Six Months Out: 12 Things Update

It's officially past the halfway point to my 25th birthday (no lie I forgot how old I was for three whole seconds). Here's how I'm doing on my 12 Things

1. Perfect the tiramisu cupcake

Done.

2. Read 6 5 books

I finished Mindy Kaling's book last week and am working my way through Nora Ephron's I Fell Bad About My Neck as well as Antoine Saint-Exupery's Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince). So we're making some progress!

3. Explore a part of SF I've spent little time in

I can't remember the last time I was in the city.

4. Finish organizing and uploading my Project 365

Seriously slacking here.

5. Practice French everyday for one month

June. I will come back to this in June.

6. Make coffee art

Oh gosh. I don't even know why I added this to the list. I was hugely unaware of the equipment necessary to make coffee art. Plus, I need to find a proper method of brewing a shot (or two) of espresso at home. My keurig isn't the same as Starbucks' at home system. I'll still attempt this, but I'm telling you it won't be pretty.

7. Bake a cake/cupcakes from scratch.

Nothing yet. Brandon and I are doing everything we can to not buy groceries until after the move. I think we can make it.

8. Watch 10 8 classic movies I've never seen before

I've watched Some Like It Hot, The Usual Suspects (an excellent movie)...and...that's it. Annie Hall is for sure on my list of movies I need to watch. I think Brandon tried to get me to watch it years ago but I fell asleep. And if anyone has Casablanca, you should let me borrow it.

9. Complete 5 1 of my pins from Learn/Make/Do

I can't believe I've made the most progress with this one! Only one more pin to complete. It's the magnets. I'm decisively saying it'll be the magnets.

At-home make up brush cleaning.

Natural oven deep cleaner.

Sugar Lip Scrub.

Woven Map Journal

10. Hand letter something. Turn that something into art.

It's just written in chalk pen right now but I hope to still print out my other design and frame it in this frame.

It's not Pinterest or Etsy-worthy, but it's home.

The words are lyrics from me and Brandon's first dance. Technically, the song is from our first kiss. Anyway, I wrote the lyric on this frame very soon after getting married and moving in, the only main difference being the frame's orientation. I was feeling semi-inspired on Sunday morning and decided to flip it and change things up a bit, including adding our anniversary date. The bottles with greenery are usually empty, but I had a bunch of bouquet fillers left over from the Mother's day arrangements I made the day before, so I thought I'd try that hipster look of branches in vases. I kind of really like it. And that flask looking bottle filled with layers of semi-combined sand is perhaps my favorite souvenir from studying abroad. It's sand from all but one beach I visited in my three months over there.

11. Volunteer at Coastal Cleanup Day

It shall be done in September.

12. Decorate our apartment

We move in three weeks!! Oh gosh, we move in three weeks! As you can imagine, I'm nowhere on schedule for a move. It'll get done. Brandon and I consistently talk about this apartment being a fresh start for us. It's not that we need a fresh start from anything, but more that we're looking forward to a new city with new opportunities. In a way, to get out of the suburb rut. I have so many ideas for the apartment, but I also know that you're supposed to slowly curate your aesthetic. I'm sort of looking forward to having to slow myself down back to reality.


There we have it. Only one Thing is fully completed but I'm on my way to another two! I have confidence I'll see this through.

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You didn't think I'd leave you without a single gif, did you?

♥ A

Miserable, Magical Monday

Alright, alright. I know. I missed a Monday already! But to be fair, I had really bad writer's block last Monday (#blamethesadness).

The that the writer's block is gone and I'm excited to bring you all another Miserable, Magical Monday!

1. I have found the most delicious yogurt in all of California. And it's made in Antioch. I bought it at Safeway last week because I wanted yogurt and it was on sale and OH MY GOSH it's delectable. I ate it with some Kashi granola (we all know Kashi stuff is good for us but really bland) and some frozen blueberries and I have not stopped trying to get Brandon to try it since. I don't even know if he likes yogurt all that much. I just know it's SO GOOD.

2. Brandon and I have switched out The Office for House of Cards with some Parks and Rec splashed in. House of Cards is insane. It's nuts. When I watch it, I feel sort of how I felt when I watched that one season of 24 in college. I tense up, I'm trying to figure out the next step before it happens, even though I know the writers are setting us up for a huge twist. If you enjoy political dramas, I recommend it. And even if you don't (like Brandon, who couldn't care less about politics), I still recommend it because the story is woven really well. Plus there are fantastic moments where Spacey breaks the fourth wall.

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3. I finished another craft off of my Learn/Make/Do list for 12 Things! It's based off of this pin. I didn't have any maps to work with and the girl I was making the notebook for wouldn't have appreciated the hipster-ness of a woven map notebook, so I bought two pieces of card stock from Michael's in her favorite colors: line green and teal. I'm not crafty. I can envision what I want something to look like, but executing it? It takes me for-freaking-ever. Anyway, I hope my friend liked it.

4. I'm not sure if I'm off-base with this idea, but I feel like people who work with children experience a minuscule amount of fame. I know I do. All the kids rush in to talk to you and everyone wants to know how old you are and they all measure themselves against me (quite literally, they all can't wait to proclaim that they're taller than me). And they give you stuff! I get drawings, tiny foam fish, post it notes left on my desk at work (by my boss' daughter who is a treasure), cookies for Valentine's day. There's one boy that copied my every move during a lesson. As in he changed the way he was sitting when I shifted my position. I know he was copying me for a fact because I moved on purpose to see if he'd copy me and he did.

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5. What's the deal with coconut oil? Is it worth buying? Literally everywhere I look in the blogging world someone is talking about coconut oil. Where are we getting all the coconuts from? Are they harvested in a safe, ecological sound manner? (Probably not.) Why aren't the clean living people asking these questions? I'm a dirty eater and all of my make up probably has chemicals in it. I can't be the only one wondering this.

6. I've been looking into detoxes recently because I have too much free time and decided that since I'm putting off buying groceries for the month of May (a sense a habit forming), a juice or smoothie cleanse is not possible right now. Besides, if I'm honest with myself I probably don't have the wherewithal to complete a smoothie cleanse. Anyway, I opted for a half hour hot bath instead. I did some research to see what non-essential oil stuff I should mix into my bath. Each website had a different list, so I chose to mix 'em all up and see what happened. I dumped a hefty amount of baking soda, a splash of apple cider vinegar, a teensy bit of EVOO and an assortment of green and mint tea bags and filled my tub up. Then I turned on my Sightseeing in Paris playlist on Spotify and tried to relax. I have to tell you, it was not relaxing. It was hot, my heart was beating faster than normal and I couldn't relax my leg muscles because they just float to the top. Anyway, about 20 minutes into this bath, I decide that there's no way in heck I'm gonna make it a full 40 minutes. I made a deal with myself where I could get out of the tub after four songs played.

"I'm on a cleanse."

Now, I'd read that I might feel lightheaded after the soak and that I should move very slowly. Homegirls were not joking around! I felt way more than lightheaded. I inched out of the tub, felt a little woozy, but decided to press on to get myself some water. It's not a far walk from my tub to my fridge, but halfway through my journey my ears started ringing and my vision was blurry and I felt sick. My body was shutting down on me. It's not the first time it's tried to do this, but I have a weird talent for not giving in to the faint. It was miracle that there was a glass of water from the night before chilling in the fridge because at that point there was no way I could have poured. I literally grabbed the top of the butter dish in my blurry blindness thinking it was one of my stackable mugs. I also dropped it quite dramatically when I couldn't stand anymore. After the water I stumbled to the couch like a drunkie and lay down.

Like this.

I also gobbled up a couple pieces of Dove dark chocolate because of chocolate's healing properties as presented in Harry Potter. After downing water and cooling off, I crawled over to the sliding door and opened it. I then set out to crawl to the kitchen where I slowly stood up and started to make mac and cheese. Which I added too much milk to. But I dumped the extra liquid and ate it anyway. I called it "retoxing."

7. I listened to Lorde's album again this week and was reminded of just how excellent it is. I've been gong through my Spotify's starred playlist since the update to sift through the music I want to like so I can end up with just music I like. Anyway, it's meant that I've listened to some good artists and songs, but also that I haven't had a chance to let the bass and vocal layers from Lorde's album wash over my ears. I don't know why I find that album so cathartic. And to think she's 17. Unfair.

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I hope you're enjoying the new look of the blog as much as I am. I'm trying to dust off my old Myspace layout HTML editing skillz. They've been in storage for a while.

♥ A

Happy 7th

I'm very intentional about not being what I call a "we" couple. For me, maintaining a sense of individuality within my romantic relationship is really important. I love Brandon so freakin much, but my world doesn't have to revolve around him or vice versa. It's one thing I really cherish about my relationship with him. We have completely separate interests, yet somehow we've been lucky enough not to run out of things to talk about over the last 7 years.

That's what brings me to what I'm about to post. I'm almost nervous to share something that's so personal to me and B because I don't want anyone to think I'm a part of a "we" couple or that I'm being weirdly pushy about my marital status.

Also, I'm not pregnant. I hope you weren't hoping I was.

But enough stalling.

Ever since we were teenagers with raging hormones (as my sister so dully noted in her Maid of Honor speech/song), Brandon and I have avoided saying "happy anniversary" to each other. Instead, we say "happy seventh," because we officially started dating on September 7th, 2006.

Seven years later, we got married. That was eight months ago today. It blows my mind to think I've been with this guy since I was 16. Anyway, I'm in a particularly sharing mood, so I thought I'd post some photos of us through the years. Is that okay? I hope so. You have every right to not read on if you can't handle the romantic indulgence I'm about to embark on.

WE WERE CHILDREN. Homecoming c. 2007/8

2009-ish. On our way to a date at Buffalo Wild Wings.

Hanging out in PB on Brandon's surprise visit to Loma in 2010.

Ocean Beach, San Francisco, September 20

Better together, 2012

Newly engaged.at the movies. December 2012

Proper engagement photos, March 2013 (Thanks, Ryan Doyle)

Graduated and unphotogenic, May 2013

Married and kissing because little kids find wedding bells super amusing.
September 2013. (Thank you, Ryan Doyle)

Thanks for powering through that. 10 points to whatever house you've been sorted into!

♥ A

Personal Day

To say I had a long day on Sunday would be the understatement of my year. I've been tired, I've been hungover, and I've even judged a five-day debate tournament in 2014 and I haven't had as long a day as May 4, 2014. By the end of Sunday, I couldn't remember if I was confusing that morning's shower with one from Saturday.

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Sunday, May 4th, marked one year since I walked across the stage in The Greek as my name was mispronounced to my parent's dismay. One year since the journalism prof whose class I had to drop when I changed my major remembered my name as he and his helper placed a hood on me (funny, I was "hooded" twice in 2013). One year since I've seen the professors who challenged me academically and personally to find what I care about and to never quit pursuing it. One year since I've set foot in San Diego. 

I was feeling so depressed before church started. And watching a sideshow from a San Diego mission trip didn't help. Especially the photo of the Old Town location of Miguel's (a restaurant), where two years ago my friends and I celebrated a roommate's birthday. To everyone else in the congregation, that photo was just a picture of a restaurant. To me (granted in the already super nostalgic mood I was in), it was a picture of a memory and a stark feeling that this city that was so pivotal to my life meant next to nothing to the people I was surrounded by. No joke, I started crying. As in all my attempts to breathe it out and push down the tears failed. It was embarrassing to say the least.

Flash forward through a long conversation I was in no emotional state to handle to Sunday afternoon. Our friends Seth and Julie invited me and Brandon over to watch a WWE program and treated us to a scrumptious spaghetti dinner. We hung out there basically all day and were lucky enough to catch Game of Thrones before the actual air time! It was just the distraction I needed.

Monty the cat sleeping like a cutie.

But come Monday, something was still off. The funk was so strong that all I wanted to do was write, but I stalled every time I tried to. Anyway, my best friend and husband independently suggested I take a day off work to forget my worries and focus on the things I hadn't found time to do in the past couple of weeks. I figured if the two people who know me best in the world thought I needed a day to process my thoughts/feelings, then maybe I should listen. I should mention that the Monday night young adults small group was also a refreshing, much needed dose of community and love. I'm thankful I was there.

That brings us to me on my personal day at home, in my leggings and 2012 Homecoming tee shirt and you, wherever you are. I realize this is a bit of a long-winded post, but I'm a relatively long-winded storyteller. Anyway, I bet by this point you just want me to tell you what the heck I've done all day, right? Well, I hope so, because I'm about to show you.

First, I woke up around 7:30am sans an alarm. That's perfectly ok in my book! Brandon hadn't left for work quite yet so I grabbed Mindy Kaling's book and cuddled up next to him while he played some video game where you're kidnapped in the jungle and trying to escape/find your friends. I don't know much about it, except apparently there's a hefty use of Alice in Wonderland quotes. Once Brandon left for work I made myself a small list (because lists are still important on PDs). It wasn't meant to include everything, just to touch on some main things I wanted to do.

As you can see, I've been quite busy.

As a side note: I'm super excited about starting this new journal. My old one was a gorgeous brown one Brandon gave me for a birthday. But I have a thing for collecting journals, so I bought this one at Barnes and Noble not too long after because I thought it was beautiful. It's made of recycled sari silk and the paper is handmade in Nepal. OH MY GOSH that sounds so pretentious! I fully invite judgement after that sentence.

Are we done judging me? Are we still friends despite my hipster-ish tendencies? Cool. After this I've got my journal with the Eiffel Tower on it (normal lined paper from Target) and my Tom Riddle diary that my sis brought me from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter last Christmas.

After the list, I took the pillows from the couch and made myself a comfy reading nook on my bed. I usually prefer to read on the couch but my living room is so dark it's not even worth it. I (finally) finished the book and then poured my thoughts into my new hipster journal as I sipped my coffee. Since reading Ephron's  I Remember Nothing,  Fey's Bossypants and Kaling's Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), I've decided I need to read more comedienne memoirs. It night just be tied with distopias as my favorite genre.

The background here is the top of the gorgeous journal.

After a quick lunch I headed out on my balcony to paint my nails. Let me just say that removing pedicure polish is a million times harder than it should be. After consulting the girls (actual people, not a euphemism), I settled on mint toes and blue nails. I read Lauren Conrad's blog every day and it always makes me happy when "Team LC" points out things that are "on trend" that I bought before they were in. Case in point: light blue nail polish. I've spent some time trying to think of why I like this shade of blue so much. I knew it had to do with my childhood. I thought maybe it was the Robin's Egg Blue crayon, but then I noticed that the color reminds me of Aurora's cake in Sleeping Beauty!

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Random, I know.

I snuck in some wonderful yoga with a Yoga With Adriene video in between toes and hands. And that's all I've done so far (not including this post).

I've still got a crafty project to work on that will let me check off another Thing from my 12 Things list. And come to think of it, I can mark that I've completed 1 out of the 6 books I want to read before November! Yesss.

Alright, this post is long enough. I really appreciate you few who read my thoughts and rambles. You guys rock. Don't ever change.

What?

These kids knew what was up.
//

♥ A

Miserable, Magical Monday

Hello, friends! Can you believe I'm actually sticking to a blogging plan and keeping up with this series? I, for one, am shocked.

I was trying to find a profile-pic-worthy photo of myself and came across this awesome shot from the wedding. Don't worry, I think is as mushy as I'll get this week.

1. I found this 10 step method to supposedly revamping your wardrobe a few weeks ago. It's a fairly detailed process. Step 1 is to do a "wardrobe detox" aka give away all of your clothes. If you know anything about me, you know that sometimes I buy clothes because I think they're pretty. And even if I don't wear the piece, I keep it...because, you know, it's pretty. Despite my predisposition to hoard my clothing because "it's what I was wearing when I got my first internship," I rocked this step. I exercised a ruthlessness I didn't know I had. I think it's because the detox allows you to have a "maybe" pile, but you have to put all of the things in that pile in a bag or box and store it away from your other clothes for 6 months. If at the end of that time, you haven't gone searching for any of those clothes, then you're supposed to donate/sell them. I'm almost a month in and haven't reached for anything yet.

2. On that note, cleaning out my closet and making it through step 6 of the clothing cleanse has left me DESPERATE to shop. I made a bunch of secret boards on Pinterest because I'm too embarrassed to overflow my friends' feeds with my favorite color combos for spring or my search for the perfect white pants and striped tee ( I KNOW! How don't I, Alex, own a striped tee shirt? I have no clue). No one needs to see my mad internet shopping, because I am such a good friend.

3. I might be alone here, but does anyone else think Miley sounds insanely similar to the chick from Fleetwood Mac? I remember listening to the radio last year in San Diego and Landslide (I didn't know the name of the song when I heard it...yes, I lived under a rock for a while) coming on. I instantly thought, "Oh my gosh! Miley has a new song! And it's kind of pretty, sort of like when she uploaded her Backyard Sessions on YouTube." The backyard sessions are worth checking out, except it will make you sad that a girl who has a decent amount of talent would rather sing some of the dumbest, most annoying songs instead of creating art. But I digress.

4. My sweet friend Sara saw these note cards at Michael's a couple of months ago and picked them up for me because they reminded me of her. Isn't that the nicest thing? Speaking of random kind acts, a couple from our church unexpectedly gave us a gift card to the movies for our 6 month wedding anniversary. It was completely out of the blue and so touching.

Her words.

5. I have to shamefully admit to you all that although I've made it about halfway through Mindy's book (yeah I'm on a FNB with her), I've stalled. I just haven't sat down and read like I know I want to. But this part when Mindy talks about the rules of Best Friendship was too great for me not to snap a photo and send it to my best friend, Barbara. Also, note my new favorite gray nail polish. Speaking of my favorites, Barbara will be back in town in a few weeks. Need I describe how effing happy that fact makes me?

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6. On Saturday, Brandon and I watched the last episodes of That 70's Show. To be completely honest, there is a large shift in the feel of the show in the last season. It feels like the writers knew how they wanted to end the show but didn't know how to get there or what to do as a lead up. Still, with my overwhelming lack of a social life outside of my apartment, I'll miss the burns, Kitty's awkward laugh and The Circle. 

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Finishing the show also has me missing the 70's. Yeah, as in the decade before the decade I was born. Maybe it's the music or maybe it's the high waisted pants. Who knows. Anyway, the next comedy Brandon and I plan to binge watch is The Office. I steered clear of it in high school because I didn't want to bandwagon along with literally everyone else I knew. But now, now I think is a good time for me to truly enjoy the show without the hype.

7. Fun news! Brandon and I signed a lease for an apartment in Davis! We move in at the very end of May and I can't wait to start packing. Mostly, I'm excited for summer in a place where there are parks and farmer's markets and coffee houses to explore and bookstores to wander through. I hope it will be like a Northern California version of the things I like to do in San Diego. Plus, we'll have a whole extra room to use as an office -- a yoga/work/music office. And, as I've said before, it's a fresh start for us decor-wise. Moving is the perfect excuse to purge and to upcycle the things with good bones. The major project I have in mind right now is to paint our dining table and chairs. It's gonna look so darn cute.

Until  next Monday,

♥ A

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Miserable, Magical Monday

You know how real bloggers have a weekly series with an alliterative title? Like Tuesday Things or Friday Favorites? Well, due to my recurring sadness over awesome weekends ending and my overall love of Taylor Swift, I'm instituting my own alliteratively-titled series about random things that, independently, would make really bad blog posts. Maybe mixing them together will make it better? DARN! Melange Monday might have been a better name.

Shall we begin?

1. Barbara came up to stay with me and Brandon a few weekends ago and it was a dream. My sister was also in town and I've gotta say, having those two in my life those couple of days had me feeling the most complete I've felt in a while. I think it's decided that we all need to live closer to each other.

2. On the subject of hosting friends at your apartment: this was me and Brandon's first time having anyone stay with us. Heck, I don't even think we've had our parents come over for dinner or coffee in the last six months. (Is that wrong? I don't know the etiquette on this stuff.) Anyway, I'd also caught spring cleaning fever the week leading up to Barbara's visit so Brandon and I made some major progress in prep cleaning for our imminent move out. The funny thing is, we spent all week cleaning out our apartment to get it clean and ready for guests and after three days of hangouts, we for sure had to re-clean the main spaces of the apartment.

3. I'm thinking of writing my own BuzzFeed-esque article titled "17 Stages of Working a Desk Job." It begins with being so excited you got hired since you spent three months without receiving so much as a rejection letter. It goes downhill from there, but I won't tell you how it ends.
...
Or will I?

4. Brandon and I apartment hunted at the beginning of March. I had a blast looking at new places to live while I think he had more of a critical approach to apartment shopping. The trouble is, we went looking way too early. We thought our lease was up at the end of April and came to find out that it's actually up at the end of May. So the wonderfully HBS, tiny apartment out in the boonies with the massive kitchen that I loved is taken now. I was having a rough time adjusting to the idea of a whole extra month before getting a change of scenery and location, but before I knew it, it was Easter!

5. The month of March was incredibly busy. Eh, scratch that. The March weekends were busy. Brandon and I made little to no progress on That 70's Show because of how busy we've been each weekend. Honestly, it reminds me of being in college and having debate tournaments nearly every weekend. Except life was more enjoyable when I had books to read and assignments to complete in between the busy weekends. This month the weekdays dragged on in anticipation for the fun weekends. I'm setting an intention (look! I'm becoming a yogi!) to focus on my goals and dreams this month instead of holding myself down with the things I'd like to change in my life. Negativity breeds negativity. I've got to let it go, let it go. Can't hold it back anymore. Let it go, let it goo -- sorry, guys. I won't bore you with yet another rendition of that (wonderful magical beautiful) song.
...
OR WILL I?

6. I hadn't realized how much my little yoga sessions had affected my body until I took a four-almost-five day break. Good grief! My back was achy, my neck tight, my shoulders stiff. I know my work chair isn't helping, either, but dang! Talk about finding motivation to continue practicing yoga.

7. I have found the most delicious way to prepare tilapia ever. On Pinterest, obvi. Seriously, though. It is scrumptious. I started prepping it on Saturday for dinner before my in-laws invited me and Brandon for an impromptu steak dinner. As steak cooking newbs, we don't ever pass up the opportunity to eat steak. Especially when it's been grilled. It was totally worth saving the tilapia for a weeknight dinner because now I'll get to enjoy it while Brandon's entertaining his buddy for his birthday. That sounds so dirty. I need to clarify: Brandon is hanging out playing video games with his buddies at our apartment in celebration of a friend's birthday.

This has been the first of hopefully more Miserable, Magical Monday posts. I hope you had fun, or at least enjoyed the GIFS.

See ya,

♥ A

{gifs/video via via via via}

The Frosting Didn't Turn Out: The Alex Hood Story

My BFF awesome friend Barbara (we'd judge me if I called her a BFF) likes to make up memoir titles for all of our friends. Mine is Classy With a Touch of Skank: The Alex Pineda Story. I can see why you might be shocked by the use of "skanky" in my title, but it's really harmless. And it's an inside joke that would just sound stupid if I explained it.

Anyway, my memoir title inspired the title for this post. Lately (as in every time except one), my buttercream frosting results have been less than acceptable. As in I almost always have to scrap the thing and start over and still don't get the consistency I need. This time was no different.

Like I've said before, my mom has loved the tiramisu cupcakes I make since the beginning. So naturally she asked if I would make some for my bro's family birthday get-together. Of course, I said yes. I've made 48 cupcakes before no problem. But then the guest list expanded and so did the required minimum number of cupcakes.

I knew I wouldn't have time to prep the cupcakes during the week and they're always better when baked fresh, so I planned to spend the morning of the party baking everything. The marscapone filling is easy peasy, so I wasn't worried. Naively enough, I wasn't worried about the frosting either. I have childbirth memory with homemade frosting. It's always so stressful and difficult and yet every single time I use the same recipe and do the same thing...which I guess is to inevitably add too much liquid because it always ends up runny.

The baking went alright. I should have remembered that I like to make big cupcakes, though. Tripling the recipe only gave me enough to make like 54 cupcakes. So Brandon quickly scurried across the street to Walmart and picked up enough ingredients to functionally quadruple the original recipe. I ended up having some left over batter, but was so over the initial baking phase that I stopped when I hit 72.

Stop! It's batter time! (even though this is the filling)

Hashtag food photography. Hashtag baking.

Hashtag cupcakes. Hashtag oven.

I was trying to juggle my time (unsuccessfully, I might add) and started on the cream cheese whipped topping. In my perfect hindsight, I think I shouldn't have aimed to make three times the original recipe all at once. I definitely should have held back from going big or going home. After half an hour of attempting to whip cream cheese and whipping cream into stiff peaked frosting, I freaked. It wasn't happening. I needed to get dressed. I needed to get ready. The horrible reminder of my failure was all over my shirt and pj pants. And I'd just washed them. I threw the stuff in the freezer to see if getting it cold would help. I didn't have the time to actually let it cool through. It didn't work, obvi. 2:20 crept up on me and I still had nothing to top my cupcakes with. My 72 ugly cupcakes. Brandon even tried his hand at whipping. He wasn't successful either.

My stubbornness had given out to my hatred of being late. I looked up a simple royal icing recipe because I just needed something and within minutes had a sugary icing for my cupcakes. Brandon lovingly made the executive decision that he would frost the things while I got dressed. We transported the cupcakes in what felt like a million containers and showed up half an hour after the party had already started. I'm the eldest sister and I was late. It still doesn't sit well with me.

Luckily, I have a very understanding and gracious family. My parents were both thrilled with the cupcakes and my aunts and uncles all told me they tasted delicious. I guess the taste really is what matters.

Happy birthday, brother!

It was a great party. There was lots of laughter and absolutely scrumptious chicken and so much food. I still can't believe my little brother is 13. Good grief, man.

♥ A