Tiffany's Travels

12/4/1953 - 2/13/2015

Added some Crocus and Tulip flowers to the Orchid collection. Love the cheeriness on the living room now.

Next week will be my last week on this client so next weekend I’ll have off! Then it’s onto the next client.

Lazy Sunday

Following Christmas came my busiest time of the year - busy season. This awful time period that lasts from January to March consists of longer hours and a widened waistline from all the expensed dinners - cortisol also pushing me away from the salads section of the menu. Each busy season, I always enjoy a lazy Sunday. I just love being able to relax and unwind.

Patty bought for us a gluten-free pancake mix as part of our lovely Williams-Sonoma care package. It was quite tasty, but Chris challenged me to find a better recipe. I found a healthy pancake recipe that actually wasn’t rubber-like. I have to admit that I’m skeptical when gluten-free bloggers claim their gluten free recipes tastes just like the gluten version. One of the challenges with baking gluten-free is getting you final product to taste savory, sweet, and not dense. Arriving at fluffy pancakes was a success with the recipe from minimalistbaker:

http://minimalistbaker.com/gluten-free-pancake-mix/

She actually does not specialize in gluten-free recipes yet her recipe was pretty darn good. I’ll have to see what other recipes she has on her website.

The last quarter of the year is my most favorited time of the year. Aside from having two weeks off from work to recharge for the busy season, spending time with family, baking for the holidays, and shopping for those perfect gifts for loved ones are some of the reasons I will always love the holiday season. It’s ironic, though, that as relaxing time off is, it’s also quite hectic! Hence why I haven’t posted since Chris’s parents came to visit us in Boston.

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving “eve” was spent at John and Yolanda’s house. We had an ample and varying spread of the usual Thanksgiving dishes. For the first time, I made homemade cranberry sauce. Who knew it was that easy?

Link: http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/homemade-cranberry-sauce/

Chris and I spent Thanksgiving day in New Jersey with Alex and Nora (plus their adorable baby girl). We ended up eating at a Chinese restaurant for our delicious Thanksgiving meal. I’m appreciative of their hospitality since they’ve been so busy with the new baby.

Christmas

Like last year, Chris and I went to Atlanta to spend time with my family. Nothing out of the ordinary to mention since eating, eating and more eating is always on our itinerary each day we are in Atlanta. However, Chris, Ashton, Ryan and I all went to the new shooting range near my parents’ house; I really needed the practice (and still need more) for the scored shooting test for a LTC-A in Boston.

25th Birthday Festivities

Thursday of this past week was my 25th! Talk about how time flies. After I moved to Chicago, I already started missing my friends and family from Atlanta. Now that I’m in Boston away from Chris’s parents who are in Michigan, the feeling is magnified. Due to Chris’s parents’ generous and kind personalities, I always feel a warmth from them that makes me feel closer to home.

On Thursday, Chris surprised me with Bliss skin care products as my birthday gift. It was very kind of him since I only mentioned it in passing a few times. We ordered in Vietnamese food since it was pouring outside.

On Friday we celebrated with Chris, John and Yolanda, who both kindly treated me to Shabu in Chinatown. I’ve been grateful for John and Yolanda’s hospitality ever since we moved to Boston. Moving to a new city without any family nearby is always difficult.

On Saturday (the last big event of my birthday celebration), Chris and I took a trip to a distillery in Boston - Bully Boy Distillery. They specialize in white whiskey, ‘Boston’ rum, white rum and American straight whiskey. We also had a mixed cocktail of Hub Punch to start off the tour and tastings of all the aforementioned spirits. The tour was insightful, yet not too long - essentially the perfect tour for me. We brought home a gift pack for our friends (pictured above - American straight whiskey and Boston rum with two handmade wooden coasters).