Couldn't have planned that better if it was scripted!

Today was the funniest day I've had in a long time. To keep up my recent prankster reputation I had to come up with something fantastic for April Fool's Day at the office. I searched the internet and had my mom ask around for ideas and my Uncle Boyd gave the idea of chocolate covered cotton balls! I had never even heard of it before but I had everything already, including an old Blue Bird chocolate box from Christmas, so I decided to try it. Here's a picture of the finished product:

I dipped most of them in coconut, nuts, or butterfinger to disguise the impurities of the cotton balls but they turned out looking really good. And the reaction was perfect! I set them out after lunch and said I'd gotten the box from a vendor last week and had forgotten about it-not unusual at all. Andy was the first to fall for it but he played it cool so it wouldn't ruin it for anyone else. Then, the alarm clock, used in the previous stint with aluminum foil, began going off in Jeff's ceiling. I think he was just ticked he wasn't tall enough to get into the ceiling to find it but it may have been because it was going off for 10 minutes before he got it down. As soon as it was out it was thrown against the floor and deposited on my desk in pieces so it wouldn't happen to him again, at least I got him twice, what a party pooper. After being ticked from the alarm clock, Jeff came over to my desk with chocolate box in hand, not suspecting anything, bit right into one of the chocolates! I couldn't stop laughing. Jeff offered the box to Shelly and being a sucker for chocolates she bit into one and pulled it out thinking it was marshmallow and just started laughing. We asked Nicole, our assistant, if she'd tried one and she said her's had a really weird center almost like an old marshmallow! I hope she didn't eat it.

On my way out, I stopped by HR accross the hall and offered the two guys a chocolate. They suspected a little something but who would disbelieve me when I assured them I wouldn't do something like that :) Pretty sure one of them popped the whole thing in his mouth and didn't notice anything! I had to leave before the other bit into it and discovered the trick embarrassing the other guy-terrible I know.

Don't think I didn't get fooled too-walked out to the parking lot to leave and somehow my car had driven away! And I thought I had been so careful to watch my desk all day I didn't even go to lunch. The best part of it was that I'm pretty sure it was Jeff and I'm sure he thought he was so clever getting me not realizing the alarm clock and chocolates that awaited him later in the day!

Decorating with a little shine to it

I may have started a really bad thing! Being single and the youngest one in my office I conveniently become the brunt of a lot of teasing. After one particularly intense day, I warned, "you better watch out." That night, Candace and I struck with two rolls of aluminum foil in hand. We covered everything in one guy's office that we could: pictures on the bookcase, calendar on the wall, clock, every binder on the filing cabinet, every drawer front, keyboard, mouse, speakers, 3-hole punch, monitor, lap top, light switch cover, a ceiling panel, and every paperclip in the box. We didn't want to mess anything up with papers on the desk or we would have covered the desk too but lucky for him he's too messy ;) The pictures don't really do it justice.

Too bad we ran out of aluminum foil and it was getting late or we could have gone to town. His reaction the next morning was price less! We may have also hid an alarm clock on the bottom of a desk drawer to go off at 10:15 in the morning. For some reason he automatically assumed it was me that did it!

Happy Birthday/St. Patrick's Day Katie!

My little sister, Katie's, birthday is on St. Patrick's Day. How cool is that? A holiday that most don't really celebrate has become kind of fun the last couple years whether it be a completely green surprise dinner or just a fun birthday cake. I found a way cute cake decorating idea on the Wilton web site and not being a very experienced cake decorator, went to Kitchen Kneads to find someone who could teach me. This cake used Color Flow icing for the leprechaun which I had never even heard of. Kitchen Kneads suggested a lady named April so I called her up and she was super nice and let me come over for a couple hours the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day to make the leprechaun.
Katie actually wanted a Cheesecake so she didn't really appreciate the cuteness of the cake but it was fun making it anyway! Quick cake decorating tip: put one small box of pudding in the cake mix to make the cake more dense and easier to decorate.

Is Tash cooking again?

I have the greatest roommates in the world, Candace and Natasha. This blog is going to highlight Tash and one of our favorite things about her. Let's just say our fire alarm has gone off maybe 2 times, each of which occurred due to the master culinary skills of Tash. Don't get me wrong, she is not a horrible cook, she is really good in fact and always goes all out, she just always seems to turn on the one burner that has something left from the last time she cooked :) We love her for it! She's going to kill me for writing this too! Here is a picture of the last cooking/fire alarm experience:

Please note the completely redneck way of keeping the windows open to let the smoke out-she is from Alabama.

I am my Grandma's granddaughter. . . so my mother says!

My roommates think I'm crazy, probably everyone else too but I have a lot of fun decorating for holidays (which is the reason for the title of this blog). I don't really go all out but just little things. My good friend, Holli, makes 'flowers' for Valentine's Day that I have done every year since she showed me. The flowers are made with one cinnamon, sugar coated heart on the bottom, a Mother's Butter Cookie in the middle, and a cherry gummy heart on top. So here it is:

We'll see how long it lasts on the table!

*If you decide you want to make these let me know. Mother's Cookies have gone out of business but I have 2 more boxes if anyone wants some! There's just nothing else I've found that works as well.

Tis the season. . . to get engaged?

I'm not sure if I was just completely out of the loop last year and didn't notice or what is going on this year but every time I turn around I hear about a new engagement. I guess when the Holidays come around you either break up with your significant other so you don't have to worry about a gift or decide it's time to take the next step. So to those of you who made it through the holidays-congrats! The only month without a wedding until June is April so let me know if I'm missing someone :)

The Update of a Lifetime!

Some may have noticed the status "updated 7 months ago" relating to my blog-who has time to update it more than once every 7 months anyway??? So, you're in for a surprise because I am now sitting down to update you on some of the major events from the last 7 months-or at least the ones I can remember and may have pictures of :)