Making & Baking

I am always wishing I had more time to do things that I love.I love love love to bake. LOVE it. I used to have cupcake Mondays and those were the best days. I love the baking the cupcakes until they rise perfectly. I love mixing up the perfect flavor of frosting, the perfect color, and the perfect consistency. I love squeezing it onto the cupcakes in the perfect shape and adding the perfect decorations. I love the creating more than I love the eating. Which is part of why I don't bake as much anymore. 

Last weekend made me remember how much I miss my creative side. Helping to create a wonderful "Love in Bloom" bridal shower for one of the greatest women in my life allowed me to reconnect with my creative side. I got to bake my favorite cupcakes Margarita with extra tequila (obviously) and I got to work on perfecting my red velvet cupcakes, which if you watch Cupcake Wars you know is a staple for any baker (mine are getting so perfect! they rise to the exact shape cupcake dreams are made of!!) I also got to craft! Yay! I got to create 2 flag banners out of burlap and lace. 

What I'm getting at here isn't just bragging about how amazing I am. I just realized in the past week that I'm so much happier when I get to do things like baking and crafting. I realized that it's super important for people to get to do things that they love. Even if you do love your work I strongly believe in having an outlet and for me that's baking.

I'm going to take this opportunity to promise myself that I am going to make or bake something every week. So, if you are feeling in the mood for some cupcakes, you know who to come to.

If you aren't feeling happy, try to find something that makes you happy, something that you can put yourself into, and an outlet for you. 

The #Girlboss Life

If you know me, you know I'm a reader. I recently finished a book called #GIRLBOSS. It's pretty much about what it sounds like, a book about a powerful career woman. It was pretty great. Definitely not super well written, but some awesome points. This isn't a book review, because I don't like to write them and if I did my Goodreads account would be way more complete. I mostly bring it up because I am currently trying to move up in the field that I work in (Human Resources) and Sophia Amoruso (author of #GIRLBOSS and founder and CEO of Nasty Gal) has a great perspective on what it takes to be successful in one's career. She talks a lot about customer service, going after what you want, and trusting your instincts. It was just real.

I read it hoping for how to be a strong female in the work place and to overcome what brings most women down. Which honestly isn't always men. Women can be worst to women than me are. While some men feel superior to women in the work place other women see women as competition. If you feel superior to someone, you don't need to do anything to make them fail. If you feel like someone is in direct competition to you then you do what you can to bring them down. Do you see what I'm saying? Ladies, we've got to stop seeing each other as competition. We have to help each other succeed. It's like on Mean Girls, when LiLo says, "Calling somebody else fat won't make you any skinnier. Calling someone stupid doesn't make you any smarter. And ruining Regina George's life definitely didn't make me any happier. All you can do in life is try to solve the problem in front of you." I mean forgetting the Regina George thing (although I hear her hair's insured for $10,000) how real is this? Instead of trying to bring other people down, how about you fix the problem you are actually having? Mad that someone got a promotion instead of you? Work harder, tell people you want it, and change you.

Word

Okay crazy girl rant is over. Smiles and love see you next time!

Sunshine, Brunch, and Memories

 

What do you get when you have a weekend full of water rides, brunch, gardens, and softball? The best weekend of the summer!
First our weekend started with an incredible trip to Water World. I LOVE water parks. I have some excellent tips for anyone who wants to go to a water park, you're welcome:




-Sunscreen (duh)

-Water (another duh)

-Sealable waterproof pouch, you can get a smaller one of these for about $10 and it can fit in a boyfriend's trunks pocket making anything you may need available wherever you are.

-Hit the wave pool early in the day, there are some who say to do this at the end because it will make you tired. Personally, I would prefer to be tired than floating in used Band-Aids, hair clumps, and other stuff.

-Don't worry about how you look in your swimsuit, I know that this is not easy for anyone, but if people are looking at others and judging how they look they are wasting their time and happiness at the waterpark.

-Wear your hair in a high bun. This will allow for loose flowy waves for your post-park margaritas.

 

This morning we woke up early again (exhausted after our water-full day) and headed to brunch (literally the best meal in the universe.) We headed to Jelly with our fam-bam. I'm a benedict fan, and loved their hollandaise sauce. I will say I thought the eggs were a bit vinegary and the potatoes bland, but it was so great anyway and I loved the coffee.

Then we headed to Botanic Gardens for some mind-blowing glass art.



My favorite girl, she just gets me.



True love.



When your fiancé is a fancy photographing dude you get cool pensive shots.

             



My handsome fiancé.





It was an incredible afternoon with one of our favorite couples in the world. Gorgeous plants, art, and friends, perfect afternoon.

Finally we finished the day with a softball win! Hello playoffs!

 

Smiles and love! See you next time.