Project 365: Wrapping up 2013

Yes, I did it! I completely my Project 365 and managed to take a photo every single day in 2013. To start, these are my final photos of the year, and afterwards I'll be posting my thoughts on the process.
December 28, 2013 - 362/365: Lunch at Cane's.
December 29, 2013 - 363/365: Playing Carcassone with the boy.
December 30, 2013 - 364/365: Chili for dinner.
December 31, 2013 - 365/365: Ending the year with a glass of champagne and a bowl of peppermint ice cream. Coincidentally, this matches day 1 of my project where I had grapefruit juice in our toasting glasses. Talk about coming full circle.
January 1, 2013 - 1/365: Glass of Grapefruit Juice to Ring in the New Year

I've been wanting to complete a Project 365 since before I started blogging, and am I little in awe I managed to pull it off. Especially on my first try. I was sure I was going to miss a day, and have to try again in 2014 to achieve it, but I kept at it. I do think my photography improved over the course of the year, which I think you can see by comparing the two photos above from the first and last day of the year. Of course, some of that was due to my new DSLR, but I definitely couldn't have pulled the year off without having access to my camera.

I'm definitely happy to have the project behind me. There were definitely days when realizing I hadn't taken a picture all day that I'd feel the need to eat dessert just to have something to photograph. Maybe without that justification, I'll have less dessert in 2014?

I'm definitely not planning a Project 365 for 2014, and in fact didn't take a single picture the first two days of the year. But I would still be up for attempting a project 365 at some other point down the line, since overall I did have a lot of fun doing it.

Have you ever attempted, or completed, a Project 365?

A Novel of the Great War

Somewhere in France by Jennifer Robson
Published: December 31, 2013 by William Morrow Paperbacks
I'm almost afraid to start this review because it's another that I can't imagine I'll do justice to. Reading this book, I couldn't put it down. I stayed up late to read it, but even more impressive (since I can't ever remember doing this!) I woke up early to keep reading it. That night I dreamed of the book, and that day I couldn't help but relive specific scenes over and over in my head. And don't ask my husband about the lunch we had together where I ignored him because I HAD to keep reading. As soon as I finished it, I was ready to turn it over and start from page 1.

Lily Ashford is the daughter of The Earl and Countess of Cumberland. Her mother wants nothing more than for her to be settled and married, but when war breaks out Lily feels a call to do something more. She leaves her home, family, and all she knows and winds up in France to serving as an ambulance driver for the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps. This is also the story of Robert Fraser, the son of a dustman and a laundress, who goes on scholarship to Oxford and works hard to become a surgeon. While most of the story is told from Lily's point of view, they are a few chapters where we hear from Robbie and those were my favorite.

I feel like I haven't read a lot of books that take place during WWI. And yet that isn't quite true because some of my favorite series growing up, The Betsy-Tacy Series, Anne of Green Gables, and The All-of-a-Kind Family, all end with a book that takes place during The Great War. But this is the first one I remember reading as a "grown-up," and one where it's a single book instead of the end of a series.

In case you couldn't already tell, I absolutely loved this book, and have a feeling it will be one that stays with me for a while. I did read that the author is planning a follow-up to this for 2015, and while this book doesn't need a sequel and I'd be more than happy with just this single book, I can't wait to be able to check in on Lily and Robbie.

5/5

Disclosure: I was provided this book through TLC Book Tours. All opinions expressed are my own.

Last Christmas

I feel like everyone's already moved onto New Year's Eve, and even Valentine's Day, but yet here I am recapping a belated Christmas. I actually didn't take that many pictures this year, and most of them have already been posted on the blog for various reasons. But I couldn't help but write one big post with everything in single place.

It actually felt like Christmas was pretty low-key this year. We spent Christmas Eve at home, where the boy and I had a lazy night on the couch watching Love Actually. Then the following morning over a cup of coffee (for me) and a glass of milk (for the boy) we opened the presents for each other.
The boy tends to always buy exactly what I'm looking for, but I try to make sure there's a bit of a surprise by giving him several options to choose from. That way I never know exactly which of those he'll choose. This year was no different and I was gifted both towels and a new pillow from Pottery Barn, as well as my newest obbession, with the Frozen soundtrack. Of course, he still had a surprise for me with a new necklace which I never would have guessed.
We then went over to my in-laws' house where everyone had stacks of presents waiting for them. My stack is actually on the far right, with the boy's next to it. Our niece and nephew's stacks are what you see in the background.
I definitely received far more gifts than needed and definitely felt a bit spoiled in the process. Some of my favorites, apart from the necklace and soundtrack from the boy, are my serving bowl in our china pattern and my new cookbooks.
Another Christmas tradition I've inherited is having scratch off tickets in everyone's stocking, with a bit of a competition to see who can win the most. This was the first year I wound up winning, with close to $50 scratched off.
Once everyone had finished opening, we sat down to a dinner with gumbo, tuduken, and several over sides and finished off the meal with a slice of my peppermint cake.
All in all it was a great day, one where I definitely came away feeling a bit spoiled. Overall a perfect way to end 2013.

Mailbox Monday (60)

It's my first Mailbox Monday post of the new year! For 2014, we're changing things up at Mailbox Monday and instead of having a touring host each month we'll be linking up the recent books we've added to our shelves at The Official Mailbox Monday Site. Here's to a great year of reading, and my first new books of the year!
For Review from Virtual Author Books Tours
Hidden in Plain Sight by Jane Allen Petrick
As you can probably tell from the title, this is about the people in Norman Rockwell's painting. Except not the all-american white families that you picture when you think of Norman Rockwell, but instead his lesser known pieces featuring minorities. While I've obviously heard of Norman Rockwell, I don't know a lot about him, so I'm thinking this will be an interesting look.

Borrowed from a Friend
Splintered by A.G. Howard
This is actually our book club book for the week, but I've been wanting to read it for a while now so I'm happy for the excuse to get to it. It's a retelling of Alice in Wonderland, and since I tend to be a fan of retellings I definitely have high hopes for it. With the sequel about to come out, I've been seeing it around a lot lately, so hopefully it's able to live up to my expectations.

What did you find in your mailbox this week? And what are your views on reading retellings?

Brr... It's Cold in Here

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Published: August 1, 2009 by Scholastic Press
Series: The Wolves of Mercy Falls #1
I've been hearing about this books for so long, that part of me feels like I'm the last one to read them. It almost actually feels like this books are "so yesterday" and everyone else has already moved on from them. Obviously, I've heard great things about these books, and expected to love them as well.

Except that wasn't quite the case. Yes, I enjoyed them, but I don't quite see what all the fuss was about. I think part of it is I knew this was the first of a trilogy, which ruined quite a bit of the suspense. After all, in order for a second book to make sense, certain things had to happen in this.

One issue I had with was that I didn't think the characters acted like teenagers. How is it every teenage drinks coffee every day? I know I didn't start to enjoy coffee till college, and it wasn't till I graduated that I started drinking it regularly. I would be fine if it was just a single character who had a coffee obsession, but instead it seemed everyone was drinking it all the time. Yes, it's a silly thing to obsess over, but obviously it really bothered me.

I realized this reviews sounds incredibly negative, but that doesn't necessarily reflect all of my thoughts. I did still like the book, I just don't think it lived up to all the hype I built for it. But even so, I definitely want to continue the series, as well as the rest of Stiefvater's books.

4/5

Don't forget that today is your last day to enter my 5 Year Blogoversary giveaway!

Today I'm linking up with Blonde Undercover Blonde for Book Club Friday!

Mint to Be or Not to Be

I had planned on making Mix & Match Mama's Candy Cane Bundt Cake for Christmas. Except when I went grocery shopping, after 3 different stores, I had yet to find peppermint extract. But no problem, since every store had mint extract and it would be an easy substitute.

Turns out no. Just google "Mint vs. Peppermint extract" if you don't believe me. For a short answer, mint extract includes spearmint, which isn't really the flavor I was going for. But I figured if I cut the extract, and added peppermint pieces, I could salvage the recipe. It wasn't perfect, and there was still a hint of spearmint, but overall, it worked. Of course, my very next shopping trip after Christmas I did find peppermint extract, which I made sure to stock up on for next time. But in case you're like me and you only have mint, here's a cake that I hope will also work for you.

Peppermint Bundt Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake
10 peppermints
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/4 cups water
4 eggs
1 box white cake mix
2 small boxes of instant vanilla pudding
1/2 teaspoon mint extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon red food coloring
1/4 cup white chocolate chips
For the Frosting
4 cups powdered sugar
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup white chocolate chips, melted.
10 peppermints

Directions
For the Cake
1. Preheat the over to 350 degrees. Crush 10 peppermints and set aside.
2. Mix the vegetable oil, water, and eggs together.
3. Add in the cake mix and puddings and mix until combined.
4. Pour out half of your cake mix and set aside. In one half, mix in the extracts and food coloring until a single color. (I didn't do a great job at cutting in half, and wound up with a ton more pink in my cake than white. But even if it's off, it's not a huge deal.)
5. Stir in your crushed up peppermints.
6. Stir the white chocolate chips into your white half.
7. Add the red cake mix into a prepped bundt cake pan.
8. Add the white cake mix on top.
9. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
10. Let cool for 10 minutes. Then invert onto a serving platter to finish cooling.

For the Frosting
11. Cream together the butter, powdered sugar, and melted white chocolate.
12. Crush the second 10 peppermints. Reserving the largest pieces for the top of the cake, mix the rest into the frosting.
13. Spread frosting onto cooled cake topping with the reserved peppermint chunks.

While this could have been a complete pinterest fail, I think I managed to rescue a "Spearmint Cake" with a few small substitutions. Although I think if I make this again, I'll definitely make sure to buy the right type of extract!

Have you ever tried to make a substitution in a recipe and had it turn out not quite the way you had planned?

Peppermint Bundt Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake
10 peppermints
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/4 cups water
4 eggs
1 box white cake mix
2 small boxes of instant vanilla pudding
1/2 teaspoon mint extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon red food coloring
1/4 white chocolate chips
For the Frosting
4 cups powdered sugar
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup white chocolate chips, melted.
10 peppermints

Directions
For the Cake
1. Preheat the over to 350 degrees. Crush 10 peppermints and set aside.
2. Mix the vegetable oil, water, and eggs together.
3. Add in the cake mix and puddings and mix until combined.
4. Pour out half of your cake mix and set aside. In one half, mix in the extracts and food coloring until a single color.
5. Stir in your crushed up peppermints.
6. Stir the white chocolate chips into your white half.
7. Add the red cake mix into a prepped bundt cake pan.
8. Add the white cake mix on top.
9. Bake for 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
10. Let cool for 10 minutes. Then invert onto a serving platter to finish cooling.
For the Frosting
11. Cream together the butter, powdered sugar, and melted white chocolate.
12. Crush the second 10 peppermints. Reserving the largest pieces for the top of the cake, mix the rest into the frosting.

The Way of the Samurai

47 Ronin
Going into this movie I was sure I would hate it. I thought it looked cheesy and gory, and just such a "boy" movie. But I was actually pleasantly surprised.

47 Ronin actually takes place in Japan and is based on a historical true story, something I'd had no idea of from the marketing. I loved the beauty of Japan in the movie, and also was surprised by the love story throughout.

I'm actually a little surprised by the marketing of this. Yes, there is a good amount of action, but not an over the top amount. I do think that if it was presently as more of a historical story (similar to something like The Last Samuai) it would have done better. Instead I think people probably went into this expecting something over the top, and were disappointed. And there's others like me who love historical dramas, but never would have realized that's what this basically is without seeing it.