Sunshine Cupcakes

So, I made some cupcakes (shocker) to inspire mother nature to give me some Spring. I am really tired of wearing my drab, gray wool peacoat to work, which I have had since 8th grade. So I made funfetti cupcakes, which is fool proof and popular and switched it with the frosting. I used white chocolate that I colored - inspired by my sister and my new favorite treat, Starbuck's cake pops. I brought these cheerful cupcakes to bowling - where they were almost completely devoured, and to work. They were a big hit and a pal at work said if I had a hippie name it would be Sunshine Cupcakes.

                      

Dino Cake

Apologies for the hiatus – this lazy beach girl is adjusting to the 9-5 work life.

The week before I started work I made an amazing cake. I know what you thinking, ‘But, Kerrianne, you always make amazing cakes!’, well this ones was double amazing for a few reasons:

1. Blue inside.

2. Size innovation (made it smaller for 2 people).

3. Reference to all the dinosaurs dying (a.k.a. dinopocalypse).

4. Successful representation of a deadly meteor.

5. I made watermelon martinis with actual watermelon puree.

It was a pretty hard idea to come up with, especially since the gentleman it was for had zero opinion and interests that are hard to put on a cake (comic books, the office, indie bands, flannel shirts – i.e. hipster interests). I was close to doing flannel, but it just isn’t my style. Here is the gloriousness of the dino cake which now graces the home screen of his phone. PS It has also been added into the 'I make stuff' cake album.

Boca

 It is my first day back in the real world, and by real world I mean I am sitting on the couch at 11 AM watching television.  My sister and I spent the past five days at Boca Raton Resort (i.e. The Waldorf something-or-other).

Alberto!

The hotel was very nice, obviously-I mean, it is a Waldorf. Unfortunately with a name like, I had a lot of expectations. Our room was great—as in great location, with a beautiful view. The room was definitely in the best building, I mean, hello…JAY LENO was staying in the tower too.  Our huge, beautiful view had the entire property the ocean, the waterway, and all the manatees in between—literally, manatee sightings. When we were at the pool, people probably thought we were incredibly pensive, back to the pool, looking out on the waterway. But no, we were just looking for manatees, or our favorite lizard, Alberto.

See that guy in the navy suit? It's Mr. Leno

We sat in the same area of the pool everyday, despite almost getting into brawl on Day #2, he result of some of her entitlement issues (probably the only drawback to the hotel, the guest attitudes at times). We split every meal at pool, and got no crap for it. Apparently, we really can do whatever you want at a Waldorf. Our theory was they would never say no, they just might suggest an alternate way to do it – i.e. “ I would like to hire an assassin”, “Well, ma’am, we don’t offer that service but I do respect your wishes. Could I propose toothpaste on the seat prank to save you legal expenses?” Jen and I eventually adapted and were able to take advantage of this; I even sent my breakfast sausage back because it was cold. HOW EMPOWERING! But, really, I used to always make Jen do that stuff, but I guess if your paying for that kind of service, you should take advantage of it. (We were using Hilton points, but no one had to know that).

Along with lacking the sense of entitlement other guests had, we also lacked the wealth, but saved loads more money by bringing our own snacks. LOTS OF SNACKS. The white, stretch limo that picked us up (yeah, I said limo) brought us to the grocery store and liquor store on the way to the hotel. Quite a site, pulling up to a Publix in a limo, and walking out with Cheez-Its and beer. Pure class.

If only we’d had our celebrity sighting when we were in our limo. We saw Michael Lohan. That was more Jen…

“That guys just really stared at us. He looks so much like Mike Cogan”.

“Yeah...what does Mike Cogan look like?”-That’s how far from my head Michael Lohan is. Finally, I figured out who she was talking about, but of course I didn’t believe her, so I decided to prove her wrong, and shouted “LOHAN”, and that man whipped his head around, so I hid under a towel for a half hour. I believed Jen the next three times she saw a celebrity. She saw Donny Deutsch, who I still don’t know.  The best ones were Marimoto, the Iron Chef, and Jay Leno, who actually smiled at Jen when he walked by during breakfast. We ate Marimoto's restaurant there the night before he came ...of course... but the food was delicious. I had spicy shrimp tempura roll and a ginger mango drink. It was awesome, they made the drink with Canton, which I have tried since I worked at a liquor store but never splurged on buying it - it is delicious. Did I say it was delicious yet?

A close second to that meal, was our spa day. We went when it open so we could use the services all day, for me that meant everything: eating the free food, steam room, sauna, inhalation room (no drugs just eucalyptus), and the pool. In the hallway to the door to go out to the pool there was a little table with fresh fruit, lemon and mint water, cucumbers, and cold face clothes. After sitting at the pool and drinking fresh iced tea all day we went in and showered before our ritual bath, and waited in the lounge area (that might have been nicer than our room).  

The treatment started with the steam room, our 'facilitator' took our robes-so yes, we were standing naked in the middle of the hallway-and gave us a cold glass of water and sent us in. The we went to a personal tub, full of bubbles, where we had a cactus face mask, exfoliant, and a yummy little dish of grapefruit sorbet. The next two treatment where like medieval torture methods. I climbed into what look like a well, and had my butt massaged by jets - then she pushed the DELUGE button. Just that word, I have only ever used that for overwhelming quantities of things - like insults or booze. So I felt like I was a protester in the 60s with a fire hose on my back, it certainly loosened my muscles. Next was the Swiss shower, AKA nipple eraser, AKA hell. You stand in a closed chamber with little jets of water that spray really, really, really hard. Its like being sand blasted, and I warn you to cover your sensitive parts if you want to keep them intact. It was especially challenging since I'm short, probably four inches too short-so I also got blasted in the face. No breathing for me. What made it worse was that I couldn't see, but the lady specifically told to press the jet button not the deluge button to stop it - and I couldn't find it. Finally, I escaped and got to go into a big group jacuzzi, just like in Rome (hence 'Ritual Bath'). All in all an exhausting luxurious day. 

Pretty flower from our room service

Off to Boca Raton

Right now, as we speak (ermmm type) I am on my way to NYC on the Amtrak Acela.  Have I ever mentioned how amazing it is? Especially in first class…just look at this meal. Also, when you have ridden this route enough you know which side to side on for the ocean views.

It is just the beginning of my I-got-a-job-and-soon-I-will-work-too-much trip. I am taking the train to New York and leaving with my sister (read her Florida post here) tomorrow morning at 6:45. YIKES. That is an early-ass plane, but that way we’ll be on the beach by Noon, with a margarita by 12:15. The reason I am leaving from NYC, instead of just meeting her there, is that Spirit Air had incredibly cheap flights and a coupon. Spirit Air brings me back to traveling on cheap airlines in Europe, where there are no assigned seats, it is every man for himself, and they gouge you for everything else—including a carry on and likely charge for oxygen.  I was going to bring cupcakes to celebrate her blogiversary, but I figured I would be charged, or other starving passengers would steal them. The irony here is that we are staying a Waldorf Astoria where arriving by yacht is one of the options after directions from the airport.  While being in Boca is preferable to being extremely untrendy in South Beach (I mean, have you seen the trip t-shirts I make for us?), we probably won’t be able to afford a drink at this hotel, and you can assume we will be stealing purse size foodstuffs from breakfast. We might be cheap and wear black, stretchy clothing too much, but we are certainly resourceful.

Just a quick aside—this attendant has a heavy hand when it come to pouring the wine.

That sister I mentioned earlier is a true gem, this trip—especially the amazing hotel part—wouldn’t be possible without her, or at least her Hilton points. She planned the whole thing, though I will take some credit for pushing FLA over Vegas or Napa. The goal ultimately was somewhere warm and relaxing, she needs a break from work and I need to celebrate the last few weeks of my freedom before work.

This trip comes in handy as it knocks off one of my to-dos and wanting to take full advantage of these couple of weeks, I made a list:

1.     Get Jen lunch (She was hungry—we both struggle with rational thoughts when we are hungry)

2.     Go to a show (concert) in Boston

3.     Go on a celebratory trip. This gets checked off and switched to Get a six-pack by Thursday - which, I was already unsuccesful at, unless there is a miracle tonight.

4.     Complete a Paint-by-number

I already finished this one

5.     Do a free hand painting

6.     Learn a song on the guitar

7.     Change my sheets (that one is courtesy of my sister)

8.     Clean my room

9.     Find a nice blazer – like the one’s J. Crew seems to have that you can fold the sleeves up a bit

10. Go to NYC

11. Go to an art museum

12. Make a nice dessert (other than cake and cupcakes)

13. Make a cat t-shirt

14. Take Gladys (the cat) into a store wearing a dress

15. Read a book: I just started reading Let the Great World Spin

16.  Finish/Start a knitting project

17. Find a work purse

18. Find some good loafers

Red Velvet Valentines

Valentines day was wonderful…any excuse for me to decorate cupcakes or cake is a good day in my book. I went all out since I could decorate them however I wanted. Now that I know my full potential I decided to invest in some extra decorations, but I literally had no idea where to get them – so, I obviously turned to Amazon.

First of all, fancy decoration can be pricey, but they are very neat. I wound up with some metallic silver and pink heart sprinkle (more like the consistency of sequins though) and light pink metallic food paint. The paint can apparently be airbrushed, but I really didn’t want to get that involved. SO I used it to mix with some white frosting and brushed it on top after it had hardened a bit. I also used it on my pièce de résistance, the white chocolate hearts.

I got this idea after watching my sister make some nonpareils. First of all you have to work quickly – they aren’t lying when they say chocolate is hard to work with, especially white chocolate. We got our method of dispensing the chocolate from our friend’s blog, Rachel Passing Notes. Basically used regular white chocolate chips and a little shortening, melted them at intervals of 30s at a medium power and them somehow got it into Ziploc baggies that we snipped on of the corners off of. Homemade piping!!! Luckily, I had watched my talented sister fail, so I was prepared for chocolate piping speed.  I made some purple and pink hearts simply by adding some food coloring to the chocolate before I put it in the baggie.  

The first round wasn’t quite as successful, I tried to cut the white chocolate with a cookie cutter, but it was pretty heard to get it at the right consistency, that’s when I just straight-up piped the hearts, and they turned out a little kitschy, but perfect. I admit, this time I used a boxed red velvet mix. The Duncan Hines actually yields more than the regular box, so I got A LOT of cupcakes. For the baby cupcakes I used some frosting left over from another cake, that turned out to fade in the sun – actually looked better. But the end result was AMAZING, if I do say so myself.




I would say my best delivery was to my beautiful sister. She had an early train on Monday so I left her treat where (I hoped) she wouldn't miss it.

And here is a sweet (both meanings) slideshow of my cupcakes. Lucky for you I edited it down from 52. Imagine how many photos there will be when I have children.

Last Day at the Likkah Stoah

 It has happened, nine months after I graduated from college….

I got a job! Did you expect me to say baby? Well, luckily it wasn’t, even though that last week is a bit hazy.  My surprised me with  an awesome (and fitting) mug to put on my desk.

I got an awesome job at an awesome company doing awesome things, it’s gonna be awesome. I gave my two weeks notice to the liquor store, the art center, and the gallery. Yes, three jobs, I tend to overbook myself.  If you haven’t been to Gallery NAGA, on Newbury Street, you should. Not only has it been one of the best jobs, but also it is a great gallery run by great people. Right now there is an awesome show of Peter Vanderwarker’s work. I digress…

Tuesday was my last day at the liquor store, after working there since my senior year of high school.  Working there really is like working with your family, in part because my best friend’s (go here to see her awesome photography) family owns the business. Like any small town business you have your regulars, and your characters that come in (often the same people). My favorite customer, Pete, is a 40 year-old (so he says) mechanic who lives with his elderly parents. He’s one of those people who has lived hard, as in really appreciated the drugs in the 70s (and 80s and 90s probably). He loves NASCAR and all racing, he loves rock n’ roll, he loves questionable jokes and I love him. I probably wouldn’t have loved him if I knew him in his rough and tumble days. Aside from Pete, I get to make fancy designs on the whiteboard when we have wine tastings…oh, and participate in the wine tastings. But, as I worked from 8:45 to 5 (and alone until 2) I thought of some things I wouldn’t miss.

1.   When people say “that was a good year” if the total is $19 and change

2.    When people give me bizarre change in order to get $1.05 back…and they do it after they already          gave me a twenty.

3.   People who walk in and say “I can’t find the….”, without even looking.

4.  Doing bottle returns, especially when they are moldy Coronas with limes from the boaters.

5.   Pervy older men…I don’t think I need to elaborate on that.

6.  Dusting…so much dusting

7.  We have Greek olive oil and sell it in refillable bottles. People try and fill them up to the brim…then they overflow…right at closing time.

8.   People that do loads of lottery, and have extremely complicated directions: ‘back it up’, ‘across the board’, ‘three of this two of those, this game on separate tickets, these repeated 6,782 times”

9.    The dinging sound of the door, I think I’ll continue to get angry whenever I hear that ‘ding-dong’ for years to come.

10.  Children running around the store.

11. Fighting with customers, I might not be the most patient person in retail.

12. People who insist their wine will break if it clanks in the bag and they need 45 bags between each bottle.

I will miss a job where my sister can surprise me with a visit from my cat…my classy, dress-wearing cat.

Mmmm, cake!

Who doesn’t love cake? I actually prefer to bake them, as you’ll see. A Foley Family tradition was started this year – no more buying cakes. First all, you saves loads of money, but there is also something about homemade cakes – even if they are made with funfetti. This new tradition is right up my alley, I love putting things together (i.e. legos) and crafts, this brings together both ‘brains’ so to speak.

It started with my sister, who seems to love rubbing my mother the wrong way. Jen wanted a funfetti cake for her birthday, I was more than happy to oblige. My mother on the other hand NEEDS to buy cakes from White’s Bakery and we have to have a special dinner, but the special dinner has to be on her terms. I distinctly remember asking for Dinty Moore Beef Stew (if you don’t like it, go jump off a cliff) and she refused, because it wasn’t ‘nice’ enough. Karma is a bitch though, because she made American chop suey and as I was putting it on the table, the plate went where it was supposed to, but the suey went on the wall. Inertia is a funny thing.


Anyway, back to cake. It was my mom’s birthday this week and my
sister and I decided to compromise – we wouldn’t force her to have Funfetti, but she wasn’t allowed to have a store bought cake. So I made red velvet her favorite, and my first cake from scratch (aside from angel food cake). It was beautiful…and really, it isn’t so fancy, just loads of food coloring and bit of cocoa powder. I struggled a bit with the design for this, because I just had to trump my last big cake for my brother’s birthday. Jake’s cake had his favorite stuffed penguin on it, definitely a challenge. I love flowers and all, but I needed to open up my repertoire and I like to have each cake specific to the birthday boy or girl. My dad’s was perfect; you’ll see it in the slide show below.

Mom’s cake ended up being lime green frosting, nice and funky with the red velvet, with a camera. My mom loves photography, but it took me quite a while to get that shit on the cake. The end result was really masterpiece; I just sent a picture to the Louvre.

So, it's been snowing a lot

Praise the lord for New England weather. I compiled some of my favorite pictures I've taken from the past storms. I also re-posted the video I made from the first ripper that put my town on television with fires and floading (the only exciting thing that has happened here). I am heading up to Burlington, VT this weekend to visit friends from home that go to school at Champlaine and UVM. I hear its cold up there, so I'll have to actually wear even less attractive winter clothing than in that video. I'm sure Ill have more videos/photos of nasty, snowy, cold weather...and hopefully some good stories. TGIF

Breeding Brilliant

So, what do I love to watch after YouTube videos of cats? YouTube videos of babies...or atleast small children doing stupid and/or adorable things. Here is something I came across today:

Now, I think all people dream of being brilliant, or at least breeding brilliant. I am not one of those people. If I ever had a child who wanted to listen to this much classical music (I can appreciate it in small doses) I would say

“[Instert name here], no. Can’t you listen to some Justin Beiber or Eminem, for CHRISSAKE I am bored”

I also wouldn’t be able to keep up with the kid, aside from being bored by his boring interests, I already struggle when people do dumb crap like giving you 26 cents so they can get $1.05 back. And don’t get me started on helping my little brother with division – those schools and their damn special methods – who divides fractions anyway? My resistance to this may have to do with my challenges tipping waiters.

I want my kids to excel and me amazingly cute geniuses, really I do. But, don’t you run out of things to accomplish? Doesn’t your brain get tired? I was blessed with academic skating skills, as in I could skate through semesters not doing excessive work and get B’s and B+ (how do you plural this) and even an A here and there if it was a subject I liked. My personal favorite was when I was going to end up with a C, which is unacceptable in my house, and I would manage to get it up to an A by the time the report card came out. Keep in mind; I was also president of about every club possible in high school. I am no slacker; I just don’t want to invest my time in things that aren’t worthwhile to me.

When I have kids, I hope they have my selective work ethic and I plan on training them to do things like paint my nails, and imitate dinosaurs, along with things like the video below that will make them YouTube sensations – aided by the strange names I will give them so they will be celebrities and entertain me up for life. Either that, or I’ll channel Ellen and scare the crap out of them while filming.

Cheering Up Jen

My sister and I both need cheering up right now. My big boy Abner the Cat went to cat heaven on Saturday. I don’t think I have written about him much, but I do think its clear I’m a premature cat lady and he was my buddy.

Anyway, after being out sick for a week, and after rough weekend keeping me from falling into depression over Abner, Jen had to go back to work on Monday. As usual, shit happens on the worst days, she got to work late; her badge wasn’t working, etc…So they gave her a temporary badge. I thought it looked boring, so I fixed it. Can you tell which one is the original? And just to be clear, I did morph her into a cat-human.

I decided to take this a step further, and see what would happen if Jen had  a baby with a cat…. By combining this two pictures: 

So, this is what Jen's cat baby would look.  The result is a weird, but still oddly cute kid. I would be proud to be Felix's aunt.

Dunkin Donuts...never again!

I didn’t have time to bring a thermos of coffee to work today, so after I parked behind the classy store I work at (yeah, a liquor store) I walked over to Dunkins before I had to open at 12 o’clock.

For once there isn’t a line, which is great, since I’m in a rush.  Sunday mornings there are two or three big groups of regulars…I know this because I tend to run late on Sundays, so I have to buy coffee.  I don’t know if I have seen the friendly lady behind the counter before, but I will never forget her.

I order my “medium hazelnut hot with skim milk, thank you” and she goes to make  it while three other girls are bustling around replenishing donuts.  They are all giggling about something and the woman comes back with my coffee asking

“Anything else?”

“All set, thanks”

“Would you like donut or a bagel?”

“oh, no thank you”

“No donut?”

“No, I’m all set”

“Oh get a donut”

Is this for real….NO DONUT LADY, NOO DONUT! I try to be nice to people in retail or the food industry because I know what its like. People can be crazy about their liquor.  In this situation, I guess I needed to put my crazy pants on because I ended up with a donut. I still don’t really know how it happened. It must be how kids feel after they have been peer pressured and find themselves with a beer in their hands. But I didn’t have a delicious, ice-cold beer, I had a (likely) old, fatty, undelicious, unwanted chocolate glazed donut. I felt tricked. Of course I ate it. It cost me 89 cents, and I am getting my period, so I really have no ability to resist chocolate right now.  The whole time the other girls were giggling and the lady kept asking reaching towards the donuts, just like a high school dance where you’re not in on the joke.

When I walked back in the liquor store, vulnerable and shaken, I saw a bright red price of a nip of Smirnoff Raspberry, 87 cents, less expensive and more worth my money.  I used to get their lattes too, and they aren’t all bad, the flavor is fine, but they are ALL foam, and even then not filled all the way.

What did I learn today? Get my ass up more quickly so I can make my own coffee, or at least have time to get to Starbucks, whose phenomenal customer service is worth the extra mula. 

Blizzie Vid

As promised, if a bit delayed, here is the link to my groundbreaking coverage of the storm on December 27th put together with some blood, sweat, and iMovie.



I have to go watch Ellen now.