Accidental Brownie Cupcakes



A few days ago I decided to treat myself to some chocolate cupcakes, as I often do. For some reason, instead of putting in one 1/3 cup of cocoa powder, I put in three 1/3 cups. I didn't realize my mistake at first. I wondered why my batter was really thick, like brownie batter, so I went over the recipe and realized my mistake.
The batter tasted okay unbaked, so I figured the cupcakes would be okay. And they were. They cracked on the top like brownies, which I think looks so cute and delicious. And they taste more like brownies than cupcakes. A little intense, but putting my favorite chocolate glaze on top (which is mostly icing sugar) balanced out the extra cocoa powder in the batter.
I don't know what would happen if you tripled the cocoa powder in other chocolate cake recipes, but you might want to try it and see if you can make yourself some "accidental" brownie cupcakes.




I used the chocolate cupcake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World (and I always add chocolate chips). It's the same recipe I used in this video. Only I didn't screw those ones up.

Short Films

I've found some really great short films on YouTube lately. I'm usually not a fan of short films because they're just too, well, short. I don't feel like a story can be told in just a few minutes. They usually feel incomplete. However, I found these short films intriguing and entertaining, even if only for a short time.

DysEnchanted
A group of fairy tale heroins meet for their weekly group therapy session. Featuring Alexis Bledel and Jim Belushi.


Whatever We Do
An engaged man's party animal best friend comes for a visit and stirs up old issues. Featuring Tim Roth, Robert Downey Jr., Amanda Peet, and Zooey Deschanel. Directed by Kevin Connolly.



Apricot
A man asks his date some personal questions and she remembers through flashbacks. Strange and beautiful.


A Short Love Story
A beautifully animated, cute love story by animator Carlos Lascano.



I'm Here
A robot love story. So sweet and quite funny. Written and directed by Spike Jonze.



Tish's Kitchen: Chocolate Cupcakes

I'm going to start making videos showing how to make yummy treats, called Tish's Kitchen. For my first video, I started with something easy; my favorite chocolate cupcakes with chocolate chips added and finished with a chocolate glaze. It's pretty much my go-to easy baking treat. Definitely satisfies my chocolate craving. This isn't exactly a how-to video. I didn't want to list the exact ingredients and amounts, because the recipe is from the book Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. If you want great cupcake recipes (whether you're vegan or not), you should get the book.

Krista Huot

I recently discovered the art of Krista Huot. I love her painting style that looks so smooth, yet you can see the brush strokes. It's animation meets painting. In fact, her earlier work was digital but she works exclusively with paint now. I love the way she paints the girls with big heads and big eyes. I especially love her pieces inspired by fairy tales, classic stories, mythology, etc. A lot of her earlier pieces are inspired by plants, which I love as well. Basically, I love it all.

This Snow White inspired piece is my favorite.






You can view Krista's full gallery on her website.

Faux Frames

I love glasses. I've said this before, and I'll say it again; I just have a face for glasses. Almost every style of glasses and sunglasses look good on me. I love wearing glasses, but somehow I'm the only one in my family (immediate and extended) that has perfect eyesight and absolutely no need for glasses. So, for now, I just have to fake it with all of these faux frames.

Tortoiseshell

These are my new favorites. They're like the classic nerd frame shape, but smaller and more rectangular, which makes them less ridiculous and more wearable. I just love how they look on me, I wish I could wear them all the time.

Horn-rimmed

I've wanted these for a long time and I was so happy and surprised when I saw Le Chateau still had them. Technically, you can call them horn-rimmed frames, but I like to think of them as 50's nerd glasses. They're just so adorable and retro and ridiculous.

Nerd

These are good old classic nerd frames. I had two of my film school friends use these frames for their nerdy characters in their films. Everyone likes to look like a nerd sometimes.

Giant Grandma

These are sunglasses from Dollarama that I popped the lenses out of. I originally bought them to pop the lenses out and make yarn frames, but when I tried them on they were so adorable and funny I kept them for myself. I did eventually go buy more to make yarn frames, to sell on Etsy. I think they look like giant frames that old ladies wear.

Rectangular

These are my most plain, acceptable frames. They aren't ridiculous in any way. I just wanted to look like I wear glasses all the time.

Granny

These have a great story behind them. Down the street from my high school there was an optometrist with a really cool store. I'm talking bright colors, half a car sticking out of the wall, just totally nutso. Whenever my best friend Kim needed new frames, we would all go with her to help her pick out frames. And, of course, I would try on lots of frames, too. I tried on these silly little granny/Harry Potter frames for a laugh. I thought they were totally cute. The optometrist, Grant, said "You know what? No one is ever going to buy those, they've been here forever and they're totally out of style. You can have them." Score! Eighty dollar frames for free! I had to get the brand name off the one lense with nail polish remover, which make the lenses all blurry (it took off the coating), but I only wear them for a laugh, so they don't need to be nice clean lenses.

Bitch Slap!

The only reason I was interested in watching this incredibly cheesey, overtly sexual movie is because my fellow Runaway Girl, Re, recommended Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and it reminded me of a movie trailer I had seen a long time ago about three slutty girls kicking ass in the desert. I couldn't find or remember the movie for a long time, but I got lucky and saw the DVD in a store and remembered it.

I watched the trailer again and saw that it wasn't just 60's B movie style, but also had some cool comic book-based, green screen movie style as well. That intrigued me a little more. I decided I just had to see it, even it was really bad and cheesey, because it looked like it would be bad in a good way. And it was.

It starts with three scantily clad women and their big boobs torturing their male hostage about where the goods are buried in the desert. Throughout the movie there are flashbacks, each time going further back in time, to explain how they got to this point. Each flashback reveals more of the surprisingly complex storyline. Nothing and no one is really what they appear to be. There's lots of blatant boob and body shots, a lovely scene where the girls throw water all over each other, several bloody cat fights, and even a girl-on-girl sex scene. Surprisingly, no nudity, though.

The acting is really over the top sometimes and most scenes are made to include unnecessary sexiness, but it's all in good fun. You get the feeling that the movie is in on the joke, it's making fun of itself. It has enough of a storyline and mystery to keep you engaged throughout the entire movie (if just watching half naked, large breasted women run around for an hour and a half isn't enough for you.)

Some people may not enjoy this kind of cheesey on purpose silly movie, but I thought it was funny and interesting. At the very least, you could probably make it into a good drinking game. A drink per boobs-only shot would get you good and sloshed by the end.


Fun Facts
- America Olivo (Camero) is a classically trained opera singer. She sings an excerpt of Ave Maria used in a scene and also performed and produced the song that follows it.
- Lucy Lawless, Renée O'Connor, Kevin Sorbo and Michael Hurst all make appearances in this movie. You'll probably recognize them from the shows Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. What's the connection? The writers/director of Bitch Slap worked on both shows.
- Zoe Bell is the stunt coordinator. She also has a small role as a girl in a fight. You might recognize Zoe from Death Proof or Whip It. She was Lucy Lawless' stunt double on Xena.

Cheese Rating: 5/5
Hilarity Rating: 3/5
Drama Rating: 3/5
Quality Rating: 2/5
For Fans of: Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and other 60's/70's girl action B movies, Death Proof, boobs, lesbians, cat fights, and violence.
Final Verdict: It's so bad, it's good.

Woodland Birthday Party Inspiration

I recently decided that I am going to have a Woodland Wonderland birthday party this year!

I was inspired by this blog post about a woodland themed birthday party.

There will be... deer, bears, raccoons, chipmunks, acorns, leaves, trees, bushes, berries, tree stumps, birds, foxes, wolves, bunnies, toadstools, gnomes, hedgehogs, feathers, bird houses, wood and more!

I love gnomes!

I love toadstools!

All the cute animals!

Yummy (and adorable) food!

I think I'll make some sort of cute feather headband for all of my guests.
[DIY by Seablanket]

[DIY by Promise Tangeman]

Or maybe masks...
I'm so excited and it's still over two months away! I've even started working on invitations already. (Even though I don't really need them since there will be probably 2, maybe 3, guests.) There will be more inspiration/sneak peek posts of my party planning as the date gets closer.
October 31st is my birthday, if you were wondering. Yup, I'm a Halloween baby. =) It explains so much, I know.

Franklyn

Synopsis (IMDb): Preest is a masked vigilante detective, searching for his nemesis on the streets of Meanwhile City, a monolithic fantasy metropolis ruthlessly governed by faith and religious fervor. Esser is a broken man, searching for his wayward son amongst the rough streets of London's homeless. Milo is a heartbroken thirty-something desperately trying to find a way back to the purity of first love. Emilia is a beautiful art student; her suicidal art projects are becoming increasingly more complex and deadly.


It was this picture on weheartit.com that led me to this movie.
I thought it looked like my kind of movie, so I looked up Eva Green's IMDb profile to find the movie in which she plays a character named "Emilia."

The IMDb summary of Franklyn was confusing the say the least (turns out the movie is, too, so the description was accurate) but it was enough to intrigue me. What's confusing about the movie is that it starts in what feels like the middle of a story. You're thrust into this fantasy world, not knowing what the rules are and what it all means. And then there's the other world. Yes, it's a double-plotted movie. Of course, their connection is revealed throughout the movie, but to begin with, you have no idea what's going on in either world. I just tried to pay attention and keep up for the first half of the movie until I got to know the characters and enough of the plot was revealed that I could follow it. In the end, you'll be able to look back and understand all the parts you didn't in the beginning and make the connections. This is definitely a watch more than once kind of movie.

This is the kind of movie that would be ruined if I revealed too much of the story, so I can just describe the "feel" of the movie. It's dark, fantasy, reality, artistic, creepy, mysterious, intriguing and though-provoking. Interested yet?

Cheese Rating: 0/5
Hilarity Rating: 0/5
Drama Rating: 4/5
Quality Rating: 4/5
For Fans of: Sin City, Watchmen, The Spirit and other dark fantasies.
Final Verdict: It may take more than one viewing to fully comprehend, but it's worth it if you like a complex story which challenges you to solve its mysteries.

Coming Attractions: Sucker Punch


I've been excited for this movie for... I can't remember, but a long time. I was excited for it after only knowing the cast and the summary. Crazy girls in a mental institution and a crazy fantasy dream world? Right up my alley. Emily Browning, Vanessa Hudgens, Jena Malone, and Abbie Cornish? Even better.

I got my first visual taste of the movie when IMDb.com released movie posters for each character. I got even more excited seeing how big and intense this dream world was going to be.

Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket

I checked out the movie's Wikipedia page to try and get as much information about this movie as possible, and got more and more excited and interested in this movie the more I read about it.

Finally, I got my first real look at this movie when the teaser trailer from Comic-Con was released. Check out the craziness.


It's such a tease! As excited as I am for this movie, knowing that I have to wait until September 24th for a real trailer and until March 25th for the movie is torture. It better not disappoint after all this anticipation.

Wardrobe Remix

Strapless Dress



Here is a perfectly lovely strapless dress. There's nothing wrong with it; it's quite cute. It's a bit generic on its own, though. I look like I'm just going to a school dance or something. By itself, it just doesn't stand out. However, with some additions to the outfit, you can create three very different looks with this one dress.




Edgy


By adding a black vest, black belt and black peep-toe shoes, you can take this dress from pretty to a little edgy. Lots of long necklaces and bracelets would go well with this look.

High-Waisted Skirt


By folding down the top of the dress, you can create a high-waisted skirt. The white v-neck t-shirt, wide black belt, and mary janes make this outfit a little preppy and more classic.

Rock It Out


A strapless dress can be used underneath a shorter dress (or, in this case, a long, loose tank top) to create more length, texture and color. By adding the black loose tank top and biker boots, I made this look more rocker.

Monthly Movie Marathon: Remakes

REMAKES

This month, I'm recommending you watch these movies and their remakes. There are a lot of horrible remakes of good movies out there, but these remakes are even better than the originals in my opinion.




Vanilla Sky is one of my favorite movies. I've never been much of a Tom Cruise fan, but despite him, it's an excellent movie. I read that after watching Abre Los Ojos, Cruise was on the phone to get the rights to remake it before the credits were done rolling. I usually take issue with people constantly "Americanizing" foreign movies. In this case, I'll forgive them because Cameron Crowe was able to turn the intriguing, twisted, beautiful Abre Los Ojos into an even more intriguing, twisted and incredibly beautiful film.
In some ways, Vanilla Sky is Hollywood blockbuster version of a Spanish art film. But if I didn't know it was based on a lesser-known foreign language movie, it would just be one of the strange, mind bending movies that come out of Hollywood once in a while.
I recommend Vanilla Sky over Abre Los Ojos. However, if, after seeing Vanilla Sky, you interested in where it came from, definitely watch Abre Los Ojos. It's a good movie, just not as good as Vanilla Sky.








I know a lot of people will disagree with me on this, but I think this remake is way better than the original. The lame 70's Wonka factory doesn't even compare to the amazing Tim Burton Wonka factory. I want to live inside Burton's factory. The original just makes me sad. Gene Wilder is a big creep. Johnny Depp is hilarious and lovable. As cute as the original orange oompa loompas are, hundreds of identical teeny tiny oompa loompas were way better than a few midgets painted orange. As much as I enjoy the good old "Oompa loompa doompa-dee-do!", Danny Elfman's music for the remake was just so incredible. It kicks that little ditty's ass. Not to mention the lyrics for Elfman's songs were straight from the book by Roald Dahl. I like movies based on books to be as true to the books as possible. (But we'll get to movies based on books another month.)
Although I favor the remake to the original, I do recommend seeing both. The original does have some things that I like that Burton left out of his movie. And, of course, the point of this month's marathon is to see a movie and it's remake to compare the two.







Interview (the remake) quickly became one of my favorite movies to watch over and over. There's not much plot, it's just two people talking. Some people find that kind of movie boring, but I love it. I love watching how their relationship changes. They like each other, they hate each other, they understand each other, they lie to each other. I also love the film visually for Sienna Miller's outfit and the apartment (my dream apartment- huge, open concept, floor to ceiling windows, exposed brick and pipes).
I was glad to find that the original had the same relationship dynamics as I loved in the remake. However, compared to the remake, it didn't feel as intense. The remake added some plot twists and dialogue that made it much better. The characters themselves in the remake are much more intense. More emotional. I love Sienna Miller's performance. The original is good, but, I say just see the remake. If you really love it, check out the original.


[Couldn't find a trailer for the original film.]
Upcoming remakes to look out for:Drop Dead FredI love the original and I'm looking forward to seeing Russel Brand as Drop Dead Fred.FootloosePart of the reason Footloose is so amazing is that it's so damn 80's! I think this movie will become just another dance movie.

Pretty Sunday

pretty ring
pretty box
pretty necklaces
pretty paper cranes
pretty vanessa hudgens[my current iPhone background]

pretty forest girl

pretty town

pretty jewelry and things
pretty ashley + mary kate

Back to Blogging

I'm back! Miss me?

Rather than continue writing lackluster, uninspired blog posts, I took a break from blogging to get my writing creativity back and come up with some new ideas for my blog. I came up with some great new ideas for features and posts. My blog will focus more on fashion and movies now. Two things I love. I will continue to write about other things I love, of course, like cakes, crafts, art, cool people, music, and a little about myself.

What you can look forward to seeing on my blog…

- In place of 10 Things I Love Sunday, I’ll be doing Pretty Sunday. If I love something enough, I’ll write an entire post about it. But I do like to share some of the inspiring pictures I find online.
- Rather than just sharing an outfit every Fashion Friday, I’m going to change it up and do Wardrobe Remixes. I’ll show you three ways to wear one item of clothing. As well as the occasional What I Wore post.
- I find a lot of my fashion inspiration from characters in movies/telly and celebrities, so I’m going to write some posts on my favorite Style stars.
- I'll show you how to get a character's or person's look by recreating it myself in Get the Look posts.
- I’ll be writing more Reviews of movies, telly, books etc. I’ll review new movies that I see, older movies that I want to recommend to you and trailers/previews of new movies and tv shows coming out soon.
- I will continue to do Monthly Movie Marathons. At the beginning of each month I’ll give you a list, with reviews and descriptions, of movies for you to watch that month.
- I'll introduce you to some of my favorite girls, from the famous to not-so-famous, with Girl I Love posts.
- I’ll continue to keep you updated on what I’m up to with posts about my life with La Photo Cabine pictures.

I've added some links, above, to the main features of this blog as well as my other online ventures.

ABOUT - Learn more about me.
FASHION - What I Wore, Style features, Get the Look, Wardrobe Remix, etc.
REVIEWS - Reviews and articles on movies, telly, books, etc.
CAKES - The website for Lux Cake Designs, the cake business I started with my friend, Kim.
VIDEO - My YouTube channel.
RUNAWAY GIRLS - Runaway Girls YouTube channel.

I'll be back later today with my first Pretty Sunday post and August's Monthly Movie Marathon.


.tish

Hiatus

I'm going to take a break from my blog for a few weeks. As you can see, I haven't been blogging much lately. I feel like I've been obligation blogging; just doing my scheduled posts (10 Things I Love Sunday, Let Them Eat Cake, Fashion Friday) out of guilt.

I'm going to take a break from posting and work on writing better quality posts. I want to post more reviews/features on movies, telly, music, websites, videos, artists and more DIYs and showing off my crafts. I used to love writing and was good at it. I want to get back to really putting effort into my writing and writing good quality articles about stuff I like.

Besides blogging, I have other projects I'm hoping to start soon. I'm making lots of stuff for my coming-soon-Etsy shop, possibly starting a cake business, and I have a ton of video ideas that I want to do.

I'm starting my first job (at Michaels- Yay! So excited!) this week, so I'll be going to a transition period where I figure out how to balance my work schedule and all of my creative projects work.

When I'm back in a few weeks, I'll have lots of good articles stocked up to start posting, and lots of stuff going on to post about. I hope you'll wait for me and keep reading once I start posting again.

Have a great Summer!

xoxo
.tish

10 Things I Love Sunday

1. Belt Ring


2. Barbie's Secret
3. Bathtub Sofas
4. Remember These?
5. My Dream Apartment
6. Cutest Lighter Ever
7. Gorgeous Bracelet-Ring
8. Like Me
9. A Good Break-Up
10. Cardboard Robots