baking: confessions & rules

the recipe to my

chocolate chai cupcakes

is in popular demand.

which leads me to my confession:

i use variations of box mixes allllll the time.

oh,

it's true and i'm ashamed!

let's face it . . .

1. i have no patience

2. the most fun is making the buttercream

3. i make a mess by just looking at all-purpose flour

4. i have no time because i'm salaried at a non-profit

{as you can see, i'm good at making excuses.}

now,

box mixes go against everything i hold dear to

nutrition and physical well-being,

so please understand,

I KNOW I'M A HYPOCRITE.

~~~

phew. now that the cat is outta the bag . . .

there's actually a lot you can do

to a boxed cake mix to

make it, well, not just a boxed cake mix.

rule #1-

only use duncan hines.

the other stuff is gross.

rule #2-

think of combining fun flavors.

chocolate and chai tea.

yellow cake and lemon.

you know?

rule #3-

add and replace.

e.g. experiment replacing the recipe's call for water

with equal measure of tea or juice . . .

or add zest to the batter.

all i did to make the chocolate chai batter

was find a box of chocolaty mix and replace

the water with brewed chai tea

{fyi- make it realllly strong. i steeped 10-12

bags of tea in 1 and 1/3 C water.}

rule #4-

don't skimp on the frosting.

it's not worth it to use the canned stuff.

just.say.no.

use a lot of fresh ingredients.

for the chai cupcakes,

i made a simple buttercream frosting with

almond extract

and then ground in a tooooon of cinnamon.

fresh cinnamon.

to die for.

rule #5-

make them pretty.

pretty papers, swirled frosting, sprinkles . . .

whatever you want.

dress them up like you do your face before a hot date.

~~~

so, now you know my secrets.

admittedly,

from-scratch is the way to go if you're really die-hard

{which i am, in my heart of hearts}.

but who has time for that?

out of season

re-discovered this photograph of

me and two of my fave people

at pulse

{our young adult church}.

i laughed so hard

that i had

to share it again.

3 wise men . . .

what?!

delightful music video for a saturday evening

alice in wonderland inspired stop-motion

tea cups

mustaches

&

alison sudol's amazing hair.

could anything be more perfect?

j.crew & cupcakes

annnd a quirky indie-ish film?

glittery & fabulous.

have you seen the trailer for

the romantics

yet?

you should . . .

~~~

i have to work tomorrow

{and miss the annual pulse kayaking trip . . . sniffle}

but after that,

it's supposed to be an absolutely

gorgeous weekend.

i hope you have fun plans!

chocolate chai cupcakes

i've been on a serious baking kick lately.

last weekend,

i made chocolate chai cupcakes

with a

cinnamon almond buttercream.

let me tell you,

they were easy as pie . . . or, ahem, cupcakes.

i brought them to church for our after-service munching and they were totally gone by the time i made it out of the sanctuary. winners, for sure!

doodle bug

i was browsing through a few old

memory cards last night

and stumbled upon this little snap shot

of one of my mom's doodles . . .

a "welcome back" sign

from brother's return to the states.

{me, mother and sister}

mom always made her own happy birthday cards

{she saved the ones she created for my dad when i

was a baby . . . for some reason,

she always would draw me wearing bunny ears. odd.}

and when i was in college,

she sent huge coffee-can sized canisters

packed with homemade oatmeal cookies;

the cans were covered in paper

and decorated

with cute little doodles . . .

drawings of me and my family of course.

sweet little nature scenes.

hearts and stars.

now that i'm out of school,

i send sister care packages . . .

halloween boxes sketched with creepy trees

and cute little ghosts.

birthday presents stuffed with glittery streamers.

they're cute little gestures,

but they'll never compare to mom's doodles.

camping

imagine if camping was like this . . .

goodness me!

or if this was your childhood tree house?

i would have slept outside every day

and read each summer away

with glorious books and hidden

beneath mountains of

pillows.

i've been working on making some

changes to my living space:

redone bathroom

{pictures to follow . . . as soon as i locate my

memory card.}

new sheets and shams.

reorganized closet.

on the hunt for new dresser handles

{ah, anthro . . .}

but no amount of redecorating can compare

to how much i would like

my room to look like

this picture.

just think of the fun and relaxation . . .

{via tumblr}

strange little love notes

dear sister,

since you moved to florida,

i've become a little o.c.d. about cleaning the bathroom.

the sink is clear of your hairspray stickiness . . .

and feels like it's missing something now.

dear sister,

i kind of wish i could steal bites of your

animal crackers right now.

~~~

dear sister,

it's not as much fun getting ready for church on sundays

when i don't have to tip-toe around

your shoes.

dear sister,

i miss your off-the-wall boy advice,

requests to smoke inside my car

{okay, that only happened once}

and

general disregard for mother's requests

for you to take out the garbage.

i miss how very opposite

and

how very much the same

we are together.

black & white

isn't this portrait of

rachel mcadams

stunning?

i had a wonderful visit with some

photographer friends

of mine last week

and we couldn't help chat about gloriously inspirational images

like this one.

~~~

happy sunday wishes for all!

art gallery, retail style.

can you believe this beautiful

paper installation?

i discovered it during my shopping trip to

anthro

yesterday . . .

i can imagine these in

home entry-ways,

as wedding decorations

and above pretty princess beds.

love.

picky?

it has recently been brought to my attention

that i am somewhat . . .

shall we say,

particular?

i just happen to think that

1. orange juice should be consumed in a tall glass with

three ice cubes

and a straw,

2. hot coffee is gross out of anything plastic

and should always be served extra-hot,

3. salad dressing is best if served on the side

for fork-dipping,

4. and soda,

if you must drink it,

only tastes good out of a old-school glass bottle

with {again} a straw.

i thought everyone was quirky in there own way

about things like this,

but it occurred to me

{E! was replaying 'when harry met sally'}

that maybe it's just me . . .

and sally.

oldy but a goody

while searching for photos to

illustrate a point,

i stumbled across this photo from

christmas eve two years ago.

i had forgotten the days when

brother would wear a tie like that

and

my hair was short and blond.

how time flies.

sorry gabe.

so, at the risk of

COMPLETELY

embarrassing brother

{and ticking him off well and good}

i would just like to point out something that

recently occurred to me.

doesn't my trendy brother

{who, up until his recent stay in england,

practically picked out my outfits for me}

kinda, sorta dress juuuuuuust like

{yea, these two dudes in the front . . . not brother.

back left.}

adam levine???

i'm thinking i'm not the only one to see this.

{sorry, gabe,

for putting you in the spotlight

and

stealing all your facebook photos.}

body canvas

i've been posting a bit about tattoos lately.

well,

this morning i discovered

{via dainty squid}

nyc-based

amanda wachob's website

with her amazzzzzzing art.

it's a rare tattoo that inspires me to want

an image on my body and my walls.

{rest assured,

i'm still pretty certain my

present desire for body art will be trumped by

my future old-lady regret.}

so incredible!!!

monday in a picture

today is a funny thing.

i'm kinda bummed because the weekend went by so quickly.

but

i'm only working two days this week.

i plan on spending my three days off

hanging out with the good people

in my life

and maybe doing a little laundry.

that said,

i probably shouldn't complain about

working two short little days.

besides,

this image makes me super happy.

{via}

matthew 10:29

" what is the price of two sparrows--one copper coin?

but not a single sparrow can fall to the ground

without your Father

knowing it."

~matthew 10:29

~~~

God is personal.

He loves us personally.

wow.

"dumb & dumber" v.s. "inception"

saw 'inception' a few weeks ago . . .

i, like most people i know, thought it was

absolutely incredible

{as were joseph gordon-levitt's suits . . . swoon }.

but, after seeing this new trailer,

i'm begining to think

this may be even better.

for the record,

i have never seen 'dumb and dumber.'

but for comparison . . .

how do you feel about short hair?

last night i was joking that i'm gonna chop the locks off,

mostly out of tangled frustration.

needless to say,

my dramatic threats were met with

mixed, if not completely negative reviews.

i just love emma watson's new cropped hair.

soooo cute and fun.

one more reason why short hair on girls

is awesome and totally feminine.

but i must stay focused . . .

only about 4-5 more inches 'til i reach my goal length!

5th grade science project

these venn diagram tattoos

remind me of a

science fair project i did on

complementary colors.

{yup, i was a nerd even back then . . .}

mom and i built a projector out of a cardboard box

that passed light through cellophane slides to show pretty

rainbow colors.

even though i didn't win a prize that year,

it still was a pretty darn fab project.

{via a cup of jo}

"the corner"

please tell me this isn't the epitome of cool.

The Corner (Trailer Series) from Tracy ANTONOPOULOS on Vimeo.

photography crush

there is a simplicity and starkness

to these portraits that has me

absolutely in awe.

gorgeous.

{via}

now i can die happy.

sufjan stevens is playing in boston in november.

okay,

so, really that means i can die happy

after

november.

the question is . . .

who is coming with me????????

wanna see my new sofa?

picture it in a light mossy green.

it should be here in 2 months.

i can't wait . . . it was on sale, too!

{via macy*s}

{via iviemade}

{via anthro}

i'm already looking online for accents to compliment my new purchase . . . too bad this lamps is waaaaaaaaaaaay more pricey than my couch alone!

pirate tattoos and then some.

i've always wanted a tattoo . . .

i will never get one

because they look terrible on 80-year old women

{which i will some day be} . . .

but just take a look at these.

sooooo cool.

they kinda make me rethink my

ink avoidance.

still holding out though.

i think my future wrinkly skin will one day

thank me.

{via here and here}

three cheers for stop motion

goodness,

this video is adorable.

brilliant marketing,

because now all i can think about is that camera.

lunch munch

i've been carrying my lunch to work in a reused

free people shopping bag

{you know, one of the small colorful cloth ones}

for a while.

it has served me just fine . . .

until i found this one on

modcloth.

swooooon.