What I am Watching: Netflix & Amazon Prime

Being in college gives me a lot more time to watch the types of TV shows that I like, but having been home, my family introduced me to a bunch of new shows. Everyone in my family has different tastes when it comes to watching TV so one of my favorite things is that I can watch whatever I want, whenever I want. Here are some of my favorites that I have been watching or recently finished. 

     When I was home for break, my mom showed me Victoria for the first time, and my sister introduced me to The Good Place. All of these shows make up the most random combination possible. Most people know about House of Cards, but if you don't, it is a legal thriller about corrupt politicians in Washington D.C.. Another thriller-esque show is Riverdale. Most people have heard of this show by now, but I really liked it. It was just enough teenage drama to be interesting, but it was different from all the other shows on Netflix. It is fun change of pace.
      For more of a funny sort of show, you have The Good Place on Netflix. Eleanor ends up in the good place when she was supposed to be in the bad place. It is a funny show about the troubles she accidentally causes and her attempts to be a better person. I love how these are short episodes; perfect for watching right before bed. The Great British Baking show is another funnier show on Netflix, that is, if you like baking or cooking shows. The hosts are amazing, and every season I get attached to random contestants. This is my favorite show of the bunch, and if you haven't seen it yet, you need to.
       On Amazon Prime, Victoria is the best there is. It is about Queen Victoria and her time as a monarch. Only the first season is out at the moment, but you can bet I am impatiently waiting for the second season to be released. This show is similar to The Crown on Netflix, but less serious in a way. You may also be able to watch this on your local PBS channel.
      I am always looking for new shows or movies to watch. If you have any recommendations, let me know!

What are your favorite TV shows?

xoxo,

Maddie

8 Ways to Up Your Coffee Game

Annnnd, we are back to school! What does this mean? If you are thinking an increasing in coffee consumption then you might just be correct. I love my coffee, but that being said, coffee with a splash of almond milk can be boring. I love going out for coffee, but in Madison, it seems hard to get a drink without paying over $5 (no thanks!). Instead of going out for coffee when a change is needed, I have come up with 8 ways to make your morning coffee more exciting. 

| Flavored Syrup |

You can just buy the flavored syrup you so love to get at a coffee shop. They are sold at most grocery stores and on amazon. Just add a splash to your coffee to instantly amp it up. If you are feeling more adventurous, and want to save extra money, make your own syrup. There are tons of recipes out there that only involve sugar, flavoring and water!

| Add Flavored Extract |

If you don't want to have the added sugars found in flavored syrups, extracts are a great way to go. I like adding vanilla or cinnamon extract to change up my coffee. BE CAREFUL WITH PEPPERMINT EXTRACT... one time I put too much in and my lips tingled for over a 1/2 hour. 

| Use Cream or Whole Milk |

I loved to add whole milk to my coffee in the mornings before I had to stop having milk. It makes the coffee so much creamier and what is not to like about that? You can even make your own creamers with just milk and extracts. This is such an easy way to make your cup of Joe seem fancier. 

| Make Coffee Ice Cubes |

Are you an iced coffee type of person? Then if you haven't made coffee ice cubes yet, you are missing out. Having watered down coffee is no longer an issue. Just take your leftover coffee one morning, pour it into an ice cube tray and freeze! I also love adding these to peanut butter smoothies instead of normal ice. 

| Cinnamon |

This is probably the simplest, and cheapest way to spice up your coffee, literally. Just sprinkle in some cinnamon and mix it up. This adds a unique sweetness to your drink that plain sugar just won't do. By adding cinnamon, you are making your coffee healthier due to the health benefits of cinnamon. 

| Ice Cream |

Affogado. This is really all the explanation necessary. What could be better than coffee over a scoop of ice cream? Don't limit yourself to just vanilla ice cream. Any flavor will work. I love to have caramel based ice creams with a shot of expresso. This is my favorite guilty pleasure in the summer. (with a bunch of Lactaid pills of course) 

| Salt |

Bitter coffee is no fun. I have never tried it, but supposedly if you add salt to bitter coffee it, it with create a smoother taste. If you try this, let me know, I have always been interested in this idea, but never remember it when I have bitter coffee.

| Sweeten Condensed Milk |

Vietnamese iced coffee is a thing for a reason. It is simply just adding sweetened condensed milk into your cup, then hot coffee. This can be made either iced or hot, but it looks so pretty iced that I would recommend it this way. 

Coffee, Coffee, Coffee - The Gilmore Girls 

xoxo,

Maddie 

Thursday Three

Finally I am back to writing a Thrusday Three. One of the reasons I didn't write them over break (other than being lazy) was that I didn't take picture of anything other than the food I baked. This semester I am going to try to take more pictures so that ,if nothing else, I can at least make sure to post on Thursdays every week. Here was what happened this week:

|1|

This Tuesday was the first day of classes. It is so overwhelming to get the syllabus and see how much work you have to do. It makes me want to drop every class. That being said, some of my classes seem really interesting so the work won't seem as bad. I am in two political science classes, a psych class, and an English class. Wish me luck this semester!

|2|

Best discovery of my life: goat milk ice cream. Since finding out I am lactose intolerant, I have been on the search for ice cream I can eat. This doesn't make me feel sick at all (!) and the flavors are so good. There is a lot less lactose in goat milk, and it is easier to digest which helps me so much. They put the grainy, non-dairy ice cream to shame. The sea salt caramel is my favorite, and you can find it here. 

|3|

Last semester I was having roommate issues, and it was making my time at school harder than it needed to be. I decided to switch to a single and so far I love it. I am in a new dorm as well, and I have already met more people than I knew in my old one. I love having some space to myself. I was able to decorate it how I like as well, so it is more comfortable to be in. 

How was your week?

xoxo,

Maddie

Life Lately

So over two weeks later and I am finally back. I had the great goal of writing a blog post everyday over winter break so I could have a ton to fall back on when I got busy. Yeah, that didn't happen. With having no structure to my day, I did almost nothing. That being said, I still managed to have a great break meeting up with friends and doing the things I can't do at school. (bake)

I baked almost too much. At least every other day I was in the kitchen making muffins, cakes, dessert, etc. My favorite things that I made were Lemon-raspberry muffins I adapted from this recipe and macaron (!).  I have been trying to make macaron for year, and this was the first time it worked out. Here are some of the treats I baked. 

One of the first things I made after Christmas were oatmeal chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin cookies. I love a good oatmeal raisin and so does my dad which made this a treat for us. My mom hates raisin so they don't appear too often in our house. 

I also made several savory lunches and dinners. This was a shrimp scampi pizza that I made the recipe for. It was so good, would you be interested in me sharing the recipe? I also made a great kale and quinoa salad a couple times. 

I have always loved muffins so of course I made three different kinds to freeze and bring back to school with me. I made coffee muffins, morning glory muffins and lemon-raspberry muffins (pictured). I can't wait to eat them this semester. 

The shining moment of my cooking this month was my macaron. It was the first, and then second, time that they actually worked. I have had such bad luck with them in the past. I filled the first batch with 1/2 three-berry buttercream and 1/2 chocolate ganache, and then the second batch was 1/2 strawberry buttercream and 1/2 chocolate butter cream. 

My mom and I also made chocolate covered biscotti. I will never turn down biscotti, but I still don't have it very often. I love my moms biscotti so much that I continuously kept sneaking a few throughout the weeks. 

I also made a chocolate banana bread and chocolate peanut butter muffins. I adored the banana bread since it wasn't too chocolatey, but still delicious. The muffins I didn't like as much, but both of my siblings loved them so that is a plus. 

I also went to Chicago for a weekend to visit my grandparents. I never get to see them alone, so this was a nice treat. I spent part of the day shopping and then I had a great dinner at their house. The next morning we went to Walker Bros. for pancakes which is my favorite place in the world for breakfast. (no exaggeration) Later on I went a super cute patisserie for lunch and got a ham and cheese croissant along with a cappuccino. 

I spent the remainder of my break watching TV shows with my mom (we love The Great British Baking Show and Victoria). As well as reading, lots of reading. I think I read around 7-9 books in a month. Just making up for all I didn't read over the semester I guess. 

Now that the school year has started again I am hoping to get into a schedule where I can set aside a certain amount of time each week for blogging so I don't keep randomly forgetting to write a post. 

See you soon!

xoxo,

Maddie

Reading Recently

Within one week of being home for winter break, I read more than I did the entire semester. During the semester, I would read a chapter or two of a book as a way to relax before going to bed. It was really nice to give my eyes a rest from a screen, but that was really the only time I found for pleasure reading. It has been so nice to read for fun this winter break, so here are some of my favorites that I have read recently. 

| Pancakes in Paris |
A true story of an American who follows his dream of living in Paris by opening up an American Style diner. It is an entertaining book of struggles life in France as a business owner and the friendships he makes along the way. I would recommend this book to anyone who has had the idea to own a restaurant or just loves reading about Paris.

| Beartown |
Maybe one of my favorite books here. A hockey town deals with struggles of survival. I won't say too much about the plot so I don't give anything away, but this book was hard to put down. This isn't a happy or cheerful book, but I loved it none the less. The writing draws you into the small town as it attempts to survie through a junior level hockey team.

| Hillbilly Elegy |
UW Madison gave out copies of this book, and since everyone seemed to recommend it, I knew I should read it. Hillbilly Elegy has become a classic in its own right and I believe everyone should read it. A story of a man growing up in a poor, small town and his advancement and change as a person. The new version of the American dream.

| Garden of the Beasts |
The Story of the US ambassador's daughter during the rise of Hitler. It is a totally different way to view the situation. The books speaks a bit of the politics of the time, especially between the ambassador and others in the US gov't, but it mainly focuses on Martha and her changing impressions and relations with the Nazi regime.

| A Fall of Marigolds |
There are two stories that end up linking together in the end. One of Clara, a nurse on Ellis Island, struggles with the idea of returning to the mainland after the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire killed the man she loved. The story is of Taryn, who lost her husband in the World Trade Center on 9/11. These two stories both tell of a women struggling with the new life they have, but then something happens to each of them that brings them purpose.

What have you read recently?

xoxo,

Maddie 

Thursday Three

Happy 2018 everyone! I wish I could say I had an exciting week to update you all on for the first Thursday three of the year, but that isn't the case. I pretty much just had some much needed relaxing. It is so nice to be home from school so I can spend time with my family, bake all day, and see my old friends. Here is what I did this week:

|1|

Speaking of baking, I have been spending all of my time in the kitchen. I have made chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, a healthy spice cake, marshmallows along with nice lunches and dinner with my mom. I love to cook so this has been the best part of being home. This was a shrimp scampi flatbread, so good. 

|2|

I am getting my wisdom teeth taken out tomorrow (wish me luck) so I have spent this week prepping.  I went on a wild goose chase all around where I live, in order to find my favorite yogurt. Being lactose intolerant, I have found that Siggis is the only kind of yogurt that I can eat and still feel good. I really wanted my favorite flavor, pumpkin spice, so I was willing to drive all over to find it. 

|3|

My family has a tradition of going to Door County over New Years Weekend every year. I love being up there in the winter because there are less tourists, and it is just so pretty. Snow was everywhere. We got to go out for breakfast at my favorite place, read by the fire all weekend and explore new stores and coffee shops. 

How was your week?

xoxo,

Maddie 

2018 Goals

     I wouldn't say that 2017 was my year, but I am determined to make 2018 better. I have always been the person who plans out their whole life and my life has turned out completely different than how I planned. I fell out of love with soccer, I didn't go to a dream college etc. That being said it wasn't all bad.

     Looking back on my goals for 2017, I was actually able to accomplish them. (Here are the goals). I did figure out how to eat a healthier lunch more often, especially during high school, and I have been able to continue that a bit now. I have also learned out to cook real food, as opposed to just brownies and cookies. I make dinner for myself each night in college and it is probably the change I am the most proud of. Finally I also tried a lot of new foods. Seafood in general has shifted form being just okay, to being my favorite food group. I have also fell in love with avocados, kiwi and broccoli.Food has definitely become a new passion. 

     I fell short on my goals of worrying less, spending less time on social media and working out in new ways. I still just like to run and I worry about everything all of the time. Spending less time on social media continues to be a goal of mine. Here are the rest of the goals for 2018. 

| Find a Way to Destress |

I won't lie, when I am stressed I eat or workout, both to the extreme. I want to find a way to destress that doesn't invovle me eating all of the food in sight, and something more than just going for a run. Running really does help, but I can't just go for a run every time I am stressed or worried. I need to find something else so if you have any idea, let me know. 

| Be More Social |

I am not the most social person. Joining a sorority this year was key for me, because it made me put myself out there. I meet so many great girls through Greek life and I want to continue this outside of it. I'd love to be more confident in order to even introduce myself to people and make new friends.

| Figure out Get Health |

Sounds weird, but it seems like I can't eat too many thing without feeling sick. I have been working with a doctor to try to figure things out, but so far there is no reason found. I really just want to figure out what is wrong, and what I can do to feel better because I know it will help everything else improve. 

| Travel Somewhere |

There is nothing I like more than discovering new places and researching my dream vacation. I can't help but feel stuck in Wisconsin every once in a while. I have always lived in the same town and I got to college at the big state school. Don't get me wrong, I really do love this state, but something different would also be nice. I want to finally take all of the research I have done for various locations and actually go. 

| Blog Consistently| 

I used to have a pattern with what days I posted and how many days a week. Going to college messed that all up because I am way busier than I thought I would be. I would like to find a routine so I can be better around about posting more with high quality content. 

The rest of the things are pretty self explanatory, but all are important to me in making next year better. Maintaining my GPA will probably be impossible (I got a 4.00!) but I still want it to be as high as it can be. Overall I want to make 2018 a year about becoming more confident in who I am and making myself a better person in general. 

What are your goals for 2018?

xoxo,

Maddie