Link Love

Kicking the week off in reverse with a link love post I never got finished in time for the weekend, which is pretty much the condensed story of my life right now (other condensed version: I fell asleep on my couch with my computer open. But that's a story for another time). 

Between travel, work and the official start of the holidays this week, I've not had much time to focus on my personal life (or blogging, as you can easily guess). I've got a lot of great content planned out, so one of my goals for the rest of the year is to find ways to execute it!

This past week has been all about prepping for the holidays. We always do a Friendsgiving, or "Baby's ___ Thanksgiving" (this year'll be the 6th my roommates & I host!) with anywhere from 15-20 guests at our apartment. I currently have four and a half pounds of butter, five pounds of sugar and about ten pounds of flour on hand, and will be spending a few hours each of the next few nights prepping pie crusts and gathering ingredients for the homemade dinner rolls I make each year, along with desserts and side dishes. I never used to be big on Thanksgiving, probably because my family usually gathers at Christmas, I don't eat turkey and by my teenage years usually had to go to bed early so I could work retail when the mall opened at 3 or 4 a.m.  In recent years it's really grown on me since it presents an opportunity for a large scale adult dinner party (read: we drink a lot of wine and usually wind up playing a few rounds of Cards Against Humanity), so needless to say I'm already looking forward to Thursday! There's also been some re-decorating in my apartment going on leading up to this, and I hope to share some behind-the-scenes and decor photos with you soon while we change some things up. My coffee cup is empty and it's time for me to get ready for work, so on to the good stuff—what I've been loving, readying and favorite-ing lately!

A great read on an institution of a bookstore, Shakespeare & Company in Paris.

Also a veggie? Well & Good is making the holidays easier with these vegetarian recipes for Thanksgiving (or any holiday, really).

If you buy one boot this season, I really think it should be these ones from Loeffler Randall.

Fascinated by this New York Magazine article where women were asked to draw their own breasts. Everyone is different—and many have a story of love, dislike or even breast cancer (warning: probably NSFW).

If you love ballet even a little bit as much as I do, Racked went behind the scenes at NYC Ballet and captured some beautiful photos of the Nutcracker costumes before the shows begin!

As someone who feels like I'm constantly trying to do too much, this essay on burnout hit close to home.

Need wine glasses for the season? Crate & Barrel is always one of my favorite places to shop—tons of (super affordable) options!

Planning to get more into some of my favorite gifts later on, but this set of Tom Dixon candles is the perfect luxe gift for friends or family.

The Everything NYC twitter account recently shared this great night shot I captured of the Empire State Building. Every time I look at it, I love NYC a little more.

Already eyeing easy, breezy dresses for next spring and this one is top of my list.

images: one || two || three || four

The Best of Black Friday & Cyber Monday

I must admit, I've never been very crazy about Black Friday or Cyber Monday. I used to work retail at a large, chain-filled shopping mall at home and spent most of my Thanksgivings after the age of 16 cutting out of dinner early so I could get some zzz's before my alarm went off at 1:30 a.m. I will admit, I volunteered for the early shifts—mostly because it meant I got a great parking spot (I ignored the rules where mall employees weren't allowed to park in the first row) and could wander the mall after if I so chose. New York City does Black Friday a little differently—or I should say, doesn't really do it. When you don't have a heated mall to wander and instead are dealing with hundreds thousands of tourists on the street & subways just to get from shop to shop, you learn to stay home and shop from the Internet, instead. As I'm sure you've now guessed, that's exactly what I'll be doing with my day, so I've rounded up some of the sales I'll be scouring below, with updates throughout the weekend!

Express: 50 percent off every single item until noon on Friday, November 29.

The Outnet: Extra 30 Percent off Weekend Shop In on Black Friday. November 30 to December 2 Free Shipping with $250 code FREESHIPWKND.

Capwell & Co: 35 percent off purchases of $50 or more! Use code HOLIDAY35 until Monday, December 2.

Otte: Extra 40 Percent off already marked down merchandise with code BLACKFRIDAY until November 29. Cyber Monday sale begins November 29, EVERYTHING will be 20% off (no code needed!).

Sephora: Loads of products for just $10 as part of Dealtopia, beginning 11/29.

Robert Lee Morris: 30 Percent off with code RLMTHIRTY on Cyber Monday

BaubleBar: On Black Friday there will be a one-day-only sitewide sale. 15 percent off two items with code FRIDAY15, 25 percent off three items with code FRIDAY25, 35 percent off four+ items with code FRIDAY 35. On Cyber Monday, BaubleBar is inviting customers to play its Cyber Savings Smash game. Using the mallet to bop crazy shoppers out of the way, customers can score one of four amazing deals.

Madewell: 25 percent off your entire purchase with code FEAST25, plus free shipping. Through Monday, December 2.

Shopbop: From November 26 to December 2, spend $250 and save 15 percent, spend $500 and save 20 percent, spend $1,000 and save 25 percent.

Gorjana & Griffin: 40 percent off sitewide plus free domestic ground shipping. 

AG: Friday, November 29 through Sunday, December 1, take an extra 20 percent off already marked down styles.

Dannijo: Dannijo will be having six days of surprise sales on dannijo.com from Wednesday, November 27 through Monday December 2. To find out what goes on sale each day, customers can subscribe to the DANNIJO newsletter.

Bebe: Black Friday deals will begin on Thursday, November 21 ending with a free pouchette with a $125 purchase on Friday, November 29. 

Forever 21: Items as low as $3.00 starting Friday, November 29.

Alexander Wang: 40 percent off select fall and pre-fall 2013 items with code AWSALE13 for a limited time. 

Club Monaco: 30 percent off already reduced styles with code THANKS30 through November 29. 

Lord & Taylor: 20 percent off sale and clearance with code BIG.

The Reformation: Up to 60 percent off fall apparel. 

Intermix: 40 percent off sale items in store and online through Monday, December 2. 20 percent off regular price goods on Thanksgiving only; discount automatically applied at checkout.

Twelfth St. by Cynthia Vincent: Monday, December 2, 20 percent off full priced and sale plus free shipping with code THANKS

Cynthia Rowley: Save up to 65 percent off fall markdowns, save 50 percent off angora sweaters and 20 percent off full-price clothing through December 2.

Parker NY: Through November 29 at 11:59 pm PST, spend $200 and get 20 percent off, spend $300 and get 30 percent off, spend $400 and get 40 percent off. Enter BLACK13 at checkout. Ends November 29 at 11:59 at EST.

Scoop NYC: 25 percent off in stores and online through December 1 at 11:59 EST.

3.1 Phillip Lim: 40 percent off select pre-fall and fall 2013 items.

The Dreslyn: Through December 1, take up to 60 percent off with code BLACKFRIDAY

Elizabeth Cole Jewelry: Enter BEJEWELED for 50 percent off select items through midnight. Discount falls to 40 percent off through Monday.

Trina Turk: Take 25 percent off four black dress styles with code BLACK DRESS through December 2, in stores and online.

Kelly Wearstler: 20 percent off all jewelry and accessories November 29 through December 2 with code KWGIFT.

Thanksgiving Dinner Rolls

As you may have guessed by now, I have an affinity for food, and I love to cook. For Thanksgiving, my roommates & I have all the "orphans" (friends, coworkers, etc. who are also in the city/not with their families) over to our apartment and we spend plenty of time eating, drinking and catching up. The only requirements are that they have to bring a food dish and a drink option!

Last year, I did a crumb top apple pie, dinner rolls and a veggie-friendly main dish for myself...this year, I'll be adding a pumpkin pie to the mix. First thing on my list, though, are those dinner rolls. I made them for the first time last year and everyone went nuts about them (and for the apple pie-it lasted all of 20 minutes. I'll share that recipe later!).

I first picked this up through Pinterest and traced it back to How Does She. Her recipe, which you can view in full (with a lot more photos) here, is simple to follow, even if it's your first time working with yeast. If you're feeding a lot of people (or you're like me, and you have several roommates who would love leftovers), a double batch wouldn't be a bad idea.

Delicious Dinner Rolls
Yield: 48 rolls
Oven temp: 350º

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups of milk
3/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon Sugar
1 egg
1 Tablespoon salt
2 Tablespoons yeast
2 cups of warm water
about 9-10 cups of all purpose flour
at least 1 cup of butter

Directions

1.  To start out: Scald 1 1/2 cups of milk, 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup of butter, in a microwave safe bowl, for about 2 minutes. Cutting the butter into pieces helps it melt faster. There will probably be some little cubes of butter still floating in the hot mixture, they will melt.

2. We are going to add yeast to this hot mixture, but it will be too hot to just dump the yeast straight in (it would kill it!). To cool it down stir in 1-2 cups of flour, then add 1 egg and 1 Tablespoon of salt, and leave it to cool for a couple of minutes. Meanwhile, in a measuring cup dissolve 2 Tablespoons of yeast in 2 cups of warm water and 1 Tablespoon of sugar. Let it sit for a couple of minutes until it is bubbly.

**Keep track of how much flour you are adding, and make sure your mixture is warm, not boiling before you add the yeast mixture!

3. Using a fork or wooden spoon, gradually stir in 9-10 cups of flour (total-counting the flour you have already added to cool it earlier, you should use 9 to 10 cups). I would recommend only adding 2 cups at time and stirring in between. These rolls turn out so much better when they are mixed by hand.

4. At the end the dough will be dense and sticky, and may be hard to stir, you can use your hands to incorporate the rest of the flour if needed. Be sure not to add too much flour. Then smooth the dough out and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Leave it in a warm place and let it raise til it doubles in size (while you're waiting, butter two cookie sheets and set them aside).

5. Cover your working space with flour to prevent the dough from sticking. Dump your dough out and divide it into 4 balls. Eyeball the sizes, then lift them up and feel the weight of each ball. Try to make them even, but they don’t have to be perfect.

6. Using one ball of dough at a time: roll the dough into a circle on a floured counter. Once it is rolled out spread the top with butter from edge to edge. You will use about 2 tablespoons per circle of dough. Cut the dough into quarters using a pizza cutter, and then each quarter into three triangles (giving you 12 triangles per ball). 

7. Roll the dough from the wide end of the triangle. Tuck the tail of the triangle under the roll and place it on the buttered cookie sheet. You will make 3 rows, with 8rolls per row. This will give you 24 rolls per pan. Two balls of dough will fill 1 pan. You will get a total of 48 rolls!

8. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Place the pans of rolls in a warm place (on top of the oven if possible) to let them rise. Once they are touching and full in size, cook (one pan at a time) in the oven ’till they are golden brown. About 10 – 15 minutes, It may take longer depending on how hot your oven cooks. Keep a close eye on your first pan to get the right time for the second.

9. While they are still hot and fresh out of the oven run a stick of butter over the tops of the rolls for a delicious buttery glaze!

Lastly...enjoy!!

You can also print out this easy to read PDF of How Does She's recipe. What's your favorite thing to make during the holidays? Share below!

xx

A Treat for All My Friends (Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies)

One day, while browsing blogs, I stumbled across a recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. It was late September, so I knew it was a perfect recipe for the fall season! I have a thing about trying to bake something every weekend, usually on Sundays, as a dessert for the week (& yummy treat for my roommates). 

The best thing about these cookies is their cake-like consistency, keeping them nice and fluffy after baking instead of flattening out the way most cookies do. I like mine to have a rich, spicy flavor so I've adapted the recipe a little bit. I've also read great things about substituting applesauce for the oil, I'm going to have to give it a try next time! They're also super quick to make, perfect if you don't have all day to spend in the kitchen. I highly recommend investing in some Goldtouch Baking Sheets from Williams Sonoma if you're in need of new bakeware before you start this recipe. They're pricey, but well worth the investment-I use mine several times a month.

I've made these a couple times now, and they don't last more than a day or two. I had a special request from Jessica to make them once she finished her Whole 30 plan in October, so I baked up a batch last weekend & took them to all the girls at brunch on Sunday!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yield: About 25 cookies

Ingredients

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 large egg

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon milk

1 tablespoon vanilla (extract or paste)

16 oz bag chocolate chips

Directions

1. Combine pumpkin and sugar. Add vegetable oil and egg. 

2. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

3. Dissolve the baking soda in the milk and stir into pumpkin mixture. Add flour mixture and mix thoroughly. 

4. Add vanilla. Mixture will be very moist, but not runny. Stir in chocolate chips.

5. Drop by spoonful onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (can also be a greased cookie sheet). Bake at 365º for approximately 12 minutes or until firm and lightly brown. 

6. Enjoy!

*adapted from allrecipes

I fully plan on making another batch for the orphan's Thanksgiving we hold at my apartment every year. Last year, I did a crumb-topped apple pie that lasted all of 15 minutes once it was cut! 

xx