Tuesday, March 24, 2009

True Cupcake Carnage of the Gross Variety




Q: How can you not love a cupcake?

Not only are they delicious, but they are a sweet endearment for the romantical-type. A yummy cupcake can even brighten a crummy (pun intended) day. Pull out a plate of cupcakes at a meeting and the whole mood lightens up. Cupcakes are awesome, they are the perfect little celebration cake. I couldn’t be more thrilled about the uprising of the yummy cupcake as of late—even though the prices are through the roof!




My favorite cupcake shop in town is Crave Cupcakes. I love their White Chocolate Macadamia Nut cupcake and can’t wait to try their carrot cake next. Unfortunately for me, the shop is minutes away from my office, and while I haven’t been tempted in the past, there’s a very nice new guy here who goes on Friday cupcake runs and walks around the office taking orders! He’s only done it once so far, but from what he said, it sounded like he likes to do it every once in a while. Oh, no! A cupcake dealer! I made a pact with one of my coworkers (the officle across the “street”) that we would only order one cupcake between us when the dealer comes peddling his wares. Anyhoo, back to the topic at hand: the corruption of the beloved icon...

A: Meet the Meatloaf Bakery.



I could never believe that cupcakes could go to the dark side if I hadn’t seen it with my own two eyes…on the internet, that is. Are you ready for this? Behold the meatloaf cupcake. I can’t imagine that enough people would buy a meatloaf cupcake to keep a place in business and I certainly can’t imagine anyone eating one. I think the ideal way to serve personal-size meatloaf would be to use small bread pans; at least they would resemble the original meatloaf size. But, no. These brilliant folks offer several portion sizes: cake, pie, loaf, loafie, cupcake, tart, or you can order a “flight” of 3 loafies in case you can’t decide which specimen to experience.




The Meatloaf Cupcake masters have found a way to fool your senses into thinking they are enjoying a decadent dessert when in fact, they are actually eating EL LOAFO DEL FUEGO, “A robust mix of ground pork with hot chorizo, green olives, hot peppers, almonds, garlic and a touch of sherry. Topped with Garlic Spuds and served with sherry-mushroom sauce.” Right. Who are they kidding? I don’t know what’s worse, the names of these carne concoctions (Lamb-A-Licious, No Buns About It Burger Loaf, Herby Turkey Loaf to name a few) or the “icing” they top it off with. I’m thinking the “A Wing And A Prayer Loaf” isn’t exactly the most brilliant name of a dish, then again maybe it’s perfect. You probably need a wing and a prayer to keep that stuff down.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Fiesta Friday- Breakfast at Melly's



It’s about time for a Fiesta Friday! This time I thought I would share ideas from the slumber party I hosted for my sister and her bridesmaids. The theme was Breakfast at Tiffany’s. I wanted to have a fun, non-shower, casual, girls-only night for Leti and her bridesmaids to have a chance to get to know each other and give Leti a much needed break from wedding planning. One of Leti’s (and my) favorite actresses is Audrey Hepburn, so it seemed only fitting that we should have a private screening of the fabulous movie based on Truman Capote’s book, Breakfast at Tiffany’s! Has anyone read the book? As many times as I have seen the movie, I am embarrassed to say that I haven’t! (Note to self—must pick up a copy.)



The invitation to the pajama party had to be fabulous, of course (one of my party-planning rules!) So, I came up with a trivia quiz invitation. I put as many Breakfast at Tiffany’s-inspired items on the invitation and challenged all the girls to email me with the answers. I forgot to mention to Leti that she couldn’t play, so I got a quick response from her with all the answers! Although, I did stump her on a couple. Hee hee. See if you can catch all the answers to the clues.

Moving on…When I have a theme party, I want to go all out. I decided watching the movie on our regular-sized tv wouldn’t be spectacular enough. So, I did a bit of research and rented a projector unit that we could hook up to our DVD player. Then, I pinned a king-sized white sheet to my drapes, and threw a bunch of pillows and blankets on the floor. Instant home theater! It was rad! I watched Star Wars on the “big screen” the next day with my husband… AWESOME!



For snacks, I served Cokes, wine, popcorn (in popcorn boxes, of course), Cracker Jacks (you know why if you’re a die-hard Breakfast at Tiffany’s fan) and other movie theater candy-- Jr. Mints, please! One of the girls brought a stuffed pizza roll, which was yummy, too.



Of course, there are ALWAYS party favors! Each girl got a little Tiffany-blue canvas tote with her name on it stuffed with a little tiara from Claire’s, a strand of “pearls” and a giant diamond blinky ring from Party City tucked into a Tiffany-style box (also from Party City). They were a big hit! And, to top it off, I made a little scrapbook for Leti to insert pictures of the festivities into. (Another note to self—must print out pictures for Leti’s album!)



If you don’t have an ultra-swanky home theater, try my bed sheet and projector combo. Wouldn’t it be so cute for a little girls slumber party…a Hannah Montana Movie premiere party complete with sunglasses and boas and a red carpet from the front door to the screening room! And, remember to arm your little paparazzi with disposable cameras! Whatever movie you premier, make sure to bring the Milk Duds!

Update: Breakfast at Melly's was featured on Tip Junkie and Not Just a Mommy!  Thanks, chickadees!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Disney Scrappin'

I really hope I'll have the chance to meet Alice on our visit to Wonderland. I love her little pinafore dress!









I created this spread with the EK Success Alice dimensional sticker set. I love the little thataway sign and the potion bottle. I was really excited when I found the blue argyle ribbon in the dollar bin at Michael's. I thought Alice was more of a "pearls girl" than bling, so I used pearl embellishments to accent the stickers.


Quick note: I cut the Alice in Wonderland sticker apart and used the "wonderland" part alone on page 2, and mounted the "Alice" part on a page of white paper with little pink dots. I like headlines to be mounted onto another paper and trimmed.

Friday, March 6, 2009

One World. One Flag?


So. I'm not a very political person and I don't feel like opening a forum about why we should or should not create a world flag. But, I came across this article and thought it was an interesting design challenge. I get a bunch of design-related magazines and e-zines and this item came from Liquid Treat.

A nonprofit activist organization of designers--professional and students-- and other creative types called Adbusters sponsored a competition to come up with a "world flag" and received more than 1,000 entries that "embody the idea of globalism." Some of them are thoughtful, some of them are militant and some of them are downright ugly. Frankly, I think if we asked kids around the world, we would get more pure, unpretentious designs, but I didn't come up with this deal.

So, click on the One Flag poster above to check out the finalists and vote on your favorite flag which will be produced and sold, I guess. You will be able to see the winning flag flying high over the winner's mother's house. Voting closes March 17.

P.S.- Not to try to bias your voting, because I don't know any of these people anyway, but I think the "Humanities Mark" is a bit of a cop-out because I've seen it used by at least 6 or 7 nonprofit groups already. Just me, keepin' it real.


P.P.S.- In case you are wondering, if I got in on this flag thing earlier, I think this would've been my entry. Because nothing brings the world together like David Hasselhoff.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Music Flavor of the Month- Willie Nelson


In honor of Go Texan season, this month’s musical selection features one of my top 5 favorite musical artists of all time, Texas native and founder of Farm Aid, Willie Nelson. The Red-headed Stranger first showed up on the music scene in 1960, when he went to Nashville to be a songwriter. All of the songs on the playlist were written by Willie, some recorded by western greats like Patsy Cline and Roy Orbison. As old and crunchy as he is, he still gives a great concert with his old trusty guitar, Trigger. There is no mistaking his honest tunes and his distinctive voice.



Willie Nelson was awarded the Kennedy Center Honors Award in 1998, and was declared a Texas Treasure in 2003 by the Senate of the State of Texas. Willie Nelson lives in Luck, Texas, a little town that he built in 1986. I hope you enjoy this month’s music flavor of the month.







To turn on the music, go to the music player in the sidebar on the right. Note: Audio starts automatically in Firefox.