New Blog

I have finally decided on a permanent name for my blog that suits my personality, writing style, and discussion topics. That name is: 'Tis life, darling!

That being said, my blog has been moved. Please update any bookmarks and subscriptions to: http://tislifedarling.blogspot.com/

I hope you have enjoyed the posts here and will continue to follow me on this journey!

xoxo
Alli J

Where are you Christmas?

It’s December 10^th – only 15 days until Christmas. This is normally my favorite time of the year. I’m usually bustling about decorating our home, hosting parties, buying gifts, and enjoying other holiday festivities.

This year is different. Because we’re in the middle of a move, I barely have any furniture in my apartment, let alone decorations. The stress of completing my student teaching and grad school while getting ready to move and job hunting has got me feeling down in the dumps lately. And to top it all off, there was a record high temperature in this area of Florida today – 78 degrees on December 10th - oy!

Needless to say, I am having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit this year. It pains me to type that as Christmas is absolutely my favorite holiday and I have delighted in its presence for as long as I can remember.  I am trying to find ways to boost my holiday cheer in the midst of all the chaos - any ideas?

Here is my one measly strand of white twinkle lights that I managed to grab out of storage before everything was shipped away.

I feel like Cindy Lou Who from the Jim Carrey version of the Grinch.

“Where are you Christmas?

Why can’t I find you?

Why have you gone away?....

My world is changing

I’m rearranging

Does that mean Christmas changes too?”

It's been a while...

Wow.  I kind of fell off of the blogosphere. I had every intention of contributing to the blog at least twice per week, but then life happened. I missed two entire months, and two of my favorite months of the year at that! Let’s give this another try.

While I was out....

October – Student teaching & grad school have consumed my life. I feel like every waking moment is spent lesson planning, teaching, or writing papers. I managed to make it to one Halloween party where some friends and I were the cast of Grey’s Anatomy. I was Addison Montgomery, visiting from L.A. of course. I missed the Northeast terribly, but was able to enjoy a few cool days at the end of October. I supplemented my yearning for Northeastern autumns with pumpkin spice coffee daily and comfort food, a la turkey pumpkin chili –mmm! That’s my October in a nutshell. 

I also took some time on October 8th to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving. I roasted a turkey breast and served it with all of the fixins' - yum!

November came and went in one big blur. I honestly do not recall doing much of anything outside of student teaching and graduate school. ‘Tis the life of a student teacher.  I was able to escape all of my schoolwork to spend Thanksgiving with family and friends. We went to Kings’ grandmother’s house and shared a wonderful meal and many laughs with aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, and my mother-in-law. It was a terrific holiday.

Oh, and I managed to get out there and vote on November 6th. Politics aside, voting to me is an inspirational experience. To know that we live in a country where we get a voice, a voice that so many of our ancestors fought long and hard to be heard - we get a voice.

Sometime during the two months, I managed to make one fall craft – an autumn banner. Incredibly simple DIY project. I bought wooden letters from the craft store, painted them various colors, hot glued them on twine, then added a couple Styrofoam pumpkins when it was hung.

And voila!

A simple autumn banner made my Florida apartment feel just a little more like fall.

Yard Sale-ing & Flea Market-ing

Lately, I have been hitting up some local yard sales and flea markets on the weekends. I have a love/hate relationship with yard sales and flea markets. On one side, I love searching through the multitude of items with the hopes of discovering something exquisite. On the other hand, I tend to get discouraged after multiple searches through dishes, knick knacks, decorations, and books to no avail. However, I can usually convince myself to continue on my search for the perfect items for my home, crafts, and projects.

Lately, I have had some successes in the book department. I’ve always loved vintage books. There’s just something inspiring about looking at the books of our past. Recently, I came across an older copy of Dr. Suess’ Green Eggs & Ham.

Also, I found these darling “natural wonders” books.

And, my most prized book find – a dictionary from the 60’s! My first thought when I saw this baby was “Oh, the crafts I can make with you!” And that is fully what I intend to do with this book – make crafts.

Another delightful little find is this owl drawing – I simply adore it.

What are some of your favorite yard sale/flea market finds?

Simple Pleasures – Apple Nachos

The other night I was really craving something sweet. Because the husband and I have been trying to eat healthier, sweets are hard to come by in this household. However, I found some left-over hot fudge and caramel in the fridge from previous hot fudge sundae cravings. While there was no ice cream to be found, I did have a delicious gala apple. I simply used my apple corer to slice the apple, heated the hot fudge and caramel, and then drizzled both of the toppings on the apple slices. 

And voila! 

Deliciousness!

I highly recommend apple nachos as a slightly less calorie and sugar-intense option - sweet, scrumptious dessert.

This simple pleasure was tasty!

Magazine Love

Look what arrived in my mailbox yesterday!!

My October issue of Better Homes and the fall catalog for Restoration Hardware, accompanied by an extra inspiration catalog! [If you haven't checked out Restoration Hardware, you should head to their website immediately - http://www.restorationhardware.com/ - they have some amazing pieces for your home]

Needless to say, I am having some difficulty working on my schoolwork. I see some home projects in my future!

Fall Equinox

Saturday was the fall equinox, which marks the official beginning of autumn – my absolute favorite season! Even though I’m in Florida (where the high was like 92 degrees), I tried to get into the spirit of the season. I spent some time daydreaming about a place where cool, crisp air blows and I’m bundled up in a hoodie, jeans, and boots, hanging out by a campfire which is surrounded by yellow, orange, and red leaves, I’m sipping some apple cider and eating a pumpkin-flavored dessert….this is my fall. This is the fall that I always picture in my mind. Well, this coupled with pumpkin patches, hayrides, haunted houses, trick-or-treating, Halloween parties, pumpkin coffee, Thanksgiving dinner, football, and apple picking. For four years, I have been deprived of most of the staples of autumn because of my location. However, next year I’ll have my fall – the fall I always picture in my mind, the fall I’ve longed for throughout my time in Florida. The glorious autumn days will be all mine to savor! [Can you tell I’m a little excited?!]

For the time being, I’ll continue to drink my pumpkin coffee and apple cider, find a way to put pumpkin in almost every dish I cook, and burn my autumn scented candles. On Saturday, I burned a mulled apple spice candle and baked the pre-made sugar cookies with pumpkin faces on them. [I seriously love these Pillsbury sugar cookies – I think I could eat the whole batch in one sitting – eek!]

While it will never compare to the first day of autumn in Pennsylvania, it will do for now. Saturday was a good day.