by Aubrey on August 4, 2010
Lee’s birthday was over the weekend. I think I may have started a tradition of surprising him with cupcakes, and then forcing him to take most of them to work so we don’t eat them all.
His co-workers all get a wonderfully sugar laden breakfast and I don’t have to stare down cupcakes all day calling my name (and with my recent ‘I need a cinnamon bun or a cake or a cookie or a candybar’ craving around 3 pm, this is a good thing).
Last year I made him fairy cakes topped with candy fireworks (Lee djs under the name Fiyawerx). I happened to pick one of the hottest days of the year to make lollipops, but it wasn’t a terrible experience and I would give it a go another time. The fireworks cupcake toppers were on a blog somewhere for the 4th of July, but I can’t seem to find it in my bookmarks now.
This year I saw a recipe for Rootbeer Float cupcakes on Smitten Kitchen early in the summer and immediately bookmarked it for Lee’s birthday.
They came out really well–a moist chocolate cake with the flavor of rootbeer. I am not a cake baker, so I was thrilled when these came out so perfectly formed and moist. I do think next time I would add a shot of rootbeer extract to up the flavor a bit. Because I had to make them ahead and make them last long enough for Lee to take to work, I used stabalized whipped cream for the topping. I even used the cookie press to pipe it on, although I really should have waited until it was a bit more firm–I was running out of baking time (read: nap time). Deb, on Smitten Kitchen, uses icecream too which would have been great, but not portable.
Apparently Lee took a photo of the cupcakes with his phone at work, and also showed everyone last year’s cupcakes (he worked somewhere else a year ago). So, now I have to make sure I think of something good for next year!
by Aubrey on August 2, 2010
1) I have been absent from this space for a while. It feels like most days consist solely of chasing an almost 15 month old around and at the end of the day I have done nothing I feel is blog worthy. We could do the whole “here is Kaylee unpacking the diaper bag,” or “playing with the tupperware,” or “refolding the laundry,” or “leaving the dogs a trail of kibble to follow around the house,” or “having her millionth snack.”
But, that might get a little dull for everyone but me and her doting family. I totally love that I am home with her for the summer. But being pregnant and the heat, well, school is sounding a bit like it will be a break. (And then I will miss the little bug all day.)
2) Recently I took a look at my 28 before 29 list, and my, was I ambitious. Very. And I didn’t plan very well because one of the items on the list was to get pregnant (oohh cross that one off!), but I didn’t think how that would impact almost all of the rest of the list. I am going to give myself at least another year to get it all accomplished. Let’s call it my 28 before 30 list, ok?
3) I am not entirely sure why it is so difficult to get people who want to work on our house. It is an old house, but not in terrible condition by any means. We want the upstairs ceilings to be sheetrocked instead of the existing drop ceiling and the living room/dining room ceiling (which is currently plaster). There are some other small jobs. The fact is, we don’t have time or energy to do it ourselves and it is much more feasible to have someone else come and do it. Not to mention the fact that I am not permitted to do any ladder climbing etc. Some of the people I have contacted haven’t even returned my calls or emails. One seemed very polite, came and took a bunch of measurements, and then never got back to us. Is it that bad? Maybe they are disgusted that I am adamant about keeping the pink tile in the upstairs bath and the clawfoot tub? (They don’t realize that tile was a huge selling factor for me…) I am giving the estimate guy until tonight, and then I will start looking again.
4) I really could live on pasta with butter and salt. My current preference is linguine.
source
5) I wish that our washing machine was a little bigger. It is the ultracapacity or whatever one, but I need it just a smidge larger. I can squash our comforter in there, but it doesn’t get clean. And I have to wash it because Kaylee apparently peed all over the bed during a diaper change with Grandma. I had another comforter that I wanted to put on the bed, so that was the motivation I needed to start using it. But I still have to wash the other one which means a trip to the laundromat. When we lived in an apartment in Albany I did all our laundry at the laundromat and it wasn’t bad. But schlepping Kaylee with me adds a whole other dimension. Then again, she might love it. I will put it on the tentative activity list for tomorrow.
by Aubrey on July 20, 2010
Months back when I discovered podcasts, I started working my way through the archives of CraftyPod and CraftSanity during my daily commute. I didn’t get too far, as the school year ended, and I know that I will have even more to catch up on when I go back to school. (After Lee puts an iPod jack in my newer car.) Anyway, I was listening to the CraftSanity podcast with Cal Patch when she mentioned that she lives in the Hudson Valley and teaches classes there.
I stored that bit of info away. I am from the Hudson Valley and my parents still live there, so attending a class would be a possibility! Such an exciting prospect because it always seems that anything cool is either happening in the city or on the west coast. A few months later, I did just that. Kaylee spent the day at my parents (eating pancakes and playing in the kiddie pool–too much fun to nap!), and I went to Wing & Clover in Rhinebeck to take the patternmaking workshop.
Cal has written a book called Design-It-Yourself Clothes: Patternmaking Simplified. It is brilliant because you get to make clothes that really fit you. I have a terrible time finding pants that fit. One day I plan to give the pattern for pants a go.
During the one day workshop I attended, we drafted patterns for an a-line skirt and a long sleeve t-shirt. They are both made to exactly my measurements (well, not exactly me as I am currently not really my size, but you get the idea.) Cal was a great teacher and it was great to see all the measurements that we took morph into a recognizable pattern.
I have to admit, I have not touched the patterns yet. I think I can manage the skirt, as I have made a few before. But the t-shirt intimidates me a bit. I have never set in sleeves to anything. I will have to try though because–imagine–a t-shirt made for me down to my wrist measurement! Crazy! Also, I designed my pattern to be a longer, tunic type of shirt, so if I use a knit with some give, I will be able to wear it for some time with my growing belly.
(This totally fits in with my desire to not feel frumpy during this pregnancy. Yoga pants were comfy, but I never felt quite put together. I am hoping to do more dresses and leggings this time. But, I realized, school is only a month away and I have very few items in my wardrobe that will work. Not sure yet what I am going to do about this. Sewing is sort of an option, but I am moving dead slow these days. I borrowed a lot of maternity clothing last time from a super generous friend, but she is shorter than me. And, this goes with the pants never fitting, I have a terrible time finding maternity pants that aren’t flood pants on me. Time to learn how to sew knits with the serger I think.)
by Aubrey on July 15, 2010
At this point the baby is quite literally the size of a peanut.
And an active little Peanut. Turning flips, hand over face, legs akimbo.
I have been telling Kaylee that there is ‘a baby in Mama’s belly.’ She gets the belly part, she can identify her own and mine. But when I say ‘baby’ she looks all around me like, “where is the baby? I want to play!”
His co-workers all get a wonderfully sugar laden breakfast and I don’t have to stare down cupcakes all day calling my name (and with my recent ‘I need a cinnamon bun or a cake or a cookie or a candybar’ craving around 3 pm, this is a good thing).
They came out really well–a moist chocolate cake with the flavor of rootbeer. I am not a cake baker, so I was thrilled when these came out so perfectly formed and moist. I do think next time I would add a shot of rootbeer extract to up the flavor a bit. Because I had to make them ahead and make them last long enough for Lee to take to work, I used stabalized whipped cream for the topping. I even used the cookie press to pipe it on, although I really should have waited until it was a bit more firm–I was running out of baking time (read: nap time). Deb, on Smitten Kitchen, uses icecream too which would have been great, but not portable.
