The BF's Fave Cupcake

I am obsessed with chocolate.  I love pretty much any sweets, but if there isn't chocolate involved, it's almost not worth it to me.  So most of the things I like to bake usually include a healthy portion of chocolate.  Chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting.  White cupcakes with chocolate frosting.  Chocolate cupcakes with cookies-and-cream frosting.  Chocolate chip cookies.  Chocolate cookies with white chocolate chips.  You get the picture.

The BF, however, doesn't quite get it.  He doesn't need chocolate the way I do.  He's perfectly happy with fruit snacks, prefers jellybeans to candy bars, and likes pie (and not even chocolate pie).  Oh, he'll eat any of my chocolatey baking creations, of course.  But if there were no more chocolate ever, it wouldn't be his end of the world.  Crazy, I know, but that just means more for me.

So a couple of weeks ago, when he walks into my apartment, he's on the phone with his mom, and she's telling him about these snickerdoodle cupcakes she was making.  And he is just super excited about these cupcakes, and all but asks her to email me the recipe right at that moment.  We both assured him, the recipe is on Pinterest, I'll be able to find it there.

A couple of weeks later a friend hosted a family dinner night, so I decided to make the snickerdoodle cupcakes for dessert.  I used this recipe, minus the cookies, because I didn't have time to bake both things.  When I showed up to dinner with my cake-taker full of snickerdoodle cupcakes, oh he was so excited.  I think between the 5 of us at dinner we ate at least a dozen of those cupcakes.

And I have to admit, despite the lack of chocolate, they were really good.  The BF got the leftovers though.

I Made My Own Laptop Case!

Once upon a time, I had the same laptop for 5 1/2 years.  I bought it a few months before I moved to LA, and it was a very good computer for about 4 1/2, 5 years.  And then it realized how old it was, I guess, and started to act its age.  Wouldn't turn on unless it was plugged in, didn't like to connect to the internet, ran reeeeaally slow and pretty much didn't run at all when more than 2 programs were running.  It was awesome.

So after a few months of trying to deal with that mess, I decided to use my tax return this year to get a shiny new computer.  I picked a refurbished 11-inch MacBook Air with the extra memory and hard drive. It's super cute, works great.

But after I ordered it, I started looking around on the internets for a case for it.  The options were bleak.  Not a lot out the for such a small computer, mostly ugly/plain neoprene cases.  There are some really cute sleeves on Etsy, but a little pricier and never quite what I wanted.

And then I came up with the perfect solution: make it myself!  I own a sewing machine, and an ability to follow instructions.  So after a few minutes of Googling, I found what I needed to make the perfect case.  I combined this pattern and this one, using the felt-and-flannel materials from the first one and the pattern from the second one.

I don't know if I've mentioned before, but green is my favorite color, so of course I used green flannel as the inner lining and green thread for the blanket stitching detail.  I wanted a flap for the case, instead of a button closure, so it was easy enough to cut a longer section of fabric.

And, ok, full disclosure here - I'm sometimes not great with the sewing machine.  I know how to use it and everything, but I sometimes jump the gun with the sewing, and forget to set down the little foot thingie.  Which results in a rather crooked stitch, until I realize my mistake.  So, maybe that's what happened when I sewed the first side of the case.

But! The great thing about that blanket stitch, is that it covers the sew line (is that the right term for it? Eh, you guys know what I mean), so you can't even see the crookedness!

So now, I have a very pretty green and grey laptop case, exactly like I wanted, and for a fraction of the Etsy prices!

The Joys of Painting Pottery

In early February, my family gathered in Prescott Valley, AZ to celebrate my grandmother's 80th birthday.  One of the activities we did while there was going to a studio for pottery painting.  I had just been approved for an apartment, and wanted to choose something practical for my new place, so I decided to paint a napkin holder.

And then i found this sunburst-shaped sponge, and I knew how I would paint my napkin holder.  Because this sunburst sponge looked just like the sunburst from Tangled, one of my all-time top-5 favorite movies. I decided to paint a Tangled sunburst napkin holder.

I found some green speckled paint - I'm sorry, glaze - for the base color, and some dark purple glaze for the sunburst (yes, i know in the movie it's a yellow sunburst with purple background, but I like green, so there.  Also, light colors on dark backgrounds don't really work when painting pottery).  For the other side of the napkin holder, I decided to paint the scene with the floating lanterns.

It's hard to tell what the final product will look like based on the painting you do, and unfortunately it takes about a week for the pottery to get glazed and fired and finished.  Since we were visiting, the products wouldn't be finished until after we'd all gone home.  Thankfully, Granny picked them up once they were finished and mailed them to us.

I really like the finished product.  It's an adorable spot for my napkins.

Let's Get Creative!

So, obviously I'm not so great about updating this with what's been going on my life lately.  But you know what I am kind of good at?  Baking!  And the occasional crafty endeavor!  I think I'd do well taking a few minutes every week to let you know what I've managed to create.

So these first little cuties are some cupcakes I made... almost a year ago I guess.  I made them to take to work for my birthday, these adorable owl cupcakes.  Pretty easy to make, low effort for the amount of cuteness you get.  I started by making my favorite flavor of cupcake (chocolate with vanilla frosting). Then I split oreos (well, grocery store brand oreos) in half and stuck them to the frosting.  3 M&M's for the eyes and little owl beak, and done!  Adorable and delicious birthday treats!

Some of My Dearest Friends

I love to read.  I will read almost any thing I can get my hands on, provided it’s a work of fiction.  I’m not too good with the non-fiction stuff, but novels, screenplays, short stories, or fairy tales… oh man, I can’t get enough.

So imagine my delight when reading through Letters of Note today, I came across this entry of letters about libraries.  I haven’t gotten a chance to check out the full collection of letters at the Troy Library site, but even the four letters on the post had me reaching for my phone with intentions of tweeting my favorite lines.  Thankfully, I saw the folly in that course of action, and decided instead to share here.

A couple of my favorite snippets:

From the Isaac Asimov letter: “It is a space ship that will take you to the farthest reaches of the Universe, a time machine that will take you to the far past and the far future…”

I also loved the entirety of the E.B. White letter, but especially “Books are good company, in sad times and happy times, for books are people---people who have managed to stay alive by hiding between the covers of a book.”

Seriously, if you haven’t taken a look at the entry yet, please do so now.  It will change your life.  (Okay, maybe not, but you definitely won’t regret it.)

And what post about books would be complete without mention of the book I’m currently reading?  Well, most recently finished I guess.  That book is A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L’Engle.  I may not have mentioned my obsession with Ms. L’Engle, but seriously, if I haven’t read a book by her, it’s not from lack of trying.  Her young adult novels have taught me more about science and faith than 4 years at a private Christian school ever did.

I don’t know if I’m just in a sentimental mood today or what, but a lot of what I read tonight really stood out to me, and I just had to share some of my favorite bits of this book.

“Prayer was never meant to be magic,” Mother said.
“Then why bother with it?” Suzy scowled.
“Because it’s an act of love,” Mother said.

“How do you pray for someone like that?”
Grandfather held out his open hand, palm up. “There are many different ways. I simply take him into my heart, and then put him into God’s hand.”

“Perhaps holding Binnie while she died was a cross prepared for you at the foundation of the world.”

“Vicky, this is my charge to you. You are to be a lightbearer. You are to choose the light.”
“I can’t…” I whispered.
“You already have.” … “I will say it for you. You will bear the light.”

If you’ve never read anything by Madeleine L’Engle, go to the library, or $1 bookstore, or Kindle store, or whatever, find one of her books, and start reading.  Start with A Wrinkle in Time, if you can, that’s kind of where it all started, and just go from there.  She’s brilliant.

An Easter Story

Oh jeez, I'm really bad at this posting consistently thing.  I should like, make an appointment on my calendar for writing in this, and then maybe I'll actually do it.

So, here's a fun Easter memory from when I was a child.  I don't know how old I was, probably 3 or 4.  I also don't remember the exact setting, it was either some family friends or a petting zoo type of situation.

What I do remember is a big box of little baby chicks.  And a bunch of children gathered around to hold the chicks.  I remember getting my chance to hold a chick, but after only a few seconds several adults took it away, and they all seemed very concerned about something.

I was just sad that I couldn't hold the chick for very long at all.  All the other kids had ample time to hold and love and cuddle their adorable little babies.  I, for some reason, couldn't.  It was very upsetting and I never forgot it.

Years later, probably when I was in my teens, I mentioned the incident to my mom, expressing confusion as to why my chick got taken away so quickly.  She laughed and told me that I was holding that chick so tight, they thought I was going to squeeze it to death.  She said it's eyes were bugging out.  They took the chick away because they were concerned for its safety.

So there you have it.  I was a chick squisher when I was a toddler.  Happy Easter everyone!

The Mind Wanders

A few thoughts I had while covering a desk with a non-working computer and nothing else to keep myself busy today:

I could totally zip line from my office building to my apartment. Best. Commute. Ever.

Hey Spiderman IV, I can see your green screen from my office.

Remember when Spidey Alley was Berlin c. 1985 and Cincinnati c. 2011 on the same night? Maybe I'm the only one who noticed.

All the cars are perfect "toy car" size from up here.  I was never really into playing with cars, but I really want to pick them up and play with them now.  Probably because I'm just so bored.

Why does that one soundstage not have a curved roof like the rest of them? Is it even a soundstage? I'm trying to remember the layout of the lot to figure out which stage it is. And failing miserably.

Aaand I just realized my fly has been unzipped all morning.  Awesome.

Thankfully I was able to go to lunch before I had any other thoughts.