Currently Browsing: real life
Jul 28, 2010
Posted on Jul 28, 2010 in real life | 5 comments
This weekend was one of the last 7 or so weekends until the wedding. That’s not a lot of time folks. And we still have A LOT to do. Like invitations. And we got very little (wedding related) stuff done this weekend. And that’s okay. Because life happens while we’re busy planning weddings. And it’s important to actually be here for it.
We did have dinner with dear friends who are moving back to SF in only a few short weeks. And I did tackle my backyard clean up/gardening extravaganza. And I did bake/frost 50 strawberry cupcakes for my friend’s daughter’s birthday party. And I did build a pretty awesome cupcake tower to display said cupcakes on. And I did go to the park and spend time watching the birthday girl, now two, eat three cupcakes at once and run back and forth on a mad sugar high. And I did receive many fallen leaves (from said birthday girl) as thanks for all my efforts. Best. Payment. Ever.
And then I came home to our (newly spruced up) backyard, nursed a beer or two and did a little work on our invitations. And I could finally relax a little because it’s all coming together and more importantly I think, because I finally took time to pick up the pieces of all the other life “projects” that have been mowed over or shoved aside to make this wedding happen.
So while it’s easy to get caught up in planning themostimportantdayofourlives (that’s what they say right?! ) I think it’s nice necessary to take a little time to enjoy all the other days too.
And with those deep thoughts I give you my delicious cupcake recipe- which was a hit with toddlers and their parents alike! I hope you enjoy it too!
Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes
1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cups sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. white vinegar
1 tbsp. all-fruit strawberry jam
1 lb. tub (clear plastic) of strawberries
or about 20 berries
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line your cupcake pans with cupcake liners
- Combine Dry ingredients in a bowl (flour/sugar/bakingsoda)
- Combine Wet ingredients in another bowl (oil/vanilla/white vinegar)
- Puree Strawberries in food processor/blender
- Add pureed strawberries and jam to the wet ingredients and mix well
- Pour wet mixture into dry bowl and mix until incorporated, but don’t over mix
- Fill cupcake liners almost full with strawberry batter
- Bake for 21 minutes
- Cool on wire rack & frost away!
Strawberry Ice-Cream Frosting:
8oz. cream cheese
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
3 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp. all-fruit strawberry jam
- Let cream cheese/butter soften to room temperature.
- Combine cream cheese/butter in food processor/mixer until smooth
- Add strawberry jam and mix
- Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time and mix
- Transfer frosting to refrigerator for 20 minutes to firm up before frosting
A few notes:
*Why yes! The cupcakes are in fact VEGAN. But don’t let that dissuade you- they’re delicious, light, moist, and soft!
*Why no! The frosting is decidedly NOT vegan, but would be super easy and work just fine if you want to substitute vegan cream cheese/butter.
*The cupcakes will turn out a light pink color and while I kept it natural for the kiddos, you could add some beet powder/red food coloring for a really pretty red cake/pink frosting combo
*Try not to eat all of the frosting before you get some on the cupcakes. It really is yummers! (In my obviously humble opinion)
And finally a picture of a corner of our newly spruced up yard, and the awesome/fully customizable cupcake tower I built in under an hour for under $15. You know you want a tutorial.
I LOVE this cupcake tower (of terror) so much that it almost makes me wish we were having cupcakes at the wedding! Nom. Nom. And our yard. I LOVE our yard.
What do you LOVE about your life right now? Today? Wedding planning/insanity/details aside…
Mar 14, 2010
Posted on Mar 14, 2010 in real life, thoughts on marriage | 5 comments
source
And it has nothing to do with Beyonce & Lady Gaga. I just liked this picture.
Anyhoo…I’m baaaaaack! And after a crazy moving weekend, followed by a week living among boxes and grinding coffee beans with our mortar/pestle because we still can’t find the damn coffee grinder, I’m finally ready to rejoin the blogosphere. Now a whole week without internet means I’ve had A LOT of time to think so you’ll have to bear with me. I promise I’ll even try and be coherent!
So….
I had this friend in high school who was super punk rock. She was in a band and she was an awesome artist and she was basically my idol for a minute there. Anyway, one day in typically divisive high school fashion I made a comment about “some rap song” and she totally surprised me by saying how she really liked that artist. Waaaaa?
If you’re scratching your head and wondering why the hell I’m telling you this little story, I’ll just get right to the point- sometimes I feel like the wedding blogosphere is high school all over again. And we’re divided into groups based on the music we listen to or the stores we shop at. It’s like a blog land battle for my soul.
And wedding zombies don’t eff around. I’ve been rolling this thought around in my head for a while now, trying to get a grasp on exactly how I feel about the competing content out there in blog land. Is there even any competition? Because really it’s ALL pretty. It seems to me there are two camps, diametrically opposed, intent on hopelessly confusing, insulting and belittling EVERY single bride. No one gets left out here folks. And I mean NO ONE. There’s the anti-wedding aesthetic camp where folks “talk about marriage,” pretend they don’t give a flying f*c# about the details, STILL make 200 bajillion napkins AND somehow end up with a blog worthy wedding. And there’s the we wanna talk about weddings in every glorious detail but not really ever touch on what happens post D Day. Details. Details. Details. These peeps end up with blog-worthy weddings too. I oftentimes feel stuck in the middle and am pretty sure that I don’t really fit into either camp.
Now Becca over at A Los Angeles Love wrote a really compelling piece on exactly which photographs makes a blog-worthy wedding (and who/what’s being excluded) that I think is awesome and so true. Go read it. She hits the nail on the head in terms of blog-lands ideals of prettiness, but I don’t quite buy that main stream wedding blogs are the only perpetrator of wedding evils. And to be honest, there is still a lot of inspiration to be found in their too perfect pages. Then again there is a lot of inspiration to be found on all the indie blogs too, and while the beauty ideals may not be the same, I would argue that they absolutely still exist. They’re just different. And the DIY bar is set pretty high across the blogosphere, no matter what the brides final verdict on the importance of said details ends up being. So I actually think all of us blog writers are in part responsible for perpetrating a few wedding evils and worse we buy into the whole us vs. them mentality a little too much in an effort to find our unique voice. I’m a gay girl who is just as comfy in Barney’s New York as I am in my garage (if I had one) fixing my own car. I’m already a precious and unique unicorn, so maybe it wouldn’t kill me to be a little nicer where other peeps weddings are concerned? Maybe I can be a little more comfy in my own skin and my own little corner of the blogosphere and just focus on what works for my wedding with out (too much) “boring” wedding bashing. And still be my bad-ass opinionated self. Maybe. I kinda wanna try, because there is already enough snarkiness in the universe. And I bet you other blog authors/brides-to-be/wedding planner extraordinaires are precious and unique unicorns too. So even if some other brides details seem boring, trite, stereotypical or just plain weird to you, who really cares? See sometimes I feel like a little hesitant to throw a post up over at Weddingbee b/c some people might be offended by my exuberance on my subject matter and sometimes I’m a little hesitant to toss up a silly trifle like my two-post shoe hunt here b/c I think my personal blog readers will find it silly. It’s like my blogroll is forming alliances and could go to battle at any time.
So in an effort to keep the peace, merge the camps, and lighten my snarkiness footprint on the planet, I vow to:
*Blog about the types of weddings I THINK are blog-worthy. I used to do this little thing called wedding wednesdays where I featured gay-girl weddings that I think did a damn good job of this. So if you know of any kick-ass gay-girl weddings please send ‘em my way!
*Have all the glorious unique little details I want AND still be an intelligent thinking bride who cares more about my marriage more than our wedding day.
*Let myself appreciate that other people may have a VERY different idea of what constitutes a beautiful wedding than I do and let it go without feeling the need to make fun of their classic/cookie-cutter details.
*Do a reality check when I come across a “too homemadey” wedding in blog land and instantly compare it to an absolutely perfect photo shoot.
At least those are my thoughts this morning. What are your sunday morning thoughts? Any plans to lessen your snarkiness footprint on planet earth, wedding related or not?
Dec 31, 2009
Posted on Dec 31, 2009 in real life | 6 comments
(effing amazing- quick add this to your registry!)
Happy (almost) New Year Everyone!
It’s got me thinking about my resolutions for the coming year which include, but are not limited to the following:
Personal:
-more follow through on all my artsy/craftsy/DIY projects
-more painting
-join printmaking studio/collective for press access
Health:
-drink more water
-yoga, yoga, yoga
-join a CSA for fresh, seasonal fruits and veggies
-more running, preferably at silverlake reservoir*
-fix grey tooth. (sorry C + everyone else- it ain’t cute!
Financial:
-clean up credit report & up credit score
-save up (more) for a down payment
-move to a (much) cheaper home to make saving easier
-create a budget that we can stick to that still involves food/alcohol/fun!
Relationship:
-be more affectionate, even when tired
-learn to fight better/fairer/more effectively (hey we’re all gonna disagree sometimes!)
-go to bed mad (thanks meg! this one totally doesn’t come natural to me AT ALL)
-set goals and work towards them as a couple
-get married! woo hoo!
Work:
-get an agent
-design another movie. (hopefully a good one!)
-remember it’s not rocket science
-remember to love it.
Well that’s all I can think of for now but I’m sure I’ll update the list in a few days/weeks/months, and maybe I can get C to share her list here as well?
What about you guys? Are you making any resolutions this year? Do you wanna share ‘em?
xoxo
ms. awesome
*Any running buddies out there who wanna join me?
Dec 23, 2009
Posted on Dec 23, 2009 in real life, wedding wednesday | 3 comments
So I added google friend connect but I’m not exactly sure how it works… Anyway I hope you all become my friend soon b/c I’m feeling like a loser with an empty “awesome friends” box in my sidebar. LOL.
xoxo
ms. awesome
ps. I’m about to roll out an incredibly awesome wedding wednesday post. stay tuned!
Dec 1, 2009
Posted on Dec 1, 2009 in Inspiration, real life | 1 comment
you know the world is gonna be a better place when kids like my nephew grow up. We took him to Disneyland for the day (awesome) and a few times when I thought he was trying to get MY attention with his persistent, “aunty, aunty look” he was talking to C. sigh. heart melts.
