and the winner is...

First of all, THANK YOU! So much! To everyone who participated in my giveaway. I was absolutely blown away by the incredible support. With your help, I raised almost $1,000 of the $4,000 I need for the trip.

Do you know how amazing that is? You're all AMAZING.  And that is still an understatement.

So thank you. THANK YOU! For your support.

And now, what you all want to hear. Our winner! As chosen by the random number generator: Ashley!

Of all of the non-family members who entered, indeed, my own sister won. I swear I didn't hand pick her :)

Congratulations and happy cooking, dearest Ashira. I just might have to personally deliver it to Denver! 

And THANK YOU again to everyone who helped along the way! I love you! :)

::weekend snaps::

Yacht Rock with friends (Bucket List #103). 

Inspired by Yacht Rock: Happy Karaoke (Bucket List #47).

Farmer's Market and Alon's coffee walk with Mel. Backyard yoga party at Katherine's (lovedddd it!).

Home decor shopping with Mel. Dinner at Taqueria del Sol with friends. Back porch wine drinking. And walking into a corn dog eating contest at Family Dog. We didn't participate. But we placed bets.

Church and grocery shopping, followed by a sunny BeltLine blade.

Storyline group. And cooking dinner with Ben to celebrate one year of residency down.

Snapshots of happiness for a snapshot week ahead. 

Happy day!

on learning to use bleach & other life lessons

Last summer, I had a relationship with my J.Crew white denim shorts that can only be called an obsession. Borderline inappropriate obsession. These white shorts did it all.

It got to the point where my roommate, Katie, actually had to have an intervention. I'd been dating someone since the spring (when I found them) and in August, she finally sat me down and said, in no uncertain terms: You are not allowed to wear your white shorts on another date. 

I'm not saying she was right. But she was right.

Unfortunately, in the fall, a coworker accidentally spilled red wine down the back of them at a cookout. I tried to wear them this spring, but my friend, Kate, told me, again, in no uncertain terms: You cannot wear white shorts with a red stain on the butt.

Again, I'm not saying she was right, but...

Last weekend, I decided to take the fate of my white shorts in my own hands and give them a little bleach job. Bleach scares the heck out of me.

With my mom on the phone, she talked me through it: filling up the sink, stirring in the bleach, soaking the shorts, rinsing them...

Regarding the shorts: Total success. The results blew my mind. They look new! I just ordered another pair last week (just in case), but I don't even think I'll need them.

Regarding the friendship bracelets that were lining my arm: not so successful. As I worked the shorts in the sink with my hands, I forgot to take them off. My once colorful bracelets are now brownish.

It got me thinking about the way parents just know stuff. When Melissa and I first met in Atlanta, we would often ask: wellp, which one of us should call our parents for this answer? 

Is this turkey OK to eat? 

How badly do you really need baking soda for this recipe? 

I know it says not to use it on wood floors, ever, but is that rule really hard and fast?...

And I think about this a lot, because it worries me that someday I will be a mom, and my kid will call me and  I won't have the answer. My parents always have the answers. What if I don't know how to restart the lawnmower in the (not-recommended) rainy lawn mow? What if I don't know what the flashing light on the dashboard means? What if I never figure out how to have a green thumb?

Is there some sort of parent school you go to after you have a baby that no one talks about? A secret adult club?

But this weekend, what my now not-so-colorful bracelets taught me is that the only way to learn these lessons is to live them.

I'll never forget how to bleach shorts - and I'll certainly never forget to take off my bracelets next time.

I'll never again make a cake and put 1/4 cup of cloves instead of 1/4 teaspoon in it (it tasted so bad). 

I'll never again wait eight months to empty my vacuum out and watch it catch on fire. 

Or microwave a baked potato on a non-microwave safe plate and watch the plate explode and shatter (last week). 

No sir. These are the kinds of lessons you have to live. Sometimes our parents can tell us what we need to know. But oftentimes we have to experience it ourselves. And what I'm finding is, that's exactly what your 20s are for. And the good news is, once your vacuum catches on fire, you'll never forget it. 

Peanut Butter Banana Breakfast Cookies (oh ya.)

(Note: nothing pictured above is used in this recipe, because they're vegan and gluten free. But I liked that picture. It's happy. So I used it!)

//

Asking me to pick my favorite meal is like asking me to pick my favorite sibling. It's just not right. They're all so great and I love to enjoy them in their own way.

But, unlike with my siblings, if you really forced my hand, I would likely admit that there is a baby chance breakfast edges out lunch and dinner. Just a tiny bit!

Because on mornings that I don't have breakfast prepared in advance, I begin to panic a bit. The fact is, most days I wake up absolutely ravenous, to the point that I need a snack before I even get to breakfast time at my desk.  It's just the best way to start the day.

But you know what contends pretty closely with breakfast? Dessert. Which is why, when my friend Emily sent me this recipe for breakfast cookies, I had to make them immediately. 

Especially because I had two ripe bananas ready for battle. It was fate!

As you all know by now, I look at recipes as a great place to begin negotiation; a starting off point, really. The satisfaction I find in altering a recipe successfully, so I can avoid a trip to the grocery is actually a little scary. But we all have our vices, right?

So without further ado, my take on peanut butter banana oat breakfast cookies (which yes, I have realized that I like EVERY single word in that name), straight from my kitchen to yours this morning...

Peanut Butter Banana Oat Breakfast Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 whole ripe bananas, mashed until creamy
• 1/2 c. peanut butter 
• 2/3 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 c. Vega chocolate protein powder
• 1 t. Earth Balance vegan butter
• 1.5 c. quick oats
• 1/4 c. Enjoy Life chocolate chips (Side note: I recently found these and saw they were gluten, soy and dairy free. I am not all of those things, but I was so intrigued by them and had to know, ASAP, how they would taste. And they were surprisingly amazing.)

To make:

• Preheat oven to 350
• Mix wet ingredients, then add in dry (real talk: I just mixed them all at once. But grown ups would say you should do it this way) 
• Let dough rest for 10 minutes
• Drop on greased pan or parchment paper
• Bake cookies for 15 to 17 minutes, or until golden brown

Eat for breakfast all week!

Happy day! 

image and image