Oops...

Well, it's March 13th and I've blogged all of 5 times so far this year... oops.  Sorry blog!  I didn't really mean to neglect my little corner of the interwebs, but I guess I've been busy getting my life back in order and catching up since moving home from California.  But I think everything is starting to settle down, so I'm hoping to get back into blogging more often now.  We've been having a great time doing lots of fun stuff and it's about time I start documenting it.  :)  I hope to also get back into posting my little series "Scenes from the Weekend" and maybe start a few others too.

Cheers!*

{random picture of a pretty flower because I am desperately longing for Spring at this point!!}

We made homemade pretzels!

Hi world...

{oops, I haven't blogged in a million years.}

It's the weekend and I'm happy and we made homemade pretzels last night!  We were in the mood for a snack, but wanted something different than the usual chips/salsa or bread/hummus combos.  So Brett came up with the idea of making homemade soft pretzels.  It was seriously way easier than I thought it would be!  We used this recipe and they turned out awesome.  Brett even whipped up some homemade beer cheese using some of his homebrew.  I mean, come on!  It tasted heavenly.  Here's the recipe written out:

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30 Minute Homemade Soft Pretzels

Yields: 8-10 Pretzels (FYI - we cut the recipe in half and made 6 smaller pretzels)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups luke warm water
1 packet of highly active yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
4 cups all purpose flour
1 large egg
course sea salt (we didn't have course salt, so we just used fine salt - same taste!)

Directions:
-  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
-  In a large bowl, pour in the warm water and yeast, stir with a spoon until the yeast is dissolved, about 1 minute. Add in the salt and sugar and stir until incorporated.
-  Slowly add in the flour about 1 cup at a time, mix with a wooden spoon until it gets sticky, continue to add in all your flour and at this point is when I started to use my hands to finish mixing the dough. The dough should no longer be sticky.
-  Knead the dough for about 5 minutes on a lightly floured surface, once kneaded, shape into a ball, with a knife or your hands separate the dough into about 1/3 cup sections, or use smaller or bigger sections depending on how large you want your pretzels.

-  Roll the dough into a long rope about 20 inches long and form the pretzel shape and place on your parchment paper.

-  In a shallow bowl beat your egg and dip the pretzel (both sides) into the egg wash and place back onto your parchment paper and sprinkle with sea salt.

-  Bake for 10 minutes at 425 degrees, and turn the oven to broil for the last 3-4 minutes until the tops of the pretzel are golden brown, be careful to keep an eye on the pretzels once you switch it to broil because it might take only a couple of minutes for your pretzels to brown depending on your oven.

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Simple as that - try it and let me know how it goes!

Happy weekend!*

Since We've Been Back...

A few updates of life back in Pittsburgh so far...

...We moved into a cute little rental house (with this great view out back!)...

You might be thinking, 'Wait, don't you own a house in Pittsburgh?!'

Yes, we do!  But when we moved to California,

we rented our house out to a sweet family and their lease doesn't end until July 1st.

Since we ended up moving back to Pittsburgh sooner than planned,

we are renting a cute little house a few neighborhoods away until we can move back into our home.

...I got a new job (and get to work next to this beauty)!...

While Brett went right back to the company that he worked for before we moved to California

(which he also worked for remotely from California),

I was looking for something new.  And I found it!

I hopefully start this week or the beginning of next.

...We've been spending a lot of time with family and friends...

It is so so nice to be home and able to see everyone!

...We visited Phipps Conservatory for their special holiday exhibits...

This is a yearly tradition and I'm so glad we made it home in time to continue on this year!

...We made a trip downtown to the Strip District...

This is one of our favorite spots in Pittsburgh and we couldn't wait to go again!

Fresh produce and fish, varieties of authentic foods, and tons of true friendly Pittsburghers.

...We had lunch at Primanti Brothers...

You can't go too long in Pittsburgh before stopping in for a famous fries & coleslaw sandwich!

...We also couldn't wait to get down to Fathead's...

One of our most favorite brewpubs in Pittsburgh!  Headwiches & awesome beers, yes please!

...We did our first hike of 2014...

We love Mingo Creek Park!

...I had a girls day downtown with my mom and sister...

We had lunch by the river, visited the Mattress Factory Museum, and stumbled upon "Randyland".

(More on that later...)

...And we just celebrated our 8 year anniversary of being together...

See, there's always a reason to bake cookies. :)

We are really happy to be home.  Everything just feels right about being back in Pittsburgh.  It really is where we belong.  We had the time of our lives living in California for a while and wouldn't trade those experiences and memories for the world.  But now it's onto the next adventure.  Let's see what 2014 has in store for us! :)

Cheers friends and happiest new year!*

8 Year Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary, Babe!!*

Today is Brett and my 8 year anniversary of being together!

I know we have a wedding anniversary now,

but I can't help but celebrate our dating anniversary every year too!

I mean, it is the official count for how long we've been together. :)

Babe,

we've had some wild and exciting adventures over the years

and I look forward to so many more to come!

I love you times a million trillion

and I can't wait to celebrate with you tonight!

Love you!*

Hey, let's drive across the country in 5 days! (Said no smart person ever...)

5 days, 4 nights

10 states

2,425 miles

There was a lot of caffeine, a lot of truck stops, and a lot of snow, but we did it!  We successfully drove a 16 foot moving truck towing our car across the country in 5 days.  We left California on the evening of Dec. 20th and made it home to Pittsburgh on Christmas Eve.  It was crazy, hectic, frustrating, and exciting all rolled into one...

Bye bye tiny expensive California apartment

Here we go!

(If you're wondering, yes we are in fact insane...)

Adios California, it's been real!

Arizona: No sign of snow yet...

New Mexico: First encounter with snow and freeezing cold weather

Texas: More snow, but awesome tortillas & free cake!

Oklahoma: Ice storms and terrible roads, but I got MMMHOPS!

Thanks Hanson ;)

Missouri: Uneventful with the exception of spotting the (blurry & dark) St. Louis arch

Illinois: Blurry signs, but pleasant driving

Indiana: Getting closer...

Ohio: Getting really close!

West Virginia: Only one more state to go!

PENNSYLVANIA!!

Totally blurry, but too excited... we made it!

And as soon as we walked into my parent's house,

we had a celebratory Mmmhops! ;)

What a wild trip.  Most of the credit has to go to Brett for driving the entire way.  I could barely see over the steering wheel, so there was no way I could drive that gigantic truck with our car attached.  Some days we put in 14 hours of straight driving.  He is a rockstar.  This trip was definitely nothing like our amazing cross-country trip to California in May, that's for sure. ;)  If you're going to drive across the country, I definitely recommend doing it that way, not this way.  For obvious reasons. :)  But we did it and now we are home in Pittsburgh and we couldn't be happier.

More updates to come!

Hope your new year is off to an amazing start!*

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!*

2013 was a wild & crazy & amazing year.
I can't wait to see what 2014 has in store for us.

Cheers!!*

Merry Christmas!

{via}

Merry Christmas

& Happy Holidays!

I hope you are all having the most wonderful holiday season,

spending plenty of time with family & friends.

I know we are...

It feels so good to be home!*

The perfect day for a hike in the mountains...

California really stepped it up for our last weekend living here...

the weather was amazing!

We spent all day Saturday hiking in the Cleveland National Forest.  We had so many great views along the trail and the visibility was so clear, we could see the ocean!  We hiked up to Sugarloaf Mountain, plopped down on a huge overlook boulder, ate some oranges, and took in the awesome scenery.  I'd chalk this up to one of my favorite hikes we've ever done in California.  And how fitting that it would be on our last weekend living here.  Going out with a bang!*