Happy

So...I think I've figured it out.

What I want to do in life.

I know. BIG.

But here it is...

I want to be happy.

And I think I've got a pretty good plan for it.

I want to photograph. And write. And cook. Ideally work at some dream job that allows me to combine all three.

I want to sew. I want to make my own dresses with pretty fabrics...and maybe someday make clothes for my future kiddos.

I want to read. And dance. And watch good movies. And play with my puppy. And travel. Oh, places I want to go!

I want to run a small baking business. Not now, but someday.

Because no matter what I do, what other dreams I chase, I keep coming back to way it feels to roll out a pie crust. I keep coming back to the way my mother and I would sprinkle flour on the counter, plop the sticky dough down, and push with the wooden rolling pin.

I keep coming back to how it feels to drop a cup full of chocolate chips into cookie batter. How it's still fun to lick the beaters as they bake in the oven.

I keep coming back to the beautiful frustration of frosting a cake. How impatient I am when it comes to letting it cool first.

I keep coming back to the smell of adding melted Earth Balance to the beginnings of a graham cracker crust.   How the crackers crunch under the fork and that heavenly scent as it sits in the oven.

I keep coming back to muffins and scones. How they make coffee or tea taste that much better. Especially in the wintertime.

So, I will do these things. And I will be happy.

Heartaches

Give me long enough and I'll talk myself out of everything I consider.

All I want is Manhattan.

If that's all I ever have in this life, I will be happy.

Well, that and a Kitchen Aid.

So, even though I want him.

Even though I want Seattle.

Even though I want a job in Denver.

Even though I want to stay here.

I can't.

My heart breaks for Manhattan.

Manhattan and a Kitchen Aid.

A shiny, red Kitchen Aid.

Tummy Full of Cookies

Yesterday, I made some of the best cookies ever.

Chocolate chip cookies are my absolute favorite dessert! However, since becoming vegan over a year ago, I had yet to make myself a vegan batch. I bought this wonderful book and have made several yummy things out of it, but had yet to make cookies from it.

If you're like me, cookies are a big part of the holidays for you. So tonight I whipped up a back of chocolate chip cookies! And let me tell you, the are delicious! So soft and chewy and mm mm good!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas Eve!