Tuesday, March 30, 2010

"i'm already paying for your healthcare."

This past weekend I went with the gills (Allison, Whitney, & Jess) to DC for a weekend getaway. We left early Saturday morning and got into the city right around lunch time. It was my fault we were late...we had to make a 30 minute pit stop that involved me standing over a trashcan. So I get car sick, sue me! Let's just say I won't be drinking DD blueberry coffee anytime soon. Don't worry, Whitney was kind enough to take a picture. You gotta document these things! After a break from moving and a lot of medicine, we were back on the road! We stayed at this cute little hotel in Dupont Circle, but we spent a majority of the day out and about at the mall where there was apparently a kite flying contest in addition to the Cherry Blossom Festival. It was a little colder than we expected, but enjoyable! We spent the day goofing off, eating, and making lots of loud comments about our thoughts on the healthcare bill...oops. That night we went out to a fancy dinner in Georgetown and danced until morning. Literally. It was a blast. Sunday we got up and headed into Georgetown again for some shopping and CUPCAKES! It was so much fun. Here are some pics from the weekend...














Monday, March 29, 2010

it'll all get better with time


"And after you suffer for a short time, God, who gives all grace, will make everything right. He will make you strong and support you and keep you from falling. He called you to share in his glory in Christ, a glory that will continue forever."


1 Peter 5:10

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

a simple little kind of free

Last night Jung, Jess, and I drove to Charlottesville to see JOHN MAYER in concert - and it was UH-MAZING. He is incredible live! Here are some pics & vids from the night...


Did we get beer? Ew no, of course not, but we COULD have.
The 3 of us at the concert!


Michael Franti & Spearhead!



The man himself!!


Tuesday, March 16, 2010

isn't it ironic? don't ya think?

I hate the number 4. When I was a kid, my great-grandmother once told me that she thought the number four would be involved in her passing. So the years she turned 74 and 84 I would sometimes hold my breath when her name popped up on the caller ID. And 2004? Well, by then I was old enough to just completely trust the Lord. (She’s still alive!)

But I was never really a fan of the number 4 to begin with…not for any particular reason. Nothing traumatic happened when I was 4 years old (In fact, looking back at Christmas pictures…I would say I had been pretty good that year) I don’t remember much of 1994 and I seemed to have gotten through 2004 despite an abrupt end to my soccer and field hockey careers due to a knee injury. I believe I was 14 when I “became a woman” which may have been traumatic to some, but since I was the last of my friends to do so I was pretty excited. And I haven’t hit 24 yet, but I’ll bet it’s good. So there’s really no good reason not to like the number 4 other than the simple fact that I don’t. And I never really have. I don’t do anything in fours and I even think the name four is kind of stupid. Now I think I finally have a reason...

4 cavities.

Yep. How I can go 22 years without a single cavity and then manage to get 4 the year that I don’t have dental insurance is beyond me. I mean I guess I shouldn’t be too shocked. All I’d have to do is take a look back at my blog posts about sweets from the past year and I think I can easily spot the culprit.

So I think it’s time to take a little break from sweets for a while (if only until I get dental insurance) for the sake of my teeth. In the mean time, Jess and I are lobbying for her older brother Paul to fill my cavities for his final exam for his MCAT. Hope that works out!

Friday, March 12, 2010

puppy!!!!

With all of the Disney craziness going on, I forgot to post about our new puppy!! She is really cute and sweet and I really wish my mom would give her to me (hint hint) :)

the happiest place on earth

I’M BACK!! My trip to FL was nothing short of AMAZING! This was the kickoff trip to the annual sister vacays Brie and I plan on taking together every year. I think we picked a good starting location. We decided on our trip that we are going to collect patches from every place we visit and sew (ok, lets be honest…iron) patches onto our carry-ons. Corny? Maybe a little. Our first patch was completely fitting and appropriate – the Disney princesses!

So here is how our trip went down…we got up early, I mean 4 in the morning early, on Sunday and flew to Orlando (with a mini pit stop in Atlanta) and we were in Downtown Disney by lunch! Our hotel was literally a 5 minute walk from Downtown Disney which was perfect considering neither one of us are old enough to rent a car. We got lunch in Downtown Disney, did a little window shopping, and walked around and just enjoyed the sights. I love that Disney feels so magical no matter how old you are! We had VIP tickets for dinner at Planet Hollywood so we headed over there around dinner and we didn’t even have to wait for reservations! We split the captain crunch chicken fingers (MY FAVORITE!!) and a sandwich that I had never tried before – it was fab! I really like it when restaurants have both good food AND entertainment b/c I feel like that is a rare find. Maybe you will remember my trip to Mars 2112 this summer…

Downtown Disney!

Monday we slept in and woke up to BEAUTIFUL Florida weather. We headed out for a day of shopping at the Florida Mall. Our original intentions were to spend the morning at the mall and the afternoon lying out by the pool. We ended up spending 7 hours at the mall. Oops! We had a really fun time though. Brie is my favorite person to shop with and now that we don’t live close to each other, it is rare that we get to spend time out shopping! That night when we got back we went back to Downtown Disney and designed our own Disney tee shirts complete with a silhouette of Sleeping Beauty and our names. Then we went to Ghirardelli and got a S’MORE SUNDAE! I would probably put it on the top 10 list of best things I have ever ate. It was really good. Ghirardelli chocolate is my favorite anyways. I think I will always make s’mores with Ghirardelli chocolate from here on out.

Designing a tee!

Tuesday was our big day at Disney!!! My friend Jung met us at our hotel and we went to Magic Kingdom where we got free park hopper passes thanks to Jung’s friends that work at Disney World! AWESOME! When we got to the park I got a button that said “Happy Birthday Miranda” and everywhere we went in the park people said “Happy Birthday Miranda” or “Happy Birthday Princess” I felt so special. I can’t imagine a better place to spend a birthday - it was great. At Magic Kingdom they even let us cut in line at Thunder Mountain because it was my birthday! When we finished riding all the classics at Magic Kingdom we headed over to MGM (now Disney’s Hollywood Studios btw) to ride Rock n’ Rollercoaster which is my new favorite ride. They let us ride in the very front – another birthday perk! We grabbed fast passes to Tower of Terror and then headed over to Pop Century for lunch and made another quick stop at Downtown Disney. Soon enough, we were back at MGM to get in our fill of rides before heading over to Epcot for a special birthday dinner!

Dole Whip from Magic Kingdom!

We ate dinner in Norway at a place called Akershus Royal Banquet Hall. It was a “Princess Storybook Dining” so we got to eat dinner with Ariel, Snow White, Belle, Jasmine, and Aurora. The food was ehhhh but the experience was so fun! Jung treated us all to dinner which was such a thoughtful (and expensive) birthday gift that I am still so grateful for! Before we left I got a birthday card signed by all of the Disney princesses. After dinner we walked around the “world” and made a pit stop to make wishes at the fountain in Rome. It was such a perfect birthday. I couldn’t have asked for anything better.

Princess Dinner!
Wednesday morning we headed out early again to catch a flight home. Brie and I greeted our parents donning our designer Disney tees and Mickey ears! What a fun trip! Check out more pics on my FB page!

Thursday, March 4, 2010

3 days till diz!

I leave for Orlando THIS weekend and I am sooooooooo excited! I’m not sure exactly what Brie & I will be doing, but I know it will be FUN…we will be in the “Happiest Place on Earth” after all. I’ll be sure to include lots of fun pictures when we return. In the mean time I thought you guys might enjoy reading my latest articles. Does being published mean people finally care what you write? You decide…


“Sweets for Every Season” from the Lynchburg Living Mar/Apr 2010 Hitched Issue:

http://www.lynchburgliving.com/archive.php?storyid=1629&t=7

**If that link doesn’t work check out http://www.lynchburgliving.com & look under the “Taste” section!


Blog post for Prototype Advertising:

http://www.prototypeadvertising.com/blog/general/piece-of-cake/


I know you wouldn’t know it by my recent posts, but I don’t ALWAYS write about cake, or food for that matter. However, since we are already on the topic of it, I thought I’d go ahead and share my all-time favorite cake…


I think you’ll be surprised…


It’s not from NYC…


Or even a bakery…


It isn’t homemade…


Got a clue yet?


A box only costs 88 cents at Wal-Mart…


...


FUNFETTI CAKE WITH RAINBOW CHIP FROSTING!!!!!


Is there a better cake? No. Although Wendy Coffey’s almond cake with raspberry buttercream (my favorite from the Bridal Luncheon…shhhhh!!!) is probably a close second. There is just something SO good about funfetti cake – it has been my favorite for as long as I can remember. But a PERFECT funfetti cake involves a few extra steps. First off, you MUST use egg whites only. If you make the cake with 3 eggs instead of 4 egg whites, it turns into a yellow cake with sprinkles (yellow cake is my least fav – ew!), you cannot add anything extra to the mix (no need for extra pudding b/c the cake is already part of Pillsbury’s super moist line), and you HAVE to frost it with Betty Crocker’s rainbow chip frosting (not to be confused with Pillsbury’s funfetti frosting). Do I have you drooling yet? Go ahead and make one…you won’t regret it.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

cookies & creme

My friend Emily donated this pop tart for me in efforts to help me along with my project (what a sweet friend) and I am really glad she did b/c oreos are definitely not my thing. Her donation got this pop tart bumped up on the list of "to-trys." I gotta say I wasn't completely disappointed this pop tart, mostly b/c I didn't have high hopes for it to begin with. If you like oreos, I'm sure you'll love it. But if you are like me (and prefer to only eat the cream centers) you might not be a huge fan.

Toasted: There wasn't a whole lot variation in flavor b/t the three, but toasted was my favorite. I think it enhanced the center by making it warm and gooey.

Frozen: Not much different from them "as is" - it is an uneven ratio of chocolate cookie to creamy center and I much prefer more creamy center. Maybe I would enjoy these more if they were double stuffed?

As Is: They are ok, I was hoping the center would be made from the same goodness that oreo cookies are filled with, but I think it was just plain vanilla (at least thats the impression I got)

Pop Tart Fact: The “World’s Biggest Pop Tart” (actually 10,500 strawberry Pop Tarts glued together with frosting) was unveiled on October 6, 1998 in Madison Square Garden.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

a sweet treat


The last time I met my parents in RVA they arrived with groceries in tow (did I mention how much I LOVE them?) They always stock me up on good stuff and random things that you can't find in Lynchburg like Trader Joe's pineapple salsa and Vanilla Coke Zero. This time when I dug through my bags I found something new - Cupcake Pebbles cereal. I had heard about this cereal, drooled over this cereal, and most importantly WANTED this cereal...but even though I had HEARD about it, I wasn't quite convinced it was real. That is, until I held a box in my own hands! Now I am a lover of all things sweet and these things definitely fit the bill. It tastes like you are eating birthday cake for breakfast, they are SUPER sweet, maybe even a little TOO sweet (if thats possible). And not that being sweet is a bad thing, but I like to start off my morning with something a little healthier and ease my way into a sugar coma before bed. So I tried to get a little creative and my friend Kerri gave me the excellent idea of turning them into rice krispy treats! PERFECT! I ended up making heart-shaped treats on lollipop sticks for the girls in my Bible study last Tuesday. I think they were a hit and hopefully you will too! Here is the recipe...