Fireside reading. Coffee sipping. Sound sleeping. Card playing. Cooking and baking. Banjo Singing. Belly laughing. And resting. 

I’m happy and home. Chewing slowly and tasting every last flavor.

Saying cheers and clinking glasses. And stopping to reflect on the last year. It’s these moments that I remember life is a gift—with all it’s trials, failures, and successes.

I’ll probably ring in the new year with this homemade cosmo in hand. Mindful to savor its sweet notes and its tart ones too. Stopping for a moment to let it all sink in. This past year has been a gift with a couple more days to unwrap. Happy unwrapping!

The turkey’s in the oven filled with cranberry walnut stuffing. I snuck in some kale. Shhh, don’t tell. The green bean casserole is prepped. Cranberries are crackling on the stove. The rolls are rising. And my dad is smoking the other turkey outside in the Texas snow. You read that right. Texas snow! It’s a Christmas miracle no doubt. 

I’m off to finish cooking and soak up as much time with my family as possible. And maybe make a cup or two of this homemade hot chocolate I’m sharing over at Mint today. I hope your day is merry, bright, and filled with food that makes your pants too tight. Just the way it’s supposed to be. Merry Christmas my friends!

PS—marshmallows highly recommended with this.

If you live in the U.S., you know what today is. The day those defaming political ads quit running on TV. Maybe today is a bit hopeful, but tomorrow—I’m counting on you. The recent days have been too dark.

In high school I painted. My schedule was filled with art classes. I liked it that way. We learned about complimentary colors—something I probably learned as a child but didn’t really understand. Complimentary colors are funny. They sit across from each other on the color wheel. Some may say they’re complete opposites. But when you put them next to each other, they are brighter and more beautiful. They’re complimentary.

And yet they’re not. When you’re painting and trying to create black without using black, you add its complimentary color. If you want to make blue darker, you add orange. In a way they are at odds with each other. One moment their interaction is beautiful, unexpectedly beautiful, and the next moment it’s void of any color. Black. Lifeless. Defaming. Hopeless.

We’re created to be complimentary. Beautifully different, unique, opposite, and independent. Better together than apart. On a day marred by division, let’s celebrate our differences. I’m starting it off with this orange margarita and maybe a video or two of Kid President who taught me—Don’t be in a party, be a party!

We made it. Halfway across the country. With our loot and car attached. We said goodbye to our old home and hello to a new one. We unpacked globs of boxes, put together stupid amounts of Ikea furniture, and painted some of it too. High stress situations don’t always lead to the smartest decisions. Needless to say, I’m banned from painting furniture and reading Young House Love for awhile. They give me way too many ideas.

We started new jobs this week. My husband started his 2-year fellowship that brought us out east in the first place. I took a giant leap out of my comfort zone and started my own little design shoppe after a nudge from Fifth & Hazel. With a little change comes alot of change, I guess. Good change, but change none the less.

But one thing that hasn’t changed is my Sangria recipe. It’s a summer staple. With hints of lime, fresh squeezed orange juice, and a splash of tequila, it’s almost too good to be true. Cheers to change, a happy Fourth, and sips of sangria!

For the full recipe, check out my post at Mint.

It’s officially our last week of living in Chicago which is all sorts of bittersweet. Right now the bitter taste is overwhelming the sweet, but that will soon pass.

We started our married life here. It’s become home. We painted the walls a million different colors before settling on the right ones. We made many meals and shared them around our big, first-married-purchase, table. We’ve had tough conversations and watched $1 Red Box rentals on our hand-me-down, slip-covered couch from my youth. And we shared lots of laughter in every last square foot. This place has loved us well. I hope we’ve done likewise.

And this blog, that once began as a lifeline to our too-many-miles-away families, started here on this oversized IKEA desk. Thankfully it’s coming with me, which means you are too. And for that, I want to say thank you. Thank you for sticking with me through these crazy last couple months of moody and somewhat inconsistent posts. Thank you, too, for all your encouraging comments. They mean more to me than you’ll know.

So while we pack the Penske and trek out east, I want to leave you with a little something something. This week—Chemex + coffee giveaway from my favorite roasters and real life friends Fresh Ground Roasting! Next week—well, you’ll have to stay tuned.

Giveaway: My friends over at FreshGround Roasting are giving away 2 lovely gifts. First place winner gets a Chemex with filters plus one pound of FreshGround beans of your choice. Second place winner gets a 3-month subscription of FreshGround beans of your choice (1 lb. a month for 3 mo.). Giveaway runs from Monday, June 18 until Friday, June 22 at 10pm EST. Winners will be chosen at random using random.org and announced Saturday, June 23. Giveaway open to U.S. readers only.

To enter:
Leave a comment by telling me the the roast you wish you had brewed this morning from FreshGround. (My favorite roast is pictured above. But I’ve tried them all. Not a bad roast in the bunch.)

For one additional entry:
Tweet the following— “I just entered the Chemex + Coffee Bean giveaway over at @thefauxmartha sponsored by @fgroast http://wp.me/pmS3w-10S” and leave a comment saying you did.

Since you shouldn’t wait to get your hands on these beans, click here for a 15% discount and start shopping/brewing now! (You’ll see the discount represented when you check out.) To stay up to date, follow FreshGround Roasting on Twitter, Facebook, and sign up for their mailing list.

Giveaway is closed. Congrats to Mary Lynn and Danielle! 

One of my favorite people in this world is my sister. Based on our childhood, though, you would never have guessed that we’d grow up to like each other. I was the older leave-me-alone sister. Don’t play with my toys. Get out of my room. She had a habit of cutting the hair off of all her dolls so I had good reason to keep my doors shut and my pristine dolls safe. I wont even mention the time she stabbed me in the foot with a sharpened Little Mermaid pencil. Or the time I let her get in trouble (big trouble) for something I did.  No, I wont mention those times.

My little sister is getting married in a couple weeks. I couldn’t be more proud of who she has become. But I couldn’t be more sad at the time I wasted shutting my door on her as a tiny person. It wasn’t until the summer before I left for college that we got close. Really close. We’d spend every Saturday morning at Corner Bakery chatting about life over a bowl of swiss oatmeal and hazelnut coffee. A sacrifice for her the non-breakfast eater. Over summer and winter breaks, I’d usurp her days. Subconsciously, I think I was making up for lost time.

I am struck by the bond of sisterhood. It’s powerful. Strong enough to penetrate through the years. The good and the bad. Strong enough to make two very different people similar. We both have this annoying habit of picking our hair and popping our ears. Don’t ask. Strong enough to make me tear up while designing her wedding invitations and website. And strong enough to keep the doors open. To share every last ugly secret. To Ashleigh, my sister, I raise my glass and clink to you and your cranberry vodkas. To many more clinks but not all in the same night.

Be sure to catch my post over at Mint today!

So stop what you’re doing right now and start making this. It has to sit overnight. You’ll thank me later, I promise. Your mornings will be happier and cooler. Your forehead will perspire a bit less. And your freshly pressed (Huh? Not me.) shirt wont stick to your damp back. It’s a christmas miracle in July.

No brewing is involved. I’ll explain below.

Drip, drip, drip.

With a dash of cream.

All better.

Iced Coffee
recipe from Smitten Kitchen, makes about 6 drinks

1 c. coffee (medium-coarse grind)
4 1/2 c. water

1. Pour coffee and water into a bowl. Cover and let sit for 12 hours.
2. Pull out your coffee carafe and filter. Place filter in the opening of the carafe and pour coffee mixture. Once strained, you have your concentrate so to speak.
3. Fill glass with equal parts concentrate and water, plus ice cubs. Or if you’re like me, just add ice cubes to the concentrate. I like it blacker than black. Store leftover concentrate covered in fridge.
4. Celebrate the lack of perspiration over your morning cup of joe.
5. Finally, friends don’t let friends drink hot coffee in the summer. Spread the word!