What Are We Turning Into?

I'm moving back to the lighter side of things because I have a complaint. Possibly a concern.

I saw a recipe for "Cookie Dough Cookies," and I just can't let it go... Have we really turned so many things cookie dough flavor that we forget what happens to it when we bake it? IT TURNS INTO A COOKIE. There's no more dough because IT IS NOW A COOKIE. When you apply heat, IT TURNS INTO A COOKIE.

Got that? Cookie dough only remains in dough form as long as it isn't baked.

And okay, maybe they were no bake or whatever, I didn't actually read the recipe because NOPE, but still. If they aren't baked, then they're just cookie dough balls/bites/patties. Come on! Cookie dough cookies?! That can't be a thing! I won't allow it!

Same idea with cake batter. I pinned a recipe for cake batter cheese cake the other day, and I just thought, "wait wtf?" Cheesecake is cheesecake. Why are we making it cake batter flavored?? Not everything can be cake batter flavored. Can it?

I have a similar gripe with homemade.

Pop-Tarts. Why on God's green earth would you want to make your own Pop-Tarts?

It's not cheaper to make your own. MAYBE they're a little healthier, but I really doubt it. And it's such a waste of time! Of all the things on my list to make from scratch, Pop-Tarts are dead last.

Then there's all the other homemade non food items.

• Homemade toothpaste
• Homemade lip balm
• Homemade cooking spray
• Homemade baby wipes
• Homemade deodorant
• Homemade breath mints
• Homemade shampoo
• Homemade foot scrub
• Homemade body butter

You get the picture.

Did we time travel back back to the early 1900s and no one told me?!

Apparently there are a lot of people that are really into this, but I just don't see it. Call me a diva, but I prefer to buy my shampoo and deodorant from a store.

Sometimes I can understand the need for various homemade products, because of allergies and whatnot, but most of them just seem like insane hipster activities to me. "All natural." Sorry, but I have a hard time believing much of anything is all natural. Call me a skeptic.

And those "marbled mugs" I see everywhere that you're supposed to make with nail polish? Okay, yes, they are cute when you make them, but here is the issue I have: when I wear nail polish on my finger nails, it chips off. And I don't run my hands through the dishwasher. So. Hmm....

I'm just so confused by a lot of it. The claim is to save money, but after you BUY all the ingredients or supplies for these things, how? I mean, I guess in the long run, maybe? But I just can't picture it. I watched a video for homemade lip balm, and how much of it do you need?! (I am a hoarder of all lip balms, but I think I'm the exception, not the rule. And I know that I'll never be able to use all of my lip balm in my lifetime. I'll still keep buying it, too. Ha.)

I mean, making your own lip balm might be a really fun activity for an 8 year old girl's birthday party, (actually, I'm sure I would have had an insanely fun time with that. I still might. But that's just because of my obsession for lip balms) but I can't think of another occasion that would require 20 little tubs of homemade lip balm.

Here's part of my collection... There's quite a bit missing!

Anyways. That was kind of a rant, but I just have so many questions about the reasoning behind all of this. I guess I'm just not a do it yourselfer!

I'm curious to see what people have made themselves, about the outcome, and why they made what they did.

XOXO Ness

It's All Over But the Crying

I got my degree. That's a weird thing to say. It's a goal I've had for as long as I can remember: go to college and get a degree. And now it's done.

I can't think of anything else I've worked this hard for.

And it's just over.

I don't feel sad that I'm done with college, I just can't believe it. This is what I've been planning for for the last, what, 10 years, and now it's here! It's insane. It's easy to talk about my next move, but it's completely another to actually do it. I'm not really sure what my next big goal is, other than getting a job, because this was the biggest thing I think I've ever done in my life.

So the job hunt continues. I know now's not the time to be picky, but I really don't want to hate my job. So my current criteria:

• I'll be good at it
• I won't hate it
• I won't have to be a salesperson
• It's in one of my two desired locations
• Preferably in the communications industry

I don't think that's too much to ask for.

Even though I'm not sold on essentially brainwashing all high school students into believing college is the only way to go, I'm proud of myself. I worked hard for my degree, and despite everything I'm feeling about my career choices right now, I'm glad to have it.

But let's be real, I'm even more glad to be done.

So here's hoping I get a call or an email soon saying, "WE WANT YOU!" Or even just, "Eh, we'll give you a shot." Because that's all I'm asking for!

Til then...

XOXO Ness

Education: Not the Be All End All

I'm gonna get a little serious on you with this one. I've been having some thoughts recently. Graduating from college, and entering the real world jobless and clueless has me terrified. It's really been making me think about the journey I've taken to get to this point, and it has me wondering if I made the right decisions.

I know they say that every choice you make brings you to be the person you are and that you should never have any regrets, but it's hard for me to agree with that. Looking back, I've made some horrible decisions, and they won't scar me or torment me, but they will follow me for a very long time. And by "they," I'm referring to the insane amount of student loan debt I've racked up to get this Advertising degree I hold so dear. Stupid.

Had I stayed in state instead of going to Alabama my freshman year, I probably wouldn't be in this predicament. My parents saved for me; they worked hard for me so I could avoid this, and I blew it all in one year. It honestly makes me sick to think about, but what's done is done. I wouldn't say that I regret going to Alabama, because I enjoyed it, but seeing where I am now, would I go back and do it the same?

Never.

In high school, they tell you that going to college and getting your education is the most important thing. They make it seem like there is no other way, no other path. You'll be a loser and you will get nowhere if you don't in some way continue your education immediately. And I bought into it.

It's ridiculous. First of all, there are plenty of jobs out there that don't require a degree. And also, I'm pretty sure I read somewhere (great fact checking, Vanessa. Really, TOP NOTCH) that 80% of jobs available to graduates don't actually need a degree. That sounds insane, but I believe it. Whatever happened to on the job training or learning as you go?

I thought I had to go to school. I had to make a decision. I had to decide what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I had to figure it out so I could study it, get a degree, and find a job. But I had NO idea what I wanted to do, so I picked something that I thought I would be interested in. Something that I thought I could do. Something that played up to my strengths and something I wouldn't hate. So I picked Advertising.

The amount of times I changed my mind or thought about doing something else was unimaginable. Off the top of my head, I can remember thinking about studying English, Journalism, Public Relations, Law. Me a lawyer? As if.

But the bottom line is: I had no idea. And I didn't have any idea for a long, long time. Now that I do actually have an idea, it's too late. When I started to have an idea, it was too late. I was so deep into everything, that it would have been completely asinine to drop out of college or change my major or transfer again.

I kept telling myself, "Get the degree. Just get the piece of paper. Don't quit now and have nothing to show for all of this but a mountain of debt. Just get the degree."

So I did. Assuming I pass my classes this semester.

Don't get me wrong, I like my industry. I'm good in my industry. I'm comfortable.

I'm skeptical to say that my passion lies somewhere else - still trying to get a job and all. Also because, like I said, I do like it.

My passion might just be in a slightly different area of my industry. Film. Every year, I put together a movie of our family beach trip, and I love it. I'm not sure why it took me this long to figure it out, but I guess I'm just glad I did.

So, the main point of this post is that we put way too much stock in going to college. I feel like a hypocrite for saying that when I have my shiny new degree (that will probably take about five months for UGA to send me and thirty years to pay off), but I really do believe it. I honestly wish I had just waited until I figured it out, or a least waited a little while to have a better understanding of myself. Five years ago, I graduated from high school, and that person and the person I am now seem like two totally different people. How was 18-year-old me supposed to make a decision about what I wanted to do for the rest of my life? We are putting way too much pressure on 18, 19, 20-year-olds to figure that out.

I just want to say thank you to anyone that has ever been there for me. Anyone that has ever encouraged me. Some of you may not even know it, but I appreciate every one of you. And if you're here reading this, a very, very special thank you, because I know most people won't read this at all.

And thank you to Hailey Devine. I've followed her on Instagram for a while, but I never really knew what she did - she just posted cool photos and video snippets all the time. So one day I decided to go to her blog, and I found out she's a videographer. She gets paid to film and put together movies for people and companies. I didn't even know that was what it was called, but I'm pretty sure that is the coolest job on the face of the planet, and it's something I'd like to do one day.

And finally, thank you to Jana. You probably don't even remember when you told me you thought I should be studying film editing, but I sure do, and it really means a lot.

I may be done with school, but I'm not done learning.

XOXO Ness

Some of My Favorite Commercials

In honor of MY LAST DAY OF CLASS EVER TOMORROW... I decided to post a few of my favorite commercials.

But seriously. How is tomorrow my last day of classes? On the one hand, it feels like it's taken forever to get here, but on the other, where did the time go?!


This one is probably my favorite. The VW laughing commercial.


This one takes me back to high school... A lot of people hated this one, but I loved it! "Oh no! your tire's all flat and junk..."


I love the Mayhem commercials. Hard to pick which one is the best. I also really like the raccoon one.


Google Chrome commercials are so cute. I couldn't pick just one. Dear Sophie!


Parisian Love


Roll Tide. I lived there for a year, and I have to say... This happens. A lot. Like all the time actually. It's not exaggerated at all!


This one's for my uncle! Friends Furever. iPhone, you needa step up your commercials because Androids are usually a lot better!


But I do like the old school iPod commercials! This was posted 9 years ago... Feeling old.


And of course, the best of all time. Like Mike.

So there they are. I'm sure I missed some. I can even think of some right now! But this is a good mix for now.

XOXO Ness

Ice Cream Cone Cake

It's easier than you think, I promise! It wasn't exactly "simple," but if you're looking for a little challenge, this is a good one to take on!

Start by baking two or three, I chose to use three, cakes in round cake pans. Mine were a little bigger than the standard 9 inch ones, but it really doesn't matter what size you choose. Just follow the instructions on the cake mix.

After you've baked them and let them cool for a while, cut the tops off and set them aside. Don't eat it all because you will need it later for the "ice cream" part of the ice cream cone!

I layered chocolate and white cake, putting the chocolate one in the middle. Ice it like you normally would, but make sure you leave a little out.

Now on to the fun part! If you've ever made cake balls, that's all the "ice cream" is. Take the tops you cut off and crumble them finely. I just mooshed it up with a fork, and I used both chocolate and vanilla. Then add a dollop of the icing you saved from before and mix it together. You don't need a food processor or a mixer for this.

After you blend it together well, take the mixture and roll it into an ice cream scoop sized ball, and set aside.

Depending on what kind of icing you use, it might play a factor in what kind of melting chocolate you want. I used white icing, so I used milk chocolate for the "ice cream" part. If you use chocolate frosting, you may want to use white chocolate for dipping.

I used Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate Melting Wafers. You don't need to use a whole lot of them. I think I melted about a cup, maybe a little more and that was plenty. Helpful hint for dipping chocolate: After it's all melted, add in some crisco to thin it out a little to make it easier to work with!

Now for the dipping part... First, make sure you let the dipping chocolate cool for a little while before you pour it on the cake - you don't want your frosting to melt. I actually dunked my big cake ball into the chocolate, and that may have been a mistake. I'm used to dipping bonbons and Oreo truffles, but those are much, much smaller, and they stick together better than this cake ball. I had a hard time, first getting it out of my bowl of melted chocolate. Then I had a hard time getting it off the spoon and onto the cake... I left a rather large thumb indent on the side of it.

SO. I saw another way of doing it that's probably a little simpler. Put some dipping chocolate in the middle of the cake and place the cake ball on top of it. Then pour the melted chocolate on the cake ball to cover it. Yeah, I'm actually positive this would've been easier. Oh well. Another day, another lesson learned the hard way.

After the cake ball is sufficiently covered, dip an ice cream cone into the melting chocolate, and hold it in place on the cake ball for a few seconds to make sure it's stuck in place. Then just flood the rest of the remaining chocolate, and that's it! It looks way more complicated than it is. Promise!

 

My chocolate cake broke... Minor mishap.

Finally invested in one of these guys! I'm not very good with it yet, and, honestly, not event sure what the name of it is, but it's a nice little thing to have!

 Cake tops!

It looks gross...

Really gross.

But I promise it tastes good!

Cake selfie!

And just in case you think my shirt is as awesome as I think it is (and on that humble note), I got it at Kohl's, and I love it. I know it's the All Stars, but I feel like it's missing Carroll... Oh well. The Hawks won their first playoff game last night, and I'm super pumped about it!!

XOXO Ness

Hey Sharpie, Meet Michael Davenport

Michael Davenport is an artist that lost both his arms. He holds his pens in his mouth, and the work he does is amazing. I couldn't do even a fraction of what he does with both my hands.

I bought this drawing from him three years ago.

The first time I saw Michael Davenport, I was going into the Olive Garden in Athens on Atlanta Highway. I had never seen or heard of him before, so I had no idea why he was drawing a picture holding the pens in his mouth.

When we came back out, the picture was done, and it was amazing. I couldn't have drawn that with my hands no matter how many times I tried. It looked like he had traced it, but I know it wasn't because we watched him draw as he started another one.

I hadn’t even been at UGA a full month when I got the drawing, and I'm pretty sure it was the first paraphernalia I had ever gotten.

On Michael’s website, it says that he lost his arms when he was thirteen years old due to an electrical accident. He sells his drawings, and that’s how he makes his living.  But it truly is astonishing to me that not many people outside of Athens and Atlanta don't know about him. His talent is incredible and he has overcome so much adversity. He should be an inspiration to everyone, not just the small area of Athens and Atlanta.

His story reminded me of a Sharpie commercial I saw once. It was this guy who drew on cups and sold them.

I write this because a few weeks ago, someone stole all of Mr. Davenport’s supplies. I don't know what kind of person would steal his things, but it warms my heart to hear about all the support the people of Athens have been giving him.

His story just makes me think about all the people out there making making money from their talents (or not talents, cough cough, Kardashians), and I feel like Michael Davenport should be one of those people. He does such a amazing job and has such a cool story. I think everyone should know about him.

So Sharpie. If I were you, I'd take note and give this guy some attention. Not only does he deserve it, it would be a really great story to run with. Wink, wink, Sharpie. I'm giving you some free advice here. I suggest you take it.

So that's my pitch to Sharpie. Take it or leave it. But please, please, please take it!

XOXO Ness

Baking Adventures

I really like to bake, but when the end product doesn't start out in a Pillsbury box that only requires you add water, oil, and eggs, it sometimes gets dicey. I've had many failed attempts at many baking endeavors, but it hasn't crushed my spirit.

For my grandpa's birthday, I found a heart cake on Pinterest that looked simple enough (and it was from a box).

The heart cake was pretty easy to put together. You just need an 8x8 square pan and a regular cake pan. You cut the circle in half, and place the two halves on the edges of the square cake. Easy peasy.

I made mine with two layers. When you do make it into two layers, just a warning if you decide to make this for yourself, it is a GIGANTIC cake.

The only issue I had was that you could kind of see the crack where the half circles were placed next to the square, even after I frosted it. So I decided to do a little ad lib decorating with the leftover frosting. If I made it again, I'd have a better decorating plan going into it to make sure the cracks aren't visible. It may not bother you, but it bugged me. A great deal, actually.

Here was the final product!

So then I really caught the baking fever, and decided to make some sugar cookies. The recipe for these was also really simple. I'm not sure exactly how many this recipe makes because I was playing around with different thicknesses for my cookies. But it made minimum 30 cookies, and the maximum would be about 4 dozen. Sorry I can't be more specific!

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (I recommend using a little more)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Step 1: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.

Step 2: In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until smooth. Then beat in the egg and vanilla (I used a hand mixer). Gradually add the dry ingredients.

Step 3: Roll out the dough and cut out your shapes. I tried to keep my dough on the thicker side, for thicker cookies.

Step 4: Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

My mom got this Kitchen Aid hand mixer for Christmas, and it is awesome. I need one!

My dough didn't come together with the mixer, but I formed it into a ball when everything was nicely combined.

I recommended using a little more flour because I found that the cookies I put in the oven last, AKA: the ones that had been rolled three or four times and had more flour added to the dough from the rolling out process seemed to hold their shape much, MUCH better than the first ones. I haven't actually tried adding more flour yet, but when I do, I will let you know how it goes!

Next up: Royal Icing

I've tried several recipes, and different variations of recipes. I haven't quite found the perfect one yet, but a couple of the ones I used worked very well. Still trying to perfect it, though!

The first recipe I tried, was this one... Maybe I did it wrong (I don't think so), but it did not work. Sorry, Alton Brown, but I was unimpressed. The icing never really hardened. Well, that's a lie. About four days later, I can say that it had finally hardened. Sorry, but I don't have that kind of time to wait around for my icing to harden. Anyways, I added about two teaspoons almond extract to my icing so it would taste better.

The second recipe I tried was this one:

3 egg whites

4 cups confectioners sugar

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

(I added about 2 teaspoons almond extract, you could also use vanilla extract)

Makes 2 1/2 cups

Beat all the ingredients together at a high speed for 7-10 minutes. You need to use it immediately, storing it for later will not work. I wanted to use two different colors, so I cut the recipe in half and beat it for about 4ish minutes. If it seems too thick, you can gradually (very, very gradually, like a teaspoon, possibly a little more, at a time) add warm water to make it easier to pipe onto the cookies. I used a Ziplock bag to pipe. I definitely need to invest in some piping bags!

This recipe was soooooo much better than Alton's, but I don't love working with raw eggs... So I tried a variation of that one. I started reading up on royal icing, and I read that you could use Meringue Powder in place of egg whites, so I tried it.

On the can, it said that 2 teaspoons meringue powder + 2 tablespoons water = one egg white, but I would like to say that I tried this and it's a hot lie. You need about 2 tablespoons more water, I would add 3 plus a little, beat it, then add more if it's needed at the end.

So what I wound up doing:

6 teaspoons meringue powder (2 tablespoons)

9 tablespoons water (plus a little extra, plus a little more at the end if you need it)

4 cups confectioners sugar

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

2 teaspoons almond extract, maybe a little more

Food coloring

The recipe cut in half, if you want to do two colors, that's what I did:

3 teaspoons meringue powder

4 tablespoons water (plus some)

2 cups confectioners sugar

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon almond extract (taste it, add more if you want)

Food coloring

This is an egg separator. Isn't it cute?! My mom got it this summer when we visited my cousin in North Dakota. I might have to order myself one. They had a lot of really cool stuff there.

You can order yours here from Prairie Fire Pottery in Beach, North Dakota in if you want!

These cookies were the first ones I made. The ones that never hardened. They still tasted good, but the icing was pretty runny and hard to decorate with.

This was the second batch. The one with egg whites and cream of tartar.

Third batch. Didn't take many pictures, but I got really frustrated and this happened at one point. 

So there ya have it. I didn't want to use a recipe for royal icing with cream of tartar or meringue powder because I didn't know what they were, but lesson learned, you really need to use them if you want your icing to turn out. I'll keep working on it and keep you updated!

XOXO Ness