Oh for Christmas' Sake!

Christmas is a big thing in my family's house. Every year on the Friday after Thanksgiving my mom and I break out a dozen or so tubs of Christmas decorations, lights, ornaments, and fun and go wild turning our house into a catalog home. This year I get to start decorating my own place (okay, not my own - but Justin said I could!) and I'm on the hunt for Christmas decorations.

A few people in my office think I'm crazy for getting started this early, but this is when the sales are good and the selection is great as well!

My question for the rest of the world:
When is too soon for Christmas to start in stores? I agree with most that you can't start decorating in October, but I think it's fair for craft stores and places that sell Christmas goods to put them on the shelves by then... It gives me time to get everything together before the day after Thanksgiving!

And poll #2 for the post:
What kind of Christmas tree do you like to see next to the hearth at Christmas? The "catalog" or "pretty" tree with the matching ornaments, balls, garland and flowers or the tree full of memories - kid's ornaments, the crafts you made in kindergarten, and the ones that have their own stories that were given over the years? I have a special place in my heart and home for each, but I'm curious to hear everyone else's take on it!

Apple Pie Dreams

I think it's safe to say that I have fairly random tendancies... Especially when it comes to food. It's a fairly normal occurrence to walk in my front door and decide to do something crazy like make chicken cordon bleu from scratch or throw together a seafood risotto just because it sounds good.

This weekend: Apple Pie. I don't know why, but I got a cinnamon apple candle and it smelled good so I decided to try my hand at apple pie. For those who know me well, you might know that baking is not exactly my strength. I tried to make chocolate cookies from scratch once... The boiling, burning mess that covered the bottom of the oven was all I had to show for it. I learned pretty early on that pre-made cookie dough was the way to go for me.

I had the bug, though, so I sent out the roommate for ingredients and started mixing up a pie dough (yup! The pie shell was even from scratch), peeling apples, and getting things ready for the experiment du jour. The crust seemed to go well - I only lost count of my tablespoons of water once and it seemed to be close to the consistancy of store-bought pie dough. Justin made the caramel sauce that went over the apples and we had family movie night while it baked.

When it came out of the oven 45 minutes later, it was a beautifully browned, delicious smelling success with only minor issues that come with experience! The crust is a little on the tough side because I think I got an extra tablespoon of water in it after all, but the apples are amazing and the overall effect was quite tasty. I vote SUCCESS! Next stop ... pecan pie to practice for Thanksgiving. Any good recipes out there?

Hello World!

So I suppose it's safe to say that I haven't posted in a while - but for good reason! It's been pretty busy lately with a trip home, some family matters (that have turned out very well thank goodness!), work, and life in general.

The good news: My trip was AMAZING! I was super excited to go home, and I knew it was going to be a good trip when I flew in with my mountains on my side of the plane and a beautiful view of some snow-topped peaks the whole way into Colorado. A quick rundown of the highlights for my trip:

Seeing my family ...
Visiting my grandma ...
Running into an old friend from high school for the first time in years ...
Running into an old friend from high school and seeing her baby for the first time ...
Hanging with my college kids (ah the joy of not being a course assistant anymore)!
Chatting with one of my favorite mentors of all time (thanks Bennett!) ...
Watching the best football game I've ever seen (even though we lost to Baylor) ...
Running into a friend from Pennsylvania at the football game ...
Watching CU lock up their first win of the season: 30-6 over Texas Tech baby!!
Eating Half Fast, Noodles, Tokyo Joes, Lucille's, and Mom's cooking ...

And last, but certainly not least:
Eating breakfast on Flagstaff Mountain with the best views of Boulder in the world. It's definitely one of the things I miss most about Boulder and was arguably one of the most peaceful, rejuvinating, and best things I did on my whole vacation.

This is just a sample of the view I had. I was a little further forward on the mountain which overlooks all of Boulder and the campus.

Overall, the trip was great. It reminded me of all that I love about Colorado and how much I miss it, but I'll be going back again soon!