Life Updates

Oct. 17: We had ward FHE. Our apartment (meaning me) was assigned to bring a dozen cupcakes. I made candy corn cupcakes. I divided the batter in half and dyed them yellow and orange. I frosted them with cream cheese frosting and added a candy corn. They were good and disappeared quickly.


Oct. 18: It was Ally's birthday. Earlier in the month I promised her I would make her pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. When I got the assignment to make cupcakes for ward FHE, I almost made them then. I wasn't sure if I would have enough to make them twice and I didn't want to have to go to the store to get stuff for the candy corn cupcakes. As I was talking about my dilemma and trying to decide what to do, Ally overheard me talking about how I said I would make her the pumpkin cupcakes. She said she was glad I remembered and that she thought about mentioning them to me to make sure I hadn't forgotten. I didn't and her excitement made it easy for me to decide. I would have to get candy corn from the store. Rylee actually bought them for me because she had to buy three pumpkins. Our FHE family was assigned to bring 15 small pumpkins for carving. We thought that was asking too much, to bring a treat and pumpkins (which are expensive, even the small ones). They didn't even get carved, at least not that I noticed while I was there. Wow, I strayed a little bit. Back to Ally. So I made her pumpkin cupcakes. She came over and we sang to her. They were pretty amazing.

Oct. 20: Turns out I didn't need that much pumpkin for Ally's cupcakes. Plus, pumpkin only comes in a big can. I had enough left to make almost 3 dozen more. I had some left over frosting too, enough to cover a dozen. I took them over to two guys' apartments. One was because Phil loves my cupcakes and while eating my candy corn cupcakes from Monday, he told me he would would finance my cupcake shop (Arianna was next to me and said she'd eat at my cupcake shop). I know it's not going to happen (though it would be nice if it did), but it was a really nice compliment. The other was James' apartment because he's cool and from Oregon. He gave me a hug and told me I smelled good. I took some without frosting downstairs to the the girls below us and to the guys in apartment 5 because they are pretty cool. The following conversation occurred.
Me: Hey, here are some pumpkin cupcakes...well I ran out of frosting so I guess they're naked cupcakes.
Leemur (real name is Lee, but he goes by Leemur): NAKED CUPCAKES!?!
Me: Or you can just call them muffins.

Oct. 21: Woke up with a sore throat. Rylee's friend Erika came for the weekend to surprise her.
Oct. 22: Lazy day. BYU kicked but during the game against Idaho state. The final score was 56-3. Sore throat was worse and the head cold started. Runny/stuffy nose, sneezing and congestion. Fun.
Oct. 23: Stake conference. Elder Ballard was there. Sadly, I was not. I didn't here my alarm go off and Arianna woke me up at 9:15. We were planning to leave by 9:30. I was NOT feeling good. My throat was hurting and I was tired from not getting enough sleep due to coughing and not being able to breath because I was all stuffed up. 9:20 and Christina told me I should get up too. Those two left to go save seats and I finally got out of bed. I was up just long enough to tell Rylee that I wasn't going to go, while crying. It wasn't so much the pain as it was I was missing out on such a great opportunity to see a member of the twelve. I went back to bed and slept. When I woke up I took a shower and was able to breath again.

Our ward writes "nice notes" to each other on Sunday after ward prayer. I received the following note written by Leemur.

My Dearest Wendi,
We, the citizenry of Arcadia 5, are greatly indebted to you for the delicious pumpkin nudey muffins. Shawn & I each ate two and Curtis snagged the last one. We love you!


Leemur & Arc. 5


Nudey muffins. I like that so much more than naked cupcakes. Also, that note means that two of the guys in that apartment missed out on said nudey muffins. Sad day for them. Since I was taught how to share, I will share this amazing recipe with you. Click here for deliciousness.

Oct. 24: My cold is pretty much gone!! Thanks to lots of water, Emergen-C (miracle cold remedy), and rest. I think this has been one of the shortest, if not the shortest, colds I've ever had.

Today: I went running!! Last Thursday, Arianna went running and told me I should go with her the next time she went. I said I would probably go, but knowing myself I probably wouldn't. Well, I did and I'm proud of myself. Christina went too. I didn't run as much as they did because I'm extremely out of shape and I just got over a cold. Kinda still getting over it. Christina said I sounded worse than her after running and she has asthma. Haha. Arianna and Christina both said I did good. I agree. I'm proud of myself for actually going because I really didn't want to. I mean really didn't want to. We're going running again on Thursday.

I think that's pretty much it. And if it's not, this post is long enough. Sorry for the long blogging absence. I won't let it happen again...probably.

The Big 2-1!

My birthday started at 12:03 A.M. with a happy birthday text from my friend Claudia. I woke up to a phone call from my mom and a couple Facebook birthday messages. Throughout the day I received more messages and texts. At the end of the day I had a total of 51 Facebook birthday messages, 3 texts, and four calls.

To celebrate my birthday, I made Reese's cupcakes and invited people over for 7. Not everyone one showed up at once. It was basically like having three gatherings in one night. I liked it because I actually got to talk to people instead of being surrounded by a huge group of people and not getting to talk to everyone. Everyone loved the cupcakes. As I suspected, despite my mishap earlier this afternoon. My friend Rosi made me strawberry Jell-O shots, sans alcohol, and everyone enjoyed them. It was funny watching everyone get the Jell-O out of the little cups. Some were even drooling. There was some dancing and we played a little Swedish Twister. I was so popular today :) I'm bummed my camera was absent during all the fun. I really suck at remembering to use it.

So, in case you didn't already know, my roommates are awesome! Rylee and Christina got me cute cupcake liners. They know me so well.

Arianna got me a cream filled donut! FINALLY! I can die happy and content now that this dream has been fulfilled. Five years or so ago, I discovered that I share my birthday with National Cream Filled Donut Day. Every year it would be my wish to accomplish eating a cream filled donut on such an important day. And every year I would fail. You would think it wouldn't be that hard, but for me it was. I came close my Freshman year at BYU. My friends came back with a Krispy Kreme box and I got really excited. I opened the box only to be disappointed at the sight of original glazed donuts. What a let down.

It even had a cherry on top :)

Now I can say I've done it and I can finally stop obsessing over such trivial thing. I don't even really like cream filled donuts, but I had to do it just for the sake of being able to say I did.

THE BIG MOMENT...Only 5 years in the making.

The Proof. I got laughed at for this one.

I received a package from Howard and Lori. It was a card and and amazing candle. Here's what it's supposed to do.

Here's what happened. I'm making it sound like something bad happened, but it didn't. We just didn't light it right. And yes, that is my precious donut beneath the giant candle. 

I didn't want to light it myself because I was kind of scared so Christina did it, plus she's an EMT. Well, she didn't really do it right or the candle had some issues and part of the flower started melting because the big flame sat there for so long. It was still entertaining though.

I had a wonderful 21st birthday. My new mantra is "I'm legal, single and ready to mingle!" Whatya think? 

Only On My Birthday

Only on my birthday would I mess up on my own cupcakes. Maybe its a sign from the universe telling me I shouldn't be making my own cupcakes (though my friends say no one could make them better...but not today apparently) or it could be a sign about how my year as a 21 year old is going to go. That wouldn't surprise me considering how the last few years have gone.

Okay, so they're not as bad as I'm making them sound. It's not like they taste awful or I burnt them. I just mixed them for too long. The key to any batter is to mix for two minutes. Well, I turned on my mixer and started doing something else. I let them mix for too long and let too much air get incorporated into the batter. Now they are all cracked on top and don't look like my cupcakes usually do. They are not up to Wendi standards and I'm sad, but there's nothing I can do about it. People will still eat them because looks don't matter when it come to desserts, taste does. And my cupcakes always taste good.

Colorful Cupcake Decor

I made one of my cupcake crafts this weekend! I had a coupon for Jo-Ann's and they were having their founder's sale, so I was able to get everything I needed for a great price. 

Here is the example:

And here is mine:

My frame isn't as fancy, and that's okay because it was only $3 at Walmart. I also didn't use the pop dots to make them stand out because it really doesn't matter since they're in a frame (plus there wasn't room in the frame I used). I also didn't make marks where each cupcake was supposed to go because I'm not that patient. Although I tend become an OCD perfectionist when I do projects and crafts, it just seemed too time consuming and I was too excited to finish. I think I did a pretty good job by just eyeing it. And I've been slowly trying to teach myself that the little imperfections (that only I seem to be able to see) add character and make it better. Besides, I can't expect something handmade like this to be completely perfect. Let's face it, nothing in this world is.

In case you missed the post with the link to the tutorial, here it is again. 

Strawberry Cupcakes & Exciting News

So this post is a little late, but better late than never right? Last Sunday for ward break-the-fast, I made strawberry cupcakes. I thought it would be fun to do something summery and that would go perfectly with some cute liners I had. 

I found the cupcake recipe on the blog Plant Food Fabulous and it was actually adapted from Martha Stewart's website, who got it from Candace Nelson of SPRINKLES (the first Cupcakery ever!) I knew it was going to be good. I also used the frosting recipe that went along with it. Now I'm going to share them with you.

Strawberry Cupcakes

3 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 sticks of butter, softened

2 1/4 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 egg white

1 cup milk

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups finely chopped strawberries

Preheat the oven to 350º. 

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium size bowl. Set aside.

In the mixer, fitted with paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time and mix until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if you need to. Add the vanilla extract. 

With the mixer on low add about a third of the flour,  half of the milk, a third of the flour, the rest of the milk, then the rest of the flour. Basically 3 batches of the flour with milk in between. Mix each addition until combined. 

Stir in the strawberries by hand. Fill cupcake tins, with liners, 3/4 full. This recipe makes about 30 cupcakes. Bake for 20 minutes, or until testers come out clean.

Strawberry Frosting 

(yields enough for 1 dozen so I doubled it and had enough)

1/2 cup whole frozen strawberries, thawed (I used fresh)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, firm and slightly cold

Pinch of coarse salt (I used regular salt)

3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Place strawberries in the bowl of a small food processor; process until pureed. 
• 
  
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy. 
• • 
    
• • Reduce mixer speed and slowly add confectioners' sugar; beat until well combined. 
• • • 
      
• • • Add vanilla and 3 tablespoons strawberry puree (save any remaining strawberry puree for another use); mix until just blended. 
• • • 
      
• • • Do not over mix or frosting will incorporate too much air. Frosting consistency should be dense and creamy, like ice cream.
• • • 
      
• • • I didn't manage to take a picture of them because I was still frosting them until the last minute. I wish I had, they looked really good. They were such a hit (When are they not?). People were grabbing them before they were even set down on the table, which was a smart move because they disappeared fast. I pity those that didn't get one. James (the other Oregonian) wanted a second one, but he said he saw a guy eyeing the last one from across the room and decided to let him have it. I think I caught a glimpse of the eyeing and I believe that it would have been that person's second cupcake too. Lucky him for being the only person to get more than one.
• • • 
      
• • • In other cupcake related news, I have been asked to make cupcakes for a friend's wedding open house in January! I'm so excited because it's like my first real cupcake job, except I'm not being paid. We're all about service in our church. I'm a little sad because it is kind of a big job and it does cost money, but Marjorie said she'd be willing to split the cost with me and even help me make them. Consider it your wedding present Beth & Cody. I'm hoping this could lead to other potential jobs and some friends in the ward know to come to me if they want cupcakes at any family events or birthday parties. 

Keep Calm...

and eat a cupcake. That's what I did today. Now that I've finally gotten off my emotional roller coaster, I am back to having fun and enjoying the people around me. Today was nice. Marjorie and I met Christina at the Farmer's Market that they have in the stadium parking lot every Thursday. There wasn't anything in particular I was planning to buy, but I ended up buying some pretty amazing bread. It's Asiago Basil and it's made with 45% mashed potatoes. It is heavenly when toasted with a little butter.

 There was a little stand that was selling sausages and cheesesteak. Christina mentioned a fairly new place that she heard made some pretty authentic cheese steak. We were all hungry so we decided to go there for dinner. DP Cheesesteaks (Downtown Philly Cheesesteaks) was delicious. Marjorie and Christina both got the Mushroom Cheesesteak. I was tempted because I love my mushrooms, but went for the Cream Cheese Steak (it still had some mushrooms). It was really good. The cream cheese was all warm and melty and went so well with everything else.

And what place was just a few doors down from DP Cheesesteaks? THE COCOA BEAN! I haven't been there in a while. What better way to make myself feel better after a crappy couple of days? A yummy cupcake, that I didn't have to make myself. Sadly it was not a red velvet day. I got Party In My Mouth, a chocolate cupcake with a Nutella filling and cream cheese frosting with chocolate drizzle. I loved that one! You can't go wrong with Nutella. I also got a Mango Raspberry. I loved the raspberry cupcake, but I couldn't taste the mango. I was disappointed. I didn't really eat the frosting. The cupcake was good enough without it and the was just no point to eating it since it didn't taste like it was supposed to.

Before walking out the door of The Cocoa Bean, something caught my eye. They had t-shirts for $10. I bought one.

This is what the shirt says. It's lime green and the lettering is in hot pink. It was too hard to take a picture of myself wearing it (you couldn't read it all thanks to my short arms). I'm pretty happy with today's little outing and all of my purchases (minus the disappointment of a cupcake).

{Framed}

After that nasty last post, I figured I should write a pleasant one.

I found two framed cupcake related crafts that I'm going to do. I don't know when, but I will.  

Isn't it cute? You can find the instructions here.

I love etched glass. The look of it is so pretty and elegant. A Cricut was used to cut the letters out so this project will probably be done during Christmas break when I'm home and have access to one. Instructions for this project can be found here. This idea can be used to make other signs, like fresh cookies. You can make it say anything you want. That's one thing I love about crafts, you have so much freedom.

I'll be sure to post pictures of mine whenever I get around to doing them.

Do You Like Piña Coladas?

Today was the last time I would see my FHE family the way it currently is because some people will be gone by the time I come back from visiting home. I wanted to make really amazing cupcakes that everyone would love and would give me one last chance to show a certain someone my skillz. I really wanted to make the pineapple pomegranate ones, but I don't have everything to make the frosting. I decided to make piña colada cupcakes.

They turned out perfectly! I'm always a little scared to try a new recipe, but this one is a keeper. I found it online here and tweaked it a little bit to make it better. The toasted coconut was such a nice touch. Not only did it make them look good, but it definitely amped up the taste too. Oh, and the crunch it added was really nice. It was my first time toasting coconut too! I'm glad I didn't burn it. I have some left and I'm planning on just eating it because it's seriously like candy. Isn't it healthier than candy since it's fruit?


I think they may have been the best cupcakes I've made! I'm not sure. I love my red velvet and the Reese's ones, but these are pretty phenomenal. Everyone ate more than one and I was told it was the best cupcake someone has ever eaten. How's that for a compliment? 


Our activity tonight was watching a Shakespeare play in the park. It was originally supposed to be at the duck pond near campus. we walked there only to find a sign that said it had been moved to Kiwanis Park, which is just a five minute walk from our apartment complex. We were so happy to have walked all the way there for no reason. I didn't mind because the weather was so nice. The play was As You Like It, done by The Grassroots Shakespeare Company. It was pretty funny. 

This guy made it both hilarious and disturbing. He's not wearing his wig in this picture (which I stole from Facebook). At the end of the play, the whole cast dances. While he was shakin' what his mama gave him, one of his fake boobs popped out. I just about died. I was one of the only people to notice it out of my group because when I mentioned it afterwards, only one other person knew what I was talking about. Every time he appeared, the guy next to me made sounds that obviously showed how disturbed he was. I enjoyed listening to him and watching him wriggle with disgust. His name is Cody. He's in my ward, but not in my family. He just happened to be there so he sat with us.

Tomorrow we are having a ward bonfire. Christina and I went to the store so she get groceries (which I don't need since I'm going home in 6 days) and I could get Starbursts for roasting. I also bought mosquito repellent since it's that time of year. Oh joy! I finally caved and bought sushi. I've been craving it for the past three weeks and I finally bought some. Yeah, the store bought stuff isn't as good, but it was good enough to satisfy my craving. Plus, I figured since I wouldn't be grocery shopping for the next two weeks I could afford it. It was so worth it. Yeah, I had sushi for dinner at 10:40pm. that's what I get for eating a late lunch and cupcakes (had to taste test them).

Anyway, today was great day and I'm getting so excited to go home. One thing I want to do while I'm home is to go to the coast. I really want to go to the beach. Let's see if I actually go.

*It's bugging me that there are some double spaces in between some of the paragraphs. I tried to fix them, but it's not working. It looks weird and I don't like. Just thought I'd let you know in case you feel the same way, which you probably don't because I'm just weird like that.*

Cupcake Love

Can I have this please?

How awesome is this?!? It combines two of my loves, cupcakes and Dr. Pepper. I don't think I could have anything better hanging around my neck and it's only $5! This comes from Funky Recycling, an Etsy shop. 

Lately I've really wanted a cool baseball hat. I steal my cousin's hats all the time and wear them (he hates it) because they make me feel cool and gangsta. I look really good in them. Look what I found? Isn't it amazing? I REALLY REALLY want it!! I sound like a little whiny kid, huh? 

This piece of awesomeness comes from Johnny Cupcakes. It's only $60. Who wants to get it for me? I really like this one, but I'd be happy with any color combo. There are even some hats on ebay starting at $30. My birthday is only 3 months and 9 days away. 

If you want more ideas, refer to this older post.

Or everyone could just pitch in together and get me the one gift I'm DYING to have, a KitchenAid mixer. Hey, I'm turning 21. Since I'm not going to drink or party like other 21 year olds, I might as well dream big for my gifts, right? I think that's some perfect logic right there.

Don't take this post too seriously, it's just wishful thinking. I don't expect to get all this.

Finito!

It's done! My cupcake stand is completed. I like it a lot. Obviously it's not perfect, but it looks good enough for me. Here are the pictures. Let me know what you think :)

You can kind of see the wrinkles I mentioned on the top tier.
They don't look too bad and you won't be able to see them
when there are cupcakes on the stand.

I can't wait to use it tomorrow!!

Stunnin' In Scarves

While browsing my new favorite site, Etsy, I came across these little lovelies. I have no intention of spending anymore more money for a while, but I can still look at all the amazing things I can't and won't buy on Etsy.

Cupcake Scarves!

What's your flavor?

CHO-CO-LATE!

 Matching scarf AND beanie

This isn't cupcake related, but I love my breakfast foods. Eggs, bacon and toast...YUM! I love love love breakfast for dinner. It's kind of my favorite.

How awesome is this? I don't know if I'd actually wear it, but I'm pretty sure I'd be the only person with one if I had it. Seriously, how cool would it be to wear bacon around your neck?

Peanut butter jelly time! 

Sorry this is a slightly pointless post, but I had to share my discoveries. If you love the idea of wearing food around your neck, check out this Etsy shop.

One more for fellow movie enthusiasts.

Decor For the Poor

I once again find myself enthralled by the creativity that people possess. I have found a few more projects that I would like to take on eventually. They are mostly things to spruce up my apartment. My roommates and I have decided that we want to make our place look more homey next year. Right now it's just blah. We're not allowed to hang things using nails so that kind of limits what we can do. Rylee and I were kind of thinking we'd ignore that rule because other people do and there's already some holes in our walls. Maybe now we won't have to be bad tenants that break the rules. All of these, with the exception of one, are pretty cheap. They are all easy, which is why I like them. And that they don't require sewing. My lack of sewing skills as well as the desire to have said skills greatly limits many of the DIY projects I can do. It kind of make me sad, but not enough to drive me to learn. On the bright side, I won't have to spend lots of money on fabric making tons of cute handbags (these are really the only DIY sewing projects that really interest me).

Here's the first one. They are starched fabric frames that you stick to the wall using an iron. They peel right off without damaging that paint. I never knew you could iron something to the wall. I probably won't end up doing this one because fabric is pricey and I don't know anyone here that would have nice scraps. I will probably end up using this in in my future home. I think it would be cute in a kid's room. Whatya think?

You can find the instructions here.

I love the really modern look to this next one. These patterned wall squares are really cheap and easy to make. I'm pretty positive these are going up on our wall. You can also make them in other shapes, but of the shapes I can think of, squares seem like the best choice. You kind find the instructions for this geometric wall art here.

Aren't they cool?

The third one is the cheapest of them all. I think it would look great on one of our side tables. It's branches with paper berries. You just go outside and find some small branches and use a circle scrapbooking punch (or trace a coin and cut if you think you can do it well) to cut out paper circles to glue to the branches. I'm going to have better paper berries though. I'm thinking red, orange and yellow. Or maybe blue, purple and yellow. I don't like how they threw the blue in there. I mean, I understand about wanting colors to pop, but I'm not sure about this one.

Instructions for this berry easy decor can be found here.

{Please excuse the cheesiness.}

The inspiration for this came from the fabric of something at Ikea. I've seen this design multiple places. I really like it.

This is the only non-apartment decor one that I found. They are individual paper cupcake stands. If I ever had a little party or dinner I could use them as place cards or just to decorate a dessert table. You can use cardboard or colored cardstock. They are so simple and cheap to make. Find the instructions here.

Anyway, just thought I'd share some things that I've found and that I'm excited to eventually try. If anyone tries these, please send me a picture and let me know how it turns out :)

When You're Here, You're Family

(This is the first picture of all five of us, ever.)

We decided to do a roommate birthday dinner last night, at OLIVE GARDEN! Arianna's birthday was the beginning of February, Rylee's is coming up this month, Manju's was in December (but it was during finals week so she didn't say anything...we all felt bad for not knowing her birthday, especially me since I share a room with the girl), mine was the second week of school so none of us really knew each other except me and Arianna, and Kristin's is in April.

We had two Olive Garden virgins, Manju and Arianna. I can't believe they've never been there! Well, I actually can with Manju since she's from Nepal. We were counting down the days, since we had it planned a few weeks in advance. All day we were pretty excited and Rylee and I kept telling Arianna they have THE best bread sticks (her world was about to be rocked by bread and she didn't know it). We thought it would be fun to dress up a little so we did, except Brandon (Kristin's boyfriend).

It was really funny because four of us ordered the same pasta, Capellini Pomodoro (it's a pretty basic pasta). Rylee and Manju chose to have soup with it and Kristin and I chose salad. So, we all didn't get the exact same thing. Arianna had portobello stuffed ravioli. It looked so good! I was almost tempted to get it because I love love love mushrooms. I remember being made fun of on a second grade field trip to Benihana because I was eating a fungus. I wonder how many of those kids now eat fungus themselves. Brandon got pizza. His birthday was actually the day before. Talk about perfect timing for this dinner.

As usual, the food was AMAZING, the bread sticks were HEAVEN in the form of carbs (When do carbs not taste heavenly?) and just the group of people was great. We even had Brandon to give us (and the guy at the table next to us...haha) constant updates on the BYU vs. New Mexico game, which we LOST. Flush. That was the sound of our #3 ranking going down the toilet. Hopefully we can step it up for March Madness and have a good end to the season, despite losing a key player due to an Honor Code violation.

Before leaving we took some pictures and then went home to take more with the red velvet cupcakes I made. Our apartment is pretty cool. I think it's funny how the school year is almost over and we are only now becoming closer and doing more things together. We're just so cool, we do things backwards like that.

G.L.A.M.O.R.O.U.S.

(Totally had Fergie helping me spell that in my head.)

Showin' off our cute selves with cupcakes

Getting a little crazy with the cupcakes...

Nothing says I love you like a cupcake to the face.

Oh yeah, I get to do another ShOuT OuT!! I gained ANOTHER follower...woo hoo!

Thank you miss Arianna Booth for being such a fabulous roomie and friend. I'm so glad we were in the same ward last year. I now know why there was some drama trying to figure out housing last year, it was so I could live with you (and Rylee)! Thanks for making my life so fun and interesting all the time. Love ya!