7 Quick Takes (vol. 18)

Alright, so it's Friday (finally) and I'm super excited for a weekend...with no plans! Yep, I'm off to spend it with my fiance but other than that it's a clean slate. I'm excited. Here's my random list for the moment...

~~ 1 ~~

So I made these last night

image and recipe from here

Yep, Blueberry Donuts. They're pretty great. I left off the glaze (I can't handle too much sugar in the morning) and the recipe made 1 pan (6 donuts) of the full size donuts and 1 pan (12 donuts) of the mini donuts (the minis I baked at 350 for 8 minutes). If you haven't made homemade donuts, you should. They're easy and oh so yummy.

~~ 2 ~~

 I finished "Dear Mr. Knightley" last night and loved it! This is the 2nd book in a row (the first being "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society") that I have finished which are the only books the author has written.  I want more, more from these characters I've come to love. Anyone else ever feel like that? 

~~ 3 ~~

There is a lot of cute wedding stuff and there is also a lot of ugly wedding stuff out there. Since I'm getting married at the end of the year I've been browsing everything from cake stands to floral arrangements. There's something to be said for simplicity.

~~ 4 ~~

image from here

Lent is next week. That's crazy, and also kind of awesome. I was talking with a couple of friends last night about how great the season of Lent is. I'm not sure exactly when I switched from dreading Lent and the idea of giving up something I loved to loving the idea of sacrificing so that I can grow stronger in my faith and closer to God. Whenever it happened, I'm glad it did.

~~ 5 ~~

So I'm on the search for lunches that I can take along to work in the morning (salads and wraps are great for only so long). Any favorites? This living 35 minutes from work put a stop to my going home to eat on my lunch break. 

 ~~ 6 ~~

 I'm ready for a road trip, a change in scenery. Thankfully I'm finalizing plans for a trip the end of March. Bring on the grown-up spring break (more sleep, great conversation, awesome new adventures).

 ~~ 7 ~~

Have an awesome weekend! It's Friday Night! Does anyone else ever miss TGIF on ABC?  I'm sure the shows wouldn't be as good if I watched them again, but still, best night ever!

For more Quick Takes, head on over to Conversion Diary.

What I've Been Up To (The Sunny February Edition)

What I've been reading.

Dear Mr. Knightley: A Novel
by Katherine Reay

image from here

May Crowning, Mass, and Merton: 50 Reasons I Love Being Catholic

by Liz Kelly

 image from here

What I've been baking

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes

image and recipe from here

This was my Valentine's Day dessert. The icing is amazing! A word to the wise, if you're going to make chocolate covered strawberries eat them right away. I tried to freeze them, big mistake, although I heard you can refrigerate them.

French Macarons

I used Nutella as the filling

Mango Chutney

Image from here 

Great with crackers. My recipe was out of a Jamaican cookbook, but looks very similar to this one.

What I'm listening to (Music).

 I am loving John Mayer's album Paradise Valley.

What I'm listening to (books).

  Now that I have a longer commute to work I've been flying through audio books. Some were great some, well not as great. I'm just going to include the ones I liked.

The Professor and the Madman

by Simon Winchester

image from here

This story was so interesting. It's about the true story of one of the main contributors to the Oxford English Dictionary.

 The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

by Edward Irving Wortis

 image from here.

I loved this story. It's a great adventure story, something I wanted to keep listening to until the end.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

 Image from here.

This book was wonderful! It is definitely one of my favorite books, and the audio book was so well done.

Dad is Fat

by Jim Gaffigan

image from here.

I listened to this on my long drive to Nebraska. It was great. I don't have kids and I still loved it.

 

What I've been doing to enjoy these past few snowy months

Well I got engaged a few months back :)

So it's been a lot of trying to decide what our wedding will look like. Lots to plan.

Also, I moved the end of January, so I've been settling in and still doing a bit of rearranging.

That's been my life recently, oh and watching the Olympics, which I didn't have nearly enough free time to watch. Hope you are all well and enjoying life!

Any suggestions for books to read or listen to? I'd love to hear what you're loving!