Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake

Take it from someone who doesn't like baked fruit, this is delicious!  Perfect amount of lemon with a hint of orange and a simple glaze to finish it off.  Try it, you won't be disappointed!

1 lemon cake mix

1/2 cup orange juice + 2 tbsp for glaze

1 cup water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs, beaten

1 & 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

1 tbsp lemon zest

1 tbsp orange zest

glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tbsp orange juice

Preheat oven according to cake mix instructions and grease bundt pan.  Mix together cake mix, orange juice, water, vegetable oil and eggs in a mixer until well combined.  Fold in lemon and orange zest and blueberries.  Fill bundt pan and bake according to cake mix instructions.  Let the cake completely cool in the pan, flip over on a tray or cake stand then drizzle on the glaze!

*iPhone pic, don't judge me....

 

I always look forward  to my nights on Roosevelt Avenue spent in the cozy home of Maddie and Trevor  and this past Monday might have been one of my favorites.  First, Maddie and I cruised the streets before heading to the grocery store to make my dreams of a warm cookie and a cold glass of milk come true.  We wandered the store gathering a random assortment of food including a frozen CPK pizza and a twelve pack of Tab and laughed  at  with our cashier.  

As I mixed up the cookie dough Maddie "prepped the TV for whatever we want to watch" while calling Trevor to make him jealous he wasn't there.  Next the sweatpants went on, we sat our butts on the couch with a heaping plate of chocolate chip cookies and two lazy animals and proceeded to watch whatever looked best on Hulu.  Not too long after Trevor came home, joined right in and I'm pretty sure we all sat on the couch for the rest of the night until bedtime.  I love having these two in my life and I'm grateful they're always willing to open their home to me.  Thanks bess frens!

Let Me Come Home

I dream of having my own home at least ten times a day.  I dream of a place to store all of the kitchen supplies I've avoided buying knowing a hoarding roommate will fill the void.  A home to decorate and fill with things I love instead of what was cheapest at Ikea, and a home that feels warm and inviting and smells sweet, but most importantly a place to come home to and actually feel like I'm home.  

It's a subject that consumes my thoughts and has me scouring listings on the Internet for available studios and one bedroom apartments.  Thinking of shelves I'll fill with books and knick-knacks, the smell of cookies that will fill my kitchen, milling around the house finishing up chores listening to music, not worrying who I might wake up.  This is what I dream of.  

"Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can.  He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends and pour out peace.  Whoever will lose his life in the service of God will find eternal life."

-Ezra Taft Benson

Toxic update

I read this article today in the September issue of Marie Claire, good explanation for the way I've been feeling...

Toxic, and not Britney Spears Toxic

I've always felt like I'm a good judge of character, but for some reason when it comes to choosing my own friends the radar shuts off. I'm a sucker for someone in need especially when it comes to my friends and genetically I can't say no when asked for help so naturally I'm an easy target for fair-weather/selfish/toxic people.

I've told my sob stories to my family, my best friends, co-workers, basically anyone who will listen and whenever they say “get rid of them!” I'm the one not listening. I've been burned, maybe used is a better term, one too many times over the years (asked to live together then ditched, introducing them to new people and again being ditched just to name a couple) and I continue to keep myself susceptible to being hurt.

After this weekend and a very direct text from my mom I've decided I can finally let go. I know one of my biggest excuses for keeping them around was the fear of losing friends, of not having enough friends, but really how many do we need to be happy? Everyone has a different number and having a bigger number isn't worth having constant hurt feelings. Whyyy hasn't it taken me so long to grasp this concept??

On the complete opposite side of these horrible people are three of the BEST friends I've ever had. I've met them all at different times in my life and they are all kind, caring, supportive and of course hilarious. I am beyond grateful for them and they have all helped me in some big or small way to come to this realization no matter how many times they've had to repeat themselves. I am perfectly happy with my small number and there's always room for more, but this time around I'm going to be more aware and careful and listen to those who genuinely care about me.

This is now my third, and hopefully final blog, somewhat inspired by the need for change, but then again I guess having three blogs was already trying to fulfill that need.

I'm not sure which direction I want this blog to take, I have no intentions of becoming popular or being sponsored, I'm just hoping to use this space as a mixture of updates, pictures, quotes, music, current faves and the things I love most, so prepare for a lot of posts about food.

I've grown a lot in the past year and even in the past few months, I feel comfortable with my age, my style, my interests and most importantly myself.  There's always things that could be improved (like fixing my one Diet Coke a day habit or laying off morning donuts) but so far I feel.....content, well almost.

I have a few plans for the future that I hope will fill in the cracks and I'm excited to see them unfold!

"So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future.  The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure.  The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new life, you must lose your inclination for monotonous security and adopt a helter-skelter style of life that will at first appear to you to be crazy.  But once you become accustomed to such a life you will see its full meaning and its incredible beauty."

-Letter from Chris McCandless to Ron Franz from Into the Wild