Cake Pops

Cake pops.
The new rage in the baking world (and I sense bridal industry will follow very quickly). Cake pops, bite-size pieces of cake covered in chocolate, can be shaped into different forms (cupcakes, hearts, etc) and decorated to fit a variety of themes (football, holidays). Extraordinarily cute, they are irresistible. But...

I have a love/hate relationship with cake pops. And right now, the hate is winning.

I've made cupcakes and cakes out the wazoo, but cake pops are a totally different monster. I love cupcakes, as long as they aren't overtly sweet and sugary. I go light on frosting, but cake pops require that frosting is mixed in BEFORE it's dipped in chocolate. You can practically feel the sugar rush right now! So, minus one to the cake pops because I won't eat them. Though my waistline thinks this is a good thing.

The next downside is the fact that they're covered in chocolate. I hate melting chocolate. Loathe it, really. And all because I suck at it. I can make buttercream frosting from scratch, cover a cake in an awesome homemade fondant, pipe a grass field in frosting, but when it comes to melted chocolate, I run for the hills. I can never get the consistency quite right and it's just so hard to work with. Any advice would be greatly welcomed!

I gave in again and took another shot at making cake pops. This time they turned out better (the cake balls came out much cuter, like little truffles), but I think I'll stick with cakes and cupcakes.

Artsy Fartsy

Dearest and I have been apartment hopping for about 4 years now and each place has always had the same boring white walls. And as always, I get the urge to paint them a different color (and every time I have to squash the urge). We've been in our current place for almost 2 years (longest run so far) and I've managed to bring some life to the walls. I made curtains for most of the windows- the black and white damask in the living room is my favorite.

This week I got the urge to paint again, so I decided to let out my crafty side and decorate. I took down a couple movie posters (we'll save those for the home theater room later) and used the space to create some fun, light (literally) art. This is what I came up with:

A collage of tissue paper flowers! I used different shades of pink and hung it above my little desk area.

I also poked around some used furniture places for a night stand. I found a small triangle shaped one, gave it a new coat of white paint, decorated it with black swirl designs and voila! Pretty cute, huh? It'll go nicely in our bedroom. :)

I feel a change in the wind...

A good change, that is! After months and months of waiting to hear back from the school Dearest applied to as a transfer student (and yes, he did only apply to one school, but we'll let that one slide...), we finally heard back! And even though his major is highly impacted, he got in! So in just a few months sometime during the summer, we'll be moving north to be near his school. Unfortunately for me, that means I get to make the dreadful commute to work. :/ Who knows? It might be more incentive for me to push for a promotion/transfer.

We're both ecstatic about moving! It'll be sad to leave our perfect little apartment (and the beach only 4 houses away), but we both crave the city life again. It still bothers me that the IHOP closes at 9pm. The move puts us closer to our old friends, so expect to have more game nights!

All in all, I'm excited- change is good!

Year End Reflections

As we close in on the final few hours of 2010, I'm in a rather contemplative mood. It's been a big year- for almost everyone I know, too. As I look back on the past 12 months, I can definitely say that this year will probably mart the biggest turning point in my life: I started a career and got married. Pretty hard to top, huh?

Though in my reflections, I've come to realize that while I am extremely thankful for the amazing job that I have, it's not quite what I want to do. Part of me says "go after what you want!", while the logical more rational side says "you have a good job, you wont be able to support the family without it, etc". The golden handcuffs as a wise cousin of mine once said. But I guess that's all part of growing up.

As I look forward into 2011, I'm pretty optimistic. We're moving closer to our hometown and also closer to friends that we left behind 3 years ago when we moved. Most of the reason I'm excited to move is because of how small this place is. Don't get me wrong, I love being 4 houses down from the beach, but when the IHOP closes at 9pm, you know it's too small.

So here's to 2011, may it bring good times with great friends. :)

Adventures in the Wild

I am a self-proclaimed neat freak. I don't like to get dirty, I love the comfort of home and I keep my french manicure looking nice. I blame Dearest for making me this way. The man has pampered me way too much. Not that I'm complaining... ;) Anyway...

So how does backpacking fit in? Not only do I have to lug all my gear out there, but I have to sleep in an uncomfortable little tent with mosquitoes, no running water and a pit for a toilet. Sounds like paradise, eh? Surprisingly, I rather enjoy backpacking. There's a small sense of accomplishment on the trek and it's great to get away from the hussle and bussle of life. Even if just for a weekend trip, it's relaxing.

This time we had some company for the day. Mr. & Ms. Army came with us for a killer day hike. We went up 1000 ft and got some amazing views. :)For a little perspective... Do you see the little strip of beach above Dearest's head where the trees sort of make a wide v? That's where we started. We went even further and yes, we had to walk all. the. way. down.

Whoa, What Just Happened?

That's how I feel about everything right now! Today was my one year anniversary of working at the bank. It's crazy how fast that year went by! I'm completely happy with my quick promotion to my position, but I'm a little afraid to see where I'll be in another year... Branch manager, anyone? ;)

Dearest's BFF is back from serving our country overseas! In a way it feels like he wasn't gone that long, but then I remember how many times I thought, "Man, I really miss him." All in all, we're both so glad he's back. After all, he's the closest I've got to a brother-in-law. :)
My new month, new me has been going.... not so great. The first few days started off nicely, then I got super busy. Between celebrating another close friend's birthday, celebrating D's BFF's homecoming and just adjusting to my new work load (while still carrying my old one), it's been one busy week. I'm getting things back on track and my life back in order, so hopefully my workouts will find their rightful place and time.

Happy Birthday, J!

August 30DS Challenge

At this moment, I've got the major things in my life in order- I have a great job, I just got married to the most wonderful man and I am amazingly happy. But the one thing that's bugging me is that I haven't reached my target weight goal. After the wedding, our exercising routine went down the drain, but it's time to get back on the bandwagon. So... new month, new me.

With my new hours, I suddenly have an extra 30 minutes in the morning before work- the perfect time to fit in some 30 day shred. If you haven't heard of it, it's a 30 minute work out created by Jillian Michaels, a previous biggest loser contestant. It's a fun quick workout that can really kick your butt. The three levels are supposed to be completed within 30 days, so that's my goal- once a day for 30 days with my weigh-in on August 31st.

I'm really excited about this!

Stats: 10 lbs to go. 30 days left.