Okay, so I have been lusting over the ruffle pillows at Hettle for over a YEAR now!
I mean, let's be honest folks. 2 of my major obsessions are reflected here: ruffles and accent pillows!!
Melissa at The Frugal Style hosted a Hettle giveaway this week. I love blog giveaways and have had some moderate luck in the past.
Well, yesterday while walking it out on the treadmill, my iPhone binged with the sound of a new email. At the next commercial break of Top Chef DC, I checked my phone. Can I please tell you that I a) almost fell off the treadmill, b) did a little skip while still ON the moving treadmill, c) wanted to shout from the rooftops how excited I was that I WON the Hettle giveaway!!
Patience is a virtue and it totally paid!! No more lusting for me!! But I will continue to spread the word. Pretty sure Mommacita wants to order a lime green one for our guest bedroom that she just redecorated.
Love, love, love.
Today is my last day at the internship. Going to be SO weird to no longer see the people that have become a part of my life over the last 10 weeks. But never fear, I did an exuberant amount of baking last night as a special treat for everyone =)
Thank you Gina for your sweet (and totally unexpected) Belle of the Wall post on your blog!! Made me grin from ear to ear! I never cease to be amazed at the overwhelming support in this fabulous blogosphere!!
After (please ignore the floral quilt protecting it from dust in the garage)
Left on the To Do list: Order two more knobs from Anthro for the middle drawer (the screws aren't long enough in the two I have... they are randomly shorter than the rest).
Clearly, it's not design magazine photo ready. But I love it! Waiting a couple more days to close the drawers completely. Got to make sure the paint dries! I don't want them to stick!
#2. BLC announces the winner of the Belle of the Wall giveaway tomorrow! I'm so excited to find out who wins!
#3. Belle of the Wall is offering a VERY special shipping discount on all orders placed before August 1st. Click here to read all about it. You don't want to miss out on this last summer hurrah!
#4. It's my last week at the summer internship. Another sign that summer is almost over.
It has be a CRAY-ZEE weekend in our house. Off to bed now to rest up for the week.
Shocking - while preparing my breakfast this morning I hear CRASH, BANG, WHOA! "Moooooom?? What happened?!" I run upstairs, walk into my parentals' room and see Mommacita standing in the middle of her walk-in closet completely surrounded by piles of clothes and shoe boxes. I look at one wall and the two shelves that hang prominently on the wall are no longer there. That's right. The shelves (along with all their contents) came crashing down today. Mommacita was condensing all the clothes in the closet to prepare for our new carpet installation next week (did you know clothes must be at least 3 ft off the ground for this process?) I've never seen Mommacita so perplexed. "I don't even know where to start." About 15 minutes later, all the clothes were piled on the bed and the "damage" was surveyed. Needless to say, a trip to Lowe's was on the agenda.
Skilled - Mommacita totally stepped up to the plate today and rehung the shelves in her closet and so far so good. She's such a smarty and totally embodies "make it work." (I showed some Skill today as well. Gave Momma a quick tutorial on how to get the power drill to rotate the opposite way to remove the screw. thank you tech theatre classes in college!)
Sweaty - Today was day 3 of "project desk renovation." I promise I'll post pictures tomorrow or Monday. I'm really pleased with how it looks. Back to Sweaty... today was an unruly, boiling day. While driving earlier I wanted to see what the temp was outside. I looked at the thermostat in my car and it said "Hell." Yep. That's about right. Okay, so maybe it didn't say that, but it might as well have. Yikes!
Smelly - This word has a negative connotation, but in our house today it was a positive. I made turkey burgers with a cranberry relish for lunch. Yum-o! It was a nice respite for Mommacita as she worked on the closet renovation!
Slippery - Oy vei. I am such a klutz. I was walking down the Stairs (our hardwood Stairs) tonight in my Socks and the next thing I knew, I was flat on my back and in agony. Yep. I slipped on the stairs and landed on the edge of one stair on my tailbone and slid down the remaining three steps. I haven't felt like such a baby in quite a while. I rolled over to my stomach as I wept in our foyer. Mommacita came running (wait, role reversal from this morning, yes?) and got me two ziploc bags of ice for my tailbone and my Spine. Needless to say, I'm a weeeeee bit Sore.
Sweet - It sure is Sweet that this Saturday is over. Kidding. Kind of. But in Seriousness, it's been sweet to see that when the going gets tough, we're there for each other.
And Stylish - this really has nothing to do with me, but have you seen Tommy Hilfiger's new Plaza apartment? Please and Thank you!
I think I might have to pick up this issue of Harpers Bazaar to add the photos to my inspiration board!
Oh, and check out Brunch at Saks and The Company She Keeps (two of my favorite blogs) for a chance to win a custom Belle of the Wall piece!!
I absolutely judge a cupcake by its frosting, but that's the closest parallel I could create to "don't judge a book by its cover."
I love cupcakes. That's not new information (unless you're new to my blog. Welcome!)
My friends/family give me books...
stickers...
etc. with cupcakes on them.
I always look for cupcake bakeries when we visit a new city. It's borderline obsessive =) The latest occurance of this was our trip to Sweet while in Boston!
Anyway, back to the point of this post. I was sitting here looking at the website for a cupcake bakery here in the QC, and I thought to myself, "these cupcakes don't look that great." This is the bakery that Papas came home RAVING about after he tried one of their creations at his office. I'm skeptical (and maybe that's just because my skepticism is an "excuse" to go and try one).
It got me thinking... do you judge a cupcake by it's frosting? I surely do. And I would say that 50% of the time, I am disappointed. And sometimes it's not because of the frosting. More often than not, the cake is too dry. And that's a deal breaker for me. Even WORSE is a dry cupcake with bad icing.
Okay, so here are a few of my reviews (and by all means, if you have a great cupcake place in your area, feel free to share the name!)
Crumbs Bakeshop (I've had them in both NYC and LA) - definitely one of my favorites. I'm embarrassed to admit that I've tried a hefty 75% of their cupcake menu, I'm sure. The shop was about 5 minutes from where I worked in West Hollywood last summer (plus, it was a great excuse to drive through Beverly Hills... I digress).
This is my favorite from Crumbs: the Caramel Apple
With real pieces of baked cinnamon apple in the center, it is so incredibly moist. yum.
This also looks pretty good. I've never tried the s'more one, but that's only because it hasn't been in the case when I've gone. Add it to the bucket list perhaps? LOL.
Sprinkles is a definite tie for #1 on the favorites list. I've never had a Sprinkles cupcake that was anything short of moist and delicious. And even better, you can purchase their mix in 8 (or so) flavors and make them at home. The red velvet is my favorite so far. Looking forward to trying the pumpkin!
(Oh! And I really love their flavors chart. Yes, I'm an organizational dork)
Cupcake in Charleston, SC is my #2. Mommacita and I took a girls trip last summer (or maybe Summer '08) to Charleston. I discovered Cupcake (thanks to a Google search) before we left.
I'd love to tell you that these cupcakes look better than they taste, because seriously, look how great that cupcake looks?! But that would be a lie. It was so moist, and the frosting was incredibly creamy. Definitely, the best red velvet cupcake that I've ever had. That's right, I said it.
Honestly, I want to go back to Charleston just to try more of their flavors (and maybe stop by Magnolias for the best fried green tomatoes, grits 3-ways, and according to Tyler Florence, the best homemade pimento cheese)
Moving right along...
Magnolia Bakery. Unfortunately, the hype is a gross overstatement of these confectionery creations (they are very pretty though)
I have never been so disappointed in a cupcake. The cake was incredibly dry. But don't worry, Magnolia still gets my money. They have the BEST banana pudding ever.
OKC establishments:
Cuppies and Joe - Not my favorite, but it's pretty good. The banana cuppie is nice and moist.
Ruth's Sweete Justice - I really like the "Buster Brown—Spice cake infused with caramel buttercream and topped with a cinnamon ganache"
But if you're going to go to Ruth's, you've got to try the iced rounds. These aren't your momma's sugar cookies. They are affectionately called "crack cookies" because they are so addictive... and my oh my it's true. yum, yum, yum. Pick up a dozen next time you're there. But good luck getting that dozen home, they will mysteriously disappear on the drive... and you'll have a hard time sharing, I promise you that.
Saturn Grill - one of my favorite lunch/dinner places, and their red velvet cupcakes (and pumpkin cookies) are pretty delicious as well.
Oh! Here is the pic that got all this started -
SAS Cupcake in Charlotte, NC.
I'm still not sold on the appearance, but I'll let my taste buds do the deciding.
Well, hopefully I haven't put you in a cupcake induced sugar coma! Thank God tomorrow's Friday!!! xoxo, E
"The Big Apple of Katie's Eye" is a custom piece for JW. She was the winner of the Belle of the Wall giveaway on Homemade Grits!!! I'm really happy with how it turned out, and it's off to JW today! Drive fast FedEx =)
"Cross My Heart" is a custom piece for EH. A lovely birthday gift for her friend! The color is a bit off because I took the picture last night (with no natural light), but I just couldn't wait to show you all! I love this one!
This evening, I will be putting down my scissors and hot glue gun, and I'll be picking up my sandpaper! It's time to start refinishing my desk!! Going from this "lovely" green color to a gun powder gray! I can't wait! Hopefully it'll all be done by Sunday and I can share pictures!!
The family reunion was so much fun yesterday! I absolutely love every chance I get to spend with my fam. Our "immediate-extended" family gets together a couple times a year, but there are always people I don't really know at our family reunion. My cousin and I were discussing this, and I almost died laughing when he said, "I mean really, are these people even related to us?!" Hahahaha. He's sixteen and I wasn't expecting him to say what I was most definitely thinking, lol!
Been working on a few more Belle of the Wall pieces (shocker, I know!) and created an Alpha Delta Pi "sorority snaps" piece for ML.
She picked these colors to match her lovely Anthro bedding!
I went to Anthro to do some color matching research for her order, and while I was there, I picked up two different knobs to try out for my desk. Please ignore the clashing that is going on with that awful green color and the beautiful Anthro knobs.
I love them both, but I'm excited to see what they look like once the desk is painted. I'm going shopping tomorrow for the paint - I'm thinking a charcoal gray - and can't wait to get started on it this weekend!
Time for bed now! Can't believe the weekend is over! Man, it flies!
In one month and one week I will have my last first day of school.
In five months and one day I will graduate from college!
In LESS than five months and one day I will (hopefully) have a job and know where I am moving.
In other news, I'm so in love with my newly redecorated room at the parent's house. Momma has been working like a crazy person stripping the wallpaper, filling holes from all the frames/plaques/art I put on my walls over the years, and painting. Pair new bedding, a reupholstered Parsons chair, and new lamp with freshly painted walls... and you've got yourself a winner of a room! It looks ah-mazing!!
I am also in love with this chair Mommacita got me as a surprise! It goes oh-so-well with my reupholstered consignment chair!
Been working on a few orders for Belle of the Wall...
"My Initial Reaction"
KG ordered a piece for her son's UGA themed room. His initials are JDG, so we made the "G" the Georgia G.
"Cross My Heart"
A custom design request by EH for her friend's birthday. This is the first run of the design. I'll be working on her piece specifically soon!
Have a great weekend! We have our family reunion today! So excited!! =) xoxo, E
First, I woke to find that my right eye was still twitching... a phenomenon that last all day yesterday and continued on today. CB has a theory regarding the cause. Mommacita says vitamin deficiency. And I'm claiming "stress."
Next, I was off to the gym at 5am. oh and I left my water bottle at home. Sad day.
Then, I was off to the dermatologist... never a bright moment in my day... except that I have the kindest derm ever.
Next, off to work... on my way I saw a moped run into a car and hit his head on the trunk (luckily he had on a helmet)... his impatience with the traffic led to his weaving maneuvers and subsequent "oops" run-in... I also got stuck in horrible traffic because the entire right side of the road was blocked because of another accident. Oy vey!
I had the most difficult time focusing at work... between the eye twitch, the pounding headache, and the dizzy feeling from the stress of the morning, I was a hot mess... or maybe just a mess.
I was feeling so bad by lunch that I cut out of work early and came home to rest. It was a wonderful afternoon. Mommacita and I had lunch together and I spent some quality time with the couch.
After my migraine meds kicked in (praise the Lord for treximet!) I worked on a few Belle of the Wall pieces!
I'm excited for a few upcoming Greek orders!
Heading to bed early tonight. Hopefully a good night's sleep will do the trick! I hope your hump day has been a happy one! Tomorrow is Thursday, which means it's almost Friday! Hallelujah!!!
