My Birthday

Okay, I'm only like two weeks late getting around to this...

Kim was going to be a sexy French maid again, but then we decided she could be Magenta from The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Kim was trying to make this face.
"And then the pelvic thrust"

And Kim just being cute.


I was Tom Cruise dancing in his underwear in Risky Business.
[Watch the scene here.]
I never got to actually wear my costume as I intended (shorts, not just undies, by the way) because we only wore our costumes to go out to lunch and it was c-c-c-cold, so I had to put on pants and a jacket. (And shoes, but not for this picture.)
I decided that Kim's cat, Mully, and I had the same pattern of black and white going on.

So I tried to get a picture of us together, but she just wasn't having it.

We went to lunch and I had this delicious drink called a Melon Ball.


And just for comparison...
My 19th birthday lunch. Same restaurant. Same Kim. Different drink (Sex on the Beach).
And that wraps up Birthday Week.
I'm glad it's over. Now I can start getting into Christmas goodness.

Birthday Week: Part Two

The Museum of Science & Technology!

Before we even got there, there was some excitement at the corner. It looked like a police escort for someone important coming from the museum. We were all excited to ask when we got there who had been there, but the girl working there said it was just a training thing.




Onto the museum...

This guy had a sexy 70's hair do and mustache.

Look, we're hockey players! Well, Kim actually is a hockey player. She said I had to be the blue one because that was the Leafs. (I don't care about sports, but growing up, Toronto was our team. And then I moved near Ottawa and found out everyone here hates the Leafs. So I like to say they're my team, just to make people mad. It's fun cause I just really don't care.)

This is my new boyfriend. Sexy.

We went in this crazy maze kind of thing that was supposed to teach us about electricity. We had to follow directions to pretend we were electrical data running through cables. I didn't learn anything, I just thought it looked cool.




And then Kim and I went to Mars! It was a space travel simulator. It was amazing, but really short. The introduction video about how it's the future and we're bringing a fuel source to the colony on Mars was longer than the actual simulator. The seats moved, so it really felt and looked like we were in a space craft taking off and flying around Mars. It was awesome. We saved Mars!

The "Crazy Kitchen!" It's just a room with a slanted floor that makes it really hard to walk straight.

Crazy mirrors! It's so hard to get a good picture because you can't use flash. This was the clearest of all the photos I took in the mirrors. And coincidentally, I think the only one where we aren't making inappropriate poses and gestures. ;)

I love these things! They look so cool! I wasn't actually touching it. It was in a plexiglass box, but it was close enough to the plexiglass that if I touched it, it came to my fingers. This was in the gift shop.

I payed a dollar to watch a copper disc get pressed into this. I'm going to drill a tiny hole in it so I can put it on a necklace.

Outside, we took some pictures in front of the rocket, trying to make us look bigger than it.

And then I made my birthday cake.



[More cake photos on the Lux blog]


My Birthday

Birthday Week: Part One

It started with a surprise!

I didn't tell Kim what we were doing, I just told her where to drive. When we parked she was all confused. "We're going to a unisex studio?" And then I showed her the pictures I had printed out of the haircut I wanted. [Shannyn Sossamon is always my short haircut inspiration. She's had so many great short hairstyles.]

Kim was all shocked and surprised and I was just sooo excited! She stayed pretty much in shock the whole time I was getting my haircut.

Last photo of my long hair! And you can't even really see it. :S

The first big cut!

I've never had a blunt bob like this, so it was weird to see on me. [Again, it's hard to even see because of the black cape thing.]

The cutting begins!

Almost done!

So happy with it!

Squealing with joy!

One last photo of it brown, before I bleached it.

And... bleached! AKA orange, unfortunately. But that's what happens when you bleach dark hair, it goes orange. (I've since de-oranged it a bit with blonde hair dye. Still not really "blonde", though.)


And then we made Dan's birthday cake. Silly me, I forgot to take pictures while making it, so I just have the finished product.


We couldn't buy a cake box tall enough, so we had to make one out of bristol board. That's my horrible handwriting.

If you're wondering... Dan is one of the managers at work. We're kind of work buddies, I guess. When he saw the photo of the first football cake we made, he asked if we could make him a football cake for his birthday. His birthday is also on Halloween. That must be why we get along so well. :P

Birthday Week: Part Two
My Birthday

Lux Cake Designs' First Two Cakes

Let's play photo & story catch up...

Three weeks ago Kim and I spent the weekend making two cakes. A birthday football cake for a friend of Kim's mom and a "Welcome to Canada" cake for a friend's visiting Icelandic relatives. It was a crazy, exhausting, busy weekend, but fun. I got hours and hours of video (because I would just set up the camera, hit record and forget about it until the tape ran out and I had an hour of boring fondant rolling, or logo painting footage) but only a few photos.

This was the craziness of the grocery store on Sunday morning. We had no idea Sunday morning was the time everyone in the city went grocery shopping.

We did the Iceland cake with Kim's checkerboard pans, this is what it looks like from the top.

It looks like an egg, but it will become a football.

A little preview of what the checkerboard cake will look like. We just put some scraps together.

Making holes in the football for the stitches.

Kim painted the logo. Actually, we both painted one, but hers was better, so we used hers.

The beautiful logo and "signed" football.

Kim putting the fondant on the Iceland cake.

The finished cakes.



More story & photo catch up coming...

What I've Been Busy Doing Instead of Blogging...

...making an Iceland-Canada cake......making a football cake...

BIRTHDAY WEEK!

..getting my hair cut off...

...bleaching it...

...making Dan's birthday cake...

...having fun at the Museum of Science & Nature...

...making my birthday cake...

...dressing up for Halloween aka my birthday...
(Kim as Magenta from The Rocky Horror Picture Show)
(I was supposed to be Tom Cruise in Risky Business, but it was so cold I had to put on pants and a jacket to go out, so it didn't quite look like the same.)

And now, birthday week is over, so it's back to work work work and hopefully more regular blogging. I will have some photo-filled posts of all these events coming soon!

Chocolate Chip Scones



After having those Oreo Cookie Cookies (which were slightly disappointing) I was craving more chocolate treats, so I thought I'd make something a little different.





Recipe: The Joy of Vegan Baking

Changes: Margarine instead of vegan butter (just because I didn't have butter), double the chocolate chips (the secret to most of my recipes is either add chocolate chips or double the amount), just a little brown sugar on top instead of cinnamon sugar (cinnamon and chocolate just don't go together)

Reviews: Everyone who had one (or more) at work loved them. One girl said it was her first scone and it was amazing, Scott said he had two, Linda said she's never had a scone that was actually good, they're always dry but mine were really moist and delicious.

Cemetery Sunlight

Another thing I love, along with cemeteries, is crows. Crows in a cemetery, even better. There was one perched on a tombstone (wish I could have gotten close enough for a picture, it was perfection) and then it started squawking to its friends and they all came over and starting flying around circling over me squawking. It was magical.


























Oreo Cookie Cookies

aka Chocolate Chip Cookies with Oreo Pieces


The batter was delicious.


But they weren't that spectacular after they were cooked.




I blame the recipe. It said to bake at 325F, which is really low. Most baking is at 350F. So after baking for longer than the recipe said, when they still weren't done, I turned it up to 350F to finish them. But then they turned out pretty crunchy, like too crunchy.
The Oreo filling just melts when you bake, so you just have chocolate wafer cookie pieces in with the chocolate chips. Not that amazing. Chocolate chips are more chocolatey, so might as well just make chocolate chip cookies.
But, here's the recipe, if you're interested.

My Favorite Hang Out: Day Two

The next day at the cemetery...

SHROOMS!


For anyone who thought I was weird for hanging out in a cemetery...

Do you understand why I love it so much, now? It's beautiful!

A very impressive stone.

Very strange tree standing by itself.

Love the really old stones.


I feel bad for the stones like these in the ground that get covered over.

Just so beautiful...

How kind to make your tombstone practical as well as pretty.

From this angle it looks like they stuck a bench in front of someone else's stone, but the info's on the other side, so it's really the back.

Oldies are goodies.


This one's for someone who loves eggs.

I discovered my new favorite area of the cemetery.





I love the rows, the hedges, the warped trees. Reminds me of Alice running through a garden chasing the white rabbit...

This is the only ominous part of cemeteries, I think. Stones with names and birth dates, but no death date... Yet...
He's waiting for you, Violet...


I found a favorite crippled tree.




I attempted to take outfit photos using my mini tripod and camera's self-timer.
Didn't quite make it the first time...




And then I saw some people, so I decided it was time to leave.
I don't find hanging out in a cemetery disrespectful, unless there are other people around to think I'm being disrespectful. With no one around, no one cares. But I do feel a bit rude just wandering around for fun, when there are people there actually wanting some peace and quiet to mourn or whatever people go cemeteries for...

[In case you missed Day One]

My Favorite Hang Out: Day One

Last week I stopped by my new favorite place, the cemetery, on my way home from work a couple times. Since I was a little kid I've loved to hang out in cemeteries. They're so pretty and peaceful. They're just like parks with grass and tress, but with all these interesting stones to read. And, usually, there aren't any people around.
About a month ago, I finally checked out the cemetery just down the street from me. I was so happy to know that there was a huge cemetery down the street from me when I moved here, but I never checked it out because I didn't want to go by myself. It wasn't until my friend Linda and I hung out and decided to have an adventure that I finally got to check it out. And now I'm in love. It's so beautiful. My first trip, I only had my iPhone to take pictures. It takes pretty good pictures, though.


I like to take pictures of the tombstones with interesting names.

Kempster sounds like a nickname for someone from Kemptville (my hometown.)

I'm all for brotherly love, man. The other side you can't read says "Relief."

In case you didn't know what the bench was for, it's for resting.

That guy's name was "S/L". What kind of name has a / in it?

This cemetery is MASSIVE, so it's divided into many sections. Don't ask me what the fuck "columbarium" means.

Cemetery spider.

Airholes?

This sexy beast was my boyfriend.

Farrah?!?!

Like I said, this cemetery is massive, so I used the compass on my iPhone to find my way back.

Oooh, my curiosity was killing me to look underneath, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

Rose Byrne?!?! Nooooo!!!

Would you be offended if your family only got you one sixth of a mausoleum space rather than a full block?

Another section.

I wish I had a cemetery in my backyard.

These were display stones. Shopping for tombstones, anyone?

One of the stranger ornaments I saw near a tombstone. No idea what FLT is.

I love the really old ones that are worn down and covered in moss.

This wasn't a tombstone, it was along the edge of the cemetery. No idea what it means.

Walking home.

Stay tuned for my second day in the cemetery, with my real camera, tomorrow.

[Click here for Day Two]

Baked in a Jar

I am now obsessed with the idea of baking things in jars, thanks to these tutorials...

Cake in a Jar - Angry Chicken

Pie in a Jar - Not Martha

Pie in a Jar - Bleubird

Pies in jars make great gifts because if you seal them up with they're hot, they're safe to freeze for a long time. They're even safe to mail to people (my friend sent some to her boyfriend in Afghanistan.) They're also a great way to enjoy delicious homemade pie more often. Rather than slaving away making a pie and having to eat it within a couple days, you can just thaw out a little jar of pie whenever you want a treat.

I have yet to attempt baking anything in a jar yet, but when I'm visiting my parents in a couple weeks, you bet I am swiping a bunch of mason jars from the basement!

I also want to make teacupcakes. Cupcakes baked in tea cups. So adorable. All you need to make these are oven-safe teacups.
[A little tip from me to you: When you're baking something like these cupcakes, or a custard, etc, in small ceramic dishes, place them on a baking sheet with a rim and fill it up with water. The water helps distribute the heat more evenly and will prevent your cupcakes (or custard, etc) from cooking too quickly on the outside before the heat gets to the inside. Just a little something I picked up at baking school.]

Although the overflowing, covered in lots of icing look is cute, I want to fill them up so they're just below the edge of the teacup when baked and then fill in the top centimeter with delicious glaze. It would look like they were filled with a liquid. Especially a chocolate glaze, it would look like coffee. I could even swirl two colors of glaze together, or make designs. So cute! I wish I could find a picture, but imagine a bunch of simple white teacups filled to the brim with pretty pale colors of sugary goodness.

Someday, when I have my own cupcake shop, my cupcakes shall be served in teacups covered in glaze. Mmmm.... margarita cupcakes topped with light green lime glaze, cherry cupcakes topped with light pink cherry glaze, chocolate chip cupcakes topped with chocolate glaze, chocolate and vanilla swirly cupcakes topped with chocolate and vanilla glaze swirled together... All in cute little teacups! Eeee! I'm squealing with excitement just thinking about how cute my own little cupcake cafe would be. =) Sigh... just one of my many dreams...

Aston

These guys are bad ass. Classical musicians from Australia doing modern-meets-classical covers of pop songs. Check out their YouTube for all of their videos.

This one is by far my favorite... Rude Boy by Rihanna. They make it sound so epic. It would be good in a movie. Very cinematic.


Telephone by Lady Gaga ft. Beyoncé


I like the video for this one the best because they're in front of an old fashioned carousel... Bulletpoof by La Roux

My Birthday Theme Songs

Every year since I was 17, I've chosen a birthday theme song for each birthday. It's a song that I love and I think describes me/how I feel.
I've decided that this year my birthday theme song will be Rockstar 101 by Rihanna. I recently fell in love with it. It's so bad ass and danceable (a birthday theme requirement.) Enjoy the sexy bad ass music video.




My previous birthday theme songs:

20 : Confessions of a Teenage Girl by Bonnie McKee (I think that was what I intended my song to be but I never actually listened to the song on my birthday. I remember listening to a remix of Bad Romance by Lady Gaga a lot that weekend, so I guess maybe that was my unofficial birthday theme song.)
19 : When I Grow Up by The Pussycat Dolls
18 : Rockstar by Prima J (I now despise this song because for a long time I used it as my alarm song on my phone, so hearing the beginning of this song makes me cringe.)
17 : Turn You On by Paris Hilton

Etsy Shop Preview: Glasses

I am tantalizingly close to finally getting my Etsy shop up and running. I'm just waiting on getting my credit card (need one to set up an Etsy shop, pay for fees, etc.) and getting a few details in order like photographing my products, deciding prices, figuring out packaging, and finishing up some products I'm working on.

What I can show you so far are the glasses I've made. I'm bad at deciding on prices, but I think the yarn glasses will be $10 or $15 and the ones that took more time and supplies will be $20.

Yarn Nerd Frames : Pink/Orange


Yarn Nerd Frames : Blue/Green


Yarn Nerd Frames : Dark Purple


Yarn Grandma Frames : Pink/Orange


Yarn Grandma Frames : Blue/Green


Rhinestone Nerd Frames : Pink/Purple


Sunglasses : Studded Wayfarers


Sunglasses : Disco Mirror



[I used my ironing board cover as a background. Isn't it the cutest?!]