IT'S NOT WHAT I PROMISED YOU...

I know I said I was going to show you how to make a Topsy Turvy cake today but, I was super busy yesterday and didn't have time to download my photos. So I'll post that tomorrow!

Do you want to know what kept me so busy yesterday? If so, read on...

I decided, last minute, to book a cruise. So, I spent a lot of time finding the ship and booking the cruise as well as the flights.

Then, I had to go to the passport office because I'm taking my great niece, Trinity, with me and she didn't have a passport yet.

This is going to be her first cruise and she is SO excited!

We are going on the Norwegian Pearl. I've never been on this ship but from what I've read and seen on the Internet it looks like a great ship to take a kid on!



It's full of bright colors. Look at that carpet in the hall and even the doors to the cabins are bright and cheerful!

This is what our room might look like. Again, bright and cheerful.

I booked us a suite so I'm excited to see what it is like. Normally, I wouldn't pay for a suite but, believe it or not, the suite was actually cheaper then a balcony room.

I know we will have a balcony but, I don't know what the difference is between a balcony room and a suite. Do you know?

I found all these photos on the Internet and the Norwegian Cruise Line web pages.

The bathrooms look nice and big for a cruise cabin.

The toilet even has it's own room. Now if you cruise you know this is a big deal as the bathrooms on ships are normally super tiny.

There are several pools on the ship. This one has a spiral slide that looks like fun.

I'm sure Trinity will want to spend a lot of time here.

Check this out! A two story high Wii game. How fun. We will play a few games here I bet.

There are basketball courts, tennis, golf and of course the rock climbing wall. I won't be doing any of those things.

However, I think Trinity will want to do the rock climbing so I'll watch her.

Cruise ships these day are adding more and more things and trying to out do the other lines. This ship is known for having a bowling alley.

I wonder how hard it is to bowl as the ship is rocking and rolling.

I don't know but, I think we will play a few games to find out.

Oh in case you were wondering where I was going I thought this picture could give you a big clue. Know where?

To Alaska of course! We will be going to Juneau, Skagway, Cruise Glacier Bay, Ketchikan and then our last stop will be Victoria Canada.

I can't believe this but we are going to be on this ship in 6 days! This is going to make it 3 cruises in one year for me. Gee, I'm starting to feel like a world traveler.

I better get packing!

SOME DARLING CUPCAKE IDEAS

I went to my Cake Club's meeting this weekend and we had some really nice demos. I thought I would show you the cupcake ideas we learned. I really loved them and I'm sure you will too.


Isn't this a wonderful idea for a bridal shower! You could make the dress to match the colors and style of the bridal parties dresses.

I also loved the idea of putting them on candle holders to serve them. Makes them even more special looking.

This is the type of pan used. But you could use any type you have really.

Here is one that was baked in more of an oval pan.

To make the top part you just pour melted white chocolate into a dress form sucker mold. You can find these on line if you Google dress form candy mold.

You stick the chocolate into the cupcake and then start to decorate your dress with fondant or you could even use buttercream icing.

Make ruffles and start at the bottom and work your up to the top. There is a ruffle cutter you can purchase to use with your fondant. There are also special ruffle tips you can buy to use with your buttercream icing.

The top can be made how you like. Give the dress a halter top, make it strapless or give it sleeves. Be creative and make it to match the bridesmaid's dresses.

I just love this idea. Decorate your cupcakes to look like they are flowers and then put them in a basket to present them in. Looks like a wonderful bouquet of flowers!

Or you can staple 5 oz Dixie cups together to make a cupcake bouquet. Do not bake in the Dixie cups. Just put baked cupcakes in them.

They now have luster dust spray colors. They look much better then this photo shows. It gives the icing a pearl like color to the cupcakes. They come in many colors.

Add a few cupcake picks to your bouquet and a banner and you are set to go. Put a ruffle around the bottom if you want to finish it off.

Everyone loves cupcakes and these are few new ways you can used them not only as your dessert but also as your table center pieces.

I'll show you how to do a Topsy Turvy cake tomorrow.

Sadly my ghost hunting tour didn't pan out. My sister, Maureen and I went and waited for about 45 mins but no one showed up. I'm sure we were in the right meeting spot.

Since no one showed up we were going to go to the park the group was going to go to. We thought we would conduct our own investigation. However, the park had a fence around the whole place with signs saying to KEEP OUT ~ DO NOT ENTER and other signs saying it wasn't going to be open until Aug 2009.

I'm not sure what happened as I have not heard back from the group leader.

The park we were going to go to is said to be haunted because a mother had killed her son there. I'm not sure if it's the son or the mother that is said to have been seen there.

Oh well, maybe next time!

TGIF

I'm so happy it's finally Friday! Normally, I don't care if it's the weekend or not. In fact, since I don't work, I usually enjoy the week days better as things are not so crowded.

But this week has been full of bathroom remodeling. That of course means, I have to get up early. There is loud noise all day. Hammering, sawing, doors slamming shut, dogs barking and yelling down the hall.

There really isn't much to show as far as pictures of the bathroom as most of the things they have been working on is electrical, plumbing and putting up the walls.

The tile is going in on Monday and then the bead board and paint. I can't wait to see it all come together.

Now it's nice and quiet as the workers have packed up and are gone until Monday morning.

I'm looking forward to a nice fun and relaxing weekend. It's going to start with this yummy Red Velvet cake I'm showing you.

I got it from Let Them Eat Cake in Costa Mesa. Their cakes are always so pretty. This one is wrapped in white chocolate and has a pretty little pink rose and leaf on it.

I'll enjoy it this evening as I watch some TV shows we have on the DVR waiting for us.

Tomorrow I'm going to go to a meeting held by the Cake Club I belong to. It will be filled with demos, ideas and laughs and lots of fun.

Then at night I will go to a Ghost Hunting in San Juan Capistrano.

I'll be sure to tell you about both of them.

GOOD BYE ED, FARRAH AND MICHAEL

The news of Michael Jackson's death came as a shock. I think he was one of the least likely people I thought would be dying this year.

How sad for his three children. I wonder where they will live? Who will take care of them?

Michael Jackson did a lot of strange things in his life but he also did a lot of good. He was one of the biggest stars in history. Even if you didn't care for his music you would know who he was.

He was all set to do a 3 year world tour. Trying hard to get his good name back and all the troubles of the past put behind him. Now that will never happen.

My heart goes out to his family and friends.

When I was growing up I never missed Charlie's Angels. I loved that show. It was a show that showed young women being strong, smart and able to take care things that used to be done only by a man before.

Farrah Fawcett was one of my favorite angels. Her long blond hair was every girls dream!

When I heard she had cancer I was sad and held out high hopes that she would recover. Then I saw her special on TV and knew in my heart her fight was almost over. She was not going to win this one.

So hearing of her passing was not a shock but it still saddened me. I feel bad that her one and only son is in jail and was not able to be their with her in her dying days. I do hope they let him go to her funeral.

Again, my thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends.


When I heard Ed McMahon died I also felt bad. While I wasn't expecting him to die it wasn't a real shock as he was older and had health problems in the past.

I always like Ed McMahon and used to watch him on the Tonight Show. He seemed like a nice guy.

I don't know how many children he had or if he was married still or not. But I do know he has family and my heart aches for them.

They say Hollywood Stars always die in threes. In this case that seems like it's a true statement. I sure hope no one else dies in the near future.

Good bye Ed, Farrah and Michael. You will all be missed.

IT'S FINALLY STARTED

I have been super busy picking out everything for our bathroom remodels. There are so many little details, that you don't even think about, that has to be decided.

We are having both bathrooms done. Yet each one is completely different then the other one.

The first one we are having done is going to be in a vintage 1930's style. It's going to be white, black and pale blue.


This is a photo of the first bathroom. We hated everything about it so we decided to gut it and start fresh.

This bathroom has carpet in there. YUCK! Plus an ugly vanity with a faux marble top.

The lighting is actually fluorescent lighting and there is this ugly vent in the middle of the ceiling that is for the a/c and heat. We thought it never worked but it turned out it was just shut off.

This door goes to the side of the house. It's a strange size and very hard to find another one that will fit in there. But anything has to be better then this.

Today was the first day they started. They got everything taken out. Good bye ugly bathroom!

Thank goodness that ugly light is gone for good. As well as that vent.

They put all new plumbing in. Not because it needed it but because I wanted a medicine cabinet that is installed into the wall so they had to move the plumbing around.

No more carpet. Under the carpet was old tile that also had to be removed.

It was a long, loud day today and things will be starting up again bright and early in the morning.

If you have never had a room remodeled, then be sure to come back to see how things progress day by day. That way you can decide if you really want to go through it before you do.

Our 2ND bathroom is going to be more modern with a spa feel to it. Since I'm pretty much finished up on shopping for the vintage inspired bathroom I'm going to start shopping for the other one.

It's a lot of hard work and a long time to get everything done but I know it will be worth it in the end.

BIRD NEST BABY SHOWER

Finally the baby shower has come and gone. All that planning and shopping paid off as everything came out nice and the mommy was very happy.

Above is the invitation, with all personal info scratched out.

I got the invitation, water bottle labels, banner and picks used in the sandwiches from Etsy. I ordered them from Barbara. She was so helpful and designed these just for me to use.



This is not a good picture at all but the banner says WELCOME TO THE NEST. There are little blue birds on both ends that match the invitation.

It was really cute and went home with the mommy at the end of the shower.

The table was set with blue and white polka dot plates and the napkin rings were made to match the invitation also. The little bird was in the center of each napkin ring holder.

A little nest with blue Jordan almonds were on each place setting. Not only did it go with the bird/nest theme but it also kept the plates from blowing away.

I made the place cards from a kit I ordered from A Cottage Industry.

There wasn't really much room on the tables to decorate. I had purchased lots of things I didn't even use.

There was room for a bird house and some bird salt and pepper shakers as well as another little decorated nest on this table.

The other table had a bird candle holder but I put a little nest with Jordan almonds in there, tiny blue bird salt and pepper shakers and a little floral arrangement with a nest and egg in it.

I was surprised that most people actually ate their Jordan almonds. I thought perhaps they would have been left behind but I was happy to see they weren't.

No one took their nest home even though they were told they could. That's OK though as I can always use them for another party now.

I loved the water bottle labels. They had a picture of the blue bird on the invitation and it said Welcome to the Nest Little One.

We had a hard time finding water bottles to use these on but in the end they came out OK.

The drink table was also decorated with a tiny bird holding down napkins from blowing away and the little white birds holding a vintage baby picture. Also there was a big nest on the table but I didn't get a picture showing that

In the morning as we were setting up it was actually raining. We were in shock! What were we going to do

Well thanks to the lady who let us use her back yard to have the party, because her son knew people who worked for the police department and they let us use their pop up tarps to keep the rain off us.

Even though it stopped raining before the actual shower the tarp allowed us to get out there to decorate while it was still raining. We only had one hour to get everything put together as we kept waiting for the rain to stop.

This isn't a good picture at all but I just had to show you that I finally got the drink dispenser I had been dreaming about. I had seen them on several blogs and was on the hunt for one. I was so happy when I found one

It held pink lemonade which is what almost everyone drank.

We had lots of food. There was something for everyone. Some of the things we had was cheese and crackers, chips and dip, veggie trays, grilled asparagus, candy, pickles, olives, fruit salad, macaroni salad, pasta salad.

I tried to use some items to go with the theme on the food table as well. Like this little bird bath that held blue M&Ms.

This bird held artichoke/spinach dip. I think this bird was really meant to hold a plant but us bloggers know we don't have to always use things as they were meant to be.

Vintage baby pictures were also used on the food table.

Oh yes! We had sandwiches too. There was ham & cheese, Turkey and cheese, chicken salad, roast beef and veggie sandwiches. Like I said, we wanted to have something for everyone.

I used the cupcake picks in the sandwiches since I didn't use them in the cupcakes. They were really cute too.

That is the mommy to be eating. Next to her is Trinity. She just got her braces on. Poor thing couldn't eat the sandwiches

She was a very big help along with the little girl who lived where the party was. They both helped give everyone drinks, picked up the trash, handed out the party favors and served the cupcakes.

They enjoyed being there with all the grown ups and had fun helping out.

This is the mommy with some of her gifts.

After we all ate and played games, the mommy opened up her gifts.

We played three games and the winners all got presents that were bird theme. One was a bird house, one was wind chimes with a bird house on top and the last one was a bird decoration to be used in the garden.

We thought it was a fun idea to have the gifts match the theme.

I showed you the cupcakes yesterday but I wanted to show you the cupcake server I found at TJ Maxx. I thought it was so pretty with all the crystals hanging from it. I also thought it looked sort of like a tree and with the cupcakes looking like little nests they were darling served on this.

I have to share something about the cupcakes that made my day. I was standing around the corner and heard the guest talking about the cupcakes. Of course I couldn't wait to hear what they were saying.

One said they were the cutest cupcakes she had ever seen. One said they were the first cupcakes that taste as good as they looked and one said her favorite cupcakes have always been Sprinkles until she tasted these

Wow! That made me feel so good. I know people always say nice things when they know you made them but these remarks were made when they didn't know I could hear.

I forgot to take pictures of our party favors but I got these darling little soaps that looked like an egg in a nest. Only the ones I had were blue to go with the theme.

Even the little box they came in were cute. They were white with blue and there were little birds, nests and flowers on them.

I think everyone had a nice time and the Mommy was happy. So all the hard work and long days planning was all worth it.