Absence makes the heart grow fonder

I had such a fabulous weekend! I spent treasured time with my parents, went to a very, very lovely wedding on Saturday and spent Sunday morning in Ames for coffee with a friends, followed by a sorority event. Wow, do I miss ISU! The women currently in my sorority and alumna are all amazing, passionate, inspired, and strong women. Coming back for our International Reunion Day reignited my love and gratitude towards Alpha Gamma Delta and helping to build the woman I am today. I was extremely hesitant about joining a sorority, but after encouragement from my dad and brother, it turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life thus far! No matter the changes that have been made in the past five years, these places still feel like home:

ISU Alpha Gamma Delta house: Inspire the Women, Impact the World

ISU College of Design

The sorority event was held at one of Ames' most beautiful locations, Reiman Gardens. This was one of my favorite places on campus to take photos when I was living there, so it was only appropriate that I snapped a couple quick shots today:

Pop Talk

Today I'm featured on my friend, Dayle's blog: Made by Sodapop in her new Pop Talk section!

Not gonna lie, it kinda freaks me out seeing my face that big, but whatareyagonnado? ;)

I bonded with Dayle in our years at Hallmark, she was my cube neighbor. I'm sure that I gave her many headaches throughout the years with my stubbornness and naivety. And as she will attest, the minute she told me she was leaving I turned into an emotional sap, trying to make up for bad behavior and let her know how much I will truly miss her and how much of an impact she has had on my life. Dayle now lives in Atlanta and is spreading her amazing cheer, personality and design aesthetic through her many jobs and pass times. Luckily my brother lives in Augusta, GA and I can try to schedule flights to visit him through Atlanta so I can spend some precious hours with one of the best mentors. Love ya, Super!

Inexpensive Gift Idea: Paperwhite Bulbs

So this is a little late, but I wanted to share what I gave to my co-workers for Christmas this year. Christmas 2009 I received a paperwhite bulb from a co-worker, it was such a unique, fun and memorable gift that I thought I would spread the joy to my new peers this year.

I decided to go with the same Christmas color palette as my cookie exchange (more to come on that later... hopefully), so I used olive, teal, and cognac. I wanted to use teal velvet ribbon (how chic would that have been?) but apparently my local JoAnn's does not carry such sass... so I settled for the beautiful olive satin instead. Classic.

These baby couldn't get any more simple...

1. Buy containers, rocks, and bulbs.

2. Place rocks in container.

3. Place bulb in container, perching on rocks.

4. Wrap with ribbon and instructions. (optional)

Above are the name tags and instructions I used.

Cost breakdown:

- Paperwhite bulbs: $6.98 for 6 = $1.16 each (I bought them at a local Home Depot, also available on-line or at nurseries. I guess I missed the big mark-downs, which happened near the beginning of December by my estimations, so many stores were sold out.)

- Glass containers: Glass cups from World Market = $1.49 each

- Decorative Rocks: $2.49 for 3 containers = $.83 each (I bought rocks at an estate sale during the summer)

- Ribbon: $3.49/spool = $.29 for approximately 12 packages

So there you have it, a unique, fun, and memorable Christmas gift for less than $4.00!

Of course you can always get funky with your container, a stemless martini glass for some sass? Or colored ramekins for the cooks in your life?

And at this rate, I'll be posting my New Year's resolutions in mid-February... that is if I had any.

A love letter & a goodbye.

Dear Hallmark,

Today is a bittersweet day for me. Today is the last day that I can call myself a Hallmarker. Today is the day I say goodbye to a great company, great friends and start a new chapter in my life.

Thank you for the wonderful opportunities I've be given for the past three and a half years (plus an awesome internship). I've worked on some really great projects in my department and had the opportunity to work on some amazing projects within the company. I can't imagine a more creative environment to spend my first couple years out of college. I'm going to miss so many of the "perks" of the job: The creative library. The trends department. The supply shop. The Rice Center (an in-house workshop and print center). The laser-cutter. The archives. The lettering studio. Workshops. Union Hill Photography studio. Mentors and Generational Buddies. And most of all, creative people around every corner.

I have been fortunate to work with so many amazingly creative people, words cannot express how grateful I am for the friendships developed and the support I have been given over the years. I have learned so much and grown so much.

So goodbye Hallmark, perhaps we will meet again later in my career. You will always be held fondly in my heart and I look for big things from you. Let the world see the amazing talent within those walls.

With love,
Stephanie



Listed below are some of the people who have had an impact on me while at Hallmark. Thank you.
Mike. Leo. Suba. Jae. Lee. Sal. Dayle. Clint. Brandon. Ray. Neil. Sheryl. Megan. Lindsay. Alyssa. Saundra. Lauren. Anissa. Scott. Michelle. Aphro. Suzanne. Bernard. Pamela. Jeff. David. John. Adam. Jim. Rob. Scott. Doug. Bryan. Tom. Ashley. Janice. John. Hector. Brian. Steve. Lindsay. Alfred. Colleen. Kim. Cheryl. Joel. Brian. Cindy. Anita. Debbie. Mary. Megan. Max. Jeff. Eric. Bob. Daryl. Casey. Amy. Jill. Darren. Ashley. Jon. Ninette. Paula. Terri. Terry. Nancy. Yolanda. Jim. Mike. John. Tom. David. Carrie. Carly. Em. Katie. Stephanie. Morgan. Kathleen. Erin. Julie. Andrew. Erin. Kate. Nicole. Ashley. Donald. Kevin. Andrew. Robbie. Daniel. Kevin. Tina. Kerry. Becky. Megan. Jim. Trish. Bess. Aaron. Dan. Scott. Marita. Ashlee. Aimee. Angel. Richard. Chris. (Sorry if I forgot you!)

I'm feeling the love...

Today two of my friends blogged about me...

One from undergrad (who has a wonderful etsy shop and blog) just posted about me in her humpday blog love! I'm blushing!

The other, a lovely co-worker (who also has a wonderful etsy shop and blog) posted about my jewelry party from last week!

What a great way to start the day! Check them both out!

smt

It's Tuesday!

That means sometime in the late hours of the night, I should be getting a delightful little ditty delivered straight to my inbox! At the beginning of the year one of co-workers took pitty on my horrible taste in music and lack of musical knowledge and breadth and decided to instigate, Sparky Music Tuesday, otherwise known as smt. He claimed that he has "great taste and that is more than enough reason to bestow upon you my wonderful selections on a weekly basis." (and I agree)

Now 27 Tuesdays into the year, I have 27 songs on my "Sparky Music Tuesday" playlist (and it is a frequently played playlist). It includes artists ranging from Casey Dienel, A Fine Frenzy, Camera Obscura, Adele, Yael Naim, and Pomplamoose.

Even more splendid? Sparky is my office-neighbor, meaning he gets the pleasure of seeing all of my moods throughout the day (and believe me, there are a lot). From elated and giddy to annoyed and angry. Sparky does an incredible job of matching my smt treat to my mood, whether it's an angry jam or a calming coo, he's got me covered. It's better than Pandora!

So thank you, Sparky, for expanding my musical vocabulary. I can't wait to get the other 25 songs this year!

Gastronomy Weekend 001

Last weekend my friend, John, e-mailed me and said he saw Grinders on the Food Network or something and thought about coming down to KC to check it out... weird reason... but awesome to see him! So I suggested making it a whole food tour weekend, henceforth it shall be named Gastronomy Weekend 001. It was also a chance to experience some of the restaurants on my KC-restaurants-that-rock* spreadsheet.

Gastronomy Weekend 001 included:

- eating Philly Cheese Steaks at Grinders

- splurging with Dark Chocolate Turtles at Christopher Elbow

- touring the WWI museum (I can't say that I learned to much about the war, but I was captivated with the environmental graphics, displays and uniforms...)

- visiting the Asian Market in the River Market. (I was thoroughly impressed with John's impressive knowledge of Asian cuisine. I picked some delightful things including Thai basil, lemongrass, tapioca pearls for bubble tea and more!)

- delighting in delish Mongolian BBQ at Genghis Khan

- enjoying Bubble Tea (with a kick) at Blue Koi

- grabbing bunch at The Westside Local

- touring the Nelson-Atkins Venice: 3 visions in glass collection

- and ending the weekend with a culinary experiment of our own...

We made Rustic French Bread, a modified version of Pulled-Pork Roast with BBQ sauce, Roasted Red Peppers, Thai-Style Asian Coleslaw (with Asian market finds) all in 3 hours time!

I'm hoping that there will be more Gastronomy Weekends and culinary throw-downs in the future! I'm so impressed with John's recent culinary adventures, he's becoming a great chef!

Also, I'd like to note that I didn't have any formal itinerary for this weekend. Typically when friends come to visit, I have a planned itinerary with times, locations and menus (if food preparation is scheduled), upon request I'll even add in bathroom breaks. It's something I'm know for in multiple states. But this weekend, I flew by the seat of my pants, had no itinerary, no maps, no meals planned, and made spontaneous decisions with blissful results. Perhaps this impromtuness should become more of a routine...

*A spreadsheet with over 100 non-chain restaurants in the KC and greater-KC area, all highly recommended and delicious. Contact me for a copy of this amazing compilation.

Happy 25th Johnny!

Today marks the 25th year of life for my dear friend, John. He has been one of my best friends since the days of bucket calves and braces. John is one of the most amazing men that I know. In the past couple years he has juggled a very responsible job where he puts in much more than the standard 40 hours, has been pursing his masters in engineering, was chairman of Cedar Rapids Jaycees during time of rebuilding and growth in the community after very damaging floods (he also just happened to be the youngest chairman in history) and stepped into a state leadership position with the Jaycees this past year. He does all of this with great success, all while keeping up with silly e-mails from me filled with boy drama and other nonsense. I honestly don’t know how he does it all. He is truly inspirational.

As his previously mentioned commitments wind down, he has decided he needed another challenge in his life. I suggested, he take a break like any other 25 year old would do… but John was is deciding to start another chapter in his life, a blog! His blog will be a "25 Bucket List": 25 things things to do while he’s 25.

Happy Birthday and best of luck, John!

Minneapolis Weekend

This past weekend I was able to get away for weekend trip to Minneapolis to visit friends with a short layover in my hometown to visit the 'rents. Here's the highlights via bullet points:

- Peppermint Bon Bon ice cream in a waffle cone (my fav)

at Twin Shoppe in J-town
- No golfing with Daddy due to rain (it would have been

hysterical for both of us), but got to visit miniature horses

& miniature horse babies at a friend's farm!
- Quiche Lorraine from Angie's Tea Garden with my

Grandma & Dad (another J-town fav)
- Driving my new car
- Meeting friends in Minneapolis
- The hilarious romantic comedy, The Proposal
- Room & Board outlet (where all my future furniture

shopping will take place)
- Stone Arch Art Festival in Minneapolis, where I bought

my obligatory piece of jewelry from a vacation destination...

and it was handmade, which made it even better!
- Delectible sushi at Origami & drinks at Drink.
- 8.5 hour drive home, with at least 1.5 hour delay from construction

This weekend was full of my favorite things: friends, food, & the arts (minus the travel time). It couldn't get much better than that!

A Piece of Cake!

Here’s my practice cake for my Grandmother’s birthday party in November. One of my good friends happened to be visiting KC and I used a belated birthday celebration as an excuse for a practice cake! I’m glad I did because I definitely learned what I need to do for next time. Listed below is my preparation timeline & learning:

• Making the fondant flowers: On Sunday, I made about 400 Fondant Blossom Flowers, which took about four hours to complete, from coloring the fondant, to rolling out, to cutting out the blossoms, and giving them dimension!
  
• Getting the right fondant color: I had a lot of trouble getting the right color, I was going for a fuchsia or raspberry color, so I mixed pink and red thinking that would give me a richer pink…no such luck. I kept adding other colors to try to correct, instead it turned out like baby vomit. I ended up having to start over with fresh white fondant. I would recommend to test the color in a small amount first, then move to the larger amount. I never could get the color I wanted and ended up with the bright bubble-gum pink shown, but I practiced the violet and it turned out perfect. I used about ¼ box of Wilton Rolled Fondant, which yielded twice as many flowers as I needed, I am freezing the rest to use later. My fear was I wouldn’t have enough and then colors wouldn’t match…
• Drying the fondant: I let the blossoms dry for about a day and a half, then placed them in an airtight container. While I was working with the blossoms, some were cracking, but nothing a zap in the microwave couldn’t fix. The blossoms set up better than my 4th of July stars, this time I rolled out the fondant on cornstarch (instead of confectioner’s sugar) and didn’t mix any additional flavoring to the fondant. The blossoms were also much smaller, therefore they took less time to dry.
• Baking the cake: On Wednesday I made the cake. I let it cool for about 15 minutes in the pan after baking and for about an hour outside the pan before I scoured the rounded tops, to make finished cake more level. I left the cake covered in the fridge until I was ready to frost it the following evening.
• Frosting and decorating the cake: Thursday afternoon I made the Rich Chocolate Frosting and frosted the cake. I used the same frosting for the filling between the cake layers and created a crumb coat of frosting on the cake, it was about the perfect amount of cake to frosting ratio. I may do a more formal finished frosting layer for my grandma. When I was satisfied with the look of the frosting, I placed the flowers, starting in the middle top, to make sure I wouldn’t run out of flowers and cascading down from there.
• Other: I made two 9” layers of the chocolate cake for this practice run, but it evident that I will need at least three, if not four layers for the real deal, to give the cake height and make the cascading flowers more dramatic.