At Sunset...

This afternoon we took a break from grad school madness to walk around Prospect Park just as the sun dipped below the horizon. The sky was streaked with blue, pink, and cream; the snowy paths packed and slick from all the feet that had passed through today, celebrating the first real snow of the year.

 Entering the park as the shadows deepened, it felt like another world. The moon was a thin bright cresent in the sky, the dark tree branches twisted above us. I took a deep breath of the crisp air, and it suddenly felt like Christmas. We had a quick snowball fight, wandered around a bit, and watched the families sledding in the fading light. There was a general air of merriment- parents were sledding down the worn tracks with littles ones on their laps, or on the bottom of a messy pile three deep. It was that time of evening I remember so vividly from my childhood- when you can still see clearly in the dim light, but you know you only have a few more minutes before your mom calls you inside.

Today, hand in hand with W, it finally felt like Christmas.

Let it Snow! (part 2)

Black and white images of the snow... a classic love of mine.  Wouldn't this be the perfect night to cuddle up and watch White Christmas or It's a Wonderful Life?

"...where the treetops glisten... and children listen... to hear... sleighbells in the snow..." sigh.

Let it Snow! (part 1)

The snow is coming down here in cold, wet, sloppy flakes... the neighborhood is quieting down as people settle in for the first big storm of the season. I made rice and beans for dinner, and am about to settle in for a movie and some hot tea. Hopefully we'll wake up tomorrow to a beautiful white blanket of snow!

Cookie Update

Happy Friday! It's been a long week. W is on his way down to New York, and a big snow storm is blowing in- we're expecting at least six inches just in time for Christmas, so it's the perfect weekend to settle in and figure things out between us.

A couple of updates for you- I've been a crazy cookie baker the last few weeks, see the start of my obsession here. I've churned out Chocolate Chip Cookies (decent, but not amazing), then Kolova Chocolate (severely underbaked, and good when re-baked, but too much effort), and Chocolate Espresso Snowcaps (excellent!). Yesterday I made Dark Chocolate with Sour Cherries (yum!), which were a hit at the office Christmas party this afternoon.

So here are the recipes I think are worth making again (and as the child of bakers, trust me, I'm picky about these things)!

Chocolate Espresso Snowcaps- (pictured above) The dough requires 45 minutes in the freezer to firm up before you bake these, but otherwise they are pretty easy. If you don't get enough confectioners sugar on them, the sugar gets absorbed by the cookie and looks cream colored, rather than a pretty white, so make sure to double roll them, and really coat them well with the sugar. These have a really strong coffee flavor, and be aware that the recipe only makes 18 cookies. These are a really pretty (and tasty) addition to your holiday table!

Dark Chocolate with Sour Cherries- I didn't have enough cherries, so I made part of the batch without them- they are good both ways, but the tart surprise of the cherries really makes them special. These are very rich cookies. Be careful not to overbake- after underbaking cookies last weekend (so frustrating), I was a little over zealous with these. The recipe says cook until puffy and cracked on top, they really don't crack very much (unlike the snowcaps), but they are done. As recommended on Every Last Cookie I made the balls of dough about 1" diameter, I wouldn't make them much bigger. Also, I ended up with four dozen cookies, so you may want to make a half batch or freeze half the dough to cook later.

Wishing you all a warm and wonderful weekend!

Oh my dears the drama...

Don't these earrings just look magical? As if you could put them on and the whole world would just glow a little brighter? Today my dears, I need some magic earrings.

W's grad school applications were due this week, and we've both been up late the last couple of nights discussing the various elements of his personal statement. So I started today exhausted. Now, normally W is a very sweet guy. For example, after I gruffly announced my grumpiness from the Chinatown bus on Friday, he picked me up at the station in a borrowed car. And he brought chocolate. Sounds perfect, right? Of course not, no one is, and today he threw in a game changer. A self-destructive, selfish, destroying all the scenarios we've discussed for the last six months game changer. And now I'm struggling.

So here are some of my questions- how do you know when it's too much? I believe that serious relationships are half love/personality and half business partnerships. If you are going to be legally and financially entangled with someone, they have to be a good partner. And this is where W is lacking- in the planning and executing a life together department. Am I putting too much emphasis on this part of a relationship? Is it enough that he acknowledges the problem and promises to try harder? Can I really ask for much more than that? W is someone who has to learn all his lessons the hard way, but we're both in our thirties, and I expect these lessons have come along before. Are my standards too high?

Any stores or advice from those of you have been in similar situations?
Can love in the end trump all else, or is that just the romantic in me looking for a reason to stick around? I'm exhausted and confused, help!

I'm Thinking About...

I’m thinking about Monkey Bars. Remember when you were little, and you could only reach the first bar? Then someone showed you, or perhaps you watched some slightly braver kid whip across, that the secret was in letting go. If you held onto that first bar, and refused to let go, you couldn’t reach the next one. But if you accepted that moment of risk and uncertainty, you could fly through the air and land your other hand safely on the next bar. You could cross that great expanse with your own momentum bridging the gap between your outstretched arms. You pushed aside your fears, and arrived at the other side triumphant. Then you got bigger, and suddenly you could comfortably cross without letting go. It was no longer a challenge- it was safe, and easy, and boring. Somewhere along the way, I starting hanging onto things that make me feel secure. To paychecks, and leases, and predictability. I forgot the exhilaration of holding my breath in midair before landing on the next bar.

A Little Lighter...

Today I hit up two sample sales, finished the last of my Christmas shopping, and got a haircut. Whew! My hair is now up off my shoulders, with lots of layers- I feel so much lighter! It's amazing how fabulous a good haircut can make you feel. Let's take a break from the holiday madness and talk about books! The bookshelf print above is by Jane Mount, you can buy various book combinations on her etsy store, or commission her to paint your favorite books!

I'm compiling a list of books to read in 2010, and I need your help.  What were your favorite books this year? What is on your list for the New Year?

Two books that caught my heart in 2009:

Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach- the author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull. It's a difficult book to explain- it's about a pilot who meets a savoir in a cornfield and begins to learn from him. It's more philosophical than religious. It's full of quotes like these: "Even though it's changing every second, the sky is always a perfect sky... and the sea is always a perfect sea", and "If you will practice being fictional for awhile, you will understand that fictional characters are sometimes more real than people with bodies and heartbeats." I loved this book so much that W bought me my own copy for my birthday.