Muffin Maddness

You may recall from other blog entries, that I'm on a perfect muffin recipe quest. I'm constantly trying to find the best, oaty muffin recipe - the perfect blend of sweet, oat, and savory. To be perfectly honest, I haven't been entirely successful. That was until yesterday afternoon. Yesterday, I got one step closer to that perfect recipe.

Actually, it was after making yesterday's muffins that I came to the realization that I've been making the wrong type of muffins. I've been making bran muffins when it's really should be oat bran - emphasis on oat. My search would come to an easy close if I was able to get my hands on Honey's oat bran muffin. Sadly, they are unwilling to give it up. With Honey's muffins, I have to buy the muffins in bulk when I go home, carry them on the plane, freeze them, and enjoying them daily until they are gone (which is way to fast). I know it's a bit intense, but I love oaty muffins.

Anyway, these muffins were getting awfully close to my lovely Honey's muffin taste and texture. Close, but not quite there though. I'm going to share this recipe so my fellow bakers can review, contribute, and perhaps even try them out. Let me know what you think. In corporate world, I'd say I'm looking for feedback.

By the way, I ought to share the origin of the recipe. I discovered this recipe on the side of Bob's Red Mill Oat Bran Cereal bag, which I tweaked slightly. Honey's website says their muffins have canola oil, buttermilk, yogurt, applesauce, egg, juices, and fruit. I tried to get as much of these things in this recipe as I could. I might add different fruit next time too (i.e. strawberries or peaches). I know you're tried of reading now, so here's the recipe:

Nutritious Oat Bran Muffins

Ingredients:

• Dry: 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour, 3/4 cup oat bran, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1-1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. fresh nutmeg, 1/2 tsp. baking soda


• Wet: 1/8 cup mashed banana, 1/8 cup applesauce, 1/2 cup yogurt, plain 1 egg, 2 Tbsp. canola oil, 1 tsp. vanilla


• Other: 1/2 cup shredded carrot, 1/2 cup dates, chopped 1/3 cup blueberries (optional), 1/2 cup Walnuts, chopped


• Topping: 1 Tbsp. flour, 5 Tbsp. white sugar, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1 Tbsp. butter

Directions:

1. Mix together dry ingredients. Mis liquid ingredients in separate bowls.


2. Combine the two mixtures and stire until moistened.


3. Fold in carrots, dates, blueberries, and nuts.


4. Lightly grease or line muffin tins.


5. Fill 2/3 full. Sprinkle topping on muffins.


6. Bake at 400 F for 20 minutes. Bake 5 more minutes at 350 F.

My Changes (from the original recipe):

• Bake 400 F for 18-20 mins but that's for 12 muffins (I made 6 muffins)


• Added Bluberries, frozen


• 1/3 banana mashed and no applesauce -decided to split


• Added 1/2 tsp. more cinnamon and vanilla


• Added a dash of fresh nutmeg

Oat Muffin

Oat Muffin - Close Up

Randomly Routine

I've been thinking and thinking about what to write my next post about unsuccessfully. We're just not doing that much, and I don't want to bore people either with stupid things- all this makes posts tough. I decided to write some random stuff on my routine and everyday life that might be somewhat interesting, or not, but you can choose which bullets to read. Up to you!

• Netflix: I love Netflix. If you see a preview that you're not sure about, reviews aren't great but you want to see it, or you just can't pay for the movie theater experience, then I say "just Netflix it." It also gives the opportunity to watch past television series that you never knew about until it was over. One such tv series is How I Met Your Mother. Josh and I are going through this series right now and loving it. Watch it.


• TJ Groceries - Trader Joe's is the bomb. I go to TJ's once a week for our grocery needs. It's like a small town market that's fun to walk around with nice people, yet still has good stuff. Plus I think the prices on most items are pretty dang good. Not to mention I've had success with the TJ brand items and semi-premade meals. For instance, the stuffed pork chops, ricotta chicken with marinara, and their Balsamic dressing are some of my favorites. In fact, I was told by an employee that they often take popular, successful brands and then sell practically the identical item with their TJ brand/label. There is a whole TJ culture out there. While we were roaming Barnes and Nobles, I saw this book: The I Love Trader Joe's Cookbook. I'm tempted to purchase it. P.S. Check of these nifty grocery shopping list planners here. I just downloaded the list template - neat!


• TCBY: Yes, frozen yogurt is still a routine thing. Josh and I like the daily specials. Monday and Tuesday specials stink, but we enjoy Wednesday's waffle cones, Thursday's shivers, Saturday's parfaits, and Sunday's sundaes the most. Wait, that's almost every day of the week. For the days I can't con Josh into going, I have the Sub Shop frozen yogurt quart in the freezer to hold me over.


• Relaxation: This isn't totally routine, but I'm trying to make it part of my a routine. I've been testing some relaxation dash anxiety-reducing type techniques to help. One of the best relaxation scents is lavender so I've been on the look out for anything lavender. I bought this lavender spray to put on my pillow at night - quite nice (although I got Josh's pillow and he was like, "what's that smell?" - haha). Anyway, I'm trying all sorts of relaxation stuff  - candles, incense, reading, calm music, tea, stretching. All of these have worked pretty well. My New Years resolution of yoga might still happen, but it's hard to get any sort of routine with the Starbucks gig - we'll see. Maybe a DVD would work (hey, just Netflix it). Oh, and my moto and desktop picture (from WWII): Keep Calm and Carry On.


• Dining Out: Josh and I don't dine out very much (I've amped up my cooking), but we do get to go out and treat ourselves occasionally. One of our favorite Eugene spots is Yi Shen. The pho is delicious and prefect on a cold, wet day (and they add broccoli - makes me happy). Josh likes the Vietnamese sandwiches too. Ehh, we like all of it really. Another frequent dining option is Thai, which generally defaults to Chao Pra Ya. And the third most dine-out food is pizza. That's it: Vietnamese, Thai, and Pizza/Italian.


• Hanging Out: Generally we enjoy just hanging around town. For instance, we'll go walk around areas of town or high-end grocery stores like Market of Choice (similar to Whole Foods). I'm starting to make friends too. Last week I had a friend over to hang out. We bonded over the fact we both grew up on The Cutting Edge, so that's what we did. I picked up Thai food and we chowed and watched the movie. Can't beat that combo!

We do plan on doing fun stuff soon. Actually, tonight we went to the theater to go see Avitar 3D. We thought it'd been out long enough, it was Sunday night, and we were ~15 minutes early, yet it was still sold out. Boo! We still plan on seeing it though...perhaps Thursday.

Also, I have plans to go home for a friend's wedding in March and check out Seattle again. Then there is Valentines Day potential. So we'll break the routine and get out soon! Stay tuned, more post ideas will come...eventually.

Yi Shen's Pho

Tale of Teas

Since I started working at Starbucks, I've spent a lot of my time talking about coffee. However, I realized tea just isn't getting enough coverage. And you know what...it totally should! I love tea. Tea was a beverage I enjoyed even before coffee. I must attribute my enjoyment of hot tea to my sister. She taught me to add sugar and milk to my black tea - the British way.

Anyway, tea isn't just a terrific drink to have during the cold weather to keep you warm. Nay, it's also quite delicious during the summer as iced tea. Although, I must admit my preference is for hot tea. That said, let's talk about some teas I enjoy...

• Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf: This is mostly a Southern California chain and their best product is the tea lattes. Heather Richardson introduced me to these lovely tea lattes when I visited LA (a long time ago now). The first favorite was the English Breakfast tea latte. They also had a lemon chamomile tea latte in the springtime. My all-time favorite is the Winter Dream tea latte, which is only available during the winter month (shocking, Winter tea only during winter). The thing that makes the tea lattes so special is this magic vanilla (or chocolate in some) powder that you add to the brewed tea and before adding the frothy milk. Since I knew the ingredients, I thought I could whip up some up of these wonderfully delicious drinks myself at home. While down in SoCal for the holidays, I picked up some of the vanilla powder. Sadly I couldn't find the Winter Dream tea. Luckily Josh's parents came to the rescue and sent us some. My creations are very similar to the in-store drink (perhaps not quite the same, but pretty dang good).


• Starbucks Loose Teas: This is the latest and greatest at Starbucks. We just released all our teas in loose leaf tea bags. These bags are so much better than the compact, little bags we carried previously. The loose bags allow the tea to disperse and steep, so there is just more flavor burst. We had three teas available in loose bags before the release that were used for our tea lattes - these we didn't have out for purchase in boxes. Now, all teas are loose bag and available for purchase. Now, I can get my favorite tea and bring it home. My favorite is Vanilla Rooibos. It's an herbal, naturally caffeine free tea. It's decent as a latte, but I like it just brewed with a bit of sugar-free vanilla. I just bought it yesterday with my markout.


• Starbucks Chai Latte: This is still at our stores even though we had the tea bag renovation (mentioned above). It's similar to Oregon Chai in that both are basically a syrup. We add hot water to it to activate the "spices" and then top it off with steamed milk. This is one of my classic favorites, especially adding a bit of vanilla. I enjoy this more than Oregon Chai as it seems to have more spice, yet it's still sweet (you know some chai lattes can be uber spicy).


• MyChai: This is a local chai from Bend, OR. A few places offer it on their beverage line-up: Full City and Market of Choice. I even like this better than Starbucks Chai (shh, don't tell). It has a bit more bite (spicy) and still slightly sweet, but it's a perfect blend. Sadly, you cannot purchase it to bring home. A in-store enjoyment only.


• Evening Decaf Tea Options: Good Earth Decaf Vanilla Chai is my favorite. This is just a tea brand you can get at the grocery store, but it's quite good. I first had it in New Haven at Lindsay's apartment. This is great just before bed since it's decaf. I just add a drop of milk and splenda. I enjoy it almost every night. The second runner up is Celestial Seasoning's Sweet Coconut Thai Decaf tea. That's pretty good too - it's more exotic tasting. Beth and Chris had this tea at their place and that's were I discovered this option. Besides these, I've tried other decaf vanilla chai teas and they just don't quite cut it. (Caroline gave me some German teas for Christmas too which I've been enjoying, but those are a Christmas speciality and hard for me to buy for everyday consumption).

This is probably more than you ever wanted to know about my tea drinking. Let's face it though, I've got good taste (wink wink). Plus, you've now taken a step into my life and what I drink in the evenings (besides a large sparkling water).

Josh and I shared some tea during lunch on our mini-trip to Portland over the weekend. Here's a funny photo of us with the tea pot...

My Would-Be AD Anniversary

This is going to be a short post, mainly noting my would-be five year anniversary with Acxiom. Oh yes, I was so very close to reaching that five year anniversary mug (or some awesome piece of Acxiom branded nick-nack). In reality, I only made it to about 4.75 years. So Close!

A big shout out to all my Acxiom colleagues. I miss you guys!

(For those of you not in the loop, AD stands for Acxiom Digital. AD was formerly Digital Impact, and now just simply Acxiom).

It's Back

After basically a month, I FINALLY got my car back!!

That's right - a month. I brought my car in on 12/14/09 and I'm just now getting it back on 1/13/10. You might have forgotten since it has been such a long, long time, but I had a little rear ender back on 12/4. See post - Stuck in the Midde. Apparently, the stereo had to be shipped off to Honda for repairs. I ended up losing all six Christmas CDs, but luckily I had them all safely copied on my iTunes library. The story ends well though because I now have a happy, clean, and functional vehicle - woot woot.

Day, Month, Year

I just have to share some good news...I love my new calendar. Every year after Christmas I have the Great Calendar Hunt. As the name suggests, it is the search for the best calendar. Needless to say, I am *very* particular  - to Josh's delight (cough cough). I'm over the dogs, puppies, or picture a day of some far off place. I want something cool, artsy, and not-too-common. I like the deals you can get post-Christmas (hence the wait), but then they are all picked over and there is minimal selection. Plus the type of calendar I have pictured in my mind is never at these stores (i.e. tiny kiosks at the mall, B&N, or Borders). This means taking it to the Internet - wider selection.

So the search continued online. To start, one requirement is that be something different, non-type such as a new artist. Last year (2009) I had William Rice's calendar with arts and crafts block prints. The year before (2008), was Robert Creamer's Intimate Blooms calendar. Another requirement of getting a calendar is to not repeat a calendar I've had previously - get something new. I almost got Lawren S. Harris, Group of Seven, or Vintage Travel posters. I was just about to purchase (really I was getting my CC out), when Josh said, "how about making your own on your Mac with iPhoto." And that's what I did.

At first I was annoyed at the time I was spending. I have BILLIONS of pictures - it's true (all those fab trips). I was agonizing over it at lunch with Josh when he gave me some direction: try picking a theme for the calendar and apply it for each month. That's when the idea came. Each month is a different country or city I've visited. With a goal and some direction the production was much easier - fun in fact. I visited all the places again through my pictures. The Calendar's name: Heather's Travels. It came in the mail Monday and it looks great! I've so excited. It's hanging over my desk in our little office. Here's the deal:

January = Spain, February = Eastern Europe, March = Holland/Belgium, April = France, May = Germany, June = Hawaii, July = Italy, August = Seattle, September = Oregon, October = England, November = Switzerland/Norway, December = California Xmas

2010 Calendar

Calendar @ Eugene Desk

Framing the House

With the new year, Josh and I thought we'd spruce up the place a bit with some photos. What's the inspiration? For Christmas Don and Nada gave us a blow-up of our McKenzie River covered bridge photo. The first step was to get some frames. While we were at it, we thought we'd also go ahead and frame my Jack Vettriano Singing Butler picture. I mean, what the heck, we're in the framing mode anyway. I've had this Jack picture since college, so it's a bit beat up, but it's still a great picture if you ask me.

It began today with a trip over to Michaels (bummer - no Aaron Bros in the area) to pick up some frames. We got a great deal - buy one get one free! Oddly, Michael's policy is to not cut photos (we needed the Jack picture trimmed a bit), so we headed next door to Staples. With some rulers and some cutters, we got them all in place. Then we returned home and...Poof! Voila! A classed up home with beautifully framed pictures.

Hello 2010 and Hello New Looking Walls!

Our Frames

Welcoming in a New Decade

Man, I haven't written a blog entry all year!

I love doing that, saying I haven't done something all year. Yesterday, New Year's Eve, while at work, I was telling customers I'd see them next year. I think my co-workers got a kick out of it - that or laughing behind my back. Anyway, I think that's one of my favorite things about the New Year holiday. Now, I can go around saying things like, "I haven't had frozen yogurt all year" - that particular one won't be usable for too long though. Josh, loves this phrase (cough of sarcasm there).

As you probably picked up in my above paragraph, I'm working the New Years holiday. I worked New Years Eve until 5pm and today, New Year's Day, starting 12:15pm to 5:45pm. But, that'd ain't too bad! I got to stay up and sleep in. Plus customers are usually cheery on holidays.

New Years Eve was low-key this year for Josh and me. I started the tinge of a sore throat the other night, but it decided to come in full blast last night after work. With a sore throat, I really didn't feel like going out so we thought we'd take it easy (probably the flying or customers that gave me the cold - grumble - blame someone).

Instead we did some of our favorite things - Thai food and movies. Josh and I enjoyed a yummy meal at our favorite Thai restaurant, Chao Pra Ya. We returned home to watch Julie and Julia in the comfort of our own home (so yes, heaters were turned on). We sorta made it to midnight. We went to bed around 11:20pm since I had to work the next day and had a sore throat and opted for a good night sleep. However, we did awake up at midnight since our neighbors decided setting off fireworks and yelling would be fun for 2010. So I turned over to Josh and said Happy New Year, he grumbled a response and we were back to sleeping. I think sleep is a great way to welcome a new year, don't you? It's so comfy and nice.

Now, it's 2010. I guess we should discuss resolutions. I'll admit, I didn't really finish all my resolutions last year. But I did make about 3 of 5 - hey, that's not too bad. The ones I missed: yoga and golf. Perhaps yoga will be reset for 2010. I'd like to say I'd like to learn golf this year, but it's rainy and stuff here so to be honest, I doubt I'll go out in the rain to learn. So this year's resolutions need some further thought. I know health is the top, and keeping up this blog. I'm still thinking of others. Julie and Julia inspired me on the food front, so perhaps I'll try something there. Ehh, who knows. Oh well, resolutions really stop after January anyway (not to be a New Years humbug or anything).

Time to get ready for work. An ending thought: How will we refer to this year, and decade for that matter? Hmm: '10, the 10s, year 10, 2010. It's a bit perplexing to me. Guess we'll see.

Go Ducks! They're in the Rose Bowl & playing today.

Feeling the Holiday Hangover

Ever since Christmas ended, I've had trouble vocalizing this bum feeling I'm totting around. As I was writing an email yesterday, it came to me: the holiday hangover. I also thought of "reality bites," but holiday hangover sounds better. I mean we spend one day for everything we prepared the month for, and then the day is over and we're expected to go back to normal lives. Tear. Why isn't Christmas longer?

And another thing -- don't tell me that New Years is a "hair of the dog" cure-all for the hang over (Josh told me about this fitting phrase). New Years, is anti-climatic.  It never really what you hope it will be (i.e. the awesome party you see in the movies with sparklers and champagne at a really cool venue...nope, never happens).

Sigh, back to no decorations or fun music at home (or work).  Instead, its back to reality.  This hit me when I got home and spend all day yesterday doing the laundry, cleaning the house, putting things away, going to work.

Bah Humbug (in the opposite sense). Holiday Hangover.

If you're suffering the same, perhaps my Encinitas sunset photos will help cheer you up. Oh and Happy New Year Okay, I'll stop being a hum-drum and complaining - this whole email is a complaint, HA!. Side Note:  Isn't it crazy we're headed into another decade?

Santa Claus Came To Town

Or should I say Josh and Heather came to town..two towns to be exact: Indio and Encinitas. Indio with the Browns and Encinitas with the O'Neills. Yup, both parents are now down in SoCal, so we were able to squeeze in the holiday with both families. Josh flew down a day before me since I had a work shift, but I followed shortly after and arrived at our first stop, the Browns, on Wednesday afternoon.

Christmas Part 1 - Brown's in Indio
As I was about to get off the plane at Palm Springs (after a tad bit of turbulence), I noticed we had to go outside once off the plane. Ick, outside, that means cold (or at least that's what my brain translates "outside" these days). However, to my delight I stepped out to a wonderfully warm and sunshiny day. Ahh, melt. Then to top it off, Don and Nada took us to froyo. And it gets better because the flavor was cookies 'n creme. Heaven! And that was the first of the Christmas joys.

The rest of Wednesday was a bit of this and that. We visited some of the Brown's family friends, the Harvey's. We also had dinner at Papa Dan's where Josh's childhood brother-friend (a friend that's like a brother), Kevin, is manager.

Christmas Eve began with some Nada-Heather time getting fabulous manis and pedis. It'd been far too long since my little feeties and handies got some love - too much coffee making, cleaning, and cold weather drying them out. They came out much energized, or at least however hands and feet can be energized.

After nails there was a whirl-wind of errands and Christmas prep time. Suddenly 4pm rolled around and we at the Christmas Eve service at the Southwest Community Church. I was happy to find that they sang multiple carols and the big finale was Silent Night with candles. There was a weird attempt at a skit with mountaineers on clouds acting as angels and some crazy electric guitar version of Carol of the Bells, but all-in-all a nice service.

After the service, we enjoyed a scrumptious dinner at a seafood/steak restaurant called Pacifica. I had a lovely whitefish and a very tasty lemon drop. I even got to add to the the toast: "God bless us everyone." Then the Eve was tied up with some initial gift unwrapping with Aunt Ester back at the hacienda.

The sun shone in on Christmas morning and Santa had made a visit. We dove straight into our stockings where we all got various sorts of fun things - chocolates, notebooks, iTunes cards, and more. A quick break of the fast (aka breakfast) with some yummy multigrain pancakes. But not too long of a break because we were right back with unwrapping gifts from under the tree. Josh gave me a beautiful Tiffany heart necklace - woohoo, my first (and probably only) blue box! Side Note: I'm keeping the cute box. Also I got a super soft, warm vest and turtleneck from Don and Nada. Josh and I also received a nice set of pans for some fabulous cooking - perhaps a Food Network recipe.

We packed up and off we went over the desert and through the mountains (no river or woods, but sorta similar). The road lead us to the beach which brings us to...

Christmas Part 2 - O'Neill's in Encinitas
The minute we arrived, the O'Neill clan (aka mom, dad, and Lindsay) were ready and waiting. They held off all Christmas rituals until our arrival. They had the house prepared and food cooking for the big dinner feast at evening, so we got straight to the unwrapping (after a quick bite to eat). With the O'Neill tradition we started with the gifts under the tree. I must have been a good girl this year because I received all sorts of good stuff - rain boots, mittens, scarves, warm jacket, cozy PJs. Notice the list, they go right along this year's gift theme: warmth. Now I can say I'm all suited up for chilly weather. Additionally, I got a few tech things like an ear piece - Oregon is going to start the hands-free law in 2010. Josh got great stuff too. My gift to him was a nice, warm PJ set.

We had to go-go-go and move straight to stockings before the company arrived for dinner. The traditions were kept and we all sat in our usual places at the fireplace area and opened one gift at a time in a circle. More cute little stuff and goodies.

Starting around 3:30pm, the guests started to arrive. As tradition goes, we had a bunch of our family friends over for a big feast (our friends included the Hartleys and the Troglers). Before indulging in the xmas gluttony, we all sat around the tree and caught up on each others past year and holidays. We even opened some more gifts (I think my fingers should hurt from the unwrapping by this point - hehe, no complaining here though).

Dinner was fabulously delicious with roast turkey (very juicy), mashed pototoes, sweet potato casserole*, Brussels sprouts*, jello (my mom's famous jello with fruit), stuffing, and oh so much more. And don't forget dessert of pie, velvet pudding, chocolates, and cookies. (* = you may recall both dishes from my recipe collection & earlier posts).

And that wraps up (pun intended) yet another wonderful Christmas. Josh and I were blessed in that we were able to see both parents. I had such a great holiday, and to get somewhat mushy here, I feel like a very lucky person to be able to spend the holidays with those I love. I'm so glad I was able to get a few days to spend some quality time with the families - the perfect gift! This comes a bit belated now, but...Merry Christmas!

Christmas pictures are posted on my Flickr site - Check them out! Bonus pictures too from our walk on the beach the day-after-Christmas.

Xmas Tree

I'll Be Home for Christmas

Start singing: I'll be home for Christmas; You can plan on me. Please have snow and mistletoe; and presents under the tree.

Okay, now take out the snow part and it'd be just about fitting (no snow in SoCal). Tomorrow (Wednesday), I'm flying down home for the holidays. To start, I'm going to Palm Springs to spend some time with the Browns (that would be Josh's parents). Josh and I will be with them for Christmas Eve and early morning. Then we'll jump in the car and head to Encinitas to spend Christmas day and evening with my family. We'll have all our usual Christmas dinner friends & a regular, ole holiday feast.

And, oh boy, I've been preparing and waiting for the big Christmas day. I've been busy in the kitchen making cookies. Of course, Pepparkakor has been baked and enjoyed. Kakor what? It's a traditional Swedish cookie I learned from Grandma Norma. It's like a gingersnap slash sugar cookie because it requires cookie cutters. Then there is my Holiday Biscotti, which is a Giada De Laurentiis recipe that I've been making for a few years now. I've tested two new recipes too. First, I tried Peppernuts (or Pfeffernusse in German) to pay respects to my German heritage and friends. Second new recipe was from my December Cooking Light, Mexican Chocolate. These had pepper and cayenne in them. I used local chocolate, Euphoria, at 70% cocoa. Big hit. Whew, that's all I managed this year. Still a nice array though if you ask me. (And they are packed in my suitcase to bring to everyone).

As I write this very post, I'm watching It's a Wonderful Life. I've just about gone through all my favorite Christmas movies. I've been also listening non-stop to Christmas music!

If I don't post beforehand, Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Xmas Cookies

Adding Holiday Spirit

Today we received a tall, medium sized box in the mail. What in the dickens is it? Why a Christmas tree in the mail of course! Josh's parents, Don and Nada, figured out a way to send holiday spirit in the mail. I was super excited when we opened the box to find a cute, little tree to brighten up our place. And the bonus...lights and ornaments were included! Now our place has more holiday spirit (and smells good too). Thanks Don & Nada!

Eugene X-Mas Tree

Stuck in the Middle

Today didn't start off so great and it got worse by about 3:30pm. It started when I got to the gym and realized I'd forgotten my running shoes. I had to drive all the way back home and then back to the gym. Ugh. I got "over it" and after a decent workout decided to hit up the wonderful world of Target.

As I began driving to Target, I contemplated the route. Hmm, which way would be the quickest? After some contemplation, I decided on Jefferson to 11th which would bring me to straight to Target. Jefferson was a BAD choice.

As I was sitting at a red light in traffic (it's a busy street), cheering with my Christmas music, I was suddenly jerking back-and-forth. It was like everything went into slow motion as I saw myself/car headed into the car ahead of me. Crash, bang, boom! I was now a victim; a victim stuck in the middle of a 3 car accident. Since nobody really knew what to do, I took the "lead" on directing people to exchange info and whatnot (and my iPhone came in handy - took pics of licenses, cars, and such). The guy that hit me was younger and apparently not watching ahead and didn't see the cars stopped ahead. I guess he was waiving to some girl on the sidewalk (ha -awkward for him).  Sadly for me, he was going pretty fast when he hit so now my neck hurts a bit. Fingers crossed I'm not to achy for work tomorrow. <insert sorry-for-Heather sigh here>

Anyhoo, the day did end well. Josh took me to my favorite Thai place, Target (yes, got there at last), and then TCBY for froyo (Yes, I eat it even though it's 30s to 40s outside now. The trick is to eat it at the store where it's warmer, go in the car with the heater cranked up). To wrap up the day, I took a nice, hot bath. What a day!!

P.S. The good news: nobody got seriously hurt (and my car just needs some body work on the front & back...)

WiFi Leeching

Oh my, two blog entries in one day. What is she thinking? Well, this second one today is going to be short, but I just had to share with the world that I've been chillin' in coffee shops all morning with my Mac. The reason: EWEB shut our electricity down from 8:30am until about 2:30pm (it's 2:05pm and I'm thinking I'll head home again soon, so let's hope their 2:30pm time frame is accurate). The first place was Midtown. Usually their lattes are much better so I was a bit bummed--should have gone to Sbux hehe. The temperature was also a bit cold there and it was quite noisy (lots of plate banging, etc). Who's whining right?

Now I'm at Supreme Bean. I had a savory crepe (the ones with buckwheat that I love) for lunch. It was not their best crepe performance, but I've had them done very well here so never fear, I'll return. On the positive side, it's much warmer and less loud here.

(For the record, I wasn't really leeching, both places offer free wifi service - and I was good and checked first. No leeching, just sounded good.)

The other reason for the second entry was because I wanted to share my picture of these adorable ornaments.

So Cute!

Molasses Spice & Everything Nice

Oh my goodness, I just had to share this recipe with you all...these cookies are scrumptious. I decided to get my kitchen going today (not to mention it warms up the house) and try out a new Molasses Spice Cookies recipe. They are crispy on the edge and softer in the center. For my twist I used turbinado sugar for the rolling. This really gave them texture and an extra pazaow of sweetness.

For some insight on the secret: the recipe is from a blog I follow called Simply Recipes. I think the writer, Elise Bauer, is quite well known in the blog world. And I would agree as I made many successful dishes from her (btw, I follow a bunch of blogs--many of which are food/recipes blogs).

After the cookies were out of the oven, I moved on to dinner making. Tonight was Rachael Ray's Straw and Hay pasta. Which turned out to be yet another success of the evening. We really enjoyed this quick, simple yet tasty dish. I got this one from watching the Rachael Ray Show. It's on every weekday morning from 9-10am. I know, I know, the Rachael Ray Show, really Heather? However, I must say that I'm learning (since I have more time in the day with Starbuck shift schedule) that daytime TV is not great. And early in the mornings, even Food Networks doesn't have much but paid programming (and it's worse at 4:30am or 6am..bah).

More cooking later this week cuz it's Turkey time!
(we're doing it Friday instead though)

Molasses Spice & Everything Nice

No Wonder they're Ducks

Ducks are the mascot at University of Oregon. I say it's no wonder with all the rain. The mascot needs to paddle around. I was driving to the gym today and the streets were like mini rivers. Everyone warned me of the rain, and it's been what I've expected so far. Actually, so far it's been better than I thought. Up to this point, the rain has been more like the Red light, Green Light, Yellow Light game. Did you ever play that game? Oregon plays it a lot with the rain. It doesn't rain, it does rain, then it just is on the verge of rain. It skips through these phases like every 30 minutes. One day can be a whole range of weather. And it doesn't pour a lot, but rather a constant drizzle. The locals tell me to layer up, so I bought another fleece a week or so ago. To be honest, right now the rain isn't so much of an issue as the temperature. It's just so cold--inside and out. Burrr! Next on my shopping list: rain boots and those gloves that have the finger flap.

A few songs I sing when I see the rain (cold):

• Blind Melon's No Rain


• Heather Nova's London Rain


• Ella's Baby, It's Cold Outside (ok, it's not a rain song, but it is COLD)


• Milli Vanilli's Blame It On the Rain


• BJ Thomas' Rain Drops Keep Fallin' On My Head


• Not sure the name: It's raining, it's pouring, the old man is snoring. He went to bed and bumped his head and couldn't get up in the morning.

Bring it Indoors

Who says s'mores is just for camping and bonfires? Not Josh and me! We decided tonight's snack would be marshmallows roasted over the stovetop. Yes, that's right, we roasted them over an electric stove on high. And the results were...wait for it...heavenly.

Josh made his s'mores the traditional way with graham cracker, chocolate, and roasted marshmallow. However, I decided to add a twist to mine by adding some delicious and nutritious bananas. I couldn't believe the success. Guess who added bananas onto their second serving?! Yup, that's right, Josh (never doubt my creations again mwahahaha).

Another yummy, gooey snack (not to mention also a nice & warm snack--perfect in our 58 degree living room).

S'more Fun: Roasting Marshmallows

Heather's Banana S'more

Holidays Begin. Bah Humbug.

Actually, there is not a inch of bah-humbug in me (or with holidays). But there is, ok there was, in Scrooge! And so, it was with bah-humbug that Josh and I decided to kick-start our holiday season.

I know it's early, but the stores* are doing it, so why not? I'm probably a hypocrite going to see a Christmas movie before Thanksgiving since I'm always saying how we need to celebrate each holiday. Poor little Thanksgiving always gets brushed aside in the big Christmas preparation rush. Seriously, we still need to appreciate Thanksgiving. It deserves it's rightful time and enjoyment, not to mention my love for turkey and all the goodies that come along with it (yum, leftovers).

*Side Note: Starbucks is starting Christmas already with our holiday cups, special drinks (eggnog, gingerbread, and creme brulee), and coffee blends.

Anyhoo, Christmas is coming none-the-less and I must begin preparing. I'll start with movie watching (the music I only give myself permission to start the day after Thanksgiving -- Josh will love that I'm sure). The movie I really need to start because there are so many favorites that I must watch each year. So little time, so many movies! By the way, I'll write a post on my Christmas favorites soon.

The actual purpose of this entry was to tell you about the movie I that started the holidays this year. It was Disney's A Christmas Carol 3D with Jim Carrey. Charles Dickens' classic tale has always been a special story. I enjoy watching all the different variations / versions and I've even read the book. We decided to see the flick Friday night (later at night so as to miss the kiddie crowd). Here's some thoughts on the movie:

• Special Features - The movie wasn't over done with 3D features. As tempting as I imagine it might be for a director, there weren't many scenes added just because it was 3D and would be "cool." Rather the effects were nicely weaved into the film so that I even forgot it was 3D at times. It was my first time seeing 3D (besides Captain-E-O at Disneyland). Although it was a fun experience, Josh and I found it was a bit pricey (luckily I had some handy Regal gift certificates to use). I'm  not sure if we'd pay the big buck for it on too many occasions. I think it's Hollywood's idea to get us back at the theaters, but it's just too much mulla right now.


• True to Story - This very seemed to stick true to Dickens' tale. In fact, so close that parts were pretty darn scary. When you think about it, the tale wasn't really meant to be a children's story, but to get the holiday spirit going again in Britain. Read more.


• Setting - Josh and I really enjoyed some of the images and scenes of the story's setting. For instance, at the begin the film took us flying over London--showing fun famous points of interest and whatnot. Actually, it really made us want to go back for a visit (and good memories from our trip a few years ago).


• Scary, Bizarre, yet Humorous - I made a comment on the movie being scary above, but I thought I'd give some more detail. We all know the 3rd ghost is really the scariest, but I thought he was down-right frightening in this version. I mean, how do kids watch this and not have nightmares? And the usual jolly ghost of Christmas Present, my favorite by the way, had some scary moments. You might recall how he only has a certain amount of time upon this Earth. Well, the ending to "his time" was a bit chilling (this ain't Halloween folks, what the heck?!?). The first ghost was a bit bizarre if you ask me--portrayed as a candle. Plus some of the facial movements of the ghosts and whatnot throughout the movie were a bit strange. But there were some humor twisted in as well. I though mini Scrooge funny and some of the remarks they added caused some laughter.

Overall, the movie was entertaining and fun. And being that to entertain is the purpose of movies, then that means it was a success. Josh and I were glad we went and saw the movie. I would recommend it as a Netflix or if you haven't seen a 3D flick get, then go see it in the theaters!

Remember, coming soon is a entry on Christmas favorites--movies (plus other A Christmas Carol version I love), books, and more baking.

Random II

You may remember the Random entry I wrote back at the end of September. This is the second Random entry. I plan on doing these types of posts every now and again because they are easy and I often have smaller topics to bring up but not really needing their own entry. Note the II (yes, I'm going to have to learn Roman numerals better, as I think I only know them up until like 19 or something --> yea Internet).

• Halloween: Josh and I kept the evening low key and decided to stay in. Plus all the kiddies were depending on us to deliver candy and I did not fail them! We actually didn't really end up getting many trick-or-treaters. This was probably because our porch light doesn't work and so it's pretty dark at our door. We got about 4 door bell rings, but each visit had a fair number of kids. The 4th (and last) ring was like 10 kids at around 7:15pm. This 4th ring got me all excited (& worried about having enough candy), but it turned out to be the last ring of the evening. The only costume I recall is an ambulance made from a box, which I though was very creative. Once the trick-or-treaters were apparently not coming, we settled down to watch Interview with a Vampire. I wanted to prove to myself I could watch this and not have nightmares. Yes, I actually had nightmares about vampires last time. Mainly the nightmare was how I would say to myself (in the dream of course) that I didn't believe in vampires; however, Lestat showed up to prove me wrong! So far no nightmares...whew!


• Big Game: That would be University of Oregon vs. USC football game that happened this past Saturday. Apparently it was even covered as ESPN College Day. The game brought in lots of out-of-towners and I met them all working a shift on Saturday. There were lots and lots of USC fans (there is a hotel near the store). It was fun to see everyone get so hyped up. Seriously, it's big here. I mean you go to the store and you get asked if you are watching the game, etc. (Sorry Uncle Ron, Aunt Pat & Lindsay - it was a sad day for your team).


• Flowers: Josh was super sweet and surprised me with flowers on the table when I came home from work the other day. I was feeling less-than-perfect at my coffee abilities that morning before work and this really brightened me up. See the bouquet on Flickr.


• Pizza Takeout: I just had to mention this. We picked up pizza yesterday and the box was beautifully painted with a flower design. This is where we say, "...only in Eugene." See the box on Flick too. By the way, this is one of our favorite restaurants. It's called Pizza Research Institute (or PRI).


• Baking Crusade: I'm still baking and cooking a lot! I'm still trying to find the perfect muffin. Yesterday I not only made Sweet Potato Carrot muffins (from family cookbook), but a delicious apple crisp (with modifications, so ask me if you actually try this one). Also prepped dinner for tonight which was scrumptious R. Ray dish she called Turkey Chili and Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie (it's very orange for Halloween).


• Froyo Alert: My froyo radar is still going strong. Apparently Springfield, Eugene's neighboring town, has a froyo place coming soon. It's called Sweety's (corner of Main and 6th St). I'm desperately trying to find when it opens (I'm not around that part of town much, but I might be soon - wink wink).


• Missing the Bay: This has been on my mind lately, so I thought I'd share. No no no, don't get me wrong, I'm very happy; however, I still miss many things none-the-less. Oh and Josh agrees on many of these too...
  
  
  
  • Here's a few things I'm missing: Friends (this is the biggest miss!), Yumi Yogurt (and the plethora of options), Malls & Shopping (the mall here stinks and nothing compared to Santana Row and Valley Fair - although I shouldn't be spending anyway so this helps stop me!), Radio Stations(really they need better music, but I got iTunes, Pandora, and streaming), YMCA (miss the people, classes, and the little TVs on each treadmill. BUT I'm enjoying Oakway Fitness cycle and interval classes), the Liveliness of the Bay (how in the Bay you are on the cutting edge of what's new and cool...am I missing anything? should I know about anything up and coming?), and Restaurants(very limited here). Sure there is more, but that would be sad to continue. I MISS YOU GUYS!
  
  
  • On the flip side, I could list a bunch of things I'm enjoying here in Eugene too: Josh is here (yes, this is #1), Coffee Shops & Bakeries (not just Starbucks either, but Full City and more), Nature & Trails (did you see my hike post from last weekend? enough said), Friendly people (very gun-ho on the sports, just more smiles and hellos while you're out and about), Seasons (pretty colors), and more.
  
  
  
  


• Starbucks:
  
  
  
  • Funny Weekend Experience: Josh and I decided to stop at the River Valley Center Mall on Saturday after my shift. As I wanted into various stores I saw our "regulars." I was like "oh there is the "iced venti, 6 pump sugar free vanilla, passion tea" customers! I reminded me of my mom (Mrs. O'Neill, the teacher) going shopping and seeing her students. Hehe.
  
  
  • Telephone Game: A customer mentioned this and I thought it pretty right-on...working at Starbucks is like a big game of Telephone (just not whispering). You call it out and then it goes down the line of others calling it out.
  
  
  • What's Heather Drinking: I added a sidebar plug-in to share my "drink creations" - check it out on the right. I'm still playing around with this setup, so if it's not there right now then come and check again. Until it's 100% up and running, my newest I've been calling Snickers. This is basically a mocha with hazelnut and caramel syrups. How I "call it" (order it)? Here you go: double tall, 2 pump sugar-free hazelnut, 2 pump sugar free caramel, non-fat, no whip, 1 pump mocha.
  
  
  
  

• Josh's Creative Work: To end on a high note, Josh was playing around with the video and photos from my iPhone from our hike last weekend. Here's the result (enjoy!):

Clips From Sahalie Falls from Joshua Brown on Vimeo.

Boiling Lava Hot

It was Tuesday and just another typical day on the job. However, little did I know that today would be the day soy milk would attack me and my poor wrist. Here's the sad tale:

As I said, the day started out nice; just chilling behind the bar (that's barista talk for making coffee). Then it got busy! Dun dun dun. I tried to work fast and keep up with the orders. A line of empty cups was forming. My brain telling me, "work faster, work faster!" So I did (or tried is probably the better word). To work fast behind the bar, one must multi-task. Set the milk to steam while pulling an espresso shot or blending a Frapp, etc. Well, I was doing just that when suddenly I turn around to see flying soy milk. Correction: flying evil soy milk. My brain pauses...what is going on! I go to grab the pitcher, but Brain says, "bad idea Heather, hot liquid is bad! Hit the off button!" I go hit the button, but as I do so a bit of scalding, lava hot liquid strikes my innocent wrist. Burn! However, in the spirit of true customer service, I continue onward to finish off the rush of drinks and serve the thirsty people.

The good news is that the burn didn't turn out to be major (really, I would have stopped if that were the case). With some ointment added, the next day you could barely even see the "sunburn" redness on my wrist and there wasn't any pain. However, remember this: If you are at a coffee shop, be nice to your barista because she's most likely trying to work as fast as possible AND never underestimate the power of soy milk. And now I think I ought to find a better way to work faster.

On an ending note, since I mentioned "boiling lava hot" you really ought to check out Jim Gaffigian. I LOVE his comedy...Click here! (note: at the 1-min 37-sec mark on the video you'll see about "boiling lava hot")