Smiles on a Friday...

Well, it's Friday! Friday's are just good days. You get to wear jeans to work. Iowa Girl Eat's posts her Friday Favorites (ok, that might not be something that makes you happy on a Friday, but it does me!) The weekend is near. Friday's are just good days. I feel like I'm smiling even more than your average Friday. Want to know why? Ok, I'll tell you...

(Um... yes please.)

I have plans to bake this beauty tonight. Well, I baked the cake last night, but I'll make the frosting and drench it with the ganache tonight. I seriously am a little bit giddy about it. (We already know that I'm a baking nerd, there's no point in hiding it.)

(I don't wear it with attitude like she does.)

Yesterday, on my day off, I hit up the Gap. They had 30% off your entire purchase so you know that I can't stay away... I bought only one shirt, this shirt, and I'm wearing it today, and it just radiates spring, I think. It's making me happy.

(Joel's the guy in the green, he's pretty cool.)

My brother Joel is home for a week from law school in Austin, Texas. I like him a lot. Especially since I've finally found a game I can kick his butt in: Hanging With Friends. This is a big feat for me.

(Nothing clever to say about this one. Not that my other comments have been clever.)

My brothers are always exposing me to good music. Yesterday Cory told me about this band (if you could call it a band) called King's Kaleidoscope. I'm not always a huge fan of Christian music, but these folks, they spice up hymns... and I like that. A lot.

(I don't have a picture of humming, but I do have a picture of some pretty pretzels. So...)

Humming. Some of the guys around me at work hum sometimes. They probably have no idea that I'm aware of their humming, but I am. And makes me smile. So I've decided that it's ok for me to hum outloud, too (as long as it's not TOO loud.) Humming has brightened my day.

(Brad playing music on the streets of Sevilla. I could be serenading him!)

I've been dreaming about going to visit my cousin Brad in Spain lately. Figuratively and literally dreaming about it. I think I may try to make it happen. This excites me. (P.S. Brad has the greatest blog ever documenting his time abroad. Add that to the list of things that make me smile: Brad's blog. Check it.)

Alright, well, these things are probably all quite insignficant to you. But it's Friday. And I'm smiling. And I hope you have silly little things like these that are making you smile, too.

Try-It Thursday: Meatballs with Peppers and Pineapple

Since I copped out and let Chipotle do the cooking on Tuesday, I thought I'd share the recipe I made tonight. I had the day off of work for a dentist appointment (yep, it's true, I took an 8 hour day off of work for a 45 minute dentist appointment... get over it) so my mom asked me if I wanted to make dinner. I'm pretty much always up for making dinner. I actually get really excited about it. Sometimes I wish I didn't get so excited about it though, because the finding of the recipe takes just as long if not longer than the making of the recipe. Ridiciulous, I know, but true.

After an extensive search, I landed on a Pioneer Woman recipe that I had pinned on Pinterest a few months ago. It didn't involve chicken (aren't you proud of me?) But it did involve meatballs, peppers and pineapple. It was called Meatballs with Peppers and Pineapple (quite original, PW...) Besides the lack of exciting name, the recipe was a hit! The sauce was a little runnier than I'd prefer (for some reason I can never make PW's sauces as thick as she does...) But everything else was pretty great. The meatballs had a good flavor. The peppers and pineapple added a fresh bite. And the sauce was sweet but not too sweet. It was just plain ol' good.

Anyway, just thought I'd share it with you. Happy Friday-eve!

Try-It Tuesday: Chocolate Peanut Butter Ball Cookies

It was just my mom and I for dinner tonight, so we opted out of a meal at home and let Chipotle do the work. At dinner, my mom said, "So... if you're in the mood to bake, Dr. Gardner mentioned today that there has been a lack of baked goods in the office..." (Side note: my mom is a dental hygienist, and a great one at that.) She didn't have to tell me twice! I'm still pretty psyched about my Joy the Baker cookbook, so I went through it twice to find the perfect recipe (yes, I'm an extreme nerd when it comes to baking...) and landed on...

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ball Cookies... What?! Yes, you heard me. A chocolate cookie... with a giant peanut butter ball in the middle. The peanut butter is like the center of a buckeye, and instead of going through the work of dipping them in chocolate, you just plop them on top of freshly baked chocolate cookies. Even though I baked them for my mom's office, you know that I couldn't let those leave my house without getting a sample... They were delicious, but they were a bit rich. And the fact that I, Abby Jean Thomason, think that they're rich, means they're real rich. I'd probably cut the size of the peanut butter ball in half next time. But believe me, there will be a next time. Fo. sho.

Happy Try-It Tuesday! (P.S. I wish I could share the recipe with you, but it's in Joy's cookbook and I really do think you should buy it. I've given you the link once, and I'll give it to you again. It's good.)

Bad Day Song.

Do you have a song that you listen to whenever you're having a bad day? You know, that song, that for some reason, gives you perspective and can cheer you up every time? Generally it's cheesy? And maybe makes you cry when you listen to it sometimes? ... No, Bad Day by Daniel Powter does NOT count, and if you say that, just leave my blog right now, we're not meant to be friends. (Not really, but seriously, there is a world full of better music out there...) Today I was down for a bit. Just had a bad day at work. And I was singing my little heart out on my way home (that normally helps...) and then I turned on my bad day song, and it worked. I don't know why, but it does it every time. (Along with verbally processing with my parents, lots of Diet Coke, and laughing with friends...) What is my bad day song, you ask?

New Day by Robbie Seay Band. (Never heard of it? Yeah, it's not really popular.) Yep, my song is cheesey. It has silly lyrics. And sounds like it's from 2007 (because it is.) But it makes me smile. And maybe cry a little bit. But it always ends with a smile. And reminds me of the bigger picture. That we get another chance tomorrow, and it might not be the best day of your life... but it just might be, too.

The first line of the song goes like this: "I'm going to sing this song, to let you know that you're not alone. And if you're like me you need hope, coffee, and a melody..." So cheesy. But so great. And if you happen to need a bad day song. And you don't have one... you can share mine. You can listen to it below. Or you can just give me a call. I'll serenade you. Promise.

New Day

Inspiration.

Saturday night my mom and I went to this thing called KC Cakefest. There was a Groupon for it, so we were like, "What the heck... it might be interesting." To be honest, it ended up being kind of lame, so we just hung out for an hour or so, chalked it up to a good experience to people watch, then headed home. One thing I did enjoy in the evening was when this woman spoke named Leigh Grode; she's the co-owner of a famous bakery in Los Angeles called Cake Divas (and apparently she's on TV, too... although I've never seen her on anything...) She gave her two cents on a few things. Like that there is no shame in using cake mixes because all it is is pre-measured ingredients that you would use in a cake from scratch anyway. (So now I don't have to feel guilty when people ask what the secret is for my white cake and I respond, "Duncan Hines.")

Someone also asked her what was her favorite cake that she ever made. Her favorite was a birthday cake she made a boy from Russia that had recently been adopted by an American family. He was 10 years old or something, and it was his very first birthday cake. She talked about how excited he was, and the joy that it brought her to see that. She said that she loves baking because it is a way to celebrate life. I loved that! I already enjoy the art behind baking, and the yumminess behind baking, but I sometimes forget to put my finger on that fact that it's a way to celebrate! I love that, too...

(Seriously though... if you're a baker, buy this.)

I also got Joy the Baker's new cookbook in the mail this weekend. It's great. You should buy it. (Here, I'll give you the link right HERE to make it easy for you.) Tonight I made her Cream Cheese Pound Cake and Cranberry Orange Poppy Seed Cookies to take to work tomorrow. Despite the diet, I taste-tested both and they were pretty alright... Anyway, in the introduction to the cookbook, Joy said something that kind of goes back to what Leigh said. And I liked it a lot:

"I encourage you to use this book to celebrate life and love. They're both made better with sugar, butter, and cream. There's an undeniable connection between sweet treats and smiles; I hope this cookbook inspires both."

Alright, I'm stepping off of my baking soapbox now. I guess you could say it was just an inspiring weekend for me as far as baking goes...

(Depiction of happiness in the eyes of Abby Thomason.)

Butterscotch!

I needed to blog about something so that the first thing that people saw when visiting my blog wasn't the disgusting fat man below. Yes, I could just take the picture off of my post... But instead I thought I'd blog about something completely insignificant that's also completely wonderful: butterscotch.

Tonight has been a nice, relaxing Friday night at home (you know you're getting older when you look forward to a Friday night of nothing...) What do I do on a Friday night at home? Peruse Pinterest! I saw a dress, which took me to another site, which caused me to find a dress that was kind of goldeny/mustardy colored and guess what the color was called: butterscotch! And it reminded me of how much I love the stuff.

The dress that inspired it all. Feeling generous? You can buy it for me. It's only $65. No big deal. (I've never paid that much for a dress in my life... But you feel free to. Especially if it's for me, k?)

Butterscotch Shakes from Winstead's. I love these things. Knowing that I was going to get back on track with the diet this week, I treated myself to a butterscotch shake on Sunday night. A last supper of sorts...

Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies. This recipe is one of my favorite cookie recipes. I can't think of one that I enjoy more, so it very possibly could be my favorite, but I'm hesitant to give anything the favorite title. That's a big commitment for a girl like me.

Butterscotch Schnapps. This and hot chocolate is one of my favorite drinks in the winter time.

Take a few butterscotch chips, a few chocolate chips, a tiny bit of peanut butter, and melt them together. Dip a banana in this mixture and it's amazing! And reasonably healthy if you don't use too much of the chips and pb. This concoction has been getting me through this week...

Happy low key Friday!

Accountability.

(Yep, this is what you get when you google "failed New Year's Resolutions"...)

Remember like 2 months ago when everyone was making lists of resolutions for the year? And remember that time that I made a list for myself? And remember that one time I slacked off instantly? But do you also remember that one time that I blogged about how I was a slacker and was going to try to get better? You don't remember that? Ok, that's because it's about to go down:

I'm a slacker. I made a list. And despite my good intentions, I've slacked. Hard core.

1. Lose 50 pounds. I lost a couple, and then I gained a couple back. Diets are hard. But a friendly reminder came my way the other day when my friend Valeria sent a picture of the bride's maid dress I'm going to need to look good in. Let's just say it's business time.

2. Learn how to play the guitar. I haven't touched the thing. I've thought about it though... Does that count?

3. Make a business plan for my bakery. Um... I've baked a lot. But no planning whatsoever has gone down. Slackety slack slack, I'm a slacker.

4. Be more adventurous. Hm... this is a little bit more subjective. I mean, I made thai turkey burgers the other day, I've been wearing stripes more instead of just solid colors, my toe nails are currently painted blue, I trimmed my own bangs tonight... Is that adventurous enough for you?

5. Take more people out to coffee. This has been happening more than it was, but I'd still like to get better. I actually went to coffee with a friend tonight. We talked about life. We played cards. We drank coffee. Life was good.

So, long story short, just thought I'd let you know I've been slacking. But that doesn't mean I've given up. And if you've got a list and have been slacking like me - don't give up! It's not too late! We can do this! Si se puede!