High-Low 15: CAMP THANKSGIVING

I am calling this past week, Camp Thanksgiving!
It was craaaaaaazy busy! And I felt a bit like a camp counselor, or like Julie McCoy on The Love Boat, what with planning activities for the week for my brother and friends and me!
I had at least one event/activity every night and I will probably be catching up on sleep all week.

And this next week is my birthday week (the big day is on November 30th) so I have no time to get sick or exhausted!

Without further ado, here is High-Low 15!

HIGHS

 

1) A fashion illustration by the talented fashion artist/illustrator, Bee, at the J.Crew & Vogue party. I can’t wait to frame this piece!

 

 

2) My big brother came into town for Thanksgiving. It’s always so fun when he’s here! But, I swear, if he lived here year-round, I would never get ANYTHING done!

 

3) The most epic Thanksgiving ever with good friends. My most memorable to date. In my friend Sarah’s backyard with lots of candlelight, wine, games, laughter and a full-on dance party. I kept saying that I felt like we were in some winery commercial. So fun! We were up til 4:30!

4) All of the baking fun that comes with Thanksgiving!!

One of my friends said that this was the best pie he’d ever tasted!

Moonshine Pie (the recipe will be up on Friday):

Cowboy Corn Casserole:

Farmhouse Green Bean Casserole:

Buttermilk Cheddar Biscuits:

Pumpkin Cherry & Pumpkin Cranberry cupcakes:

And speaking of cupcakes, check out this southern church social/cakewalk spread. Utterly delightful & delicious!

5) The Counting Crows at The Wiltern with friends. Between staying up late, sleeping til noon and catching these guys, I was pretty sure I must have travelled back to 1997 in a time machine.

Such an amazing week and what a sweet way to see this year come to a close for me!

LOWS

Ahhhh, the lows. We have to have a good dose of those with the highs, now don’t we?

This week, I have three. Booooooo.

First of all, I’d like to address my sadistic curling iron: “Listen, honey, if we’re gonna be friends, you’re gonna have to stop burning me. Ouch! ” This is the second time that’s been a low in my life.

I had a miscommunication with a good friend and that pains me even more than the burn did. I feel miserable about it and my heart hurts. That’s when you know a friend is a good one – when you hurt because you may have hurt them. I hope it clears itself up soon. I hope.

And, lastly, as you guys know, I am a little on the Pollyanna side.
Okay, A LOT.
So when people bring out the hate, I am always shocked, appalled and – to be honest – a little amused. Last Friday, my dear friend – a talented blogger, writer, artist, photographer and social media expert was attacked on her personal wall on Facebook…by a “friend”. When will the unhappy & unfulfilled stop projecting their own self-hate onto other people who dare to stick their necks out creatively? Go into therapy, read a self-help book but don’t let the hate win, folks. Life is too short.

 

xoxo,
BF

BF Asks: What was your High-Low this week? 

High-Low 6

Is it just me or was this week super weird?

I feel like my routine got all out of whack simply by having a holiday right smack-dab in the middle of the week. I’m prone to “Sunday Blues” and July 4th felt like Saturday and Sunday all rolled into one. There was so much to do, yet I wanted to relax, and then there was the dull numbness that sometimes comes with a Sunday before a big week.

Still, as with every week, there were some shining moments that stood out. Here’s this week’s High-Low.

HIGHS

1) Fun summer nails!  I chose to match my nails to my BeautyFrosting business card!

Fun summer nail design: BeautyFrosting-inspired

2) Inspired by the leftover Oreo frosting and Oreo double stuff cookies, from the cupcakes I made last week, I decided to bake a Choc’o'gasm Pie: a chocolate cream pie with cookies and cream crust, fresh whipped cream and an oreo frosting trim. Perfect for July 4th festivities! It was choc’o'gasmic!

Chocogasm Pie

3) I started keeping my first Quote Book in 1989 when I was 12. Last Monday, I wrote the final quote in Quote Book #5 (4/16/08-7/2/12).
I realized how much has changed since it started. My album (Sweet Time) came out, I moved back to Los Angeles from Nashville, broke up with my boyfriend of 7 years, left my job with Barbra Streisand, started this blog, found a world of new friends and found myself again. Funny that the last quote, of this journey, came from a contestant’s father on The Bachelorette. Oh, Life and God. You guys have got quite a sense of humor, sometimes.

Quote Book #5 came to a close this week

4) Discovering new summer recipes like this one: Chicken Broccoli Parmesan Casserole. Yummylicious!

Chicken Broccoli Parmesan Casserole

5) This week, one of my all-time favorite bands, Minibar, reunited for an anniversary show to celebrate the 11-year anniversary of their album, Road Movies. A fun evening with old friends at O’Briens.

Seeing my good friends, Minibar, playing at O'Briens in Santa Monica

6) A puppy slumber party! Miss Ellie and I are having a fun girls’ weekend with our little black Schnauzer friend, Sophie, from down the street.

Puppy Slumber Party!

7) I live for family and friends. But sometimes it’s nice just to take it easy and have a little date with myself. One of my favorite indulgences of being a single gal is to take an afternoon bath on a Friday afternoon with L’Occitane Foaming Lavender bath bubbles and a glass of Pinot Grigio. A serene start to the weekend!

Benefits of being a single gal

LOWS

This past year has taught me that there are times to hold on and times to let go. It’s not always so clear to see.After a particularly challenging day on Thursday, I came home to an unexpected little visitor.

My little visitor with a lesson

This little guy was sitting on my front stoop blocking my door (see bird on ledge in pic). It just looked at me but looked like it needed my help. I approached the door and it tried to fly but didn’t seem able to do so and landed on a plant nearby. I asked my friend Jennifer, across the street, what she thought I should do. She said she would take it and nurse it back to help. But when she & her daughter, Nora, approached, the bird crawled under the door to my stairwell. We decided to let it be.

But then I thought it might be thirsty, so I got a little plastic cup and cut it down to size so that the bird could reach the water without much effort. I took it into the stairwell and set it near the birdie. It didn’t go for it. I pushed the water closer and it flew on to the ledge of a window on my stairs. I was afraid it would hurt itself and would fall from this great height with (what I thought was) its broken wing. So I got a small box and tried to capture it just so I could bring it safely to the ground. It suddenly found its wings (and bravery) and took off towards the tree where its family lived.

I don’t think things like this are accidents. I believe them to be signs. Laugh if you will. But it was a powerful message and I got it loud and clear. If a bird wants to fly, it will fly. No other person or beverage or box or amount of love, hope or will is going to make it happen.

The bird has to do it himself. It taught me that I need to let go of trying to help someone who doesn’t want to be helped. In doing so, I hope they find their wings and fly. Even if they fall first.

May we all find OUR wings and fly.

 

Have a beautiful week, beauties!

 

xoxo,

BF

BF Asks: Share with me your High-Low this week!