My Love Affair with Food

I never imagined myself to be a woman who cooks.
When I was in College, I used to make jokes based on the fact that all I knew how to make was toast and Kraft Dinner and sometimes even failed at that.

I used to ask questions about other people's cooking...

"How'd you know how to make this?"
"Where do you find your recipes?"
"I could never make a meal this good. Have you always known how to cook?"

I was never confident in myself when it came to kitchens.
Once I started becoming interested in blogging, my favorite lifestyle bloggers would post a recipe every now and then and the ingredients they used would completely intrigue me.

I had never even heard of an avocado before blogging.

I started to learn more about how important it is to buy local foods.
How fantastic Gouda tastes on sandwich's or by itself.
I learned about the beauty of a roasted tomato and oil based pastas.
I discovered squash.

The more I started to read about these amazing recipes and the more I started to research actual food blogs, the more I started to become more curious.

I was yearning to try the recipes that I had found so I made my family my guinea pig and I had a lot of failed recipes. I'll never forget the time when I attempted to make Chicken Parmesan and it was seriously the most disgusting thing I've ever made. I was so new to cooking back then and probably no one around to answer my questions... and so it flopped. Big time. 

Which leads me to my next point... Questions.
In my first year of cooking (and even a little bit now), I asked a LOT of questions. I would second guess absolutely everything I made whether it was about measurements, substituting ingredients (which I would try not to do because I didn't know what tasted good with what), or what I should make as a side dish. I didn't understand anything so I would hound my mom and step mom about what to do. I seriously think this was the best thing I ever did in cooking rather than try and learn everything on my own.

Now when I cook, I can imagine flavors in my head (or mouth?) and know what ingredients and food products compliment each other.

I know (a little bit more) about measurements and if not, there's always Google!

I know what kind of spices or cheese I can use in place of something I don't have according to a recipe.

Even though I am still learning and would consider myself in a Culinary "Intermediate" level, my questions about cooking go more like this:

"What should I make for dessert? The Lemon Meringue or the Cheesecake?"
"Parmesan or Mozzarella...or both?"
"What type of wine should we pair with this meal?"

Or my personal favorite question....

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

Blog Awards

I was so pleased when I received a comment from Maude saying that she nominated me for some blog awards that are going around.
I didn't even know something like this existed? So it was definitely really nice to hear.
I was nominated by Maude for the following awards:

So I suppose now I have to pay it forward?

Once a blogger is fortunate enough to be recognized, here are the rules of passing on this encouragement to others:

1) Thank your nominator (and link back!).
2) Nominate 5 other blogs, with less than 200 followers and post a comment on each blog letting them know they have been given the award.
3) Copy and paste the award onto your blog.

The rules of the award are as follows:

1. Thank the Blogger who nominated you.
2. Include a link to their site.
3. Include the award image to your post.
4. Include the award image on your blog.
5. Give 7 random facts about yourself.
6. Nominate 15 other bloggers for the award.
7. When nominating other bloggers, include links to their sites.
8. Let those bloggers know they have been nominated.

7 Random facts about myself:

• I'm deathly afraid of mice to the point where if I see one, my entire body freezes and I can barely move.
• Sometimes if I think a bad thought, I have to say "Don't Jix It" 3 times in order for the bad thought to not come true. Weird, I know.
• My favorite place to be in the world is by the lake. That's where I'm happiest.
• I have a huge addiction to my cell phone to the point where my hand cramps up from using it too often.
• I really like fantasy novels, movies and TV Shows. Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, The Hobbit.. I also really like RPG Video Games like Dragon Age and Fable.
• I'm an overthinker and a worrier by nature.
• Ever since I quit my full time job, I feel at ease and I'm not as tired as I used to be.

Okay so now I have to nominate some other bloggers. So I nominate:

• The Pretzel Thief
• Living Deliberately
• My Polished Thoughts
• Thirteen Four
• Little Sweet Pea

Have fun!

Hello Again

Hello!
It's been a while since I used this blog and let me explain why.
I made this one private because I felt like it wasn't good enough. I know, I know.
Originally titled, "My Daydream", I started the blog when I was just graduating from college and I was bored. As I started to become more familiar with the blogging community, I felt like I needed to keep up with what everyone else was doing in order to be "successful" whatever that means.

So that's when I started a blog that I don't even remember the name of and began to hate blogging because I was trying to be someone I wasn't, so I deleted that one too and I quit.

Then I realized I really MISSED blogging, so I made a new blog called "Cinnamon & Spice" where I only post what I want and when I want which is mostly food. But sometimes other things too.

Anyway, recently I was looking over "My Daydream" blog and reading some of my old posts. I started to feel guilty because as I was reading through, I realized the blog was based solely on my writing and my feelings. I was going through some rough times when I first started but you can see my slowly becoming happier as I found love, a career and more. I spoke about how I didn't like always being behind the camera which is funny, because now I'm in front of it as a Weather Anchor. I posted about how I was looking for love in all the wrong places so I wanted to focus only on myself, and guess what? I found it! A really deep, mind blowing love!

So I decided to take all my new posts from "Cinnamon & Spice" and combine them with the posts from "My Daydream" to make one big blog.

So here I am and here I stay, for good.

Hello again!

My original intent for this blog was to document my Pinterest Journey of Food...
I've been noticing more & more how that is not happening and it's becoming more just about my life again, which isn't what I wanted.
Something keeps pulling me to write about what I did that day or how I'm feeling or what's going on in my life in general. I don't ever take pictures though to document anything.
I'm so all over the map with this blogging experience... but it's MY blog and if I want to just ramble about what makes me happy or sad or whatever, then that's what I'm going to do.
See? Ramble post.

:) Basically what I'm trying to say, is I really have no idea what this blog is about. It has no direction, but I've quit blogging numerous times and I always find my way back to it...because I guess I like sharing tidbits about my life...and I suppose that's not going to change.

First Post: A Pinning Life

I took a couple of stabs at blogging and was losing my overall joy in the activity... Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love reading other people's blogs but I just wasn't feeling the passion in my own. I thought that I needed a more exciting life in order to create a more exciting blog. 

One day, I was on my beloved Pinterest pinning a TON of recipe's which I loved the look of, but had yet to try. 

That's when it hit me!

Why waste all this time pinning recipes that looked delicious but never actually stepping into the kitchen and seeing what they tasted like?

I thought, hey! That's actually a really great blog idea. Taking the recipes I've found on my Pinterest and blogging about them. Actually keeping track of my progress on Pinterest, working on my cooking skills by trying ahhhmazing new recipes, and working on some photography skills with the nice camera I never use!

And you never know, if I ever find any cool DIY projects or Home Decor ideas on Pinterest, maybe I'll post them here to? 

You can find my Pinterest Here

Follow along, won't you?

So Many Things

There are so many things I want for this little blog of mine.

I would love somebody to design a blog for me (of course with my input and to reflect on my personality).

I would love to be able to afford a better camera so I can post my musings in crisp and clear photos.

I would love to start fresh with a new blog, but while looking back on some of my old posts... I don't know if I can.

Maybe I'll just keep this little blog of mine but start a new fresh one?

I wonder if my small group of followers would follow me over to my new one?

Any Advice?

Night Time Creativity

Sometimes when I lay in bed at night, just before I fall asleep, my most creative ideas come out.
I'm not sure why this is as I don't feel very creative for the majority of the day. This may seem weird as my job title is a "Creative Writer". But that's just the way it is, I guess.

Anyway, it's not a secret that I absolutely love to blog. Lately, I love reading other people's blogs more than writing my own but I do it for research purposes. I love seeing the type of posts they create, the pictures they take, their take on outfits and recipes, etc. It's all so...fascinating. And it may sound strange that us bloggers are so fascinated with other people's lives besides our own. But isn't that just the way it is? (Think reality television).

Recently, I've been thinking a lot about starting fresh with a brand new blog. I like this blog, as it's full of some of my deepest thoughts (journal type entries more than anything else), however, it's not so much a lifestyle blog. It's funny, because the blogs I'm the most interested in are, in fact, lifestyle blogs. Blogs about...living.

I think in order for my blog to be successful and for me to feel satisfied at the end of the day (blogging is VERY serious, people!) I need to start a fresh one. No, no. It's not going to happen now (or probably anytime soon). I just want to start constructing out my thoughts of what I want it to look like, what I want it to be called, what types of posts I'll make, etc. And in order for it to be successful, I'll need photoshop and a new camera.

I just can't take pictures on my camera. I never want to because the quality is terrible and the pictures don't turn out very nice. I want a camera where I can show off that I really can be creative and see the beauty in life and nature and love and everything else. But I can't capture that with a small little camera that has no crisp image. Also, I want my blog to look inviting. But I need photoshop in order to do this.

I've learned a lot about HTML and coding and what not lately so I'm sure I can figure out how to construct my blog properly. It's just about making it look nice and how I want it to look.

Something that also needs to be realized, that blogging is defintiely not walk in the park. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication. So I just want to be able to plan this all out before I jump into anything.

Hopefully my little group of followers will follow me on over to my new blog once I get it up and running!

Thanks for listening. For now I'll still post when I have something important to say or show, but lately, I've been lacking the passion for this little "Daydream" blog of mine.

I guess this blog doesn't have the direction that it needs for me to love it.

Andrea's Latest Bride Blog Post

Check it out if you're a bride to be!!! Great tips! :)

http://www.smartbrideboutique.com/blog/bride-to-be-planning-your-guest-list/20110719/725/

New Layout

How do you like the new layout?
It's extremely plain as I only had paint to work with.
Once I can access photoshop, I'll definitely play around a lot more to make something really exciting!
Right now, I'm finally happy with the way my blog looks, though.

I cut out a lot of the "fat" of the blog. Things that didn't need to be there.

I think it looks a lot better this way and much more inviting.

And just so you know, even though it looks really plain...it took a LONG time to figure out all the coding. Website making is NOT as easy as some may think!

What do you think?

HTML Wiz?!

Yay! I figured out how to change up fonts and stuff on my "Pages"

How I managed to figure this out, I have no idea!!

I feel so cool.

Things I'm Obsessed With Right Now

I just want to take a minute to show you all the things that are making me laugh, smile and just in general, extremely happy. Enjoy and maybe you could invest your time in some of these awesome things too!

Hellogiggles I just recently discovered this little bundle of joy on the internet through Danielle's blog. There is a whole bundle of writers on this site and they post different articles, recipes, videos, "items of the day" and just in general, great things to look at and read! It's so fun! So please go check it out!

I just recently discovered the joys of Twitter again and I have to say I'm obsessed! I don't really know why Twitter is as addicting as it is, but there's something fun about posting what you are doing...as long it's interesting of course. I would never want to just tweet "Going to the store" because that wouldn't be very fun for people to read, now would it?

Lately, me and my boyfriend have been playing Little Big Planet and it's so much fun!!! I'm seriously addicted to this game. The only issue is, me and John might kill eachother before we finish because we get SO frustrated when we play. Mainly because...well, I suck. :) Haha!

I've discovered the most amazing pizza combination (originally tasted from Pizza Hut!): Chicken, Hot Peppers and Roasted Garlic (and cheese of course! Duh!) So delicious and it leaves a taste lingering in your mouth for so long afterwards that you can't help but want more! Yummy! 

Recently, me and John have been watching the Harry Potter movies because he's never seen them before. I know, right? Can you believe that?? Anyway, he wants to watch them all before the next movie comes out. And I am absolutely obsessed with Harry Potter so I don't mind at all!!! I honestly believe that nothing will ever beat Harry Potter for me. No writer will ever create something as magical and as engaging as that story! So fantastic.

So there you have it!!! All the things that have been making me smile lately. Please take the time to enjoy in your own things that make you smile as well!

Have a great weekend!!!! <3

Amateur Hour...

over at my blog.
I played around with some coding and managed to take some free templates etc. and customized my blog a little bit more.

Like it? It's not bad... I wish I knew how to do all the cool things with blogs like customize "page" fonts and title fonts etc.

Any suggestions?

Should Have Posted This On April 21st. So Let's Just Pretend.

April 21st was a special day!
It marked ONE whole year of blogging!

That is a LONG time for me!

Thanks everyone for reading. :)

I appreciate your comments and support!

Love love!

Blogging: Added Happiness

Let me just start out by saying that this day has been busy. I've been at work, yes. But I haven't been working.
No, I've been catching up on all the posts from my Favorite Bloggers!!!!

And yes, I know I've said this before but I just need to sit again.

Readings the posts that these lovely ladies take the time to write, never fail to brighten my day.

I find their stories, their fashion, their marraiges, and just in general their everyday lives uplifting and inspiring.

When I first started blogging, I had my own interests such as movies, TV Shows, the outdoors, etc. But once I met all these new ladies via the blogging world, I've learned so many new things. I've learned delicious recipes, how to piece together an outfit (coloured leggings and bow tie headbands!) how to live a happy life, how to appreciate a drive, etc, etc.

I just can't get enough.

And as if I wasn't content enough, going through these blogs (I'm still not done catching up on them post surgery...so many posts!!!!) just make me even happier!

I'll post tomorrow on the reasons I'm so content. So stay tuned.

Love, love love.!!!

Oh. P.S. Check out the Violet (click on the button on my side bar to get to the site--->).

I wrote in a comment and I'm lucky enough to get featured! The first issue hasn't been released yet where my comment will be featured but when it does, you know I will be telling you.

The Violet is actually started by one of the most loveliest of bloggers Camilla and her friend. I honestly believe that it is one of the best ideas ever. I'm all about uplifting and inspirational ways of life and that's what the Violet is. It's so wonderful. So quick! Go now!!!!


xoxo

I'm Back!

Hi everyone!

I'm so sorry for the no post session I had this past week.

I was recovering from a painful surgery which were in fact the removal of my tonsils!

Stay tuned for a post to happen later on today...

Tuesday: Around the Globe No More

I'm canning this Tuesday segment!

Let's get serious... I'm not interested in news! I was making this weekly post so I could try and keep up...but I just have no interest whatsoever.

So Tuesdays are now my FREE DAY.

I will write on this day about whatever I want!

So there! :)

In the meantime, enjoy this cute picture of me and my duck boyfriend:

Changes Happening to the Blog

Starting yesterday, I have no more clients and am just kind of an "assistant" I guess you could say, at work (until August).
So, therefore, I'm starting a new blogging project!

I want to add more structure to my little corner of the internet and I already do a weekly post on "Weekly Gratitude"... however I want to add more.

So here is what you should be expecting (for now):

Monday Sleeze: A post where I talk about recent celebrity gossip that I have found interesting. (I gotta admit.. I love my Hollywood!  I find it fascinating and this is a good way to keep up with that life!) PLUS I will also talk about any movies I may have seen that week.

Tuesday-Around the Globe: News Stories that have caught my attention. I need to be more aware of what is going on in the world. It's something I've always struggled with and being more aware of current events could be beneficial to my life and career.

Inspirational Wednesdays: Things that have inspired me in one way or another. It could be something that someone said, a situation that occured, anything really!

Lifestyle Thursdays: This is a day where I will post about fashion, beauty, or food (and if I think of something else...that too!)

Weekly Gratitude (Fridays): Something I've already started via Love, Life, Lace - I post here about what I am grateful for that week.

Along with these posts...expect random banter also! Because, really, what would this blog be without that? :)

So how does that sound? Do you think this will be a productive thing to do on my blog? I think it will be. It will definitely be a great way to keep those positive feelings in check too!

I'm so excited!!! Stay tuned :D

Blogging

I kind of had a realization today as to why I love blogging so much.

Have you ever noticed that when avidly following a set list of blogs (and of course finding new ones to stalk!) you learn so much?

I've learnt so much about fashion, life, cooking/baking (I've made a few different recipes from blogs), love, travel and so much more...

I just love seeing how other people live there lives and getting different tips on the above topics.

It really is sort of amazing. How I don't know these people personally, but I love to learn about their lives. Weird! Ha!

As a side note, I found this website that does custom design for your blog but I can't really afford it right now. I'd absolutely love to have my blog re-designed to reflect my personality but it might have to wait until I have more money to put into it.

Right now, my savings are for my trip to Minneapolis to see the lovely Taylor Swift!

K, Bye :D

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Yes, I'm still alive!

Just ridiculously busy.

So recently, I joined a gym. A very expensive gym. Kind of by accident. (yeah right).

So I've been doing that  (this includes Zumba!)

Also, I've been putting in a lot of extra hours at work. You see, I'm directing this really big video project so I've been working days AND nights.

I really haven't had a lot of time for a life of any kind. At least my health is decent.

If you don't include all the junk food I've been eating. Ugh. At least it's balanced with this new found physical activity.

Peace out! ;)