Happy Valentine’s Day!

How is everyone doing? It’s been a while since we’ve had a catch up so thought I would check in and say hi. It’s so dang cold outside today so I’m staying as warm as I can inside. This morning I finally tried (decaf) espresso in matcha (I like it!), worked on some tax stuff, and made French toast. I’m also getting my sourdough starter fed so I can make a loaf for tomorrow. Do you have a Great Harvest in your town? If you do, pick up some of their cinnamon chip bread, slice it to your favorite thickness (or have them do it), stick it in your freezer, and then make French toast out of it. It is unbelievably good. I actually didn’t use their recipe, but it sounds cozy and delicious.

Does anyone have Valentine’s Day plans? Do you like vday? Do you boycott vday? I’m kind of a hopeless romantic and like an excuse to do something fun and buy flowers and gifts. I bought myself some flowers from FarmGirl Flowers (I love them!!) – they were supposed to come yesterday, but the arrival has been pushed to Monday. Which is totally fine – it will be a happy start to the week when they come :). No other plans though – likely ordering food in from somewhere and maybe watching a documentary. Do you have any good/happy/fun vday stories? Some of my favorite v-day’s have been spent with girlfriends – cooking, baking, catching up, probably drinking wine or a cocktail with Great British Baking Show on in the background.

How do you like to stay in and get cozy when it’s miserable out? I’d prefer to either be baking and watching tv with friends, or curled up next to a fireplace reading a book. Since I can’t do either of those things today (a fireplace is definitely on my ‘nice to have list’ for wherever I live next) I will settle for French toast, baking sourdough, and staying in my pjs all day.

A few random tidbits from the week: Did you know you can keep brown sugar in the freezer? It sounds really weird, but try it! I have had mine in there (in a Stasher bag) for over a month and it’s just as fresh and soft as the first day I bought it. I’ve also been keeping fresh ginger in the freezer as well because it lasts so much longer and you can grate it right out of the freezer into your recipes or drinks.

Also, I realized I’ve lost my youthfulness this week – I can no longer open bags or turn pages in a book without getting my fingers wet. Do you remember (if you’ve worked in an office) those little rubber thimble like things you put on your finger to sort through paper more quickly? I never understood those as it was never an issue for me to sort through paper – until this year…. Now I can’t do anything without licking my fingers and I’d like to figure out what those things were called so I can grab myself a pack.

I’ve been struggling to keep up with my workouts the last few weeks so I’m trying to come up with a new routine and have a question. Do you eat before you workout? My ideal workout time used to be the lunch hour – I already had one meal and it had time to digest and that’s about the time I have the most energy in the day. I find anymore though if I wait until lunch to do a workout, it likely won’t happen. It’s busy season at work so it’s been hard for me to get away for a workout break during the day. If you are a morning worker outer (hmmm – is that a term?) what are your tips? Do you eat a small snack (like banana with nut butter) or do you just stick with coffee and jump right in? I think I need to try that out this week and see how my body handles so I can get back into my workout routine.

Well, this was quite the random post today, but just wanted to check in and say hi! I hope everyone is having a nice, cosy weekend and spending it however their heart desires ❤