Me + Power Sander + The Weekend =

 A new fun project, of course! 

Fact, my room is a crazy space, you really can't imagine. Its the epicenter of my creations and also my attempts to clothe myself. Another fact, I'm slowly reorganizing and creating a more functional living space.

A few months ago I was at my favorite place, Good Will, and I stumbled upon this beauty... I was in love and at that moment I decided I NEEDED a vanity. I however, was not there to purchase furniture and I'm a firm believer that if its meant to be mine, the next time I come back it will still be there.... Over a month passed before I made it back... low and behold, there was my beloved vanity waiting for me to whisk it away in my little red wagon....okay, I was REALLY excited. It was friday, that means 9:00 I could plug in my sander get that baby cleaned up and refinished and have it in my room by the end of the weekend... Mission accomplished!

Bailey's and coffee cupcakes anyone?

OH MY GOODNESS!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH MY GOODNESS!

These cupcakes were hands down the best (chocolate) thing to ever grace my counter top. I think I ate three of them, and that's saying something, coming from a girl who doesn't normally eat the finished product! Maybe it was my love for coffee, maybe it was my love for chocolate, and maybe it was my nostalgic lust for my mom's homemade baileys that sparked this creation but regardless, these three flavors came together to form a cupcake trifecta.

Last Friday marked the last day that my coworker would be with the company and as a goodbye treat I asked her to pick this month's cupcake - Chocolate, Fruity, or Savory (like pumpkin) and obviously she chose chocolate... I had already decided after making those boozy little tequila cakes that at some point I'd like to try chocolate and bailey's so when she said chocolate I was presented the perfect opportunity to run with the idea. All day at work I mulled over the perfect combination of chocolate and bailey's cupcake, and decided coffee would be a good addition to the mix. Coffee naturally brings out the flavor in chocolate, people put bailey's in their coffee, baileys and chocolate icecream make a mudslide(right?) and chocolate and coffee make the mocha,  I mean come on, can you say love triangle? anyway, I figured out what I was going to do. a chocolate cupcake, with coffee custard filling and a bailey's buttercream frosting. BEST IDEA EVER!

 Get your basic chocolate cake recipe and add some coffee and baileys to it. bake that. grab some instant vanilla pudding and add coffee to that (I was winging this, didn't know it would actually work, good news, it does - Beautifully) and then make a buttercream frosting base... add some bailey's to taste, assemble and top with a lone coffee bean (this little bean really packs a punch at the end) and VIOLA. This recipe sorta just came out, like it was meant to be. I didnt have anything written down and I spent a lot of time thinking "God, I hope this works out okay" but... I've really said enough I think... so I'll leave you with one more picture.

Care Kits Version 2.0

A while back I decided I was going to make care kits to keep in my car so I have something to give out to the homeless when I pass, rather than tossing some pocket change that generally wouldn't even buy a bus fare. So I had set out to Costco and the dollar store in search of "the right things" to fill my bags. The first kits turned out okay, though I was greatly overwhelmed by my want to give everything that someone might need and the realistic capacity of a gallon size bag. I crammed in a toothbrush and toothpaste, soap and a washcloth, snacks, bandaids, and the most appreciated item, a new pair of socks. A couple weeks ago I gave away my last kit, so once again it was off to Costco, this time with a little more focus. I knew that this time my packs were going to be centered around warmth - what can I provide that will help keep people warm and dry and provide basic needs? This is what I came up with. 

1 pair of mittens

1 pair of socks

2 pairs of hand warmers

2 protein bars

2 garbage bags (for water proofing belongings)

chapstick

1 pack of gum

1 fruit cup

1 water bottle

1 pack of kleenex

1 mini first aid kit

I have to say, I'm REALLY excited about these ones, and the first morning I had them done I ended up with the opportunity to give one away. Boy, was he ever excited! "I just hit the jackpot! This is AWESOME!" I can't tell you how special it is to see someone light up like that man did. I only wish I had already put in the little notes of encouragement. There is so much value in knowing that someone out there has compassion for you and there is such great reward in reaching out and sharing your compassion with others. 

Okay, Okay. Sooo maybe you're wondering what this cost me.... all in all I ended up spending about $120 to make 12 kits, with some supplies left over. that puts each kit at $10 which honestly is really not that bad considering what you're getting out of it (or in this case giving). All in all, I'd have to say that this round was much more successful than the last. Now I just need to figure out a way to get more people involved. I'd love to be able to make 20 or 30 kits and drop half of them off at a local outreach program, but perhaps I should take a few of these ones over, since I never feel like I get rid of them as quickly as I'd like. That could be next step. :)

anyone want a margarita cupcake?

Work has been going really well for me. Last month I found out I am in charge of a company objective - the objective that involves all the "fun" company activities. Yup, I'm the leader of the fun committee. Part of me wonders if I didn't totally set myself up for this, but either way I'm not complaining. As much of a hassle or stress that planning events can be, its something I really enjoy. I'm a huge fan of the finished product. which brings us these lovely cupcakes!

Lime cupcakes with a tequila and lime buttercream frosting.. mmm the frosting was amazing!!! I served these as dessert at our company's "Taco Tuesday"

the cupcake was super easy, I cheated on these (I'll admit it) so it was just a box of your favorite cake mix, substitute 1/2 the water for tequila, and add the zest of two limes. The buttercream frosting on made on the fly- some butter, a little vegetable shortening, powdered sugar, some tequila, some zested lime, and the juice of the two limes I zested earlier. it was all done to taste... I found myself multiple times in the living room asking my roommate "do you get a little hint of tequila yet?.... how 'bout now??" but as they say hard work pays off. Everyone loved them and seemed to get a kick out of the boozy  little guys. ta da!

Starbucks Art Show

Right before my birthday I finally decided that I was going to look into showing some of the wax work that I've done over the last year or so and started off with an E-mail to this lady that organizes the U-District Artwalks. I sent her a couple samples of the work I wanted to display and she immediately responded, offering me a spot at the Starbucks down the street from my house. HOW AWESOME IS THAT!?! I was completely stoked. September was a really good month for me. It was so rewarding to see all of the time that I had put into these pieces finally pay off. There was such an excellent response to my work and I even sold one by the end of the month.

 When it finally came time for take down in mid October, I messaged Gail to confirm a good time and on the spot, she extended Starbucks wall space to me for another month. I had plenty of other pieces to choose from but ended up making 5 new ones within that week to have something that, to me, seemed more cohesive. That was one of the most stressful weeks, my car had broken down finally when my coolant system decided to malfunction, I had new paintings to complete and install and I was trying to figure out a way to and from work, but all the crazy ended REALLY well.

A Milestone.

I turned 21  back in September! 

Figure it's something worth mentioning since this opens up a whole new world of cooking for me. HelllllllloOo wine poached pears and fish and drunken cupcakes (this month's work cupcakes are gonna be Margarita Cupcakes for our Taco Party, I promise I'll report back!) oh the possibilities are endless... 

Here, Have a Cupcake.

First off I owe you a cupcake post. I'm pretty sure that you haven't seen the carrot cake cupcakes I made and frankly, I think they turned out rather adorable.

Plus who can deny carrot cake and cream cheese frosting?!

I just used one of my basic carrot cake recipes and whipped up a quick batch of tasty cream cheese frosting.... the kicker on this project was those little carrots you see....I made each of them and let me tell you.

2 candy carrots per cupcake X 48 cupcakes = a lot of time - a lot of sanity... Never again. not for carrot cake... next time the smashed chocolate cookie topping will be enough. 

New Resolution

#1 Yes, I know it's November.

#2 No I haven't entirely abandoned this blog, yet.... It still crosses my mind and I still have the intention of using it (on a more regular basis). 

With that said... I honestly can't remember the last time I made a post and the list of everything that has happened between that time and now seems astronomical. There have been dozens of cupcakes made, a Halloween party thrown, new projects at work, MAJOR car problems, the flu, art shows (and sales!), tote bags, silk screening, new workout routines,  and I even brought home my old VHS/DVD player (which was probably a mistake). I will be trying to elaborate on some of those a bit more over the next few weeks but the main point of this to state one my new goals.

To post something at least once a week for.  

Ta da!

My OH My.... it's July...

not only is it July... it mid-July.... this is going to be a super short post tonight but I need to do something here! It's been so neglected.

I've got a lot to update on... some really fun projects and cute pictures.....

chalkboards
cupcakes
fabric dye
new art

so much to come! I promise.

have you seen my room?

 So, considering this last weekend was father's day I decided to go home to visit with the family. it actually turned into a rather productive day for me.

I got to play fetch with Maddie for a large chunk of may afternoon..

Found my mint plant and two sunflowers were the only living things left from my garden.... which was actually rather remarkable considering the neglect.

 I took a trip to Good Will and was lucky enough to find an awesome "me" sized chair (and that super cool cheetah mug) for $20. SCORE!!! it didn't even smell bad and it fit into the corner of my room perfectly!

Now I really just need my art table so I can get some work done and get things organized... slowly but surly things are coming together and I'm feeling more at home.


there are so many projects i want to try now and i really need to figure out a way to better use the vertical space in my house. The ceilings are SO high. it seems wrong to not have things more evenly distributed... maybe its just me?

 I'm ready to be settled in...

the big move

so as you noticed... may was less than a productive month for my blog.

(i feel like i'll be doing a lot of apologizing for that)

May was a HUGE month for me.... mostly because I have moved into a new place, got a car, sister's 18th birthday, graduation... yada yada yada. Most importantly.... I'm living in the epicenter of awesome and loving every minute of it. 

Moving in has been a relatively smooth process... lots to juggle between work and trying to settle in but its going nicely... there's lots of cleaning to be done and this old house needs a lot of TLC but it's coming along nicely, and my roommates seems pretty eager to see things come together too, so thats always a good sign (I think)

anywho

a lot of my evenings are being spent cleaning up a room or decorating a little...i'm working in a new running schedule too since I'll be doing the color run in Portland come September, figure I should probably start running again. but yeah... this is my new place.... I love the high ceilings... and did I mention the location already? 'Cause its awesome!!!!!!! I can walk to everything!

Ok. I gotta run to work. :) check in with you guys later!

Another Batch of Cupcakes

So I was a little late with this month's cupcakes... the first friday... was the first, go figure and i totally missed that one... and the next one...... my friday cupcake thing turned into more of a monday cupcake thing but hey... what can you do. the good news is, they got done and were AWESOME!

On the menu this month were a creation of my own... Blackberry filled lemon cupcakes with a lemon cream cheese frosting... did I mention the blackberry filling? mmmmm. These actually turned out exactly how I envisioned them.

Lemon Cupcakes

3 c flour

1 T baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 c unsalted butter, room temp

2 c sugar

4 lg eggs

zest of two lemons

2 T lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla

1 c buttermilk

 

It followed the usual, mix the dry, cream the butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time then the lemon zest, and mix it all together alternating the buttermilk, vanilla and lemon juice with the flour mixture... for more detailed instructions check out this blog. I used the cake recipe shown there.

 

the frosting was basic.. I used the concepts from my first batch of cream cheese frosting (if you recall it was orange and delicious) and instead of adding orange peel to my cream cheese, powdered sugar concoction...I added the zest of two lemons. Go figure!

the blackberry filling was simple too, two bags of blackberries, a cup of sugar, and lemon juice from a lemon or two...(I cant really remember.. I was in a lemon zesting/squeezing frenzy and almost killed a whole bag of lemons since I doubled the recipe...well all but the frosting (I decided to use that sparingly this time and only made half my original recipe, mostly out of laziness)

So there you have it!!! 

SO TASTY!!!!!! 

The only down side I can see to this is how quickly next month's batch of cupcakes are sneaking up on me. I should probably start thinking about what I'm gonna make this time. 

May cupcakes

This morning I mentioned May's birthday cupcakes were to die for... they REALLY were.

After I made the first batch of cupcakes, I was talking to my best friend about them... and we brought up our love for chocolate, raspberry and cream cheese combination and it got me thinking... i need to make a chocolate raspberry cream cheese cupcake! HELL YES! However I couldn't find a good recipe for each of the parts i wanted to it was kind of a mix and match from my recipe book..

I used the same awesome chocolate cake recipe as last time... added white chocolate to the cream cheese frosting instead of orange, and made a simple raspberry filling... thats right my friends... FILLING.

these cupcakes were AMAZING! it'll be hard to make something better...(i'm already late on my cupcakes for this month because I got a car and was moving over the weekend...there's a lot to catch up on!!!)

sad ending to this story. (and also why I don't have a picture of the awesome filling) I had asked that someone save me a cupcake at home... and luckily when i got home there were actually 2 cupcakes saved.. just for me.... i thought i'd be patient and enjoy it after dinner.... and waited and waited and waited... and by the time i went up to the fridge to grab my amazing cupcake.... there was nothing but an empty plate. I was devastated...crushed... oh so angry! but yeah...
may was a good batch.

Movin' on up!

Do you know what this means?

I'M MOVING!!!!!!

woohoo!

So obviously, part of this month has been spent looking for a place to move to. That was kind of a pain to juggle since we all know I have such a hard time being productive after work... but luckily I had someone to help me look. I just had to worry about showing up. Hard work pays off and I've found the perfect place to start.

I'm super stoked to have an area that's just mine... that has a door... and a closet... and a RUG!!!! oh man! this is gonna be awesome! Needless to say this weekend can't come soon enough. I get my moving truck Saturday afternoon and Sunday night I'll be crawling into bed in my new room... in my new(old)house... with my new roommates... in a new city... 

does life get much better?

I swear I'm still alive

Holy sweet mother of Pearl!

Hey guys... May's almost over, did you know that?

CRAZY....

I haven't even gotten to tell you anything about the raspberry filled chocolate cupcakes with white chocolate cream cheese frosting (to die for!), my big move to the U-District (which I'll blame my lack of updating on), the new/final art project in my wax series(which is gonna be awesome), folk life... there's so much to talk about. I keep telling people "oh i'm gonna update my blog tonight" and then one thing after another takes priority (especially sleep) and now i'm looking at June 1st on friday and that means more cupcakes. I gotta get this up to date!

good news though.... its gonna happen... somehow, maybe over the next few days... while I anxiously await the weekend....i'll get you guys some pictures and try and catch you up before we move onto the next month....

I fail..I know.

Off to work now though :)
stay productive!

Kubota Garden

Today was another lovely day in Seattle. My sister and I planned to venture to Good Will and look around, but with the amazing weather we decided to take a quick detour to walk through the beautiful Kubota Garden.  There are so many birds, flowers, tree and different pathways... it's a beautiful little escape in a rather industrial part of town.

 The next couple weeks should lead to a lot of blooming in the garden which is something I'm looking forward to. I'll have to make sure I put another visit on my calendar so I don't miss it.

Rattlesnake Ridge

 Rattlesnake Ridge will always be one of my favorite hikes. It nearby, pretty short and super rewarding.. it was such a beautiful day for a hike (everyone else thought so too) but it was great to spend an afternoon outside, have lunch on the warm rocks in a cool breeze, and then stroll along the river...FANTASTIC. it really made me want to stick to my goal of hiking once a week. Gotta make it happen. It's easy when the weather is good.

oh how they grow!

When I was a little kid there were these videos in my house that were a "see how they grow" series where you could watch animals and plants grow and develop... anyway... that thought just sort of crossed my mind after typing that title. Anyway, I'm not sure if I mentioned that I started growing sunflowers inside...

They were cute and tiny... I used plastic cups that I poked holes in and put in a shoe box... well with a little love and some beautiful days they grew... and since its been 3?weeks since they were planted.... they have made quite the progress. I didn't expect this to go as well as it did... and now I find myself wondering.. what on earth am i going to do with all of these sunflowers...Earth day is tomorrow. Maybe I'll celebrate!

Work is never over

 I'm still loving work. It is awesome. I'm so thankful for this opportunity. I mean really... who care's about waking up at 5:30..

 Sometimes... it looks like that in the morning.

Plus, I enjoy starting the day early... it makes me feel productive... I like being productive.

 

And I mean, that's the view from my desk. I love all the windows and the view of the train... we have fantastic plastic flowers. :) 

 

AND I can hang out places like this on my lunch break. Its really rather charming. <3

It's keeping me busy and I'm still working out that balance thing... but it's going well I'm figuring it out... and I've gotten quite a bit done in the last couple weeks.

its been a while..

YIKES!

I'll let you all take a moment to guess which part of my awesome life I've been neglecting recently....

you got it! my blog!

Mind you, there needs to be a balance between working, writing my blog and actually doing things I can write about. Obviously I'm still struggling to find that balance so.... this weekend I'll be doing a massive update... I've had a lot going on in the last two weeks and really fell through on keeping anyone updated. 

I really think everything is worthy of its own post though, and I didn't entirely forget about blogging... I've got pictures! GOODIE! 

okay... so I'm gonna get to my updating... I just thought I'd let you know I'm still here... and still doing this thing. :P

Orange You Glad I Made A Cupcake?

We all know how much I love my job right?

Well, I decided I'm gonna be "that girl" in the office... the one that brings cupcakes for people's birthday's and makes cute things to up mood at work (or at least induce temporary sugar highs)

So what's my plan? To be consistent... I've decided the first Friday of each month would be the day to celebrate birthday's for the month. ya know, make a little card with everyone's names on it... put it next to some goodies, call it a day. 

This week seemed like people were definitely needing an extra boost... it's been rainy and cold... I've been grumpy and tired... so when I found THIS recipe for chocolate cupcakes with orange cream cheese frosting (and amazing blog) I was unbelievably stoked. It looked simple enough, but rich, I loved the use of coffee in the cake batter and... honestly... orange and chocolate is a favorite flavor combination of mine. 

I made up my grocery list Wednesday night, so I could swing by the store on the way home from work Thursday and get right to my baking...I, of course, grabbed a couple things that weren't on my list and in doing so... skipped right passed the powdered sugar... which I needed to make the frosting, but luckily already had at the house... talk about mushy brain. 

BUT after a frazzled start, a broken glass, and a messy dress... I had 24 big kid cupcakes and 20 mini's

Oh did I mention I forgot to take pictures of them when they were ALL there... These got GREAT reviews. I'll definitely be making them again sometime in the future.