Eggless Banana Bread Muffins

I worked all weekend to finish a huge project that's due this week. I finished at about 6PM, and while I had something else I could have moved onto, I decided enough was enough.

Looking for a way to unwind, I decided to bake something from scratch. I am NOT a good cook. At all. I've never really had a knack for it, but I've been trying to learn. I'm getting a bit better at it. Tonight, I scoped out my kitchen to try and scrape up some random ingredients for a makeshift recipe- I realized I had some bananas that probably wouldn't last much longer, and decided to make banana bread.

Of course, I didn't have any eggs. My roommate was down to about two, and I didn't want to use them up on her. So I googled 'banana bread with no eggs' and found a few recipes and proceeded (with skepticism, since I wasn't sure how a no-egg recipe would work out). I ended up blending some ideas from about three or four recipes and came up with something like this:

Eggless Banana Bread Muffins

2-3 bananas (best if fairly over-ripe)

1/2 cup butter 

1.5 cups flour 

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

~1 teaspoon baking soda

Few dashes of cinnamon

Few drops of vanilla

Chocolate chips 

Pinch of salt 

Obviously the last few ingredients are optional, but I wanted something with flavor. I didn't want to wait for the actual bread to bake, which would take probably about 60-75 minutes, so I decided to mix it up and make muffins instead. I filled the paper muffin cups about halfway and baked at 325F for 30 minutes.

They were delicious! I'm glad I made up a good no-egg recipe. I never have eggs, and rarely do I plan to bake... I sort of just decide I want to do and then head into the kitchen. Overall, it was a pretty good use of time away from work.... I ended up inhaling two of them as I sobbed my way through the Desperate Housewives finale.

Coin Toss

Have you ever flipped a coin to make a big decision? I have, in a joking sort of way. In fact, when I was deciding which path to take after college, I flipped a ton of coins. I ended up doing what I rationalized as the best choice at the time, and didn't listen to the coin (or my gut, but that's a different story).

There's an interesting theory that flipping a coin can help you make a big decision- but not in the basic way of 'heads: plan A, tails: plan B.' Like this post says, it's actually quite helpful to assign each one of your choices a side of a coin, toss it in the air, and then see how you feel with the results. In those quick few seconds the coin is in the air, your mind won't have time to go torture itself with 'what ifs' and fear. You'll wish for a certain side. You'll have an emotional response to whatever the result is. And you should go with that gut feeling.

I'm planning on doing this later for a decision I need to make tonight. We'll see how it works- I can argue against just about any decision, and I'm terrible with following a gut instinct- I'm way too rational. Needless to say, whatever the outcome, I'll be very happy when this week is over and what is done is done.

Here's to hoping the quarter helps!

Surprise

Lilies are my favorite flower- I can't wait until the rest bloom!

I came home from work today and found a box with this bouquet in it on my doorstep. It was such a nice surprise- especially on a gloomy day like today. Makes me a pretty happy girl! I miss my boyfriend when he's gone, but sure knows how to cheer me up in the middle of a rough week.

No Regrets

This week I suppose I'm on a roll with sharing websites I find while procrastinating. Hopefully in a few weeks when my life calms down, I'll be able to pull together some more coherent posts. Until then...

I found this list of '40 Ways to Live Without Regret' thought-provoking today. It's incredible how much we can get wrapped up in the little stresses of the day to day. The simplest changes can make such a difference.

Items from the list I'm trying to follow this week:

#3: Follow your own path- not one that others want you to follow
#5: Relax and move with the flow of life by being unafraid of change
#11: Be thankful for what you have now instead of thinking about what you don't have
#12: Wish well upon everyone equally and try to admire without envy
#16: Know that happiness is bigger than a bank account
#19: Be bold. Find the courage to change the things that should be changed and accept that there are some things that cannot be changed.
#20: Love your work. If you don't currently love what you do, figure out what you would love, and take the first step toward that life.
#29: Live in the now by loving the present and being aware of your thoughts and actions. Think happy thoughts and speak powerful words. 

I'll stop there- I actually think the entire list is just fantastic, and definitely something that would be useful to read every few weeks to keep everything in check.

Sunday Shoes

Right now, my job is sort of half school, half work. It keeps me very busy. I'm in the midst of a particularly busy few weeks, and I'm anxiously craving summertime when my hours will be a bit closer to the normal range. When it does go back to normal, I have a mental to do list that's too long for me to write out without panicking a little. I've been pushing a lot of things off until about June or so until I 'had more time,' and I'm hoping things settle down a bit. Soon. (just as I'm writing this my mind is off- spring clean the apartment, redo my budget so I can start digging more into undergrad loans, finalize some plans for fall, start eating things other than sodium-packed Trader Joe's frozen dinners...) 

One of those things is revamping my closet a little. This year has been a whirlwind, and I've definitely been less than focused on what I'm wearing and how I'm presenting myself. The worst part is that I believe this stuff is really important- we should dress for success, after all. I work in a casual-dress environment, and it makes it REALLY easy to wear whatever my half-asleep self pulls out from the closet first. I know, though, that I always find I have a little bit of extra confidence when I know I look put together. So I'm making a resolution to be more aware of that. Beauty is much more than skin deep, but I don't think there's anything wrong with expressing how you feel inside on the outside. A pretty outfit makes me confident, confidence helps push me to do my best, and that's what it's all about, isn't it? 

Therefore, while I'm not meaning to make this a fashion blog my any means, I will be posting some outfits and accessories that I find a bit inspiring, things that I'd feel great wearing. And I'll start that with some Sunday Shoes. I hardly ever spend extra money on shoes- I usually find a few great pairs that last me through a season or two and then re-evaluate. I'm love a classic look that doesn't necessarily go out of style, which I hope will be reflected here.

Some shoes I've currently got my eye on:

• I'm in love with these Aldo sandals. They're cute with a little bit of sparkle. If I wasn't trying to stick to a budget, I'd buy them right now.
• I've wanted a pair of nude pumps since Kate Middleton started wearing them last year. 
• I wish I could pull off these orange wedges. I usually don't wear super bright colors- but these would look fantastic with a white sundress on a vacation this summer.

Motivation

Today's definitely a lazy, unproductive day. I can't afford this, since my to do list is about five miles long. It's pretty late right now, but I'm going to try and bust through some work on this Saturday night (where I'd really rather be doing anything else).

Therefore, five things that are motivating (or distracting) me today:

• Smart Pretty and Awkward: This is an ingenious idea for a blog. Each post has a tip for being smarter, prettier, and for being less awkward. One of the more recent quotes: 

Build a life so uniquely yours that no one can imagine anyone but you living it. Make your choices so intentionally and specifically tailored to your personality and your goals that it is impossible to conceive of anyone but you living the one specific life that you live. Your life should not be interchangeable with anyone else’s–and that’s a good thing because it means you are listening to your own specific heart, mind and values.

           I love that. I hope I can find a way to do so.

• Trader Joe's $2.99 bottle of wine. Cheap, decent, and a glass of it is a nice treat for finishing up a paper on a weekend night in. 

• Supermoon: I forgot this was tonight until I saw an article on MSNBC. I'm not sure I'll be able to see it from where I am, but it would be a cool sight. 

• Realizing I had started (and forgotten) about this blog earlier this year. It was my New Year's resolution to try and write one, since I am an addicted reader to a lot of lifestyle blog these days. If anything, it definitely helped me procrastinate tonight. Here's to more of that!

• Kentucky Derby Hats: One day, I'll go to this. I'll find an over-the-top, fabulous hat. For now, I'll just sift through the galleries and imagine an outfit I'd wear with each one. 

And one more link- something I found a while ago and I find that I always rediscover it when I need to read it the most. Why Being In Your 20s Is Awesome. Why is it awesome? Well... stay tuned. Read the article. In the meantime, I'll just trust that ten years from now I'll look back on this decade and be happy for the journey. Hopefully.