Cake Boss?

Presenting...

My Cheeseburger Cupcakes!

Vanilla Cake for the bun.

Chocolate Cake for the burger.

Vanilla icing mixed with several food colorings for the cheese, ketchup, mayo and lettuce.

So you think I'm good enough for Ace of Cakes or Cake Boss yet?

A city all dressed up

New Orleans is decorated with an array of purples, golds, blues and pretty much any color you could think of! And no, I'm not talking about paint... I'm talking about BEADS.

Almost anywhere you look, there are beads. In the trees, hanging on power lines, wrapped around balcony rails, laying in the curbs... they are literally everywhere! We took a walk through Tulane University and there are beads hanging from their trees. I'm pretty sure New Orleans needs to adopt beads as their city Mascot! Oh wait... did they already do that?

Anyway, we went to a Halloween parade while we were there and instead of the ghosts and goblins throwing out candy, they threw out beads. Sheesh, I should have known, ha! I think between Kevin and I, we caught around 30 strands along with 3 cups, 1 pen, a flower and partridge in a pear tree. Just kidding about that last one, of course, ha!

Okay... enough with the beads!

We walked around the city on Saturday checking out everything from Jackson Square to Bourbon Street. There were art vendors, an awesome market, silver people (I think they were mimes), and tons of (intoxicated)people dressed up for Halloween. We also checked out some of the graveyards in the area since New Orleans is on the Top Ten Haunted Cities list. Luckily I didn't see any ghosts, or shadow people as the Bert Show likes to call them.

Here's a few pictures for you...

Bourbon Street was packed and it wasn't even 4 o' clock yet!

I love the balconies! I must have one... for my house, of course. Not just to carry around in my car or sit at the end of my driveway. Just clarifying!

Jackson Square

Did you know that the graveyards in New Orleans are all above ground? Me either. That was a fun little fact I found out.

We even had time to find the Real World house from this past season (24th season). I looked for Ryan and luckily that crazy guy wasn't there!

The trip was a success! I ate lots of food, listened to some great music, saw lots of sites and even brought back a souvenir! New Orleans, I will be back!

Cajun food craving

On the days leading up to leaving for New Orleans, all I could talk about was getting gumbo and eating craw fish and trying jambalaya. I was pretty much a fat kid talking about food 24/7. It was a slight obsession that I had as the countdown for our departure dwindled. I may have even dreamed about it, haha! It was serious...but not as serious as I am about cupcakes! Those are my first love :)

Anywho, New Orleans is known for their Cajun style food... craw fish and sausage and enough spices to make anyone's eyes water. They have pralines and beignets and hurricanes...wait that's not a food, oops, ha! Let's just say there were so many options that I had such a hard time picking my meals. Luckily, I didn't have to pick where we ate, just what I ate. That made things a lot easier! Thanks Brent for living in New Orleans and for knowing great local places to eat.

So here's where we dined...

Camellia Grill - brunch, diner style!

Joey K's - They have Po Boys... soo good.

Voodoo BBQ - BBQ, duh.

Cafe Du Monde - Beignets with enough powered sugar to coat 17 funnel cakes.

Reginelli's - Pizza at it's best.

Cafe Elaine - She made homemade jambalaya for us at the house! Amazing.

Now I know you're looking at that list and you're thinking to yourself, "no seafood?" You are correct, we did not eat any seafood but that just gives us a reason to go back soon! Besides we had beignets... What more do you need?!

Do you see that powdered sugar! Goodness :)

Tomorrow I'll upload pics from Jackson Square, The parade and Bourbon Street!

VooDoo Fest

Wow, what a weekend!

Halloween in New Orleans was definitely crazy. I don't even know where to begin... so many things I could write about! How about I tell you my full trip over a three day blog sweep. Plenty of things for you guys to look forward to! Now do I start with the delicious food or the multitude of amazing costumes?! I could write about our walk around Tulane University or seeing Chucky get hit by a car, ha! I'll save that story for the Bourbon Street blog post.

I think I'll start with VooDoo Fest. Music is always a good place to start.

How about I post some pictures and let them tell most of the story!

For those of you who have never heard of Voodoo Fest, it's a multi-day music and arts festival held in City Park in New Orleans, LA. The festival's start was Halloween weekend 1999 and since then has held some of the greatest bands on a hand full of stages throughout the park.

The things about traveling and walking around New Orleans all day is it's exhausting! Kevin and I had to take a little nap before the bands made it to the stage. we had to rest up for Weezer and Muse!

Muse! Such an awesome show.

Clever costume of the evening Deadmau5. This guy posed for a lot of pictures!

I'll add a video or two tomorrow once I get them uploaded.

Stay tuned... tomorrow I will make you hungry for some New Orleans treats!

The Jersey Shore - classic

I am obsessed Jersey Shore watcher. I admit it! Didn't miss a single episode from last season. I will admit that I looked forward to seeing JWOW and Sammi's cat fight and you better believe that I was glued to the TV when any kind of drama hit the fan.

I say all this because when a friend sent me this picture, I was blown away. These six kids dressed up like the cast of The Jersey Shore. The best part, these kids could really pass for the cast at their age!

Okay from left to right in the picture above... Pauly D, JWOW, Sammi Sweatheart, Snooki, Ronnie and in the back Mike otherwise know as 'The Situation.'

Halloween... New Orleans Style!

Four friends on a mission... trunk packed full of luggage and sleeping must haves... a grocery bag full of Sweet Tarts, Sprees and Bit O Honeys... and one 8 hour drive separating us from the party that is known as New Orleans!

I'm ready for some gumbo!

I'm ready for some seafood!

I'm ready to experience Burbon Street!

Ugh... Are we there yet?

I will updated everyone with pictures and fun stories when I return :)

Aaron's Sermon

I received an email from a good friend of mine, Aaron Hinton this week. It was embedded with a sermon that he had preached the previous Sunday at Generations Church near Southport, NC. I was so proud of him so I decided to share it with all of you. Here's the email and a link to his sermon. Enjoy!

I just wanted to send you a link to the video of the sermon I preached at Generations a few weeks ago. It was a hard series to preach in as it was on different doubts that people have and/or different things that make them doubt God. It certainly challenged me to make what seemed more like a debate into a sermon that people could learn and grow from. I pray I did just that. Anyways, I wanted to send you a link to the sermon so you could watch, enjoy, and/or give me any criticism/feedback that you might have to offer. Thanks for watching and listening when you can. Please feel free to pass on to others that you know may want to see me preach. Take care and God bless!

http://generationschurch.com/sermon-media/the-doubts-of-the-product/

AARON HINTON

Marketing Coordinator

NC Baptist Assembly at Fort Caswell

100 Caswell Beach Rd

Oak Island, NC 28465

Taste of Atlanta 2010

Yep! You should pretty much be able to guess what happens at this event :)

If you guessed tasting some of Atlanta's finest foods, you guessed correctly... And tasting we did!

This was the 9th annual Taste of Atlanta... a dynamic, flavor-filled 2-day outdoor food and wine festival which showcases the diversity of Atlanta's food scene and has been known to attract food lovers from Atlanta, the Southeast and beyond. The festival was held at Tech Square in the heart of Midtown Atlanta encompassing Spring Street and 5th Street. There were so many people and SO much food to try. I think, at one point, I described it as "State Fair-like" without the rickety fair rides and creepy carnies! Maybe I only said that because they had funnel cakes...hmmmm.

This is how it works... you pay $25 and that covers your admission and gives you 15 food tickets to use at the vendor tents. Some would think that it would be no problem to use 15 tickets and try all the delicious food...wrong. It's very difficult because there is so much food and me personally, I can't consume that much in a small amount of time. My tummy was definitely full and I had a slight sick feeling as we made our way down the streets looking for the next item to consume.

So what did we eat? I'm glad you asked...

* Spinach Pie from The Greek

* Shrimp and Crab Bisque from Wildfire

* BBQ Ribs from 5th Street Ribs & Blues

* Chicken & Waffles from Glady's Knights Chicken & Waffles

* Organic Pumpkin Ice Cream from 5 Seasons Westside

* Porcini Ravioli in Champagne Cream Sauce from Il Mulino

* Chocolate drizzled strawberries, brownies & pound cake from The Melting Pot

* Red Velvet cupcake from Mosaic

That's all I can remember right now but there was way more than that... I'm full all over again just thinking about it all :)

I had such and awesome time eating great food, spending time with Kevin, Kristi and Brent and just being in downtown Atlanta on a beautiful Saturday afternoon!

Flower clip surprise

So, one of my awesome co-workers and friends made me a sweet surprise this week...

...homemade flower clips. Aren't they adorable?

I see a business opportunity in her future and I would totally partner with her. They are so easy to make and there are endless possibilities of colors, styles and designs. Want one?

Last Stop... The Wedding!

Weddings are always fun!

There's usually good food, fun people to hang out with and a night filled with dancing. Danielle and Dave's wedding was just that!

Here's all the fun expressed in a few pictures...

The adorable couple, Dave and Danielle

Happy Birthday to you! and 3...2...1, release cup, haha!

Third Stop... Upstate!

Time for some relaxing moments in a little town called Goshen, NY.

Ever heard of it? Well you should look it up because it looks straight out of fairy tale. The town everyone wishes they grew up in. Mom and pop town stores, a little bagel shop that makes them fresh every morning, the old timey pharmacy on the corner and beautiful homes decorated for the appropriate holiday season. This time of year, it was all about pumpkins, ghosts and goblins.

Take a look at this cute town...

The oldest horse track in America.

Webster taught here. Yes Webster, the guy who wrote the dictionary!

This house was incredible. They have a character from the greatest horror movies of all time. They put on this Halloween event every year, inviting the whole town to come and be a part of their haunted tradition. They were in the local paper last year and people donate money each year to them so they can keep adding to their collection. So cool!

They added a new piece to their collection a few days after we left. Kev and I are trying to get a picture. I'll post it if we ever succeed :) The new piece is the Headless Horseman.

And the most exciting part of our Upstate experience...

This guy! haha... long story but let's just say this guy got around, ha.

Last stop of the trip will be posted tomorrow :)

The Wedding!

Second Stop... The Big Apple

New York City!

More than a city... it's a completely different world where I step foot on the streets and I'm completely enthralled with it all. Movies don't do it justice and pictures can't capture how amazing you feel when you're there. It's a place where my heart longs to be and my mind wanders to what it would be like to walk those streets daily and become part of that culture. Ahhhh, daydreams!

This was my second visit to the city and I had big plans to make it extra special for a special someone who was having a birthday :) The plan... Good food, a Great show and way too much candy.

Broadway... American Idiot... Amazing show!

Yea... I wasn't kidding about the candy part! We bought almost 3 pounds of candy from FAO Schwartz. And it was gone before we flew home, haha.

Grand Central Station... It was so overwhelming. I walked in and I was taking back by the magnitude of it and of course the beauty of it. We had to take a picture of us there... we just had to :)

Happy Birthday Kevin! I hope you had fun!

Third stop... Upstate New York...

First Stop... Red Sox Country!

I've always had some what of a bucket list for the things I want to do in my life time. The list grows more and more each day and I will say that it is quite lengthy already. This list consists of places I want to go, things I want to see and experiences I want to be a part of... it's great and it gives me lots of things to look forward to!

Well last week I was able to cross off a few in one trip!

Kevin and I were blessed enough to have a few days off (9 to be exact) and we ventured up to the New England area for some sight seeing, some wedding dancing and some unbelievable eating!

First stop... Boston!

Harvard...do I look smart sitting here? haha



Boston is one of those cities that you can get lost in the history, the beauty and the almost romantic atmosphere. You can take a stroll down to Harvard Square and see where all the brilliant minds migrate. You can take a walk by the river and get lost in how peaceful the area feels. You can hop in a taxi (way more expensive than NYC cabs) and head downtown where lights fill the trees and there's a variety of options for fun moments! Everything is pretty much walking distance and I wouldn't want it any other way. Walking down the streets allows you every opportunity to see Boston's amazingness (is that a word?).

And then there's Fenway... a Ballpark I've always wanted to visit! It's small but powerful. The fans are devoted and the presence is addictive! I've been a Red Sox fan for a while now and I can remember having conversations with my brother about wanting to visit Fenway and cheer the Sox. Well, it finally happened and the best part... they were playing the Yankees and they WON! It was everything I hoped for and more :)

Gorgeous city! I will return ... soon.

Next stop... New York City!

The reality land of make-believe

Dreams can make you question so much. It's that battle between reality and make-believe... a hidden world created by what your mind has stirring around when you doze off. Sometimes dreams can be enlightening, giving you a twist on something that you've been struggling with or highlighting something that in the daytime may not stand out as much as it should. Feelings become more apparent as you dream about first dates or first kisses...dreams bring to light those hidden feeling that you may be too embarrassed to admit. But sometimes dreams can leave a somewhat bitter feeling when you awake from a long night's sleep...and that's where this blog comes in.

What do you do when your dreams make the reality make-believe?

Now I know that's an awkward question so let me try to explain myself...

I've had a few dreams lately that have pinpointed some events in my life negatively...events that aren't negative at all but my mind has created this twisted version of what could or has happened. Most of the time it involves another individual and coming out of the dream leaves me with this bitter, almost angry and un-trusting feeling towards them. I know that some things are spun out of achieved memories/experiences (experiences I try to forget) and how people have treated me in the past. My dreams, however cut and paste present people in those moments and actions which make things really difficult. It causes me to look at them like they've hurt me, making my make-believe dream world into a make-believe reality world. ugh!

It would be like dreaming that your husband cheated on you with someone you knew well, even though in reality they would never ever do that.

And it's happening more and more these days!

What could that mean? What are some solutions? Does any one else deal with this?

Happy Birthday Kevin

Happy Birthday to my amazing boyfriend!

I hope you feel special and spoiled today :)

Nervousness

I haven't been the best at writing this year. My life seems so chaotic and the last thing i want to do is sit down in front of a computer screen and type for another hour of my day. But tonight feels a little different...tonight I just want to type an pray that my words come true!

Tomorrow is my BIG test. The one that will determine whether I go to Grad School in January or whether I will spend the next few months studying to take it all over again....pushing my start date to May. It's a terrifying feeling! I mean I've been studying for the past five weeks straight and as I sit here all I can think is 'I should have studied more.' What if the questions asked are ones that I didn't prepare for? Or what if they are what I studied but my mind goes blank as soon as the starting screen appears? What if can't remember how to find the Area of a Circle...the very formula that has been repeated over and over and over?

Breathe Shannon, Breathe!

It's Area = pi r squared.

Okay, got it!

My stomach is turning and it's kind of a feeling mixed between 'the Butterflies' and 'that Bad food you ate at lunch!' Ugh! I'm hoping that subsides before morning.

Anyway, I was wondering if you guys and gals could do me a favor? Besides praying that my stomach will chill out, could each of you stop and say a prayer for me tomorrow between 3:30 PM & 7:00 PM? That will be the time I'm taking my test and I'm pretty sure, at some point within that 3 1/2 hour period, I'm going to freak out... a little!

I really would appreciate your prayers. I'm not asking that you pray I will ace the test... just pray for patience, confidence and anything else that will help me when the questions get tough and the minutes become less.

Thanks in advance!

Okay...now to sleep. If that's possible!

Chasing

Can you take guess at what these five things have in common...

Pythagorean Theorem
Fractional Exponents
5 Subject Spiral Notebooks
Critical Reasoning
A really good eraser

If you haven't guessed yet, I'll give you a hint... It's very important to have all these by September 24th!

Why?

Well, the answer is...because that's the day I'm taking the GMAT(Graduate Management Admissions Test).

Yep that's right, I'm hoping and preparing to enroll in the MBA program this Spring. And now is about the time I need each of you to start your prayers! I'm gonna need it in order to stay focused, stay determined and stay on track. There's something inside me that says 'It's time! Time to reach out and grab hold to something that is going to brighten my future and help lay down a path towards my goals. I've been settling for a while now on jobs that just aren't what my heart desires. I want challenging, innovative, new, fresh, etc and now's my chance to chase after it! Here we go... let the studying begin!

I'm excited and nervous all at the same time :)

Sane

Things I'm learning about myself...

I'm way too predictable.

No one really takes me seriously... maybe because I'm too predictable.

My conflict style apparently is high in the Avoiding category.

Stressed should be my new middle name.

Sassy is my new favorite word to say.

I'm not the only one that feels that way.

Emotional is a word that describes every girl, not just me!

After talking to Sara, I feel much more sane.

Lemonade

Life is slipping by at a rate much faster than I had ever anticipated. I guess I always thought that the older you got, the slower life went. Life seems so chaotic in high school when you're trying to achieve at every sport possible while mastering Trigonometry and AP English... and then college kicks in at 100 mph leaving nothing but blurred images of football tailgates, awesome posters of your favorite movies and lots of broken hearted moments... and then the working world makes itself known and you would think that by snagging a stable job where the only that changes is your inbox, that life would slow down.

Nope! I think it actually speeds up at an off the charts pace.

I remember looking at my planner around March thinking how I couldn't wait till Summer hit and how excited I was about getting to lay out at the beach, and visit Caswell, and take the boat out. I planned Barbecues in my head and I could almost taste Fellini's on those after church dinners with friends. Well here it is, August and almost all those exciting moments have come and gone...minus the Fellini dinners. Those didn't really happen this summer for some reason.

Verdict: I have to slow my life down. I have to quit living for the future because all my moments are coming and going with me checking them off and looking for the next great thing to look forward to. I MUST stop... I need to live in the day! Take in all those things that I love about this time of year... not look forward all the things I love in the Fall or Winter. Live in Summer! That's what we're in and I should embrace that... at like maybe 25 MPH :)

So tonight, I'm going to sit outside and listen to the crickets chirp (yes we have those in the city), drink some lemonade and look for the moon. And if I had a hammock, I might would take a little pre-nap in it before bed but I'm thinking the mosquitoes would enjoy that too much... no hammock = equals no bites and me not being miserable, haha!

Enjoy today! Live in the moment and laugh at the present. Tomorrow will eventually come but you can't ever get today back!

Conversation starters

You know when you're chatting with someone and you're trying to learn more about them you ask them all sorts of questions? Most are random questions but let's be honest, the random ones definitely start some good conversation! People do that to me a lot and the sad part is, I never have good answers for them.

For example, people all the time ask me... So what's you're favorite band / movie?

My response... Ummm I don't really have one. I love so many artists that it's hard for me to choose and movies well I have a ton of favorites but not one particular one that I can place in the all time favorite category. Fail! That gave them nothing about me that they could relate to.

Next question... So where do you live?

My response... Well I technically live in Atlanta because I'm inside the Perimeter(ITP what, what) but I'm right in between Sandy Springs and Buckhead. It's like in that general area. Right! Okay cool.

Moving on... What do you do for a living?

Me... Well I have three jobs technically... I am an advancing manager for BGI and RYC Ministries. It's basic contract work for both. And then I also work for the North American Mission Board assisting with Project Management, Media Services and overall Communication projects. Okay cool. And then they immediately check out of the conversation.

I think I'm just a little too complicated to talk to haha... either that or i really need to just work on my answers. Next time I'm going to have 3 default answers....

Favorite band/movie? - Journey/Anchorman

Where do you live? - Georgia near Atlanta

What do you do for a living? - I work :)

There you go... that should get the conversation rolling ha!