Daydreams...

Can someone please break me out of my life and take me here? Until then, I'll just daydream about how relaxing this would be and prepare for my weekend trip to Cola. :)

Get ready for this one....

I realized today that I keep telling you lies. Saying I'm going to post these delish things I've been making, and then don't. I'm terrible. I know. But wait no longer because this is about to be one big post (or several little ones, I haven't decided)!

First things first! Recently I've been baking a ridiculous amount of cookies. Big ones, little ones, with or without chocolate. Good lord, so many. So here are the ones I can remember! Oh and since I'm terrible, I didn't take pictures of any of them. But I know you know what a cookie looks like! :)

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I got this recipe from the Betty Crocker website. These were delicious and made a ton! You'll definitely want to make these. As a little side note, I added cinnamon and nutmeg to add some flavor, but I'm sure they would have been fine without it! Since I have now decided to make this one big post, head on over here to check out the recipe!

Chocolate Sugar Cookies

 These cookies were spawned about two months ago when I had a severe choco craving. Since we allll know how that is, these are the perfect little solution when you want something sweet and a little chocolaty. I got them off of a recipe I found on Smitten Kitchen. If y'all haven't been to her blog lately, you're missing out. I looove her recipes and this is definitely one of them. You can use this slice-and-bake cookie recipe with whatever ingredients you have on hand. It's a good one to get creative with, but she gives some good examples! I used the "swap 1/4 cup of flour for unsweetened cocoa" option. I found that it was a lot easier to slice these once you rolled them up into a log (toll house cookie style) in some parchment paper and froze them. Then just before you cook, sprinkle some sugar on them.

Ok don't kill me, but now that I'm looking at it, maaybe I used the below one. Or maybe both of them, I really don't remember. That'll teach me to save recipes for so long huh? Anywho, here's the other one from Smitten Kitchen.

Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Adapted from Retro Desserts
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room- temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg

1. Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375°F.
2. In a food processor, or bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. While pulsing, or on low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue processing or mixing until dough comes together in a mass.
3. Take rounded teaspoons of batter [For oversized ones, I used a 1/8 cup scoop] and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately 2 inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.

 Bourbon Peach Hand Pies

Ok, so this is the last one I'm going to post about. I thought I already did, but alas, I was wrong. These were interesting. I got this one from Smitten Kitchen too. I have to say, this was my first attempt at making pie anything by myself. It was an experience. And one that definitely could have turned out better. But I am not deterred! The pie dough turned out flaky and delish, but for some reason didn't stay very crispy once i stored them. I blame this on my shoddy storage methods, but whatevs. The filling was really good, but I suggest that you let it sit for at least an hour to soak up all the juices (also known as "maceration") before you load it into the pies. I also felt that it was difficult to do the "crescent moon" pie without tearing the dough. After two I pretty much moved on to making the bigger ones. This is not a quick recipe, but it is a pretty good one! So try it out if you're up for it. Below is my handy work. Don't judge lol.

Well there you go. I'm making some other treats this week for my friend Kyle's birthday and the USC/Bama tailgate, so hopefully I'll get those up before Christmas. Haha, jk (maybs)! I hope you guys enjoy these and feel free to let me know how they go for you and any suggestions you have! Have a great Monday night!

Quotable Monday: Success

 

"No matter how frightened and discouraged I may become about the future, I look forward to it. In spite of everything I see all around me every day, I have a shaky assurance that everything will turn out fine; and I don’t think I’m the only one. Why else would the phrase “Everything is alright” ease a troubled place in so many of us? We just don’t know, we never know, yet we have so much faith. We hold our hands over our hurts and lean forward. It is how we keep on, this kind of hope."

- Elizabeth Berg

"I believe that no matter how many mistakes we’ve made; how badly we’ve really, really screwed up; how old, worn out, or dejected we’ve become; as long as there is true, steadfast ambition, all of us have an opportunity for greatness." 

- Dave Pelzer - Moving Forward

"Don’t fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of a life contains two descriptions: might have, and should have." 

- Unknown

"Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

- Howard Thurman

"Promise me you’ll always remember: you’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."

- A.A. Milne, Winne the Pooh

"I’ve learned a lot this year.. I learned that things don’t always turn out the way you planned, or the way you think they should. And I’ve learned that there are things that go wrong that don’t always get fixed or get put back together the way they were before. I’ve learned that some broken things stay broken, and I’ve learned that you can get through bad times and keep looking for better ones, as long as you have people who love you."

- Jennifer Weiner

 *All quotes via
*All photos via 

So True

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I dedicate this to my biff, Kristin Sharps. My life would be semi-meaningless and way less interesting without you!

Blog Giveaways!

I love a good blog giveaway. I see them all the time on the blogs I read and never really think to try and get in on the goods. But not this time! One of my favorite blogs to follow is Pink Preppy Lilly Lover by Trish. Her blog inspires a lot of what I do on here as far as fashion and quotes go.

This week shes doing an 'inspired by tortoise' giveaway, that I am definitely hoping to win! I love everything about this watch and just know that it would look devine on my wrist.

It's Michael Kors, and will basically go with everything I own so I'm hoping! But if not, there's alwaaaays Christmas! :)

Hop on over to Trish's blog to check it out....I know you won't be disappointed! I'll be back soon to post some yummies I've made recently. And though I'm pretty sure I say that almost every time I post, I promise it's true this time!

Quotable Tuesday: Coco Chanel

 

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"In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different."

 

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"A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous."

 

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"The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud."

 

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"As long as you know men are like children, you know everything!"

 

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"Success is often achieved by those who don't know that failure is inevitable." 

 

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"How many cares one looses when one decides not be something, but to be someone."

 

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"Don't spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door."

College Football = Love

Ok so listen....I know I've been suuuper slack about posting, but I swear I'm back in action. I've had a really intense past couple of weeks, but I believe things are looking up now! Especially because it's college football seasonnnn!!! Ok ok let me quit hyperventilating for a second......

I'm good. So today I'm packing up the car and heading to Columbia with my girl Kennedy to watch my beloved Gamecocks play those disgusting Georgia Bulldogs. And good Lawd am I excited! Talgating and Gamecock football have to be two of my favorite pasttimes, but especially so with this game. I mean I have a lot of bragging rights riding on this game. Do you know how HARD it is to live in Georgia and be surrounded by UGA fans alllll the time and not talk a lot of smack? But I'll tell you what. If we win, all bets are off. Thankfully, I'm not a super obnoxious Gamecock fan, but I will be for a few people if all goes according to plan!

My friend Erin sent me this quote from ESPN about USC and I am so happy to share it with you all.

"There's something different in Columbia. Those guys can really play & they expect to win. Theres been a lot of tough years for South Carolina, but it's different now. You can feel it & see it when you enter Williams-Brice Stadium. That's a good football team down there. We will see on Saturday, but Georgia might not know what hit them on the way back to Athens.  I believe South Carolina has finally arrived." - ESPN

 Ahhh it feels good to be liked by ESPN again. Anywho, since it's a noon game, it is suuuure to be a ridiculous time. I can just feel the onslaught of headaches I'm going to experience on the Sunday afternoon drive back to ATL. For you entertainment I'm going to post a few of my favorite tailgating/ football season pictures. Enjoy and I'll be back on Monday to regail you with my fun adventures....hopefully. Have a great weekend and good luck to the teams you're cheering for (unless it's UGA of course!).  :)

  Some beautiful DZ's tailgating for USC/UGA last year in Athens

                                      Georgia fans are sooooo classy lol

                        Me, Mon, and Cagle obv hating on the Dawgs

Me and Kris tailgating for our last game of our college careers 

                           Christin and I clearly mid-tailgate

                                 Typical shenans at Sigma Chi