{finding inspiration}

As I think every writer experiences from time to time, I've been battling a little bit of writer's block. Not that I call myself a writer, but I hope to one day. I've been doing a lot of writing, and I love the process, but when the creativity suddenly comes to a halt, I do what I think a lot of writer's also do. I shut the laptop and hit the books.

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Reading has always been a great way for me to find inspiration and get the creative juices flowing again, and I feel like I've had my nose in a book for 2 or 3 weeks straight. Lately I've been in a girlier mood, so I've been reading Kristin Billerbeck and Rachel Hauck (a new favorite and a good ol' southern girl), and Denise Hildreth is a long-time favorite of mine. They are all great writers, and lovely people I may add, and I'm feeling ready and excited to start writing away again.

In other news, I've added a section to the right where you can follow this blog now. You certainly don't have to, all I'm saying is that it would make my day. No pressure.

{fall is upon us}

So it's definitely getting cooler here in Denver. And I'm pretty sure it happened overnight. It was warm, even hot at times (although me and the general Denver population seem to have a different opinion of what constitutes hot), but then one day it wasn't anymore. So I think that Fall is officially here for us. And that makes me happy.  I was just starting to look ever so longingly at the sweaters and scarves that were all stuffed to the back of my closet.

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This is my favorite time of year. Scarves, boots, tights, pumpkin spice lattes, crisp cool air, listening to Christmas music much earlier than is socially acceptable, and knowing that not one, but two H&M’s are readying to open in Denver in the near future… those are all the things that I’m looking forward to right now.

Happy weekend to you all.

{chocolate croissants for cheaters}

Let me start by saying this… I love to bake from scratch. Truly, I do.  But this morning I wanted to make chocolate croissants, and croissants from scratch are not for the faint of heart. They’re also not for the hungry, because they are literally hours of work. So I decided to cheat and use already made dough from the store. I don’t even feel that bad… they’re super easy and pretty delicious. I also decided to forego traditional chocolate and use nutella instead, because, who doesn’t love nutella?

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Puff pastry will also work beautifully for these.  You just want to let it thaw a little if frozen, and then roll it out and cut into triangles.

From there, take about a tablespoon of nutella and spread it onto the wide end of your dough triangles. If you want to make more traditional chocolate croissants, the equivalent amount of semisweet or dark chocolate works here too.

Next, simply roll each one from the wide end to the point.

I like to then brush a little egg wash on top of each of them, because it gives you that perfect golden brown color when you bake. Egg wash is simply one egg with about a tablespoon of water… easy as that.

Once they’re all rolled and egg washed, pop them in the oven and bake according to the directions from the package. 14 minutes at 350 degrees did the trick for me.

And then… voila. Chocolate (or nutella) croissants that I didn’t have to slave over for hours.

Cheating never tasted so good.

{rest and relaxation}

I finally took some much needed vacation days this week, and I must say... I feel like a new woman. Work had been so busy for a while that it was starting to feel like I was teetering on the brink of my sanity.

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I am a big believer in the idea that a woman deserves to and needs to take the time to take care of herself, physically, emotionally and spiritually. The few days off of work, the 30 bucks for a pedicure, an hour-long soak in the tub with a glass of wine... all are well worth it in my book if that's what you need to feel recharged when life gets a little too hectic.

Hope all you gals will find what it is that makes you feel pampered and rested, and indulge yourself a little! We deserve it.

{home office love}

I admit that I dream of being able to work from home as a writer. It's what I love to do more than just about anything, and I've loved spending more time focusing on it over the past year. And the dream that goes hand-in-hand with my dream of being a full time writer, is having a beautiful, inspiring, mine-all-mine home office that I can work out of. I'm not usually big on bright colors in my home, I love my neutrals. But when it comes to a room where I could sit and write for hours, I definitely want a room that is bright and inspiring. Right now, I'm loving these spaces that use bright whites with a little, and sometimes a lot, of color.

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We'll continue to see what God has in store for me down the road, that's the exciting part, but it would not hurt my feelings to have a room all my own to wordsmith my little heart out.

Happy Sunday to everyone!