My Favorite Things: European Junk Food

Welcome back from the festivities, folks!  I hope your holiday weekend was full of nestling, snuggling, and visions of dancing sugar plums.  Or spiked egg nog.  Whatever. 

Since there are five more days of this calendar year, I'd like to spend this week reflecting on My Favorite Things of 2011.  I'm feeling a whole lot of gratitude + a little levity is in order.  ;] 

Today's topic?  Well, you may or may not have noticed that I nonchalantly alluded to the fact that I was in Europe this autumn.  It's true.  I was there.  And, yes, I saw priceless works of art, wandered about in many a picturesque park, and heard some world-class musicians do their thing.  I also took advantage of the opportunity to taste regional gourmet cuisines.  But, today—today, I'd like to focus on the wonderful gift of the not-particularly-nutritious foods Europe bestowed upon me.  Therefore, I present to you:

Sarah's Top Six Sweet Snacks To Nosh On 

Whilst Frolicking Around Europe 

      

6. Grom ice cream in Paris.  Heaven in a cone.  The best ice cream of my life.  I savored every lick of pistachio + salted caramel that my tongue had the honor of tasting.  In fact, I was so engrossed in the experience, I failed to take a photo of the gorgeous confection.  Instead, I give you a shot of soft serve enjoyed outside the Centre Pompidou, my favorite people-watching locale in Paris (but that's for another post!).

  

NOT Grom. Rather some soft serve outside the Centre Pompidou.

5. Galler chocolate.  Our CouchSurfing host (again—a story for another post!) in Brussels gave us a brilliant tip regarding Belgian chocolate.  The chocolate available in local markets is just as delicious and not nearly the cost of the schmancy stuff in the tourist shops.  I can vouch for the truth of this fact.  Sorry I don't have photographic evidence; even sorrier that I haven't been able to locate Galler in the States yet . . .  

4. This Alnatura Mandel thing, found in the dm (drugstore chain) in Austria.  Each package contained about ten soft, chewy rectangular pieces

made of almonds.  Kind of like marzipan, but even dreamier.

must locate U.S. retailer . . .

3.  Ladurée macarons.  I don't even know what to say.

The first bite brought a tear to my eye.

 

sigh

2. Stroopwafels in the Netherlands!  When we were at a farmer's market in Delft, I tried my first stroopwafel—two warm waffle rounds sealed together with fresh caramel!  Henceforth, I hunted them down on a daily basis.  Almost every corner store sold the pre-packaged ones, which were pretty darn tasty.  Before leaving Amsterdam, I may or may not have purchased a substantial stash to bring to Germany in case they didn't exist there.*

    

*smuggling stroopwafels into Germany

1. Toffifee!  Yet another treasure hidden on the shelves of the local grocery markets in Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic.  Hazelnut, caramel, nougat, and chocolate all in one bite.  So much awesome packed into one bite.  Toffifee is the overachiever of the bunch, but Oh! does she succeed!

as if the taste weren't enough, toffifees are shaped like lil' nuts. TOO cute.

Ok, your turn!  Do you have any favorite snacks from elsewhere in the world?  I gotta know what to look for when I travel the rest of the globe!  ;] 

Dear Global Winter Wonderland,

You are equal parts creepy,

(the snowman, not my darling pal, Grayce)

bizarre,

blue fox with a beak (?) kickin' it @ "your favorite childhood shoe house"

perplexing,

bikini-clad woman guarding pirate ship with gun + sword

adorable,

how happy does Santa look to deliver those TWO packages to the boys + girls of the world?!

 kawaii,

libra + gemini

 and genius!

I mean, WHO would've thought to include dinosaurs in the mix with other traditional Winter Wonderland fare?  Not I, Global Winter Wonderland, not I.  You are awesome, and I thank you for an evening of pure entertainment.  Consider yourself added to the illustrious list of activities that get me feeling all Christmassy.  Cheers! 

xoxo,

Sarah

Coutdown within a countdown within a countdown

Top 5 activities that'll get me in the Christmas spirit, even when it's 65˚ here in sunshiney Northern California:

5. Listening to Christmas music
4. Viewing strings of lights festooning homes
3. Baking cookies
2. Consuming peppermint-flavored anything
1. Watching my favorite Christmassy movies

Top 5 movies that are guaranteed to give me warm fuzzies:

5. Home Alone
4. Elf
3. Scrooged
2. A Charlie Brown Christmas
1. The Nightmare Before Christmas

Alternates that will suffice in a pinch if none of the above are available for viewing:

3. Edward Scissorhands
2. You've Got Mail
1. Watching Puss in Boots tell the story of "Santa Claws" about 27 times in succession 

I'll give you a cookie if you work the line, "I have shamed myself," casually and naturally into a conversation today.  Please include a transcript in the comments.  ;]

Tradition!

I recall forcing my mom to listen to Christmas with the Chipmunks, Volume 1 once or twice.*

*Or 8 times a day, 7 days a week, 4 weeks a year.  For approximately 13 years.  If she didn't want to hear it that much, she shouldn't have given me a boom box with auto reverse, right?  I still stand behind my DJing skillz.

Secular Christmas Goodness - a playlist

Since I gifted music to a complete stranger last week, I thought it only fair I should do the same for you.  I originally made this playlist in 2005 for my mom.*  But I listen to it every year because I think it's swell.  I hope it brings you warm fuzzies as you sip on hot chocolate and watch the yule log.  Or sip on wassail and wrap gifts.  Or sip on egg nog and dance! 

*Hence the Mariah Carey. Don't judge.  I stand behind my DJing skillz.
**Also of note: the original playlist included Rosemary Clooney's version of Rudolph, but playlist.com didn't have it.  Still!  Burl Ives is pretty classic, no?  I always loved how Sam the Snowman glided through the snow + left that little trail.  :]

Go forth + spread goodwill, my friends!

wait a second...this is NOT the Trader Joe's photo I meant to publish here...

Yet another person who continues to inspire me is Janet of This Confetti Life.  Her whole mission over there at TCL is to encourage celebration on the daily.  Brilliant, I say!  The world definitely needs more of that. 

And like a good champion of cheer, Janet has accepted GOOD's Creative Microphilanthropy Challenge.  She has pledged to donate $1 for each act of goodwill that we tell her we accomplished.  See what she did there?  Rather than just give $30 to a charity (which is totally noble in istelf—don't get me wrong!), she's giving $30 and 30 acts of kindness to the world!  It's like fancy math.  She's making the goodwill multiply!  Plus, we get to be her goodwill elves!  Where are my pointy, curly-toed shoes . . . 

When I read Janet's post a couple days ago, I knew I wanted to do something simple, quick, and inspired by the "spirit of the season".  I considered Color Me Katie's Tiny Messages, which are definitely simple + quick, so now I just needed something Christmassy.  (Adding "y" to a noun magically makes it an adjective. Try it!)  And what's more Christmassy than Christmas music?  If you answered, "Nothing. Nothing is more Christmassy than Christmas music, Sarah," you are correct.  So I burned a CD, wrote a little note to a stranger, and left both in a shopping cart at Trader Joe's*.     

photographic evidence of my Act of Goodwill

Don't you want to join me in spreading cheer as a member of Janet's Elfin' Crew?  Grab your pointy, curly-toed shoes and don't forget to tell her about your Act of Goodwill!  And tell me if you tell her, too (please + thank you!).

*Thank you, Janet, for turning my completely selfish Candy Cane Joe-Joe's run into a more meaningful endeavor.  ;]

Did somebody say fear?

Milton Glaser – on the fear of failure. from Berghs' Exhibition '11 on Vimeo.

Oh, that was me.  Much like Pablo Picasso + Hannah Dancing, Mr. Glaser helped remind me of the truth.

Fear is unpleasant.  Fear is uncomfortable.  Fear is downright icky.  When we fear that something we create will suck, our brain is trying to help us avoid the emotional pain caused by enduring (potential) criticism from peers, critics, and ourselves.  Fair enough.  Makes sense to avoid a (perceived) source of pain considering that whole survival of the fittest thing.  So, without our explicit permission, but rather an instinctual will to survive, our brain is perceiving a threat and preemptively implementing the evasion tactic.  Decoy set, distraction engaged, paralysis full speed ahead!  But, wait.  An emotion that begins with such good intentions . . . actually suppresses growth and progress?  Go figure.

Luckily, there is a solution.  The facts according to Mr. Glaser: There is no avoiding the suck.  Just suck.  It's the only way to ultimately not suck.   

The moral of today's post?  Go forth + suck, my friends!* 

Originally found via Brain Pickings.

*Okay, okay, Mr. Glaser's musings are slightly more eloquent than my paraphrasing.  Enjoy his message + take heart! 

Pretty sure Katie* would totally approve of the Colour project too

from Oliver Schwarzwald's Colour project

The world needs more color, no?

Found via Melanie over at You Are My Fave, which incidentally, is 1 of my favorite blogs - chock full of eye candy + crafty inspiration.

*See Monday's post to truly understand the Katie reference.  ;]

Love you today + everyday

Today marks a heavy-hearted anniversary for a good friend.  I wanted to let her know I was thinking of her, but I wasn't sure exactly how.  When I remembered yesterday's post (specifically the nod to the chalk walk), and that I happened to have colored chalk in my car . . . presto!  A little sidewalk chalk art/love message to send.  ♥

Yet 2 more awesome quotes re: being creative and/or a child

Color Me Katie + her balloons

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let's pretend that 5 out of my first 12 posts aren't "Quote of the Day" bits, okay?  I swear I'm not that girl who adorns her walls with motivational posters and compulsively refreshes her twitter feed after searching #motivational or #inspiring.  However, a handful of quotations I've read over the years resonate with me and align quite nicely with my purposes here.  And so, I like to share the curated few with you.  Without further ado:

Quote 1: "The creative adult is the child who has survived." - Ursula K. Le Guin

Quote 2: "Every child is an artist.  The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up." - Pablo Picasso 

Seems Miss Ursula + Pablo are advocating we all unleash our inner Peter Pan.  Fine by me!  Easier said than done, though, especially for the most hardcore of us "grown ups".  So, uh . . . how?  Since there is no step-by-step how-to guide out there (well, if one exists, google is hiding it from me), we must look for inspiration elsewhere.  Enter Color Me Katie.  This gal is all sorts of artistic.  If you'd like to get back in touch with your innate creativity and child within, but don't know where to begin, pick from 1 of these rad ideas, and give it a go.  Here are my Top 7 inspirations from Miss Katie:

1. Build a tent.
2. Relax in the rain.
3. Enhance your environment with dry erase markers.
4. Blow bubbles.
5. Arrange a balloon bouquet.
6. Walk with chalk.
7. Write + plant happy notes for folks to discover. 

handing out balloons to children on my birthday*

 

 

Photo credit goes to the extremely creative + fantastic, Marianne Szeto.

*an activity I'm certain both Katie + Peter Pan would approve of.  ;]