Stella Sundays is watching movies all day on National Hangover Day

This is what my roommate and coworker (aka Stella) and I did all day today for National Hangover Day. Well, sort of all day. I did take a break from lazy to head to my first real dim sum experience with some friends. More on that later!

In the meantime, I’ve been thinking a lot about, and working on, my 2011 recap and goals for 2012. I know we’re all problem burnt out on reading those types of posts in the blogosphere, but I’m going to jump on a pedestal for my two minutes of fame anyway. Expect that this week.

Hope you all had a wonderful NYE and NY Day!

Currently Feeling: Epically unable to catchup on sleep from my busy holiday season in Seattle.
Currently Anticipating: Being active and productive tomorrow.
Currently Loving: The cute mustache iPhone case my sister got me for Christmas!

Homemade Au Naturel Sugar Scrubs for DIY Gifts

I’ve started a Christmas tradition of my own – making crafty, homemade gifts for my friends each year! It’s quickly becoming my favorite part of the Christmas season. I love the process of trying something new, listening to music or watching Christmas movies while relaxing and creating, and the best of all – giving my homemade gifts to my friends! It’s my way little way of letting my BFFs know how much they mean to me and that they are a special part of my year.

Last year I made homemade soaps with funky images personalized for each friend (a great unisex gift), and this year I made sugar scrubs for my girls. With the soaps coming out less than $3 each and the sugar scrubs less than $5 each, these are inexpensive gifts that are way better than something picked up at the store for three times the price!

I found “A Year of Sugar Scrubs” recipes on a blog post from Pinterest, natch. Erin offers her e-book with 24 original sugar scrub recipes for only $3.99! I highly recommend buying it – the recipes were super easy, all-natural and smelled fabulous. I plan on trying them all out eventually.

This year, I made 12 sugar scrubs total and tried five of Erin’s 24 recipes – S’mores, Snickerdoodle, Pink Sugar Cookie, Mexican Hot Chocolate, Caramel Frappe – and made up two of my own recipes – Rainbow Chip Birthday Cake and Bali Vanilla Bean.

I was really proud of the two recipes I made up. I thought of Rainbow Chip Birthday Cake thanks to a canister of rainbow chocolate chips my mom had from William Sonoma. This ended up being the most popular flavor – who doesn’t love the rainbow chip birthday cake we all had as a little kid?!

I actually have to give credit to my sister for the Bali Vanilla Bean idea. We had a bag of fresh vanilla beans we brought back from Bali and gave to my mom. We scraped two vanilla beans from Bali into the “Vanilla Bean” scrub recipe from Erin’s e-book of sugar scrub recipes. I’ve never used real vanilla bean in a recipe before. It was crazy to peel open the bean and scrape out all the little tiny flea-looking dots inside the bean. This was probably the second most popular flavor to choose with my friends because it felt a little more “special” with the vanilla beans all the way from Bali!

My favorite recipe from Erin’s e-book on sugar scrubs was the S’mores recipe. The chocolate layer is a rich chocolatey smell (thanks to cocoa powder) and the marshmallow layer is actually made with my favorite marshmallow fluff (an excuse to buy it and lick the spoon)!

Another one of my favorite recipes from Erin was “Pink Sugar Cookie,” which takes a heart-shaped cookie cutter to create a heart in the middle of the sugar cookie scrub! A little surprise for my friend who went home and first took the lid of this scrub.

The absolute best thing about these sugar scrubs is that they are 100% natural (and even edible) – gluten free! low fat! no preservatives! no trans fat! no high fructose corn syrup! They’re largely made with olive oil and cane sugar. Some other ingredients I used are cocoa powder, brown sugar, honey, cinnamon, marshmallow fluff, caramel sauce, Starbucks VIA, and vanilla extract – all ingredients found at your local grocery store. My sister and I even licked the spoons!

I put each of the sugar scrubs in a container I bought from Cost Plus World Market for only $2.99, tied them with ribbon, and created a cute little tag for each one. These sugar scrubs took about three hours total to make, were au naturel, inexpensive and a HUGE hit with my girl friends. It was so fun to see what each of my friends chose as their flavor (no girls were injured in the choosing of the scrub flavors).

My sister and I kept a recipe for a Snickerdoodle recipe that didn’t turn out and tried it in the shower – it’s an amazing exfoliate and the olive oil makes your skin so soft (and your skin even smells like the flavor afterward)! I think I’ll whip up a canister for myself to keep in in my shower and try different flavors throughout the year.

If you try these out yourself, let me know! I’d love to see what you create – this is my most favorite crafty project I’ve tried so far.

Currently Feeling: So glad to be “home” – it’s starting to feel more so every week, day and month!
Currently Anticipating: My first ever dim sum this week with some girl friends in SF (well, I take that back – been once, but it doesn’t count cause it was late at night and not really the full carted dim sum experience).
Currently Reading: Best Kept Secret by Amy Hatvany.

A December spent holidaying in SF and Seattle

Another Christmas season has come and gone – and I’m wrapping up a December spent holidaying in San Francisco (SantaCon, a holiday lights tour via double decker bus, ice skating in Union Square and a Favorite Things party) and Seattle (12 days of Seattle Christmas, which included a fancy girls dinner and Snowflake Lane viewing, catch-up dinner with my Bali girls, 50s holiday party at a winery, two Taco Tuesdays, and the annual high school girls Christmas party gift exchange).

Ice skating in Union Square - a new annual
 tradition for me - so fun!

Posing with a rare, endangered
polar bear at Snowflake Lane in Bellevue

A 50s holiday gala at Matthew's Estate Winery

Phew! It’s been a busy, fun Christmas for me this year. And the first one I’ve been totally healthy for in three years, so that felt amazing.

Santa skipped our house this year because in less than one month, my sister, mom, dad and I will be flying to Maui to celebrate my 30th birthday (which is just two weeks away)!!! I was happy to spend Christmas with my friends and family, and I feel lucky to have pretty much everything I want, so skipping presents was all right by me.

Each year, my mom plays gracious host of a large family holiday extravaganza at our house on Christmas Eve. The party is full of traditions – “Cosmo Chi Chis” that my dad mixes for the drinkers, a Honey Baked Ham for our sit-down dinner, zero presents allowing for zero stress, and lots of laughs.

This year's holiday outfit = festive burgundy tights,
gold flats and feathers on my dress!

This year my mom threw together a new “Holiday Wreath Salad” from Icon Grill in Seattle. How gorgeous is this salad?! It includes dried cranberries, pomegranate seeds, toasted hazelnuts, apples, red pepper, and a pomegranate vinaigrette. I love the festive presentation of it!

I’m utterly exhausted after two awesome weeks spent catching up with my Seattle loved ones and am so ready to go home and see my beauty queen kitty and lie on my couch for 48 hours. I’m planning a few posts over the next two weeks, including:

• The homemade sugar scrubs I made for some of my friends this year (that were AMAZING)
• All about my latest obsession – my FitBit!
• The epic 2011 recap (by far the biggest and brightest year I’ve had yet)
• A night spent delivering newspapers the old fashioned way!
• And a few more Best of SFs and fun recipes I’ve tried off Pinterest

Hope everyone is enjoying their quiet week before we head into 2012… I’m full on ready to start my first full year in San Francisco!

Currently Feeling: Annoyed my flight is delayed for two hours! Happens to me every time I fly from Seattle to SFO.
Currently Anticipating: Seeing my friends and finishing out this week with some fun plans in SF.
Currently Loving: Marzipan! Each year I get a ton in my Christmas stocking, and it’s just too dang yummy for words.

This one goes out to the ones I love

How was everyone’s week of gluttony – the week where we stand up for everything America stands for by lying around and getting FAT on Thanksgiving comfort food?! So haute.

This past week, there were a LOT of posts on Facebook (as I’m sure everyone saw) about what people were thankful for… also a lot of quotes and comments about being thankful all year round instead of just one day, blah, blah, blah.

I know I’m very grateful for the gifts (and amazing talent ) I’ve been given. I frequently talk with my sister, friends, mom and dad about how lucky I feel. I really, really do. But I think because of the reason, season and time, we all give a few more thoughts during Thanksgiving week about what we’re especially grateful for.

I jokingly posted on the interwebs that I was thankful for spandex. Just to cut through the seriousness. But if we’re being serious (for serious, seriously), for me more this year than usual, I’m thankful for “each other.” Or more specifically, my friends and family. As cliche as that sounds, let me explain…

This is a lesson you learn even more so when you move away from home and relocate to a new city: Your 16 circles of people become two circles of people. The people who love you and take interest in your life, are those who call to randomly chat and check in (rather than just checking Facebook) and go out of their way to spend time with you because they love and appreciate your friendship just as much as you do theirs. Two way friendships stick around and one way friendships disappear. You stop taking advantage of the time you spend with those you love (because they are oh.so.missed), and your schedule becomes less spread super thin and more focused on those who just make you feel loved when you’re in their presence. This is what life is about.

It’s not easy to move away from all your life-long friends and family and sometimes sit in your house by yourself when it’s your nature to be social, to see everything your friends are doing at home and wishing with every bone in your being that you could cab to their house and go together, to explore new neighborhoods and lunch spots alone, or to not have a group to plan a camping trip with. I realized more so than ever that my personal relationships are more important to me than anything else in my life. I’m growing and learning and changing and having SOO much fun in a new city, exploring a new side to Jeanna. But I just don’t like being away from the people I love. I don’t at all.

But this is another lesson you learn when you move away from home: You work really hard in a new city to make your “family” – your home away from home – which might be 5 people instead of 30. Five very, very special people. In my new city, I’m surrounded by new friends, new people I’m quickly beginning to love, and a small circle of people who are becoming my family and my home away from home. And now, when I’m home in Seattle, I miss them and the fun they’re having. I want to take a cab to their house and go together. They’re my people to explore new neighborhoods and lunch spots as we navigate a big city together. As we miss our “homes” but choose to make a new home together.

What I learned this year is that I’ll never be able to stay in one spot anymore and not miss someone – this is what happens when you can call two places home… or three… or four.

But, I can go everywhere and find people who will love me, and love everyone back just as much, or even more, regardless of my location.

That’s what I’m thankful for.

Currently Feeling: Annoyed my flight is delayed two hours (again!). Damn you, SFO fog!
Currently Anticipating: Sleeping in my own bed tonight and cuddling Miss Stella!
Currently Loving: My new Kindle Touch! (I totes bought it, even though I totes didn’t need it. Whoopsie. But, I love it so much better than the keyboard one!)

A Christmas update

//via Flickr

Merry belated Christmas everyone! I took a longer-than-expected hiatus from the Internet; I haven’t opened my laptop since last Thursday! I’m actually kind of proud of myself for that.

I hope all of you had a safe and cozy holiday with your family(s) – full of laughter, wine, general merriment and fattening Eggnog cheesecake (oh wait, that was me).

The only little spot of grey in my holiday season this year is that I was sick, but nothing I didn’t try to fix with extra doses of cold medicine. I was super excited this year because I was fortunate enough to take some of the money I’ve been making with another job to buy special gifts for everyone. I love picking out just the right gift for someone and watching them open it; it’s my favorite part of Christmas, by far!

My favorite gift this year were a new feather duvet and feather pillows for my bed – there’s no feeling in the world like sinking into a fluffy, feather duvet and snuggling up when it’s cold. My sister also painted me the coolest painting to match my room, in hot pink and orange with butterflies. And, I picked up a new flat screen TV and Blu-Ray player (that streams Pandora and Netflix!) in an after-Christmas sale at Best Buy. All exciting additions to this little Seattle life of mine.

I love, love Christmas and love even more that as I get older, the “after Christmas” depression seems to be less prevalent. I’m ready to sail right into the New Year! 2010 has been ridiculously good to me, so I’m unsure how much better it could get from here, but I’m ready to find out…

What is your favorite Christmas present you received this year?

Currently Feeling: The need to stop hacking so I can get back on the workout train.
Currently Anticipating: Catching up with an old friend tonight that I haven’t seen in years! We used to work together at Tully’s back in my first year after college. So long ago!
Currently Loving: Having so much time off this week! I need to rest before January, which is going to be a super crazy month.

All decorated

There might have been wine involved.

Currently Feeling: On fire! I got the rest I needed for a busy December – ready to hit holiday party season and my new project full force!
Currently Anticipating: Christmas shopping – I love picking out the perfect gifts for people.
Currently Loving: All the Christmas movies on TV. I just watched Scrooged! The Christmas Carol storyline never gets old…one of the best stories of our time!

Girlsgiving

This year, I decided to host a Girlsgiving (Girls + Thanksgiving) purely because I found a recipe online for cooking a turkey that included champagne. Drunken turkey! That seems like a good enough reason as any, right?

To be honest, the turkey totally skeeved me out, and I had to call four people and put rubber gloves on to psych myself up to deal with the “gizzards” and “pulling out the neck.” Don’t know that I’ll be cooking a turkey again anytime soon, but at least I can cross it off my Bucket List!

We had a potluck and each girl brought her own version of Thanksgiving classics – we had a green bean casserole, a mushroom, kale, squash and sweet potato hash (a hippie dish from my nutritionist bestie), pumpkin pudding, Parmesan mashed potatoes and more. I also baked a sweet potato pie for the first time. Oh, and of course wine! None of us are really masters of the kitchen, so it was fun to experiment and give thanks to the wonderful friendships and amazing women in our lives!

Hope you all had a full belly and tons of fun during your Thanksgiving festivities this year! Now back to our regular scheduled calorie counting and healthy eating…

Currently Feeling: Totally stressed out about my tailbone – I want to work out! Waaaahhh.
Currently Anticipating: An overnight cabin trip tomorrow to the woods and snow.
Currently Needing: To finish all this leftover wine at my house – any takers?!

Turkey Lurkey Gobble Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving, from my family to yours.

I’m thankful for my small four-person family who supports and loves me unconditionally no matter what. For a stepdad who has never treated me less than his own daughter, and stepped up to be a great father from the minute he married my mom. For my mom, who spends every day of her life trying to be the best mother she can be -the type of mother she never had. And for my little sister, who is smart, beautiful, funny and one of my most favorite people to be around.

I’m thankful for every single friend who surrounds me in my ridiculously full life – from high school to college, new friends and old. I laugh on a daily basis, and have more parties, happy hours, dinners, and general all around fun in my life than a girl could ever want.

I’m thankful to have an amazing job that I want to go into every day – that I’m passionate and excited about- where I can make an income, doing what I love, that fulfill my every want and need outside of work.

I’m thankful for my apartment, in one of the best locations, in one of the best cities in the nation. For my white fluffy Persian who makes me smile and feel loved on a daily basis. And for my health and my family’s health – that up until now, there have been no major problems, no cancer and no accidents. *fingers crossed*

I’m thankful for so much, I could go on for days and days, but will spare you more cheese than I’ve already put here.

But I do have to give one more hat tip to wine… I’m thankful for you, wine. Because without you, I probably wouldn’t get through all the hard moments and crappy times with enough gumption to step back, recognize and enjoy all of the above.

Happy Turkey Day, lovelies! xoxo

Hot Shotties

1. Microwave two cups of water until warm (not too hot)
2. Add four scoops of hot chocolate, stir
3. Top off with 8-16 oz of Pinnacle Whipped Cream Vodka (the best thing ever invented)
4. Serve into shot glasses for guests

They’re not Hot Toddy‘s – they’re Hot Shotties! Guaranteed to bring smiles and fun to your holiday party.

Currently Feeling: Snuggly and warm inside from the cold – I love living in apartments and having the option to blast the heat for cheap!
Currently Anticipating: Keeping it low-key the next four days for Thanksgiving, family time and resting. And catching up on Season Three of True Blood!
Currently Loving: That the owner of Marshmerries sent me a box of samples in thank you for my blog post about them – isn’t that sweet! Now I can try the other flavors too.