Overheard.

I see and overhear people talking about a lot of strange and personal things on the street and on the train.  Yesterday:

--Woman discussing her wedding and 11 bridesmaids in line behind me at Anthropologie, purchasing mega amounts of coffee cups for said bridesmaids.
--Man sitting next to me on the train telling an awful, sad story on his cell about his friend who died last week from complications of Leukemia.  And did you hear about that horrific elevator accident in NYC?  That was a friend of his friend.
--Woman yelling to her friend about someone who was a "big sloppy hoe."  Or is it ho?  She was on the other side of the train platform and it was a crystal clear conversation. 

{Photo via we heart it}

weekend highlights.

Ice skated for the first time in 7ish years and enjoyed the pretty snow downtown this weekend with visitors - except it was 46 degrees this morning, so bye bye snow.  Also, discovered this:

Umm, I'm going to have to make cookies with this asap (cookie butter subbed for peanut butter?!?  Genius Iowa Girl Eats) or else it will be gone in 2.5 days.  This is a Giant Spoonfuls In Your Pajamas kind of product folks.

{Image via blisstree}

Week 3.

{Via we heart it}

So.  Thanksgiving did not treat my holiday health attempts well.  Despite a few days at gym, long walks, and healthy eating this week, I'm back at square one.

Total loss = 0.

How annoying are the holiday commercials lately?  I swear, if I see another Lexus with a bow on it or a hideously gaudy diamond ring from Kay's jewelers I'm going to throw my bowl of candy canes at the television.

Holiday-related links from this week:

Expert-Approved Bottles of Wine

A shop-local Holiday Bazaar

Basic vanilla cookie dough (can't wait to use this to make some tree cookies!)

D.e.v.o.u.r.

I know I was just talking about working out, but I made these Nutella Chocolate Cookies over the holiday weekend and omg. Love. I found the recipe in Vegetarian Times magazine but this is from memory because I couldn't find it online:

Ingredients:
1 & 3/4 Cup all-purpose flour
1/3 Cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 Teaspoon salt
1/2 Cup butter (1 stick)
1 egg
1/2 Teaspoon vanilla extract
1 Cup Nutella hazelnut-chocolate spread

Form dough into a roll and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate roll for an hour or overnight. Cut dough into thin slices and bake at 350 degrees for 9-10 minutes. D.e.v.o.u.r.

I think these would be even more amazeballs with the addition of peppermint frosting and crushed candy canes.  Right?!

{Via JHClagg on pinterest}

20 weekdays left

One of my favorite blogs, Iowa Girl Eats, is asking people to join her on a 20 Day Holiday Workout Challenge.  As of yesterday, there are 20 weekdays left under Christmas (AHH!!!) and she's going to workout every one of them.  Because there's no way I'll make it to the gym 5 days a week with work events and the holidays, I'm going to count a 30 minute+ walk as a workout but still get to the gym or run at least 3 days per week.  Who's with me?

{Via we heart it}