Musings on Momentum

design a life you love

Gifts That Give Back

In my family we have a tradition of giving one another gifts that give back whenever possible.  It started between my parents and myself when I hit my twenties and realized that the small token gifts I was able to give them were not necessarily the best use of my money.  Each holiday season from that point on I began searching out causes to donate to and items that directly benefit the artisans that crafted them.  The way I see it, the majority of people in my life have well above and beyond what they could ever need.  Rather than give them yet another gift basket or more products that will sit in their cupboards, I would prefer to use the money I would spend on those items to honor them by making a real, tangible difference in the lives of others.

Now I know that not everyone appreciates that you bought a cow for a struggling family in a developing country rather than a physical gift for them.  That’s completely fine.  This type of gift giving isn’t for everyone but it is my hope that by sharing my family’s tradition, you might in turn be inspired to consider giving gifts that give back this holiday season.

Gifts that give back

Check out some of my favorite ideas for 2015 after the jump…

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Easy Peanut Brittle Recipe

When I was growing up I could always count on my grandparents making two treats on Christmas Day.  My grandfather would make what was in my humble opinion the most delicious homemade treat ever, peppermint ice cream, while my grandmother would make what was in my father’s humble opinion the most delicious homemade treat ever, peanut brittle.  Over the years both grandparents made an effort to teach all of us how to create these delights but, in all honesty, I was always terrified to attempt either of them both because they are ridiculously labor intensive and because it would make me really sad to create an end product that didn’t properly do justice to their originals.

Despite my trepidation I decided that I wanted to give peanut brittle a go last Christmas.  After discussing my grandmother’s recipe with my mother and being reminded of how absurdly challenging it was to get the peanut brittle to turn out well, I took to the internet.  I came across several similar microwave recipes, melded them all together and gave it my best shot, all the while assuming it would be an absolute disaster.  But wait…it wasn’t.  It wasn’t at all.  Somehow my crazy microwave witchery produced peanut brittle of the exact same taste, texture and consistency as my grandmother’s!

easy peanut brittle

Easy peanut brittle in Grandma’s tin, every bit as good as her original recipe.

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Christmas Decor to Put You In the Holiday Spirit

It’s official…the holiday season is in full swing and there is evidence of it everywhere, even in LA! Hollywood Boulevard kicked things off this past Sunday by shutting down for the annual Hollywood Christmas Parade.  Sunset Plaza followed suit and is now adorned in lights, turning it into a winter wonderland when the sun dips below the horizon each night.  Even the fifteen foot tall tree in my building’s lobby is up, there to greet me every morning as I go to work.  It is impossible to ignore that the holidays are all around.

With Christmas Eve just three weeks away I’m finding decorating influences everywhere.  If you’ve visited before and are familiar with my Halloween and Thanksgiving decor inspiration, these images of neutral and modern Christmas decor…with a twist…will not come as a surprise.  I’m finding that I am becoming increasingly clear on what my ideal aesthetic is the more I blog and the more I share with you which is a really neat thing!  So without further ado, let me share with you what is inspiring me this holiday season.

Christmas Decor Mantle

A perfectly muted mantle via Apartment Therapy.

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Give the Gift of a DIY Body Scrub

If the recent weather in Los Angeles was a person she would be just about the moodiest, most temperamental woman you’ve ever met.  She’d hold you captive with her beauty and then proceed to take you on the emotional roller coaster ride of your life only to ultimately kick you to the curb. That is how a large portion of us who live in LA are starting to feel.

It’s an unfathomably dry 85 degrees one day and then a damp 55 the next.  Back and forth, back and forth…I’ve lost track of how many times we have done the thirty degree swing dance in the last couple of weeks.  Suffice it to say that it is drying up and wreaking havoc on every living thing from the trees down to my Puggle.  We all want off this crazy ride.

Alas, I have found that there is not much to be done aside from chugging water, cranking up my humidifier, applying Kari Gran lip whip like it’s my job, and scrubbing down with this deliciously moisturizing DIY body scrub.

DIY Body Scrub Graphic

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