"a few of my fav-o-rite things"

Whether it's her boyish haircut or her enthusiasm for Austrian landscapes, I'm feeling inspired by Julie today. So I'm running to the proverbial hills (aka blogland) to share some of my own favorite things. Unfortunately, they don't really go to a snazzy tune like hers do (I tried and failed), but it's a fun list anyways:

Cold sheets & ceiling fans

Finding awesome new blogs/blogger friends

Homemade cocoa with whipped cream

Not setting an alarm clock (aka the week-end! whoo!)

Driving with the windows down

How silky pj pants feel when you finally get around to shaving your legs

Wrapping up in a squishy quilt

The sound york peppermint patties make when you break off a piece

The autumn-y smell of dead leaves and wet earth

British television (my favs: Doctor Who, As Time Goes By, and Downton Abbey)

Giving presents & getting mail—like sending out my Cara Box today!

Really hot spiced chai on a cold, windy day

Nice blog comments and new followers…(hint, hint)

Christmas music (though I am trying to hold off till after Thanksgiving)

Building at-home-assembled furniture (I could seriously work for IKEA, yall)

Oh, and this cat gif (totally cracks me up!) 

Your turn…what are some of your favorite things? I'd love to hear!

tuesday tunes – soulful ladies

First up is one of my absolute all-time favorites Emiliana Torrini, an Icelandic singer whose haunting vocals you might recognize from her performance of "Gollum's Song" in The Two Towers. (I know, I know this makes two days in a row with LOTR references) She is fantastic and I'd very strongly recommend her album Fisherman's Woman (2005). And here's one of my favorites off that album: Sunny Road

And since I didn't get around to doing a Tuesday Tunes last week (the car situation has been fully handled, I'm happy to say), here's another of my favorite sultry female vocalists…the amazing Julie London. As I told Scout over at Cardigans & Old Watches, I first heard Julie in the 2006 film V for Vendetta and I just fell in love with her casual, smoky style. She can swing it right along with the greats (namely, Ella & Billie), and her sensual tone always makes me feel like I'm sitting in bar smoking a cigarette and drinking a mint julep somewhere circa 1960. (though I don't actually do any of those things, for the record) So here's one of her most famous songs (I know you'll love it too): "Cry Me A River"

cookies & imaginary French friends

Back in 2002, I was just 14 and still fairly inexperienced in the kitchen…but every Thursday evening I felt like a master. Even though it was after the glory days of Julia, Chocolate with Jacques Torres held it’s own well before Emeril and Rachel Ray ever hit the foodie scene—back in the good old days when Iron Chef was still in Japanese and no one had ever heard of it. But I digress…the point is that as soon as I heard the rich French accent of Monsieur Torres, I felt like I could bake anything! When it got pulled off the air, I was inconsolable.

Fast forward 10 years and there I was, completely thrilled to have stumbled across this recipe for Torres’ own Secret Chocolate Chip Cookies. However, post-jail Martha seems to have become a little unreliable (sorry!). But I forged on with full confidence in my old friend Jacques. Now, I don’t know whose pants are on fire for this one (liar, liars), but this is definitely not Jacques’ best-kept secret. Don’t get me wrong, the cookies are great…dense and packed with chocolate. But they are far too sweet (especially for a traditional French palette) and the recipe made almost 8 batches. 8 batches, ladies. My kitchen looks an episode of Hoarders filmed at Cookie Monster’s house!

Anyways, I’ve been giving away these great-but-not-perfect cookies all weekend and silently pondering over the recipe. So I looked and again and was steered back on to the right path by the trusty Bakerella. She posted this link to the real Jacques Torres Chocolate Chip Cookies and upon further inspection, it seems to have everything mine were lacking: altogether much less dough and a salt sprinkle to balance all the sweetness. Once I finish pawning off graciously sharing the dozens of cookies I still have at home, these will definitely by my take-2!

On the plus, while I was hand chopping the pound of chocolate Martha’s recipe called for, I felt just like my girl Juliette Binoche in Chocolat…probably one of my top 3 favorite movies of all time. If you have somehow managed not to see it yet…I’ll quote Gandalf and say, “Fly, you fools!” But seriously, go watch it now…and buy yourself some fancy chocolates to snack on while you watch (that’s an important part).

So tell me…do you have an amazing secret chocolate chip cookie recipe?

And what makes the worlds best chocolate chip cookie in your opinion?
Thin and crispy, big and cakey, dense and fudgy? I’m partial to the slightly undercooked fudgy kind.

how my sad car reminded me of something bigger

This is a long post, but please bear with me…it's worth it. So Tuesday morning, I woke up, got dressed, packed bfast and a thermos of my favorite hot tea, and set out for work. Two flights of stairs and one door later, I find this:

Call me small-town, call me naive, but I just didn’t think people actually did this…stealing car wheels and leaving it on bricks. Particularly in a wide-open parking lot full of other, much nicer cars. Dumbstruck and frustrated are the understatements of the year. But ya know…such is life. And I’m not about to spend the rest of a perfectly good blog post just complaining about it. I’d much rather share what this unexpected little event has caused me to think on during the last 48 hours, amidst a slew of phone calls with my insurance company: how God takes care of us and about desperation.

We later found out that my car’s particular make and model requires special sized tires, leading the police and insurance company to believe that someone out there has the exact same car as me and couldn’t afford to replace their own tires. Or that they’re running a chop shop. Regardless, I’ve been trying to focus on what those people were thinking or feeling when they did this, rather than just giving in to being angry. I know there’s a chance they’re just heartless criminals looking to make some quick money, but I also know that anyone can be driven to do crazy things in times of desperation. Be it for drugs, or food for their family, or just to keep themselves safe from debts with the wrong people. The point is…I have felt desperate before. I am an incredibly blessed person, but I do know what it's like to feel the heartwrenching panic of being desperate and lost and alone.

And whoever you are...I understand, And I’m genuinely sorry for whatever circumstances have brought you to this place. Frankly, I’d rather just be angry and think the worst of you. But I know the real difference…the one thing I have in that moment of fear and helplessness…hope in Christ. My family has struggled and we know what it's like to feel like everything is falling apart…BUT every. single. time….God showed up. In the most unexpected way, He was there providing. We’ve received countless anonymous checks that literally saved us from the brinks, and innumerable friends have stepped in to fill in the gaps. And every time things looked darkest, we knew (and know!) that God has got it under control. All we have to do is trust.

So to you, people with my tires: I want you to know that I’m praying for you. And that it really is okay. Just last night, I shared what happened with my church choir and several people started pulling out cash and checkbooks to help me cover my (daunting) insurance deductible. And in this way, what you’ve done has just been a great reminder of all the incredible blessings I've been given and the unending way that God’s always got me covered. I’m just sad I can't share these thoughts with you. Boy do I know what it feels like to be lost and desperate, but that not me now. And it doesn’t have to be yours. Whatever the circumstances are...there is no desperation so dark that Christ can't bring you out of it. So I’m going to pray that somehow those tires will lead you to Him, to a family of people who will love and encourage you. And I for one, would welcome you with open arms.

Psalm 32: "Therefore let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them. You are my hiding place, you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance."

cocoa to die for…or from

Have you ever tasted something so good that you wanted to close your eyes and swim in it?
If not…here’s your opportunity!

I stumbled across a hot chocolate recipe a few weeks ago (thank you, Pinterest) and knew immediately that it was meant for me. First of all, I. Love. Winter. …A lot. Secondly, I also love (and own) the movie Polar Express. Lastly, because I consider myself something of a cocoa connoisseur. I can admit that I love it far more than I should and frankly, I think there is something supremely magic in a great cup of cocoa. Proper hot chocolate should taste like it was ladled out of Willy Wonka’s river, did the tango with a cinnamon stick, and then snuggled down for a long winter’s nap under a fluffy blanket of snowflakes. I warned you…I’m totally hooked.

Anyways… so when I read the following recipe (compliments of Honey & Fitz), I was very excited. Despite my cocoa love affair, I’ve never made it from scratch before. It a great decision. Plus, my sweet friend Annie was over and game for an adventure (she always is). So we gathered our ingrediments (as our choir ladies say) and got to work…short work because it’s just cocoa after all and not very difficult.

The recipe seemed like it would serve a lot so we halved it and decided to use the leftover heavy cream for homemade whipped cream (a first for Annie). It also calls for 30-40 min of stirring time so we altered the directions due to childish impatience time constraints. Here’s my adapted version of Polar Express Hot Cocoa (original here):

In a medium pot, combine the following over medium-low heat:

¾ cups of heavy cream

½ of a 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk

1 Tbsp each vanilla and cinnamon extracts

3 cups of milk (we used 2%)

In a microwave safe bowl, melt 1 cup each of bittersweet and semisweet chocolate chips by microwaving for 30 seconds and stirring alternately until smooth.

Stir the milk mixture until it gets moderately warm then add in your melted chips. Keep stirring until it reaches your desired cocoa serving temperature. (As I pointed out to Annie, if you add the chocolate straightaway to the cold milk, it will harden back, rendering all your hard-earned microwaving for naught.)

To make the whipped cream (which you should totally do), put a medium bowl and your mixer beaters into the freezer. Once they’re nice and chilly, pour your remaining heavy cream into the bowl (we had about 1 cup of cream leftover and it made plenty), add a tbsp of confectioner’s sugar and tbsp of cinnamon, then beat on medium until peaks form (usually 2-3 minutes). Just don’t overbeat it or it will get clumpy and weird. Once this is done, you can keep it right in the freezer until it’s ready to take a bath in your cocoa (lucky whipped cream).

Once you reach your desired serving temp, carefully pour it in to cute mugs (okay, they don’t have to be cute but it makes Annie’s instagramming fancier), spoon on a ton of your awesome homemade whipped cream, sit down somewhere comfy, and prepare to be amazed. It is super rich and decadent and probably should only be served in smallish cups, but it is awesome. And so is spending time with friends on a quilt desperately in need of patching (more to come on this sad tale later).

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

**Final note: our halved recipe made enough for around 4 good-sized mugs’ worth

swimming in ink: just my type

Know the difference between serif and sans serif? Ever spent hours perusing dafont.com? When scrolling through your font toolbar, could you take a quick nap before you reach the end? Do you feel personally assaulted when sent an email with Comic Sans or CurlzMT? Then Just My Type is probably the book for you.

From Guttenburg's press to the era of hipsters with Helvetica tattoos, Just My Type covers it all. Garfield takes time to really explore the history of type development and its ever-evolving impact and influence on audiences. He also examines some of the biggest trends and faux pas in font use as well as some of history's greatest font wars…yes, you read that right, wars over fonts.

And though it certainly has a visual aspect to demonstrating the fonts being discussed, this book is by no means destined for a coffee table. The best part…you don't have to be a graphic design junkie to enjoy it. I promise! Garfield is intellectual and lighthearted, throwing in a slew of random facts, interesting stories, and personal thoughts. Plus, he’s is no type expert…just a font enthusiast himself. 

From one Amazon reviewer, "[Garfield] writes about the artisans behind the lettering, and most interesting, how certain fonts cause emotional responses in the people who view them. Why were some fonts popular for hundreds of years, only to fall from favor? How do fonts determine what consumers buy and what they don't buy? And how boring our lives would be if everything was printed in the same font."

There’s a lot more to type design that most people realize, even though it surrounds us in every aspect of our lives. I mean, you’re reading this right now…in a font. So stop browsing MyFonts.com, trying to figure out whether you can afford that latest-and-greatest, just-have-to-have-it sans serif beauty, and check out Just My Type.

Just My Type by Simon Garfield

384 pages, paperback

Gotham Books, copyright 2012

ISBN: 1592407463

(for the record, I bought this book on my own and received no compensation for this ballin review either from Mr. Garfield or the dudes at Gotham)

thoughts on joy

I have this refrigerator magnet about peace. It was a gift from my (amazing) mom during a particularly stressful time in my life a couple years ago and ever since I put it up, I read it and try to remind myself of the truth in its words.

But like patience or love or forgiveness, having peace is an easy one to practice when the going is good. And despite my general gloominess this week and certain recurring stressors, when I’m honest with myself (like metaphorically standing in front of a full-length mirror naked honest), things in my life are pretty darn awesome right now. So why such a poopy pants then, huh sarah? I know, I know.

I do benefit from reading my tiny magnet, but right now, I want to focus on joy. Not the just-got-some-flowers-at-work or discovered-a-cool-new-band or yay-the-Eagles-finally-won-a-game kind of happy. I’m talking about the God-is-so-good! kind of joy! The kind of joy where you know if you could actually see your soul outside your body, it would be smiling and the two of you could have a dance party together (laws of metaphysics aside). The joy of really knowing that you are immensely loved by an immeasurable God. Then, like in a Claritin allergy commercial, suddenly all the extraordinary blessings around you are crystal clear—the haze is lifted. That is the joy I'm embracing today.

I fully recognize that it would be exhausting to be that joyful all the time. And that like all good things (except mint Oreos), there is something even better the rarity of these moments. But for today, I’m enjoying it—haha, get it? (excuse the terrible pun)

So before you return to your regularly scheduled programming (whatever that may be). Call a “Stop! Hammertime” on your day and take a few moments to have a dance party with God, just because of joy. I mean it…really dance, alone in your room, just feeling joy down to your fingertips. If you need a little inspiration, I’d strongly suggest this totally rockin’ tune…I'm dancin!