Peanut Butter Chocolate Dipped Cookies

For my birthday my mom sent me all of my old childhood cookbooks. It made me so happy and a little sad at the same time. But mostly happy because the best peanut butter cookie recipe is in one of the books! I had this idea because I love chocolate dipped cookies and sometimes around Christmas we will make shortbread chocolate dipped cookies. Anyways, I mostly wanted to do this because 1. the original peanut butter cookie recipe was at my finger tips and 2. because Clark gave me 3 packs of Butterfingers hearts for vday (my favorite Valentine's candy). And I knew we couldn't just eat them all so I wanted to try and do something different with some of them. 

Peanut Butter cookie recipe (seriously the only one I use):

1 cup butter

1 cup peanut butter

1 1/2 cup of sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/4 cup flour

Mix ingredients together. Bake at 350 for 8-9 minutes until cookies have set. I like my cookies soft and chewy so if you like them a little more crunchy go for a few more minutes. 

Chocolate Dip

-About a half a bag of Butterfingers hearts (I think they have eggs at Easter and bells at Christmas so it doesn't have to be hearts)

-I melted them in the microwave in a tall cup (but big enough to fit the cookies) that way the chocolate was taller and not wide as it would have been in a bowl. Anyways, I set it for 1 minutes and then mixed it up. It ended up taking 3 minutes to melt completely but I would recommend checking every 30sec to a minute and mixing the chocolate. 

Then once your cookies are baked and cooled. Dip in the chocolate. Set the cookies on wax paper and have the wax paper on a cutting board or something similar because after I had done one batch I put them in the fridge to cool and so the chocolate would harden up faster. They were SO GOOD!
love, Carlee 

Goals revisited: 23 before 24

Clark took this photo of me at Christmas time at his mom's house. We were all laying around watching xmas movies and I fell asleep haha. Thought it would be the perfect photo to go with my goals post ;) 

1. Get my dog to do the trick where a treat sits on his nose until I say he can have it. Like this.
Totally got him to do this about a month into 2015. Now he can even do it longer and longer. A few times he has done it where he actually flips it and catches it from his nose. It is awesome. I don't know how to get him to do it every time though. Working on it. 

2. Take photos of the wisteria this spring and an outfit post with it as the background. Here
I did take photos of the wisteria in the spring but I didn't really take outfit photos maybe this year! 

3. Do a 5K or 10K.
This is one of those goals that I didn't accomplish this year! I signed up for one in May but it got canceled but I got my money back. But this one is all on me. I should have signed up for another one but I didn't. I guess it wasn't a top priority. 

4. Go home to Washington State and visit my family. Watch my little brothers play bball, eat at the taco wagon, see old best friends.
I got to do all these things when I went home in March. I loved it. 

5. Fly somewhere new. (TRAVEL!) View my St. Croix travel guide here!
We went to St. Croix in the Caribbean and it was amazing. It was our first time in the Caribbean and to the Virgin Islands. I would definitely recommend St. Croix its awesome. 

6. Get my passport updated with new last name Here.
Yep. It was about time I did this. After 2 years of being married. 

7. Have a certain dollar amount in my business bank account at the end of 2015. (It’s a secret. You wouldn’t understand. Jk. But I have it written down, it’s a personal goal.)
Yep. I was actually nervous about this because in November I bought a new computer for my business and as you might know computers take up a chuck of change but December was a really good month business wise so I ended up with my goal by the end of the year. But it was really down to the wire. 

8. Logo Redesign/Blog and Shop makeover. Yep
I did make over my Etsy shop and blog but I still haven't updated my website. Which is horrible. It is in Wordpress and I am totally not used to it so every time I go to update I have to relearn everything and it takes a long time. But I just need to do it. A new goal for 2016. 

9. Visit 2 new State Parks in North Carolina (One of my long term goals is to visit all the NC state parks while we are stationed here) Eno River. Weymouth Woods. 
Totally did this and it was awesome! I try to explore as much as possible and I always look for new State Parks to discover because I figured if the state is wanting to preserve these places then there must be something worth while and there usually is. 

10. Visit my friend in Mississippi or Texas (she’ll be in both places) while she is at military training. This did happen and isn’t going too. :( 

11. Go to Washington DC. Yes- video here 
Clark and I went to DC over Memorial Day for 4 days. It was great. He got to explore so much and it was Clark's first time in DC and my second. We loved the zoo and riding bikes around the National Mall. I also loved the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. 

12. Make homemade biscuits and stew. Yep
Yes, not much to say about this. 

13. Get bangs (maybe.....) YEP, FINALLY DID IT! 
Totally did this in October and I loved them for a good 3 months. I still love them. But I am in the process of growing them out. I am not sure if I want to grow them 100% but I am seeing how long it takes to grow them out and fit them into my pony tail haha. It's experiment so we will see. 

14. 52 weeks of flowers on my littlesloth_ instagram. Look up hashtag #littleslothflowers
Didn't finish this. 

15. Design 12 new mugs for 2015. One each month or there about.Check out all my mugs
Yep and I hope to have 6 new mug designs in 2016 by July. So about 1 a month again. 

16. Have 4 different product in Little Sloth. Write now I have greeting cards and mugs, so have 2 more.
I didn't do this. I still only had greeting cards and mugs by the end of the year. But that's okay. I am planning on adding a new product in March. 

17. Have 1,000 followers on my business instagram  (littlesloth_)
Yes currently at 1200. I probably could be at more but I have not been posting regularly the last couple of months so I really need to get on that. 

18. Make DIY pet felt ornaments. Here.
Yes! It was my favorite DIY I have ever done and all my family loved them. I gave them to everyone for Christmas and it was the best thing ever! I am pretty sure they all thought so too so that is good. 

19. Finish a paint-by-number. Here
Yes. I think I actually ended up doing 4-5 paint-by-numbers. 

20. Complete scrapbook Down on Paper Project for the year of 2015.
Finished this up. I got a few weeks behind at points but I did finish. I didn't end up sharing all my pages on here because well I got behind and also it wasn't kind of boring to share scrapbooking pages on the blog. But the scrapbook is something I will totally love for years and years to come. I wasn't planning on doing on for 2016 but I knew I had to because I loved it so much. But instead of 8 pages a month like 2015, I am gonna do 4 pages a month in 2016. 

21. Have 4,000 sales in my Etsy shop this time next year.
Yes. I accomplished this in January of 2016 so just a month before my year was up. I am also lucky because December was a really good month for business. 

22. Get organized with Little Sloth. Stock cards and mugs. Get packaging ready before hand. Just be better organized business wise.
Yes I did pretty good on this one. I bought two new shelving units from Ikea and printed lots of stock. I have fallen behind on this recently but still better than I was. 

23. Go to a baseball game.  Post here
yep. 

So out of 23 goals for my 23rd year on earth. I got all of them accomplished except 4 so that is pretty good. I will be sharing my 24 before 25 next week! 
love, Carlee 

72 hour guide to Savannah GA

Day 1: 
Go to Savannah National Wildlife Refuge. Then check in to your hotel. (Key to a success weekend trip is to stay in downtown Savannah so you can walk most places.) Walk to a couple squares and parks and then to River Street and find a great place to eat on the water. Walk around after dinner and browse shops on river street and maybe get some candy at River Street Sweets! Make sure to checkout some of the fun places lite up at night like Leopolds Ice Cream and Savannah Theater they both have cool neon signs that look awesome at night.

Day 2:
On day two drive out to Fort Pulaski and Tybee Island. I would recommend checking the Fort Pulaski website and see if there are any reenactments or Civil War demonstrations going on and what time they are at. I think they have guided tours everyday at 1130am. After that drive out to Tybee Island and stop at The Crab Shack for lunch. Then drive to the lighthouse and climb it and also play on the beach. Shelling is great we even found some starfish. After that drive back into downtown Savannah. I would recommend getting some ice cream at Leopolds in the afternoon between lunch and dinner. The line will be pretty long but not as long as after dinner. Take your ice cream and walk down to river street and take the free tag boat ferry across the river to see Savannah from the other side. For dinner I would recommend going to Tequila's Town it is a great Mexican Restaurant. (If you are feeling that.)  If not there are other great restaurants on river street.

Day 3:
On day three I would recommend going to the Wormsloe Plantation around 9am when they open. It is the best to go early because there will be less people and you'll have more space to do whatever you want. After the plantation I would drive to Bonaventure Cemetery and check it out. It is a huge old cemetery with so many old gravestones (obviously this trip requires a car so if your driving then no problem but if you fly into Savannah then I would recommend renting a car.) Get lunch in the Starland district- Green Truck Pub as really good reviews but the Sly's Sliders and Flies is really good as well. Make sure to check out Forsyth Park! And on your last day make sure to go on a ghost tour. 

Food:
Cotton Exchange Tavern
Tequila's Town
The Crab Shack (Tybee Island)
Sly's Sliders and Fries
Leopolds Ice Cream
River Street Sweets

Small drives from downtown Savannah:
Tybee Island Light
Cockspur Light
Tybee Island beaches
Fort Pulaski
Wormsloe Plantation
Savannah National Wildlife Refuge

Downtown Savannah things to do:
Ghost tour (MUST!!!)
Cathedral of St. John the Baptist
Walk most or all of the squares
Forsyth Park
Take the free tug boat ferry across the river and back
Historic Downtown
Bonaventure Cemetery
River Street

Things I would do/eat if I went back:
Old Fort Jackson
Pie Society
Wiley's Champion BBQ
Green Truck Pub
Go on another ghost tour
Stay at the Thunderbird motel


View more details from our Savannah trip within each blog post. Day 1. Day 2. Day 3 w/ a video. Wormsloe Plantation. Tybee Island. Savannah National Wildlife Refuge.

Big Magic: Elizabeth Gilbert

This book was perfect. Just what I need. I loved it. I think I had 12 sticky notes in the book marking quotes. The book really spoke to me. The book was about creativity and living without fear. Elizabeth Gilbert is the author of the book Eat Pray Love as well as many other novels. And as you probably know Eat Pray Love was a major success and turned into a movie with Julia Roberts. So she knows what success feels like but also what failure and working hard looks like. I wasn't even necessarily

inspired by her success I was more inspired by her philosophy on creativity and making. I loved when she said "if you like making and creating then that is reason enough to make." Basically you don't need to make a million dollars or sell stuff or get recognition if you love doing something that is reason enough to do it.

I also loved when she spoke about fear. Everyone is afraid and she was clinging to being afraid as her identifier. Which is so boring because everyone is afraid. That totally spoke to me because I have been fearful lately, of the future, among other things. But reading the book made me realize that everyone is afraid of something as some point so being afraid isn't special so don't let that identify you because that is boring.

My favorite quotes:

"The sooner and more passionately you get married to this idea - that it is ultimately entirely up to you - the better off you'll be."

"And always remember that people's judgements about you are none of your business."

"I am not exclusively chained to the grind of mere survival."

"It has taken me years to learn this, but it does seem to be the case that if I am not actively creating something, then I am probably actively destroying something (myself, a relationship or my own mind.)"

"If the art legitimates cruelty, I think the art is not worth having." - Adam Phillips

"Interesting outcomes, after all, are just awful outcomes with the volume of drama turned way down."

And it's funny because I think this book spoke more to me then just creativity or fear (which what it was about) but it kind of made me want to apply her philosophy to just life in general. Not to be afraid and if you love doing something that is reason enough to do it whether it is creating or just living a life you want to. And you don't need to make a million dollars or even one dollar. If you love the life your living then that is 100% reason enough. If not, then maybe change some things up to be happy with the life your living. Idk. Anyways, I love it. 
love, Carlee

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Savannah GA - Day 3 (+ a video)

Sunday was our last full day in Savannah which was also Valentine's Day. First we went to Wormsloe Plantation. Then after we wanted to see Bonaventure Cemetery because I kept reading really good reviews on it and it was a must see while in Savannah. We drove around the cemetery for a while and it is huge. There were so many old graves and we didn't have a map or anything, I am sure there are sections specified on a map probably at the welcome center.  After the cemetery we wanted to go eat lunch at the Green Truck Pub which is in the Starland district of Savannah (rumor has it, that the Starland district is up and coming.) Anyways, we got there and realized it was closed on Sundays so I did a quick Google search and we found a place about a block away called Sly's Sliders and Flies which is a little burger place. They have slider burgers of all different flavors and mini hotdogs. I got one regular slider and one pulled pork slider and Clark got one regular and one rueben slider. They were really good! While waiting for our food they had one of those old school video games and it was free so Clark and I played and I ended up beating him! It was awesome haha. 

After lunch we went to the hotel and then walked to Forsyth Park. I knew it was something I wanted to see because it is like the main park in Savannah. And the fountain (pictured above) they dye the water green for St. Patricks day because the city was founded by an Irish man. So that is pretty neat. We walked the majority of the park and even got to watch a couple get married and exchange their wedding vows in front of the fountain. It was literally so sweet. Around 4 pm we drove back out to Fort Pulaski because I wanted to see Cockspur Lighthouse. I heard that you can walk to it at low tide and low tide this day was around 5:30pm. Unfortunately we had to leave the park by 5pm because it closes so we couldn't stay to long. We got out pretty far but couldn't walk all the way there. Maybe next time. After that we went back to the hotel to relax for a while and order some pizza. We didn't want to go out to dinner because Valentines Day is always super busy so we just ordered in pizza and we were we were gonna be walking a lot on our ghost walk later that night. 

We went on a haunted ghost tour. We actually wanted to do it on Saturday but it was sold out by the time we looks so we booked it for Sunday because it was something that I definitely wanted to do because we learned that Savannah is the most haunted city in the USA according to Duke University department of paranormal activity which is a real thing. (didn’t know it). Anyways, we did the Blue Orb Uncensored Adults Only tour and our tour guide was Adam and he was awesome and really funny. The tour started at 730 pm and lasted 2 hours and we saw about 6 spots and were told creepy stories from each stop. Mostly stories about murders or suicides that happened at the house and then supposed ghost that people see (I am still a skeptic but it was cool and creepy nonetheless) We also learned that Savannah is built upon dead bodies. They had a huge cemetery that is not just a little square cemetery so you know that the streets paved over bodies. There also have been reports of bodies found in walls of the old homes in Savannah and also buried in the basement. Which is just creepy even if you don’t believe in the paranormal. It was a fun tour and I would totally recommend it because we learned a lot more about Savannah’s pass that we wouldn't have other wised known. Also, I want to now read the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil which is a true story set in Savannah. 

Just a little video of our trip. I noticed the quality on my DSLR for the video is TERRIBLE! From now on I would rather make videos on my phone. The quality is better. 

love, Carlee

Hat: American Eagle

Coat & Bag: Target

Leggings: Old Navy

Scarf: xmas gift

Boots: Marshalls

Wormsloe Plantation

I woke up really early on Sunday morning. I ended up finishing my book and finally waking up Clark at 8am. Then we ate breakfast. Our plan was originally to go to this plantation after lunch but since we were up so early we decided to go in the morning which was better because when we were there they weren’t many people. Only one other couple. We got to the plantation around 9:30am and I was immediately blown away with just the entrance gate and the first sight of the oak trees leading down the long dirt road to the original homestead. We parked and paid at the visitors center and then drove in. The dirt road with the 100 year old oaks and Spanish moss is actually over a mile long and the drive is gorgeous. Have you seen the movie The Last Song with Miley Cyrus well this plantation is suppose to be the boyfriend home and they go through the gates and drive down the oak lined road. 

You can’t actually visit the current standing plantation because the family still lives in it. 9 generations later. But you can see if from the dirt road. How weird would it be that your property is a tourist attraction? I think it would be odd. Anyways I am glad that they let us go on the property and tour. The original homestead is down by the river (now mostly marsh land) and what is left standing is manly the cement walls that surrounded the home. We noticed that a lot of old cement was made with a mixture of seashells which we thought was totally weird because we had not seen that anywhere else, ever. But when we went into the museum we learned that it was actually really strong and a readily available material. 

There was also nice trails to walk and old gravesite of the original family and a colonial homestead rebuild site to show you how it would have looked back in the day. It was crazy to me that Savannah GA was founded in 1733 and it was a bustling town before we were even an independent country. That is so long ago. The plantation site was very pretty and the mile long oak covered dirt road was definitely a highlight. It really was so gorgeous! And totally worth the visit in my opinion. 

love, Carlee

Jeans: TJ Maxx

Poncho: Forever 21

Shoes: Belk

Purse: Target

Tybee Island

On Saturday, the main thing I wanted to do was go out to Tybee Island. We saw Fort Pulaski first (read more from yesterdays post) it was awesome and 100% recommend. Then we headed to Tybee Island and first to the lighthouse. I wanted to do this on Saturday because the weather was suppose to be the nicest out of all the days of the weekend and that turned out to be accurate so I am glad we went on Saturday. Anyways, we found the lighthouse which wasn’t hard since it is the tallest in Georgia. We bought our tickets and went to climb the tower. The tower was first build in the 1700s but had since we rebuild 3 or 4 times. 

It was actually one of the more pleasant lighthouses I have climbed. The stairs were in really good shape and it was a pretty easy climb with 4 or 5 landings. We got to the top and you can go out on the steel balcony that circles the top of the light. A lot of people were totally freaked out cause we were pretty high up there. I ended up taking a photo of a couple and then lost Clark up there. I loved it and the view from the top. Turns out Clark was pretty freaked out as well and liked standing next to the wall and not the railing. Haha I don’t blame him it was high. 

After the lighthouse we went to lunch at The Crab Shack which we saw a much of signs for and had pretty good reviews. I had the pulled pork sandwich, corn, and Brunswick stew and Clark had the deviled crab and clam crowder. It was good and the atmosphere was really cool and they even had an alligator pond which I was convinced that the alligators were fake at first because none of them were moving but I saw a few move a little and our waitress said that they are hibernating right now so they don’t move much but in the summer they are super active.  After that we headed back out to the beach to go shelling (searching for shells) the weather was really nice. 

We found some really pretty shells and a bunch of dead hard starfish! I have seen starfish in Washington and Oregon but never dead ones so we took 3 home. I have them soaking in rubbing alcohol to get the smell out. We also found a beach swing and just relaxed and watching the waves! So pretty. 
love, Carlee

Scarf: Nordstrom Rack

Hat & Cardigan & Leggings: American Eagle

Shoes: Nike

Bag: Target

Shirt: Old Navy

Savannah GA - Day 2

Our second day in Savannah was Saturday which was our first full day in Savannah. I really wanted to head out to see Fort Pulaski and Tybee Island on Saturday. I saw on the map where Fort Pulaski was but I googled it for directions and just to note the directions are not correct on Google Maps haha it leads you to a housing cult-de-sac. Just follow highway 80 out toward Tybee Island and you will see signs for Fort Pulaski. Easy peasy! We got to the fort about 1040am and it was perfect timing because there was a Civil War canon firing at 11am. I have always wanted to see a Civil War reenactment or demonstration and we finally got to. You do have to pay to get into the fort but since Clark is military it is free to get into any national monument or park which is amazing.

The Civil War demonstration was awesome. They had drummers and everything and they were wearing wool uniforms like the union soldiers would have been wearing back in the 1800s. We also got to learn more about the fort while the park rangers were talking about how it was under attack and the union soldiers took the fort in 30 hours. After the demonstration we walked around the fort more and we even saw Cockspur Island Light from the top of the fort which was cool. Then we drove the 2 more miles to Tybee Island and spent some time there (a whole post on that tomorrow.)

After Tybee Island we went back to our hotel and parked our car. We knew we had to go to Leopold's Ice Cream it is suppose to be the 5th most famous ice cream shop in the world which is insane because I love ice cream my mom even texted me and wanted to make sure I went haha. So we walked to Leopold's around 230pm and the line was a little long (out the door haha) but I am sure it is way worse sometimes and we knew we had to have it so we got some ice cream! It was SO GOOD. I got the Chocolate Chewies and Cream and Mocha in a waffle cone. And Clark got Peanut Butter Chip and Banana. Then we walked to the nearest square which was just around the corner and ate the ice cream. After that we walked down to river street again and went on the free tug boat ferry ride which goes across the river and back in a triangle! It was pretty cool to see Savannah from across the river and also it was free so you can't beat that. We walked around more and listen to music then around 5pm we walked to Tequila's Town which is a Mexican Restaurant and it has such good reviews we knew we had to try it. It was really great. Then we walked back to our hotel (so much walking) my fitbit steps were looking great haha!

We ended up relaxing at the hotel for a while and getting those free cookies they put out at 7pm. haha then going out for a little nightlife fun. We checkout out the bar saddlebags and wanted to go to the dueling piano bar but didn't want to pay the cover haha. It was a great second day in Savannah!
love, Carlee

Leggings & Cardigan & Hat: American Eagle

Scarf: Nordstrom Rack

Shoes: Nike

Shirt: Old Navy