Apr 26

Wilton Course 2: Final Cake

It’s been a while since I last posted a Wilton class cake! This one was probably the easiest cake I’ve ever made, although I’m not sure how well it cuts or how easy it is to eat considering all of those royal icing flowers! I seriously love how this one turned out, though, and I’d love to do it again.

I’m not the biggest basketweave fan (that’s my mom) but I really love how it turned out, especially with the rope edge. I love how it sort of looks like the flowers are in a basket and spilling out over the edge.


I may have gone a TINY bit crazy take pictures of this cake. It was so simple to place the flowers. Just a dab of buttercream and throw them on, pipe a few leaves, and you’re done. Of course, they have to be made days in advance, but they turn out amazing and make the process very fast.

You’ll notice that this one has no roses. I had 6 or so roses that were really cute but big, because I like big roses, although I made some super tiny roses on that last cake and fell in love, but even those had a lot of petals for a small rose. Anyway, I didn’t use any of them. I think I’m a little rosed out! I had some rose buds that just didn’t work out. Rose after rose after rose can get SO repetitive!

But hey, even with the lack of roses, I’m in love with this cake and I can’t wait to try it. I used an altered recipe for this one. It’s based off of my maraschino cake, but without the cherries and juice. I wanted a fluffier cake than the two-egg cake. It was complicated, the changes I made, so I hope it still tastes right! They were similar recipes to begin with, so we’ll see what happens when we cut into the cake!

Apr 25

Fashion Star: Episode 7

Kara Larick’s suit was baggy. It looked like it was 3 sizes too big on all of the models. And long. I was betting someone was going to buy it – most likely Saks. And after a ridiculously long wait, they of course paid $100,000 for it. Only problem is that no one else wants to buy from her, which is a big part of the competition… I guess? They’re selling separates – $140 for the baggy plaid shorts, $350 for a baggy three button jacket, and $195 for baggy pants. Saks never sells out of their buys, so they should still be available. Or you can just buy some pants 3 sizes to big and buy a belt.

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I may receive compensation.

Macy’s

Ronnie Escalante’s dress was very interesting. I love the back of the dress and it would fit right in at Macy’s, so when they made the purchase, I was really excited. My mom fell in love with it, and it’s very pretty. These companies do appear to be raising their prices on the clothes from this show. Where they started offering dresses for $79, this dress is now $169.

H&M

Orly Shani really should have stayed away from what she thought looked like chicuita banana. The draping was super weird and unflattering. And of course she got offers from both Saks and H&M. She ended up at H&M for $70,000, where they’re selling it for $35.95. I really really hate this dress.

Conversely, I sort of love Luciana Scarbello’s dress. I like the shiny, mini dress, and I’d totally wear it to the club. I don’t really know how I feel about the puffy hip, so I’m glad that it was removed for the final dress, but the fabric that H&M picked is disappointing. I was excited about the big, statement flower in the model dress, and they changed the print to a smaller flower print. It takes the high quality looking dress and makes it look like something you can get at Kmart. I’d never pay the $39.95 that they’re asking for what they’re offering, even though I loved what Luciana came up with.

There weren’t any clothes that screamed amazing to me that didn’t get bought. I was honestly more disappointed by what was purchased than what wasn’t. Sarah went home, which wasn’t too surprising. I thought it was going to be Ross, but what they said about her not selling to more than one company was true.

By the way, if you’re looking for some more stylish, on budget, in stock dresses, I have to suggest the Amazon Dress Shop.

Apr 24

Vegas Baby! Miracle Mile Shops and The Walk Back

After leaving Paris at around 6, we walked over to the Miracle Mile shops. The designer shops were getting a bit old at this point, considering I couldn’t buy anything (except an overpriced chai at Starbucks with my gift cards) but of course I had to take the gratuitous ceiling shot. Hundreds of crystals hung from fishing line in the shape of a ball. I die. I want this in my house.

Our next stop was the Sugar Factory. There’s a few in the city, but this was the one actually on Las Vegas Boulevard. I’m a pretty big fan of sugar, and I wish we would have stopped in the restaurant for a bit, because I’m sure it’s amazing, but the shop was good enough for me.

I’d been considering buying a couture pop all day. And the day before. They’re adorable and very cute and I’ve liked them since I saw them on You’re Cut Off on MTV a while ago. I ended up buying this one and a 3 pack of refills. I was eating it in the airport and people kept looking at me. I’m perfectly happy with that.

As the night got darker, the street lit up and it started to rain. It wasn’t too bad and made for some pretty cool shots.

I didn’t realize that there’s an elevator in the Coke bottle. I plan to go up the next time I go. Because I will go again. Have I mentioned that I loved Las Vegas?

Everything lit up at night is gorgeous. The lights are constantly moving and it’s crowded and awesome.

I’m sad to see my trip series end. I loved this trip and I loved sharing it with you. I know I’ve said it before, but I hope to go to Chicago and New York very soon, so I’ll share those after they happen.

Apr 23

Rose Cake

I was commissioned to do a cake for my mom today. Mostly, she wanted to take it to work and peddle my wares, but she’s also using it as a thank you gift to the union at work. She told me I could do whatever I wanted, so I did a little searching on pinterest and Google and came across this cake that I really liked. So I thought I’d do something like it.

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I may receive compensation.

This was my first time using parchment triangles, and I must say, Wilton parchment triangles SUCK. The parchment is too thin and gets holes very easily. Before getting the holes I liked them, but I was very disappointed. And my mom said they never used to be like this.

Moody lighting switch. Obviously my cake isn’t identical to the other cake. I have less flowers on mine, but I think more wouldn’t look as nice.

I think this would be a great, easy cake to make for Mother’s Day if you like making roses. Which I do. Although, I did realize on this cake that I need to make a slightly thinner frosting for the roses to come out smooth. Live and learn.

Speaking of Mother’s Day, if you’re still looking for a great gift for you mom, you should definitely check out Amazon:

 

Apr 20

Vegas Baby! The Bellagio and Paris

Our next stop in Vegas was the Bellagio. On our way in was a corridor of shops with a beautiful glass ceiling that I fell in love with.

My brother’s girlfriend spotted these bags and pointed out how she thought I’d like them. She really had no idea how amazing I thought they were. I loved them so much that I went into the Prada store and asked to see them. They were in a case towards the back of the store, which should have told me something to begin with. When I asked to see one of them, the woman pulled out the small bifold wallet and handed it to me. It was the softest leather I’d ever touched and it was beautiful. It turned out to be lambskin. And also almost $900. I thought I might die. I loved it so much.The ceiling in the lobby of the Bellagio was awesome. It looked like blown glass but we figured it was probably plastic to keep from falling.

This is just a preview of the flowers that fill the Bellagio. It’s lush and amazing and I fell in love immediately.

There are even BEES made from carnations!

The room was designed in honor of the tulip festival. There was a huge clog in the middle of the room, a ton of tulips, hyacinth, foxglove, poppies… I wanted to roll around in it and pretend I was in a field of flowers. I might have a problem.

This was one of the coolest things in the room. The flowers are actually planted in the back of the frame. Like one of those logos you used to see in front of gas stations in movies. Awesome.

I had to get a shot of the Rolex clock in front of the jewelery store in the Bellagio. How posh. I would love to stay in the Bellagio, for just one night.

Of course, we kept entering the hotels from the back, so when we left, we saw this:

I really love the painting above the door.

We watched the Bellagio fountain show, which was good (more on that later) but were more amused by the duck living in the pond who flew away at the sound of the clock signaling the start of the show.

Next, we headed over to Paris. Chris wanted an Eiffel Tower cup from the restaurant, and I wanted to go up in the tower. Of course, Chris didn’t get his cup (I got him a shot glass) but I did get to go up in the tower.

The whole theme was very Moulin Rouge. The clam shell and the cabaret sign… oh I just loved it all.

The inside looks like a poorly lit day in Paris. I especially liked how the feet of the tower actually went through the roof. It’s not detached – that’s actually a hole in the roof with the leg of the tower. Although I’m sure there’s weatherproofing installed somewhere.

More ceiling shots. This is in the lobby. I wanted to steal a chandelier.

Up in the tower, you can see across the city in to the mountains. There are portholes to take pictures out of, and I ended up doing a number of panoramas, which I of course can’t feature here because of their width. I would absolutely suggest going up in the Eiffel Tower when you’re in Vegas. And now I want to go to France and go up in the tower there. And just about any tower. Anywhere. Ever.

I can see my hotel from here!!

We didn’t realize until we went up, but we were right on time for another Bellagio show. They used a song from Pavarotti this time and it was lit up and beautiful. Way more than My Heart Will Go On that we saw before.

The next time you’re in Las Vegas, you HAVE to go up in the tower. It’s a little freaky if you’re afraid of heights, but there’s a cage around the whole thing so there really is nothing to worry about. Honestly, the glass elevator is scarier than the actual experience! And being able to see the whole of Las Vegas is the amazing. The Bellagio fountain is breathtaking.

I’ll be wrapping up my Las Vegas trip on Tuesday (I know, you’re so disappointed!) but hopefully this is just the beginning of the trips I’ll be taking. I never really enjoyed vacations until I went on this one, and it made me realize why. Hopefully I’ll be going to Chicago soon (I’ve never been in the summer and I’d like to go get a hot dog from a street vendor) and I really want to go to the Caribbean and Miami. Hopefully I won’t get ear infections from flying when I go on those trips though.

Apr 19

Vegas Baby! The Mirage and Caesar’s Palace

Well, this isn’t what you were expecting on a Thursday, was it? I got tired of sharing pictures of icing flowers and not cakes. There’s only so many things you can really say about the same flowers. BUT there will be two cakes next week, so you’re not missing out on anything!

I shared a little bit about our second day in Vegas on Monday, but we packed so much into the day, it would have been way too much in one post! After we left Harrah’s, we headed over to The Mirage.

We had every intention of going to see the dolphins in Siegfried and Roy’s Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat. On the way there, there was some awesome statues and fountains.

 

 

I thought I’d play with the settings on my camera a bit, and then couldn’t decide which way I liked better. I ended up taking two shots of every fountain from this point on – one with a long shutter and one with a quick shutter. I really love frozen water, but the way it looks when it’s blurry and falling is so awesome.

 

If you’ve ever been to the mirage in Las Vegas, you’ll notice that this elephant is at the exit, leaving to head over to Caesars Palace. Why aren’t there any pictures of the dolphins and the Secret Garden? It’s not because it’s THAT secret ba dum chhh, it’s actually because in order to get into the dolphin habitat and secret garden, it costs $20. TWENTY DOLLARS. We walked up and went “oh hell no” and walked back through. There were a lot of plants and fountains inside the Mirage that I took an awful lot of photos of, but I though 25 was too many for one post as it is.

Across the street from the Mirage is The Forum Shops at Caesar’s Palace, which has the coolest entrance I’ve ever seen.

And the coolest interior I’ve ever seen. It’s a 3 story mall with a fountain (which was off) and a bunch of statues of deities and servants and such. It’s pretty much the coolest “mall” I’ve ever seen.

You see that thing that sort of looks like a spiral staircase behind the griffin? THAT’S AN ESCALATOR.

Oh yeah, and the decor is on par with how awesome this mall is. Marc Jacobs, Prada, Anthropologie. I die.

The statues just get cooler as you go through The Forum Shops. This was a tribute to Bacchus.

This whole statute/fountain (Statain? Fountute?) was a tribute to Jupiter (Zeus. Not my fish), though there’s a restaurant in front of Jupiter, so it was difficult to photograph.

Right around the Jupiter statue is the entrance to Caesar’s, which is almost as cool as the Forum Shops.

Honestly though, my favorite part of all of Las Vegas was the ceilings. I’m dead serious. Look how amazing this is. I want it in my house.

I love this city.

Apr 18

Fashion Star: Episode 6

I wasn’t able to watch last night’s episode because of work, so all I have for you is the highlights of the show.

Saks made one purchase last night, a chiffon dress from Kara Laricks. This was a very girly surprise from her, and I’m a little impressed, though the shaping doesn’t look the best to me. Of course, Saks wants $375 for the thing. I’m also pretty sure it would cut off any normal height person mid-calf, which is just not a good look. I’m not a big fan of Kara’s.

Macy’s made their usual two purchases – a crop jacked from Luciana, and a swimsuit from Ronnie.

Luciana’s crop jacket is very cute. I love the angles and the single front closure. It comes in pink, blue, and what looks like a silvery gunmetal, and has a sort of edge to it. I think Macy’s realized that it could make a ton more money with these because this jacket is selling for $99.

Ronnie’s swimsuit looks really plain to me. The front bit is the only part that makes it unique. I think it would have been way cuter if he’d done sort of a 50′s inspired suit, but I’m a big fan of that style. Macy’s is selling one with turquoise side panels, which I sort of love, but it really is just another swimsuit to me. And for $89, I’ll pass.

H&M made two purchases – Nzamiro’s dress, and Ross’ lingerie set.

Nzamiro made an interesting choice with this one. I think I might thing differently if I saw it on a model, but it looks like something an old woman would wear on a Sunday to a Southern Baptist church. With a big floppy hat. The hat is purple. Anyway, Nzamiro should stick to men’s wear. I know he was supposed to step out of his comfort zone, but I think now he needs to step back into is. For $29.95, there are going to be a lot of very happy Southern Baptist women walking around this Sunday.

Ross’ lingerie set doesn’t scream “out of my comfort zone” to me. It screams “I’m from Texas”, just like all of Ross’ other items. It’s cute, though I’d never ever ever be caught dead in it. The bra is decent, but the panties look very old woman. And the lace in the front looks like it’s yelling “HEY! LOOK AT ME! I’M A VAGINA!” And I’m really not all about that. For $14.95, though, they’re not too bad. Of course, the sizing isn’t in bra sizing, it’s in pant sizing, which means it’s only going to fit B/C cup women to begin with, so I’m out!

Apr 17

Vegas Baby! New York New York, MGM Grand, and Harrah’s

On my second day in Las Vegas, we discovered the tram from the Luxor to the Excalibur, then walked over to the MGM. The fastest way from the Excalibur to MGM is around New York, New York, which has some of the prettiest sights in the city, I think. It’s a small scale replica of New York City with a roller coaster running through it.

Never having been to NYC, I can’t tell you how realistic everything looks, but I love it.

There’s a tribute to the FDNY next to the scale replica of the State of Liberty, and speaker-rocks playing the National Anthem.

The MGM Grand wasn’t so impressive to me because it looks like a slightly larger version of what we have in Downtown Detroit. It was honestly more annoying how long it took to walk through it than it was interesting or impressive.

As soon as you walk into the MGM, there is a Rainforest Cafe, which also would have been more interesting if there wasn’t one at Great Lakes Crossing, a mall a few miles away from my house. I spent a few minutes taking pictures of fish before moving on.

 

On our way to the monorail I saw these awesome magnets that I almost took home, except they were $10 and made me want to eat donuts.

We took the monorail out to Harrah’s (about halfway) where we got off with plans to zigzag our way back through the hotels and casinos. Since we only had 2 days in the city, we wanted to make it more of a sightseeing trip than anything else. Next time I’ll go see shows and spend a little more time in the casino.

Of course, I had to throw in my obligatory “flower” photo.

Harrah’s signs were all pretty cool and flashy. Quintessential Vegas – Neon, flashing, and hard to photograph.

Walking through Harrah’s, we spotted what we thought was a tasty looking ice cream shop called Ice Pan. Unwittingly, we walked up and learned that they were going to make the ice cream RIGHT IN FRONT OF US. I chose green grape ice cream with strawberries (you’ll see what I realized shortly) with low fat milk.

The 3 inch deep pan is -30 degrees Fahrenheit and they use putty knives to slap the milky concoction around until it freezes into ice cream and incorporates air to become creamy. They chop the mix-in while the ice cream is freezing, then freeze it a little more.

They spread it around to speed the process, then scrap it into a pile to scoop into your bowl.

Do you see it yet? Without realizing it, I created my first bowl of Swanky Luv ice cream!! And it was the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted. Fresh fruit, fresh milk. Wonderful. The next time you’re in Vegas. Or Tokyo. Or Tatebayashi, GO. I’m serious. I wish I had the capital to open one in Detroit.

Next to the best ice cream place ever is Toby Keith’s I Love This Barn and Grill (which is also at Great Lakes Crossing – which is a slot machine away from being mini-Vegas) which has the coolest bar idea I’ve ever seen. I’ve always wanted a basement bar with a bubble wall, but after seeing these LED lights behind mason jars, I’ve changed my tune. I want THIS.

One thing I realized while perusing the shops in Harrah’s is that I love Vegas because if I were a city, I would be Las Vegas. There’s so much sparkle and it’s such a big, loud place. They play country songs loudly in the airport. It’s a sun up to sun down sort of place, and I love it. Chicago has nothing on Vegas.

I mentioned yesterday that you might be seeing a lot of photos of ceilings. I took a ton, and didn’t actually realize how much I wanted to say about my trip. This is just the beginning of the series about all of the things that I loved in Vegas and how badly I want to go back. Wednesday and Thursday will obviously be filled with my regular Fashion Star and Wilton posts, but look for more about Vegas over the coming weeks.

I love this place.

Apr 16

Vegas Baby! Luxor and Excalibur

As I mentioned the other day, I took a trip to Vegas this past weekend, and it was AMAZING! I left insanely early Thursday morning, and fell asleep against the window shortly after takeoff (which is apparently the only way I can sleep on a plane) and half an hour later, woke up when the plane dinged, to this sight. Gorgeous.

We arrived in Denver a half hour early, then it was an hour to get into LAS, which was also absolutely gorgeous.

We got an amazing deal at the Luxor, $80 a night plus a $35 meal card, so we stayed there and it was amazing. We stayed in the pyramid, which has elevators that move at an angle up the sides. It’s obviously a themed hotel, just like most of the hotels in Vegas, and the Egyptian theme is pretty cool as it’s brought into the rooms. There are hieroglyphs on the armoires and bed frames, and it looked like a miniature Egyptian desert outside of our room in the hotel. The view outside was beautiful.

I spent most of my first day there in the casino, playing roulette and drinking vodka cranberries (which weren’t THAT watered down)

Of course, the first day there, we went to the More Buffet in the Excalibur, which was the worst buffet I’ve EVER been to. We found two edible things at that buffet – the mini corndogs and the flan. Especially at $16 a head. But the next day we went to the More Buffet in the Luxor, and for the same price, the difference in quality is significant. We couldn’t think of a reason to waste $36 if you’re just going for breakfast and dinner (and why would you need to go more than that?) since you’ll save $1 paying separately, but if you get there at lunch time, I’d just pay for the all day, especially if you’re going to be spending most of the day in the Luxor.

Vegas has some of the coolest decor I’ve seen (you might notice my ceiling obsession in my next few posts)

On the second day, we discovered the tram between the Luxor and the Excalibur (Also, Mandalay Bay) and regretted not finding it the day before since we walked to the MGM in heels.

The Excalibur was built to look like a castle, and has a lot of statues and suits of armor. It’s a very cute hotel and casino, but I’m glad we didn’t stay there. The Luxor seemed like a much classier hotel. And when I told a couple on the plane that I was staying in the Luxor, they thought I payed a lot more than we did.

Late at night, you can see that light from the top of the Luxor from pretty far away. This was about half a mile.

When I left, I noticed these. Every hotel has 3 or 4 exits, and this is what’s at the “taxi and shuttle” exit.

I can’t wait to go back. And hopefully it’ll be sooner rather than later. I have so much more to see – like Old Vegas, some shows, and the Vegas sign. Hopefully next time I can take Chris with me so he can enjoy it too. I fell in love with the city and I can’t wait to go back! Come back tomorrow for more about my trip and some more reviews in Vegas! (Including the best ice cream I’ve ever had)

Apr 06

Asparagus Frittata

Pinterest makes me do wonderful, wonderful things. Sometimes evil, but mostly wonderful. Yesterday I made one of those wonderful, amazing things. When I saw this baked asparagus frittata recipe over onCookie and Kate, I knew that I had to make it. And it was fate when I realized that I had everything I needed for the recipe. Including green onions (which I substituted for the shallots)

And because I bake a TON and it’s Easter this weekend, we had 2 dozen sale-eggs so I didn’t feel bad about using 6 eggs.

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Because that’s what this recipe uses. SIX eggs. But it also makes six servings, so it’s really not so bad. It calls for crumbled goat cheese and I had a tube of cheese, so I crumbled it myself. With a knife.

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It’s a pretty simple recipe, and I’m a huge fan of simple recipes, especially when you use three dishes for the whole thing. And when part of your prep is done during the first half of cooking. Big fan. This took be under 30 minutes from start to finish to make, and it’s beautiful and delicious.

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And the parchment paper liner also really helped cleanup, although you have to be more careful than I was. You can sort of see below in the bottom corner where the egg leaked behind the top layer of paper. It slid right out, though.

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The smell is indescribable. I think the beauty of it came from the mixture of dijon mustard and goat cheese.

 

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This was truly an incredible meal (well, meals) and I would recommend it to anyone looking to make a cheap, amazing dish. Especially if you’re looking to serve on Easter.

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For all of the non-vegetarians out there, I would absolutely recommend a little bit of ham chopped up and mixed into this. I really wouldn’t add anything else because I’d be afraid of bastardizing the flavors, though.

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Go to the store right now and buy yourself a dozen eggs for 99 cents. I’ve seen asparagus on sale this week too. Seriously. Right now. Go.

Why are you still here and not at the store?