Our Snow Days By The Numbers
4 days working from home
6 home-cooked dinners in a row (my personal best)
2 Walmart trips, $200 spent on groceries
30 oreos eaten
2 TV series watched from start to finish (The Blacklist, The Big Bang Theory Season 7)
35 TV episodes watched
1 movie watched (Love Actually)
10 pots of coffee made
4 blog posts written
5 school days off for the kids and 5 days of rejoicing we didn’t have kids
25 photos taken of puppy playing in the snow
15 hours of video games played
259 oz. of alcohol consumed (6 beers, 6 straw-ber-itas, 3 bottles of wine, 1 growler)
1 bad fall on the ice
4 magazines and 9 book chapters read
7 presents wrapped
Innumerable posts read on Facebook and Twitter about the storm
3 additional hours spent planning for my party next week
60 group text messages sent re: snowpocalypse
5 DAYS OF INSANE CABIN FEVER
xo xo
You can read more about #Snowpocalypse2013 here: Observations on Working From Home, Snowpocalypse Meal Plan
Homemade Hot Chocolate {Snow Day Recipe}
Ever since Thursday I’ve been craving hot chocolate. Unfortunately it was one of the things that escaped my mind as I was hurriedly pushing through Walmart Wednesday night fighting for bread and water. Since I am not a homemade-type person, it didn’t even occur to me I could make it on my own. To me hot chocolate means a paper pouch in a blue box or a decadent dessert drink at a restaurant. (I know, I know, I’m a child of consumerism.)
Well today, the stars aligned. I found cocoa powder in the pantry and looked up a recipe for homemade hot chocolate. Do you guys know how easy it is to make?! I’m not quite sure what I was expecting, but not a three ingredient recipe. I also just bought candy canes today and boy, do I love anything peppermint chocolate. So, still stuck at home and dreaming of a creamy hot beverage? Go all out homemade with this easy recipe!
H O M E M A D E H O T C H O C O L A T E
Ingredients:
1 c milk
1 tbs cocoa powder
1 tbs white sugar
2 tbs cream or milk
Optional: marshmallows, whipped cream and/or candy canes
Directions:
Place the milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until hot.
Meanwhile, mix cocoa, sugar and cream until it’s a paste like consistency in your mug.
Pour hot milk into the mug and stir until combined and smooth.
Garnish with your favorite toppings!
Enjoy! xo
You might also enjoy: Pumpkin Cheesecake, {Almost} Better Than Sex Cake
Observations on Working From Home {Snow Day Edition}
The impending snowpocalypse arrived. Boy, were the weathermen right for once. Last time I measured, we had 8″ of snow in the backyard and it was still coming down. Husband and I have been working from home (wahh, waahhh) since we are unsure if we could make it down the hill from our house, let alone if there’s even still life out there. Oh wait, of course there is, I’ve seen every single person posting a picture of their backyard on Facebook or Instagram.
I’ve worked from home before, due to bad weather, sickness or just because, but never for two days in a row, and never without the option of leaving the house if I wanted to. As our second day at home and hopefully last (I HAVE to get out tomorrow so I can plan for my Christmas party for next week!!) I’ve learned a few things about WFH.
1. If you have a lot of pressing work to do, you can easily focus with less distractions than at work.
If you don’t have a lot of pressing work to do, nearly everything in the house is a distraction.
2. For the most part, you will eat healthier (depending on the food in your house.) But you will also eat more, because the kitchen is five steps away.
3. Sitting on your couch, in your PJs, drinking coffee from your favorite mug is so much better than sitting at a desk, in uncomfortable pants & blazer, drinking breakroom coffee from a paper cup.
4. Day 2 is not nearly as exciting as Day 1.
5. The dog is and always will be a distraction. Especially one that wants to be in your lap at all times.
6. Morning talk shows are where it’s at. Quite literally meaning, that’s where I wish I was. Sit around drinking wine, interviewing celebs and gossiping all morning. NBC, how about Hoda and Mille D???
7. You can get so much more done – the laundry, the dishes, walking the dog – oh and actual work, too.
8. You will miss your co-workers in a weird way. Your husband just doesn’t quite understand like they do.
9. You don’t have to shower, or fix your hair, or do your makeup, or get out of your pj’s for that matter. You do have to brush your teeth, because that’s just bad hygiene.
10. That extra hour and a half you get to sleep in is totally worth it.
11. When the clock hits 5pm, it’s a lot easier to just walk over to the fridge and grab a beer.
xo xo
Snowpocalypse Meal Plan
If you live in NWA, you know there’s an impending snowpocalypse on it’s way. We’re supposed to get 5-7 inches of snow and several inches of ice within the next 48 hours.
It just started sleeting at our house, making it the perfect time to start the crockpot of chili for tonight. What’s better than chili on a snow day?!
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, boy do I wish I was back in school when snow days come around. It’s not quite the same when we’re working and have laptops and portable phones to keep us busy during a snow day.
{You can read more of my thoughts and memories about snow days here: Grownup Snow Days and What I’ve Learned in College, Snow Days Edition}
Let’s talk food. When it comes to snow days, you want to have enough food and drink in case you get snowed in. It needs to be delicious comfort food, and it does not necessarily need to be healthy. Below is our meal plan for the next few days.
W E D N E S D A Y
Italian Meatball Sliders (kings rolls + frozen meatballs + provolone + marinara = amazing)
Leftover Green Bean Casserole (officially the end of our leftovers, don’t judge me)
T H U R S D A Y
Chili! You can get Mille’s Chili recipe here.
Salad (simple – lettuce, baby tomatoes and balsamic)
F R I D A Y
Tacos
(we love the tyson pre-cooked and cut chicken and steak for tacos,
add sliced peppers to the pan and it’s just like a restaurant)
S A T U R D A Y
Pepperoni Rolls (recipe below, one of our favorite meals ever, so delicious!)
Salad or veggies, for good measure
Fingers crossed we can leave our house Saturday, otherwise it will be peanut butter sandwiches.
Others fingers crossed the power doesn’t go out, otherwise it will also be peanut butter sandwiches.
Stay safe and warm out there, and full! xo xo
* * * * *
Pepperoni Rolls {recipe}
Ingredients:
2 cans biscuits (we prefer the small biscuits, but any would do)
pepperonis
block of colby jack cheese
italian seasoning
grated parmesan
marinara
Optional: jalapenos
{photo cred: The Gunny Sack}
Directions:
Set oven to 350 degrees.
Flatten the biscuits on a baking pan.
Inside each biscuit wrap 2 pepperonis, piece of cheese and jalapenos if you wish.
Fold up.
Sprinkle italian seasoning and parmesan cheese on top.
Bake as directed on the can of biscuits.
Serve with marinara dipping sauce.
Grownup Snow Days
You go to bed wishing, hoping, praying. You can barely sleep all night. You wake up in the middle of the night and run to the window to see what it looks like outside. You wake up at 5am, turn on the TV and watch for your school at the bottom of the screen. You’re hoping for a SNOW DAY.
I remember those nights growing up all too well. Since we don’t get a lot of snow here when we do it basically shuts everything down and you’re pretty much guaranteed at least one snow day a winter.
Those were the elementary school, jr. high and high school days. No school = play day/snow day/fun day.
{said play day/snow day/fun day senior year of high school}
Then you get to college.
I’ll never forget my sophomore year we were expecting a huge ice storm. The UA kept sending out emails saying they hadn’t closed school for snow/ice ever. (Maybe it wasn’t ever, but it was like 30 years or something crazy.) So I wasn’t expecting school to be cancelled and I definitely wasn’t expecting school to be cancelled for a week, but that’s certainly what happened – The Great Ice Storm of 2009. There are a lot of things I’ll never forget about that week. Let’s just put it this way, we were the only people who had power so we had about 10-12 people staying with us for a week. Infer from that what you will.
While that was awesome, it wasn’t quite as exciting as snow days growing up because guess what your assignments are still due the same day they were due before the ice-pocalypse. Your teachers can email you. You can email assignments to your teachers. Sometimes I curse technological advancements.
{a huge part of The Great Ice Storm of 2009 was beating Mario on Nintendo 64}
We actually ended up having two more of these storms while I was in college, not near as bad as 2009, but just as entertaining. During Snow Storm 2010 I’ll never forget is walking 2 miles to Gusano’s for pizza. Totally worth it.
Read my blog post “What I’ve Learned in College, Snow Days Edition” here.
{Snow Storm 2010 walk to Gusano’s}
But here’s the thing. I’m not in high school any more. I’m not in college any more. I’m not a kid waiting by the window any more. Now I’m an adult with a real job that doesn’t close because of snow or ice. We have computers. We have blackberrys. We have deadlines and projects and social media. (which never sleeps!) A snow day does not mean a play day anymore. So as I watch the snow out the window and read about the impending overnight ice, it’s not quite as exciting as it use to be. But hey, c’est la vie, and one thing I am looking forward to is the day I have kids of my own and I get to see their excitement for a snow day.
xo xo
m.davis xoxo 