Snow Day

Since we have been back at school, it's been cloudy, overcast, rainy, windy, dreary, and so on. Yesterday, leaving my physical science class, I saw flurries from the window and ran outside to see the small snow flurries floating down from the sky. It made all the bad weather so worth it! (Also, it's SUPER sunny today :))

They were so pretty....until they landed on my head and soaked my hair. This is a picture (before my hair was soaking wet) right when the flurries started coming down:

After I took my cliche picture of me in the snow, I went to my psychology class and this is what it looked like when I came out:

Isn't is beautiful? Snow makes everything look so pretty!

Also, did we mention we cut all our hair off?

I hope you all have a great holiday on Monday!

-Carrie

Update

Hello, everyone!
I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas break and New Year's Eve!
I had the best break. I spent most of it lounging around watching Downton Abbey, Lost, and catching up on the latest Pretty Little Liars season so I can watch it this TuesdAy! (see what I did there?) My family and I watched the Nativity and went to our Christmas Eve candle light service. Christmas day we opened presents and had our traditional cinnamon roll breakfast. That evening, my aunt, uncle, and two little boy cousins came up from Florida to visit. We hung out, shopped, and went out to eat. We spent New Year's at some friends' house--it was a blast bringing in 2013 with friends who are like family.
Summing up the first week of 2013:
I got to snuggle on the couch with my favorite guy and watch The Lord of the Rings with him and my sister.

I got to spend some time with my younger sis

I got a really good deal on some really cute shoes

I received a really cool gift that I can't keep my hands off!

I got to spend New Year's Eve with this guy

I also was able to have lunch with my dad and try my first Vietnamese dish this week.

And I went to Nashville with my family and my boyfriend to shop at Opry Mills and eat at Chuy's (if you haven't eaten there, I highly suggest it. It's great Mexican food!).

My break was filled with so many laughs and good quality time with my family that I've missed so much.

Tomorrow I head back to Birmingham and start my last semester as a Freshman. I'm so excited!

-Carrie

Salted Caramel (and m&m) Pretzel Bark

Surprise! This is neither Carrie nor Hannah writing to you today. I go by Marybeth, although most call me "Mareth", and I have the honor of being a guest on Hannah and Carrie's blog today! I'm pretty new to this whole blogging thing.. okay actually extremely new, as in, this is my first one ever. So bear with me.
Being Christmas break and all, Hannah, Carrie, and myself made it a priority early on that we would meet up one day to eat Panda Express (never can get enough) and find something to bake off of Pinterest.
What did we decide to bake, you ask? Well, let me tell you.
Salted Caramel Pretzel Bark (with our spontaneous crushed m&m topping!)

Here's how (and how not to do it):

Original Ingredients:
1/2 bag of twisted pretzels
2 sticks of butter (1 cup)
1 cup of brown sugar
1 bag of chocolate chips (2 cups)

Our Final Ingredients:
1/2 bag of twisted pretzels
2 jars of Smucker's caramel
1 bag of chocolate chips
1 cup of m&m's

Now, if you feel like you are a cooking guru, feel free to go with the original ingredients. Surely your experience won't be as disastrous as ours.

Instructions:

-To start out, go ahead and preheat your oven to 350º.
-Next, get out a large pan and line it with wax paper. Then, lay out the pretzels side by side until you've covered the pan.

-Now, here is the tricky part--the caramel. The original recipe says to "melt the butter and the brown sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Let it boil gently just until it starts to stick to the bottom and it forms a nice smooth caramel."- MaryEllen M
We tried this...TWICE and failed miserably each time. The first time with consistency, and the second time when we finally got the consistency right.. it was just straight up burnt.

-SO, if you're like us and want to try an easier (and less frustrating) way, your next step is to heat the caramel jars one at a time in the microwave for about 30 seconds.

-Once you've melted the caramel, you are to pour the caramel over the pretzels evenly. If you don't cover every pretzel, that's okay as long as the caramel is at least touching each pretzel to hold the bottom together.
-Once this is complete, put the pan in the oven for 5 minutes.

-Remove the pan and evenly sprinkle the entire bag of chocolate chips.

-You may then put it back in the oven for a minute to help with the melting. Once you take it out, use a spatula to spread the chocolate chips.

-In this optional step we took about a cup of m&m's and crushed them in a plastic bag. Then, sprinkle them on top until your heart's content!

-Now, all you have to do is put it in the freezer for about an hour.  When you take it out, the caramel underneath will still be a little gooey--but what do you really expect?

Now that doesn't sound too bad, right? It's a great treat to make if you're short on time but need a delicious treat to make. Oh, and not to mention it's ridiculously GOOD. I hope you enjoy making/eating it as much as we did! Also, be sure to check back regularly for some pretty cool posts by Carrie and Hannah (they learned everything they know from me). You really don't want to miss out.

-Mareth  

Hey, readers! I know, its been an extremely long time since I've posted. 

I actually created whole post on HOW TO: Make Oreo Balls with pictures and everything, but somehow it wouldn't post here and the other copy on my laptop was accidentally deleted.. oops.

So since I failed at making my first baking post, click here for an equally good post on how to make Oreo Balls.

And if you still aren't satisfied, feel free to check out this video my sister, Ali, and I made over the holidays.
SPOILER ALERT: only 20% of this video is about baking and the rest is my sister being ridiculous. but its funny, so go watch it anyways!

 I hope all of you had a GREAT Christmas and I promise I'll try to post more!
Also, be looking out for a successful baking post from a special guest blogger soon!

- Hannah

DIY Initial Mug

Today I am going to show you a really easy and quick DIY (depending on how much of a perfectionist you are).
All you need is a mug, scissors, tape, paper, a thick sharpie, a thin sharpie, a pencil, and an oven.

First, you cut out a letter in whatever font you choose on paper (I free-handed mine). Then, put tape on the backside of the letter and tape it to the mug.

Secondly, take your thicker sharpie and outline the letter. After you finish outlining, take the letter and tape off the mug. Once you've taken the letter and tape off, go over the lines once or twice to make the letter thick.

Thirdly, take the thin sharpie and start designing. I did all my lines going one way and then went back over them.

Once you've finished designing your mug, put it in the cool oven and heat to 450 degrees for 30 minutes and let cool for 24 hours.

These can only be hand washed. :)

-Carrie

Gift Guide

Although Christmas is eight days away, I decided I would make a small gift guide.
So, here it is!

For the girly girl:

Charmed Hair Ties from Anthropologie

An initial ring

A new iphone case

For the athletic girl:

Yoga pants from Aerie

Nike running shoes

A new watch

For the entertainer in your life:

An apron

Measuring cups that look like little hedgehogs 

A mint green KitchenAid

& For the man in your life:

A Patagonia beanie

A hammock

 An ipod bluetooth car adapter

Happy shopping!

-Carrie

Hi, readers!
I'm sorry we've been M.I.A. the last few weeks! We were on Thanksgiving break and now we're almost to finals week. During our Christmas break it will be a lot easier to post since we will have more time on our hands!
So, here is an impromptu post about my day:

After I got back to our room after class today, I began our 78 problem math final review........
It was bad. I couldn't remember half the stuff I'm supposed to know. I guess that's why I'm studying a week in advance.

I listened to my random playlist that has music from Celine Dion to Fun.

I can't sit still when I'm studying or doing homework, so I began to reminisce (cheesy, I know).

And then I painted my nails.

And then I thought to myself "I need to reevaluate my dream jar." (Yes, I know. This is cheesy too.) I have a "dream jar" where I put all the things I want to do in my life in and set it on my desk, so I stay try to stay on task. I guess it's really there to remind me of the things that I want to do and the adventures I want to have, and that I should be doing my work, so I can do these things that I want so badly.

And then I looked down at this. All the things that I have to study for and finish. It's such a downer, but it's okay. This means one day closer to Christmas break!

Good luck to all those out there who are taking exams/finals/big tests!

Sorry, I couldn't resist!!!

--Carrie