Cupcakes and Fishing Poles

This past weekend was a great one; my ideal weekend, really.

Friday night we had some friends in town who were passing through on their way home from Las Vegas. We had lots of BBQ and lots of fun and it was great to see them. They're one of my favorite families to hang out with. Just to give you an idea of the fun times we had, here's two pics from the evening. See the smiles? And this was early!!



Saturday was a lazy day. We spent the day watching tv, picking up the house a little and just enjoying the leisure time.

We were eating lunch after church on Sunday morning and I decided that I really missed fishing and wanted to be able to in the NEAR future. So, one trip to True Value and 24 hours later and we've got two new spinners and reservations at Balmorhea State Park for a weekend getaway. I can't wait to go and the best part is that we're going to celebrate my birthday while there! Nothing better than s'mores for a birthday treat!


My last hurrah for the weekend was baking these awesome Pink Lemonade Cupcakes that I tracked down on Bake Space. Aren't they adorable? The batter tasted delicious, but I haven't tried the finished product yet. They were made for my coworker's birthday, so we're waiting for the 3:00 p.m. crash to come before we eat them. I promise I'll edit my post and let you know how they turned out. They look like they're the perfect summer treat!


This morning meant back to work and reality, but it doesn't seem so bad after having such a great weekend. Now that our reservations have been made, I've got something to break up the time between now and our New Mexico trip in September. I hope time really flies the next few weeks!

ETA: The cupcakes were delicious!! The tart cupcake was balanced well with the sweet buttercream icing. What a treat. These are going into the permanent recipe file!!

I'm still here!

This consistent blogging thing is harder than I thought. I guess it's okay, though. I was in Austin Sunday - Thursday and spent last night hanging out with Jason. We had so much fun last night that I didn't even think of blogging!

Anywho...today is a day of cleaning, laundry and cookie baking in preparation for our departure Tuesday for the in-law's. I'm hoping to blast some Christmas music while all that's going on, but we'll see how that goes; the Cowboys are playing their last game at their stadium and I imagine I'll have to be silent throughout! Lol!

Well, off to get some laundry going. I'll be working on the featured items for my favorites feature tonight. I'm super-excited about the Nativity theme!

Anti-day...

I didn't blog last night and I'm not sure why. I was feeling rebellious and anti-EVERYTHING, especially after work. Maybe it's because last night was my "night of rest" when I only worked out at lunch and not after work. I didn't have all those happy endorphins lifting my spirits. Anywho, I had my laptop set up on the coffee table in front of me and even began a blog, but I just couldn't commit. Because of that, I'll probably feel like I have to blog again tonight. I hope I have it in me to be interesting twice today!!

Work has been slow all morning and I've spent my time cruising the net for the following:

Dallas Cowboys Pumpkin Carving Kits (to purchase for next year)
Election news
Handmade crafty goodness for this week's favorites installment
Information on the origins of both Halloween and Christmas (thinking of doing a comparative study)
Recipes for the pumpkin bread I've promised I'll make tonight

So far, that's my day. I'm not expecting there to be much going on this afternoon, either, so I'll continue my frivolous internet pursuits after lunch.

Last night was Ghost Hunters night with two episodes airing that we've never seen before. The Seattle insane asylum was crizazy and I wasn't all that impressed with anything on either of the other two investigations.

We spent the commercial breaks of the first episode watching the Spurs lose to the Suns, which was disappointing for the home season-opener, but I'm encouraged by the fact that both Oberto and Ginobili were out due to injuries. I'm sure that it would have been a different story had they been in the game. It's an odd year, so I will take every game with a grain of salt; they seem to pull out the Championship regardless of their regular season performance in odd years.

Tonight is a pumpkin carving, seed roasting, pumpkin bread baking night while watching Leatherheads. I hope it's good. The previews look pretty darn funny.

Well, I'm off to check my email for the umpteen-millionth time since logging on this morning. What a life...

This weekend was a good, relaxing one from the start. I had a lot planned, but the only thing we really accomplished was getting some laundry done and a bit of straightening of the house. I did get my big swap package sent out. Thank goodness I was able to get it out. I actually finished the final project that morning. I'll post pics as soon as my partner receives so that I don't spoil it for her.

Last night I sat on the bed watching the Bizarre Foods Halloween Special while crocheting a little boy's scarf for Jason's Operation Christmas Child shoebox. Every year he prepares one for a little boy and I do one for a little girl. It's so much fun to shop for an anonymous child! I plan on finishing his scarf tomorrow night and I'll start the one for my little girl on Wednesday and try to finish it on Thursday. After that I'll attempt to finish my grandma's lapghan that has been one year in the works. I'm planning on getting that done by Christmas. I hope to get a few more things crocheted in time for Christmas, but we'll see what happens. I also have two more small swaps to finish by the end of November, but they should be fairly easy to accomplish.

Jason spent Sunday after church snoozing on his recliner, eating snacks and enjoying the Cowboys' victory. (Yay!) I'm glad he had a day to relax.

I received the greatest catalog last week and went to their website. Country Kitchen is my new favorite baking supply website. They really carry the stuff that would take an at-home baker to take his/her cakes to the next level. I'll have to keep that place in mind the next time I have a special cake to bake.

Well, that's it for me for today. I'm so excited about my weekly craft feature. I already have this Saturday's theme pinned down and I've been bookmarking my Etsy and Craftster finds. It is going to be really hard to limit the amount of items I post on here. It's so much fun!

Loong day!

Today was quite a day. I woke up late and was late to work. Things didn't look great from the start, but they've brightened up considerably. Jason made it back into town at about 3:30 and was waiting happily when I got home at 5. We had a lovely dinner together and I just threw a carrot cake for 18 into the oven. (Work birthday tomorrow...sheesh.) It's actually my first time making carrot cake, but the batter tastes divine, so I'm sure it will turn out as long as I don't burn it.

I'm going to have to take a break from this for 2 hours. Ghost Hunters is about to start and America's Funniest Home Videos is on after that. So, I'll be back at 10!

Well, it's 10:15 and I'm back. I thought I'd have the gumption to sit here and type a while, but the lure of the bed and a good book are calling to me. Goodnight!