An Easter Weekend

Much of our Easter is spent like any good holiday. In the kitchen and around the table! Here are some dreamy decorations, table-settings, and eats that would turn your Easter into a blissful brunch!

Photos via Pinterest: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 

New House! (Kind of)

I no longer need to fret! After a few months of scouring the internet and many emails, I have a place for next year and am thrilled! Abby and I, along with our roommate McKenna have gradually moved from dorm, to apartment complex, to a unit in a house! We are so excited to live in a house in a neighborhood, with a yard. Also, there is a gazebo in a small park just across the street from us! I am just swooning over this new place! 

P.S. It looks like Abby and I will be sharing a bedroom...would you share a room as an adult?

Image via here

{Weekend Update}...So Long, Spring Break

The perfect spring break evening. J.Crew, J.T., OPI and candy.

Hello there! I must apologize for the delay! Once again, I took a week off as I got swept up in the business of upcoming spring! I headed home for a week of lovely relaxing with family and friends, which was much needed.

Now we start a very busy week before Easter. Also, the countdown now begins...we are four weeks away from Becca's wedding!

Mexican Mocha - Latte with dark chocolate, cinnamon, and honey at Bad Waitress

Carrot cake pancake at Bad Waitress

Photos via @sarahcarlsonetc Instagram

{Weekend Update}...Spring Break!

Snow, glorious snow!

It's spring break over here, but it sure doesn't look like it! As I baked a delicious chocolate buttermilk cake for my dad's birthday yesterday, poor Abby shoveled five inches of snow! And it snowed even more. It may not look (or feel) like Miami, but it's break nonetheless, and I'm just happy to be home with my family relaxing. A vacation is a vacation, right?

Abby, Dad & I checked out Bad Waitress.

A cozy Friday morning before my last class. 

Photos via @sarahcarlsonetc Instagram

{Friday Challenge}...Rekindle Old Hobbies

This weekend kicks off my spring break, so while I'm home for about one week, I'm going to do little things that I delighted in when I lived at home.

For example: I used to play piano and it has been ages since I even touched a keyboard. Yes, I know it won't sound nice, but I miss the feeling of piano keys brushing against my fingertips.

Go on a hike through our neighborhood bike trail. We have a beautiful woodsy bike trail near my home, and in the winter, it's gorgeous with crisp air. I live in a city with lots of cars and buses, so taking a walk should clear my head and lungs!

Make a pair of earrings. Abby and I had a small jewelry operation in our basement when we were younger. And while it was pretty rudimentary, the bracelets and earrings usually turned out to be lovely. So since I'm in need of some new jewels, why not make a pair specifically for myself?

What old hobby will you do this weekend? Racquetball with friends? Baking croissants and beignets? Sewing?

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Window

And here's a beautifully short poem for your week. Doesn't it make you want to take a trip, staying awake at night when it's so quite, and all there is is you, road, sky, and the approaching destination?

Window
by Carl Sandburg

Night from a railroad car or window
Is a great, dark, soft thing
Broken across with slashes of light.

Photo via @sarahcarlsonetc Instagram

Away A While

I must apologize for the long time between posts this week! My only excuse is that Spring Break is approaching and my motivation level is dwindling. Also, since the Conclave named a new Pope on Wednesday night in Rome (mid afternoon my time), I scrambled to edit my already-finished article! It was originally scheduled to come out before the Conclave, but due to some back up, we waited. Well just as I was about to send it off, a new pope was named! So I felt very news-y as I rushed to change my article and get it live as soon as possible.

What an adrenaline rush! I felt so professional! Such breaking news. It reminded my why I love my job.

Anyway, I'm dropping in to say I'll be better about posts now after a whirlwind few days!

Photo via @sarahcarlsonetc Instagram

Ian McKellen + Richard III

Love Sir Ian McKellen? I do. He's a pretty radical dude and a fantastic actor. He's done everything from Shakespeare to comics to fantasy, playing King Lear, Richard III, Magneto, and Gandalf. 

I obviously like him very much, as he's a great Richard III (a play that is seriously neglected and not very much appreciated) and King Lear. But sometimes I need someone to break down the character, the speech, the play. This is a fantastic link that is super interesting and really fun! He talks to you in his heart warming British accent and sparkly old man eyes. How endearing (and educational!). 

To make a prairie

After the mounds of snow, it seems about time to have a light little poem. This is one of my favorite poems by Emily Dickinson, because it could (if you wanted) be read in a single breath. To me, it is whispery, it shouldn't be said loudly. Perhaps this is even one of those poems you never read aloud, but rather say to yourself under your breath. It's quite a lovely image, don't you think? Revery. Such an important thing to remember sometimes.

To make a prairie (1755)
Emily Dickinson

To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,
One clover, and a bee.
And revery.
The revery alone will do,
If bees are few.

Photo via @sarahcarlsonetc Instagram

{Weekend Update}...Not Connected

Sorry for the delay recently! Since Friday, the internet has been out at our apartment. It's very frustrating, considering how much I see internet for school, work, and entertainment. I swear I probably used most of my data plan in the last five days. 

However, with no wifi (or working ethernet) Abby and I decided to spend the day completely removed from all things in cyberspace! Early Saturday afternoon, we took the bus like big girls down to Nicollet Mall to do some shopping, came back to have a relaxing lunch with the sun pouring into our apartment. It was pretty gorgeous this weekend. My roommate McKenna made homemade mint ice cream, Abby made delicious fries for a movie night and I baked banana bread and pretzels for an all out weekend feast! It was amazing! 

And now, there's tons of snow. So far there's probably five inches! Walking to class was definitely an adventure. But it's beautiful. You know how everything looks quiet? Campus is a lovely sleepy snowy wonderland today. So Abby and I have done lots of reading for fun, which I haven't done in ages!

Stay warm!

Photos via @sarahcarlsonetc Instagram

Saying No to Your Best Friend

Do you have a hard time saying no to your best friend? I do. I've even had a difficult time telling group members, acquaintances at work, or roommates no.

I'm really sensitive, so it just about breaks my heart knowing that if I say no to something my best friend wants to do, she might be sad or disappointed. Sure, I'm eager to please, but the biggest thing is I want them to be happy.

But the other day one of my best girl friends suggested some really grandiose plans for a weekend. And I had to say no. And my only reason was that I wasn't completely comfortable with all the plans. I was really hesitant (and even asked my mom to possibly intervene!), but I had nothing to worry about.

Because she's like my big sister, she understood. She was supportive, funny, and simply great. Like a good friend should be. Now? I'm not stuck doing something I'm not comfortable with and we're on the same page, which feel great.

But it can be really tough. It took me days (dare I say a few weeks) to figure out what I would tell her. In the end, no matter how much I hated it, I know it was the right thing do for both of us.

Do you have any good recommendations for saying no to your friends? Is there a certain method that works more than others? Would you be offended if your best friend said no?

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