Love cakes {the cake}

Devil's Food Cupcakes

I keep forgetting to grab my cupcake book, on my way out, so I can provide you with this recipe.

But I KEEP forgetting.

I do that, a lot.

I forget that I put my keys in the breast pocket of my bomber jacket, and Marianne finds them 2 months later.

I forget where I put my phone, and have to buy a new one.

I will however, remember that your Dad's dad died, when, where, how, what time, and what he was wearing.

And I am working on trying not to take it personal when you don't return in kind.

So anyway, here is a little pre-view of the cake process.

it’s a little bit stuffy, and you may or may not have the most of the ingredients on hand, just depends on the kind of person you are.

{Which is not to be said judgy, like "you are not the kind of person who has semi-sweet Dutch process cocoa in your pantry at all times? Psh!}

Now let me share a story with you:

I was cooking said cupcakes, harnessing my chi, listening to a little Joshua Radin, yes life was good.

Part of not pulling my hair out every time I cook is doing the dishes while I go {completely relevant.}

Also let it be known that we have a tiny, itty, bitty excuse for a kitchen.

So Marianne comes home, and while she is trying to maneuver around all the space I am taking in the aforementioned kitchen, knocks my Cupcake book into my ready and waiting sink full of soapy water and dishes.

Now, I know very well that I have a tendency to overreact when something initially happens, and then feel profusely silly afterward because it was just not that big of a deal.

And let me just say, I love that Cupcake book. I got it with my sisters, it was on sale, I cooked cupcakes from it for people I love, or liked very much, it’s from Martha Stewart {Whom I love!}

So I may have stamped my foot and said, "No, no, no, no!" Repeatedly until Marianne picked it up from the watery hell and promised to blow dry it.

She did, and we laughed and my little ridiculousness.

The book just has a little water damage, which just gives it more personality!

And that’s my story!

-Love, Lucy.

N.Y.C

 

If you ever find yourself at the grocery store, needing some mascara, but you don't want to spend an arm and a leg on it. Or you simply want mascara that doesn't smudge or flake off. I recommend this mascara here, N.Y.C, its a few steps above Wet n' Wild in quality, but priced about the same. I love this stuff, I have only ever found it at Kmart and Target. It is super cheap at a whooping 1.72 per tube. It never ever flakes and it doesn't require more than some soap and water to remove. I also love the shape of the brush, it makes application very nice and never clumpy.

I have tried their eye-liners and eye-shadows and while I am not in love with them, they are not too shabby. I do however, love their nail polish. It is also cheap at 94 cents. It is surprisingly very resilient.  It doesn't seem to chip and flake very quickly, which is always a positive when it comes to nail polish, especially nail polish on the cheap side.

xoxo-Liz

Love Cakes

Marianne and I didn’t really ever get around to doing neighbor Christmas gifts to our neighbors. So we decided to do a little Valentines Day treat!

Stay tuned next week to get the dish on the cake and the magical frosting!

{email from Marianne}

Here is the really good news.... Brandy and I decieded to make a baby cake for josh cause he hates cake... except that he really loves tabasco sauce and said that the only way he would eat a cake is if it had tabasco on it... so our plan was to make a cake and sprinkle it with tabasco.. hahaha right?

so brandy was making the cake... I was bringing the frosting(already made thanks to you) and tabasco... she texted me this morning.. don't need to bring tabasco sharon brought it.. so I brought frosting.. we frosted and gave the cake and......

He said that it was sooo good it didn't need tabasco. He said that the frosting was sooo tasty that he would eat a big cake like it. So just wanted you to know... your frosting is good enough to turn a cake hater into a lover :)

spring wish list

 

I have been in love with these shoes ever since Lucy put them on her Birthday wish list. I am going to make them mine, oh yes! they will be mine. They are so perfect for spring and summer it brings tears to my eyes. 

It may be hard to tell but the white detail on this dress is little birds. How perfect is that! I am in love. And my new ankle wrap shoes would go so great, them and a big chunky black necklace, oh be still my beating heart. 

 

This shirt would look great with a skirt or with pants or with nothing at all.  

This dress also would work lovely with my shoe choice. Or sandals or a picnic in the mountains in a meadow. OR watching fireworks on a blanket while holding the hand of someone I love. 

These shoes make my heart melt into a million tiny blush pink pieces. These will be mine, just like the other shoes. My sights are set on them and my aim is pretty damn good.

I want a lot of dresses for Spring and Summer. This dress is quintessential spring dress wear. From the shape, to the plane detail, to the color! It is so perfect and it will go great with a cardigan or none cardigan. Also it goes with both my shoe choices. So that triples my dress use, right there!

 

This top speaks to me in a way tops that have rosettes also speak to me, which is loudly. This color also speaks to me and says "Liz, this color is what the sea looks like when you stand on a beach in Greece and sing into the sunset!" 

So therefore it must be mine.

I love ruffles and I love orange. So this shirt marries two of my biggest loves. It is almost like the shirt equivalent of Zooey Deschanel and  Ben Gibbard.

I looked up the Coachella festival line up.  And I really, really want to go! I can picture myself there and I am wearing this shirt!

 This dress should be mine because it will look really great with the Tweed blazer I just got. It will also look good with my oxfords and it will make my legs look sexy and my arms stronger. So why not purchase a dress that can do all that?

xoxo - Liz

A colander affair

Liz gave Marianne and me a fantastic white colander for Christmas.

I then decided that what we needed was a "colander wall" of sorts, above our oven.

I was out buying 2 more colanders from Sur La Table, when I was trying to figure out colors that would "go" with our new kitchen pallet.

All the while I was talking off the register ladies ear, about our big colander wall plans and how we were going to hang them, when the wall behind them was brick, etc, etc.

I was mildly horrified as I walked out, realizing that I was then guilty of the same thing that irks me about my job.

People who just cant get to the point.

Anyway, that’s all in the past; our colander wall is enjoyable and adds pizzazz to an otherwise yawn inducing wall.

I also had pictures, but I got locked out of my online picture account because I can never remember my password for that thing; its one of those affairs that requires a billion things like numbers, punctuation marks, a cartwheel and a secret handshake.

-Love, Lucy.

Let them dome cake!

{Luigi Bormioli Michelangelo Masterpiece Footed Cake Plate with Dome Cover}
I think this may be the prettiest cake dome I have ever seen.

I wish that I had it on my table at all times filled with elegant pastries or cakes at all times.

Sometimes a cake on a table can do so much more than flowers.

-Love, Lucy.