Friday Five: Christmas Break Smiles

It's the first Friday Five of Winter Break and I am yet again blogging from the (semi)comfort of my floor while my dog is curled up at my side and SportsCenter is on the TV. I'm sure at some point I am going to get a little bored of doing nothing all day, but for now, it feels amazing. Last night Momma and I went to the Washington Ballet Nutcracker at Warner Theatre, an annual tradition of ours. If you're from the DC area, I highly recommend going. The whole show is America/DC-themed and it's a fun spin on a classic, seriously the battle with the rats is the revolutionary war and the nutcracker is George Washington, I love it!

One: Garth Brooks Performs "Mom"

Garth Brooks is one of my all-time favorite artists and my momma is my best friend so I knew I was going to love this song. It seriously brought a few tears to my eyes so definitely give it a listen...just maybe not in the office.

Two: How to Make the World's Best Hot Chocolate

This looks absolutely amazing. I have never actually made hot chocolate from anything other than a premade mix, so I definitely want to try this. Also debating using it as a base for a hot chocolate float dessert. It would definitely be too rich for me, but whenever I make food and my brothers' friends are over, I can find at least one willing guinea pig.

Three: This Orphan Baby Goat and His Best Friend

The story is super cute on its own, but I just really love watching the little baby goat prancing around. True story, once when we were visiting one of my dad's client's ranches in Texas, I almost got to keep an orphan baby goat, but Bridget was not a big fan of that idea...darn.

Four: Why Millennials Need Side Businesses

As someone who runs a blog and is working on another business venture, I absolutely agree with this article. I believe that side gigs are important, but not only because it can provide a supplemental income. The experience I have gained and the pride I have because of this little business I have created is the real prize, in my opinion.

Five: I Rewatched Love Actually and I am Here to Ruin It for All of You

"cock-blocktopus"

Well, the author could never actually ruin Love, Actually for me, but this article cracked me up. There are definitely some flaws in the story, but I don't watch it for its realistic feel. I mean, the American women in the bar absolutely crack me up every time. Also, there were two lines that I found particularly funny, so I hope that y'all find this as funny as sleep-deprived, post-finals Erin did. (if not, sorry)

xx

erin

Checking In: Back from Finals

Hey y'all! Long time, no blog! I am so happy to be home for break after the hardest finals season of my college career. Seriously, there were a couple of points in time where I wondered how I was going to get everything done, but, in the end, it all worked out and now I get to sit back and relax. I've actually spent the entire morning snuggling with my dog, a cup of coffee, the BBC Pride and Prejudice miniseries (nothing tops Colin Firth's Mr. Darcy), and the Southern Living Best of Christmas magazine. It's not anything exciting, but there's nowhere I'd rather be.

In light of not working this break (and everyone else in my family working), I can promise lots of Pinterest, blogging, a big announcement related to the blog, and lots of walking Luther at the lake near my house. Oh, and since I am going to have so much free time over break, I am going to take the opportunity to catch up on some long overdue reading starting with some of these books from Levo League's book guide...how great is this list? Any other recommendations for books to read this holiday season? Also, I absolutely love the Penguin Classics with the beautiful hardcover designs. I think I might need to start collecting those!

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Before I go, I just wanted to share a quick gift idea for your girlfriends! Last year I gave these nail polish sets with some cookies for the perfect combination of an affordable, yet personalized gift!

xx

erin

7 Tips to Survive Finals

Hey y'all! I hope finals are going well for those of you who are taking them right now. I know they are totally kicking my butt schedule-wise, but I just keep taking it a step at a time and trying not to let the stress get to me too much. Anyways, I am sure you are just as busy as I am, but I wanted to share a couple of my favorite study tips for this finals season, including a new one that I am trying!

One: Reduce Caffeine Okay, this sounds crazy coming from someone like me, but caffeine can increase your stress levels, which is the last thing any of us need this time of year! Personally, I like to add tea into my normal regime because it still has some caffeine without being as strong as coffee. You should also try to up your water intake because it will help with basically everything your body needs to do during this season, including sleep!

Two: Self Control App It might sound a bit extreme, but I use this app religiously around this time of year because otherwise I will just take "a super quick" study break that ends up being an hour on Buzzfeed determining which James Franco Selfie I am (I got Gucci&Pasta in case you were wondering). 

Three: Change the Venue If you are tired of going to the same library or can't study on the quiet floor of the library, don't force yourself to do it! I know where I study and write best, so I usually try to stick to the same few places. Tonight I am working from home because I am burned out on libraries...until this weekend.

Four: Sit on a Medicine Ball I had heard this increases your concentration and after doing it last night I am inclined to believe it. Fair warning though, if you are tired this can backfire. It would appear I sort of dozed off while sitting on this ball last night and didn't realize it until I was laying on the floor...oops! Plus, this gives your core a nice little workout to maybe combat the lack of gym trips and increased number of calories you're eating. 

Five: Sleep I am notorious for not doing this normally, but I have recently realized how important some sleep is. To be perfectly honest, if you aren't sleeping much, your work is going to reflect that!

Six: Classical Music Everyone has a different preference when it comes to study music, but I am partial to classical music since I see a noticible difference in my performance when I listen to music without lyrics. This time of year, the Nutcracker is always a good choice!

Seven: Make a List Again, I do this all the time, but making a list allows you to visualize the task at hand and that increases the chance that you actually do it. Seriously, nothing more rewarding that putting that check mark next to a task.

Any other tips?

xx

erin

Gift Guide: Stocking Stuffers

Growing up, my brothers and I would always sit at the top of the stairs and wait patiently to go downstairs on Christmas. Once we got downstairs, the first stop was always the stockings over the fireplace. Trust me, as a little kid there was nothing harder than not going right to the tree, but it is a nice tradition and it gives stockings the credit they're due! There's always some candy and gift cards in our stockings, but my parents put other little useful knick nacks in there, too. I mean, we never found car keys in there, but I am always grateful for a new phone charger or some nail polish!

get all the links here

These are just a few of the things I thought would make great stocking stuffers. As I said before, I am always happy to get a charger or some polish, but a cute desk calendar or wine charms would be a fun way to change it up. Also, I included my C. Wonder card holder on this list because it is my favorite thing to carry around and it's only $10 today! 

xx

erin

Christmas Cookies for Every Craving

Everyone has different reactions to stress. Some people nap, some eat, some exercise, but personally, I love to go into my kitchen and bake. Normally I will just bake something like chocolate chip cookies that I have the recipe memorized for because it is a mindless task, but this year I have been using that time to test out new recipes from the Martha Stewart Living magazine, Pinterest, etc. With finals approaching and Christmas being one of my favorite seasons, I have already tried quite a few holiday cookie recipes and plan to try even more in the coming weeks. Below are some of my favorite recipes that I've made, or want to make. Believe it or not, I think my current favorite recipe comes from Taylor Swift. Also, I promise all of these can be made without the aid of an electric mixer or food processor since I have neither... seriously, I hand-whisk everything. I did ask for a mixer for Christmas though, so maybe that will all be changing...(*wink wink* Momma)

Peppermint-Candy Sugar Cookies

I definitely used too much flour when I made these last week, but people still enjoyed them! Personally, I would recommend buying pre-crushed peppermint or candy canes for this one because those peppermint rounds are a lot harder to crush than I realized! This is basically one of Martha Stewart's great sugar cookie recipes with just a subtle hint of peppermint, definitely nothing overwhelming. However, I think next time I make them I will add a dash of peppermint extract to the batter to really enhance the holiday flavor.

Gingerdoodles

These cookies kill two birds with one stone. I actually stumbled across these while searching for a good snickerdoodle recipe and thought these would be a fun holiday variation of a cookie classic. Plus, it makes me feel less guilty about using the pre-made Pillsbury gingerbread dough that you just have to roll out since I will at least be making something with a ginger flavor.

White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

These sound amazing. I feel like the same few flavors get all the attention this time of year, neglecting other wonderful flavors like cranberry! So, I haven't actually made these yet, but I probably will soon...do you think the twins will like them? I hope so, since I use them and their friends as guinea pigs when I am home (they don't complain).

Peppermint Crunch Chocolate Cake Cookies

When I made these, I had to tweak the recipe a bit due to Kroger having largely insufficient holiday baking supplies. Seriously, they had no peppermint chips of any kind, Christmas sprinkles, cake mixes, or Christmas Oreos (I needed them for Christmas bark). I was more than a little annoyed after that trip, but I substituted chopped up Ghirardelli peppermint bark squares for the peppermint chips and they turned out just fine. I also used a devil's food cake instead of dark chocolate which was perfectly good as well!

Brown Sugar Pecan Cookies

When I was going through my list of holiday flavors to include, I realized I had totally skipped over anything with nuts! There are so many options out there for praline, walnut, chestnut, etc. cookies too, but I love using pecans, plus I already have some in my kitchen from various other projects. On the note of nut-flavored items, I highly recommend the new Chestnut Praline Latte at Starbucks. I got a skim one over Thanksgiving to try and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it!

Chai Sugar Cookies with Eggnog Spice Glaze

Thank you, Taylor Swift. These cookies are basically like a chai latte and I love it. The sugar cookie recipe she recommended is one I am going to use for years to come. Plus, she also introduced me to two new cooking blogs through this post, so I am doubly grateful. I would definitely recommend adding the icing glaze on the cookie because it wouldn't be quite sweet enough without it, but to each their own. I hope you enjoy my favorite cookie of the season...maybe even the year.*

What are your favorite Christmas cookie recipes? I'd love more suggestions!

xx

erin

*just kidding, the salted caramel dark chocolate chip cookies are going to take that title

Friday Five: Little Details

I always feel like when I have blog posts I want to write, something comes up and I have to put them off...hence the Friday Five being posted at 11:30pm. This week I had two papers due on the heels of a crazy break filled with family, friends, and my dad's wedding. Speaking of the wedding, after a little convincing from my friends, I ended up going with those Ann Taylor leather pants for the rehearsal dinner.

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They'll definitely be making a few appearances in future blog posts because they're actually pretty comfortable and totally not something I would normally wear (which makes them way more fun)! Oh, and of course we also went to the wedding the next day. Don't forget to follow SugarSnapPearls on Instagram!

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One: Southern Living Holiday Mantels

Okay, these put my little decorated mantle to shame, but I love a well-decorated mantle. I decorate mine seasonally and just put the poinsettias in my fireplace the other day. Gosh, I would kill for some real evergreen garland, but mine was free from my momma last year so I can't complain.

Two: 11 First Books That Will Make You Fall in Love with Reading

If you're in finals right now, the last thing you want to do is read another book, but I think that kind of stinks. I always forget how much I love to read until I am curled up under a blanket with a cup of tea flipping through a great book and staying up way later than anticipated.

Three: Solange Knowles Wedding Look

Yes, I realize this is not news since it came out a couple of weeks ago, but I have had it bookmarked since then and I just had to share it. She looks so fabulous. I don't think I could ever stray from a traditional wedding gown, but I love looking at wedding looks like hers or Olivia Palermo's.

Four: Bear Naked Nail Wipes

My cuticles have taken an absolute beating this winter between the weather, work, my obsessive nail painting, and just regular wear and tear. Over Thanksgiving Break I stopped by Sephora to restock on some stuff and got the Josie Maran Beauty Rewards box and I love everything in it! The Argon Oil is amazing and these wipes are so much better than regular nail polish remover. You have to work a little harder to get it off, and depending on the polish, you may need two wipes, but they save your cuticles from the harsh nail polish remover. Not only do they not harm your nails, but the cuticle oil infused in them is a treatment in itself!

Five: 40 Inspirational Speeches in 2 Minutes

 I thought this was an appropriate addition to the Friday Five in light of finals coming up. So next time you're lacking motivation during your 2am cram session, grab some coffee and watch this video. How can you not be inspired by it? Personally, I am a big fan of just sticking with the traditional Animal House video.

xx

erin

My Practical Christmas List

Growing up and having your own place means being responsible for all those things you used to rely on mom and dad for. Seriously, my roommate and I have been using Trader Joes bags as trash bags for a week because we keep forgetting to pick up new ones! The freedom of having your own place is great, but sometimes it means making choices and having to make sacrifices that you didn't have to make when you were younger.

One thing that's changing this year is my Christmas list. I mean, there are still some cute sweaters, accessories, and other fun things on it, but some things are a bit less glamorous. Being on a college budget means that sometimes money you want to spend going out gets reallotted to practical things like groceries and rent. So this year, I am adding some slightly more practical things to my christmas list. Don't get me wrong, I actually like all the things on this list, but asking for a knife sharpener is a bit less fun than asking for a pair of Tory Burch Flats.

find all these items here!

You don't have to put only practical things on your list this year, but think about all those little things you need and why not ask your parents or relatives for them for Christmas. Maybe you will even score some bonus points for showing some maturity by asking for practical items. Honestly, I really hope I get an electric mixer for Christmas because hand whisking everything I bake is starting to get a bit old...

xx

erin