WINSday Giveaway!

Who doesn't love a good giveaway? It's that time again! I'm excited to host a giveaway for Uprinting.com. If you've never had a chance to check out Uprinting.com, what are you waiting for? It's all sorts of amazing, with so many items to order from postcards to stretched canvas prints. Their customer service is amazing, especially when you can be a simpleton like me and really lack the common sense to answer those "duh" moment questions.

Today, this giveaway is for 100 Postcards. These postcards are perfect for thank you cards, note cards, or even invitations! These postcards are 4x6, made on 14 pt. cardstock gloss, and have full color printing on both sides. The winner of this giveaway will need to pay shipping on their postcards.

To enter, just leave a comment on this post and share with me what you would use the postcards for!

For additional entries:
1. Tweet about it! Leave an additional comment here with your tweet.
2. Post a blog about this giveaway, my AMAZING blog, or Uprinting.com. Leave an additional comment with the link.

Deadline to enter this giveaway is December 23, 2009. After that, the winner will be chosen. Make sure you leave your email so that I have a way to contact you. Uprinting.com will email you with your coupon code to redeem your prize on January 8, 2010.

For hosting this giveaway, I will receive 100 postcards-- and trust me, I can't wait to design them!

inspiration.

What inspires you? I look for inspiration in everything. Sometimes you need that little inspiring push to get you to get out of bed in the morning. To lay on the floor with your kids and roll around and just listen to their delighted giggles.

Giggles and laughter and smiles. Those are my inspirations.

My sons will laugh until high heaven if I will get down on the floor, to their level, and just giggle. Sometimes, we'll drive race cars around, sometimes I'll be their race track. Sometimes we'll pretend fight, which means I pretend to get knocked down and beat up while they both stick out their little fists, while saying "pow pow pow".

Sometimes, it's more. Sometimes I'll pick them up and I'll spin them round and round, until we are all so dizzy I feel sick and we'll sing loudly. Our neighbors just love us, trust me. It's giggles. It's smiles.

Moments that will never be replaced and in ten years? It will be amazing to reflect back on, to ask my babies, "what do you remember most about your childhood?"

I hope they'll remember all the moments they inspired me.

Wordless Wednesday

Even an imaginary game with his big brother is enough to make this boy grin from ear to ear. I just know they are going to be best friends.

tasty tuesday.

What's better than a delicious sweet treat to get your taste buds humming? I don't know about you, but there's nothing better to smell in my home than cookies.

That's why I'm busting out the best chocolate chip cookie recipe I've come across.

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie

INGREDIENTS 1 cup butter, softened 3/4 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 cup white sugar 1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips DIRECTIONS Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Add pudding mix, eggs and vanilla. Combine flour and baking soda; add to creamed mixture and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned.

So what recipe do you recommend busting out to win over even the coldest heart? Let me know!

flashback to a different time.

sometimes, there is just something that triggers a memory in your body and mind. it could be a smell, touch, taste. For me, it's always music. Always. Songs remind me of my life in different time periods. They remind me of people, they remind me of what my life was like. If you ask me what my favorite song was from a certain period of time, you would probably have a pretty good indication of how I felt at the time. Songs play out my emotions. I cling to them, listen to them, sing them to my babies.

sometimes, hearing a song is like a warm wave, washing over you, reminding you of happiness. "love song" by sara bareilles is that song for me. It reminds me of pregnancy with Adrian, of rubbing my belly, feeling his kicks and wiggles and turns.

sometimes, the song is like knives. it's a painful memory of a time that my life wasn't at the peak. it's a reminder of sorrow and sadness and tears. "heartbeats" by jose gonzalez is that song for me. It reminds me of a really dark time in my life, where things seemed to be falling down on my head and I couldn't really get a grasp and take control of my happiness.

hearing those memorable songs in my life sometimes feels like rubbing salt on the wound. it's painful but it's a brief sort of pain and sometimes it feels therapeutic to remember how far I've come.

what triggers memories in you? is it music? pictures? smells?

Wordless Wednesday

This is Adrian's morning routine: wake Mommy up at the booty crack of dawn, cuddle on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, holding his football all while watching Pinky Dinky Do.

tasty tuesday.

If I know and love anything (besides the usual family, friends, etc.), it's definitely food and baking. Which, of course, to some of my loved ones, is surprisingly considering I wasn't always the main cook in our house.

But there's definitely one thing I absolutely love to do is impress people with my food. So from here on out, I'm going to be posting my impressive recipes on Tuesday, and I encourage you to do the same. Is there something you made that everyone ranted and raved about? What's your recipe that is always requested from you and only you?

Post about it and come back here and leave your link with Mr. Linky, so others can come check out your recipe and steal it to impress their loved ones.

So for today, I'm busting out something I just perfected this weekend.

Trust me when I say you might want to double this recipe, because it goes fast.

Pretzel Bread Rolls

Ingredients

1 1/3 cups warm water

2 tablespoons warm milk

2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1/3 cup light brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter, melted

4 cups all-purpose flour

kosher salt or pretzel salt

2 quarts cold water

1/2 cup baking soda

Directions

In a small bowl if using a bread machine, or in the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix a 1/3 cup of the warm water (105-115 degrees) with the yeast and let stand until foamy. (Editor's Note: I don't have a fancy mixer, or a bread machine-- I did all of this via a spoon and my hands and it came out even more delicious.)

Add the remaining cup of warm water along with milk, sugar & melted butter and swirl to dissolve the sugar. (If using a bread machine add mixture to bread machine at this point and continue). Add flour and mix on dough cycle or med-low speed. Remove dough from bread machine once it forms a nice a firm, pliable dough ball. Add more flour if necessary.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured table and knead for 2 minutes. Roll into a 2 foot long log and cut into 12 even pieces. Cover dough with plastic and a damp cloth and let sit for 10 minutes.

Pat dough into rolls or form knots and arrange on a lightly floured surface about an inch apart and cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap. Let the pretzels rest for an additional 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 425°. Lightly oil 2 baking sheets.

In a large stockpot, bring the cold water to a rolling boil and add baking soda.

Drop two rolls into the boiling water and boil for no more then 30 seconds, turning once. Carefully remove with tongs or slotted spoon and hold above pot and let drain. Brush with an egg wash. Sprinkle lightly with salt (I used regular ole' Kosher salt, but I definitely know this would taste so delicious with pretzel salt!). Repeat with the remaining rolls.

Arrange rolls on the oiled baking sheets and bake on the upper and middle racks of the oven for about 8-10 minutes, or until browned all over; shift pans from top to bottom and back to front halfway through, for even baking.

Let rolls cool on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes, then transfer them to a rack.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Serve these with some dips-- cheese, marinara, warmed garlic dip, ranch! Trust me, this would make an amazing appetizer for your holiday parties this year. Instead of making 12 average sized rolls, you could shape them into pretzels, mini pretzels, or make 24 small rolls, perfect for appetizers! Another amazing idea is to make them a bit larger, so make about 8 rolls from this recipe and serve cheeseburgers or some other delicious sandwich on these rolls.

So what is your go to famous recipe? Spread the love!