Who Says You Can't Make Your Own Birthday Cake?!

Happy birthday to me! Haha ;). So, who says you can't make your own birthday cake? No one else was gonna do it, and I like doing it, so why not?! I had fun yesterday making it :). Tonight I'm having a big party at my house (speaking of which--I need to head over to my neighbors house with a plate of cookies and apologize in advance for tonight's shenanigans). Now, I'm normally a very "quiet" person (okay, I know what you're thinking, but just listen)--in the sense that I would MUCH rather sit at home on a Friday night watching a movie in my sweatpants. HOWEVER, I figured I'd make an exception today. I mean, I am 25 today! On the menu for tonight's shenanigans? Lots and lots of beer. Its funny; I plan on drinking, but I most likely will drink about 1 beer--it always happens. Joe and I go somewhere; we plan ahead and take a taxi anticipating that we will both be too drunk to drive; then at the end of the night I'm completely sober but still have to take the taxi home because we don't have our car. Luckily the party is at my house tonight so I'll spare us the taxi cost ;). My morning has already started out amazing: Joe made all of us a special breakfast of eggs, toast, and BACON! Everyone should get bacon on their birthday! He also bought me a beautiful bouquet of roses, and the kids informed me that "we wont hit or bite each other today because its your birthday mom." Best. Birthday. Ever.

Funny story from when I was born: since I was born obviously 25 years ago and they didn't do lots of ultrasounds throughout a woman's pregnancy, my parents didn't know that I was going to be born with one (and a half!) arm. As soon as I came out, the doctor looked at my dad and whispered to not say a word to my mom, then they instantly knocked my mom out with drugs. Okay, so that's not so funny--I would be livid if my doctor did that to me! Once she came to and was able to comprehend everything, the doctors thought that she was crazy because her first reaction was "oh, she'll be just like Tigger!" (our cat that we had all through my childhood; she was missing part of her front right paw, just like I'm missing part of my right arm). My parents obviously didn't care, and here I am today: 25 years later.

I'll be celebrating my 5-year wedding anniversary next week, I own a beautiful house and two new cars, I have 2 beautiful kids, and I live an amazing life. These past 25 years have been such a fun roller coaster ride, and I can't wait to see what the next 25+ have in store for me! Thank you to everyone who has been a part of my life these past 25 years--I don't know where I'd be without you! Cheers! 

Here's the cake I made myself :). I thought about making it politically correct and writing "Happy Birthday Kristen!" ...but how weird would that be? This one fits me better ;)

Here's a side view of the cake :). I'll eat a piece for each and every one of you (maaaannn, I love cake!)... and then I'll complain on Facebook tomorrow about how I gained 10 pounds overnight. Yolo? 

Chocolate Dipped Pretzels

Tomorrow is my 25th birthday, and to celebrate the occasion, I'm throwing myself a big party. No birthday candles or "Happy Birthday" song--I just want to spend my birthday hanging out with all of my friends! However, just because there won't be a birthday song doesn't mean there wont be a cake. Who has a birthday without a cake?! That'll be tomorrow's blog :).

Today I'm making all of the desserts for the party. Along with all of the pizza we're having, I'm making mint oreo truffles, chocolate chip cookies, and chocolate-dipped pretzels. I know you've all seen chocolate-dipped pretzels on Pinterest before--but you may not know how easy they actually are to make! These literally take about 20 minutes start-to-finish--then you just pop them in the fridge for about 5 minutes to help the chocolate set, and boom: you're done. So easy. I love these because 1) they always taste SO good, and 2) you can decorate them to fit any occasion: birthdays, Valentines day, Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc. You only need a few ingredients and you're all set! 

Here's what you'll need: a package of chocolate made for melting, a package of semi-sweet chocolate (usually a Hershey bar will do; the "melting chocolate" doesn't taste very good, so you need the chocolate bar to sweeten it up. I added a package of semi-sweet chocolate chips because I was making a lot and needed more chocolate), pretzel rods, and sprinkles (or another color chocolate to drizzle over the rods). 

Using a double boiler, fill the bottom pot about 1/4 full of water and bring to a boil. Once water is boiling, set flame to simmer--you don't want the water boiling and touching the top pot at all--that'll burn the chocolate. 

Don't have a double boiler? Me either. Make one! Haha. 

Dip your pretzels in the chocolate, tap extra chocolate off, then set on parchment paper. Sprinkle with your choice of either sprinkles of drizzles of another color chocolate. 

...once you've dipped all of the pretzel rods, place them in the fridge for about 5 minutes so that the chocolate can set. Once the chocolate has hardened, you're done! Enjoy! 

Looking Back...

Today I'm feeling pretty nostalgic; it was this time last year that we were on an airplane flying to Myrtle Beach (okay, well, we flew into Raleigh/Durham in North Carolina then drove to Myrtle Beach, but whatever). I remember that we were SO excited for that trip--it's all we talked about all summer leading up to it. I was so worried about flying with two toddlers, but surprisingly they did really well. Before this trip, I had only been to Arizona and Nevada--so I hadn't really traveled far from home. Joe tried to prepare me for what I was going to see, but he couldn't even come close. He told me that there are trees everywhere in South Carolina--and even that was an understatement. There are trees EVERYWHERE and its absolutely gorgeous. Although this time last year was a full day of traveling, I can't help but wish we were going back there again this year. I'd love to get some of the family together and make it a yearly thing; last summer was the best summer of my life and I think a huge part of that had to do with our Myrtle Beach trip.

We were in Myrtle Beach last year for my birthday, and although we wont be there for it this year, I'm still so excited for my birthday on Friday. Is it weird that I'm turning 25 and am still so excited about birthdays? I don't understand the people (my age) that complain about turning a year older. Are you serious? This is the best time of our lives! I think that I get excited about birthdays because 1) it means that I'm getting older, and 2) it means my kids are getting older. There's no point in being sad about the inevitable; you might as well embrace it and enjoy the ride!

Last year in Myrtle Beach my birthday was so much fun (minus getting stuck in the elevator--you can read about that here). We went bowling with all of his family, then spent the rest of the day hanging out with them. It was perfect--I love his family so much. This year for my birthday, I decided I wanted to have a big party and just be with all of my friends--so that's exactly what we're doing. I ordered a bunch of pizzas, I'm making a ton of desserts (of course), and I'm making myself a cake that'll say "Happy Birthday to Me" (who says you cant make yourself a cake on your birthday?!). My birthday is 2 days away and I already feel like a kid on Christmas. Even though I've already gotten most of my presents (I got a new car last week from Joe, I got clothes and Bath and Body Works stuff from my sister and I got a cake pan set from my parents) I'm still SO excited. I can't wait to see all of my friends! It'll be a fun night full of food, desserts, and of course: drinkinggg (hey, I NEVER drink--so one night a year is fine). ;)

I have some errands to run now (to go buy all of the ingredients to make the desserts and cake!) so I'm going to end it here. I hope you all have a terrific Wednesday! <3

Parenting At It's Finest

This whole 'parenting' thing is funny to me. I remember back when my kids were babies--back when they would just cry and cry and cry. I remember thinking "I can't wait until they are toddlers so that they can talk to me and tell me what they want." Now that they're toddlers, all they ever do is scream, yell at each other, and fight. Its great that they can communicate, but most of that "communication" is saying "no" and giving attitude. All I can think is "I can't wait until they are in school.. the terrible twos and threes will be over and they'll have mellowed out." However, in the back of my mind I know that that wont be the case.

I think of parenting like video games; you're stuck on a hard level and all you can think about is how much you want to get through that level and onto the next, even though you know the next level will be harder. Now, obviously my kids are only 4 and 2, so I'm not positive, but I feel like once they're in school it'll be a mellow couple of years until puberty hits and high school comes along. I'm dreading that time. Madison is already so dramatic about everything--it'll be so much fun once she starts puberty :/. And Maverick? It'll be so weird hearing his voice change and turn into a man. Luckily I am SO far away from that--I've got plenty of time to prepare.

I think back about how I couldn't wait for my kids to be toddlers when they were babies; and now that I'm out of it, I wish they were babies again! Those were such simpler times! This past week Maverick's attitude has gotten bad. If he isn't happy about something, he'll do a loud growl at you then scream something. Its as if he doesn't know what to do with all of his frustration, and it's very exhausting. Madison, earlier this morning, threw a 30-minute fit for I-don't-know-what. She was just screaming and crying for one thing after another. She said she wanted milk, I got her some, then she screamed at me saying she didn't want it. Uhh, okay.

I don't understand kids whatsoever. I understand that they are trying to learn the ways of the world and that everything is new to them, but I wish they understood that simply asking for something instead of throwing a huge fit would get them said-thing a lot faster. I know I shouldn't be thinking about how things will be when they are older--because there is no way for me to know for sure how they will be. I know that once I finally understand them and the things they do, they'll be onto the next stage in life where I'll have to start all over again at trying to figure them out. I guess that's what parenthood is :)

Grateful

This past weekend was such a fun, busy weekend! As you know, I spent all day Friday baking that fun sandcastle cake, I went to Lauren's bridal shower on Saturday, and yesterday we went to our friends' daughter's mermaid party. It was such a fun party! We were out by the pool and it was a blast. The best part was that they had a 1' deep pool that the kids could play in and it was perfect. I ate so much good food this weekend, and surprisingly didn't gain any weight (thank you LORD!).

This coming weekend is my birthday and we're having a party here at the house that I am so excited about. We're expecting around 30 people and I can't wait. I'm even going to make myself a birthday cake that says "Happy Birthday to Me:" 1) because its funny, and 2) because I want to eat some cake! I can't wait to make that cake :) :) :)

I'm going to make this one short today and end it on a thank you. I've had this website up and running for a little over 2 months now and its already gotten over 7,000 views; that's insane! Thank you all so much for supporting me and listening to my random ramblings. It really means a lot to me! Anyways, I just got home from the DMV (it actually wasn't too bad; I think it took longer to find parking than it took to get my license renewed) and I need to do laundry, vacuum, mop, clean the bathrooms--etc. You get the picture.

Happy Monday everyone! 

A Beautiful Bridal Shower

Yesterday I had the honor of attending my friend Lauren's bridal shower. We have been friends since elementary school and she has been at every big event in my life: baby showers, bridal showers, my wedding, etc. I was so excited to get to celebrate HER and her upcoming wedding. What makes it even better is that she is marrying my good friend Harrison. They are a terrific couple and I cant wait for their wedding at the end of September.

Yesterday was her bridal shower and I know how exciting those can be--both for the bride and for the guests. Of course the bride is excited to see all of her friends and family and get tons of presents (I've totally been there), and the guests are excited to play some games and eat food (okay.. maybe I'm the only one who is excited to eat--but parties always have great food that you don't eat on a daily basis!). The shower itself was beautiful; it was sort of a shabby-chic theme and the color scheme was so cute. The food spread was delicious too, as pictured below. The games were a blast (I even won one!), it was so much fun catching up with friends, and overall it was a great time. Here are some pictures from the fun day :)

The food was so good! There were those tortilla roll-up sandwiches (those are my FAVORITE), fruit cups, individual vegetable cups with dip, finger sandwiches, assortment of cakes, and plenty of other food. I was very satisfied at the end of the day ;)

Here's one of the games we played--that I've actually never played before! You group up into groups of 4 and everyone goes through their purse and you try to find stuff on this list. When you're done, you tally up your points and the group with the most points wins! So much fun :))

Then we played the typical toilet-paper bride game, which is always fun. Our beautiful friend Julie was our model and I think she looked stunning ;)

All of the "brides"

New panties for the bride! :)

Ms. Lauren with her bow bouquet to use at the rehearsal dinner!

If you're ever looking for a bridal shower gift, this is a go-to gift for me. Buy the bride a cute pair of panties and get their new last name embroidered on them. Brides love seeing their new last name on anything, and grooms love seeing their last name on their new bride. Its a win/win situation. 

I also made Lauren these wine bottle vases with her new last name on them. (I asked her ahead of time what accent color would go in her living room, and she said the teal/blue). 

Julie, me, Lauren W. and Lauren M. Even though "Lauren W. "will soon be "Lauren B.," she'll always be "Lauren W." to us :)

Lauren M. insisted on doing the typical "selfie" photo, so here it is <3

Yesterday was so much fun and Lauren got so many amazing gifts! Can I throw myself another bridal shower even though I'm already married? I'd love to get half of the stuff she got! ;)

How To: Make a Sandcastle Cake

Tomorrow my friends are throwing a mermaid party for their daughter's 4th birthday. To go with the theme, they asked me to make a sandcastle cake complete with chocolate sea shells. Of course I said yes, and I've looked forward to making this cake for a while now. This was my first time making a tiered cake, and it was also my biggest cake I've ever made. Thankfully everything went smoothly and turned out great. Let me just tell you this now: this cake is TIME CONSUMING! However, its well worth it :)

First, you're going to make your butter cream frosting then set aside. 

Next, grab your sea shell candy mold and whatever color chocolate candy melts you choose. For my cake, we used pink and blue candy melts. 

Don't worry about how the back of them looks; you wont see them.

Next, bake your cakes. For the bottom tier I did chocolate cake, and for the top tier I did strawberry cake. (This picture is half of the cakes; each tier had 3 layers to it). Set aside and let cool completely.

Next, while the cakes are cooling (and you need to make sure they are COMPLETELY cold to the touch before you start icing and stacking them), you'll make your "sand" --which starts with toasting your coconut. 

Nice and evenly toasted!

Once the coconut is cooled, you'll place it into your food processor (I used my magic bullet) along with the graham crackers and grind them up until it is all a sand-like texture. 

Once the coconut and graham crackers are ground, you'll toss them into a big bowl and add white and brown sugar until you reach your desired color. 

Now, I forgot to take a picture of the step before this one, so I'll just tell you what I did. Stack your cake putting a thick amount of frosting in between the layers. Once all of the layers are stacked, you're going to measure your dowels out and cut according to how tall your cake is. Pierce them through your cake so that once you put your "plate" (I have no idea what that thing is called) on top, it'll rest nicely on the dowels and hold the weight of the top tier of the cake.  

Next step: stack them up! Doing just like the step above, put a thick amount of frosting in between the layers. Its always better to have too much frosting instead of too little. Don't worry too much about how the frosting looks; it'll be covered by the sand. 

Now the fun part! Turn your cake into a sand castle! This step is MESSY--but that's okay because you can clean it up later. Be prepared to get your hands dirty. I literally felt like I was building a sand castle when I was pressing the "sand" onto the sides of the cake. Add as little or as much sand as you want, just make sure the whole cake is evenly coated. 

Add your seashells that you made earlier, and viola! You have a beautiful sand castle cake! Now go drink a margarita--you deserve it! 

BUTTER CREAM FROSTING:
Ingredients:
9 cups of powdered sugar
6 sticks of butter
1 1/2 tsp. of vanilla
water

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together. Add small amounts of water until you reach desired consistency.

"SAND" MIXTURE:
Ingredients:
Coconut
Graham crackers
Brown sugar
White sugar

Directions:
Toast your coconut by spreading out on a baking sheet and baking at 350*F for 10-12 minutes.

Once cooled, place your coconut and graham crackers in a food processor (I used my magic bullet) and pulsate until everything is evenly ground.

Place in a large bowl and add white and brown sugar until desired color is achieved.

SEA SHELL CHOCOLATES:
Ingredients:
Wilton candy melts in color of your choice
Wilton candy mold in seashell assortment

Directions:
Place candy melts into microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute. Stir, then microwave in 30-second increments until all chocolate is melted.

Spoon into candy molds being sure to reach every nook and cranny.