Pin Fact or Pin Crap ♒ Cake Batter Truffles

☝ see the Pin board

In an effort to help weed out the crap on Pinterest, I think we should all start posting whether the crafty/recipe/DIY sort of pins we try from Pinterest are Fact or Crap! If you leave a comment below with your Pinterest link, I'll add you as a Fact or Crap collaborator.

What being a Fact or Crap collaborator means: Re-pin the things you try (or have tried) on this board with either a Fact or Crap message. The pin will show up in your feed, and you will help others find the good pins or save them from wasting time & money on trying out crappy pins. You will also be able to add your friends as collaborators too!

I'll go first:

Cake Batter Truffles from The Girl Who Ate Everything = Fact!

☝check out the recipe

The truffles were super easy to make. And because they don't have eggs, you can snack while you make them. I didn't have any almond bark so I just melted chocolate chips in the microwave and dipped the tops of the truffles. I added lots of sprinkles {ate one or two} and then put them in the freezer to harden.

This recipe was definitely a Pin Fact! I'm going to add a fact or crap button to my sidebar in case you want to make your own Pin Fact or Pin Crap post to share.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling

This is the first "comedy" book I've read and for some reason I thought it was a novel when I first started reading it. My friend lent me the ebook for my iPad, so once again I started a book without checking out the synopsis online. However, I really did love this book, even though I had never heard of Mindy Kaling before. The Office is a show that I know people love, but I've never really taken to. I think I need to give it a shot after reading this book!

Mindy Kaling is like the Indian best-friend you never knew you had. She is not embarrassed to tell you exactly what her childhood is like, and doesn't sugar-coat her trials. I really liked how the book was divided into chapters and sections based on topics from her life. The book also has pictures (shock!) that help you to really get what she is saying. I think it was her overall down-to-earth writing that made it feel like you weren't reading a book, but rather at a Starbucks listening to a (funny) friend tell you stories. Thumbs Up, Mindy Kaling, Thumbs Up.


This week, I'm Linking Up with Heather from Blonde... Undercover Blonde for her Book Club Friday! Thanks to Emmy for recommending the Link Up. She also reviewed a book today & posted a really interesting review of it here. The book is called Under the Banner of Heaven, and it's moving up on my 'to-read' list on Goodreads.

Journey Forward ∴ 2

Last week, I told you about the word I picked to work on this year, Relax. This week our assignment was to create a board on Pinterest where we could pin inspiration and ideas to help us on our journey. You can reach my "Relax" board through any of these pictures. I'd love to add some collaborators on the board if anyone is interested!

Relax

... with a book on a swing

pin

... a margarita and friends

pin

... or yoga on the beach.

 

pin

The sweet Chelsea, who is hosting this journey, is going through a rough spot right now. If you have a minute, spend a second to send a prayer or good wish her way.

The Liebster Award

Remember Emmy June from yesterday? She's a world-traveling and fun-loving gal from Australia. If you perused her blog, you might have noticed that she awarded me the Liebster Award last week!

I was really excited and touched to be given my first award. I've been reading blogs for over a year now, and have seen various people get awards somewhat enviously. So thank you Emmy June for sharing the love, I appreciate it.

Liebster is a German word which means “dearest” or “beloved.” It can also mean favorite. The idea behind the Liebster Blog Award is that it is given to upcoming bloggers (with fewer than 200 followers) in order to create new connections and bring attention to wonderful growing blogs.

Part of the fun of getting the Liebster Award is that you get to pass it on to 5 other up-and-coming bloggers! I have been following these 5 bloggers for some time now, and they each bring something unique and special to the blogging community.

Kelsey @ Rising and Shining

{for her honest & positive spirit} 

Bridey @ Life of Bridey

{for beautiful photos & generous sharing} 

Torie @ Lattes and Love

{for her excellent writing style} 

Nikki @ Life of Ikkins 

{for encouraging posts from her journey}

Abby @ A Dab of Abby

{for openness about her dreams} 

If you have been awarded the coveted Liebster award, here’s what’s next:
☞ choose five up and coming blogs with less than 200 followers to award
☞ show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
☞ hope the 5 you nominate will keep the cycle going to spread good blogging karma!

Emmy June {born in May}

☝ visit Emmy's blog!

Have you guys been to Emmy June's blog yet? I have a soft spot for her, because she is living internationally right now in Sydney, Australia. International bloggers need love too, we get to listen to all these fun stories of bloggers attending AltSummit and BlogHer, but never have the chance to go ourselves. I guess the flipside is that bloggers in America have to listen to the internationals talk about their fabulous travels. Eh, I guess it's even.

Speaking of fabulous travels, Emmy is doing a fabulous series called Tuesday Travel Diaries where she asks people to write a bit about their recent trips. She asked if I would do one about Dominica, even though it has been my home for about a year and a half now. How could I say no?

☝ read my guest post

Journey Forward ∴ 1

Chelsea from Life is a Sunset is hosting a series called Journey Forward. The idea is to pick One Word that describes something you would like to work towards. Chelsea really explains the idea best on her blog here where she says,

You pick out one word and live that word to its fullest every day this year. Let it become a part of you. Instead of a long list of things to change about ourselves, it’s one word for us to focus our energy, words, and actions on. It can be anything.

I am so in love with this idea, and picking my word came more quickly than I imagined it would. So, without further ado, I present my One Word:

Define your word. Start with the foundation. Tell us how the dictionary defines your one word and then tell us how YOU define it. What does that word MEAN to YOU?

dictionary

re•lax |riˈlaks|

verb

1 make or become less tense or anxious

2 unwind, loosen up, make less tense/uptight, unclench, calm down, chill

me

To me, relax means letting go. Releasing what worries me and letting my mind be at ease. I want to focus my energy on what is good, and stop dwelling on what makes me feel anxious. Not only my mind, but my body too. I want to go to yoga & spend time relaxing. I want to stop clenching my teeth at night.

But I think I'm getting into another week's territory. What relax really means to me is changing my life for the better.

Thank you to Torie for introducing me to this challenge.
Why don't you join too? 

Sneak Peek: February

What on earth have I been up to recently? Blog Design! And I am in LOVE. It has been a long time since I was excited to go to work each morning. Even if that work means sitting down in the kitchen at my makeshift desk.

I've been learning so much, and challenging myself to take my designs that extra mile. Like adding posting title styling, pretty blockquotes, or a little j-query drop down menu action! Here's a little sneak peak of a few blogs that are in the works right now:

I guess that sign that you are really passionate about something? The clueless look on other people's faces when they just don't quite get why you are so excited. In the words of my husband, I'm too excited "blog-a-flogging" or "pressing your words" to do much else right now!

Do you have something you get lost in?

Valentine's Day Freebie!

A few friends and I got together for a Valentine's Day party this weekend. We hung out in a hot-tub, drank some bubbly, and did a little gift exchange. The naughty cupid gift exchange {basically a rated-R white elephant} was the best part of the night!

I am less than crafty, so I decided to put my design skills to work for me. The V-day coupon book I made was a big hit. My friend Clare suggested I put it on my blog as a freebie. So whether you print it out, or just have a good laugh, I hope you enjoy it!

How to make the coupon book:
Cut out the tickets on the black lines and staple them inside a folded piece of construction paper. Glue the "Love Notes" ticket on the cover. It works best if when you are cutting you leave a little stub on the left side of the ticket, so that when you staple them in you can still see the whole ticket outline. There are also a few blank tickets, in case you want to write your own!

The PDF file is in black & white:
Love Notes - PDF

Or you can download the 3 full-size sheets in color (seen above):
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Just leave me a comment if you decide to download these!

Facts & Funk

Shocking fact: There is a 27% attrition rate at RUSM. That means that a little more than a quarter of students who start here will not graduate. One out of four students who Chris matriculated with will not be there on graduation day. Lord willing, we will be there.

I just can't get this out of my head. I'm sure that some of these people willingly leave, but not most of them. It is too crazy that a university will take your money (BIG money) and then let you fail out.

My brain is just sort of stuck in worry-mode. Even though there isn't a thing I can do about. All I can do is trust that we will make it through. Note to self:

via Pinterest, where else?

What do You do when You are worried?

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

In an effort to simplify, I decided to incorporate Priceless Reads into Priceless Adventure. I'm having a hard enough time as it is writing on this blog while keeping up with Priceless Design Studio. I love that my little business is budding. It is certainly keeping me busy!

It took me almost 4 months to finish this book because of some combination of it being extra-extra long & me being extra-busy starting PDS. I think that is the longest I've ever taken to finish a book, sadly. I apologize in advance to those of you who just loved this book.

This book was not what I expected. I blame e-books and my own stupidity. If I had actually been at Barnes & Noble browsing for books there is no way I would have picked this one up on my own. Instead, I went off of what someone had said and because it was an e-book I didn't get to read the back (and was too lazy to google it).

The other deceptive thing about reading this book on an e-reader was the length. I guess I just didn't have a good feel for what 1400 pages on my iPad would actually be. I thought it sounded long, but figured it was probably just because the pages are smaller. I was thinking maybe an equivalent to half? Let me tell you, I was wrong, and it was long.

Let's talk about the actual book. I have no problem with historical fiction or fantasy, or even the two mixed together. That part didn't bug me. What bugged me were the scottish accents, written in words like "acht" or "ken." Drove me nuts! As did the cheesy love scenes. The scenes of graphic beatings were a different beast though. I cringed inside and they were hard for me to read.

One reviewer on Goodreads says everything I want to say about the book but better, here. {caution: spoilers.}

I will say that the book did keep me up several nights because I just couldn't put it down. There are 6 books in this series, and I might read the next one but I want to read something a little lighter first.