. The things you learn from hours of recipe-trolling. 

I won't bother reposting the recipe as it's very clearly explained elsewhere, with better step-by-step photos, but I will leave you with a few more pictures of these morsels of cinnamony-goodness, mostly because I want to look at them and dream about the day that I'll make them again. Although, who am I kidding, that day will probably be sometime this week. 




Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Esther

Just discovered the Australian clothier Esther. Cannot stop ogling the beautiful dresses and blazers.

As I sadly only have one more formal sorority function coming up in my lifetime, I'm determined to get the perfect dress as I've never been before. I think I may have met my match in picking just one from this site.

These are the current frontrunners:




All of them are sold-out at the moment, so no need to panic yet. Not like I'd panic over a dress anyway, right? Well...

I would love to wear any of them with nude pumps and a loose updo; they're so airy, fun, and perfect for spring. Now all I need is a tan to match...if only a bronze glow were even a vaguely attainable dream for a Scottish-English-French hybrid. A girl can dream.

Check out the rest of Esther's gorgeous gowns and more here.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Back to blogland

I have been a bad blogger for some months now.

Adjusting to life back in the states has been quite a process, and my travel bug remains as persistent as ever.

However, I am giving blogging yet another go. Look for changes to the layout, recipes for the absurd amounts of baking I've been doing, reading recommendations, and general updates on my life and the things/places/people I love.

Stay tuned!