CALLING ALL CUPCAKE LOVERS HERE IS A GIVEAWAY!

Do you love cupcakes? Well, that is a silly question. Of course you do. Everyone loves cupcakes.

I found a great Etsy store that sells everything the cupcake lover would want and more!

It is called Cupcake Social. I went crazy when I found this shop. I think you will too.


One thing that is not really cupcake related but great for the holidays and just for great thank you or hostess gifts, are these baking pans in pretty prints and colors.

Wouldn't you love to bake your next batch of bread in mini loafs. What could be more lovely then a gift of home baked banana nut bread. Or mini carrot cakes? YUM!

There are cupcake toppers galore. Don't you just adore these cute ballerinas?

A great way to pretty up your cupcakes with very little time is to add sprinkles or colored sugars. Well, look no further, Cupcake Social has what you need!

Fun candles can also be found here. I love these rainbow ones.

Darling homemade toppers are also featured at Cupcake Social. You can even get custom ones made for you.

If you are like most people, you either don't know how to make cute little edible figures or you don't want to take the time.

No worry, purchase them at Cupcake Social! There are many to choose from.

She also has some really cute cookie cutters! I love this under the sea set. They would make the best looking cookies for a summer pool party!

But, I must admit, my favorite thing offered at Cupcake Social are the cupcake liners.

These yellow ones are so bright and cheerful that I had to get some for myself. I can't wait to make some lemon cupcakes in them!

These polka dot ones are another set I had to purchase. There is something about polka dots that make me smile.

I also had to get these sweet little mini cherry cupcake liners. I'm planning a Cherry Theme party for Trinity in a few weeks and thought these would be great for that party.

My #1 favorite item at Cupcake Social are these beautiful cupcake liners. They are so colorful and romantic looking.

Flowers and butterflies! What says Spring more then that?

So do I have you dreaming of having your stash of these great items? Well, then read on, because it could be your lucky day.

Jen at Cupcakes Social has offered to hold a giveaway on my blog!

She is giving away some of these lovely edible Tuplips.

Also, a set of these great gingham cupcake liners.

All you have to do to be entered is to go to Cupcake Social and take a look around. Then come back here and let me know what your favorite item was.

For a 2ND chance, become a follower on my blog. Leave another message letting me know you are a follower and you will be entered for a 2ND chance.

For a 3Rd chance, post about this giveaway on your blog or side bar. Be sure to leave another post here so I'll know you did this.

For a 4TH chance make a purchase at Cupcake Social and then leave another post letting me know you did.

So there you have it! Four ways to win. On April 6th I will enter all the entries into the Random Number Picker and then post here who won. Jen will mail your package directly to you.

Good Luck!

A VERY ACTIVE PARANORMAL NIGHT!

OK, OK! I'm finally posting about my Paranormal investigation. I've had so many emails telling me to hurry up and post. I really had no idea how many of you were that interested in this.


So, first met up with a few friends and we carpooled to Los Angeles to a deli that has been around since 1931. It's called Canters and has been a very popular spot with lots of movie stars and big wigs in Los Angeles.

There we met up with several more investigators for dinner. The food was very good but to be honest, I had never even heard of the place before. Though I was the only one who hadn't.

I didn't see any famous people there but I did meet a lot of new friends.


I know a lot of people think that any one who investigates the paranormal is a strange wacko. But, the truth is most of the people I've met are really just down to earth normal people.

Oh wait, maybe I'm a strange wacko and don't know it so maybe we are all a bit strange.

After eating we drove to the Linda Vista Hospital that we were going to investigate. I was very surprised to see so many people there.

Most of the times it's a small group that goes to investigate. There were over 40 people there waiting to get in.

It worked out fine though because the hospital is so big and there is also a 2ND building that was the mental ward.

We split up in smaller groups and only once did I see anyone from the other groups inside where we were.

Linda Vista Hospital has been abandoned since 1991. It used to be a great hospital when it was first built but as the years went on and the area surrounding it became run down, the hospital started to lack in care.

This part of Los Angeles is a bad part of town. It is known to be in the heart of gang land. Lots of shootings, stabbings and attempted murder happens in this area and has for many years.

So the hospital became to busy, the quality of Doctors and staff became poor and many people died because of this.

The hospital closed down due to many unexplained deaths happening here and to many lawsuits.

It is said to be one of the most haunted places in So. California.

There was a film crew there finishing up when we first got there. So we had to wait outside until they were finished.

This hospital has been used for several films and TV shows. This night they were filming some horror film.

I decided to walk around outside and take some photos from the outside.

No those are not tons of orbs! It was really dusty out. The dirt was being tossed around from everyone walking and a breeze that was blowing.

As I was walking around I did get a feeling like someone was watching me and the girl I was with. She felt the same thing.

We then looked up and it looked like a dark shadow of person was standing in the window.

This was over at the Mental Ward where it was still locked up and no one had been allowed inside yet.

The film crew was over at the main hospital area.

All the lights were off in the building that was the Mental Ward. We walked around and tried to open all the doors. We could not find a way in.

Did we see a former patient watching us? We don't know. It could have just been us excited about our up coming investigation.

It is super dark outside the hospital. If not for my flash you wouldn't be able to see anything. Again, lots of what appears to dust showed up in this area. Though some would like to think these are all orbs of all the Spirits around.

They could be, but I don't think they are. I'm a big skeptic and if there is any doubt I will lean the way of the explanation. Some will always believe everything is Paranormal. I have no real way of knowing.

It was finally time for our investigation to start. The film crew had all cleared out and left the parking lot.

We entered through the side door. It was right where the old Physical Therapy department used to be.

At this point, I was the first person in our group to reach this area. No one was ahead of me. This is important because if you blow up this picture, down the hall you can see the figure of a woman. It looks like she is walking towards the door into another room.

I can promise you, no one was there! No one saw this person when were there. Yet she is on the photo.

Click on the photo and see if you can see her.

This was one of the patient rooms. The rooms were much smaller then they are today and had two beds per room.

There was a sink and toilet in each room but showers had to be taken down the hall.

We came across this room. It appeared to be the morgue. Some of the old equipment was still there. Though it was odd that it was so clean.

I did have to laugh at this point because there were some people who kept saying "they felt Spirits here" that they felt like people who have died were still hanging out in this room.

Again, being a skeptic I don't tend to believe when others say this. It seems like some (a few) are people who so badly want to known for being able to detect Spirits that they "feel" or "hear" spirits all the time.

I walked across the room to the area in this picture. The refrigerators for the dead bodies. One person held their hand up to the doors and kept going on and on about someone who had been placed in there was sad and felt trapped.

So, I went to open the doors. Guess what? There was only a wall behind it. These were not real! This room is one used for filming awhile ago.

Guess that person who felt something only felt foolish here. I didn't say anything to them, but I just turned and walked away.

Now I'm not trying to make fun of anyone (well maybe a little) but there are some people who are just looking for stories to tell people and not really into investigating the paranormal. I think those type of people give the rest of us a bad name.

The hospital was eerie inside though. It was pitch black and without our flash lights we wouldn't be able to see a thing.

Some places appeared to look like the staff just walked away. There were still medical items, patient files and equipment left behind.

The patient files were real. Not some prop from filming. I looked through them and read some. They were back from the early 1970's. It was odd that they got left behind. Were they left in hopes they would get lost? Were these files of patients that died and no longer were needed for later?

I don't know.

I wanted to take them home and do some research on the names but was talked out of taking them with me. So they remained behind.

This was where the Dr. would change their clothes and keep their belongings until they went home.

This room was really creepy! Though we know vandals did this, it was still a strange place to be.

It almost had the feeling of evil in there. I left this room and didn't go back.

Walking through the long halls were a bit scary. You really could not see a thing except what your flash light was shinning on.

At times several people would hear walking and everyone would stop and get super quiet. If several people heard the same thing then we would stop in those area and do an EVP session.

That is where everyone turns off their lights and it's pitch black, recorders are on and questions are asked. It is believed that Spirits can then use every one's energy to make noise or talk so the recorders can pick up their voices. Sometimes they can be heard in real time but other times only the recorder picks up the sounds.

We also used K2 meters which measures electrical fields and it's said that a spirit that walks by them will picked up and the lights will flash from green to red. Some spirits can minupulate the K2 meter and be able to make them light up when they want to. That way you can ask questions and the spirit can communicate with us.

We were only the 2ND Paranormal group to get to go into the Mental Ward building. It is said that this area is really haunted and room 323 is where a mean spirit lives. They don't like to be bothered and have pushed people out. One girl went in and felt like she was attacked. When she came out she had her friend look at her back and it was all scratched up and bleeding like she was attacked.

I was excited about going in this room. Though several in my group wouldn't go in. They just hung out in the hall.

There is a few items of furniture still in the room. There is a bathroom with a bath tub that connects the room to the next door.

Sadly we didn't hear, feel or see anything in there.

This is the bathroom that connects the room.

We did do an EVP session out in the hall. It was super strange because we heard what sounded like two people screaming. Not the sort of screaming you would make when you were scared but more the screaming that you would hear from Patients that were not of sound mind.

The screams were not by the room 323 but down the hall. Down near other patient rooms were.

We played back the recordings and you could hear the screams on the recording also. We walked down the hall to where we heard the screams and no matter how far we walked the screams would be further down the hall or a different hall. It was as if the sound was traveling as we walked towards it.

I have to say it was one of the most creepy moments of the night.

Sadly our time in the Mental Ward was up and we had to switch back to the Hospital so another group could have their turn inside there.

We don't know if they heard, saw or felt anything in there or even if they went up to the 3rd floor.

Everyone was going to review everything at home then post it on a board so everyone else could see what they caught.

Back at the hospital we went down the basement area. There was some old hospital supplies there.

This baby crib/bed made me feel sad.

The old incubator also made me feel sad. I wondered how many babies died in there. I don't like to think about children being sick.

This was another room on the 1st floor that made me laugh. Those same people who "felt" something in the fake morgue felt something in this room. They claimed that they were being told that the doctors abused patient in this room.

The fact that this room was again, clean was my first hint that it too was most like a room that filming takes place in.

So I went to open up drawers and things and once again found it was a prop
room.

Now, that being said, I don't know what this room or the fake morgue was used for before so while I shrug at what those who claim to "feel and hear" things, I really can't say for sure they are making it up because I have no way to prove it one way or the other.

Yet, I can't say I believe them because they seem to sense these things in the rooms that look more like rooms where something happened. Plus, like I said, I'm a skeptic.

This is one of the old cafeteria rooms. While I didn't feel anything paranormal was in this room I still liked it. I loved looking at the old things. Then thinking about what it was like when this hospital was up and running.

This is one of the old elevators. It was in the back of the hospital that lead to the underground tunnel that went to the mental ward.

I couldn't help but wonder if they transported mental patients via this way so others didn't see them or hear them screaming and crying.

I love the old push buttons. I pictured patients running and pushing these buttons in an attempt to run away from the Dr. locking them up.

Yes, I have an active mind. I picture stories about old things at thrift stores and antique stores too.

Not all the graffiti was ugly. This took some time to draw. It was creepy thought because as we walked into the room and the flashlights hit it had a glow to it.

This was one of many areas that was either a check in room or a nurses station. I couldn't help but wonder how many people "Checked in but never checked out".

In one of the rooms down in the basement we came across this old gurney. It had what appeared to be old dried blood on it. Very gross.

This part of the building had a very Art Deco look to it. We were getting ready to walk into another area and I had a feeling someone was watching us from a different hall. So I turned around and just clicked my camera.

A few orbs showed up. I don't think these were dust because no one had been walking down this area. We actually came down a different hall and there was no breeze from outside or air conditioning.

However, it could be from dust. Due to the strange feeling I had and the fact that inside hardly any type of orbs showed up on any one's pictures I do believe it's not dust.

Though some people feel all orbs are from dust.

This was one of the old surgery rooms. This is the room where it has been reported by many people, that a little girl can be heard humming and crying. Also, a Dr. is said to have been seen going in and out of this room several times.

We did an EVP and K2 session in here. This by far was a high light of the night. All the flash lights were turned off, the room was black. Everyone was very quiet and we lined up against the walls. The two K2 meters were put in the center of the room so no one was near them.

We started to ask questions. First nothing. Then we all heard what sounded like a man walking outside the room in the hall. I say it was a man because it was the sound a mans shoes would make and heaver sounding then the sound a woman makes when walking.

Some people got freaked out and turned on the flash lights. We all talked about hearing the sounds and then played back one persons recording. You could hear the sound clearly.

So we quieted down, turn off the flash lights again and started to ask questions again.

Our group leader yelled out HELLO! Like he was yelling to someone out in the hall. That is when we heard "Hello" back.

People started to talk with excitement and someone turned his flash light on and walked down the hall to see if anyone was there. No one was around.

Our leader went on the walkie talkie and checked with the other groups. No one was even on the same floor as us. The closest group was three floors below us. The other groups were in the other building.

So we continued our EVP session and we soon heard walking coming in the room. A few people started to talk with excitement but was told to be quiet by our leader and then he asked who ever came in the room to go to the K2 meters and touch them so they would flash.

Right then the K2 meters started flashing from green to red. We then asked if more then one person was in the room with us. The 2ND K2 started to flash at the same time the other was flashing.

We asked a few questions and as if answering the questions the lights on the K2 would flash out the answer. The questions were yes and no answers. If the answer was no we asked them not to flash the meters. If it were a yes then to make them flicker.

Now I can not say for sure if these K2 meters really work but I can tell you that they flashed at the right times for them to be answers.

We would ask questions like "Are you a man?" and there would be no answer. So it was followed up with "So you are girl?" and it would flash. We would wait and then ask again "A girl right?" and it would flash. But, no flash when asked "so you are not a man, correct?".

It was so freaky! This went on for several minutes.

It turned out that it was little girl who had died during surgery and another lady who roams the hospital searching for her child.

The lady left shortly after she discovered her child was not in the room with us. The little girl stayed.

One person said "I love you" to her and more then 3/4 of the people in the room heard the voice of a little girl reply "I love you too". It was very faint but yet very clear.

Right as that happened the walkie talkie came on saying our time was up and we had to leave for the night.

No one wanted to leave but we had to. So everyone left the room. I started to let everyone go by me because I wanted to take some pictures of the room before we left. My friends, Claudia and Richard also stayed behind with me.

We clicked our photos and then went to leave.

As we were walking down the hall we were talking about how exciting it was and then we heard foot steps. We quickly stopped. I turned around and clicked this photo. You can see two orbs following us.

When we stopped the sounds stopped. Then we started to walk again and we heard them again.

We stopped again and held our flash lights up to see if anyone was there. No one was seen.

Claudia then turned on her K2 meter and it started to go off. She asked if the little girl was with us still and it went off as if saying yes. It stopped. She asked if the little girl wanted us to stay and it flashed again as if to say YES.

She told it that we had to go and she had to stay there. No flash. She asked if the little girl understood and it flashed again.

She repeated herself and said "Do you understand you have to stay here" and it flashed.

Then we heard loud foot steps again coming from the other direction. We held up our flash lights expecting to see someone coming to get us but no one was there.

The foot steps sounded like they were walking down the hall that crossed in front of us.

Notice in this photo that there is an orb down low as to where a child would be.

Then it was as if all the activity stopped. No more sounds, no hits on the K2 and no strange feelings.

So we left the building and met up with everyone inside.

I have to tell you this was by far the most activity I've ever experienced. While I didn't seem to catch to much in pictures I know what I heard and felt inside. It can not be explained.

Even as skeptic as I am, I have to say that I truly believe that Linda Vista Hospital is really haunted.

Sadly we were told that they are not going to allow Paranormal investigations there any more. That the owner may sell it as he is losing to much money every year and just wants to be rid of it.

I don't expect everyone to believe my story. Nor do I care if people do believe it. I know what happened that night. I know it can't be explained and I know I believe it.

I'm very very happy I got to go there before it closed down for good. It was a night I will never forget.