A Cup of Chai

Integrating...

As part of the big changes I'm making this year, I've decided to integrate the two blogs Paper, Lace & Confetti have been running into one blog. We currenly have a blog hosted by wordpress, which we first established for PLC Events way back when. Then we started PLC Handmade, and because I was mainly running it here in SK, it was easier for me to share it through my blog here on typepad. It's been difficult to try to run two blogs because my sister and I still work full time and there just hasn't been enough time left in our schedules to always fit in blogging on both platforms. 

We also really want to create a more cohesive online network for our business and having two different blogs just ends up being confusing for everyone. It's created double the work load for us in promotion, marketing and exposure...and really, who needs that added stress on top of everything else? So, it's just easier this way. We went back and forth about which blog to close and while Typepad has been fun, I have to be honest and say that I find Wordpress to be a lot more user-friendly, offer more options and provide more room for creativity without having to upgrade (although I was using an upgraded account with typepad already).

I'll keep this blog open until the end of this year and hopefully those of you who come here will not be too bothered to follow us on the other blog instead. We'll definitely keep following those of you that we've followed here on Typepad because we love reading your blogs and we'd love to maintain that friendship.

See you on the other side!

xo

 

 

 

 

The Weekend in Pictures...

Is it weird that most of our weekend pictures are of food and drinks?

We spent most of this weekend sleeping in, playing with our dogs, doing some last minute Christmas shopping and hitting up different cafes in between to grab something hot to warm our hands with.

Can't believe Christmas is next weekend!

Have you done all your Christmas shopping already?

Thinking Ahead...

With the  new year only two weeks away, it's time to start thinking about what kind of new goals we want to set for 2012--business-wise or personally.

This year, I'm super excited to spend time going over my goals for our business for 2012 knowing that I'm going to actually be back in my hometown trying to accomplish them. My sister and I have big plans for PLC Handmade and PLC Events, and we know that 2012 is going to have so many wonderful and exciting things in store for us!

The most important thing to remember when writing down your goals is to keep them simple, specific and attainable. While it's great to aim high, you need to think realistically about whether or not you'll be able to achieve the goals you set down in the set amount of time you have. Break big goals into smaller goals, write down what steps you need to achieve those small goals so that you can get closer to achieving your bigger goal.

So, now I'm going to get back to filling out my list. I put together this cute printable to share with you so you can get started on your own list. Whatever your goals are for 2012, now's definitely the time to start getting them down on paper!

( Download Goals2012)

Contented Cats...

Aren't these the coolest pet beds you've ever seen?

If my cats had beds like these...I'd be totally jealous.

I think the upcycled computer monitors are pretty creative, although it probably wouldn't fit my cat, Tiger. He's...shall we say, festively plump? Total cutie, but he does love to eat anything that's in front of him.

With Christmas coming up, we're now trying to find presents to give our furry babies. Since they're the only babies we have at the moment, we love to spoil them.

Have you seen the bed we bought Pooh Bear?

It's a complete miniature of the one we have in our bedroom, and comes complete with a matching pillow and blanket.

Told you they were spoiled.

Do you have any pets? Are you getting them anything this Christmas season? 

 

(Cat beds from Atomic Attic)

 

On the First Day of Christmas...

 ...my true love gave to me...

A countdown-to-Christmas Santa Tree.

Alright, so it's not really a tree, but it is made from wood so...close enough.

I think my hubby realised how depressed I felt not being able to decorate the apartment with all our Christmas stuff this year so he bought me this last night at this cute little handmade store we stopped by on the way home.

It's lightweight enough so that we don't have to worry about having to ship it overseas after the Christmas season is over.

I know it's silly, but with this and our mini-tree and our nativity scene all set up, it's starting to really feel a little like Christmas is on the way.

This weekend, we'll be hitting up the shops to buy gifts for our loved ones. Can't wait!

 

Winter Wonderland...

Our first snow of the season finally came!

After weeks of waiting and wondering, we woke up this morning to find this all around us.  I love the sight of snow everywhere and I could have happily snapped picture after picture.

Unfortunately, this pretty sight didn't stick around for long. Not long after lunch the sun decided to come out and by the time I finished work this afternoon, there was sludge everywhere.

Bleh.

Still, I'm happy it finally came. Fingers crossed it decides to show up again on Christmas day. That would really cap off my year.

What about you? Does it snow where you live? Have you had your first snow yet?

Favourite Iphone Apps...

Now, you know how much I love Instagram. I love it. I totally do.

I've spend endless amounts of hours just posting pictures on there, checking out other people's photos and liking nearly every cool image that I came across.

But I have a little confession to make...

I've been kinda cheating on Instagram with another photo app.

*insert collective gasp here*

It all kind of happened by accident. I was on my phone, checking out what cool photography applications were available when this particular app caught my eye. At first there was nothing that looked particularly special about him. The display image looked kinda boring, but it did have a certain vintage feel about it.

So, the next thing you know, I'm downloading and trying it out.

Yeah, I know, it's unbelievable. Unthinkable, even.

But I have to tell you, this App is kind of awesome. Actually, I lie. It's beyond awesome.

It's called Pixlr-O-Matic and it's a totally free downloadable application for your phone.

For those who really love experimenting with their photos, this app has some pretty cool film styles, effects and frames to choose from.

The application also allows you save whatever you've worked on to the photo library on your phone, as well as connect and share your photos with other media programs like facebook, flickr, Itunes and Dropbox

The only gripe I have about this program is that it doesn't allow me to post/share my pictures straight to twitter like Instagram does so I usually end up saving my pictures into my photo library and then uploading them again, already edited, on Instagram.

And, of course, this program doesn't have a networking community that Instagram does so you can't really follow other people...

But if you're looking for something with more photo effects and don't really mind about the lack of a social networking community attached to it, then I'd highly recommended downloading Pixlr-O-Matic. I'm sure you'll end up having a lot of fun playing around with your photos!

The Softest Pumpkin Choc-Chip Cookie Ever!

I tried this recipe from Joy the Baker because I'd heard they were a) really, really delicious, b)super soft and c) pretty healthy (only about 125 Calories per cookie??)

I have to say, I love it when a recipe is easy to follow and doesn't require a billion steps to make them. I pretty much threw everything in a bowl and whisked away, then spooned them onto a baking tray.

Now, I don't know how many calories this has exactly (and I'm pretty sure my icing drizzle didn't help) but I do have to give it two thumbs up for being both delicious and soft!

I made some slight changes to the original recipe but they came out awesome just the same.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (with a slightly peppermint flavour)

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teasponn ground cinnamon

A pinch of ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon peppermint flavouring

1 egg

1 egg white

85 grams plain yoghurt

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup canola oil

1 cup steamed pumpkin, mashed

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup choc chips

1/2 cup crushed nuts

 

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees C.  Line baking tray with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixier on medium speed, beat the eggs, sugar and yoghurt until smooth and lightened in colour. On low speed, add the oil, mashed pumpkin, vanilla and peppermint flavouring.

3. Mix in the flour, baking powder, soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix until well combined then add in the chips and the nuts.

4. Using an ice cream scoop or two spoons, scoop small mounds of the dough onto the baking sheets, making sure to leave enough space in between each cookie. They will spread slightly during baking (but not too much). If you like your cookies a little on the flatter side, I would suggest flattening them a little with the back of your spoon before putting them in the oven, otherwise they will rise up quite a bit.

5. Bake the cakes for 12-15 minutes until golden brown and the tops look firm. Cool them on the baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring them onto cooling racks to cool completely.

6. You can dust the cookies lightly with powdered sugar or drizzle with icing.

Enjoy!

The Weekend where...

I invaded this little Vietnamese noodle place downtown two days in a row...

...and gorged on something non-Korean for a little while.

...I finally kicked my own butt into a hair salon to get my hair cut and coloured again

...after a shameful number of months of avoiding having to deal with my hair.

...I tried Sweet Potato Latte for the first time...and LOVED it!

...I made a bet with my dear hubby that if I went back to my pre-Korea weight before we left for Australia, he would pay me $$.

So now I'm trying to stick to only fresh, healthy foods.

...I gave in to hubby's demand to watch 'Breaking Dawn'...

...and he tried to cut his hair like Jacob's (Taylor Lautner) after he heard me gushing over him after the movie. Haha. So cute.

How was your weekend? Did you do anything fun?

The hubby and I started this tradition of making our own Advent calendar every year, counting down til Christmas. We usually do Advent Calendar envelopes, where we write out twelve different activities each that we want to do together--one for every night until Christmas.

This year I took it a step further and created my own Advent Calendar Card Challenges, just for my own personal benefit. I download and printed off these cute tags from Wild Olive, cut them out and then wrote out one personal challenge on each card.

Some of the challenges included:

*Trying out a new dessert recipe

*Walking home from work each day until Christmas

*creating some new toys for my puppies

*re-arranging and cleaning out my workspace

*finally finishing some online short courses I've started

*Baking some cookies to give as gifts

 

I plan to do one every night--and just as an added incentive, for each challenge I don't end up completing, I must pay $10 into a piggy bank I have unearthed for this particular occasion.

The hubby and I have also created our annual Advent Calendar Envelopes and I'm really excited to complete them all.

What are your pre-Christmas traditions? Do you do something fun to count down Christmas?