40 Days

I emailed Steve this quote last September and had forgotten about it until he forwarded it to me this past week. I'm thankful for email, which serves as a sort of archive for exchanges like this one.

"Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being 'in love' which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. My wife and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two." -St. Augustine

30 Day Journal Challenge

My sister-in-law, Sara, wrote a post about the 30 Day Journal Challenge on her blog today. Because imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I decided I want to try it, too! The challenge comes from Run With Scissors. Check it out and join along here. I am an insane person for committing to this throughout the month of June while trying to finish wedding plans. Insane person. 

I don't have a pretty journal or a set of Sharpies yet. I'm eager to scope out the selection on my next Target run.

Stay tuned!

Emily

Top Ten

The weeks start to fly by when the weather is nice and the sun is out longer. Winter in Minnesota is long and depressing; the worst part is when the sun sets at 4:30 p.m. While I want to get married sooner, I also want to stretch out summertime. I feel as though it was Monday and I blinked and it was Friday. Here are ten of my favorite things from this past week.

1. Bonfires and wine. Few things are better than good conversation shared with your best friend over a glass of Malbec. (Wine not pictured.)

2. Fresh flowers from the Nicollet Mall Farmer's Market. I'm lucky enough to work Downtown where everything is a short walk away, including the Thursday Farmer's Market. The Farmer's Market means food trucks, fresh fruit, and a bouquet of flowers for my desk.

3. The Five Love Languages. I'm reading this book right now, and thoroughly enjoying it. It offers so much insight on how each person feels loved, and shows love, in a different way. My love languages? Quality Time and Acts of Service.

4. Ray LaMontagne. Specifically him covering Gnarls Barkley.

5. This marriage proposal:

6. All the Rapture/Apocalypse talk. Read this post from the Center for Disease Control, and this article on a 5/21/11 Doomsday crazy. Both will provide you with some entertainment. 

7. Pinterest. I am addicted. Check out my boards here and let me know if you want an invite.

8. Recipe blogs. I am blessed with a job that sometimes requires me to research blogs. This week, I came across Annie's Eats, For the Love of Cooking, and Smitten Kitchen. I'm dying to try the recipes below:

Creme Brulee French Toast from Smitten Kitchen

Banana, Strawberry and Chocolate Chip Muffins
from For the Love of Cooking

Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cake from Annie's Eats

9. This blog post about my mischievous niece, Lillian, trying to make herself a cup of joe.

10. Seeing old friends. Last night I had dinner with my college roommates from freshman year. Here we are in Seattle two years ago:

Have a great weekend!
Emily

Creme Brulee Cheesecake Bars

A few weeks ago, I found this recipe on the Petunia blog, and I've been eager to make them. They were delicious and I'm happy to say that there are hardly any bars left after the weekend. The bars are pretty easy to make and this recipe is definitely a keeper. I am pretty proud of myself because I successfully separated egg yolks from the whites after never having done it before! (Thanks to Steve, who made sure I knew to pour the egg back and forth between the two shell halves; he watches a lot of Food Network.)

Creme Brulee Cheesecake Bars

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) sugar cookie mix
1 box (4-serving size) French vanilla instant pudding and pie filling mix
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
2&1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs plus 3 egg yolks
2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup toffee bits, finely crushed

Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray bottom and sides of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, pudding mix, brown sugar, melted butter, 1 teaspoon of the vanilla and 1 whole egg until soft dough forms. Press dough in bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of pan.

Confession: I mixed this dough with my (clean)
bare hands. Much easier than stirring.

In small bowl, beat cream cheese, sour cream and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add remaining whole egg, 3 egg yolks and remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla; beat until smooth. Spread over crust in pan.

Ta-da! All yolk and no white.

Oops, I forgot to let the cream cheese soften all
the way, hence the cottage cheese-like texture.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until set in center. Immediately sprinkle top with crushed toffee bits. Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate about 3 hours or until chilled. For bars, cut into 9 rows by 4 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.

Someone wanted to do a little staging, and
couldn't resist staying in the picture.

Hope you all have had a lovely weekend,

Emily

Bad Blogger

I am a bad blogger. I have come to realize that a busy job plus planning a wedding doesn't allow for much leisurely writing time. I also felt that everything I had to say last week was kind of lame and irrelevant following OBL's death. (Side note: I feel kind of like a tool saying 'OBL'.)

So here's a quick update:

For those of you clinging to the edge of your seats in anticipation of how my battle with Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred would turn out, I'd like you to know that I surrendered after day 8. I've committed to a workout routine involving Just Dance II for the Wii. It's the perfect workout for people who hate. hate. hate. to exercise (me.) I had to dig through my junk draw and bust out my sweatband during a marathon session of "Proud Mary" tonight.

(Note: I am not Sharon, Karen, Louise or Tom, though
I do envy their scores.)

In other updates:

1) The wedding countdown is at 60 days.

2) Minnesota had a crazy storm tonight, giving the Metro area yellow skies, a few funnel clouds, and golf-ball-sized hail to delay a baseball game. The craziest part of this? The temp today reached 90, and just eight days ago, it snowed.

Via KARE-11

3) It was my mom's birthday today. We celebrated with Famous Dave's, "The Voice", and gifts from Patina. She's pretty cool.

That's all for tonight!

Take care,

Emily