Dear 2011,

It’s been fun, strange, and terrifying, but most of all, exciting.

It’s been a year of change and discovery.

Thanks for everything.

Dear 2012,

I’m not big on resolutions, I feel like they’re just a set-up for failure. So, I’m keeping my goals for the year simple:

patience, patience, patience. learn some. 

eat a few new vegetables

be nicer to my body

get back into arts/crafts

learn to temper chocolate

try to remember that comparison kills joy

I’m looking forward to this new year. Let’s get into it.

Dear Friends,

I can’t even begin to get into how much your comments, and the fact that this little blog is even on your radar, mean to me. It’s a big, bad world of blogging and there’s a ton of things to look at, read, and be inspired by. Your support means the world.

I thank you from the deepest reaches of my little, ol’ heart. Truly.

So, to cap of 2011, I say we have a drink. I know many of us will be popping the corks off of some bubbly tonight and toasting to a brand new year with the ones we love the most.

My favorite guy and I will be staying in, after a long and much needed trip back home for the holidays. We’ll be lounging and sipping these cocktails with our pups. Soda water makes it bubbly, rosemary + ginger syrup bring aromatic, herbal sweetness, there’s a little squeeze of lime for some tang, and gin makes it all boozey and right.

Cheers!!

XO Cindy

Rosemary-Ginger Gin Cocktail

makes 1 drink

ice

2 ounces gin

1 tablespoon rosemary-ginger syrup

1 lime wedge

soda water to fill

Fill a rocks glass with ice and pour in the gin, syrup, squeeze the lime over the top, fill the glass with soda water and stir to combine. Toast and drink.

Rosemary-Ginger Syrup

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup water

2 inches ginger root, peeled and sliced

2-3 sprigs rosemary

Add sugar and water to a small saucepan and stir to combine. Add ginger and rosemary, heat to dissolve the sugar and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, then remove from heat. Allow ginger and rosemary to steep in the syrup as it cools to room temperature. Once cooled, remove ginger and rosemary (strain if needed) and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.