Peace Out 2015!

December 31, 2015January 31, 2016 by Sarah | Leave a comment

Happy New Year! Here’s my resolution list from last January. I totally kicked ass in some areas and in others I completely slept. On that note, I still sleep a whole ton – probably an average of ten hours a night. It’s just something I can’t kick. Anyway, I decided to cross off the goals that I didn’t meet and instead focus on the ones that I did. Like any year, there were ups and downs, but I’m so thankful to have this blog and my images to look back on. Here are some sweet moments from 2015.

This snowy afternoon brought about some of my favorite weather images from 2015 and the background my my resolutions list. I’m currently in Colorado freezing my butt off and coming down with a cold, but if it snowed like this tomorrow and the light was just right, I would shoot for hours.

Three Champagne and Shrub Cocktails for New Year’s Eve

December 30, 2015September 6, 2017 by Katie | Leave a comment

Happy New Year’s friends! This morning we took a few minutes from our hectic, kid-wrangling schedule to create some quick and delicious shrub and champagne cocktails. Shrub is pretty much our favorite mixer and champagne is hands down the alcoholic bevy of New Year’s so boom – this post was born. If you’re having a dry New Year’s, no worries, just swap out the champagne for seltzer and ignore the liquor suggestions or stir up some of these delicious mocktails instead! If you’re down to drink, read on!

Last Minute Gift for Pre-schoolers

December 21, 2015November 9, 2018 by Katie | Leave a comment

It’s Christmas week!!! We’ve been having so much fun with Alex this year since he really understands that Christmas is something special, but he’s still asking a lot of questions and trying to make sense of what’s going on around him. “When can we open the presents?” “We get to put the tree in our house?!” “It’s Christmas season, but not Christmas day, right?”

Gifts for the Adventurer

December 17, 2015November 9, 2018 by Sarah | Leave a comment

I’ve traveled plenty, most times with the wrong gear, but when it’s right, I’ve never felt more comfortable and relaxed in an unknown environment. Today I’m sharing my most beloved travel companions, in the way of gear, so you can scope out a great present for the adventurer in your life. All these items are highly practical and while they may be on the expensive side, they’ll last for half a decade or more. If you want your wanderer to think of you while they’re abroad, scope out one of these premium gifts and have them travel in comfort and style. I’ve traveled without most of these items at least once, but never again, never again.

A quality, packable down jacket. I was absolutely unprepared and frozen in this photo (and for the next few days) taken in Halong Bay, Vietnam. On my recent trip to Nepal, I made sure to pack a down jacket and it’s a good thing, because I wore it for a week straight on the Annapurna Circuit.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

December 15, 2015December 15, 2015 by Katie | Leave a comment

Somehow it’s turned into a busy week around here, but some people have more on their to-do lists than others. I mean, Calder’s laughing at us because he hasn’t even started his Christmas shopping yet! How does he do it?

Boulder got hit with a big snowstorm today and I was totally unprepared. I should have bought that molasses yesterday so we could be making ginger cookies today. Or ran to the craft store so I could put together some other little gifts. Instead, we’re just playing with play dough and eating leftover tortellini. #lifeishard

So, while the boys nap I’m working on a plan for the next few days.

We’ll make those ginger cookies.
I want to make some of this English toffee (scroll down).
I’m waiting for our Christmas cards to come and hoping to pop those in the mail.
We don’t include a letter with our cards, but Plum Organic’s holiday letter template has me cracking up. Ours is above. You just answer a few quick questions and the letter is made for you.
I just burned some Palo Santo because it makes the fire in our gas fireplace seem a bit more real and rustic.
I’m almost done with Luc’s stocking and then I want to start new winter hats for Alex and Luc. While working on this year’s design, I came across Tricksy and think it could be really helpful for future colorwork projects.
I’m now in the last-minute personalized gift stage of my shopping, so I’m spending quite a bit of time here and here. How about you?
Yesterday I reserved tickets for our first Christmas ride on the Georgetown Loop RR. Santa’s going to be there! I asked Alex what he’ll say when he sees Santa. “I’ll say ‘ho ho ho’ back to him.” Fair enough…. and yesterday he was going around saying “Merry Christmas Everyone!” to everyone. <3

And that’s our snow day, a whole lot of scheming going on over here.

Tasting Teas : Pu’er Tea with Dried Orange Peel

December 14, 2015January 31, 2016 by Katie | 1 Comment

Tea is our ingredient of the season this winter. We’re using that as an excuse to do a lot of tasting and to share our finds with you. Also, if you like orange-y things, it was our ingredient of the season last winter!

When Sarah was in town last week, we made it a point to visit Boulder’s Ku Cha House of Tea. We’re excited to tell you more about the shop and its tea house in another post, today I wanted to share some photos and details about the Pu’er tea in a dried tangerine that we took home for our afternoon tea.

To make this specialty a fermented tea is stuffed into the whole rind or mandarins or tangerines. The stuffed fruit is then left to dry, allowing the tea to absorbs the light citrus aroma. The tea leaves can be brewed alone or with broken pieces of the dried tangerine peel, thereby amplifying the citrus flavor.

Two Bits

December 4, 2015 by Katie | Leave a comment

Sarah and I don’t have two bits to rub together today (hah!), but we are working behind the scenes scheming up some fun stuff for the season.

In the meantime, our sister Kris sent us a picture early this morning, and she’s totally winning the race on getting crafty with tea. Those are chamomile & lemon bath balms. They look fantastic, and we are so excited to do some product testing for her ;-).

Ingredient of the Season : Tea

December 1, 2015January 31, 2016 by Katie | 2 Comments

Every season we like to pick one ingredient and find a variety of ways to love it and use it. You can find our complete ingredient archive here.

When Sarah and I were thinking about the long, dark, and cozy winter still ahead, we decided that tea would be the perfect ingredient to carry us through to spring. We’ve always been big tea fans, granted our tea selection can get a bit boring (Sarah has her favorite and I have mine), but we’re hoping that during our “winter of tea” we will learn more about teas, sample new varieties, and even discover new ways to incorporate tea into our lives through baking, cosmetics, and crafts. We’re also excited to use this selection as an excuse to spend more time in our local tea shops, maybe pop into Celestial Seasonings’ factory for another tour, and visit at least one tea house for a ceremony.