Friday 5 - Mostly tulip pictures

Friday 5 is a weekly linkup with Emmy Mom.  It's a fun way to end your week - 5 facts and 5 pictures from the last 7 days.  This week's co-host is Mary from a Mighty Tower.

1.  As I look outside at the drizzling rain this morning I'm very very afraid that Emma's scheduled driver's test is going to be cancelled.  It's not the end of the world but I know she's going to be disappointed and I was hoping her getting her license would end the days I have to be in 2 places at once.

2.  I'm trying to clean up my blog list in Feedly.  I'm following to many and starting to miss the ones that I really enjoy because I have so much to get through.  The problem is when I click on one to remove it I see a bunch of interesting looking posts and think - Oh I can't possibly delete this one.  It's a problem.

3.  The Tornado has been in full tornado mode lately.  I don't know if it's the fact that the weather's finally nice enough to go outside or what but he's been a super silly boy lately.  Yesterday he announced that since we didn't have to go anywhere at all he wanted to watch Clone Wars all day.  I thought an entire day spent lying around and reading sounded nice so I agreed to it.  It lasted a few hours and then he had a meltdown because he needed to do something.  He and J are so much a like sometimes it's scary.

4.  The tulips are in bloom!  I love this time of year!  Apparently the first fall the house was here the original's owner planted over 250 daffodil and tulip bulbs and a housewarming gift and they're still showing up.

5.  I'm still loving Dancing with the Stars!  Ice skater Charlie is just adorable and I love Danica McKeller.  I always seem to root for the guys in the show though I'm somewhat confused by Cody Simpson.  They've said he's a pop star but they spend more time talking about the number of twitter followers than anything else.  This week was the most important year dance and I always get a little teary eyed during the stories.  I'm a sympathetic cryer.  In general I don't really cry but if someone else starts crying I start.  It's annoying.  So I'd gotten teary eyed and then Amy Purdy told her story and I was openly weeping.  I've been impressed with her since the beginning of the season but the whole story of how she lost both her legs and persevered was so emotional.

 Got myIreland box yesterday!  It's amazing!  So love this subscription.

Playing outside in the sun

Week 38 Cupcake - Chocolate Cookie Dough

The past few weeks I've been pretty self indulgent with deciding what cupcakes to bake.  My family isn't big on baked goods because they're weird so I was staying with cupcakes that I thought sounded good and maybe a batch of 12.  I decided to be nice and give them another try with this Chocolate Cookie Dough Cupcake.  It's from Your Cup of Cake which is my favorite site for cupcake recipes.  I also have her book which is great too.  I can' think of a single bad cupcake I've made following her recipes.  This one was no exception.

1. Source:  Your Cup of Cake

2. Ease of Recipe (1 being cake mix/canned icing - 5 tons of steps and very time consuming): 2 - this is a doctored cake mix and I didn't even have to get out my hand mixer.  The frosting was a little more complicated but not too bad.

3. Changes Made:  I did make a few changes with the frosting.  She had put a note on the recipe that the proportions may have to adjusted to get the ideal cookie dough texture and taste.  I only used 1 cup of powdered sugar and added an extra tablespoon of brown sugar and about 1/4 teaspoon vanilla.  I also incorporated about 1/3 of a cup of mini chocolate chips into the frosting.  Instead of regular yogurt or sour cream I used Greek yogurt thinned with a little extra milk because that's what I had on hand.

4. Problems:  None

5.  Overall Impression:  The cake is amazing - rich and chocolate-y but still light and fluffy.  It's pretty much everything a chocolate cupcake should be.  I can't imagine a frosting this wouldn't work with.  I loved the buttery-ness of the frosting itself.  She always seems to do a good job of getting the balance of sweet to fat right in her frostings.  I'm just not sure if this is my favorite cookie dough style frosting.  It's really good but I guess I like the ones that mimic the texture of actual cookie dough a little better while this is more of a hybrid dough/frosting.  That being said - it's light, fluffy, silky with a nice amount of sweetness mixed with the brown sugar and vanilla flavorings of cookie dough.

6. Quantity:  24

7. Make Again?:  Yes definitely.  This may be my new standard chocolate cupcake recipe.

Birchbox Review - March

Birchbox has been about lukewarm for me lately.  Nothing particularly exciting or interesting.  So I was really thrilled when this month's box arrived and I really liked it!  Hopefully the past few months have just been a little slump and we're back on track with fun boxes.

 This month's theme is Spring Forward and is  supposed to be about products that make life easier.  Not sure if this is true but I do like the products I got.

 Curly Hair Solutions Curl Keeper - While this didn't make my waves look more like curls it did a good job as a styling lotion.  It kept the frizz away and didn't weigh my hair down.  It came in a cardboard packet but there's a lot in the packet.  While I do wish it was in something resealable only a small part of the packet is open so it's not that difficult to store.

 INIKA Certified Organic Eyeliner in Green Lagoon - This is a full sized product and I love the little sharpener that attaches to the pencil.  The green color is gorgeous but I have had a hard time making this actually show up.  Definitely need to play with this a little more.

 Jergens BB Body Cream - I've seen ads for this and was really excited when I saw this travel sized tube in the box.  It's a good cream.  Slightly pigmented but not enough to stain clothes.  It's moisturizing and doesn't leave a residue.  I haven't used it the full 5 days to see full benefits but it's a nice cream and I'll definitely be using it.  It came with a $2 off coupon which is also really great.

 Supergoop Sunscreen Serum - I was really excited to see a Supergoop product in my box.  I've heard about this brand but have never gotten any of their products. This serum is nice and lightweight.  It didn't irritate my skin or have any kind of unpleasant residue.  I'm not using it everyday right now because my skin is dry so I'm using a serious moisturizer but when it warms up a little and the humidity makes my skin less dry this will be my go to product.

And finally - Juliette Has a Gun Not a Perfume (White Bottle) - I have no idea what this perfume is actually called so I'll use all the words on the bottle.  I love getting perfume samples in my boxes and this was not an exception.  I love this perfume!  It's subtle without disappearing.  It's clean but still has warmth.  This is definitely a perfume I'll be purchasing.

I'm really pleased with all my items this month.  Birchbox is $10/month with a great rewards program.  You get 10 points for every product review you do and 100 points = $10 to spend at birchbox.com.

Sluggish Sunday

This was actually Thursday the day after we got back but the sentiment is the same.  I'm tired and not particularly inspired to do any project or anything creative.  There is laundry to be done, a few posts to be written and a little cleaning to be done.  J has come down with a cold that he is completely ignoring and I'm trying to fight it off because I'm not quite as tough as he is so I'll be drinking some green tea and hoping that will give my immune system a bump.

This month I only went thrifting once.  I had a fantastic time and got a few sweaters but didn't write anything down.  This week nothing got cooked except for fajitas.

Yesterday I had lunch with the mother of Emma's new boyfriend?  guy she's dating?  I don't know and I'm doing my best not to worry about it.  Both the boy and the mother are very nice but it was a lot of talking.  I'm mostly an introvert with a tiny portion of extrovert and the extrovert has fulfilled it's quota for the week.  Starting tomorrow we go back to our normal routine and I'm hoping for a quiet week where I can get caught up on everything.

Friday 5 - Recovering from Vacation

This is a fun meme hosted by Emmy Mom.  5 facts and 5 pictures from your week.  This week we went on vacation and not just any vacation a spontaneous vacation.  Like all last week I didn't think we were doing anything and then on Thursday I said lets go to my grandparents and I packed up the car and Emma, Paul, the Tornado and myself headed down to south Mississippi.  I'm not spontaneous at all.  I have a spreadsheet for just about everything so this was huge for me!  Anyway - my 5 facts from the week!

1.  Traveling with a 4 year old is not particularly relaxing especially when you're the only adult. I've felt like I needed a nap since we got home.

2.  Emma went on a date yesterday with a guy she met at work.  He seemed very nice and polite and even opened the car door for her but I was a nervous wreck most of the day.  This is the first date she's been on with someone I didn't know.  At some point I supposed you have to trust your kid's instincts but it's challenging.

3.  We all had a great time in Mississippi.  My grandparents live on some land and we spent the week tearing around on 4 wheelers and motorized scooters.  Paul and Emma spent a lot of time at a nearby river and the Tornado and I played games and chalk and ran around with the dogs.

4.  I'm loving Dancing With the Stars this season.  It's total indulgence and just fun to watch.  I love Erin Andrews since I watched her compete the very first season I watched and she's great as a co-host.  Plus she can actually do an interview which is a nice change from Brooke Burke whatever who just spent a lot of time smiling awkwardly.

5.  The Tornado is having seasonal allergy issues and is driving me insane.  Every time he sneezes he goes completely to pieces especially in any got on his shirt or pants.  I'm glad that zyrtec makes an allergy medicine for his age group or I'm not sure what I'd do.

Crossing the Alabama/Mississippi State Line.  

The Tornado running - that's pretty much what he did the entire time we were there.

This is Smudge.  Someone dumped her when we were there last spring break and Emma and I managed to get her out of the garage.  She's been living happily inside ever since and is actually a pretty good cat which is high praise.

 This is the biggest dog I've ever seen trying to help the Tornado with chalk.  He's another animal someone dumped when he was a puppy who managed to land in the right place.  We think he's a mastiff/St. Bernard/bloodhound mix.  He's huge and just about the sweetest dog I've ever seen.

This is how we spent yesterday - in pajamas and not doing much of anything!  It was nice.

Week 37 Cupcakes - Easter Funfetti

These cupcakes got made for 2 reasons.  The first is that I got back in town yesterday and I'm tired and kind of out of food.  The second is that these are J's absolute favorite cupcakes ever.  Seriously.  I've made at least 100 different types of cupcakes and his favorite come directly from a box.  To add on to that when the Tornado had one he told me that these were the best cupcakes he'd ever had.  These people are hopeless.  I have actually made funfetti cupcakes before during the previous 36 weeks but they were a different color scheme and therefore not the same thing.

1. Source:
2. Ease of Recipe (1 being cake mix/canned icing - 5 tons of steps and very time consuming): 1 because it was a cake mix and canned icing

3. Changes Made: None because it was a cake mix and canned icing.

4. Problems:  None because it was a cake mix and canned icing (are you sensing a theme?)

5.  Overall Impression:  Well these are a cake mix and canned icing so pretty much what you'd expect.  The cake is light and fluffy and the icing is sweet though has that funny aftertaste that the icing always has.  For some reason I can 't stop eating them so I'm guessing whatever it is is very addictive.

6. Quantity:  18 - I always overfill

7. Make Again?:Yes.  They're extremely addicting and really cute.  Plus I think J may mutiny if I stopped making them.

10 Smiles in the Month of March

This is a linkup with Emmy Mom about 10 things that made me happy this month!

1.  Finally getting a smart phone!  I love love love my iPhone and the camera makes it about 100 times easier to take pictures of things and then be able to see what they are.

2.  Golden Tote arrived!  I got the bigger tote and it's fantastic as you can tell by the review yesterday!

3.  We got a new mattress!  It's heavenly to be sleeping on a flat service though it's a little disorienting to not be able to tell where you are on the bed based on the slant of the mattress.

4.

He discovered garden stores aren't so bad.

5. 

It's finally been warm enough to play outside lately!

6.  

My daffodils are blooming!

7.  

Cadbury eggs!  I hoard these when they go on sale

8.  It's been a great month for subscription boxes!  Ipsy, Birchbox and Golden Tote were great and I also got MyIreland and Target's limited edition Beauty box.

9.  J, the Tornado and I went on a spontaneous day trip and had such a good time.

10. Am completely 100% caught up on laundry!  It's kind of a weird feeling.