A Lovely Weekend Away

I've been lost between the blizzard white lines of to-do lists for weeks on end, and while I see another snow storm coming my way, I have thankfully the blinding flurries of stress this past weekend, in exchange for real, sparking snowflakes. A friend of mine whisked me away to Tahoe for three days of non-stop skiing. While I may not have mastered gravity as well as this skier has, I must say that I feel very like some sort of quick, if maybe a bit ungraceful, bird coming down the slopes. While the skiing was amazing, I was most dazzled by the weather. I must say there is certainly nothing nearly as lovely as receiving a morning kiss of snow-stars.

The Perfect Valentine's Breakfast Treat: A Heart-Shaped Doughnut Recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1 TBSP sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs
vegetable oil
confectioners sugar

Directions:
In a heavy saucepan, combine water, butter and sugar and bring to a boil. Add flour and cook, whisking constantly for 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Cool.
Spoon mix into a bowl. Add eggs, beating at medium speed with an electric mixer.
Turn dough out onto floured surface. Roll to 1/8 inch thickness and cut into 1 inch squares (or any shape you'd like (I did hearts) though cooking time varies with size.)
In a Dutch oven (or on stove top) pour oil to a depth of 1/2 inch. Heat tp 375 degrees. Fry 1 to 2 minutes. Drain on cooling racks lined with paper towels. Sprinkle with confectioners sugar.
Optional toppings:
- berries
- frosting and sprinkles
- chocolate sauce
- jam

"Live simply that others might simply live." ~Elizabeth Seaton

The wonderful Christina of Soul Aperture has come up with an oh-so-clever, oh-so-sweet, oh-so-very-generous idea... Here are the instructions: write a list, however long you like, of all the simple things that make life so lovely. Then, link your post to her page: here. For every person that participates, a dollar will be donated to help Haiti.

Here goes my list:
- utter quietness
- a room of my own, colored with the essence of 'relax'
- feminine gloves
- the piano
- scrambled eggs
- a knock-the-breath out of you surprise hug
- the sound of a loved one's laughter
- yoga
- jane austen movies (love Keira Knightley or Anne Hathaway)
- clean, freshly cut nails
- a massage
- Dove shampoo
- the shadow hours
- the tops of hills
- knowing there's a hand out there for you to hold, even if you haven't met the body attached to that hand
- the taste of rain water
- flowers
- trees (especially for hugging- have you ever really tried it?)
- libraries
-the sound of water, birds, grass, nature in all its gigabyte-free glory
- feeling "the burn" of a truly taxing exercise
- fruit
- having a place to go home
- vanilla extract
- showers, pillows, clean clothes

I could go on and on, but gratitude and guilt overcome me... Does anyone else feel a sort of... survivor's remorse sometimes? I cannot seem to reach an answer of why I have been given everything when others are ransacked of what little they had constantly? It makes me hurt...

A Sunny and Stormy Stroll Through the Vineyards- Chasing a Rainbow

Yesterday I ventured off to Napa for a dash of inspiration. The Sky promised lovely things, but she was feeling quite mercurial and rarely let the Sun smile through her clouds... I embraced her mood swings and found beauty in both darkness and light.

Musical Monday No. 9

She sees blue and red on the crown she wears upon her head.
i love you he said, her husband she recently wed.
she dreams this while she's wide awake.

counting her diamond rings,
she has one for every day of the week.
birds are dancing while she sings
oh her dream life, it is so unique,
and i hope this stops for her own sake.

and if you could make this happen,
i would not be surprised.
make life what i'm dreaming, all in just one night.

then why oh why can't i?

golden yellow skies, an image of her in my eye.
growing trees and firefly's,
and answers to the question "why?"

people twice my size, and all the times for second tries.
we heard you on the radio, oh it feels so good just to let go.
if you could make the oceans, and live above the skies,
wake the sun for morning and light the moon at night.

then why of why can't i?

Inventive Umbrellas

Snooping around looking for umbrella photos the other day I found these super-umbrellas. They're not just your ordinary umbrellas...

This is for those of you who don't particularly like stormy days...

Perfect for keeping hair and make-up flawless...

More overhead coverage...

So your poor little puppy doesn't come home soaking wet...

Too cute! I want this one...

Turns into a little bag...

And my favorite of all... The tandem umbrella for sweethearts. I mostly love this picture because the boy is quite good-looking and I just ADORE both their senses of fashion.

Anyone else having stormy weather? Which one do you want?

Today I'm Thankful For... Umbrellas

Such simple, useful items... yet so beautiful in their devotion...
Especially in these photos. Notice the how the different color settings affect the mood?

(If anyone knows where these photos came from, feel free to tell me)