A Day of Thanks

Thank you. For everything. For being you, and for accepting me as I am. You all bring unbelievable joy to my life and I thank God everyday for you.

birthday baby cakes

We celebrated Irwin's birthday over the weekend, had a mini staycation downtown, got a suite at the InterContinental - and I wanted to live there F O R E V E R. Had a few drinks with a couple of his close friends at Fuse and laughed at all the 18+ looking cats who were most likely our age or older. Sunday Irwin's parents had family over for his birthday, his cousin's birthday, and for his cousin who was visiting with her 5 month old baby, Davis. I wanted to bite his cheeks they were so fat. Fat babies are the best. And his lashes! Wow. I wanted to keep him.

Then there was SOOOooo much good food! Who needs Boiling Crab when Irwin's mom makes the BEST garlic crab EVER. Feasted on so much food, and indulged in the two cakes I made (1 by request from his mom, the other.. I just wanted to make it) I had decided to take a break from making cake pops and venture into my second goal - cakes. The first cake is Zuccotto, which is an Italian dessert cake that I used to make all the time.. like 2 years ago. It's almost like tiramisu but firmer. Aside from Paula Deen, Giada is my favorite when it comes to following dessert recipes which is where I found the Zuccotto recipe. The actual birthday cake was a recipe from Julia Child, her Reine de Saba, or Chocolate Almond cake. In my head, I had the idea to have a thin slice of each cake, one on top of the other, and oh em gee. It was heaven in my mouth. The chocolate cake ended up being more dense than I thought, but it was perfect pairing it with a slice of Zuccotto.

All in all, it was a great weekend.

Happy Birthday Baby!

This post is dedicated to my Love. Happy Birthday Baby, I love you soooooooo much!

Look: Fall

The leaves are finally starting to change color, looks like Fall FINALLY arrived. Got this semi-fur jacket from Next, and I'm totally in love with it. This will be completely worn out by Spring.

H&M sheer tank, Forever 21 maxi skirt, Next fur jacket

Look: Fur Vest Maxi Skirt

Currently loving maxi skirts. Gives even more length to my legs and provides the right look for a transition into Fall. The fur vest is perfect for semi-chilly/sunny days, or at times when I want to add a little something to a simple or monochromatic outfit.

H&M fur vest, Forever 21 maxi skirt, Steve Madden clogs, Banana Republic top

Happy Birthday Doofus!!!

This post is dedicated to the most ridiculous bro a girl could ask for. Happy Birthday Doofus. You're old now. Too old.

Look: Army Green and Leopard

This fall weather has definitely had its up's and down's, and I'm loving every bit of it. Warm weather one day, cold and rainy the next - it's definitely keeping me on my toes. One one of the sunny/warm days, I decided to bring out my latest purchase - the Jeffrey Campbell Leopard Pixie. I had been searching for two things: 1. a platform/wedge ankle boot 2. a corset pump with leopard or red pattern in the back. The very next day, I found these, the most beautiful combination of the shoes I had been looking for from bare style. I was fairly giddy when I found them and it was as simple as click, click, bought.

H&M sheer tank and jeans, vintage blouse, F21 belt, Jeffrey Campbell Leopard Pixie Platform

My Best Friend's Wedding

One of my bff's is officially a "Mrs.". And I couldn't be happier for her. The ceremony was at St. Ignatius Church, on the campus where I introduced her to him about 6 years ago. It was a tad bit cold, and a tad bit rainy, but the ceremony was gorgeous, no one fell, the Best Man and I remembered to bow, I didn't trip, she didn't trip, and somehow we were able to keep our tears in so as not to ruin our makeup for pictures. I was afraid being Maid of Honor was going to be stressful, but somehow Janelle had everything covered and she kept her cool.

After her wedding and reception, we had to go to yet another wedding for Irwin's college friend, but I couldn't wait to take off the dress and shoes. My dress was squeezing me so tight I couldn't eat right and I couldn't breathe. Remember that scene from Pirates of the Caribbean where Elizabeth couldn't breathe and she passed out? Yeah, that's how I felt. After the second wedding, I changed into my PJ's (the only spare clothing I had with me since we only stayed in the hotel for one night) and requested that we go to McDonalds where I promptly ordered a 20 piece chicken mcnugget meal and large fries. The perfect way to end a wedding filled Saturday.

Rattle Pops

My cousin had a baby shower last weekend in LA, and unfortunately I couldn't attend. However, I decided to test my Cake Pop skills and made these baby "Rattle Pops" as one of my gifts for her shower. I also test drove my packaging skills to ensure that these babies made it to her party in one piece. And they did.

I had rushed to make these and ship them on time that I didn't bother to take pictures of them. Thankfully, my cousin's husband did.

My beautiful cousin posing with the Rattle Pops...

Cupcake Pops

I've been a cake pop machine the past two weeks. After perfecting my technique, I decided to create cupcake pops, just in time for my friend's birthday. And I got to use the lovely cupcake apron my friend Adelita brought from Portland, which coincidentally matched my cupcake pops. After completing the first pop, I was so happy I almost didn't want to give them away. The best part? The red M&M that I was using as a "cherry" was actually cherry flavored, courtesy of holiday M&M's. I can't wait to make some more. Who's birthday is next? ^_^

Keith Urban

Keith Urban came to work last week, and while I can't remember the songs that Janelle let me listen to in college, I was still excited to see him. He's extremely good looking in person and his guitar playing/singing made my heart melt. Nicole Kidman = lucky woman. Although I'm still not used to the name Sunday Rose. Sorry Keith.

Twilight/Giants Cake Pops

Since Halloween was just around the corner, I decided to make some Halloween-ish inspired cake pops, and decided that the theme would be Twilight. Two different flavored cake pops, one for Team Edward and the other for Team Jacob. Team Edward's was red velvet with cream cheese frosting and a vanilla coating with white sugar crystals (cuz Edward "sparkles" - don't laugh, I totally got a kick out of that), and Team Jacob's was Devil's chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting and almond and chocolate sprinkles (cuz he's... hairy, and brown).

I had some leftover batter and decided to make some Giants cake pops since they are (winning - so far) playing in the World Series. What better way to show my SF love? These were a mix of the red velvet and chocolate flavors, but with the same designs - orange edible glitter with almonds and chocolate sprinkles. I brought them to work and gave some away over the wedding weekend. Got some pretty awesome feedback on them. Can't wait to make more.