One Year

So, maybe I have been walking around singing:

Happy birthday to my blog, 
Happy birthday to my blog, 
Happy birthday, dear my blog,
Happy birthday to my blog.

Thank you for reading-- you all make me smile.

Zulily

Online shopping and I are pretty much BFFs.

And, yet, somehow, I didn't know about a little deal site called Zulily, until my fabulous friend Jen told me about it this morning.

Although it carries a lot of kid-friendly stuff, you definitely don't have to be a mommy to find things to put in your shopping cart.

In fact, I may have an order on the way to me right now... and order that I got ten dollars off of with a coupon code.

(Swoon.)

Chocolate Makes Everything Better

If you are ever in the Berkshires, you should probably stop at Mazzeo's.

And you should probably order the chocolate piano for dessert.

Because it is awesome.

Make-Up Monday: Not Exactly a Necessity

True Confession: I already own two sparkly Hello Kitty necklaces.

But, I don't own one that is also a solid perfume.

I maybe need to swing by Sephora...

The Letter B

I'm continuing the Encyclopedia of Me with one of my very favorite things in the world:

Babies!
Once, a co-worker spotted a super cute baby and announced, "I think my uterus just skipped a beat!"

I totally get that, because I cannot see a little one without falling a little bit in love.  (Also, this happened more than five years ago, and it is still one of the funniest things I've ever heard).

Banana bread
I whole-heartedly approve of cake that can be eaten for breakfast.

Barney
We got Barney almost two years ago on Valentine's Day, and I can't seem to remember a time when I didn't have his furry little face in my life.

Barnes and Noble
I am a total book nerd, and I love nothing better than having a new book to read. Also, this is where Mr. Kinne and I met, so it holds a special place in my heart.

(Can you spot the tiny Mrs. Kinne in this picture? It's like my own personal "Where's Waldo?")

Ice Invaders

I am a big fan of the new ice cube tray that Mr. Kinne picked out for us:

Seriously, what is cuter than old-school, video-game robots that also make your drinks colder?

Not a whole lot, that's what.

Folar

I am so in love with bread.

Just plain old homemade white bread ranks very high on my favorite food list.

But, wouldn't bread be so much awesomer if it had bacon rolled up in it?

The answer is a resounding "yes!"-- except from the vegetarians, I suppose.

Well, we can thank the Portuguese, because they came up with folar, which is a bread with bacon and linguica rolled into the dough.  (Linguica is a sausage, sort of like a milder chorizo).

(I would also like to note that I grew up pronouncing "folar" as "foo-laud," but there's a distinct chance I say it wrong).

Now, I grew up on traditional folar, which has a heavy egg-bread as a base, but I tend to make it more like my not-at-all-Portuguese Dad who uses a soft white bread.

Would you like the recipe? O.K...

Folar (Adapted from the "Soft as Wonder" White Bread Recipe on Allrecipes)

1 1/2 cups water
3 teaspoons salt
9 tablespoons butter, chopped into little pieces
3 tablespoons honey
9 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
6 teaspoons sugar
4 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast
1 package of bacon, cooked and chopped into little pieces.
1 packaged of linguica, cooked and chopped into little pieces.
Extra flour to coat the meat

1. Put all of the ingredients in your mixer, and mix together with a dough hook.
2. Let the dough rise, covered, in a warm place for an hour or two.  (Look for the dough to double in size).
3. Separate into 4 balls of dough.
4. Roll out each dough into a rectangle.
5. Coat the bacon and the chourica in flour.  (I mix the meat with a handful of flour in a bowl until it looks coated).
6. Sprinkle about a fourth of the meat over each rectangle.
7. Roll each rectangle up like a jelly roll.
8. Place each loaf on a baking sheet-- or in a loaf pan.
9. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes.  (Look for the loaves to brown on top).

10. Enjoy, and pretend like you're not eating some of the unhealthiest foods available all squished together.

Make-Up Monday: I Will Probably Not Buy This Product

(Via the gorgeous Beauty Blogging Junkie)

I am not a lipstick girl.

Lip gloss, yes.

Lip balm, heck yes.

But, lipstick, not so much.

I can't really commit to re-applying lipstick or to making sure I don't have pink smudges on my teeth.

But, if I were a lipstick girl I would buy Rouge Dior Lipcolor in Star Fuchsia in the hopes that it would make me look a little more like Natalie Portman at the Golden Globes.

The Letter A

The fabulous Shannon of Shannanigans had the idea to write a sort of encyclopedia of herself-- from A to Z-- and she invited other bloggers to join in.

So, this my loves, is my list of Mrs. Kinne-related things that start with the letter A.

(Photo by Chris Lizon)

Apples
Partly because the Mister and I are teachers, and partly because my favorite color is green, the theme for our wedding was green apples.

Amazon.com
Oh, online shopping, how I love you.  Have I mentioned that I have had my debit card number memorized since I was in college?

Artwork-- Especially the kind made by 6 year olds
I have some very talented and artistic friends, but nothing can compare to the masterpieces created by my kiddos.

Aunt
A title that I added to my resume this year.

The Siren Dress

How very lovely is the Siren Dress at J.Crew?

I feel like it's one of those dresses that I could wear so many places--anywhere from a wedding to the grocery store.

Snow Day

I had grand plans for today.

Getting-things-done kind of plans.

But, instead of following through on those plans, I ended up spending some quality time with Barney, Mr. Kinne and a tube of Pillsbury Reduced Fat Cinnamon Rolls.

It was a day well spent.

Make-Up Monday: You Tell Me....

Alright, cool kids, I've got a Sephora gift card, I just can't decide what to get.  What is your very favorite cant-live-without-it product?

Back to School

Well, I was back to school in more ways than one this week.

I was back with my kiddos, which was pretty exhausting.  We did some fun projects-- like making oobleck!-- and we also had a couple classroom meetings for a little refresher on the rules.

I will admit that, at one point this week, I found myself yelling to a student, "We do not yell in Room Four!"

The irony was not lost on me.

And! And this week, I started graduate school!

I definitely had first-day-of-school jitters, but everything went pretty smoothly.  I am taking two classes-- both night classes that last for three-and-a-half-hours.

(That is, in my opinion, too many hours).

My biggest challenge will be packing enough food to last me from 8 in the morning until 9 at night.

Oh, you know, that and the pile of homework on top of my school work on top of the dishes that I vowed to wash everysinglenight.

Wish me luck.

Two Open Letters

Dear Hello Kitty Slipper Boots,

You were one of the best Christmas presents ever.

Love,

Mrs. Kinne

P.S. I wish I could wear you out of the house.

Dear Guacamole,

Thanks for being delicious-- and for making me feel a little less guilty about having nachos for dinner.

Love,

Mrs. Kinne

Make-Up Monday: Sephora By OPI's Leaf Him at the Altar

Isn't that such a terrible name for a nail polish?

But, it is a really great shade of green.

Hello New Year!

I rang in the New Year in the most laid-back way possible-- with good friends and Little Debbie cupcakes and champagne in a can.

(It was fabulous.)

And, now, I am looking forward to this year with one resolution and a lot of hopes.

My one resolution?

To do the dishes every day.

Because, you see, I am not the best housekeeper, and we run out of clean forks on a regular basis.

But, my hopes are a lot bigger than my one resolution.

This year will be the year that I start taking graduate classes.  I do not deal well with change, and I am a little terrified of this new endeavor. I'm scared of how hard it will be to balance work and school, and I'm scared of not being able to pay for school and the rest of life.

But, I hope that I can balance everything.

I also hope for a better job for Mr. Kinne.

I hope for healing for people that I love.

I hope that this will be the year that we're able to conceive. (I was also hoping for this in 2010, but the Universe didn't think we were ready yet).

And, lastly, I hope so many good things for you, because we could all use a little more of the good stuff.