Chocolate Peanut Butter Ritz Cookie

One of my coworkers made a batch of these cookies a few weeks ago. I couldn't wait to get all the ingredients so Elli and her friends could make them at home. The combination of the salty Ritz cracker with the peanut butter and dark chocolate is just so divine. You really won't believe how yummy they are until you've tried it.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Ritz Cookies
1 Box Ritz Crackers
1 Jar of Peanut Butter (we like Jif)
1 Bag Ghirardelli Dark Melting Chocolate

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. As soon as it's melted turn off the burner. Line cookie sheets with wax paper (or parchment paper.) Schmear peanut butter on one cracker. Place another cracker on top (as shown above) then dunk in the chocolate. We used tongs to keep our fingers from getting totally gooey. Completely coat the cookie in chocolate. Place on the cookie sheet. Chill a few hours, or overnight. Makes about 48 cookies.

Options: Decorate the cookies! Because really, who doesn't love a cookie that's been bedazzled. We decorated ours with sprinkles. You could also melt white chocolate and drizzle that over the top in a cool design.

Have a peanut allergy? I bet these would taste good with Fluffernutter inside. Or Almond Butter.

Party pics

I survived the Christmas party.

I went with the fur option in "Velvet, Plaid and Fur."

I promise I did take off my coat.

Best dressed goes to Courtney and Tony.

'Til next year.

The office party.

I love parties. I love dressing up, putting on heels, and getting a little fancy for a night. Even if the only occasion I have to do this is the office party. I'll take it.

I've been planning what to wear to our party from the moment I got the invite which was weeks ago. 

I'm wearing a little black dress that is short and sassy with long sleeves and the coolest sling back shoes (a splurge at Nordstrom.) I was feeling pretty confident in my outfit until this morning.

We all had an email in our inbox with details on the dress code for the party (which is tomorrow night!!)

Subject line: Ensemble Inspiration

“We are looking forward to seeing you all Wednesday for an evening full of friends, fun and fashion. Ditch the jeans for fur, velvet and plaid." 

Oh shit.

Are. You. Kidding. Me?

Today is the day before the party. And come on. Look at the inspiration photos. Really??

I don't need this kind of stress.

I'm a planner. I like to plan these things out weeks in advance. I don't do well with last minute changes like this. What am I going to wear?

I told Elli my dilemma as soon as I read the email at 7am this morning.

Elli: Mom, it's not a big deal. No one else cares because no one else plans like you. What about that velvet dress you have? Wear that.

Me: I can't wear that. I have to be skinny to wear that.

Elli: But you are skinny. Right?

Me: (smiling to my daughter who is the best ever): No, not really.

Elli: Well, then why don't you work out tonight so it fits tomorrow.

Me: I don't think I can lose 15 lbs working out tonight. That's not possible.

Elli: It is if you try hard. Work out this morning and tonight.

Me: Uh....it doesn't work that way

Elli: Mom, feel my abs. Look how tight they are.

Me: grrrrrr

At this point I was feeling worse, not better. So I went and got the dress out of the closet to see what I was up against. It's not looking good. The dress is cute and sassy. It's been a "go to" holiday dress over the years. it's simple enough that it never goes out of style and the color is a shimmery gray velvet. But, it's clingy.

I can't do it. Too may lumps in the wrong places. I don't even need to try it on to know this. I would have to wear my coat all night which means I'd be sweating like a maniac.

I'm going to wear what I originally planned. I do have a dressy wool coat trimmed in fur that is fabulous. And, lucky for me it's freezing here this week. So I can least make a statement when I walk in. 

And come on, we don't work for a fashion brand. 

Oh, and did I mention the party is in a dance club?

Maybe I should go in plaid jammies and fur lined slippers. (hahahaha)

That would make a statement.

Pizza night

The other day I was talking with some folks about what food you would want to have if you were deserted on an island. One person said tuna fish. My immediate reaction was ewwww, tuna?! Really? You're on an island surrounded by fish and you would want to have tuna. Of course I couldn't help sharing my reaction. Cuz, really. TUNA? Under pressure she changed her answer to beef stew. I'm kinda thinking tuna was the better choice. Another person said rice. I really hope I don't get stranded on an island with them.

I said pizza.

I could seriously eat pizza everyday. I love it hot, cold, thin crust, deep dish, with sauce, without sauce, plain, or loaded with ingredients. My favorite toppings are more traditional. But I'll pretty much try any pizza. It's seriously one of my favorite foods.

Of course I don't eat it much anymore as I'm trying to eat less carbs. But I still have a slice, or two, every once in a while. And I savor every bite.

One of our favorite things to do when making pizza at home is to take the basic cheese pizza from Trader Joe's ($3.99) and add tasty toppings to make it more custom.

It makes the prep work so much easier. You don't have to mess with the dough. And you don't have to buy a jar of sauce which will eventually get moldy in the fridge since you don't need to use an entire jar. Or maybe that's just must my personal problem. Who knows.

You can even throw the pizza on the grill. Tastes great this way and you can fit two or three on the grill at one time.

Last weekend we made a yummy pie with Italian chicken sausage, mushrooms, fresh basil and a little extra italian cheese mix. I took the meat from 2 sausages, removed it from the casing, and fried it up in a pan before adding it to the pizza. Then I sliced 3 mushrooms and thinly sliced 3 basil leaves. All stuff I had on hand at home.

We always have a least two cheese pizzas in the fridge at all times. Let me know if you try it, and what your favorite toppings are!

Cheers,
Kris

Bedroom Refresh

I've been working in the marketing department at Pottery Barn for about 7 months now. I'm finally starting to buy some things for our home.

It's a little paralyzing deciding what to buy since really cool stuff is launching all the time. I finally decided to just go for it! So we're tackling the master bedroom first.

We picked out some new sheets and pillows and have ordered a duvet and new lighting. One of the things we really needed was new bedside lamps. Don's lamp was broken and mine was not looking so hot. The original shade was damaged in our move from Connecticut to California - which was 10 years ago. I've had a dorky shade on this lamp for a long time.

It's probably a really good thing I got this Pottery Barn gig.

I surprised Don and picked out two cool wall sconces for the bedroom instead of lamps thinking it would give us more room on the nightstand. Of course that really didn't happen. There are photos, magazines, books, glasses, water bottles, phones, ipads, earplugs, a clock....good grief. I'm not really sure how the lamp ever fit in the first place.

De-cluttering will happen in the final phase.

Here is phase I of the remodel.

Still to come....new duvet + curtains.

Best handyman ever!

I can't wait to see the bed with the new duvet!

I'm loving the rustic Luxe bedding from Pottery Barn and the super cute faux fur pillow. The sheets are the PB comfort in gray. I love them because they really fit the over sized mattress. You don't have to kill yourself getting the fitted sheet on the mattress. (I know you know what I'm talking about.)

Next to arrive is this medallion duvet. It's going to look so pretty. Can't wait!

Medallion duvet

Cheers!

Kris

ps. I have a completely new appreciation for the Pottery Barn photographers. Do you know how hard it is to shoot a bedroom with normal light. It's hard. And that is why my images look NOTHING like the beautiful Pottery Barn image above!!! hahaha

Free Snorkel!

Free snorkel? Huh? Read on. It will all make sense. Promise.

Don and I sold our business back in June after nine years. We decided it was time for another adventure.

It took Don about six weeks to really close things up after the sale. And then came the big question.

Now what?

Does he go back into advertising? He was an award winning Creative Director for some of the top firms in the country. Or should he try setting up a freelance business. Or should he look for a creative position with a corporation? So much to think about.

In the meantime, I kept telling him he should write a book.

At first I thought he should write about our adventures buying a business. Every man's dream is to quit their boring-old-job and do their own thing, right? We could share our crazy story about buying a business right before the economy crashed and how we survived. It would be inspiring, and real. But writing a book about all that seemed daunting. And complicated. Especially since we just closed that chapter.

And then I remembered the amazing Snorkel stories he used to tell Elli.

When Elli was little he would make up these elaborate stories about a dog named Snorkel who could swim under water. He would go on all kinds of crazy adventures. Elli loved it.

So that's it! He has to write the series. He just has to. They've been trapped inside his busy body for too long. They have to come out!

"FREE SNORKEL!"

And guess what? He finally agreed.

So now what do we do? He has the stories. We just need to put them into a book format with amazing illustrations.

And then we had an idea. Maybe our friends and family would want to help us invest in our new business adventure.

So here we are asking for your help. We've personally helped a lot of kickstarter programs ourselves with a few dollars here and there. We're hoping you'll be inspired and will want to kick in a few bucks to our PlumFund campaign. You'll get a fabulous gift if you do!!

OUR CAMPAIGN to RAISE $10,000

$15 Donation = Snorkel the dog T-shirt

$25 Donation = First Book in the series + Snorkel T-shirt

$50 Donation = First Book in the series + Snorkel T-shirt + Baseball Cap

$100 Donation = First 3 Books in the series + T-shirt + Snorkel Beach Towel

$250 Donation = GIFT PACK: First 3 Books in the series + 2 T-shirts + 2 Baseball Hats + 2 Beach towels

$500 Donation = GIFT PACK + you get to name a character in the series

Pledge here on PlumFund>

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Would love to hear what you think.

*photo from naturalswimmer.com