#SocialMediaAddict

Posted on July 19, 2013 by Lauren

Social media is a slippery slope.

Yes, I know “media” is plural, but the phrase has become a sovereign term — it’s immune to the laws of grammar!

In highschool, it was MySpace. In college, it was Facebook. After graduation, it was Instagram and a brief obsession with foodie shots and pictures of my cats. I got an iPhone and downloaded far too many game apps. Curse you, Bejeweled Blitz! How many nights you have ruined my bedtime! After that, I got married, bought a house, and then joined Pinterest. I’m sure my husband and immediate family are thankful it was in that order. After Pinterest, I started a blog.

And now, I have finally succumbed to the one social medium I always swore I’d resist: Twitter. I don’t think I can go much further down the rabbit hole, at least until they invent the EyePhone.

* Vacant expression included.

I’ll be the first to admit — technology and social media are consuming. You can lose an entire hour in what feels like minutes. You can become that couple in a restaurant on a double date with their smart-phones. You can spend more time tweeting, pinning, and posting about life than actually living it. But at the end of the day, these things are tools, and their merit comes down to application and moderation.

The great benefits of technology and social media are creativity and connectivity. These are good things! Like learning about something you never knew existed with StumbleUpon. Creating a website to share your gifts with the world. Staying in touch with family and friends who live far away through Skype dates. Coordinating trips and parties and reunions on Facebook. Networking on LinkedIn.

There are a million outlets for art, literature, music, you name it. It is an exchange of ideas and culture that goes beyond physical borders. And as much as we contribute to the conversation by sharing the things that are important to us, reciprocally, we learn from the things that are important to others.

In so many ways, this blog has helped me to live a fuller life. It pushes me to contemplate the things I do and consider how they add value to my day. It reminds me to make the most of my time, and to act on my dream projects and ideas. And it encourages me to share my thoughts and experiences so they can inspire others.

And yet, as great as they are, technology and social media cannot replace the real world. There is something so special about discovering a new person or place with your own senses. The key is finding a balance where the three can co-exist for a richer human experience. 🙂

#JustifyingMyAddiction

Devil’s Food Cake Cookies

Posted on July 12, 2013 by Lauren

I’m back! Apologies for the hiatus!! I’ve been busy with work, and road trips, and birthdays, and pulling weeds in my yard. Speaking of birthdays, this recipe goes out to a certain brother-in-law whose love of chocolate rivals my own. I scrapped together what I had in my cupboard, and it turned out pretty darn delicious!

Happy Birthday, Jamie! 🙂

Ingredients: Yields 24 large cookies.

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
16.5 oz Duncan Hines Devil’s Food Cake Mix
1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
12 oz bag of mini chocolate chips

Directions:

1) In a large bowl, combine the butter, egg, and vanilla.

2) Stir in the cake mix, adding heavy whipping cream midway.

3) When the cake mix is completely incorporated, add the chocolate chips.

4) Bake at 350° F for 10-12 minutes.

5) Cool 2 minutes on the cookie sheets, then remove to wire racks.

Ooey-gooey-chocolate goodness!

The cookies are really soft and moist. This is a really easy cookie recipe, and I’m so happy with how they turned out!

Sink or Swim

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Lauren

I took on another ambitious project this weekend. Has anyone noticed a trend, here? I get excited to try something new and instead of taking baby steps, I just jump in the deep end. Perfect example: my first fondant cake.

Well, this time it was painting a nursery for Suzy, a good friend of my childhood bestie, Shantal. Suzy is super sweet, and I’ve known her (through my childhood friend) since high school. She has a daughter and son (about 7 and 5), and she is having twin boys in September.

Shantal asked me if I would help decorate the nursery. I said yes, with the caveat that no one could get mad if it turned out ugly! 🙂 Plus, Suzy made it really easy by picking out this adorable theme:

It’s called Bubbles & Squirt.

Shantal went in the weekend before and painted the walls blue with pretty waves, so I just had to embellish with the characters from the crib set. I had a field day! We painted the turtle, octopus (which only had 6 legs), pufferfish, jellyfish, crab, seahorses, starfish, coral, seaweed, and assorted other fish PLUS we added a sea anemone and sea urchin to the mix.

Octopus, crab, and pufferfish.

Sea turtle!

Momma fish with two babies, and a starfish.

Coral, anemone, and sea urchin, plus a cute crab her son made for the nursery.

We even used glitter paint over the air bubbles!

Seahorses.

These represent all the kids, her daughter and son, plus the twins!

The boys’ names with seaweed growth charts!

Jellyfish!

Assorted coral.

We even painted the trim a sandy color to coordinate with the ocean theme. It took us about 16 hours to complete — with an hour break for lunch and a half-hour coffee break!

Let me just say, I learned A LOT from this.

Plan ahead. We only had Saturday to get this done so we could surprise Suzy when they got back in town from a baby shower. We had no idea it would take us so long to complete! I would have started earlier and also laid out the designs beforehand, instead of that day.
Don’t skimp on supplies. The 12-pack of paint brushes from Michael’s doesn’t cut it on detail work! The rough brush hairs got to be pretty aggravating! And what you save in money on 57 cent craft paint, you lose in time and frustration applying two and three coats!
Bring music. Unfortunately, our iPhones batteries couldn’t supply us with Pandora music for the entire 16 hours. It was a good thing we had each other to talk to!
Bring sustenance. Time flies when you’re painting detail work like that; we hit 3:00 PM and realized we hadn’t eaten lunch! With so much to do, it definitely hurt to lose time and have to go out and get food.

Overall, I was pleased with the results, and most importantly, Suzy was happy. I was so thrilled to be able to give her this gift to welcome the twins, Hunter and Hayden. I am also glad we got to add in personal details like the fishies to represent her other children. We hope it makes them feel apart of their little brothers’ upcoming arrival.

And, I had a blast spending that time with my friend. It is a relationship I truly cherish, and I am always amazed at how we just pick back up even when it’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other!

Orchid You Not

Posted on June 2, 2013 by Lauren

Please excuse the bad pun, but I have a great update to share! Who remembers my Spring Has Sprung post and the Bulbs That Could?

They were so sad and small.

Turns out, they are Hot Pink Asiatic Lilies. And well, I am just giddy about their progress! Behold, the power of nature:

Bam! They got tall!

One of the bulbs did not survive, but four out of five ain’t bad. 🙂 It has been such a pleasure to watch these grow, week-by-week, sometimes shooting up inches overnight with good rain.

That is a gorgeous shade of pink!

Gardening is good for me, because gardening takes patience and commitment — both things I could use more of in my life. As these lilies so beautifully demonstrate, the wait is worth the reward! And just because you don’t have the best start, that doesn’t determine your future. You reap what you sow.

This wisdom goes far beyond gardening. In relationships, and in personal and professional endeavors, success and growth usually correspond to the time and effort you put in.

And progress doesn’t always come from large sacrifices. The work comes down to little things, making a commitment each and every day with the understanding that you are working towards something important.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Posted on May 26, 2013 by Lauren

Recently, a friend and co-worker of mine totally made my morning by bringing these delicious cookies to work. Oatmeal Raisin Cookies are often overlooked and passed up for something chocolate, or for a more complicated recipe. Sometimes, we forget just how wonderful a simple, tried and true recipe can be.

This cookie is flavorful, has some healthy ingredients (always a plus), and it is SO easy to make! The recipe for this cookie comes from Smitten Kitchen, a blog I will definitely be following from now on!

The recipe yields about 2 dozen small cookies.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup raisins

My friend made her cookies with coconut oil instead of butter, which I have never tried before. This recipe was a great test cookie for the task, and I was very pleased with the results. I may be turning to this substitution more often when I am baking. 🙂

Directions:

1) In a large bowl, cream together the coconut oil, brown sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth.

2) In a separate bowl, combine and whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together.

3) Stir the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Add in the oats and raisins. The coconut oil has a tendency to hold lumps. My solution was to hand-mix the batter after all the ingredients are incorporated; that way I could smoosh out any remaining lumps of coconut oil.

4) Shape the dough into small balls, and let chill while you pre-heat your oven to 350°F.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Dough

5) Place 6 balls onto a cookie sheet line with parchment paper. Bake for 11-12 minutes.

The best thing about these cookies is they are crispy on the outside, but still soft on the inside.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

This recipe is definitely being added to my big red cookbook. 🙂 And if you wanted something sweeter, you could add some chocolate chips — or I’ve even seen oatmeal raisin cookies with M&Ms in them!

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Lauren

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day!

I made these on Sunday morning, and I would highly recommend them for the breakfast in bed tray next Mother’s Day! 😉 The thing I love most about this recipe is how it combines two of my favorite comfort foods: pancakes and cinnamon rolls. See the original post and recipe here!

Cinnamon Filling:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon

To make the cinnamon filling, mix the melted butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Transfer the mixture to a ziplock baggie and put aside to thicken. It helps to “massage” the baggie occasionally, even though it makes you feel silly!

Cinnamon filling.

Cream Cheese Glaze:

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
2-ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

To make the glaze, melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Remove and add the cream cheese, whisking until it is almost smooth. Slowly add the powdered sugar, and then add in the vanilla extract last. I also added a little milk to thin out the glaze and make it easier to drizzle.

Delicious cream cheese glaze!

Lately, I’ve been using this recipe for pancakes that came with my Star Wars pancake molds. 🙂

Pancakes:

2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

To make the pancake batter, whisk two eggs in a medium bowl until frothy. Add the milk, melted butter, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and vanilla.

Directions:

1) Heat a large, nonstick skillet on medium heat. Use butter or vegetable oil to grease the pan. Add the batter, and reduce the heat to medium low. When your pancake begins to form bubbles, get ready to add the cinnamon filling.

Adding the cinnamon filling.

2) Snip the corner of the ziplock baggie. Starting at the center of the pancake, squeeze the filling in a swirl. Don’t go too close to the edges of the pancake! If you’re feeling creative, you could try some alternate designs!

You can taste the love!

3) Cook the pancake 2 minutes on low heat, or until the bubbles begin popping on top of the pancake. Flip and cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes. When you remove the pancake, make sure to wipe the pan clean with a paper towel for the next one.

4) Serve pancakes topped with a drizzle of glaze!

Cinnamon Roll Pancake with Cream Cheese Glaze

Needless to say, they tasted as good as they looked. I especially enjoyed the cream cheese glaze, a lovely alternative to always having syrup on your pancakes! 🙂

Eye of the Beholder

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Lauren

I am officially in mourning for my vacation! We didn’t go far, but that week away from the hustle and bustle was amazing.

Our little house on the marsh was quaint and secluded — and I loved it! We spent our days fishing off the dock, taking long walks around the property to catch a glimpse of the deer, reading on the porch in the big swing, watching the sunsets while the frogs chirped, combing the beach for shells, and eating lots of good food.

Everything seemed beautiful, and interesting, and special.

Edisto, South Carolina

I got to wondering, do the people who live here feel like this everyday? I would guess that most of the residents of Edisto are no longer made giddy by the sight of a conch shell or the smell of the ocean. Having grown up in Savannah, Georgia, I can understand. When you live in a tourist town, it is so easy to become desensitized to the magic and wonder that draws visitors from far and wide.

Why does the simple declaration of “vacation” seem to change our point of view? Tourist attraction or not, every place has something special to offer: natural beauty, history, architecture, quirky restaurants or shops. We just overlook them when they are part of our everyday lives. But when we’re on a trip, suddenly we appreciate the sights and sounds around us, and take joy in little things like seashells.

As the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I am lucky enough to live in the capital city of Columbia, which is brimming with things to do. I think it is time to play the tourist and find those small adventures and beauties hiding in plain sight. All it takes is a fresh pair of eyes!

Things I am going to do and see (or rediscover) in Columbia this spring/summer:

Shiny Happy Peebles

An Optimist's Guide to Living Well

Author Archives: Lauren

Devil’s Food Cake Cookies

Sink or Swim

Orchid You Not

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

Eye of the Beholder

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