And The Winner Is...

[photo via ffffound]

You all are winners to me, but the person who gets the loot is Lenore (send me your information to twinyolks@gmail.com)!  Congratulations and thank you all for entering!

1st Giveaway, Hooray! (Closed)

It is true, I am coming in a little hyper-enthusiastic for a Monday, but that's because today is special and I have a give-away for my sweet readers!  Remember my friend Kate?  And her adorable Etsy shop, Stella James Designs?  She has so kindly custom-made these charming polka-dot table napkins and a sweet Mum Fabric Pin & Clip especially for a lucky Twin Yolks reader!  Yeah, she's pretty cool like that... she can also custom make whatever creation you can imagine, from clothes to clips to napkins...so dream up something fabulous and have her make it for you!

To enter, visit Stella James Designs and leave a comment on TwinYolks.  A winner will be chosen at random on Wednesday!  Good luck to you all & thanks Kate! :)

P.S.  If you comment anonymously, please sign your name!

Please (Don't) Try Harder.

 Being an undergraduate student at the ripe age of twenty-five (almost 26) has both uplifting moments and also those that are rather disheartening.  To be honest, I have days when I feel, well...old.  Which is funny, because I remember feeling so grown up when I was in my early twenties, endowed with the right to vote and the ability to get into a rated-R movie.  Yet now that I am on the cusp of being in my late twenties (not to mention married), I look at these young does and they all seem like teenagers to me, frozen in some retrospective bubble of girlie world. This is all fine, except when one day are you walking through the Student Center with a cup of coffee and you pass Miss Legs wearing the smallest pair of....are they shorts?  Someone help me out here... I can barely vouch for calling them denim panties.  Maybe she was wearing a pair of denim diapers from the Gap?  Is that a new trend?

Anyway, the fact that this girl appeared to be wearing denim diapers wasn't quite as shocking as the fact that she was touring the Student Learning Center in them with her parents.  Correct me if I'm wrong, mom, but you would be mortified if you had to tour campus with me while my cheeks were on full display, correct?  It is incidents such as these that make me let out a sigh and consider myself old fashioned at the age of 25.  They also lead me straight back to the coffee shop for an oatmeal raisin cookie.

 [photo via simplyrecipes]

You might argue that they are not summery enough!, not jivin' with the season!, that they are best eaten in the fall, that warm cookies in July are too off-beat , etc. etc. etc.  Yet I must insist that you are wrong.  The reason that oatmeal cookies serve a purpose in July, though not summery, and though they be not a Popsicle, is that they have the power to comfort, soothe and set the world upright regardless of the season.  Are you hearing me?  You wouldn't want to eat a Popsicle in January, but you would want to eat an oatmeal cookie in July.  And more importantly, you would eat an oatmeal cookie in July not merely because it would taste good, but because it would make you feel good. 

Now that we've established the importance of the limitless power of the oatmeal cookie.  I shall give you the recipe.  This one wins because it keeps things simple, and with an oatmeal cookie, simplicity is key.  I bake mine listening to these foxy chics (and the song below in particular). The music and the cookie combined make me feel just right.

A Dose Of Adorable.

Who doesn't need a dose of adorable on a long Tuesday in July?  If you not only enjoy viewing adorable but owning it as well, then you should check out my very talented friend Kate's ETSY shop.  Normally I would ramble on and on about how awesome she is, but I think these photos speak for themselves.  I will, however, brag on her very reasonable prices. I can't wait to own that garland.  Enjoy!

Attn: Athenians.

Attention, Athenians... you  need to get your little booties over to Gosford Wine tonight at 6:30pm, because Liana Krissof of the mind-blowingly old school art of canning is going to be signing copies of her new book, Canning for a New Generation: Bold, Fresh Flavors from the Modern Pantry, and letting you sample treats of her creation! Now is the time to snatch it up, because there is so much summer bounty.  I could be wrong, but I believe that Rinne Allen (you know her from here), the photographer of this book, will be alongside Liana tonight... which means it's going to be a creativity party at Gosford.  Hop to it and support your local artists!

(For those of you who don't live in Athens, the book is available for pre-order on Amazon.com)

For more information on Liana, visit her blog and read this article.

Upsy-Daisy!

Upsy-Daisy!  Things are getting kind of crazy!  My schedule at the moment refuses to permit me a spare moment to talk about food.  Ideally, I'd like to get some other people to talk about food for me, but my schedule won't grant me the time to get that organized, either.  So demanding, that schedule!  So relentless and unwilling to compromise!  Well, thank goodness I have sweet and patient readers like you who are willing to wait around until that mean, old schedule decides to leave me alone.  I'm so glad you understand.  And the best part is, it won't be too long of a wait - and I do have some exciting ideas to share...very, very soon. So keep checking back. 

[The Upsy-Daisy Mug from Anthropologie,  is calling my name right now... along with (Irish) coffee, a couch nap and a juicy novel...(any recommendations?  I can't wait to read something other than a textbook).]