It has been a lovely, cozy, relaxing week here.  Now that school and the race are both done (for now), I have been finding the time to relax, listen to music, watch movies, read, cook, bake, and just generally let my stress mostly melt away.



I had a great time coming up with the song list for my mix and putting all of that together.  For some reason, an evening spent at my desk with a glass of wine, listening to music and picking out my favorite tracks reminds me quite happily of college (or high school, without the wine). Truth is, I’ve always been an avid mix maker, from back in the days of my dual cassette player boombox (clear plastic outside so I could see all the nifty colored wires inside) that I used to mix up some Dinosaur Jr., Black Sheep, Guns ‘n’ Roses, Pavement, Blake Babies, and The Smiths. Those were the days!



Part of my holiday plans involve baking batches of different decadent vegan cookies to bring home to my family — partly because it is an easy and inexpensive holiday gift (that’s just part of what they’re getting, though; don’t worry) but also because I enjoy showing them how delicious vegan, organic, un-pre-packaged food can be. Particularly food that was not served at an all-you-can-eat buffet such as the Golden Corral. Oh, but now I have said too much.





Tonight I tested out the chocolate chip recipe from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, and they came out really well, but I’m glad I did a test run because I can work out the kinks (and eat several of them) before bringing them to my family. Plus I just love baking. I worked in restaurants part time in high school and college and one of my jobs was baker. We didn’t do anything fancy at the restaurant — mainly loaves, sandwich buns, brownies, and cookies — but I loved the chance to go into work early, before most other employees were there and long before any customers arrived. I could blast my music and roll out that dough and just kind of do my thing all morning long. This week I’ve been reliving that a little bit, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed puttering around the kitchen while listening to my tunes. No uniform required here, though! I’ve been living in my favorite oversized Ducks sweatshirt, leggings, and sweater-knit mukluk slippers.

I also must admit that I thoroughly enjoy every chance to say the word mukluk. Go on now, say it. SAY IT. Fun, right?

In other news, my sore knee is still occasionally barking, so I have made it a point to rest this week and avoid making it any worse. No running again until I’m tip-top. I’ve gone to two easy yoga classes just to get moving and stretching, and on the whole it has added to my general feeling of coziness and relaxation.

It is seriously gemütlich and hyggelig up in here; I tell you what. Those are two more fun words to say, if you know how!  No, the English word cozy just doesn’t do it justice (even if that is one of my favorite words). Well, I hope that all of you are getting a chance to relax a bit and enjoy some winter Gemütlichkeit. Are you?