Wordless Wednesday.

Dog Days of Fall & Race for the Cure

I am totally in love with my dog. She's the most lovable, sweetest, funniest pup I know. Recently we took her to the park, had a picnic, and she ate ice cream. What a great life for a dog.

                           Here's a cute snapshot I took of her at home.

So enough doggie photos. Earlier this month I did the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on Daniel Island. It was a 5k and it was through a pleasantville like neighborhood on Daniel Island. The race raised money for Breast Cancer Research. Hopefully one day we can all celebrate the end of cancer. I did the race with a bestie of mine, Samantha, and some co-workers.

Mile 1!

After 3.10 miles here's us at the finish line!

It felt great to walk for a wonderful cause and to see so many survivors out there walking as well. I'm working on my own personal fitness and health goals so to combine fitness and  fun together was just what I needed to stay on track.

Bits of Truth.

My Baking Addiction

So..I've dabbled a little in some cake baking and creating you could say. I've always wanted to be a 'Cake Lady', you know, that awesome lady that bakes amazing cakes for birthdays, weddings, baby showers and more. Her house always seems to smell like vanilla and she can whip up a 3 tier cake in a few short hours. Well, I had the vanilla part down, but it's hard work to make that 3 tier cake.

My cake recipe (after some trial and error) actually taste pretty damn good. My favorite recipe is a yummy vanilla cake made with flour, sugar, eggs, milk, butter, veggie oil, almond and vanilla extract, and sour cream. The amounts ,of course, are a secret but my frosting recipe is pretty easy.

Buttercream Icing

-2 sticks of unsalted sweet cream butter

- 2-3 cups of powdered sugar

-2-4 tablespoons of milk

-vanilla and almond extract

(whip in mixer)

Here are some of my cakes, keep in mind I'm no expert. :-)

I've actually recently retired my apron since school began. 40+ hours a week spent working and then studying really take a toll on me. I love making cakes for people but I have to realize I can't do it all. So I only bake when I want to. I need more time to be me and just relax when time allows. Also, I need to lose some serious LBs so tasting frosting just isn't in my weight loss program. :-)

Oxoxo,
G

Our Wedding (part 1)

We ditched the local wedding scene and got married Caribbean style! We had a tropical destination wedding with 30 close friends and family. We cruised through the Caribbean and visited Nassau, St. Martin, and St. Thomas. On the third day of our weddingmoon we tied the knot!

The Emerald Beach Resort hosted our wedding and lunch reception. They made our vision come to life and it just took out breath away! That evening we enjoyed dinner on the ship followed by dancing and more celebrating. The views of St. Thomas at night are even prettier than during the day. I just love these photos!

Fave Thing Tuesday. Wait, it's Friday.

I missed two Fave Thing Tuesdays! So here are my two new favorite things.

#1. Peanut Butter and Oatmeal.

(fyi-this isn't my photo, but it's so adorable. yes, food can be adorable.)

Sounds crazy? Yeah, I know. But it's totally delicious, creamy, protein filled, and keeps you full much longer than plain oatmeal. I used a low cal/fat cinnamon oatmeal and added a small tablespoon of natural crunchy peanut butter. This covers so many cravings, and more importantly, helps fuel me up for the day without causing a sugar crash an hour later.

#2. Gift Cards and Purses!

We still have some gifts left over from Christmas, and it's July! On top of those, I was spoiled for my birthday and showered with more gift cards and two new Coach purses. Jason and I will surely be using our restaurant gift cards soon. Tomorrow we plan on going to Hominy Grill for breakfast and then doing some real estate/ apartment hunting (we might be moving this Fall).

Lola was checking them out. Girl's got taste.

The pink is a Daisy Tote, cute for summer.

Weekend Recap & Vampires.

Quick weekend recap:
Friday was my actual birthday and my momma asked me where I'd like to have dinner. After some thinking and craving, I decided on Wasabi's for some good ole Hibachi filet mignon, and of course, sour apple Saki. After dinner I considered getting a tattoo BUT it wasn't the right time. One day I'll own permanent ink, but Friday wasn't the day.

Saturday & Sunday Jason and I enjoyed a much needed simple weekend. We slept in, had some R&R by the pool, and took Lola to a vet appointment. Lola freaks out every time she walks into PetSmart. Her car ride was the height of her excitement. Look how cute she looks. And yes, she's finally getting a summer cut next week, so bye bye cute locks.

  It's just to darn hot for all that adorable white fluff. Speaking of hot, who's into True Blood?! We are totally True Blood fanatics. We join some friends every Sunday for TB pre-show shenanigans but this year we got HBO so we might have our own private TB parties. I was watching some of Season 3 and realized how much I totally miss the spunky writing, "His cheese done fell right off his cracker." <-- Hilarius!!

Maltipoo puppy Lola playing

I had to share this phone video I took of my crazy little dog. Apparently this is ca,lled nesting. The only way she'd look up and stop was if I said 'treat'. She did finally get a treat after all my bluffs.

Early Birthday Bash!

What a weekend. My weekend was filled with girlfriends, jello shots, sangria, cupcakes, and lots of photos. My birthday is June 17th and my friend Dawn also shares that fabulous date. We planned an early birthday cocktail party at my place to get the night started with our lovely sexy girlfriends. I tried my best to behave and count points but that really didn't happen. I enjoyed the food and jello shots, I think everyone else did too.

                                                   Birthday girls!!!

My bestie Sondra baked up some perfectly pink cupcakes. Can't have a birthday without cake. Right?

We took lots of photos..



It was a phenomenal birthday celebration and it couldn't have happened without all my crazy, fun, amazing friends. AND I'm so lucky because more festivities are on this week's schedule.

Fave Thing Tuesday: Katy Perry

FaVe Thing Tuesday! I know most bloggers do something like this on Wednesday, but I'm into Tuesdays ;) My fave thing this Tuesday has been my favorite since I first heard her on the radio. I literally bought her CD and fell in love. I adore Katy Perry. I think she's talented, gorgeous, original, spunky, and absolutely fantastic. I'm all things Katy Perry lover and got a chance to see her in concert, the venue was small enough I was 3 people away from the stage (her) and was able to shout out an I LOVE U, and luckily got an I LOVE U back (lol)! Anyhow, I've loved this song for a while now but it finally is a single. The video to  Last Friday Night,T.G.I.F is my FAVE THING THIS TUESDAY! ENJOY!

Cupcake, why o why.

When you work at an office that refers patients you tend to get surprised by other offices with sweet treats. I love sweets, so it makes it difficult to turn down a delicious cupcake. Today our office was treated to a variety of cupcakes from Cupcake bakery.

 I personally don't love their cupcakes, something in them makes my tummy hurt, but I always have to try one (since I've taking on cake baking, you know, to compare notes, wink wink).  I was proud though, I just tried 1/4 of a cupcake, the Salted Caramel cupcake, to see what the hype was about.

First, you taste the sweet cream cheesy icing with caramel flavoring and then you get a slight salty hint, then comes the chocolate cake itself. Not bad, but 1/4 was plenty.

After nibbling on a cupcake, I felt guilty and knew the gym would make me feel better. Working out is a great way to release stress but sometimes the idea of working out after a hard day at the office is stressful. I planned on sweating it out but wasn't sure if Jason made it home to take Lola out. His schedule has changed so poor Lola was alone and waiting since early this morning. And since he didn't charge his lovely phone...I headed home. I have to create a workout schedule and stick to it, no matter what! As I say, tomorrow's another day and that means another opportunity to better myself.

Fave Thing Tuesday.

I totally am in love with Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt. I've tried many Greek yogurts and so far this is the best one. Not too sour, great taste, and a whip like texture. It's only 3 WW points and full of awesome protein.

Happy Tuesday!

Aaaand it's Monday.

I had a pretty nice weekend compared to the last one. Jason and I had a big to do list we were trying to accomplish before a little party I'm throwing next weekend. So far, this is what we've managed to scratch off our list.

To-Do List:

* Shampoo Carpets
* Find living room area rug
* Print photos and hang frames
* Clean kitchen from top to bottom.
* Do 4 loads of laundry
* Organize guest bedroom mess
*Find side table
*Clean desk area (aka Jason's man corner)

Yup, have plenty to go. Anyhow, here's our weekend recap. I was overdue for some me-time so I got a pedicure, pink polish please, and it was fabulous. Sunday, Jason and I headed over to Sullivan's Island for our 1st beach trip this season.

He surprised me with a beautiful pink sapphire ring! Happy one year anniversary to me! I am so lucky :)

Hope everyone had a great weekend! I plan on finishing my list this week so my little party goes off with a hitch!

May Recap.

May Recap. 

At the end of April and start of May I went on a little trip to visit my Dad and brother. I went to my old stomping grounds and place of birth, Puerto Rico. The trip was fun but it was definitely a family vacation. No lounging on the beach sipping on fruity frozen cocktails (it actually rained most of the time I was there).  We hit up Old San Juan ,the rainforest, and did a little shopping. 

 Bottles –N- Brushes! I finally did BNB and it was a blast. I can’t wait to do it again. I went with an old high school friend, Elizabeth. It was paint your best friend night aka your pet. We drank wine, ate cheese and crackers, gossiped about our lives, and of course painted our loving pups.

May 11, 2010 is our wedding anniversary. Our first year as Mr. & Mrs. has flown by! Jason and I found a cute loft style apartment we both love, are attempting to decorate it with both our taste,  became doggie parents to our sweet maltipoo Lola, and adjusted to married life pretty well I must say.

 Our wedding was in St. Thomas so we had to leave our delicious wedding cake behind. It was a coconut pound cake with pineapple and coconut butter cream filling and icing. Not only was it beautiful but it tasted amazing. 

 I had Publix recreate our top tier, the best they could, and it came out actually kind of cute.