cupcakes, music, & owls

I'm sitting here on a busy Tuesday night wistfully thinking of Saturday because it was filled with all of the above.

I spent most of the morning hanging around, making breakfast for myself and my favorite man, who definitely got a ton of kisses because I just couldn't get enough of him...

When he left to run errands there was nothing left to do besides make cupcakes and dance around my kitchen to some good tunes


I got a chance to try out my new pan

(sadly, I'm not a big fan)

I also did something I try to never do....

I used box cake mix...I know, I'm appalled too. Shockingly, they came out pretty good. I recommend this one if you're in a pinch, or bored and want something quick and entertaining to do (like me!)

After my dance-a-thon and cupcake time was over, it was about time to leave for the owl walk. Want to know how I prepare for an owl walk? I'll give you a clue...it's not to dress in warm, winter appropriate, clothing.

Nope, I prepare by painting my nails like owls. They came out awesome for my first time trying it.

We met up with the rest of the family and proceeded on our owl & fun filled night. We first got to learn about the different types of owls. Now that I'm educated on owls I want to have a screech owl as a pet and I also learned that hoot owls like to do nothing more than stare down crowds of people.

There he is...staring. That big, rude owl...

Then off we went, into the woods with our owl call recording to try to find some of these cute lil beasts in the wild. Unfortunately, we failed at this attempt. We did, however, succeed in hearing lots of airplanes, barking dogs, passing cars, and crying children. Good times..

I was so ready for a warm meal after being out in the cold for almost an hour. We went to one of my favorite Huntington restaurants- Canterbury Ales.

Had a fabulous burger and Brooklyn Brewery's maple porter. Best decision ever, that's now one of my favorite beers! and it was a perfect match for the burger...awesome winter night meal.

I didn't do anything spectacular but I wish that all Saturday's could make me this happy...

weekly wednesday weigh-in

Better late than never, right? I had every intention to do this post yesterday but I just got so wrapped up the hecticness of life that this completely slipped my mind.

So, I didn’t have the greatest weigh-in last week which left me beyond discouraged. After shaking off the discouragement I was left feeling determined and I had a mindset to eat like a perfect lil weight watcher. That determination lasted for the remainder of last Wednesday. I don’t want to make it seem like I completely spiraled out of control but I definitely stopped caring about counting points and eating healthy. I guess I just felt like it’s not going to work no matter what I do so why care? This not caring lead me to eat an entire meal of deep fried food (fried pickles, mozzarella sticks, onion rings, stuffed mushrooms-which were deep fried??, fried chicken, and French fries) – thank you $3 appetizers at Buffalo Wild Wings, you were a great help! Saturday was also filled with deep fried chickeny leftovers & then greek food for dinner. Sunday wasn’t too bad as I made a sensible choice at Panera and then had a minor relapse on Monday with just some plain good old over eating but by Tuesday I realized I had to snap out of this and get back on track..

Needless to say, I was quite hesitant to step on the scale Wednesday morning. I finally convinced myself to hop on and while peaking through my one half opened eye I saw that I actually lost 2 lbs! Hey, I’m not gonna argue with a loss but I definitely made that confused Scooby-doo like huhhhh noise. It just goes to show that last week was just a bad week for the scale for whatever reason because I know there’s no way I could eat like I did and still lose weight.

This week I want to get fully back on tracking with recording what I eat. My biggest challenge this week- a chocolate party a friend is having Friday night…oh, and a family dinner at my favorite little Irish pub Saturday night..meat pies and Guinness anyone?? I also hope this cold that has now migrated into intense pressure in the front of my head goes away…I would like to start doing some yoga in the morning but bending over just isn’t gonna happen with that pain.

where have you been all my life?

That is precisely the question I asked out loud after browsing Skinnytaste's website for only a few short minutes. It was like a dream come true- delicious sounding dinners (and even yummier desserts) all in 1 convenient spot with the WEIGHT WATCHER points already figured out? What more could I ask for? The first time I was on the site I think I spent hours browsing and searching for recipes, I probably had a month’s worth of meals ready to go. I don’t know why I ever cook anything that’s not on this site. Oh yea, I know why- any sort of “recipe” usually entails a lot of different ingredients which usually makes for costly trips to the grocery store..argh.

So far, I’ve gotten a chance to make the Thai Coconut Curry Shrimp



which had a sauce that was so friggin good I probably could’ve just drank the whole thing!! I also made the Ground Turkey with Potato’s and Spring Peas.



This was a nice hearty meal for minimal points as well as minimal effort…I think I overdid it with the seasonings though. I need to learn to trust recipes more than I do…

This upcoming week I have 2 more Skinnytaste recipes ready to be tried out. I’m going to be making the Sicilian Rice Ball Casserole



because I adore rice balls and if I can have a square of meaty, cheesy, carbtastic goodness for 8 points I’ll be as happy as a pig in well, you know…

Also, on deck for dinner this week is the Stuffed Cabbage Casserole.



It’s something out of the norm and seems a lot less labor intensive than traditional stuffed cabbage. I hope both of these recipes live up to my rather high expectations.

Next up, I think I’m going to have to try one of the more sweeter selections from the site. All of the cookies and cakes look so amazing and it’ll be nice to have something for dessert that I’m not regretting the next day. I’m going to try to make it a habit to cook from this site at least once or twice a week. It will avoid weeknight dinners getting to dull and repetitious AND it’ll make it staying on this diet thing a whole lot easier. Thank you Skinnytaste!!

{all photo’s courtesy of skinnytaste.com}

pass the nyquil

One lovely part about living together, or even just spending a lot of time with your significant other, is when one gets sick the other is bound to come down with the same bug...and if your SUPER lucky, the two of you will pass it back and forth for a while. This time, we were spared the agony of playing catch with an imaginary ball of germs because we both caught it at the same time. Joy!

It's actually quite comical to watch the two of us sulk around and be miserable together but this cold is a nasty lil bugger and all I want it to do is go away..but nothing is making it subside. Between the two of us we've gone through bottles of dayquil, nyquil, robitussin, boxes upon boxes of tissues, cough drops..you name it. Hubster's been feeling a little better but I can't really say the same for myself. This is day 5...I usually let it go 10 days before I wave the white flag and head to the Dr.'s

Hopefully, today will be the day that I show this cold who's boss. My plan of attack?



Some good old rest and relaxation with the help of Mr. Remote and Mr. Couch..love those guys! I'm lucky enough to be able to pull this off because today just happens to be the day it decided to snow here for the first time this winter season.



It's nothing much but it was enough for Hubby to get called into work for snow removal and have friends cancel their plans to come visit. A blessing in disguise? I think so.

All that's left to do now is decide what movie I'm going to watch (Spaceballs or Goonies...decisions, decisions), heat up some chicken soup, grab my fleece blanket, and firmly plant my rear end on the couch. If this isn't the best way to fight a cold, I don't know what is..

till death do us part

As a couple just beginning their marriage, we tend not to think about that dreaded day when those words we said in our vows actually happens. I don’t mean to be morbid but recently a dear friend of mine, who had a marriage I admired, lost her husband and it got me thinking…how will I ever deal with losing my other half? We do so many things together and we rely on each other so much. It’ll probably be one of the hardest things that one of us will inevitably have to go through. My answer to that question right now- I just don’t know. I still consider myself young so it’s not surprising that death isn’t the first, or 574th, thing on my mind.

Thinking about death also makes me think about the life you get to live with your husband or wife while you were still, well, alive. Looking at the life of this couple, who have spent close to 50 years together, makes me excited to start to build a life with my husband. There’s so much ahead of us- seeing the world together, settling into a house, having babies… I’ve grown up with this man (and still have more to do) and now I’m also ready to grow old together. My one goal in our marriage is to build a relationship over time that others admire, just as I admired my friends relationship. I just hope that as time goes on and we both live a full, joyful life together I will become more accepting of the whole idea of this death doing us part thing.

Hey, if anything, with statistics showing half of marriages end in divorce I should be proud if we can make it that far, right?

weekly wednesday weigh-in

I’m frustrated, I’m enraged, and I’m upset……I gained 3 lbs.

I’m not quite sure how this happened. I counted points for every little bite of food I put in my mouth and still had 10 flex points left at the end of the week. I used all of my flex points last week plus some and still managed to lose. No, I didn’t work out at all but I do know it’s definitely possible for myself to lose weight without being active. I feel thinner, I look thinner, my clothes are fitting better. The scale is just not following suit.

Maybe it was water weight? Maybe I’m not drinking enough water? Maybe it’s because I had pizza and ben & jerry’s the last few days (even though it was all within my daily point allotment)? Maybe my body is just inexplicably holding onto weight (because it has been known to do that)? Maybe I counted points wrong? Maybe I’m just eating things I shouldn’t be eating? Maybe my scale is old and not working correctly? There’s a million different reasons as to why but no excuse will make me feel any better. I’ve been working at this weight loss thing for the past 3 weeks and I’ve gotten NOWHERE. I’m actually 1 pound more then when I started.

The next step? Trying even harder, I guess? I plan on being extremely conscience of what I’m eating, especially over this upcoming weekend. I also plan on re-weighing myself on my friends brand new scale when I go see her tonight. I don’t care if it’s after I’ve eaten all day…I want to see what a brand new scale says. If it’s reading any less than what I saw this morning then I guess I’m going to be in the market for a new scale!

{ update } I re-weighed myself on the brand new scale at my friends house and unfortunately, my scale is accurate. I did actually gain that weight. I'm left clueless- not sure what happened. All I can do is suck it up and move forward.

tuesday night

Here's what my night was like..according to my instagram feed...

"triumphant return of the bow ring"

"Alysha's here"

"what's that boy doing to my living room?!"

"3 burners going at once..that's skill"

"gnocchi, chicken, eggplant, onions, mushrooms, yellow squash, zucchini, and maybe even the kitchen sink"



"rose eyeshadow- I finally found you!"



"you come here, eat my food, play my games, then leave. I feel used"



"crackle nails on teen mom Tuesday"

mission accomplished

After packing up some more clothes from my old bedroom at my parents house and doing some much organization of my closet space I vowed to not wear the same old stuff this past weekend- the “same old stuff” primarily cardigans, t-shirts, and hoodies. I wanted to rediscover some pieces in my closet that I may have not touched since last winter, some even longer. I think I did well…

Saturday night I got all dolled up for Awesome 80’s prom-



Wore a new sequined top, black mini skirt that was only worn once since 2009, and lace tights that I’ve owned for a year and have never worn.

Sunday I spent a day at my parents house with the family-



Wore a ruffled blazer that I bought maybe 3 years ago and have NEVER worn, a scarf that I’ve had forever and hardly get a chance to wear, and it was a 2nd outing for my brown ankle boots that I bought a few months ago.

Monday we helped some friends move so I knew I needed to be warm and comfy



I kind of slacked off Monday because the only piece that had to be dug up from the closet was the sweater, which I haven’t worn since last winter.

I’d say my weekend goal was accomplished. I’m going to try to make a point of this more often…I have more than enough clothing and I shouldn’t be stuck wearing the same pairs of shirts and jeans just because that’s what I’m comfortable in.

no explosives necessary

I first discovered the idea for car bomb cupcakes on a trip to Queen City Cupcakes and my first thought- genius! It’s based on an Irish Car Bomb, that delicious drink where you drop a layered shot of Bailey’s and Jameson into a ¾’s full glass of Guinness then chug your little butt off before everything foams up in your face. The cupcake was delicious. A chocolate stout cake, a light Bailey’s buttercream, and a chocolate whiskey drizzle. It was love at first bite. I had been looking for an excuse to make them myself and Christmas seemed like the perfect time. It was also my first chance getting to use my favorite appliance..



my kitchenaid…ain’t she purdy?

recipe-

makes 24 cupcakes

for the cupcakes:
1 cup Guinness stout
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons baking soda
¾ teaspoons salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

for the baileys frosting:
2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 cups powdered sugar
6 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream

for the cupcakes- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners. Bring the Guinness and butter to a simmer in a heavy, medium saucepan over medium heat.



Add the cocoa powder and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.



Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl to combine. Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sour cream on medium speed until combined. Add the Guinness-chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and beat just to combine. Reduce the speed to low, add the flour mixture and beat briefly. Using a rubber spatula, fold the batter until completely combined.



Divide the batter among the cupcake liners.



Bake until a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Cool the cupcakes on a rack.



for the frosting- Using the whisk attachment of a stand mixer, whip the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Reduce the speed to medium-low and gradually add the powdered sugar until all of it is incorporated.



Add the Baileys, increase the speed to medium-high and whip for another 2 to 3 minutes, until it is light and fluffy.

Once the cupcakes are cooled completely it’s time to frost them and be generous with the frosting, there’s PLENTY.



I did a basic swirl because I’m still getting used to using different tips. There a little sloppy but oh well, practice makes perfect.

I had plans to do a whiskey chocolate drizzle but what I didn’t know is that when whiskey is added to those chocolate meltable disks, it does not stay smooth. It start’s to solidify and get clumpy immediately so what else could I do but roll little chocolate whiskey balls? I guess that was a welcomed accident..they still looked adorable and it was probably less messy than drizzling.







The final verdict? The cake was fabulous..super moist and the stout really brought out the chocolate flavor. The buttercream…a little too rich. The first one I tried had a perfect, almost whipped cream like consistency (I later found out the bakery uses a French buttercream). Next time I make these I’ll be tweaking the frosting until I get it right. I’ll also use actual melted chocolate to mix the whiskey in and do the drizzle. Can’t wait for carbomb cupcakes part 2!

weekly wednesday weigh-in

I still don't think I'm at a point where I'm ready to document my weight but the good news is that I lost 1.5 lbs.!!! -insert touchdown style happy dance here- That's quite good considering I went over all of my weight watcher points (including my flex points) over the weekend.

Even though I got lucky this time I need to fix this going over my points business!! I saw that I was using 3-7 flex points almost everyday during the week. I should seriously try to stop doing that because most of my bad eating happens on the weekend- I need all the flex points I can get between Saturday and Sunday. It's just going to take more planning but I'm confident I can do it.

The goals for this upcoming week are to keep up the good eating and maybe try start squeezing in some work-out time. Nothing crazy, a 100 crunches in the morning and an hour playing kinect a few times a week. I think I can manage that...

cupcake vineyards

The first time I heard of Cupcake Vineyards was on a recent trip to Gourmet Burger Bistro. I almost fell off my seat when I saw it on the wine list because, well, I love cupcakes and anything related to cupcakes. I refrained from ordering a glass that night (greasy fries, large burger..the last thing I needed was wine) so I scoped it out online when I got home and ordered a few, okay, 5 bottles. {Side note}- I didn't realize this before but Cupcake Vineyards wine is commonly found in liquor stores in my area. D'oh! I need to get out more often...

1 week and some mailbox stalking later I had my UPS box full of wine.



Let me just say that I love this wine! The bottles are uber cute, its not that expensive, and the wine is actually quite good. I got them a few days before Christmas and I now only have 1 bottle left. I guess I don't have to worry about making it last though since another bottle is only a 5 minute drive away.

mmmm.. peanut butter

This all started with the brilliant idea to make a friend of mine a peanut butter themed gift basket for Christmas. The very first thing I wanted to put in there was a chocolate chip cookie dough peanut butter I had found on a trip to Lancaster, PA which I also had later found online. Well, that was a few years ago and could not be found anywhere on the internet now when I needed it and I wasn't about to travel to Pennsylvania! This is when I said I think I'll make my own.

I didn't realize that it only takes a few ingredients to make peanut butter..it's only peanuts and peanut oil. I went out to grab the stuff I needed for a test run and I guess I never bought peanut oil before because I was definitely shocked by the $16 a bottle price. I figured for the test run I'd use the vegetable oil I had at home, ya know, in case it didn't work out. This turned out to work marvelously because the oil in natural peanut butter usually separates and for some reason it doesn't when vegetable oil is used. The test run was a success.

recipe-

2 cups dry roasted peanuts (salted or unsalted could be used- I used salted)
5 tbsp. vegetable oil (take notice of the consistency, more or less can be added if desired)
3/4-1 tbsp. Sugar

I used my handy dandy ninja blender to first grind down the nuts. Add the oil, letting each tbsp. blend in at a time.

Once the consistency is where you'd like it, toss in the sugar and mix in. If you like a chunky peanut butter, toss in a few peanuts at the end and blend a little while.

Now that the basic peanut butter was done, it was time for the mix-ins..because plain peanut butter will never do. The 3 I made were...

chocolate covered strawberry (my favorite)- peanut butter layered with nutella and diced strawberries


triple threat- peanut butter with peanut butter chips and peanut butter sauce mixed in


cookie monster- peanut butter with peanut butter oreo's and reese's pb cup chips ahoy mixed in


After all 3 were prepared all that was left to do was jar them up, make some cute tags, and finish them off with some ribbon. They make such a thoughtful, homemade gift for any peanut butter lover.

weekly wednesday weigh-in

So, as I might have mentioned earlier, I've been counting points on weight watchers again for about a week now. Unfortunately, going to the weight watcher meetings isn't going to happen right now about now (no time, no money) and since I need to hold myself accountable somehow I figured why not on here?

Here and now is where my weekly Wednesday weigh-ins are going to start.

The plan is to step on that dreaded scale (first thing in the morning because that's when you weigh the least, of course) and report back on my victories and defeats on the scale and in life as someone who's attempting to lose weight. This should be interesting....

For this first time it's going to be more of a check-in than a weigh-in as weighing in would consist of writing down my weight. This week, i just can't seem to make myself do that...that number was SCARY! I did cheat a little and weighed myself Saturday morning and that number was managable...but then come Wednesday morning I was 3 lbs more..how'd that happen?? Oh yea, New Years happened. I knew I kind of went off track but I didn't realize it was 3 lbs. worth of off track. Just goes to show that I can put weight on at the drop of a hat but it takes blood, sweat, and tears to lose an ounce. Talk about frustrating...

Well, this week is another week. Another chance to give it my best effort, eat lots of healthy food (and not so much unhealthy food), and be more active! Here's hoping that I'll be okay with writing down the number that pops up on the scale next week.

a year in photo's

2011 surely had its up’s and down’s but I think I can say, fairly certainly, that it was the best year of my life..

It started with new year’s 2011…celebrating with friends, dancing the night away..





We went on an amazing cruise..our first one ever!




Had some great parties with some amazing friends.





& realized that mini adventures into NYC for something as pointless as donuts can sometimes be the best way to spend a day




Probably received one of the best birthday gifts ever…a surprise trip to Philadelphia for prisons, medical oddities, and cheesesteaks!






Moved out of my parents house to live with my (then) fiancé..



& 2 days later had my BRIDAL SHOWER!





While preparing for my shower, I also realized that I was pretty good at being crafty.




But I didn’t have much time for crafty stuff since I was busy preparing for our wedding…





& honeymoon..




Then before I knew it, it was time for Christmas




And New Years 2012!






A year can surely go by fast when you’re having fun. I wonder what this brand new year will have in store for us? If it’s half as good as 2011, I’ll consider myself lucky.