My mom, aunt, two cousins, and a dear friend have resurrected the traditional Girls Night Out with the Girls Night In. We rotate each month as hostess, each bringing something to eat and something to share. (This is the same group of ladies who joined me last fall for a Pinterest Potluck Party.) It has become the perfect opportunity to try new recipes on a familiar (and sometimes all-too-honest!) crowd.

On Saturday, as an unseasonably warm winter day turned bitterly cold at dusk, our small group gathered at my mom’s house for a cozy and relaxing dinner. I was asked to bring an appetizer, which is a departure from my usual potluck assignment: dessert.

Eager to try a new (and savory) recipe, I clicked over to Pinterest, which lead me to this scrumptious, salty, soup-inspired cheese dip, originally posted by Elizabeth’s Edible Experience.

Served with sea salt pita chips, the dip was a huge hit. Judging by the small amount left in my baking dish (which my mom saved in her refrigerator for later), I am guaranteed to serve it again.

French Onion Soup Dip

Ingredients

4 bacon slices, cooked, cooled, and crumbled
3 tablespoons of butter
2 large yellow onions, diced
4 ounces Gruyère cheese, shredded
2 tablespoons green onions, chopped
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup sour cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Cook the bacon, either by frying it in a skillet or (my preferred method) baking it in an oven. (To bake your bacon: Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminium foil. Lay out the bacon and place into a cold oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and allow the bacon to cook for 20 minutes. Remove the bacon from the oven and allow to cool on paper towels.)

Melt the butter in a pan and add the diced yellow onions. Sauté the onions on medium-high heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat to low and cook for another 10-20 minutes or until the onions are brown, stirring occasionally.

Transfer the yellow onions to a mixing bowl and allow to cool slightly. Add the shredded Gruyère cheese, green onions, mayonnaise, sour cream, salt, and pepper, and mix together well.

Pour the mixture into a ceramic baking dish that has been lightly coated with cooking spray. Top the mixture with a few tablespoons of grated Gruyère cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until the dip is golden brown and bubbling. Sprinkle a tablespoon or two of green onions on top before serving. Serve alongside sea salt pita chips or small slices of French bread, either toasted or untoasted.

“Take the time to come home to yourself every day.”
– Robin Casarjean, writer

I stumbled upon that quote several weeks ago and something about it gave me pause. Perhaps it is because we are at the beginning of a fresh new year. Or maybe it’s because my constant travel makes me long for home like never before.

Whatever the reason, the quote got me thinking about what it means to be happy. To be truly, blissfully, over-the-moon with giddiness and glee. The more I simmer on the ideas of happiness and home, the more often I return to the same conclusion: happiness in life is not about STUFF.

That soul-calming sensation, you see, is about EXPERIENCES. About connecting with one another. Making memories. Examining how these happenings have branded you in the best way possible.

I am very eager – as I have already explained – to attend Alt Summit later this month in Salt Lake City. But as I fill my Google Reader with RSS feeds from the various bloggers who will speak, I have become even more cautious not to confuse consumerism with character.

So much of what makes today’s blogs popular is the stuff we think we need, the stuff we’re told to buy. I love browsing Pinterest as much as the next girl, but I am also wholly cognizant not to make curating (and the subsequent purchasing) a form of happiness, an avenue of experience.

Retail therapy does occasionally make me feel better. But countless blogs and brands want spending money to be a routine occurrence  Just because buying new shoes is easy as sending a text message doesn’t make it a replacement for feeling.

In 2013, strive to have more meaningful experiences. Participate. Create experiences for yourself. Invite others to do the same. You will be amazed at the change that comes.

“There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love.”

– Sophia Loren, actress

Later this month I will board an airplane in Omaha, bound for the equally cold landscape of Salt Lake City. The reason? Alt Summit 2013. It’s a multi-day conference designed for bloggers and creatives who are looking to get inspired, get noticed, and meet new faces.

This will mark my first Alt conference. From the countless blog posts I have read by previous attendees, I’m certain the experience will be engaging, enlightening, highly fashionable, and just plain fun. And although I don’t consider myself a lifestyle blogger, I do view the conference as an opportunity to network, potentially refine my writing/editing skills, and discover new partnerships alongside Jessica McKay of COOP and Birdhouse Interior Design.

Jessica and I became fast friends a few years ago (say that five times fast!) after we met via Twitter. Since then we have collaborated on a variety of projects (me writing for COOP, her helping with my interior design projects at home). We balance each other quite well – both personally and professionally – and I’m rather eager to investigate opportunities for the Birdhouse and COOP brands.

Have you attended an Alt conference? What advice or suggestions can you pass along? Until then, see you in Salt Lake City!

“I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate.”

– Julia Child, chef

Preparing the sweet came easier to me than the savory, which probably explains my mouth full of metal. A cavity here, a root canal there is no match for a scrumptious dessert prepared with tender, loving care.

This bundt cake recipe is a constant reminder of that. In my early thirties, I accepted my kitchen as my own and slowly learned culinary basics. I scoured the web (and pestered my sister) for easy recipes that would buoy my confidence.

And in the beginning, there was bundt cake. (Or, more specifically, a bundt pan handed down from my late grandma, Dorothy Townley.) Ever so carefully I experimented with a variety of bundt cake recipes, knowing full well that the pan makes it pretty.

The Fall Time Pumpkin Cake recipe carefully clipped from a newspaper coupon many years ago has proven to be both foolproof and one of my favorites. When your pallet craves something sweet that’s beyond chocolate, consider this squash-inspired dessert.

Fall Time Pumpkin Cake

1 package yellow cake mix

3/4 cup sugar

1 can pumpkin, 15 ounces

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 large eggs at room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a bundt pan. Combine all ingredients in the order listed above until well blended, by hand or using an electric mixer. Transfer batter to bundt pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Allow cake to completely cool before removing from the bundt pan. Serve with whipped topping.

“I always entertain great hopes.”
– Robert Frost, poet

We have arrived at a blank page once again. The successes and failures, the heartbreak and healing, the good decisions and those we may forever question, can be physically shelved. Yesterday was 2012.

And today? Today is 2013. It’s a new beginning to whatever depths we choose. We can opt to drag the baggage of the previous year into this shiny new place. Or we can make the decision to do better. To be better. Make those changes – be they large or small – we have talked about for months … maybe even years.

In the spirit of all that is January 1, I wanted to share with you my five personal promises for the new year. Some are big; others, not so much. But I have found the best motivator for change is to give my wants and longings a voice. And this seems like the perfect place to do just that.

1. Pen my next book. May 2013 will mark three years since Nerdy Thirty was published. Since then I have written my thesis and earned a master’s degree. I have also planned a wedding and – the best part! – got married. There are simply no more excuses on which I can pin my delay. Another book is in me, and the topic is already being developed.

2. Host happy hour at home. You may be thinking to yourself, A cheeseboard and wine? That’s her idea of a resolution? I know, I know. At first I dismissed this one completely. But I realized this shift in at-home relaxation comes with it quality time with my beloved husband – something we often lack in our busy lives. Turning off the television, putting away our iPhones, and uncorking a bottle of red (and a bottle of white) can only yield good things.

3. Read every single day. Not just tweets and Facebook updates and emails. I unwrapped six new books for Christmas and have countless more to read before I sleep. I’m best in the day’s early dawn hours and find that to be the perfect time to savor a few pages. (I do understand, however, the perils of trying to read after at-home happy hour. So see? I’m being realistic with my goals.)

4. Send more handwritten correspondence. The written word is one of my purest pleasures in life. I routinely send handwritten notes and cards to family and friends. This year, I’m pushing myself to do even more. When the urge (and convenience) to communicate via email occurs, I will close my MacBook Air, grab a pen, and mail one of the hundreds of pieces of stationery I have collected over the years.

5. Forgive and forget. Now this one touches the heart a bit more. I’m a natural born people pleaser; which means that when friends and family upset me, I swallow my emotions and let them fester. My negative feelings toward others are never given a voice, so they tend to materialize elsewhere. It’s an immature way to handle it all, so I am making the decision to do better. I will forgive others when they hurt me and simply move on. Life is too short to embrace such pettiness and pointless squabbling.

Created with Haiku Deck, the free presentation app for iPad

Now, dear reader, it is your turn. Give your promises for 2013 a voice. Post them below – even if it’s anonymously. Let’s support one another in living our best lives this year. We are the only ones holding us back.