Stuff

First and foremost, let me say...happy birthday to Bearette!! I am sorry we could not make it to the party, but I promise to buy you a ridiculously decadent dessert when you come to visit in September.

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So tomorrow is my last day at my job, and I'm taking a couple of days off before I start the new one. Thursday I am going to get a haircut and mani/pedi. Friday, I'm getting an oil change for the car. Can you stand the excitement? :) Actually, I might take N to the lake or state park one of the days so that we can hang out and go for a nice walk. Depends on the weather though! I think it might rain Thurs or Fri.

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So I was googling to look for some (easy) directions on how to make a diaper cake. Not being crafty and all, I need directions that a child could follow. Has anyone ever done this, and if so, I'd love some advice!!! There are a lot of things out there and I just can't make sense out of anything. This should not surprise anyone who knows me.

Maybe I should just see if I can buy one already made, but where is the fun in that?

I can't sleep.

Now that the cat has woken me to feed him, I can't sleep so I figured I would check my email and pick up around the house. You can see what I felt was the bigger priority here. :)

I really can't wait to get through this week. It's been the week from hell. At least I have a fun weekend to look forward to! Friday night, I'm going out with the girls to celebrate at the Melting Pot. I am excited - we went there for Mel's b-day and it was delicious and a great time was had by all. Since I don't have to drive, I plan to have a few glasses of wine!

Saturday I have a Tastefully Simple party. I just hope it's not too hot as our central a/c installation keeps getting pushed back. Oh well. I may just have to break out the blender and make some frozen drinks to keep people cooled off.

Do you notice a theme here? Did I mention it's been the week from hell?

Yummy Yummy Cupcakes!

Today, my coworker made these cupcakes for me...y'all know what today is, don't you?!?!?! They were OUT OF THIS WORLD. I've had 2 so far, the first one at 10 am. Heck, I can eat whatever I want today!!! :)

Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar 2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk, shaken, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
• 2 tablespoons brewed coffee
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup good cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• Kathleen's Peanut Butter Icing, recipe follows
• Chopped salted peanuts, to decorate, optional

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and 2 sugars on high speed until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes. Lower the speed to medium, add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, and coffee. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. On low speed, add the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture alternately in thirds to the mixer bowl, beginning with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture. Mix only until blended. Fold the batter with a rubber spatula to be sure it's completely blended.

Divide the batter among the cupcake pans (1 rounded standard ice cream scoop per cup is the right amount). Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pans, and allow to cool completely before frosting.
Frost each cupcake with Peanut Butter Icing and sprinkle with chopped peanuts, if desired.

Kathleen's Peanut Butter Icing:

• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/3 cup heavy cream

Place the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

It's a rough day...

I have been up since 3 am and this day has felt eternally long. Is it 5 yet?

I was sleeping very peacefully, but before going to bed I must have mistakenly turned the baby monitor to volume 10. At 3 am, I heard N making noises, but at high volume it sounded like a monster breathing down my neck. Needless to say, I jumped a mile and couldn't get back to sleep, so I went downstairs with the monitor and watched 2 episodes of Cold Case that I had DVR'd. Then, I took a shower and got dressed for work and woke the baby at 5 am so I could feed her.

The amusing part about all of this is that M never even budged with the noise. Not even a twitch. Either he is deaf or chooses to ignore because I am there and he knows I'll get up.

Hmph.

I don't really know why I'm so anxious to have the workday over right now...I have an unpleasant task waiting for me at home. I need to scrub the kitchen floor. It's a disgrace. If I wasn't having a gathering on Sat, I'd probably blow it off for now. At least if I do the hard work now, I can just do a quick touchup on Saturday morning.

You won't believe this!

I went out on a limb, and bought a dress this week. M is taking me to dinner for my b-day so I thought it might be nice to wear something other than black pants (or black capri pants...). I saw it in the window of Ann Taylor Loft so I took a chance and tried it on. It looked really cute and different, so I bought it! What do you think??

It's so nice to start the day with this face!

Dang!

Christina won Hell's Kitchen last night!! Darn it all...now I have to wash both cars. I'm waiting till the weekend though. Maybe the rain that is coming will loosen the sap that is cemented on...ugh!

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N's 3 month pictures are online at the photographer's website. They are too cute! If you are interested in seeing them I'll be glad to forward the link. I am excited to get more taken in September, when she will be 6 months old.

So excited!

I am thrilled to get positive feedback from J & P - the couple for which I took engagement photos a few weeks ago. I am photographing their wedding in October - my first solo gig.

I may post a few pictures from the engagement session here, but I have to ask them if it is okay first. I am slowly but surely building my portfolio! I may consider building a separate blog for the photography things. Opinions?

%^&$%&$& Tourists!!

I left work a bit early today so that I could pick up N from daycare. Since I'm still in the city I have to take the train home, which means leaving enough time to get to the station to get on the train. It takes about 10 minutes to walk there, but that is at a fast clip with no obstacles.

How soon I forget. It's summer. And the area in which I work is rife with people. People upon people upon people. Ridiculous. They should have a fast lane for the people who work in the building so we can get our business done quickly. Why hasn't anyone suggested this yet???

Oh, hell...I don't care...I only have 10 more days to deal with this. At least I ended up making the train on time and collected my very happy, smiling baby. And now I am very happy and smiling because she is sleeping very peacefully.

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Tonight, the Hell's Kitchen finale is on. I really hope Petrozza wins because M and I made a bet. If I win, he has to wash both cars, inside and out. If he wins, I have to do it.

I really do not want to do this task. Please, Petrozza ...win tonight!!!! :)

I was just thinking about how anti-social we have been this weekend. We really didn't do too much with other people, with the exception of visiting the in-laws yesterday, which was nice. We thought several times about inviting some friends over, but the weekend has just escaped us.

I did take N for a nice long 3 mile walk today. She loves her Bob stroller and I think she would hang out in it all the time if we let her. It's like a Lexus for babies.

We are thinking of taking a plane trip to visit my brother-in-law so N can meet her cousin, who is 8 months old. Not that she will remember anything, but it's an excuse to see them. We haven't seen our niece since Christmas and I am sure she has changed so much since then!!! Not sure how the traveling will go with a baby, but I'm willing to try it. M is very nervous about it, but I think we can pull it off. Might as well do these things now while we don't have to pay for a plane ticket for her!!

Ranting and Raving

I took this video the other day of N ranting and raving :) Cute, isn't it? She was happy until the end, when I started to lose her - you can tell that she is about to erupt.

I feel like she almost said "Yeah" the other day, but I am not sure...I feel like she will talk early though. Time will tell!

Stress at Work

Yesterday, I gave my notice at work. I had been debating about what to do as far as returning to my job in Boston. Now that I have N, it's too long of a commute for me so I worried about being able to spend time with her. Fortunately, I have accepted a new position closer to home, which is also a great opportunity for me in terms of career growth. More about that later. But at least the hard part is done! I will miss the people here, but I look forward to the new job!

Hell's Kitchen

Hey, did anyone watch Hell's Kitchen last night? I thought it was the finale last night, but it looks like they managed to stretch out the suspense another week. I was excited that Petrozza won the challenge last night. I like him a lot and I want him to win!!! Christina, while intelligent and a great chef, is way too immature to handle being the executive chef for Gordon Ramsay's new restaurant. Just my .02!!!

Baby Weight

So I went back to work last week and a number of people have commented on how quickly I have lost the "baby weight". I do feel like most of the weight I gained was in my stomach, of course, and I am fortunate that the majority of my pre-pregnancy clothes fit me now. The exception is, of course, any pants that are suitable to wear to work. How frustrating.

I suppose one of the side effects of having a baby is that your hips may be wider than before, which is what my problem seems to be right now. But, since I can't go to work nekkid, I had to go buy some things. So far I have spent $300 on new clothes for work. *SIGH* Oh well.

A resolution I made when going back to work was that I would bring my lunch to work every day. I did well with this for the first 3 days, but woke up late Monday so I only had time to grab breakfast and N on the way out the door so I could bring her to the daycare before I needed to get the train. However, we got takeout from the Cheesecake Factory (yes, not the healthiest option, I agree) and I got the "Incredible Grilled Eggplant Sandwich". It was a toasted brioche bun (I only ate half the bun) with grilled eggplant, melted mozzarella, avocado, and garlic mayo. Yes, it was incredible!! I would definitely get it again.

I did make my lunch for today, though, so I am vowing to stay strong with this. I work in a place where it is too expensive to buy lunch every day, yet I see many people I work with do this. It's an unbelievable waste of money!

I have to go wake up N to feed her before we bring her to daycare. I heard rustlings earlier, but I am getting better at knowing when she is really ready to get up as opposed to just having a dream or something. According to the monitor, she seems to be ready for the day now! :)