Favorites: knitting & tea

I offered to do a project for my favorite yarn store, Bloomin' Yarns. It was a Weekend Wrap (you should be able to finish it in a weekend). I think it's so cute and tempted to do one for myself =)



I think it went with my outfit today too ;-). I'd like to do mine in a basic cream color, so it can go with more and give a real beachy summery feel.

Now I must show my first finished sock from the flirty pair and how far along I am on the second one.



They fit like a glove :)

Lastly, my tea love. I made a Tea Wreath. Now as a crafter, I am a member of not only Ravelry, but Pinterest as well. These sites I could spend hours on just looking up great projects to do.



I'm really glad I finally did this project because I'm going back to school in just the shortest amount of time ever and I'll be in an apartment with some other tea loving friends. I'm sure we'll all enjoy using this.

Now, not listed, but all my friends know a favorite is movies. I am SO excited to see the midnight premiere of The Dark Knight Rises. It was filmed right in front of my school, the building I live in and just my campus in general. I am so excited and I geek out when I see any previews. My handsome and I are going and I'm so excited =)

Until next time, I'll be knitting and tea drinking ;-)

<3 Carly

Cookies and CAR! =D

Oh yeah, I got a car.



it is a Honda Civic 2012 EX

=D

and I'm making cookies for a party I'm going to tomorrow. The kitchen sink ones again. They were a big hit last time with my handsome and I wanted to make them again. I'm worried because I was freezing the nuts to keep them fresh, but I don't know, I'm always very critical on my baking.

I'm also working hard on my socks and should be finishing the first one very shortly :). I'm working on a project for my favorite yarn shop as well and stuck in the one part of doing YO backwards. I'm usually not confused with my patterns, but I'm going to have to look up how to do this arm hole.

Until next time, I'll be driving around in my new car ;-)

<3 Carly

Summer Baking & Sock Knitting

Really what else do I do with my time? I love to bake and I love to knit.

My friend and I made Chocolate Chip Raspberry Crumb Cake and took pictures the entire time =)



Remy made the topping, and I made the batter.



Next we had to defrost the raspberries (yes, I used frozen. They work just as well!). Mixing them in just made the batter look lusciously pink ;-) hehe



Then the final product after cooking. . .



Now, if we were smart, we would have taken pictures after cutting into them. Well we were hungry and wanted to taste the treats =). Haha, I really don't think these made it past the first 2 days of making them. We took them down to our downtown crew and then I gave a bunch to my handsome man. Also my mom and I can't keep baked goods in the house without snacking on them, haha.

I would like to let you all know, my favorite baking cook book is The Essential Chocolate Chip Cookbook. It has most of the recipes that I love to bake =).

Off to my knitting now,



I've come a long way and I just keep making up this pattern. Once you learn the basics of an article in knitting you can guide your way through the process. I love that about knitting. I love that I can create what I want =). I'm just itching to start that sweater. I just want to finish these socks before hand. Which is silly, but needed because I like to have one project at a time, and not a bunch of unfinished things.

Oh, I'd like to show you a picture of my handsome man =)



I can't even explain how happy this picture makes me. Almost as happy as he makes me =)

Until next time,

<3 Carly

It's Greek to Me =)

I love Greek food, Greek cookies, just all food involving Greek or the Mediterranean in general is fabulous to me. Ask my friends, I'm kinda obsessed.

Anyway, my mother dearest is going on a vacation and the car ride is about 12 hours. Her and her friends wanted so munchies to snack on during the long car ride so I volunteered my baking time to more greek cookies. Something not too sweet, not bitter, not messy, overall a great traveling cookie. They might need glasses of milk or coffee or tea to dunk them in but that's completely irrelevant when they just want something to munch on and not starve during this long trip.

Let me tell you something about the Greeks. They have large families. Have you ever seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding? My dad's family is apparently like that. Big, loud and in each others faces. This is why a Greek cookbook will yield 7 dozen cookies. Hahaha, needless to say, I will be up a little late. Quite alright with me, I'm watching my new movie I got in the mail today, Moneyball =).

If you read up on my blog, you know I'm obsessed with the Best Picture Showcase, and Moneyball was one of my favorites =)

I also got a book in the mail today (I got to go on Amazon). It's Knit Swirl. It's pretty fantastic and I think it'll be a good summer project. I want a sweater and you've all seen my cardigan. I want a sweater. I've been craving a sweater and I think I found a yarn I like at my favorite yarn store (Bloomin' Yarns of course).

Now, I'm finally going to post pictures of my baking! It's all in action now too, currently have a batch in the oven! :)



That is the dough. Now that may not look like a lot, but believe me, it's a sh!t ton of dough. The amount of flour these cookies calls for is insane. I need a kitchen aide Santa!



Now these are just the prep cookies. Normal people would make the cookies this size, but they rise and I like big cookies. I also didn't but a beaten egg painted over the tops this time. I just like them softer.



Here they are cooking! They make the whole house smell lovely. It's mostly butter in there, not going to lie. 3 sticks worth. That's a lot of butter! And then the 5 1/2 cups of flour! Oh this recipe is simple but just tons of things.

Had to take a mini break to change out a batch, just got burned. CAREFUL WHILE BAKING FOLKS!

I already have 61 cookies made, I have 24 in the oven and then 19 left to bake. I yielded 110 cookies, which is way over the 7 dozen, but well worth it. Haha,

Until next time, I'll be eating butter ;-)

<3 Carly

Cookie Monster

So if you remember my last rant of baking, I made Coffee Toffee Bars, Kitchen Sink cookies and I never even got to tell you about my Koulourakia cookies (my favorite Greek cookies). All these cookies were made and consumed without the chance of a camera to capture their delectable looks.

I have uploaded my socks pictures though and very excited to show off my bar socks.



I call them my bar socks because the pattern is from a book for the social knitter, Pints & Purls. I have got countless compliments on them already and I mostly wear them as slippers! Haha

Now these next socks I am working on are much more basic. I just love the yarn, it is so gorgeous that a fancy pattern would just distract from the lovely yarn.



I'm calling them my flirty socks, solely because they are so pink and lovely that I wish to flirt with the yarn =)

Back to my cookie monster title. I am all out of cookies here at the house and I must make more. I've had requests from the Yaya's for their vacation plans and I must fulfill their needs. Now I had a tall handsome helper with my Greek cookies, but I want to surprise him with my next ones. I'll try to get pictures for these this time.

Until next time ;-)

<3 Carly

Workaholic, but True Baking Addict

Summer job time. My days are consumed with work. I must say I am quite spoiled and totally enjoy eating good food at the demos and when softshell crabs are in season I do not complain. It is starting to get humid though and that means the patio is open at work. Polyester uniforms and humidity is not my favorite combo but I enjoy the paycheck.

After work I am tired, but that doesn't keep me away from my friends. Yet again, I go downtown whenever I can =). My friend banana and I are going to make a tshirt blanket. I am so excited to do this. I have so many tshirts, and who doesn't? It's so much better use of the fabric. I wear mostly dresses and have a crazy obsession with rompers (currently wearing one ;-) haha). Tshirts are for events that hand you the shirt to wear for that event. Just my opinion. Haha

Alright, now to my baking =). I made my famous coffee toffee bars, my mom calls them coffee blondies sometimes, and she's already hogging them. I made them right before work and they should've had 10 minutes to cool. I don't think they were out of the oven 5 minutes before she took a knife to them and started eating it. Haha, I'm taking some to work tomorrow and the pastry chef already remembers them and she's told others, "Oh, you'll like them." I love having people enjoy my baked goods! =)

Tonight I'm going to make my kitchen sink cookies. I'm going to a memorial day thing after work (yeah, we have to work :-P ) and I think these will hit the sweet spot. I just hope no one is allergic to nuts. . . I'll have to post pictures of my finished bar socks and the cookies and bars after I'm done baking.

Until next time,

<3 Carly

21 & City Home

Well I didn't do a good job of finishing the countdown on my Blog, but I did a great job on my facebook. I had a friend give me cookies after a night class because he knew the next day was my birthday. I had a countdown of probably a month of facebook. I so enjoyed my birthday week, just couldn't have asked for a better birthday with great friends =).

This is my favorite shot from our shot night. At midnight we went to Tavern 245 and did a little toast.

My wonderful friend Banana made me morning cake the day of my birthday. If any of you have seen The Divine Secrets of the Yaya Sisterhood, this is what it is from. The week or two before my birthday my friends and I watched this in my room. They had to know who was throwing my birthday party the weekend of my birthday, haha. Well the mother always made morning cake for her children, but my best friends make it for me. I love my friends.

The next night me and my mother went to Le Mont in Mount Washington. I had delicious sea bass and sipped some wine. Not a huge wine fan I found out, haha.

This is me and half the table of Thursday night, my birthday dinner downtown. We went to Sharp Edge =). There was a really cute waiter with plenty of tattoos that waited on us ;-). I enjoyed a white russian (also known as a caucasian there)

After the dinner at Sharp Edge we went back to school and danced a TON at the Action Sports Club dance "This Party Thing". I was dancing in my birthday shoes and loved every second of it. After we all got tired enough though, we headed back to Banana's and made cake batter martini's. These were pretty strong and I would've enjoyed them a little more chilled. Still they had homemade icing on them and they were delicious.

Friday night was South Side night. We went to a couple different places and this is the night I found out my drink. A washington apple with tequila, as a drink. I must admit the blue drink from Kopy's was probably my favorite, but that was stronger than the tequila. I thank my friend and her man for a wonderful 21st bar crawl.

Saturday night, the last night, was the Yaya Birthday Celebration. Me and my mother finally drinking together. I quite enjoyed champagne. I thought I would though because at my work we've had countless holidays with a champagne jello and I've always enjoyed it. And now for the City Home part, I have come back home for the summer. Yet I have gone to the city at least twice a week since I've been home. Downtown is home to me now. I can't get enough and I just can't stay away from my friends. I had a wonderful birthday, but I have even better friends =). <3