Le diable dans le details III...

crush hard...

really, guys?! really! could you be any more awesome and talented?!

Apple Cinnamon goodness...

If your still not over the holiday goodies...

2 tbsp soft butter

1tsp vanilla extract

1 cup milk

2 tbsp veggie oil

1 1/2 cups diced apple (I used green for a bit of punch)

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Topping: granola and an extra pinch of cinnamon

- preheat oven to 375degrees

- In large bowl, stir dry ingredients, (flour, baking powder, salt,cinnamon)

- Add in brown sugar, egg, softened butter, veggie oil and vanilla. 

- Slowly add in milk after every few stirs, until all ingredients are wet

- Stir in apples

- Spoon batter into lined muffin tin

- Sprinkle granola and a pinch of cinnamon over the top.

- Bake for 16-18 minutes.

- makes 12

tele-photos...

 To my dear & unfortunate successor,
Sunday night (Christmas night)...this holiday weekend is coming to an end. Mr. and I had a good one this year. It was peaceful, less stressful than most others, and we drove...a lot. We took a "Polar Express" train ride in Mt. Hood. It was filled with hot chocolate, ginger cookies, children screaming for Santa & great views of the forest and some apple orchards. We drove along the river for hours listening to great music (thanks Josiah;) We went shopping...together! We never get to shop together. We drove around fancy neighborhoods to look at the gorgeous old houses. We got lost. We made dinners. We saw Christmas lights...
I hardly ever get to use "we" when recounting the things that I've done for the week. I am very glad that this holiday weekend I got to describe with "we." However, like I said, it is coming to a close and I'm back to I for the night. The Mr. has gone to work and now I'll just cuddle up in all my blankets and watch Edward Scissorhands on Netflix.

crafting...

I've been super crafty lately...and I'm loving it! There were so many tutorials, sewing patterns and various projects that had (until now) just been taking up space in my craft notebook...it was really stressing me out. I love sewing and making various things, but just seeing the ideas & projects pile up in writing without actually being created...well, that just gives me mini anxiety attacks. Anyway, all my holiday shopping was done about a week ago so I spent this week making and reinventing many, many skirts, cooking with new recipes and making a few of these super cute little wallets...

 

A day trip to Seattle...

views from the Pike Place Market & space needle...

 

a tour through the Everett Boeing facility...

I have to promise to stop wearing these yellow shoes...

but don't they go with everything? Yeah...I thought so.
  Anyway, we went to the Oregon zoo in Portland to take a late night train ride through their Zoo Lights. It was really great. I wish I could have taken more photos of the animals, but it was too dark and a flash in an animals eyes...well that's just rude! However, it was a very majestic train ride...the sounds of heavy steel on the tracks, hissing steam, whispers of excited children, the weary bright eyes of the wolves in the dark of night... (the wolves were pretty amazing)

Ode to edvard munch...

To my dear & unfortunate successor;
pieces of one of my favorite short stories. 

"...no matter the season or the weather. I've seen her barefoot in snow. I asked her about that once, if she would wear shoes if I brought her a pair and she said no, thank you, but no, because shoes make her claustrophobic. I find her sitting there alone on the park bench near the old fountain, and I always ask before I sit down next to her. And always she smiles and says of course, of course you can sit with me. You can always sit with me.
...she smelled of fallen leaves, that dry and oddly spicy odour that I have always associated with late October. Yes, she smelled of fallen leaves and her own sweat and, more faintly, something that I took to be wood smoke. Her breath was like frost against my skin, colder even than the long winter night. .....and she whispered soothing words in a language I could neither understand nor recognize.
...and she's left me these strange dreams in return. I have begun to think of them as a sort of gift, though I know that others might think them more a curse. Because they are not entirely pleasant dreams. 
...she has made me superstitious and given to what psychiatrists call "magical thinking", misapprehending cause and effect, when I was never that way before we met.
I play piano in a martini bar and, until now, there's never been anything in my life that I might mistake for magic. But there are many things in her wide burnt sienna eyes that I might mistake for many other things, and now that uncertainty seems to cloud my every waking thought."
-ode to edvard munch; Caitlin R. Kiernan

Head on over...

Hello!
The sweet Stina over at Her name was Greta is starting to feature guest posts from her "friends & sponsors." Guess what? I'm up! Head on over for my quick collar tutorial...

Bienvenue, sweet flouncy collar...

I received my ASOS dress sooner than I expected and I couldn't be happier! The collar is everything I had hoped for. It is about 4 inches too wide so I had to wear a belt with it. Which is definitely not a problem, it can easily be taken in a little on both sides, but I just could not wait to wear it!

Besides... a dress being too big is so much better than the disappointment of a dress being too small!

So with the joy of wearing a new dress comes the undeniable urge to dance like I'm back in school listening to my Dennis...

Le diable dans le details II...

Just a few details that have made my week, thus far, a little bit brighter...

When shopping, I usually pass right by that Icing accessory store because it's great for teens and not so much for me. Until the other day, when I passed by and saw a table display that was set up in front of their store. It had this great black velvet pillbox hat...so I went inside in search of it. Turns out, they didn't even sell it! but they were selling this cute little purse, in all its simplistic glory, for $5!  

Pulling out the holiday decor...

 

Taking out the extra blankets, sci-fi edition...

Fancy collars...

Red & white ruffles: MNG by Mango for Jcpenney.