Gimme a break...

HEY!

I'm taking a little break to re-focus.

I'm juggling a lot right now 

(and I don't even have kids yet!  YIKES!) 

and important things are kind of  

slipping to the wayside.

 

SO, 

[in an effort to re-prioritize and run things smoothly]

I'm putting some stuff on hold 

[like, um... blogging] 

until I can figure out my  

NEW GROOVE.

 

In the  meantime, though, I'll still be checking out your blogs and seeing what's up.

And besides, if you really miss me, you can always reach me

[HERE]

♥

The Fame... It's Going to My Head...

Um, so I know I'm no celebrity, but there's something about being asked for advice that makes me feel super important.  

Like I'm some sort of ZENITH of knowledge.

A wealth of information.

A source of all there is to know.

The end-all be-all of ---

OK, do you get the point yet?   

Can I let my big head deflate now?

Last week, Amber of Amber's Life sent me an email asking me if I had a good recipe for red velvet cupcakes.

Do I have a good recipe for red velvet cupcakes?

Uh...

Does Gertie Rock?  Does doing taxes stink?  Are Reality TV shows overrated?

 [answers: yes, yes, and double yes]

You get my point.

 So yes, I had a recipe to share with her as well as my own recipe for cream cheese frosting.

Here's what she came up with:

Look at these little beauties!  

Look how RICH and RED they are!!

Ohhhhh... that's what a red velvet should look like...

Here they are iced:

Mmmm... word on the streets is that these suckers didn't last long...

Check out the sweet little sprinkles she found to put on top:

Awwww...

♥

Thanks for petting my ego making my day, Amber!! 

(And hey, if any of you get a chance, go check out her blog Designs by Amber, too.  She's so talented!)

I'm Really Loving It.

 It's Monday night, I'm watching Cake Boss, and I'm thinking over and over again how happy I am about my new job.

In case you haven't heard, I finally got a job and --as if that weren't great enough-- it's AT A BAKERY.

DOES IT GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS!?

It's a sweet, family-run bakery where the owners are really invested in the  

happiness♥

of not only their customers but their employees, too.

Everyone works together as a team.

Everyone's having fun.

It can get really busy

(as was evidenced by the trial-by-fire I experienced this past Valentine's week)

but there's just something about helping people find

exactly what they're looking for

that makes for a really satisfying feeling.

Tomorrow begins Week 2.

I'll let you know how it goes!

Mustache Monday - Puss in 'Stache

Meet Gertie.

Gertie is a cat.

Gertie is Lauren's cat.

Good cat, Gertie.

See Gertie.

See Gertie play.

Play, Gertie, play!

Gertie is tired.

See Gertie snuggle.

 Snuggle, Gertie, snuggle!

Gertie has style.

Gertie sports a 'stache.

Sport that 'stache, Gertie, sport that 'stache.

Gertie rocks.

This Kinda Love

In light of Valentine's Day coming up, 

I've been thinking a lot about LOVE

♥

When we talk about love,

we're typically talking about the

{love between two people}

Between parent and child,

between siblings,

between husband and wife,

between friends...

But how often do we stop to think of the love that our furry friends have for us?

This video brought tears to my eyes.

Look how happy this dog is that his master is home!

What a beautiful thing :)

♥

Wouldn't you like to share

THIS KINDA LOVE?

I might actually have a future after all.

 I am SO tired.

But I am so happy.

I had such a great first day of work.

I think I found it, guys.

I think I found  

where I belong.

[[My dream job]]

I am so happy.

And just to think...

a mere two weeks ago,

this was me:

©David Cowles

Me + Bakery = ♥

My Valentine's Day Blind Date

BAM.

Aside from munching on See's chocolates and snuggling with my honey, THIS is what I'm doing for Valentine's Day.

Yep, a Valentine's Day Gift Exchange!  

Thanks to Holly Noelle (the Domestic Dork)'s  amazing matching abilities, I got paired with Lauren of The Little Goat.  Lauren's this spunky, fun, eclectic blogger from NorCal who's got all sorts of fun stuff going on on her blog.

For example:

♥  She just got engaged...

♥  She has an Etsy shop...

[and]

♥  Every now and then, if you're lucky, you'll get to read a post by her fiance, Mick

Since I had only just met Lauren and didn't know much about her, I set out to reading some of her posts to get a better idea about who she is.

First, I found this post that she wrote about her new-found love of houndstooth.

"Hmm..." I thought, "That hat up there has a little heart on it... Would that make a good Valentine's Day gift...?"

"Nah."

It just wasn't quite right.

So I read on.

And I checked out her store.

And I saw this. 

"QUE????" I asked myself, before quickly reminding myself that I don't speak Spanish.

She likes mustaches??  This is awesome!  This is great!  I like her already!!

But then I couldn't find anything with mustaches on it that seemed appropriate for Valentine's Day.

:-/

I had to keep reminding myself that this wasn't supposed to be just a regular shmegular present.

Blah.

So I went back to her blog.  And I read further.  And then...

...then, my friends...

I found this (on this post here):

Isn't it GLORIOUS!?  

Oh it's so fantastic I can't help myself -- I want it for ME!  

ME ME ME!!

But sadly thankfully I had someone else to buy it for.  So I did.  I bought it for her.

HER HER HER!!

And I hope she likes it.

And I think she will.

And I think you should go check her out, because, well, she's pretty neat.

She might even be worthy of a mustache ;)

No promises, though!