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It has been winter long enough in Chicago and all I want is someplace warm, and maybe a nice sandy beach…. okay and some People magazines and perhaps a nice cold drink.

Um yeah, so all of this thinking about places that unfortunately I won’t be visiting anytime soon reminded me of some places I have been. Here are some perfect beach destinations. I am only going to post some tantalizing pictures for now but get excited for more warmth when I feature each of these destinations in the coming weeks!

Zanzibar

picture courtesy of afripartners-safaris.com

Belize

photo courtesy of National Geographic

Kauai

picture courtesy of dailyventure.com

Aren’t you feeling a little warmer already?

For this week’s adventures in traveling I picked something a little bit closer than Istanbul.  Right now when most of us are suffering through the pains of winter there are parts of the country that are at a balmy 70 degrees.  For your next vacation why not visit Tucson, Arizona?  The Sonora Desert provides a stunning backdrops, endless hiking trails and breath-taking sunsets, and that is in the winter!

Photo courtesy of wildnatureimages.com

If spending your time hiking through the great out-of-doors is not your thing but shopping is, cross into Nogales, Mexico, only a couple hours south of Tucson for a day of shopping and delicious mexican food.  Even on a budget vacation like this it is possible to leave the country:

Photo courtesy of pbase.com

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Are you planning your summer vacation and looking for somewhere just a little different? Over the next several weeks I am going to do a series of posts about places that are just a little bit off the beaten path.

Istanbul is just a little east of the west.  Comfortable in Western Europe? Istanbul is just different enough that you will still feel like you are in a major city like London or Rome but instead of cathedrals dotting the skyline, some of the world’s most famous mosques and lavish turkish palaces provide an elegant backdrop to your surroundings.

Meditate in the Blue Mosque:

(Courtesy of National Geographic)

Set against the Bosphorus, which literally is the body of water that divides Europe and Asia,  the Blue Mosque has six minarets from which the calls to prayer echo from early in the morning until evening.

Spend all of your lira shopping in the bazaars:

(Courtesy of Photographer’s Direct)

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Show your love this Valentine’s Day with these homemade treats from Bakerella. You can even add a customized valentine’s day message for your loved ones!

(via dominomag.com)

It’s January which means that citrus is in season! Check out your local produce market for deals that you can’t find the rest of the year on oranges, lemons and grapefruits. Just yesterday I purchased 20 limes, 14 oranges and 5 grapefruits all for $3.00! Once you have taken your bounty home and realize you have no idea what to do with all of it try this new twist on homemade orange juice courtesy of Domino Magazine. It’s delicious with lots of vitamin C too!

Prune Juice
4 cups orange juice
3 cups ruby-red-grapefruit juice
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup Meyer lemon juice
1/3 cup lime juice

Combine all ingredients, chill and serve.

(Paper Source)

As part of the EAD series on organization I have thought a lot about organizing the part of me that always seems the biggest mess, my thoughts!  Here are some ideas I have gathered for organizing my own thoughts that you might find come in handy:

- When you keep a personal journal write more than just the date on the top, write the day of the week and the time too.  I have to laugh when I look back at what I wrote in college and all of my entries were written in the middle of the night!  Now they are all on Sunday, the only day I seem to be able to catch my breath.  Without reading a single line I can see changes in myself over time.

- Keep a journal of your hobbies.  You can mark off a section of your personal journal or start a journal just for a specific subject.  It is even possible to find a journal tailored to specific interests.  Entertaining journals help you catalog who came to a specific event and what you ate, great information to have for the next time those same guests come around or if you have to organize a large party last minute.

- Write down each book or movie as you finish it with a rating.  A big help when someone asks you for a recommendation.

- If you can’t seem to find the time to spend hours writing in a personal journal take just a few minutes each week or even month to sum up big events in a few short sentences.  It is amazing how time passes and how much you forget when certain events occurred or how you felt about them

- Most important, pick your journal (or journals) with care!  There is nothing more enjoyable than writing on thick creamy pages (even if you have horrible handwriting like mine) and knowing that you have kept your thoughts organized for generations to come.  I just purchased this journal and absolutely love it.

Here’s to lots of thought organization in the new year!

(via Simplesong Design)

The creator behind the lovely image above as well as these fantastic holiday cards fills me with all kinds of envy.  Not only does she create beautiful things as her full-time job, but those beautiful things are all created using letterpress!  On her website, Simplesong Design, Susann Song talks about her first experience working with letterpress in a letterpress class, sign me up!  I did a little research and found upcoming classes/open studios in some of the bigger cities around the country…

Chicago:
Letterpress 1, Columbia Center for Book and Paper Arts
Introduction to Letterpress, Lillstreet Art Center

San Fransisco:
Letterpress 1, San Fransisco Center for the Book

Seattle:
Letterpress Printing Workshop, Seattle Center for Book Arts

New York:
Open Letterpress Studio, The Arm Letterpress

If you don’t see a studio listed in your city, try BriarPress for listings around the country, here’s to learning a new skill in the new year!

Its that time of year… now that you have received the lovely chunky striped sweater from great aunt sally and the matching reindeer socks from your 2nd cousins you need to write some thank you notes.  Why not add some style to the outside of those envelopes AND save your hands from some of that inevitable cramping that will result from all of those notes!

Use one of these darling custom return address stamps from red stamp to return stamp your thank you note envelopes:

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I am very much about the seasons, especially the Christmas season (yes, I do consider Christmas a season all its own).  Every Christmas I try to be judicious about my decoration purchases and only buy things I would actually want to pull out and use again the following year.  This year I fell in love with the twig reindeer from Pottery Barn.  My family picked up on my adoration and were kind enough to pick me up a family. Aren’t they adorable?

My step-mom Michelle has had a tradition of making caramels for Christmas since she was a little girl.  For me growing up, the caramels were part of the magic of Christmas.

Now that I am all grown up (just a little sigh), I get to be a part of creating that magic. Over Thanksgiving this year Michelle showed me exactly what to do.  We took some pictures this time to document the process, but it still doesn’t compare to actually tasting the sweet, sticky deliciousness.  To experience it for yourself, you definitely have to try these at home.

A candy thermometer and a nice sturdy pan are keys to caramel success!

We are a nut family (not in the crazy way!) so those lumps you see are on purpose, they are freshly toasted pecans folded into the caramels before pouring the caramels out to set:

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