Fetish Friday

I saw these shoes last night at Dillards and that cherry red made me just want to eat them up. There are tiny sparkles in the leather that make my heart sing.
You could wear them with that Mrs. Claus outfit you have. Ho, ho, ho.
Gianni Bini "Celeste" on sale for $41.40. Reg $69.

All my favorite colors come out right after the sun sets.

Hubbies, #3

A little tip. Every girl loves to open something shiny on Christmas morning. Now don't get all ticked off... it's the truth. Most girls don't require that their shiny object come in a blue box from Tiffany's. Honestly, we don't want you to break the bank for a stupid piece of jewelry we can't afford (and will wear only a couple times a month). Afterall, we like to eat too!
There's a gold mine of a store called Sam Moon in Dallas that sells knock offs of designer bags, wallets and luggage. But, they also have very affordable bling. This little peacock pin is $13.95, and it's in the higher price range. You can get cute stuff for $5-10! If you're feeling spendy, they also have stuff way up in the 30's.

Fetish Friday

This little creature is a best seller at Piperlime. It a Marc by Marc Jacobs and some of you could really pull it off. How cute you would be in your jeans and creature shoes at the caroling party next weekend!
These are$215. Leather version with stitching available for $250.

Attn Hubbies! #2

Cute dresses for your lady friends (and kids) at Mikarose. I'll take a black small in this one. Thanks.
I've also been asked to mention that girls really appreciate a good pedicure once in a while.... and jewels.

Fetish Friday

I stumbled upon these treasures while I was looking on Overstock.com and couldn't resist them.
They are Squeakies and they actually have little squeakers in the heel, which are removable, but kids love them. Hey, maybe this way we could keep track of Lucas!
They are only $19 on Overstock. While you're at it, you should see some of the girl Squeakies!

Attn Hubbies!

The other day I was teasing my friends' husbands saying I was going to list all the things they should buy us girls on my blog.
Well...I have a great (and inexpensive) Christmas gift idea if you want one more little thing under the tree for the wifey. Email me and I'll send you the link...

Cupcakes of Magical Goodness

For Clay's birthday a few weeks ago Andrea made the awesome Oreo cake and I made the kiddie cupcakes. I wanted to make something similar to the old Hostess Cupcakes (but yummier). Plus, I had never filled a cupcake and wanted to try that, too. It was a success.
For the cake I used one of my Grandma's recipes. I filled the cupcakes with a mixture of marshmallow cream and whipped cream, and I frosted them with a chocolate ganache.
I made these last week with a cake mix and they weren't as awesome, but still good.

Cake:
Preheat oven to 350.
In a saucepan combine and heat to a low boil:
2 sticks butter
4T cocoa
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Add to:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon soda

Then add:
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla

For the cake you bake it 25 mins at 350. I think I baked the cupcakes about 18 minutes.

Ganache (estimates):
3/4 cup cream*
8 oz chocolate (I used semisweet, but you could use milk or dark)
1 teaspoon corn syrup
1/2 - 1 Tablespoon butter

Put your chocolate, corn syrup, and butter in a bowl. Heat the cream until almost boiling and pour on chocolate. After a few minutes, stir to combine. It will be smooth and beautiful. Let it sit around for a while to thicken up. You could make this while the cupcakes are cooking and it should be good by the time you needed to frost them.
*I have used half and half, and even whole milk before... you know cream will taste better, though.

Filling:
Use about 1/2 cup of whipping cream to make 1 cup whipped cream. I didn't sweeten it at all. Add to about 1/2 a container of marshmallow cream and mix. You want about half whipped cream and half marshmallow cream. Put this mixture in a ziplock bag and cut the corner of the bag off to make a mock pastry bag.

When the cupcakes are cooled, cut little cones out of the top, much like carving a jack-o-lantern. Cut off the point of the cone, so you are left with a little cake lid. This will leave space for you to fill the cupcakes with cream. You can also dig a little more cupcake out if you want more cream. I did. Fill the cupcakes with the cream mixture and put the tops back on. Stick in the fridge for a while and it will help to cement the lid to the cream.

Ice the cupcakes with a knife. I tried dipping them and it didn't work.
If you want to make the white swirls on the top, mix 1/2 - 1 T milk with 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Get a good consistency - not too thin, and swirl away. You could use a decorators tip or just cut a tiny corner off a bag. The tip will look better, though.

If you have any left after a day you should store them in the fridge. If you're feeling a little naughty, put a cupcake in the microwave for exactly 8 seconds. The creamy center will melt a little and so will the ganache. When you bite in to the chocolaty goodness it will blow you away. You'll feel like you need to go confess you sins, but you don't. It's just a cupcake.

Preschool Musical

I love how Sesame Street caters to parents, too. They have great spoofs on Law and Order and 30 Rock, but I love how they make fun of Highschool Musical here!



Here's a better quality version, but it's shorter.

Fetish Friday

I know the economy is bad and money is tight right now. But, if you have a special event coming up these would really make a statement. Just zoom in and check out all the beautiful detail!
Manolo Blahnik's Putziba. $1,195 at Barney's.

Cute Cook

How cute is this apron?
It beats my manly Central Market Grilling apron by a mile. There are a couple problems, though: It might be hard to cook in red heels, and something this cute requires cute shoes or at least a nice pedicure. Second, it's so cute, I might be afraid to cook in it.
$42 at Cupcake Swirl.

Snuggie

Finally I got junk mail worth reading! Do you ever wrap yourself up in a blanket only to discover that you've lost your hands? Well, here's the answer you've been looking for! Never again will you be forced to watch crappy commercials because your remote is trapped under the blanket. Now you've got Snuggie! It's the blanket with sleeves!

Or you could just get a sweatshirt...

Fetish Friday

The holiday season is upon us, which means you will probably have to attend at least one snazzy party. Perhaps Donora by Jessica Simpson will look cute with that hot little number you are wearing. They are currently on sale for $54 at Dillards.
Have a great time at the party!

going back to brown

I'm going in tomorrow to get my hair colored. The plan is to get brown lowlights, so I can still keep some of the blonde. Then next time I will go all brown. The lady that made me blonde said I should go this route because it will hurt my heart to go from blonde to brown all the sudden. At first I thought she was crazy, but I have grown to love the blonde - just not the roots.

BUT, is this going to look stupid? Should I just go all brown?

Comments? Concerns?

Gear Grove

Ben entered a contest with the Downtown Austin Alliance for bike rack designs on Congress Ave. Ben won and he will build his Gear Grove in front of the art museum. If you know where a guy can get hold of a bazillion bike gears let us know.
You can read about it here.

Fetish Friday

Hi. I'd like to introduce you to my friend, Kicky. She's from Calvin Klein and she's made of beautiful dark brown leather, but she also comes in black suede.
It's hard for me to find a tall boot that I like, and I really like this one. The gathers on the front make for some nice detail and I also like the shape of the toe. The heel is a little thin, which will make it harder to walk in, but not too hard.
You could wear these Calvins with your other Calvins and cause quite a stir.
Kicky can be yours for $180.

Dear young people,

Please for the love of all things holy learn to write, spell, and use proper grammar. No, you can't write a note or card to grandma like your texting. Yes, you do sound like an idiot when you write in slang. And for the record, when I text I use proper grammar.
I found this on the net today while researching conditioner for my dry locks:

Q: i used to use dove conditioner.....it dind't suit my hair.......so i shifted to sunsilk .....do dey hav alcohol in dem???

A: no.................it depends....just check out d ingredients!!!!
well using conditnrs l d tim is nt healthy fr ur hair.......so make use of some natural remedies.......u can refer 2 www.AskLaila.com
maybe dis cn help u out.........wishin u a healthy hair.......

Now that you are all less intelligent having read that, have a great day. I'm off to get d vacuum out and get dem dirts of d carpets. I do nt wan dirty carpets for my moms today.

Fetish Friday

Happy Halloween!
I have been trying to accept the gladiator sandal. It's been hard, and I have never fully accepted but a few of them. But, now I can work my way up to the gladiator boot! There are various degrees of gladiator bootness, and this my friends is the extreme. It's by Givenchy and has been spotted on several celebrities. I thought it would make a good feature on Halloween. There's a lot going on here and it makes me feel a little claustrophobic - it's kind of like straitjacket for the leg. Don't even bother shopping for it, you can't afford it.

Fetish Friday

I thought I would go with a man shoe today. I'm sure most of my faithful readers are men patiently waiting for a FF dedicated to them.
I found these colorful Sauconys on Amazon and I think they're way fun. They are only around $50.
If they are too bright for you, then check out these equally cute Sauconys at Piperlime.
It's jean season - time to pimp up your shoe collection, guys.

Wood Block Art

A coworker of Ben's was selling wood blocks for a fundraiser for his old design school. The blocks were to be decorated, given back, and sold to the highest bidder. Ben bought a couple blocks. We decorated them using mod podge and various papers from Ben's paper sample drawer (and there is some Argentine money in there too). We had a fun time together and were quite happy with our finished products.
Can you guess whose is whose?

Done guessing? The butterfly belongs to Ben and the tree was mine. Ben's was much more tedious than mine, but we both spent several hours for a few nights. We don't know how much Ben's sold for. Mine sold for $60 after a bidding war between two people. Pretty good for a $10 block of wood, huh?

Cookies for Grandma

When I was little my grandma would send us a box of jack-o-lantern cookies each Halloween. It was the highlight of my October because not only were they delicious cookies, but they looked awesome. AND they came in the mail addressed to me. Each Fall I remember those cookies so I thought this year I would return the favor and send some cookies to my grandma in Florida.
I don't know that they will arrive in one piece or still be yummy, but I hope she enjoys them. They aren't her recipe and they're not as big as hers were, but they're still orange.
I wanted to send them to all my nieces and nephews, but that task seemed a little expensive and difficult for now... sorry kiddos. Ask Grandma to make you some. Happy Halloween!

Yum Yum.

I have a few yummy recipes to share. For my friends from the 505, you might know the corn cake at Gardunos. I love that stuff and finally found a recipe that is equally delicious. It's like a really moist, sweet corn bread. Sounds weird, but is uber-yummy.
The second recipe is for a homemade taco seasoning and I love it!
Enjoy!

Sweet Corn Cake (adapted from all recipes):
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup masa harina (white flour will work, too)
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups frozen whole-kernal corn, thawed
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/3 cup sugar
2 T heavy cream (milk is fine, too)
1/4 t salt
1/2 t baking powder

1. In a medium bowl beat butter until it is creamy. Add the Mexican corn flour and water and beat until well mixed.
2. Using a food processor, process thawed corn, but leave chunky. Stir into the butter mixture.
3. In a separate bowl, mix cornmeal, sugar, cream, salt, and baking powder. Add to corn flour mixture and stir to combine. Pour batter into an ungreased 8x8 inch baking pan. Smooth batter and cover with aluminum foil. Place pan into a 9x13 inch baking dish that is filled a third of the way with water.
4. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven F (175 degrees C) oven for 50 to 60 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. Use an ice cream scoop for easy removal from pan.

*I've used canned corn with success before. Also, I doubled the recipe recently and still cooked it in an 8x8. It just needed to cook about 10 minutes longer. The original recipe called for twice as much butter, but I really like it this way.

Taco Seasoning
1 T chili powder
1/4 t garlic powder
1/4 t crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 t dried oregano
1/2 t paprika
1 1/2 t cumin
1 t sea salt
1 t pepper

Headshots

I had some headshots taken today by Jeffrey Buras. I wanted to get some done while I'm still blonde. I fear I only have a couple more weeks before my roots become too noticable and I'll have to start going back to brown. I've gotten used to the blonde and I actually like it now. The cut still bugs me once in a while, but I like it for the most part.

ab

cd

ef

Do you have a favorite?

Fetish Friday

Grrrrr.
Enough said.
Gianni Bini "Tasti"
Adopt her for $98. She also comes in Black with white trim and a red strap. Equally cute, but not as rambunctious.
I can't stop staring...

Girls Night

Ben always has parties when I leave town to celebrate his temporary bachelorhood. They usually involve hours upon hours of video games and a potato chip here and there.
Ben's going to Dallas for a photo shoot tomorrow, so I think I should have a girls night at my house. We can make cookie dough, paint our toenails, watch Moulin Rouge, and end the night with a pillow fight!
Or... I could just watch The Office, put Lukie to bed, and play on the internet. Hopefully there won't be any scary noises when I'm home alone!

Mom Jeans

Brenna sent me this. I've already got my order in!

Sleep

Some day I would like to get this clock for Lucas. It has the option to glow yellow at night and turn green when the kid is allowed to get out of bed. Hopefully Lucas will be disciplined enough for something like that...

Naughty Craigslist Usage

I saw a post on craigslist last night for a female photography student in need of a blonde model with blue eyes. She did specify that the model could not be taller than 5'8" and had to be over 21 b/c the shoot would be in a bar.
She said she would pay $70 for a couple of hours. Even though I'm taller than 5'8", it's only a half inch, so I decided to try. I emailed the girl and heard back from her this morning.
Turns out she was just looking for a blonde, blue eyed girl so she could buy her ID from her, not do a photo shoot. Lame.

Seriously?

Seriously, J Crew? Really - you want us to wear this? Seriously? It's 2008, not 1985. Seriously.

UPDATE: I was watching The Cosby Show last night (aka best show ever). It was the one where Theo goes to prom with all his friends. Adam Sandler was one of his friends, and his date was wearing this exact same dress, but in pink.

Fetish Friday

Apparently I'm getting old. This season I'm having a really hard time finding shoes I love. It was so easy in the summer time when almost everything was cute (except for the gladiator sandals). Now it's boot season, and I love boots. I'm just having a hard time with the shooties, booties, and moccasins. Good thing I live in Austin now and don't really need boots!
I did find some high boots I like. They have a cute heel - a 3 inch wedge. They are called Harley by Corso Como and can find a place in your closet for $295.

First Cold Shower

Today was my first time washing my new hair all by myself (in a cold shower). I think I did a pretty good job. I bought all the products at Sally's yesterday, so today I did my four steps, followed by towel drying, blow drying and flat ironing. I think I did a decent job for my first time. It sure takes more time than the old wrap it in a bun and go technique. Ben and I both liked my hair more today... I think the blond is growing on us.

We went to a Neighborhood Night Out event at the pool tonight. As we were walking up holding hands a few people were staring intensely at us while gossiping about what a two timing jerk Ben was until they saw that it was me and not some skank who stole my son and husband.

(They weren't really saying such mean things about Ben, but they did wonder why he was holding hands with who was most likely my sister... gross!)

So long...

...to my lovely golden locks of yesterday. I ended up getting selected for a hair show this weekend. I went to the model call Friday night for Wella and made plans to get Beckhamed on Saturday morning. I was also planning on a "halo effect" for my color - blond at the roots, fading to brown, then to red. Interesting, but worth the cash, right?

Saturday morning the "artist" informed me that he wanted to accentuate my blue eyes more - aka go platinum blond. The cut wasn't as short as we had planned, but I was kind of excited to be Posh Spice. THEN he informed me that there would be traces of pink in my hair also, but it would wash out over 6-8 weeks. I reluctantly agreed as all the hair people assured me that I could totally pull off being a blond. They showed me the picture and I wasn't too impressed so I tried to talk them into another 'do, which kind of worked, but I still got stuck with the bangs.

My day began with the cut... about 6 or 7 inches. Then the bleaching, which took forEVER, then the dying, to get the yellow out. The colorist, Cecelia, was from El Paso and she was awesome. I'm so glad she was there to get everything right! She even convinced my "artist" to go with other blond colors instead of the pink, so that was great!

Today I woke up after another semi-sleepless night, cried a little about my crazy hair, and then made blueberry muffins to eat with the boys. When I got to the convention center they put the new colors in my hair and it looked much better. I wore a cool BCBG dress along with too much makeup, and did a good job at the show. Basically you stand on a stage with the hair dresser and they tell the audience what they did with your hair, all the while convincing the people to buy the product. It was pretty fun.

By the way, I really do like the Wella products - my hair is not fried or dry like straw. Their bleaching product was great - no singing eyes or skin like normal. And the other dyes (that go dark) aren't bad for your hair at all.

Here are the pictures:

Before

After Day 1


after the show w/more colors and disgusting makeup

after a long day, side-swept bangs.

I still don't know what I think. It will be fun to be blond for a while. People at the show really liked it, but I'm just not this cool. The cut is so trendy and the bangs are extreme. I think I will try to do the side-swept thing as they grow more. Then, when I start getting roots, I will do some dark lowlights and eventually get back to my brown self. And no, Ben is not a fan, but he's not being a jerk about it.

Things I learned:
*It's bad to shower in hot water - makes your hair and skin dry. From now on I have to wash my hair in cold water.
*Don't let your stylist put you under the dryer when they color your hair - it makes it work faster, but damages your hair. My hair took all day and would have cost about $350 in a salon due to the time/technique.
*Your hair dresser is supposed to be weighing the products they use to dye your hair so they get the right ratio. Most just eyeball it.
*Hair is in bad shape after three years and needs to be cut - the reason some people's long hair looks so drab and yucky. After it gets cut it will grow faster because it won't break off all the time.
*If you're going to model for a hair show, be ready for anything.

Baby Shower goodies

Megan and Jeff are due with twins in November, but won't make it that long. Megan is on bed rest in the hospital for now until they come - hopefully not for several more weeks. She's handling it like a champ and is in a much better mood than I would think possible. Go Megan!
Saturday we had a baby shower at the hospital. Due to Megan's persistent asking and a few tears, she was allowed to get out of bed, put on real clothes, and be wheeled down to the dining hall for a good old fashioned baby shower. We had great food, a "guess the birth date" contest, and a really cute pregnant girl and her hubby her company.
Jeana and I made a diaper cake, which served as hospital decor, and several people made the yummy treats for the big event. I made these cookies:

My mom gave me the recipe that she found in a magazine. They are like sugar cookies, made with brown sugar, and the frosting is made with browned butter.

2 1/2 cups flour
1 t soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 t powder
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup shortening (you could use part butter, too)
2 eggs
1 1/2 t vanilla
2/3 cup walnuts, chopped

Combine dry ingredients.
Whip shortening and brown sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla.
Add alternately, dry ingredients & sour cream. Add walnuts.
I put mine in the refrigerator for a while to get cold.
Bake at 375 for 10 - 12 minutes.

Browned Butter Frosting:
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 stick butter
1 t vanilla

Melt butter, stir with a wooden spoon. Once it browns a little, add to powdered sugar. Add vanilla. I used an electric mixer and had to add some milk to get the right consistency. I might have let my butter cook too long.
You could make another half of the recipe so each cookie gets a good amount of frosting.

Fetish Friday

I like wearing cute flats with jeans, and today I wanted to find an affordable shoe we could all wear. I remembered some really cute red shoes Jamie got from Payless. I don't think these are the exact ones, but they are cute none the less.
They are the American Eagle Cherish Mary Jane Flat. A lot of name for a little price.

Treats

We had a Senior Social last week for a youth activity at church. It wasn't seniors in high school, it was seniors in citizenship. The kids sat at tables with the seniors and we all shared stories and talents.
I made some sugar cookies to have for party favors. I wanted to play around with the frosting I used for the hippo cake. It was a pain in the butt, but after three hours of frosting, they ended up looking really cute. I think the more fattening fluffy frosting tastes better, but wouldn't have been nearly as cute.
I made 41 cookies total, using two different recipes. Ben really wanted a cookie and was whining and whining. Finally I made him his own very "special" cookie using scraps. In the end I left him one in his car with a nice note. He ate it on the way to work. Here is a shot of the trail of cookies as well as the finished party favor.

I was also in charge of flowers. I wanted to do something with underwater flowers that I had seen online. It was kind of a pain and I was working with limited materials. I ended up with this:

Orchids would have looked really cool, but I didn't have the budget for orchids, plus Costco doesn't carry orchids.

Fetish Friday

It's so bittersweet to see the end of Summer. I don't like bidding farewell to the pool, the barbecues, the warm summer nights, the freedom of being out of school. I also don't like to say goodbye to the flip flops, peep toes, and sandals, which bear our beautifully bronzed toes.
But, time passes, and before you know it, you put those sandals, shorts, and swim suites away in the closet. And you pull on those tight curvy jeans, long sleeve shirts, and drag out the boots - or if you have really bad taste, the moccasins.
Perhaps it's because I am from the great Southwest or because I actually have good taste, or maybe I'm just a jerk, but for whatever reason I hate moccasins. I hate them with every inch of my being. I am sad to see them listed on the Fall Trends page at Piperlime. There are lots of them. Some are tall, some are short, some with heels, some are flat. But all have fringe and some have layers and layers of fringe.
These moccasins are by Minnetonka Moccasin and can be your's for only $80. The best part is that they come with a beaded tassel that you can interchange with the feather. How awesome is that? They might as well stick a dream catcher somewhere in there, too. Ugh..
Just remember when you are shopping - if you pick a pair of these up, repeat the word "moccasin" to yourself. You will hear the word "sin" and then remember not to buy them. Please don't ever let me a) purchase a pair of skinny jeans and/or b) buy moccasins to wear with my skinny jeans. Although, if I did I could go to Sundance this year...

Can you spare a vote?

Ben's been working on these four shirts for a long time. He wanted to get them all up so you can vote at the same time. They are at Threadless and if he wins and one gets printed he will get paid and some free shirts. It's a win-win: we can afford real fruits and veggies for Lucas instead of just fruit snacks AND Ben can wear something besides free Whataburger shirts he gets from the closet at his office!
It's easy to sign up for an account to vote, so go ahead and get busy. We really appreciate it!

By the way, the best score is a 5, and if you say that you would buy the shirt (the "$"), it is supposed to help scoring. If you don't like them, you don't have to vote. Thanks!

Product Review - Special K Bars

I bought these Special K bars the other day to have around the house for snacks. I let Lucas gnaw on one during church on Sunday and I could smell it from a couple feet away... smelled like some sort of sweet candy/poison. But he chewed on it for a while.
Today I actually took a bite of one that was left out on the counter (I assumed from one I gave Lucas yesterday). You wouldn't believe it, but these peach and berry bars actually don't taste a thing like peaches or berries, but they do taste remarkably like poison.
Poor Lucas was probably confused that I kept giving him poison for snack because he's usually not allowed to play in the poison cupboard.
It turns out the one I took a bite of today was one that Ben tried this morning and couldn't stomach. We decided that the nasty flavor is probably from aspartame, which is basically like poison. Great. Now we're all going to get brain tumors.
If you want to try an absolutely fantastic granola bar, try Kashi's Cherry Dark Chocolate bars. I love them AND they're good for you - no poison .