Latest Cake Deco, Continuously Busy

an icy blue cake to go with the icy blue weather. BRRR. hey, new york....can it not be so negative outside?

this was a request from one of rons co workers for a 21st birthday over the weekend. it is all buttercream icing. i think my mountains turned out kind of neat. i just used a frosting spatula to put them on there.

so yeah. i have, of course, been working a crap ton, but i mentioned that i think on the last post. three doubles in a row? i think i only have two this week. i did not request wednesday just so i could try to chill out for a bit.

work has really been stressing me out a lot. like, to the point that i feel like walking out most of the time when i walk in. its pretty terrible, and im pretty sure you arent supposed to feel that way doing something you like. it kind of hurts, and makes me not want to eat anything. not because i dont want to, but because the stress now makes my stomach upset. bleh.

but lets check this out! --->

see that? record low dash temperature on my car on friday night. a nice, balmy, negative 8 degrees out. literally, how cool is that?

*ba dum tssss*

it has pretty much been cold like this for the last week. ball shrinking cold. i drew an inappropriate snapchat with this picture in referencing that last sentence, but i won't post it here (despite how much i swear).  cold like this also makes me not want to get out of bed and leave the house. who would want to? weather like that, in combination with wind chills up to negative 30 or so, is a pretty terrible thing. it burns your lungs, nose, eyes, skin.....it also makes cars not want to start. i helped kristen jump her car a couple of times, and we are going to get the battery checked tomorrow.

i do like having days off. i kind of wish i had more of them, at least until someone calls me to harass me on my days off. thats always the best. hopefully things will change soon. i dont like this.

in the mean time, check out this asshole. it was his "birthday" over the weekend (according to what i chose for him on facebook). he pretty much screamed at the snow falling all day, and then destroyed some cardboard like hes all good at. then, i threw him in a starbucks bag today and swung him around (so did ron, thats his arm in the picture). oh cosmo. he is a special one.

well, wish me luck with the stress factor, and hope that things will get better. not sure if i have any baking or cooking plans this week, so i'll try to have something for wednesday. i'll leave you with my pineapple plant that i am attempting to grow. check back soon! thanks for reading!

Cauliflower Pizza and More

i completely forgot that last week i was going to share my cauliflower pizza crust experience. um, yes. do it up.

i found this recipe via pinterest from tasty kitchen. it is a little work, kind of, but totally worth the effort. seeing as wegmans only has giant sized heads of cauliflower, the one i grabbed will make two of these, roughly 12" pizzas, perfect for ron and i to split. maybe with a couple sides if i make it again, since i was picking on stuff through the day and wasnt very hungry by the time he got home from work.

this was super delicious though! he was even surprised that it came out so good. i used some don pepino pizza sauce, and a mix of mozzarella cheese and cabot's tomato and basil cheddar. it was super awesome.

next time, i might have him wring out the cauliflower though. my arms got really tired, and you have to make sure its as dry as it can get, otherwise it gets really crumbly.

i didnt get a picture of it being all toasty and melty, but you can imagine it looking like a normal pizza. so yeah. i made something good for me! yay!

id like to continue on with being good about food and stuff. i know i am super picky about food, but i can always figure stuff out. i actually just tried yogurt tonight! i mean, ive baked with it before, and tried it once, and i dont know why but i have a texture issue with it. i found these special ones on sale, they were yogurt "mousse," and sounded pretty good. mousse is awesome, so why wouldnt yogurt mousse be? and they were, the end. i picked out an orange cream and a chocolate one. i'll probably go and get more by the weekend if possible.

look at this grumpy ass. he was trying to do a circle earlier, so i grabbed him out of the air before he could land on anyone else. then, he sat with me in the kitchen while i washed dishes and made a cake. he was just singing "satchamo joe from kokomo" under his blankets.

gah, i just wanna squeeze him all the time. he bites though, so i cant. what a butt.

in other news, i did not miss working over the four days i was gone. most of my co workers make it tolerable, but then when kids dont have school and bombard me when im alone, thats another story. gtfo.

urgh. my poor car had to go back to the shop on monday too because of that part. they just took the piece and are going to get back to me when its done. it should be by the end of this week, although i'll have to go around works somehow. i am working doubles the next three days. blah.

hopefully, someday i will find a job with normal hours, that guarantees me hours, and is relatively consistent and non stressful so i can be comfortable. someday. soon? i wish. i'll be tortured for a little while longer though. it's still only the beginning of 2015, right?

meh. anyway, im going to leave it at that quick update. a little earlier than usual, but like i said, im working a whole bunch the next few days and now have a cake to do on top of that. hopefully i can get it done tomorrow night. well, have a good weekend, all. thanks for reading! ♥

what

well, i had a few other things i started typing earlier, but now i am starting over. i realize i missed out on wednesday, too, things have just been kind of busy. i dont even know why. i dont really feel like ive been doing anything.

first off, i have a bunch of pictures to share. secondly, there's a little food, but today is all about cars. also, i am totally going to rant a little bit (hence the restart of today's blog).

lets start out with something happy, i guess. those cakes i had to make last week? came out okay. from what i heard back, people liked them. they were just basic vanilla/chocolate cakes with buttercream icing. the pokemon cake was piped, and the log cabin was air brushed. i need to work on my air brush skills a little. it came out okay for not really referencing a picture though.

it got a little darker once it dried, but it still looked okay. like i said, i have to work with the air brush a little more.

honestly, after what i just went through tonight, i am not feeling too happy. rather, a little sick. tired. kind of unsure how to feel, otherwise.

see, i went out to borrow some crutches because ron pulled a muscle this morning and ended up in bed all day. when i got to my destination, i noticed something was missing. apparently, in july last year, the worst fucking month on record ever in the history of existence, she was scrapped, and noone bothered to tell me. you guys think i am a crazy bird lady, but dont forget about my cars.

my poor girl met her demise and i didnt even get to say goodbye.

sure, she may look like your ordinary four door sedan. or maybe to some a piece of junk because of the dents and creases. to even some still who didnt know her, a rusted piece of crap with too many miles that wasnt worth anything. THAT, my friends, is where you are so wrong.

midori was my best friend.

for ten years......TEN years....we were inseparable. even with my other cars, i would still choose her to take me where i needed to go. 288,000-something miles (granted, about 100k were from before i got her).

we rolled the quarter million together in maryland, on our way back from north carolina. that was a trip noone thought she could make because of her miles, but she proved everyone wrong. midori went to corolla.

i have a picture of her with the sign somewhere, but i cant access it at the moment. my external hard drive wont start up. anyway.....

call me stupid all you want. we laughed together, cried together, honestly, i talked to her when i had noone else to go to. she knew all of my secrets, all about my life. we had good times and bad, all around. she taught kris to drive. on one of our first dates, ron would not drive her, so i told him to "be a man and drive my car," and then promptly ran over a curb with her, and from then on, about 90% of the time he got behind the wheel, the check engine light would come on, but i would drive for 10 minutes and it would go off again.

we went to concerts, to school, on various road trips (aside from north carolina, she went to cape cod, new york city, and to canada on accident), pretty much everywhere. she protected me from the elements, from other people, and took care of me, as i did my best for her.

this is all i have left.

her emblems, the grille, rear view mirror, and part of the front seat. oh, and the spare key i wore on my arm for months when they gave away her license plates. i carry that around in my purse.

i have a couple small boxes of various things we had gathered over the years, i still have to get my keychain back. i couldnt even think of anything other than taking what was left and getting out. when i got home, i popped in our favorite driving cd, and mounted my happy flower from new york city to miku's ceiling, and played her song.

that cd is never leaving the deck, ever, after this.

as ive been typing and thinking for the last hour or so, i am still completely blown away. i dont know what to feel. did i do something wrong? why would noone tell me? sure, i may not come around much, "we have our own lives." even though i explained it before, maybe noone realized how much she meant to me. i thought it was pretty obvious. she was not just a car to me, but so much more. i know i am repeating myself, but i kind of dont know what else to do. noone would help until it was too late and i couldnt do anything. she didnt deserve this at all. she gave me, and others, everything, and was pretty much everything i could ever ask for.

oh, chest pain. how i dont miss you.

even though it happened months ago without me realizing- no, without my knowledge because it was hidden from me, this is my tribute to her. at least it is over. no more suffering. to my best friend, midori- you and your legend will live on with me for as long as i live.

so screw you guys who think im totally crazy. the end.

let's try again here with some happy stuff, eh?

i made some more of those awesome red velvet nutella "cinnamon" rolls that i made last year for valentines day. i got up kind of early to make them. i only had a small batch though, since i only had one yeast packet. they were just as delicious as i remember them being.

you cant really go wrong with nutella, though. or, in my book, red velvet. especially with the cream cheese icing.

that was on saturday morning. ron and i took the weekend off for valentines day. mostly, anyway. i ended up working the restaurant on friday and saturday. fridays are always busy, and saturday because they needed the help. we got to sit down for dinner on saturday though, so it was kind of nice.

friday we tried to go to the syracuse auto expo, but it turned out that it didnt open until 4pm, so we ended up driving around for a bit. since it's tax time, we had a little money set aside, so we went mattress shopping, and scored a queen set for really cheap. we also got some clothes for work (for him) and i got some thrift store dresses for cheap. yay discounts!

we ended up at the auto expo on saturday afternoon. not that we have any money for fancy new cars, but its fun to go and check them out.

first off, we have the new scion tc, the last ever mitsubishi lancer evo xi, the subaru sti, and the honda civic si. i love the orange. obnoxious colors on cars are the best.

then, we have a classic ford mustang, and the cobra. they have a section dedicated to racing stuff. im pretty sure its local, or at least in the state.

 

fancy! the lexus f sport coupe, and the electric bmw i8. the doors are neat. the wing doors always amused me. this was kind of the center of attention in this section. people wouldnt stop touching it.

 

the corolla, of course (since no show is complete without me checking out the latest model), and then we went back to the civic. the 6 speed shifter was pretty nice, and the interior was awesome. it may warrant a test drive. ron says he will never own one though, since civic owners are "stereotyped." you can say that about a lot of types of cars though. i wonder what people think of corolla drivers?

probably nothing fitting of me. i will admit i am one of a kind.

here we are from saturday. all fancy and stuff. i even wore heels and tortured myself at the car show. it was a fun day. i ended up just wearing an apron over my dress at work. a few people i work with complemented me on it. good times.

alright. well, it is officially monday as i am finishing this. i have tired myself out from crying for the last couple of hours, and probably will more tomorrow. i dont know. well, sorry for the super long rant. hopefully i will have something for wednesday. i am working doubles wednesday through friday, so if anything maybe i can get a little update in. thanks for reading.

One Year Blog-iversary and Lots of Treats!

is that even a word? i dont know. if not, it is now.

true story, though. a year ago today was my first blog entry. how cool is that? not that i have many readers, but hey, i like doing this. it is like my creative flow and venting place. something like that. i made a crap ton of stuff again today, and im still not done yet.

lets start out with some cupcakes.

i have been in the mood for some chocolate lately (im sure ive mentioned that, with all the crap going on recently), so i decided to get that out of the way today. the idea i had was a little different to begin with, but i am not going to complain. honestly, i cant really remember what the initial idea was. ohhh well.

i ended up with chocolate orange cupcakes. why? just because i can. they may not look very orange-y, but i put three oranges worth of zest into the cupcakes, plus a little grand marnier. i put the booze in the frosting, too.THEN, just for the holidays sake, red sprinkles! because who doesnt like sprinkles?

i have not tried them yet, i made them a little different from normal. it is still the same hersheys cupcake recipe that i use, i just swapped out a couple ingredients. no coconut oil this time. i ventured to wegmans today and bought almond milk. im not really sure why, anymore though. i thought it was supposed to be better for you, with almonds having all the protein and whatnot. there is hardly any in this. i will have to investigate more, but it seems to be working out okay. i cant tell the difference so far! i used a little in place of some of the water the recipe called for, they puffed up a lot, and had the most epic cupcake dome ever.

on another note, on friday i had to say goodbye to my rental. i got the call that my girl was all done at the shop! (yes, i totally took a selfie with my car.)

i am so glad to have her back. i missed driving stick. they even waxed and washed her. the interior was all vacuumed....i love new car smell. everything was awesome!

until this.

i have to go back tomorrow. i was told she would be 100% done, and its like they skipped my little ground fx piece. i do not think i should have to pay myself to have this fixed, when I DIDNT DO IT. ARGH.

needless to say, it better get taken care of, because i am not the one who did this to my car. completely frustrating. everything else is great. sure, it is a small spot, but to me, someone who is obsessed with their car, it is the most awful thing ever, and it will irk me to the end of eternity if it doesnt get fixed. hopefully i will know more tomorrow.

i have been going since like 7 this morning. ron has been at work all day. i couldnt go back to sleep, so i got up, played with the internet, messed with my hair, went to wegmans, then baked stuff all day.

i have two cakes this week. they seriously all hit at the same time, every time. one is pokemon themed, and the other is for a 50th birthday, with a log cabin. i have them set aside, and will decorate the pokemon one, at least, tomorrow.

the cupcakes were also today. these blondies were on todays list, too.  they were the reason i bought the almond milk. i did not realize it, but unless there is any milk in the chocolate chips (semi sweet), they are vegan! haha! no eggs or dairy....they actually came out pretty good.

they are peanut butter blondies, so you pretty much taste all peanut butter. the recipe was pretty easy, too. you can do half of it in the microwave.

i even added a little dollop of frosting (and sprinkles) since i had some left over. they are really moist. a little crumbly, but i think that is because of the whole wheat flour. its not a bad thing though. definitely recommend!

why stop there? because that would be silly. my arm didnt hurt enough i guess from stirring, shaking, whisking.....i made more muddy buddies (for one of rons co workers), i have a pizza crust made of cauliflower waiting for me- and, for ron to get home (more on that next time), and granola bars!

damn. everything required so much stirring and folding today. my arms really are sore. and my legs. i did not sit down until about 15 minutes ago when i started typing. i really want to take a nap.

anyway, these are kind of my favorite granola bars to make. no bake. pretty universal, as in you can put whatever you want in them (this time i added honey nut cheerios). the flax seeds are a nice touch to get all them omega 3's and whatnot.

the pan of them will usually last me a week or so. especially since i have like 20 pounds of other desserts to eat this week. although, these are more breakfasty. breakfast is my favorite meal of the day.

on that note, i just downloaded the buzzfeed app. i think they are my new favorite place on the internet. i love all the video reviews and things they do, and they usually have some fun articles on there. like this one i found earlier, on valentines gifts for yourself. note item 13- can it waffle? its a f*cking book on what things you can put in a waffle iron. i really like the toast hand warmers, and the herb garden fish tank, too. i was quite seriously laughing (and considering) the can it waffle book. it made me happy to see things like that exist.

on a closing note, its time for selfie sunday! yaaayy!! (maybe?)

you get to see my birds again. theyre adorable. deal with it.

ohhhhh mister. i love his face so much. he was snuggling with my hand, and tried to throw up on me, so i had to pick him up and this happened. i got bored. i know i can be, uh, "special," sometimes.

i bought more fruit for ron to juice today, and the pineapples were huge. like, bigger than my head huge. the stupid thing has got to be like eight pounds. i put nubs next to it and sent that picture to ron while he was at work. it towers over him, he is such a butt.

then we have cosmo. i caught him on camera inside his box. he is so camera shy. as soon as i pick my phone up, he knows, and he will run and hide. sometimes if i want pictures of him, i have to be stealthy. he is a bastard.

remember how i mentioned my hair earlier? i tried something new and curled it. kind of. its wavy, anyway. i spent like 45 minutes. thats almost too girly for me. max bathroom time is like 20 minutes when i shower, unless its been a long week or im sick, in which case its like 30 minutes so i can hang out in the steam. im sure you totally wanted to know all that about me.

anyway, i guess i am going to continue to wait for my husband to get home, then make this pizza, and probably go to bed. i am tired. well, thanks for reading. have a good week!