Weekly Love Letter for Friday, January 9th

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“This week’s favorites were hard to come up with! I spent entirely too much time oogling everyone’s “best post” posts from 2014.  I have dozens of recipes to try and lots of fun DIY ideas!  We didn’t do a roundup post, but I wanted to share some of my favorites anyway!  There are honestly too many to list, but I’ll narrow it down.  

The most fun projects of the year were the peppermint oreo ice cream sandwiches that Carla and I made with my nieces and my mom, as well as the floral crowns from my summer trip to Ohio.  

My absolute favorite recipe is Carla’s two chili salsa, which I made countless times this year.  It’s my go-to salsa (although I add a squeeze of lime and a pinch of salt).  My vanilla bean strawberry rhubarb jam is the gift that keeps giving.  We’ve carefully rationed out the jars for the last 6 months to make the most of this fantastic jam!

My personal favorite DIY was the origami star garland.  And Carla’s pom pom magnets are basically the cutest thing ever.  The award for most useful DIY is a tie between the no-sew pillowcase and the etched spice jar with shaker top.”

*Useful: how to chill wine quickly, for those dinner parties when someone brings an irresistable bottle of white or bubbly that’s at room temperature.

*Bacon boursin green beans. Let’s focus on the “green bean” part of that title and pretend it’s New Year’s resolution-friendly.

*Copper tealights.  I want these on my dinner party table, stat.

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“I mean, PHEW.  Am I right?  Things are more or less back to normal.  My holidays were a whirlwind- yours?  It was wonderful to see so much family and have so much fun and rest and relaxation.  The theme seemed to be ‘how low key can you be?’ which ABSOLUTELY worked for me!  It’s a little embarrassing to be going and on about how much rest I’ve had recently since I’m… well… leaving for Hawaii on Monday.  I KNOW.  I’M A TOTAL BRAT.

MY favorites for the year?  Alyssa covered so many of them in her list, but I’m adding this adorable DIY Wooden Cell Phone Stand and this DIY Metallic Trimmed Ring Bowl!”

* Got goals?  Gotta write em down?  Heck Yes.

* Let Me Entertain You.  Both a gorgeous print and a lyric from a favorite musical.

* A neat tip for scoring some Sorel boots if they’re on your to-buy fashion list.

PS- Amazon links above are affiliate links!

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One year ago: Two chili salsa.  Don’t scoff at the ingredient list, when it comes together it’s addicting.