Hello there and welcome to a wonderful Tuesday post. As we move closer to Christmas many of you are probably starting your holiday baking to fill your home with wonderful cookie scents. In fact, this past weekend I spent two days baking with some ladies and made tons of different cookies. So for this post I thought I would share some of the best recipes that we tried with you! Enjoy!

 

Throw back to this lovely day with Lux!

Christmas dessert recipes:

Twix Thumbprint cookies

Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 10 minutes 

 

One of my friends made these delicious cookies and they are quite delicious. Soft sugar cookies filled with melted caramel and topped with chocolate drizzle. These are definitely one of my favorites for this Christmas! Click on the link for the recipe. 

Cookie Dough Truffles

Prep time: 60 minutes 

These cookie dough truffles were definitely amazing and totally worth taking a whole plate home. They are cookie dough balls without the egg, covered in chocolate and chilled in the fridge until they harden. Seriously delicious. Click on the link above for the recipe. 

Chocolate Cherry Blossom Cookies

 Prep time: 20 minutes Bake time: 12 minutes

 

I was the one who took the lead on these cookies and they came out amazing. Basically you take a sugar cookie mix and add maraschino cherries to the mix and Voilà!  The chocolate kiss on the top melts a little since they are still warm when you remove them from the oven so make sure to try one right off the plate. To see the recipe, just click on the link above!

Caramel Apple Sangria 

Prep time: ~10 minutes 

 Feeling a bit thirsty while you are baking all of these cookies? Then make some caramel apple sangria! This recipe is super easy to make and it definitely pairs well with friends and baking in the kitchen all day. Definitely one of my new favorite sangria recipes to keep around this winter. 

The best way to melt chocolate

Melt time: 20 minutes 

This is not really a recipe but definitely a great tip to remember when you need to dip cookies and pretzels in chocolate. Instead of dealing with two pans and melting chocolate on the stove, simply place chocolate in mason jars and warm in your crock pot. We decided to melt chocolate this way to dip pretzel sticks in and it was a life saver!

Butterscotch Haystack

No bake! Prep time: 15 minutes

So I am not a big fan of anything butterscotch but these little haystacks are absolutely delicious. Also these haystacks are really easy to make and you only need four ingredients: peanuts, chow mein noodles, butterscotch morsels, and peanut butter. You have to add these to your baking list!

 Candy Cane Cookies

Prep time: 25 minutes Bake time: 10-12 minutes

These great little cookies put a twist on the typical sugar cookie by adding a hint of peppermint in a cute holiday candy cane twist. I will warn you, after a while making candy cane shapes can become rather boring so feel free to make other designs, I know we sure did! 

Here is a photo of a few of the cookies we completed over the weekend. If you look closely you can see the chocolate dipped pretzels, cinnamon sugar cookies, candy cane cookies, and no bake cookies underneath. It was a lot of fun getting together with my friends to make all these treats so make sure you make time to bake those cookies for Santa! 

Hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

 

Hello there everyone and welcome to a wonderful Thursday post. I hope you all are doing well since my last post and are super excited to see Star Wars. Better not comment any spoilers because I have tickets to see it tomorrow night! Today's post focuses on random things I have found on the internet to keep you busy and not thinking about Star Wars! Enjoy! 

 

Lux wanted to party :) 

First, I stumbled upon this video on one of the best websites for passing time, Stumbleupon.com

This is exactly how I felt when I lived in an apartment. I swear my upstairs neighbors were constantly having a party or bowling, or whatever they were doing up there. Hopefully I will never live in an apartment again.

This website is pretty cool because it will guess what number you are thinking every time. I have tried selecting new numbers and changing patterns and it is still correct. Pretty neat so make sure to try it out!

Pretty crazy cool right?

Are you having a rough day and could really use some inspiration in your life? The website linked below has lots of quotes to help you through difficult times and to remind you that you are awesome!

 

My favorite one is probably, "Don't give others the power to control your emotion. Those are only yours and it is only for you to manipulate."

This next page is pretty great at teaching some psychology techniques you can use everyday that actually work. For example, I totally tried the rock, paper, scissors trick on my roommate and boyfriend and it works! Check it out below:

 Did you try it? I hope so! Make sure to click on the picture above to take you to a list of more tips and tricks.

 The last video I have for you is pretty cool. What this artist turn a scribble into an amazing piece of art!

 

Well I hope I was able to keep you entertained and distracted from the fact that you are not watching Star Wars right now. Please make sure to keep checking back for more post! Happy holidays!

 

Hello there and welcome to a wonderful Sunday post! After a brief hiatus due to some life changes I am back and ready to pick back up right where we left off. I hope you all have been doing well as a lot has changed in my life. I graduated with my M.A., moved into a new house with my awesome roommate, and travel as often as possible with my super sweet boyfriend. Don't worry Lux loves her new space and I can't wait to share with you our new adventures :) But first..

  

As many of you know, or should know, Star Wars is coming out this week on Thursday so naturally I thought this post should be dedicated to Star Wars. Who doesn't need some Christmas gift ideas because face it, you probably do not have all your Christmas shopping done. 

 

Star Wars limited edition loot crate

For $100 you can make someone very happy with this limited edition loot crate box. Loot crate itself is a great gift idea to give as they send a themed box every month full of Pop dolls, comics, and other neat toys for your favorite geek. I myself have purchased this box as received a t-shirt, Mr. Potato head Darth Vader and much more that I do not want to spoil for you.  

Star Wars Planetary Glass Set

Are your normal everyday glasses boring and just not that awesome? Well you can do better by getting this awesome set of Star Wars themed drinking glasses! Right now they are on ThinkGeek for $50 but I am sure if you watch them they will drop in price. 

Star Wars Battlefront

Is your favorite Star Wars person short on cash and did not already buy Star Wars Battlefront? Well then you should definitely purchase it for them because I promise you this is on their Christmas list. You will not be able to find any good deals on this game right now as it is running for $60.00 but it is totally worth it. Click the link above to watch videos on game play and maybe become a little immersed yourself.

Star Wars r2d2 Stocking 

So I totally bought a Christmas stocking that is close to identical to this one and it looks great on my mantel right next to Lux's. Nothing shows your holiday/Star Wars spirit more then a stocking to represent the most vulgar character in the Star Wars franchise. I mean come one, they bleeped out every word. Anywho, the link above will take you to ThinkGeek where you can purchase this stocking for around $30. As I mentioned, I found it at Target for around $20. 

Star Wars Coloring Book

Do you have an artistic person in your family who would just love to pass the time coloring? Well why not go ahead and make their day with this Star Wars adult coloring book. The lines are smaller, the details are more difficult, and overall a perfect gift. I found this one on Amazon for $11.95.

Star Wars Sphero BB-8 App Enabled Droid

Do you want to spend $200 on your favorite Star Wars person? Then this app controlled droid is the perfect gift for you to give. With the capability to control this little guy on your phone, and yes I mean this little RC toy is only 5 inches tall, you can conquer your home. There is a video on Amazon your have to watch to get how neat this little toy can be.

Star Wars: The Complete Saga

In the end, the coolest gift to give any Star Wars lover is definitely the complete movie saga on blu-ray. Everyone owns the old VHS tapes and it is about time you help them upgrade. I recently received this gift and haven't even opened the box because they are so nice to look at...Anywho here is the set on Amazon for around $100.00.


Next I thought I would share with you a little parody of Star Wars collectors from SNL so enjoy because we all know it is true. 

Anywho, there is a quick list of neat things you can get your favorite person last minute because you almost forget that Christmas is in less than two weeks. Moving right along I have started painting again which is nice. So far I have painted a few things but can only share one with you right now:

I mean, it's not perfect but it is pretty good since it was free hand from a little picture on my phone. 

Recently I also attended an ugly sweater Christmas party and wore the most appropriate sweater I could find:

Life has been pretty great lately. Please make sure to keep checking back for more updates and I hope everyone has a great holiday season!