Lunchtime Links for January 29th, 2016

• Damn Delicious: 10-minute nacho cheese.
• BGSK: Birthday cake Rice Krispie Treats.
• Creme de la Crumb: Tomato basil Orzo soup.
• Gimme Some Oven: Roasted vegetable macaroni and cheese.
• The Pioneer Woman: Roasted chicken.

Lunchtime Links for January 28th, 2016

• Picky Palate: Mexican style chicken noodle soup.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Marble soft chocolate chip cookies.
• The Kitchn: Cold peanut sesame noodles with pan-seared chicken.
• The Comfort of Cooking: 3-ingredient Beignets.
• Two Peas and Their Pod: Cheesy bacon pull-apart bread.

Shake Shack - Holiday Ornament

I was very happy to see that Shake Shack offered a new Christmas ornament back in December, but this one took a little more work to get my hands on one.  In the same process as previous years, you could either buy the ornament separately, or get a free ornament with a $25+ gift card purchase. 

Long story short - the Shake Shack location I went to said they did not have ornaments/never received ornaments to sell, and gave me the "sample" ornament on their tree while insisting that it was not the "official" 2015 ornament, haha.  I was just happy to get the ornament after talking to a few people and waiting around, and yes, this penguin indeed was the official ornament that was also featured on their website.  I also love how Shake Shack has a holiday-themed design for their to-go bags and cups over the holidays - the little penguins are super cute!  I look forward to seeing what they offer for the holidays in 2016!

Lunchtime Links for January 27th, 2016

• Bakerella: Cookie Kisses.
• The Kitchn: Stir-fried chicken and cashews.
• Handle the Heat: Churro French toast.
• Kirbie's Cravings: One bowl microwave Lasagna.
• Paper and Stitch: Salted caramel hot chocolate with homemade salted caramel marshmallows.

2016 Calendars + Planners

I am a big fan of calendars and planners, and it's always fun to see all the new designs and themes that I can find in various stores at the end of the year.  I was so excited for a new collection of SugarPaper planners and calendars to come out at Target in December, and they are all super cute! I love the pale pink, gold, and black themes and it was very difficult to choose only a few.  In addition to the ones above I also got a pink notepad that has the same cover as the small planner in my photo - almost too pretty to use!

While I was in Japan back in September, I also picked up a Rilakkuma desk calendar and love seeing the cute pictures every day.  It's the perfect size for a desk calendar and the perfect amount of daily cuteness :o) 

Lunchtime Links for January 21st, 2016

• My Baking Addiction: Gooey butter cookies.
• The Kitchn: Marinara sauce.
• Cookies & Cups: Perfect garlic knots.
• Crazy for Crust: Valentine pudding cookies.
• Big Girls Small Kitchen: Hot grilled cheese pockets.

Lunchtime Links for January 20th, 2016

• Kirbie's Cravings: Nutella s'mores French toast.
• Creme de la Crumb: Southwest chicken salad.
• Damn Delicious: Pan fried dumplings.
• Oh, Sweet Basil: Milk chocolate cupcakes.
• My Baking Addiction: Cinnamon pull-apart bread.

Kate Spade - Rose Gold Accessories

I recently popped in to the new Bethesda Kate Spade store and I loved so many of the items they have out currently!  Kate Spade stores are always so colorful and fun to poke around in.  On this trip I noticed that they had a number of sparkly rose gold accessories, which are all super pretty in person! 

I loved this rose gold champagne necklace with the tiny little champagne glasses - too cute!

After spotting this rose gold card case and finding out it was a sale on sale item, I just had to get one! As you can see it's super sparkly, but what I love about it is that it is a coated glitter, so I don't have to worry about bits of glitter coming off, haha.  I can't wait to see what fun little items Kate Spade comes out with this season!

Lunchtime Links for January 19th, 2016

• Create Eat Happy: Matcha strawberry roll cake.
• Dessert for Two: Fettuccine Alfredo.
• My Baking Addiction: Cinnamon pull-apart bread.
• Crazy for Crust: Homemade cookies 'n cream Oreos.
• Averie Cooks: Peanut butter cup peanut butter bars.

Georgetown Cupcake - Chocolate Eggnog Fudge + Reindeer Munch Crunch Cupcakes

Back in December, I had a chance to get one of the new holiday flavors at Georgetown Cupcake - Reindeer Munch Crunch - and a free secret flavor that was holiday themed, the Chocolate Eggnog Fudge.

The Chocolate Eggnog Fudge cupcake is the Chocolate Eggnog cupcake with a delicious fudge core, and the Reindeer Munch Crunch cupcake is a "Valrhona chocolate cupcake with a peppermint chocolate ganache center, frosted with Callebaut white chocolate peppermint buttercream frosting, and topped with crushed peppermint and a drizzle of peppermint chocolate ganache".  I am admittedly not a huge fan of eggnog or peppermint flavors, so these won't be in my top 5 anytime soon.  However, I will say that the flavors were true to the descriptions, and anyone that is a fan of eggnog or peppermint would love these! I loved the extra little details like the nutmeg and the crushed peppermint, which made these very festive.  I can't wait to see the holiday cupcakes that they bring out this year! 

Shake Shack - Chick'n Shack

Of course I love the burgers at Shake Shack, but it's always exciting when a new menu item comes up - this one in particular looks amazing!

The Chick'n Shack is a crispy 100% all-natural and antibiotic-free chicken breast with lettuce, pickles and buttermilk herb mayo. 

This Chick'n Shack used to be only available at the Brooklyn locations, so I am super happy to hear that they will be available in the other locations now! I'm a huge fan of fried chicken so I have no doubt that this will be a new favorite in my book.  If you also love crispy chicken sandwiches or just want to try something besides a burger/hot dog at Shake Shack, be sure to try this one out! 

Lunchtime Links for January 13th, 2016

• Dessert for Two: Small-batch brownies.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Bang Bang crispy baked chicken.
• Damn Delicious: Sriracha hummus.
• Create Eat Happy: Chocolate magic cake.
• Brown Eyed Baker: Ground beef tacos.

Shake Shack - Gingerbread Shake

This beautifully crafted shake is Shake Shack's holiday Gingerbread shake, which consists of "Gingerbread spiced frozen custard topped with whipped cream and cinnamon cookie crumble".  I find myself enjoying gingerbread items more and more over the last few years - it's hard to believe that I never really liked it or bothered to try it when I was younger! 

The gingerbread flavor is strong but not overly spicy, and pairs perfectly with the creamy whipped cream.  The cinnamon cookie crumble is also delicious and adds a perfect amount of crunch to the shake.  This holiday shake was clearly another winner in my book! 

Lunchtime Links for January 12th, 2016

• Dessert for Two: M&M cookies.
• Oh, Sweet Basil: BBQ beef sandwiches.
• Brown Eyed Baker: Triple chocolate chunk muffins.
• The Comfort of Cooking: Garlic butter Rosemary rolls.
• Crazy for Crust: Skinny no-bake peanut butter bars.

Shake Shack - Christmas Cookie Shake

In the spirit of "belated holiday" posts, of course I had to share the holiday shakes that were offered at Shake Shack around mid-November through the very beginning of 2016!  Shakes are always available at Shake Shack throughout the year, but during the holidays they brought out the big guns- including this decadent Christmas Cookie shake pictured below!

This festive and enormous shake (it's hard to gauge the size but it's a very wide cup, haha) consisted of "Sugar cookie frozen custard topped with whipped cream and red and green sprinkles". The sugar cookie custard was super creamy and delicious, and the sprinkles added the perfect amount of holiday spirit haha. It reminded me more of a French Vanilla taste compared to a regular vanilla flavor. Of course I also loved their seasonal drink/shake cups with the cute penguins all around as well. I hope they bring these back again for the holidays this year! 

Lunchtime Links for January 11th, 2016

• Crazy for Crust: Golden Oreo brownies.
• Oh, Sweet Basil: Peanut butter Mississippi mud blondies.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Skinny cookies and cream mug cake.
• Paper & Stitch: Marbled Nutella marshmallows.
• Handle the Heat: Chocolate peanut butter banana muffins.

2015 National Christmas Tree

Yes, we are past the holiday season, but I have to celebrate a little bit longer with some Christmas-related posts, haha.  I always love going to see the National Christmas Tree in DC - every year that I've gone there's been a different design and it's such a festive place to visit.  This year, the tree had a very gold/metallic, very sparkly design, and the weather was perfect to go see the tree.  If you're in the DC area around the holidays be sure to go visit the beautiful tree! 

Lunchtime Links for January 7th, 2016

• Averie Cooks: Peanut butter cup cheesecake brownies.
• A Kitchen Addiction: Hot chocolate doughnuts.
• Damn Delicious: Parmesan garlic spaghetti.
• The First Year Blog: Champagne cupcakes.
• The Comfort of Cooking: Cheesy sausage and tomato pasta skillet.

Bath and Body Works - Red Velvet Cheer Candle

I'm a huge fan of red velvet cake, so it's not surprise that I also loved this Red Velvet Cheer holiday candle from Bath and Body Works!  The label is so cute and perfectly seasonal, especially with this freezing cold weather we've had in this area lately.  It smells like cocoa and cake, very sweet and delicious! Bath and Body Works stores are currently running their post-holidays semi-annual sale so be sure to grab one of these if you find one! If you're really looking to go all out with this scent, I believe there are corresponding Red Velvet Cheer bath products on sale as well!

Lunchtime Links for January 6th, 2016

• The Pioneer Woman: Spicy Lasagna hotdish.
• Averie Cooks: Gooey butter chocolate chip shortbread bars.
• Damn Delicious: Asian garlic noodles.
• Oh, Sweet Basil: Cookie butter bars.
• Crème de la Crumb: Toasted Ravioli with cheesy marinara sauce.

Gap Kids Mittens

I'm probably one of the few people that actually likes going to the mall before Christmas, haha.  I never mind the crowds, and I usually just take the time to walk around and browse the holiday sales.  I came across these fun mittens while looking through Gap/Gap Kids, and was pleasantly surprised to find that they were 50% off! They reminded me a little of Kate Spade's cute designs, and they are super thick and soft.  It has become really cold in the DC area lately, so they really have come in handy! 

Lunchtime Links for January 5th, 2016

• The Pioneer Woman: Snickerdoodles.
• Damn Delicious: Bacon wrapped Smokies.
• Kirbie's Cravings: Matcha snowball cookies.
• I Heart Naptime: Classic spaghetti.
• Love and Olive Oil: Triple chocolate cheesecake.

Shake Shack - January Custard Calendar

Shake Shack is back to its regularly scheduled weekly custard flavors, and this month we have the following:

1/1 - 1/3: Holiday Shakes
1/4 - 1/10: Miso Caramel
1/11 - 1/17: Oatmeal Creme Pie
1/18 - 1/24: Chocolate Banana
1/25 - 1/31: Red Velvet

The Red Velvet custard is a personal favorite of mine, so be sure to check that one out if you're interested at the end of the month!

Lunchtime Links for January 4th, 2016

• How Sweet It Is: Salted peanut butter shortbread.
• Crazy for Crust: Sparkling cider Bundt cake.
• Oh, Sweet Basil: Pesto meatball Panini.
• Creme de la Crumb: Vanilla cinnamon caramels.
• Love and Olive Oil: Gingerbread brownies.

Georgetown Cupcake - January Flavors

Happy 2016 everyone! It looks like Georgetown Cupcake has a great lineup of January-only cupcakes to start the year off right!

Chocolate Marshmallow Fudge - Chocolate cupcake cored and filled with fudge and topped with a marshmallow buttercream frosting, fudge star drizzle and sparkly white fondant snowflake

Chocolate S'more Chip - Graham cupcake studded with chocolate chips, cored and filled with marshmallow crème, dipped in chocolate ganache and topped with a sparkly white fondant snowflake

Cookies and Creme Cheesecake - Cookies and Creme cheesecake with cookie crust and cookie-infused buttercream frosting

Black and White - Valrhona chocolate cupcake studded with white Callebaut chocolate chips and topped with a twist of Callebaut white chocolate buttercream and Callebaut chocolate whipped ganache frosting