Winter's Back

Oh, hello snow. We forgot all about you.

Welcome back.

I Did

To know me is to know that I love weddings. Attending them. Talking about them. Reading about them. Thinking about them. Hearing about them. I think my obsession interest started back in high school, when my mom and I discovered A Wedding Story on the TLC channel. Everyday, we would settle in for thirty minutes of pleasure -- critiquing, laughing, and sometimes even crying. Since then, I've been a guest at numerous weddings, been in five weddings, almost planned one wedding, been a subscriber to Martha Stewart Weddings, and dished about weddings as all my friends around me have planned their own. So it should come as no surprise that when WellWed New York, one of my favorite wedding publications, throws a bridal event right here in Rochester, I'm going to go.

Yes, I did. I went to a bridal event. Meant for brides. Which I am not. But I shamelessly put on an heirloom diamond ring and had a ball. For four hours, I played the part of fiancée-planning-a-wedding, took all the freebies, and loved every minute of it.

Tuxedoed doormen greeted me, along with an obvious feminine/vintage vibe.

Right off the bat, I knew I was going to love this. Here's what I spent four hours doing: walking from vendor to vendor, collecting pamphlets, business cards and freebies, (the wedding cake vendors were my favorite! free samples!) sipping champagne, nibbling hors d'oeuvres, admiring floral arrangements/tabletops/diamonds, partaking in a food and wine pairing, listening to live music, and watching a couture wedding fashion show.

Definitely not a bad way to spend a Saturday evening. The only downside? All the cute guys were taken... and they thought I was, too.

Grand Opening

Whenever I take a trip, I always check ahead to see if my destination has: 1) Anthropologie; 2) Crate & Barrel; or 3) Sur La Table. These stores are some of my most favorite stores to poke around in, and until yesterday, Western New York was without any of the three. But that has all changed with the grand opening of Anthropologie in Eastview Mall!

And what better way to start a 3-day weekend than pay a visit to retail heaven?

My friend, Hannah, and I admired all the lovely clothes.

But what I really enjoy about Anthropologie are the pretty displays...

... and even prettier kitchenware.

But my most favorite thing of all at Anthropologie are their kitchen linens. So sweet!

To commemorate our first trip to our very own Anthropologie, Hannah bought herself an apron and I bought myself a tea towel. And pinched myself, again and again, because now there's an Anthropologie within a 25-minute drive from my house!

Cabin Fever

This past week has been extremely wintery here in Western New York. With about two feet of snow at our house and low, low temps, Frances and I have not done a lot of venturing outdoors. But that changed today, when the sun shone nice and bright, and the thermometer read 25 degrees. We bundled up and headed to our favorite trail, less than 3 miles away, for some cold weather hiking. The scene that greeted us was spectacular.

Obviously, others had the same idea. It is not unusual to see dogs, cross-country skiers and snowshoers here. Today, we were even joined by deer.

Immediately after I snapped this picture, four does ran across our path. It was a beautiful sight, but I didn't think quick enough to get a photo.

Later on we caught up to some snowshoers.

Frances loves to lead the way.

And hates it when she has to wait for me!

It was a great way to spend a sunny, winter Sunday.

Winter Wonderland

The last week or so has been full of some of my favorite things: time spent with family, dinners in, dinners out, movies, knitting, reading, seeing friends, shopping, and basically just taking it easy. Work is looming on the horizon, but until tomorrow, Frances and I have one more day to enjoy being cozy together. On the agenda? Stay under blankets, drink hot cocoa, and watch the snow from within our warm, little house.

Lake snow warning in effect today.

Windy and bitter cold.

Snow accumulation between 4-8" or more.

We'll be doing our best to stay toasty.

From Our House to Yours

Wishing you the sweetest Christmas!

Love, Anna + Frances

Cookies for Santa (and other special people)

Christmas in my household is a fairly simple affair: minimal decorating, gift giving, party going, shopping and traveling. Not because I don't love the holiday. I just choose to focus on a few things rather than all of those things. It makes life so much easier this time of year, and I certainly do not miss the 'hustle and bustle' of the Christmas season.

So, while I avoided the mall and forewent the tree, I spent time in the kitchen baking cookies. The same cookies I baked last year. And the year before. Not because they are traditional Christmas cookies, but because they are pretty to look at and lovely to taste (in my opinion!). And make beautiful, homemade gifts for some very special people.

I started with these cookies, then moved onto these. I ordered peanut butter balls from here. I adapted a recipe and coined the cookies 'Chocolate-Mint Snowcaps' (see below for the recipe). And lastly tried a new recipe this year after some inspiration from a friend.

After only a couple headaches, the cookies came out great.

And some people are going to be very happy.

Chocolate-Mint Snowcaps

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled

1/2 cup chocolate mint chips

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, for coating

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg until well combined; mix in cooled chocolate. With mixer on low speed, gradually add dry ingredients. Mix chips in by hand. Flatten dough into a disk; wrap in plastic. Freeze until firm, about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place confectioners' sugar in a bowl; working in batches, roll balls in sugar twice.

Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies have spread and coating is cracked, 12-14 minutes; cookies will be soft to the touch.