Inter-office mail

And this is how we make it through some days at work: fruities sent between Logan and Smithfield.

Distracted

Sometimes I don't like getting phone calls because I am completely incapable of doing anything else at the same time.  But it only happens with certain people.  Then I feel bad because even though I love talking to them, I have to block out an alotment of time, which isn't always easy, because I can't multitask.  Like last night.  Pretty sure my roommate thought I was crazy.  I was getting the oil ready to do some rice noodles, that I've done plenty of times before, then I get the phone call.  Before I know it the noodles are burnt to a crisp, there's smoke in the kitchen, and I sound like a complete idiot on the phone because I'm running around like a crazy woman.  Then I do nothing but focus on the conversation for the next hour and a half.  So the real question-are these good phone calls to get?  Because logic would tell me no but maybe I need to feel a little more with my heart and not my head. . .

Weed Centerpieces

Strange as it sounds they turned out awesome!  My good friend Candace's sister got married the week before Thanksgiving and needed some last minute centerpieces for their luncheon tables. . . so Candace and I got creative.  It had just snowed but we wandered around the country side, or the gravel pit up by my parents' house, and cut a huge variety of weeds to put together.

My house became a flower shop that I literally had to sweep up before I could vacuum when it was all over but who cares?!  And I may have gotten a little crazy the night before the luncheon and made a stop at Home Depot and an hour later left with wood and spray paint and tinted glaze.  Luckily my friend Natali rescued me at 10:00 after I told her my dad was cutting wood for me.  We were out in 20 degree weather spray painting, made a trip to Wal Mart for burlap, and running the power sander (pretty sure my neighbors hate me).  But the finished product was great:

And if only we'd known sooner, as we were setting up I asked if we could light the candles and they said if there was at least an inch of glass over the wick-why didn't we think of that!  Now I know where I get my crazy ideas from-my mom suggested going to the store and getting votive candle holders. . . 30 minutes before the luncheon started.  And I nearly did it.  It would have made it look so great.  But it was already great.  Better than we'd planned.  So we didn't.  And what would I have done with 32 glass votive holders when the luncheon was over?

Witches party!

Exploding intestines, kitty litter cake, bloody worms, eyeballs . . . and fruit salsa, pumpkin dip, owl cupcakes, bacon wrapped water chestnuts. . . why do I always focus on the food?  We had a way fun Halloween party the weekend before Halloween with the girls in our ward-caramel apple bar, minute-to-win-it relay, and another game I don't know the name of!  But it was fun.

And for the costumes:

Daybreak home tours

 I love home designs.  So much.  A love I learned from my mom.  Back in October I took off of work early and we went down to Daybreak in South Jordan to go through their open houses and it made me want to be all grown up and be able to build a house.  Not good for me.  They create some beautiful spaces and their houses aren't square!  You can't really capture them in pictures but here's a couple I really liked:

Devoted blog stalkers

Who knew that I had blog followers?!  To you, the few, I apologize for the three month absence.  Here's to catching up!

Certified Wilton Course 1 Cake Decorator or something like that

Seeing that I mentioned the cake decorating class I was taking in a previous post, I figured I should show the fruits of my labor.  After three weeks, six sugar cookies, one 8" round cake, six cupcakes, one double layer 8" round cake, six batches of frosting, and too many hours of prep that I didn't have, ta-da:

Yeah, don't look too close, I'll forever be a student. And when I don't have something every other night of the week I'll attack another one of the Wilton courses-gum past and fondant watch out.

A weakness of mine

Mini muffin liners.  I get them for every season.  They're perfect with my mini Reese's Peanut Butter Cup cookies.  First it was Wilton and now it's the Martha Stewart line.  Love them!  Saw some yesterday at Joann's for Fall/Halloween and almost talked myself out of it but they were 25% off-I didn't stand a chance.  As I was checking out the cashier said her weakness was napkins.  I felt a little better.

Air space

An ongoing question, with all that space up there why do bugs and birds get hit as much as they do?  Maybe it's the classic, you only hear about the tragedies and nothing about the millions that fly around avoiding baseballs and car grills, not sure.  Well, I hit a bird this morning.  A quail to be exact.  Normally when they're in the road and a car comes they fly away.  Not always the case apparently.  I even saw a feather floating down in my rearview mirror.  I felt bad but if it won't damage the car don't risk damaging the car to avoid it, right?  Heartless.

Playing in the mud

Completely not something I would normally do but after some peer pressure at work, two coworkers and I ran the Man vs. Mud 5K last weekend.  I am not a runner at all, as in I struggle to run 1 mile before my lungs are about to collapse, so I was a little nervous I wouldn't be able to make it but everyone was there just to have fun in the mud so it was hardly a run.  Tons of fun and definitely planning on doing it again next year! 

 

This was the last slide into the finish line with a huge pool of mud and a mud crawl at the end.  Don't worry, pictures directly following!

Sugar Cookies. . . from a pouch?!

I sort of feel like I have to start this out defending myself but I'm not going to.  I've been thinking about taking a cake decorating class just for fun and keep seeing them on the schedule at the local cooking store but never get signed up before the class is full.  I noticed one starting in September but didn't get over to the store to sign up until yesterday, the day before the class started, at 7:45 pm, fifteen minutes before the store closes.  As I'm signing up the cashier says, you'll also need the Wilton Basics Student kit, decorator icing, and half a dozen sugar cookies.  I think she's warning me of the extra stuff I'll need for the class before I sign up but then I ask, 'For tomorrow's class?'  You bet.  Sweet.  So I bought the student kit and decorator icing right there, yes, I bought the decorator icing in a tub, similar to the kind you buy from the grocery store complete with a foil seal.  The shame.  It gets worse.  How was I going to get sugar cookies when I had to work all day and the class starts at 6:30?  I am 25 years old and my first thought was to call my mom.  My only defense is that she's so great and pulls through for me all the time when I fail to plan that she's enabled me to have that thought.  But I had to go to the grocery store before I went home so I first checked the bakery to see what they had then did something I've never done before. . . bought a pouch of Betty Crocker's sugar cookie mix.  Absolutely nothing wrong with Betty Crocker but when it comes to sugar cookies they are only mediocre and I don't do mediocre sugar cookies.  I'm justifying myself because I really just need something to practice my shells and rosettes on and that's what I get for not planning better.

Some things that upset me a little

Just to start the list. . . Peaches that don't peel.  String cheese that doesn't string.  Boiled eggs that don't peel.  Oranges that are dry.  Oranges that have no flavor.  (All that work to peel them and nothing in return)  Corn on the cob that is smushy.  Waking up before 1:00 AM.  Running out of soap in the shower.  Waking up before 6:00 AM.  Forgetting to get a towel once you're already in the shower. 

Samoa Goodness

Um hello.  Brownie.  Carmel.  Toasted coconut.  Chocolate.  I found these awesome samoa brownies at Six Sister's blog earlier this week and haven't stopped dreaming about them since.  Whipped them up last night, super easy, and they are prolly as good as I imagined. 

1 brownie mix
3 1/2 cups shredded coconut, toasted
(2) 14 oz. package of caramels, unwrapped
1/2 tsp. salt
4 tbsp. milk
3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate + a little shortening to soften

Prepare brownie mix according to box directions for a 9x13 pan and cool.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and place coconut on baking pan. Cook until toasted, stirring every 2-3, took me about 10-12 minutes. Watch close so it doesn't burn.

In a large, microwaveable bowl, add unwrapped caramels, salt, and milk and cook on high for 3-5 minutes, stirring every 45 seconds.  Cook until all caramels are melted and smooth.

Add coconut to caramel and mix together. Spread over cooled brownies. Refrigerate 4-5 hours or overnight. Remove at least 1 hour from the fridge before cutting. Cut into bars and drizzle with melted semi-sweet chocolate (Melt chocolate chips with a little shortening so when it hardens it's a soft chocolate). Let chocolate set and enjoy.

Catching each others' eye

This weekend I noticed a boy.  And he noticed me back.  And we talked.  Not sure that's ever happened before.  The end.

Embarrassed by Cheetos

Sometimes I'm embarrassed I like certain foods, like today it's Cheetos.  I needed something to spice up my pb&j and that bag was calling my name.  The fact that I would have to go into the cafeteria at work and buy them out of the vending machine nearly stopped me from getting them.  Nearly.  So today it was Cheetos, some days it's corn dogs, Kraft mac & cheese w/ hot dogs, bologna. . . this is turning into a confession of my love for questionable meats. . . all things Hostess, and plenty of other foods that I look around to see who's watching me as I buy/order/eat.  Probably not a bad thing since it keeps me from eating them very often.

Green pants

For those who haven't given up on me, I really am working on updating this thing. Apparently the Europe trip post had to be broken up since it was so long and I can't post that many pictures in one post . . . I'll blame the year + lapse on thinking about that. But until it all gets updated I'll work on doing the daily random posts since I'm opposed to doing status updates on facebook but for some reason I don't mind doing it here.

I'm wearing green pants today and loving it. Don't judge. Found them at Downeast for $13.75 which may seem like too much for green pants but I couldn't resist. Reminds me of a pair of green overalls I once had. . . the problem is every time I wear them I'm going to remember the amazing pair of burnt orange corduroy pants that were right next to them on the shelf that I'd seen and made fun of a week before but secretly really wanted. Well I finally tried them on and it just wasn't meant to be-one size too small. I still keep thinking about them. Amazing. Seriously. I'd like to think some really stylish people have them somewhere and paid the original $168 (7 For All Mankind) for them and I could have been just like them for only $13.75.