Fiesta de Mayo

 Blondies

 Mustache cake

 Four boring yet yummy cakes.

Busy baking week. Instead of an open house D's school has a Fiesta, every grade preforms a different dance. I made 5 cakes for the Cake Walk. I made the Blondies for the Bake Sale.

Mustache Cake step by step

 Bake a round cake and cut it in half like a Ying Yang

 I used a fork to give the mustache texture.

I used the Buttery Cake recipe from The Dahlia Bakery cookbook. This cookbook is great because it gives VERY specific directions.

Buttery Cake

 Angus hoping D will drop a bit of frosting.

 D's school is having their Fiesta de Mayo celebration. I was thinking of making a mustache cake for the school's cake walk. I'm also baking something for the bake sale. I tried making a mustache cake. This is my test run. I plan on using chocolate frosting on the next cake. 

Beautiful Ruins

Great Summer Read.

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter is SO good, I couldn't put it down. The book mainly takes place in modern day Los Angeles and 1962 Italy during the filming of the movie Cleopatra. The novel is mostly about people's dreams and ambition or lack there of. Jess Walter's writing had me falling in love with these flawed characters.
Pasquale Tursi is the owner of The Hotel Adequate View. Walter's describes him..."He found himself inhabiting the vast empty plateau where most people live, between boredom and contentment." Brilliant!
I hope Hollywood doesn't turn this book in to a movie because the movie will never live up to the book.

Absolutely Avocados Cookbook

Growing up I could not understand the appeal of avocados. They're mushy and turn brown when left out, gross. Now that I'm older with a mature palate...I LOVE avocados. I still have trouble picking a good one at the store. I love adding them to salads or burgers. This cookbook filled with ideas for using avocados for something other than guacamole. I want to try the open-faced avocado croque monsieur and avocado chocolate chip cookies. Absolutely Avocados by Gaby-Dalkin

What I wore Sunday

I can't believe how big F.W is...When did this happen?!? He will be an official teenager this year. How can this be? When we got home from mass this Sunday F.W. wanted to take a picture just the two of us. I was so happy that he still wants to be in a picture with his old Mum. It made my Mother's Day. I love dressing up for Mass but very seldom do I take a picture of what I wear. On the blog www.fine linen and purple it's all about what you wore on Sunday. Cute idea.

What I Wore

Dress:: Gap

Shoes:: Nine West

Watch:: Marc Jacobs

Sunglasses:: Marc Jacobs

Revlon Run number 9, number 9, number 9

 I just love this sign

 This weekend my friend Kristina and I were in Los Angeles for the 20th EIF Revlon Run/Walk for Women. This is our 9th year running.

 Proper shoes this year!!

  "I'm a survivor 11 1/2 years strong!!-God is Good"

This is why I walk each year. So many lives touched by cancer. 

 LA coliseum 

 Had to find a fireman to give Kristina her medal!

Next year NYC!!

UNIQUE LA Spring Show

While my friend, Kristina and I were in Los Angeles for the EIF Revlon Run we went to a market. The unique LA's Spring Show. It was part craft fair, Art show, part local LA sellers and ALL hipster! It was near the fashion district on the 16th floor of a building. I wish I had an unlimited budget because there were lots of one of a kind jewelry and posters. It was a fun day of shopping but boy are my legs tired.

 Kristina got this chevron bow

 These were little shadow boxes. I wanted one but where would I put it??

 I'm going to eat you, cupcake.

 This scarf was so cool! However we both agreed it is a little heavy duty for So Cal. 

 That's a lot of alligator.

This is the canvas tote we got from UNIQUE LA.

state of unique has shows in New York and San Francisco.

If your in Los Angeles today you should check it out!

Teacher Appreciation Luncheon

 First crack at Lemon Bars was ho hum. I used Paula Deen's Lemon Bar recipe. I didn't think they had enough lemon flavor so I added the zest of 1 lemon to the recipe. The 1st batch was under cooked and the second batch was over cooked. So lemon bars are not my specialty...yet. 

 Nice spread with my Lemon Madeleine

Today we had a teacher appreciation luncheon for all the wonderful teachers at our local school. It was a really nice party put together by the PTA. The lunch was held in the school's library. We hide the books by covering the shelves with paper. One of the Moms free hand painted a mural of flowers. It looked splendid. All the teachers got succulents potted in mason jars as door prizes.

Thank you teachers!!  

Texas Sheet Cake and Cinco de Mayo

 Cinco de Mayo is my birthday. I didn't want a party or anything crazy. I just wanted to bake a cake, eat  the cake and relax. I made the Texas Sheet cake again. You've got to have chips and salsa on Cinco de Mayo. We had a lot of running around to do on Sunday but we were able to relax together as a family. Which is always nice!

Corvette Diner is always fun for birthdays.  We went there for milkshakes. The waitresses all dress in 50's attire and sing Happy Birthday to you.  I think I gained 5 pounds this weekend.

Flower Make Up

So as you might have already heard Drew Barrymore has her own make up line called Flower. I've been wanting to check it out. However it is only sold at Wal-Mart and I'm a Target girl. I finally made a "special" trip to Wal-Mart. I'm glad I went because Flower has lots of fun and trendy colors in eyeshadow, Lip gloss and nail polish. I was surprised to see a lot of the lipsticks and glosses were sold out. The Wal-Mart I went to was sold out of the lipstick I wanted. Overall I like Flower make up.
Good news first...
::Her make up is all made in USA, which I LOVE.
::It is reasonably priced.
::Great spectrum of matte lipstick colors
::Flower nail polish goes on easy and looks really good dry

Cons...
::The lid of the nail polish is large. The lid was awkward to hold while painting my nails.
::The color names are not labeled very clearly on the product
:: The BB cream doesn't have sunscreen