bakin'

These last few weeks I start each day by walking next door to the bakery and learning to make some  new delicious thing.  I can now successfully create raspberry twists, lavache, owl eyes, maple cracked wheat loaves, and just a plain-ol'- classic croissant.  Each class is 6 hours long but it flies by and I can actually say I enjoy school.  Kneading away at the dough, braiding rolls, and shaping croissants I finally feel that I'm learning something useful.  And at the end of each class we get to taste all the things we've made- I'm fully prepared to double in size.

dog chapel.

The story is cheesy and sweet.  A man wanted to commemorate the things he valued most which were his family and his dog.  So, he created the Dog Chapel in St. Johnsbury, Vermont - a place with pews shaped for dogs and a podium at a dog-appropriate height.  The walls are plastered with photos and testimonials for dogs living and past.  It's the sweetest.  Every month or so there are dog parties up there and I was lucky enough to go and see all the dogs running free on the many acres of land - swimming in the lake and group games of fetch.  It turns out if you take leashes off of dogs they all play really nicely together - so many dogs running around and no fights!  Plus, there were so many hiking trails on the land which meant walking around picking flowers and eating wild blackberries.  Nothing better.

cinnamon buns

They take so long but they're so worth it! And this recipe incorporates cream cheese into the dough. So. good.

surprise.

For the past few months my cousins and I have been planning a surprise party for my Gramma's 80th birthday.  We've been sneaking around taking cupcake tins from her house, stealing recipes from her book, getting family members to make the journey to Vermont without her knowing - and it worked! My grandmother walked in thinking she was about to be taken out to lunch with her grandaughter and there we all were with gifts and cupcakes and lei to put on her for the tacky beach theme.  It made it all worth it watching her smiling and teary-eyed as she hugged all of us.  She's always so kind to us on our birthdays, and all the time really, that it was nice to go out of our ways to return the favor a bit.

58 years.

Are you seeing these people?  My grandparents are about to celebrate their 58th wedding anniversary -more than twice as long as I've been alive! They are so good at being the sweetest, warmest people I know, and the best part is that they still have spirit.  They bicker like kids, sticking their tongue out at one another, making sarcastic remarks at each other over breakfast (both in their bathrobes), and they still make time each day to share a glass of wine together.  Sometimes I even catch them holding hands.  I don't know how I will ever find anything that could compete.

rainy day packages.

All right, so, there's this person in Asheville, and he and I have done so many fun things together.  I mean we've made fig & blueberry pancakes, had peanut butter fights in the street, taken shots of maples syrup, all the nerdy things, and so much tea and coffee.  

And so, today I received the loveliest package from him:

So much exotic tea, some porcelain, cute drawings, and maybe a couple of nerdy things.

It's pretty nice to come home after a busy day of class and work to something like this.