Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Wedding Wednesday Oh... Dear God...

I originally had a completely different post for you all for Wedding Wednesday, but I will be saving it for next week as my wedding seems to be on the precipice of its first disaster.

Remember the lovely pictures I've posted about the beautiful vision I have for my cake?  (Here's a refresher if you need it)  Well, I'm concerned.

This morning, I lay in bed after Rob went to work and surfed the web on my laptop, as per my usual routine.  Checked Facebook, responded to a few forums on CoastieChicks, and had settled into my Blogger Dashboard to read new posts from some of my favorite blogs.  There was a new post on one of my favorite little blogs, Cake Wrecks (you may have heard of it)  featuring this cake:




FROM MY BAKERY!!!!!

They asked for a delicate lace pattern with some small ninja symbols subtlely worked into the lace in a way that only those who knew what to look for would see.  Sort of an inside joke for the bride and groom.  And they got THIS Swastika monstrosaty!!!

I'm going to be in San Jose tomorrow, and will be making a follow up trip to the bakery with more pictures, color swatches, and to confirm that my decorator will NOT be whoever decorated this... thing!!!

Read it on Cake Wrecks HERE
Read more from the brides mother HERE

UPDATE

Cake Wrecks and Yelp have both been forced to take down their posts regarding the Swastika Cake... apparently the baker isn't such a fan of negative press.  This makes me even more leary, and am tempted to find a different baker.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Mosaic Monday

Time again for Mosaic Monday hosted by Little Red House, be sure to stop by and see what other compilations have been submitted this week.

Today is more about collages than true mosaics I suppose, but it's somewhat along the theme so I'll roll with it.  Both collages were given to me by my good friend Brian, aka Tinman.  About 8 years ago he and I took a spntaneous trip to Disneyland with another friend.




We all swore we'd do it again someday; however, life got in the way (as it often does).  We lost touch and didn't see or hear of each other for 8 years.

Then one day it happened, he found me on Facebook.  We had both looked for each other a variety of ways but had failed to find one another.  Less than a month after re-connecting we were on a reunion trip to Disneyland :-)




Our friendship is as though we never lost touch and our Disney passion is sure to  continue for years to come.  Only now to include spouses, family members, and anyone else who can respond within 24 hours to one simple word. Disney??

Sunday, October 11, 2009

A Writers Challenge

I'm participating in a writers challenge sponsored by Lori at Family Trees May Contain Nuts.  The Challenge this week is; What is the nicest thing somebody has ever done for you?  Be sure to stop by and see what others have shared, there are some really touching stories to be read.

The nicest things somebody has ever done for me happened when I was 15.  Homeschooled and unpopular, I was at a dance, sitting in a corner, crying because my boyfriend had dumped me.  A girl that I hated because she was the girlfriend of one of my on-again off-again crushes came over and asked if I wanted to come dance with her friends because I was alone.  When she saw I was crying she asked if I was ok.  I looked up and said: "You're Laura aren't you?"  She looked surprised, and pleased that this stranger knew who she was.  Then with out missing a beat I said "I used to hate you."

This is the part where most 15 year old girls would have walked away annoyed, and in no mood to make friends with me, but Laura didn't.  Instead she asked why and started up a conversation with me, and by the end of the night had invited me over to her house to come hang out with her friends.

That simple act of kindness ended up being the start of what is now a 12 year friendship, during which we've seen each other through marriages, divorces, bed rest, pregnancy, miscarriages.  We've gone on trips to Disneyland, I planned her wedding, and now she's going to be my maid of honor and her 4 year old daughter my flower girl.  Neither of us could have known at that dance that we would end up being friends, as close as sisters, for the rest of our lives.

This is a picture of us that was taken when we first met:


This is a picture of us on a trip to Disneyland last December:


Just goes to show you never know where a simple act of kindness can take you...

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Happy Pink Saturday, Farewell Summer!

Happy Pink Saturday all!  Be sure to go see Beverly over at How Sweet The Sound and see what our other lovely bloggers have come up with!

It's official, they've stopped heating the pool at our apartment complex, and the weather has a sudden chill to it.  Fall is finally here, in typical CA fashion (meaning it's a month later than anywhere else in the country) and I have a few pink pictures to send the summer out in style:


A pretty pretty princess pink beach towel

A neon pink pool floaty







 
A bright pink blown glass flower

A rose from my aunts garden
Farewell summer!  See you next year :-)

Friday, October 9, 2009

Foodie Friday

Today I'm trying a new blog challenge; Foodie Friday hosted at Designs by Gollum.

I tried a new Cinnamon Roll recepie yesterday and I LOVED the way they turned out!  Here is the Recipe from the Williams Sonoma Bread Book:

Fragrant with cinnamon, these old-fashioned rolls are laced with pecans, raisins and a sweet, crumbly filling known as streusel (streusel means "sprinkle" or "strew" in German). The rolls can be refrigerated during the second rise for up to 24 hours, making it easy to prepare them in advance for breakfast or brunch. The next morning, let the rolls stand at room temperature for 30 minutes, then bake and serve warm with butter.

Ingredients:

For the streusel filling:
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3 Tbs. granulated sugar
1 Tbs. ground cinnamon
8 Tbs. (1 stick) cold unsalted butter

For the rolls:
4 1/2 to 5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for sprinkling
4 tsp. active dry yeast
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup hot milk (125°F)
6 Tbs. (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, at room temperature, plus more for serving
3 eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup raisins or dried currants, or 1/2 cup dried cranberries, soaked in hot water for
10 minutes and drained
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 1/2 Tbs. milk or half-and-half

Directions:

To make the streusel filling, in a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour, granulated sugar and cinnamon. Using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in the butter until the mixture is the consistency of coarse crumbs. Cover and refrigerate until needed.

To make the rolls, in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine 2 cups of the flour, the yeast, granulated sugar and salt. Add the hot milk and beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Add the butter, eggs and 1/4 cup of the flour and beat for 1 minute. Switch to the dough hook. Beat in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Knead on low speed until soft, smooth and springy, about 5 minutes. Transfer to an oiled deep bowl and turn once to coat. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board. Roll out into a 14-by-10-inch rectangle. Sprinkle evenly with the streusel filling, leaving a 1-inch border along the long edges. Sprinkle with the raisins and pecans, pressing them in lightly to adhere. Beginning with the long end, roll up jelly-roll fashion; it will be bulky. Pinch the long seam to seal but leave both ends open. Using a serrated knife, gently cut the roll crosswise into pieces 1 1/2 inches thick. Arrange, cut sides down and rolls just touching, in the prepared pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until puffy, about 1 hour. Alternatively, cover with a double layer of plastic wrap and refrigerate to rise for 2 to 24 hours. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking.

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Preheat an oven to 375°F.

Brush the tops of the rolls with some of the milk. Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush with the milk once more. Using a spatula, remove the rolls from the pan and place them, bottom side up, on wire racks. Let cool for 15 minutes.

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Invert the rolls onto a serving plate. Pull apart and server with butter. Makes 10 rolls

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Mmmmmmm..... breakfast for Rob and I for the next three days :-)

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Eye Spy Thursday Revealed

I spy with my little eye; Halloween Decorations!



Above and Below: Halloween Village by Department 56 (I LOVE Department 56 Villages!)




My Pumpkin Centerpiece on Black Tablecloth (I just used cheap discount fabric from Joanns to create the satiny tablecoloth)


I put a mini Jack 'o' Lantern in my cake dome with some orange moss and put it in my bookshelf.


It's been fun getting into the spirit of things :-p  See you next week!

Eye Spy Thursday

I spy with my little eye, something that begins with H:

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Any guesses?

You will notice today I don't have a Mr. Linky... I simply don't have enough participants to be putting up that widget every week.  So if you want to participate after reading up on how to HERE, simply EMAIL ME and I'll add a link to your blog on this post.  Then you'll be on my list and I will email you weekly about your intentions to participate in future Eye Spy Thursdays and link you in accordingly.

Other Participants:

http://weareflyingnow.blogspot.com/

As always I'll reveal at 5pm Pacific time.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Wedding Wednesday

So when I was looking at invitations I found some I really liked HERE... the downside; it would cost me nearly $500 for a mere 50 invitations.  However upon closer inspection I discovered that I could probably make a near exact replica of them myself... So I did :-)



INVITATION & RECEPTION CARD
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I think they turned out pretty good... what do you think?