Traveling Near

It feels like trespassing, entering without invite into the home of another.

Literally taken, it is. 

Figuratively understood, well, that's where the fun begins.

That's what traveling is, right?

It is submersing yourself in the culture of another place for a few hours or a few weeks.

And yes, it is a stretch to reference Lincoln, NE as having a different culture than northwest Iowa, but even so, it's the example for today.

I've never felt like I needed to leave the country to see something new, gain perspective, or whatever other reasoning the wanderlust movement gives.  Something in my brain tells me that you can see the whole world and miss most of it, looking for the main event and flying past the backroads.

So here's to flyover-country cities,

Their brick streets and history,

One-of-a-kind restaurants,

Quirky bookstores and recommendations,

Empty coffeeshops and first-time orders,

Mellow winter days,

Film photographs,

Adventures, and good company.

May they never be in short supply.

- Grace

When Life Gives You Lemon Meringue Pie

Lemon Meringue Pie.

It's classic. 

It tastes like summer sunshine in late spring and standing barefoot in cool, green grass.

The sharp lemon filling meets fluffy, creamy meringue and the crust does perfectly in its background position.

It's like Don't Stop Believing by Journey: it's timeless, and should be introduced to everyone at least once as part of their initiation into the human experience.

To those who take one look and run: you poor, unfortunate souls have no idea what you're missing. 

This recipe is from a cookbook I received for my birthday, titled "Me, Myself, and Pie."  It's full of recipes for every event you could possibly need, with simple directions. and beautiful photos.

It's aesthetic as all get out.  I mean, look at that piece of pie.                      

Using the classic Lemon Meringue filling from the books, I used my own crust recipe, and topped the whole thing with a swiss meringue from Zoe Bakes (check her out on Instagram if you want to see some beautiful cakes and baking tutorials).

Now for a disclaimer: meringue is not impossible, but meringue can be very complicated if you're new to baking.  I watched it made once, failed the first time I tried (it was grainy, flat, and overcooked), but by the time I made it to this pie, I had a much better idea of what I was doing both wrong and right. 

Baking is an art, and the thing about art is that first drafts exist.  There are even projects that get tossed out.  First drafts might be less noticeable in a laptop trash folder, but they are rejects, accidents, and mess-ups nonetheless.  If you saw this post and thought, "I could never make that," just know that not too long ago, so did I.

Here I am, a few batches of meringue later, smarter, happier (because I have pie, duh), with a feeling of accomplishment that doesn't come from getting it right the first time. 

Look at baking like that.

Look at life in the same way. 

- Grace

Me & My Bullet Journal

I bought a planner for the first time this past year at the urging of the more organized people in our house.  Upon doing so, I was reminded of one of my favorite tumblr posts which, while giving college advice, highlighted this key bit of information:

"Buy a planner.

BUY a PLANNER.

USE THE PLANNER."

My right-brain shuddered in fear at the thought.

"BUT I WILL HAVE TO FOLLOW IT TO THE MINUTE," it said. "You're not GOOD at THAT." 

How true you are, right brain, but planners don't just come in one variety.

I have a Blue Sky planner for academic purposes and a bullet journal for my own creative purposes. 

The bullet journal is really more of an art project/personal journal than a planner, and I think I prefer it that way.  I copied most of the layouts from Pinterest, added a few of my own, and made some tabs.  It's a really fun way to keep track of the less time-oriented tasks of life while creating something at the same time. 

Here's a glimpse into my journal:

I have a few more pages which aren't pictured:
- Saving Up (organized by goal and amount)
- Big Goals (spaces for four major goals per month or one per week)
- A Year in Pixels (coloring one box per day by mood)
I'm especially excited to see how these look at the end of the year.

It's really fun how the things I find therapeutic line up exceptionally well with this type of journal:

1) checking off boxes
2) striking through tasks
3) collecting an inordinate amount of colored pens

Do you use a bullet journal?

- Grace