{Wish List}

I can't believe that December is here! Where did November go? Last week was a crazy, busy week full of Thanksgiving celebrations, shopping, and running...I can't complain. I also did something that I truly never thought I'd do - I went Black Friday shopping. Ridiculous. Despite all the crazies, it was actually fun and enjoyable. I mean, when else can you walk around Target at 3am with a cup of Starbucks coffee (had to have something to stay awake!)? I got some of my shopping knocked out, and even scored a really good deal on a doorbuster special - I just can't say what I bought because I have a feeling this person reads my blog. :) I'm going to Raleigh this weekend for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert, and I plan to get a majority of my Christmas shopping DONE. I've never purchased and wrapped gifts this early in the holiday season before - who am I? It must be the new job and having some $$$ that makes a difference :)

With that said...I thought I had a hard time buying gifts for other people, but I have the most difficult time making a list of my own! For one, there's nothing in particular I *need*...and a lot of the things I want are too expensive and I hate to ask someone to buy it for me! Here are a few things I came up with:

• Mojito Tervis Tumber - Umm, I love this. I'm obsessed with mojitos and I LOVE my Tervis Tumblers. It has a recipe right on the cup!

• Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue - Hands down, my favorite perfume. Admittedly, its kind of summery, but I still love it and I use it all the time.

• Ray Ban Classic Aviators - I ruin every pair of sunglasses I own. *Except* for expensive pairs! I think it's just because cheap sunglasses don't last...I have three pairs of cheap aviators now and all have an issue.

• Yoga Mat Towel - I love hot yoga. I don't love sweaty yoga mats. Luckily, the studio that I usually go to provides towels for free, but I'd still prefer to use my own!

• Along the lines of yoga...I'd love for someone to buy me a 10-card to hot yoga. It gets a little expensive after awhile!

• Clarins Self Tanning Instant Gel - How else can you look tan in December? And tanning beds don't count - they're bad for you!

• Keep Calm and Carry On desk calendar - When I went to London over the summer, I really started to like all of the "Keep Calm" items. I have a print with the quote in my room, and I bought a little book at a store in London with uplifting quotes and it has the "Keep Calm" quote on the cover. Now that I have a desk (and a sweet job!), I need a little calendar so I can remember what day it is. Because my life is a blur and I forget the date way too often.

What's on your Christmas list?

♥Brittany

Andes Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

I made these delicious cupcakes for my mom's birthday last weekend, and they were a hit! I was actually worried that making these would be tedious and afraid that they might not turn out great - but I think they ended up tasting amazing...and I'm not even a big fan of mint! 

I did switch up the recipe slightly in order to cut out some preparation time - I found a recipe I really liked for the icing, but the cupcake recipe was too time consuming, so I replaced that with another cupcake recipe! Here  is my recipe for the *final product*:

{Andes Chocolate Mint Cupcakes}

Adapted from Frosted!

Makes 12-15 Cupcakes

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder, sifted

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup vegetable oil (canola oil works too!)

1 egg

1  tsp. vanilla

3/4 cup buttermilk (I used lowfat)

1/2 cup Andes Mint Chips

In a small bowl, mix together flour, sifted cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Alternately, whisk in flour mixture and buttermilk, making three additions of flour mixture and two of buttermilk, beating until batter is smooth. Stir in Andes Mint Chips.

Scoop batter into prepared muffin pan lined with paper cups. Bake in preheated oven for 22-27 minutes or until tops of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched. Let cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely on rack. Top cooled cupcakes with mint cream icing (see below).

{Mint Buttercream Icing}

Adapted from Your Cup of Cake

8 oz. cream cheese (I used light cream cheese)

1/2 cup butter

3-4 cups powdered sugar

1 tbs. heavy cream or milk (I used skim milk and it turned out fine!)

1 tsp. peppermint extract

green food coloring

12-15 unwrapped Andes Mints

Beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add powdered sugar, heavy cream/milk, and peppermint extract and beat well. Add green food coloring and stir well. Pipe buttercream onto cooled cupcakes and top with an unwrapped Andes Mint. Enjoy!

(Oh, and excuse the crappy iPhone photos - my camera had a dead battery, so I didn't get any good shots!)

♥Brittany

{THANKSgiving}

I can't believe that Thanksgiving is right around the corner - it seems like it was just yesterday that I was sitting by the pool getting a tan...and making an embarrassingly low paycheck as a lifeguard. My, how a few months can change everything...

I guess this would be an excellent time to list some things I'm thankful for :)

• A JOB - I love love love my job, and I'm so grateful to be employed full-time doing what I love! I know its extremely tough to find a job nowadays, so I don't take being employed for granted at all.
• My boyfriend's new job - Yep, he just got an offer yesterday and officially accepted the position today! I think I was almost more excited for him getting a job than I was for me... ;)
• My family - This one is a given. I'm always thankful for my family. I'm especially grateful that they support me in everything that I do.
• My friends - Even though I hardly ever see them (especially now that I'm working full-time), I appreciate all of my friends and I love that we can always pick up right where we left off...even if its been months since we've seen each other!
• This is completely vain - but I'm thankful for coffee - especially now that I wake up super-early every day!
• My ability to run - I had the most difficult time not being able to run while we were in Europe (poor thing, right?), but I'm so glad I was able to jump right back into it when I got home...with a little bit of building up my endurance again, that is :)

This is truly the most perfect time to be thankful - I've had so many great things happen lately, and I'm totally blessed and grateful! What are you thankful for?

By the way, since I stalk Pinterest religiously...I found some recipes that would be amazing for Thanksgiving:

 P.S. Let's Go Hokies!


♥Brittany

Favorite Time of Year {and Naturalizer winner!}

Fall is my favorite time of year...if that wasn't already obvious from my latest blog posts ;) We finally made it up to the apple orchard near Charlottesville last weekend, and it was so gorgeous. I really hate to admit that the rival's city is gorgeous, but truthfully it is. Especially when the leaves are changing and the sky is so clear and blue...

So I'm sure you want to hear who won the Naturalizer gift card, right?! If I wasn't the one giving it away, I think I'd love to win it too...shoes are my favorite! :) I did a random number generator to pick the winner....and the gift card now belongs to - Hilary Lane! She said her favorite Naturalizer shoes from the Fall Collection are the Tyla and the Dinka...so go use that gift card and get a pair of cute shoes! Enjoy :) 

♥Brittany