World of Color......

Bryan and I were so excited to see The World of Color....  We even tried to watch it on our last trip to Disneyland with Sheri and the kids, because Bryce REALLY, REALLY wanted to see it!  :)  and we did enjoy it, although both of us had a child on our shoulders...  and they were overgrown, whinny, tired ones at that!!!  ;)  but we still LOVE them, and miss them terribly.....  :)  I was so excited when the Disney website announced they'd be having 2 special shows for passholders only, that I thought I would tell Bryan...  and wanting to keep with our wednesday, disney date day tradition...  we went to watch the show on the wed....  we met at the park, got in line for our fastpasses, went to Ariel's Grotto to catch-up and have a drink and then we went ahead and crossed the park to Disneyland, to do BIG kid rides, then we made our way back to califonia adventure and got clam chowder bowls for dinner, and got back in line for the show.... seats were on a first come first serrve basis, we didn't want to miss our chance for a good seat!  ;) 

The girls, and Bobby were there too, so we met up with them in line.....  and we went ahead and watched the show together....  :)  The show was AMAZING!!!  I don't know about anyone else but I was thoroughly and pleasently surprised...  they did a great job....  and I can't wait to see it again!!  :)  Thanks again Bryan for meeting me, and for taking pictures with your phone....  I'm not sure what happened to me, I took none....  haha!!! I can't wait for the next wednesday, date day!!  ;)

Cupcake cakes!!!

Beginner class number 2 had to do with 3D design, and learning how to "fill" a cake, so design and fill is what we did!!  :)

For this class I made a lemon cake with lemon filling, the filling was delicious....  I definitly think I will be making this cake again, but I think next time I will make the lemon frosting to go with it too!! 

I colored my frosting yellow and covered my cake with it....  :)

I forgot to take pictures of the process, but we traced the cupcake from a picture onto a piece of wax paper with piping gel, then we transfered the design onto our cake and decorated with the colors that we chose..... 

our final projects!!  :)  I LOVE, LOVE how bright Krista's yellow turned out..... and Gaby's blue turned out bright too!!  I LOVED it, I'm all about the bright colors!  :)

My final project!  I decided to add streamers to mine!!  :)

I can't wait to try this technique out again!!

a funny

have you ever had a "funny" converstaion that just kept running your head, and made you laugh ALL day???  I had one yesterday, and I'm still thinking about it, so I thought I'd share!!!  it was between me and a friend, about my cake class on monday nights.....

 me: "hey! I forgot to tell you I can't go to your game today... I have cake class
 him: "who are you taking this cake class with again?
 me:  "my sister and Janet
 him:  "cake class?  really??  why would you take that? and not something more beneficial?"
 me: "benefial? like what? and what's wrong with cake class?"
 him: "ummmmm, like a healthy eating class?"
 me: " hahaha!! why would I do that?? cake class is WAAAAY more fun" ;)
 him: "yeah, but then you'll be eating cake everyday??"
 me:  hesitating....  "true.....  hey!! wait didn't you like the cake I brought the other day??"
 him: " the pumpkin one? yeah it was tasty..  that was for cake class??  so what are you making today?"
 me: "a lemon cake with lemon filling... :) but don't worry, I'm bringing it to girls night tomorrow, so you wont have to eat any of it..."
 him: "oh I like lemon....."
 me: "too bad.... I'll bring you a healthy muffin next week...... from health class!!!" ;) hahaha!!!
and then I was off to CAKE CLASS!!!!  :)

Always Remember......

......Always Forgive, but Never Forget

Weird how it's been 9 years since our country's "heart" was attacked by terrorists...  Ii remember exactly where I was when the buildings went down that day...  Almost at school, I had had an early morning class that semester...  and I had left a little early...  Just as I was getting off the fwy, my dad called and told me to stay home, there had been a terrorist attack....  WHAT??  I immediatly turned on the radio, and sure enough, there it was....  I was pulling into the parking lot when the attendants came and told us, (the people waiting to park) that school was being evacuated, and that we all needed to go home NOW!!!  so off I went back on the fwy, and on my way back home....  I listened to the news the whole way home, and then I watched it on TV all day and all night and into the next day, and the next day after that....  I also remember worrying that one of my college roomates' sister's was in NY and no one had heard from her, she ended upeing fine...  and year after year, I've wished that I could go and "visit" ground Zero, just to see what was left, there has always been a part of me that had wanted to go, to see the place where so many lives had been lost....  and this year I got that chance...  In june I went to NY and our visit to Ground Zero turned out to be very emotional...  we were lucky enough to take a tour with a lady who had actually been there, and we got to hear her story, it was so sad, and amazing at the same time...  she told us so many different facts about the events of that day...  and she let us know how it felt for "them"...  here are some pictures I took of the memorial, I've been meaning to post these...  but there were so many pictures from the trip, that it's seemed a bit overwhelming...  but today seems like an appropriate day to share the 9/11 memorial ones....

This was a "display" they had of momentos left by loved one's of the victims... 

  Theflag of honor was humbling....  It contained the names of ALL of the people lost on that day....  weird how "real" the amount of people becomes when the names are written down.

The altar of pictures was amazing too....  these altars have remained the same as they looked from the first day of the attacks...  untouched, just maintained....

The memorial was located inside of St. Paul's church, one of the "original" 9 buildings of the world trade center....  and the only building that survived the attacks, untouched, and uncratched, it appears that the attacks of the unfateful day are not the only ones that it has escaped though....  as the picture below shows, it has been thru a few others as well....  St. Paul's is the place where people went to find out if their loved ones had been found, it was also the place where the rescue workers, firefighters, cops and anyone else who was "helping" would go to get a few minutes of sleep...  I thought I had a picture of the cots they stayed in, but I don't....  I'll have to post it when I get the rest of the pics... 

The church, nestled "peacefully" between some trees

Southern style "starters"....

Jessica and Sara hosted a Southern sit down party, it was our way to bid farewell to summer.... we all brought a little something to share... I came up with watermelon salad and a tasty artichoke dip, whose recipe I got from a friend.... since they were both "tasty", (I know I'm a little biased) I decided to share them.... enjoy!

watermelon salad

The ingredients:     

half a seedless watermelon finely diced 

2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and minced

                                                   1 bunch of fresh cilantro
                                                   2 cucumbers finely diced
                                                   1/2 minced red onion
                                                   Juice of 2 limes  
                                                             Salt
                                                   Tortilla chips, to serve
Mix all ingredients together and chill salsa, preferably overnight, before serving.... 

Barbe's Artichoke Dip

The Ingredients:

2 jars of marinated artichokes, drained and cut up

1 small can of green chilis

1/2 cup of mayonaise

1 bag of shredded parmessan cheese, I used Albertsons, it's a 6oz

bread crumbs

sliced baguette to serve

Mix:  all of the ingredients together, put them in a oven safe container, sprinkle bread crumbs on top, and bake on 350 until it's hot all the way thru, about 20 to 30 minutes.....

Today......

.....It was a beautiful day and I woke up feeling kind of "blah".... I'm pretty sure that while playing with the kids and the "choo choo's" last night I pulled something on my back.... maybe I'm getting old, who knows?? ;) anyway, I woke up and decided to lay on the couch and feel sorry for myself, it was easy to do especially since no one was home... haha!!  then in the middle of watching "the view", I was feeling sorry for myself remember??  I decided to check my email on my phone, and I got this.....

"What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what gets you out of bed in the mornings, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything."

Then it hit me....  I LOVE cooking and I LOVE surprises, and I LOVE people....  so why not embrace this wonderfully pretty sunshiny day and do just that, cook, and surprise people with dinner??  so I removed myself from the couch, took a shower and made a list.....  and as I drove to the grocery store I enjoyed the day.....  it was a beautiful one too!!  ;) I shopped for a little while and was ready to come home, this is what I ended up with!!!

I put on some iTunes, and went right to work.....  I must say that i thoroughly enjoyed myself....  after everything was "prepared" I took a moment to go outside and read by the pool....  the day was wonderful to do just that....  I don't do nearly enough, "take in and appreciate" the day, days.....  BUT today I did, and it felt great.....  then it was time to go and deliver my goods....  I surprised Jessica and Bobby with dinner, who doesn't like yummy enchiladas??  ;)  then I made a phone call and invited my parents best friends and sister over for dinner....  I LOVED the fact that we all enjoyed a dinner that I enjoyed making....  :)  today I decided that I definitly need to do this more....  :)  and I LOVED the fact that my parents and their friends enjoyed themselves....  I can still hear them laughing and telling jokes as I write this...  haha!!

dinner.....

Oh yeah I can't forget about dessert....  all of those cake decorating classes have really opened up my LOVE of baking.... so I looked online for a "new" recipe to try, and found this yummy pumpkin cake.... 

 

So there it is....  my most fullfilling relaxing day....  I have so many things to be thankfull for, especially days like today....  yes my back still hurts, but I did book a massage appointment for next week....  ;)  and maybe if I stop "horsing" around like a kid, it'll feel better soon!! 

summer southern sit down

Did someone say "let's have a Summer Get-Together?"  ;)  You better believe it....  :D  Jessica and Sarah threw the cutest little southern sit-down to bid "farewell" to summer.....  Their attention to detail is always amazing....  :)  The food was great, there were more treats than we knew what to do with....  and the company was terrific as always....  :)  come join me on a "picture" tour of our "farewell"....

The welcome sign.....  did I mention their attention to detail was amazing??

Chit-chatting

yummy treats....  :)

Our food spread was amazing....  :)

..... and this was MY array of food....  nothing wrong with a little sampler!  ;)

Megan made these red velvet cupcakes....  I couldn't get enough of them...  they were DELICIOUS...  I think she said they were from the Paula Dern cookbook...  :)

..... hahaha....  Melissa and Miss Layla Mae were in attendence too, I couldn't wait to get my hands on that belly..  :)  and what do you know????  she "nudged" back a little!  ;)

Hello....  Layla are you in there???  hahaha!!!  ;)

Melissa, Miss Layla, me and Miss Carlie....  :)

.... and a close-up....  :)

.... and then my little friend here had, had too much of a good party...  she came up, said "Amaria, I wanna sit on your lap....?"  ok I said, she snuggled herself up on my lap, and before we knew it she was sound asleep...  naturally we needed a picture...  ;)  look at how comfy and cozy she looks....  man am I going to be sad when she gets too big to fit in my lap.... 

Thanks again Jessica and Sarah for hosting such a fun party....  I can't wait for the next one!!  :)