Elusive Ink

Currently Listening
I'm Yours
Jason Mraz



Honestly, I had no idea that it was New Year's Eve tonight until I woke up this morning and one of my siblings turned to the other and goes "Tomorrow it will be 2009!" Man, what a way to wake up. Another year passing and I didn't even know. Of course, my wheels immediately began turning with the thought "what should I make?" I'm thinking, sparkling white grape juice, with a green chile/cheese fondue is in order - and maybe some board games and Wii sports. Yeah, I'm really the life of the party.

I didn't realize it'd been so long since I posted - the days all seem to just blur together in one big streak of not-enough-productivity. But reflecting back on where and who I was even just a year ago I'm so thankful to be who I am today. I have a loving, supportive family, a fantastic job, great friends, and a very sweet and patient boyfriend. All constant reminders of how blessed I am, even if I tend to run myself into a rut with my procrastination.

I guess I'm doing the same thing today as everyone else on the planet right about now, reflecting back on my life, on the past year. Maybe, rather than doing that one day a year - we should do that once a week, just to prove to ourselves that no matter where we are...we've come a long way.

So, looking back into more recent past - the holidays were fantastic. My grandparents ended up driving up from Arkansas for Christmas, and we all had a phenomenal time. (Although I can say very positively that I will not be making another turkey dinner any time in the near future.) I managed to survive the holidays working in retail for the first time in my life, and while it did push me further behind in my classes...it was definitely a learning experience. We had our "office" christmas party at my house, which was an absolute blast...and my parents got a night out together while I stayed home with the kids. Plus, I know Mom has been very thankful to have two and a half weeks off work.

I actually don't have much to say at the moment - but before I close my last post of 2008, I'm going to share a list of things I'd like to happen over the course of the next year. It's always fun to go back and compare these things, and see how my life, and expectations have changed.

Things I'd Like to See Happen in 2009:

• Finally get my name legally changed.
• Make it through my last few courses.
• Get a driver's license. (Yep, I've been saying that for...how many years now? =/)
• Live a more active lifestyle, and take good advantage of our rec center membership.
• Get at least 5 paid photography commissions.
• Grandma make it through her knee surgeries and recovery without any complications.
• Sell a painting.
• Nathan get an internship here and spend the summer with me.
• Go to Bop on the Lake again, in September.
• See the Met in New York City.
• Buy a Macbook Pro to replace my little white macbook.
• ...And an Espresso machine.

Anyway - I suppose that's all for that. More later. Next year.
-Lindsey

Currently Listening
I Need A Silent Night
Amy Grant



I am feeling pretty liberated at the moment...my first day off in...a while, and I have three off in a row. Time to get caught up with some school, finish up christmas gifts, and finish planning out my feast. The past few weeks have been absolutely insane - but I think it's just that time of year. I don't mind it as much as if it were any other time of the year. I'm sooo glad to be away from work though. Trying to get things organized for our store Christmas party. Should be a pretty fun affair, it's looking more and more like it's going to be at my house.

My mother also gave me the inspiration to try and get a bop club started here locally - so I'm beginning to make my list to hopefully get the ball rolling on that sometime after the first of the year. With enough planning, and enough willing volunteers - I might be able to make it happen. We'll see. :-)

We're having several guests over for Christmas dinner so it's going to be crazy busy for me, planning and cooking all day. I learned enough from Thanksgiving, however, that I think I can streamline the process. I'm making gingerbread mini-muffins and a baked egg casserole for everyone to much on Christmas day while I prepare the meal. Pies will be made ahead of time, fudge (we'll see how THAT turns out), etc. I'm quite excited, and it's looking to be fantastic.

We went to a christmas light-show and carnival the other day that I plan to post pictures of pretty soon...I'm running off now though.

More later,
-Lindsey

Currently Listening
The Christmas Song
Josh Groban



I know, I know, it's been far too long since I've posted. But I do have a good excuse! A very special guy came to visit me over Thanksgiving. (He's probably the only person who reads this blog, to be honest.) So, I've postponed blogging for the past week in favor of spending some time with him. :) He left early yesterday morning, and while I already miss him, my blog is now receiving some much-needed TLC.

So, let's see...where to begin? Thanksgiving was fantastic, the feast I'd been planning for weeks came off flawlessly, everything was completely homemade, nothing from a box or a can. I'm going to be a little puffy and show off for a moment, humility is not my strong suit, and I am proud to say that not only was the feast delicious and finished on-time, but it looked beautiful too. I was nervous to attempt a Turkey this year, in the midst of trying to cook everything else from scratch - but even the turkey turned out beautiful and tender! (Thanks to some tips I found online.) I plan to make a post with pictures, recipes, and a few tips I learned while making Thanksgiving dinner. Edit: Made the post, you can find the recipes here.

Also...Williams Sonoma Marketplace is quickly becoming my absolute favorite store. I could go crazy in that place. In the past week and a half I've bought a rolling pin, pie crust cutters, fondue fuel, and a few other little things from there. (As well as receiving a gorgeous coffee grinder from there as an early Christmas gift from Nathan.) Next on my list is this set of mixing bowls, an espresso machine, and a kitchen aid mixer. All of this is quite amusing in light of the fact that I do not have a kitchen of my own. :P I will be totally outfitted once I do.

Inspired (once again) by Heidi Swanson, I've begun to seek out some nice vintage cookware. Pieces with character for serving and such. Not to the point where all of my stuff is outdated, kitschy, and grunge looking, but where mixed with my Le Creuset, and other newwer items will make a nice ecclectic mix. In fact, I'm anxiously waiting at the moment for an ebay auction to end on some handpainted polish ramekins. (Ramekins have become a favorite dish of mine, after my thanksgiving Cheesy Potato Ramekin bread was loved by all.)

So yeah, while Thanksgiving was great...black friday definitely wore me out. It wasn't as bad as I'd imagined, though, and after I got off work I found out that Nathan had asked my parents official permission to pursue a relationship. So we went on our first "date" friday night, sushi and bowling. Had a blast...oh, and I'm way better at bowling than him. Pursuing new relationships -- be it friendship or something more -- is always exciting, and scary. But I like to think that I'm a risk taker, or I try to be...and Nathan is absolutely fantastic, definitely someone worth taking a leap of faith for. I like to believe that every person we encounter is there for a reason, every relationship we pursue, every friendship that we lose. People come and go out of our lives, but we should appreciate and adore them for the time that they're here, and know that they were here to teach us something, to help us grow into better people. Some people are always around, others may drift, and others you may only know for a short amount of time...but there's definitely value to every relationship, friendship, and random conversation in an elevator. That was a weird little rant, just something I'd been thinking about. Don't get me wrong, I don't intend to let Nathan drift anywhere anytime soon!

My weekend was spent in Christmasy efforts, almost finished my christmas shopping. (It was far more exciting than it should've been to buy an Easy Bake oven for my sister.) We enjoyed my first attempt at fondue, re-discovered that "A Christmas Story" never gets old, and put up our tree and stockings. The house definitely feels like Christmas now, which is always a good thing...I'm a sucker for holidays. Not sure why, we've always been pretty laid back about the decorations and such. I just love the holiday season. (But only IN the holiday season, it really bothers me when people listen to Christmas music before black friday, or after Christmas.)

The rest of the weekend was spent enjoying my time with Nathan, and in pursuit of an answer to the question: "If DJ Lance were to chew up and spit out a candied Gabbaland, what color would the spit be?" The answer? Teal. In actuality I am painting a Gabbaland "cube" for my youngest sister, Molly, who has all but one of the little plush dolls and requests "gabba" on a regular basis.

Unfortunately, Yo Gabba Gabba has not been popular enough for long enough yet to justify a lot of merchandising. They have a few items, but not a huge selection. Which pretty much demands creativity. (Creativity happens to be my specialty.)

This is what I've got so far, It's still a work in progress though.


Anyway - I've got some things to do, but I'll write more later! :)

-Lindsey

Here's a few pictures, recipes for, and tips from my Thanksgiving dinner. :)















In addition to all of these things, I also had my go-to apple bread, these amazing vanilla mashed sweet potatoes (which look as good as they taste) and a green bean casserole. Above all these things, however, the thing of which I am most proud is the apple pie. They were pretty basic apple pies, but I thoroughly enjoyed making them with some beautiful pie-crust cutters that I found at williams sonoma. I used a light egg wash to seal and help them brown evenly...and the result was beautiful and delicious.