Flirty 'Lil Cake Pops

Valentine's Day is sneaking up on us, isn't it now?

 Well, Beau and I never really do anything too exciting for this Hallmark holiday... but I figured this year we should.  If it's going to be a holiday, why don't we get all mushy and celebrate it anyways?  I keep reminding him to make a reservation the weekend before Valentines at this neat little restaurant in downtown Pensacola.  Every one raves about it.  However I'm always skeptical about restaurants... and rightly so... I'm just a better cook!  Not to toot my own horn or anything...

 So... let's get back on track and talk about these cute little sugary cuties.  I designed these cake pops for the Cake Pop Class I taught at Hobby Lobby this past Saturday.

 Yes!  You read it correctly!  I taught my own class!  My wonderful Wilton instructor, Esther, asked me if I'd like to teach a class and of course I said yes!  I had nine students and everyone did wonderfully.  I love seeing all the different creativity.  And of course a few of their cake balls fell off the stick... but I remember my first time making them a year ago and I can absolutely say all the students did better than I for their first time!

 I wrote out a three pages worth of directions and FAQ and brought these cute little Valentine-themed pops for display.  (And now they're in my freezer and slowly making their way into my tummy...) 

Oh and FYI these pops that I made for display are my homemade GF Chocolate Fudge Cake mixed with store-bought chocolate buttercream.  Mmm, so good.

Luckily I managed to sneak in this Pops Class.  Now that Wilton has created its own Cake Pop Class, only Wilton instructors can teach it.  But hey, it was great experience for me and I could always teach it from home.... :)

Sweet Treats Thursday at Something Swanky

Little Stewie :)

We adopted this little guy a week and a half ago.  Say hello to Stewie!  

Two weeks ago I was at the shelter I volunteer at when a man came in with two young kittens.  I decided to take them in and what do you know... we ended up adopting one!

He's such a love bug.  Today while I was washing the dishes he snuggled up on my feet  :)

He, like my doggies, loves warm clothes fresh out of the dryer.  And of course, laying on the bed at every chance.

One big cuddle fest before bed the other night.  SO adorable!

He also looooves my hubby's flight bag.  Every night while he studies, Stewie sneaks his way into the bag and takes his bazillionth cat nap of the day.  (right now he is preferring to be nocturnal which makes for a very sleepy momma aka me)

Look at those whiskers!  And I promise he doesn't usually look this evil.  Just his purrdy blue, slightly cross-eyed eyes don't like the camera flash!

And lastly, here are a few cuties of the doggies.  

 Khloe doing a "Tebow-esque" pose on the couch.

Khloe with the feathers she shredded from Stewie's toys.  

She  is so intrigued by him and constantly follows him around.  They're starting to play, too!

And lastly, gorgeous Bama with one ear pinned back  :)

Peacock Cake!

Oh happy day!  I finally have a camera!  For Christmas my lovely hubby gave me a DSLR camera so that I can start taking awesome photos of my baking adventures.  (He's so sweet, I love him :-)  And guess what!  The USB cable finally came in the mail!  Back to blogging I go!

Anywho, my friend Christina asked if I could make her a gluten free Birthday cake and of course I said yes!  I asked her what some of her favorite things were and she said she liked peacocks, teal, and purple.  And then I remembered that I had pinned a peacock cake a while back on pinterest. (of course, where else would I get inspiration from!)  I based this cake design off of No Ordinary Cake's Peacock Cupcake.

Using my giant cupcake mold, I made a gf chocolate cake and filled it with a coconut filling and frosted with a very light buttercream.  Her family said it tasted like an almond joy!

First I baked a whole bunch of medium and small heart shaped sugar cookies and decorated them with royal icing.

I sculpted the neck and head out of rice krispies and covered it in fondant.  Oh and lesson learned-- do not frost molded rice krispy before applying fondant.  Twas not pretty!  

check out the glitter dust!

The feathers are my favorite.  So much color and dimension!  

brushed glitter onto sugar cookies as well.  what Birthday girl doesn't like sparkle?!

Happy Birthday Christina!  xoxo

Linking up with:

Sweet Treat Thursday at Something Swanky

The Big Holiday Road Trip!

Not to worry... I haven't completely disappeared... I only did, like, a 3,300 mile road trip!

I just mapquested the distance to see if I got that right.  Wow.  Crazy!

I wanted to drive home for the holidays (because I wanted the dogs to come lol) so my awesome Mommy flew down to Florida and helped me drive all the way back home to Connecticut with a quick but lovely stop at Beau's grandparents' home in New Jersey.  Oh and for this part we had 3 dogs in the car... Mom adopted the cutest little guy at the shelter I work at!  

So in about two and a half weeks, the dogs and I traveled from Florida -> New Jersey -> Woodstock, Connecticut -> Erie, PA -> E. St. Louis IL/ St. Louis Mo -> Florida.

I was able to visit my friends from back home and spend much needed quality time with my parents before Beau flew in on Christmas Eve.  We spent Christmas with my family and the day after hosted a large family and friend party which was so nice.  I hadn't seen most of my family since our wedding!

Then we drove to Erie and visited with Beau's side of the family and had a blast playing games and dancing.

Then we drove to the St. Louis area where Beau's parents now reside and we went to the zoo, saw the Arch, and celebrated New Years.

Beau's Momma and her side of the family also live near St. Louis so we were able to visit her!  I also got to meet his Grandma for the first time.  She's such a sweetheart!

So that was by far my craziest yet best holiday ever!  It was so nice to see every single family member and share that wonderful time of the year together.   :)

Beau and my brother Peter Christmas morning opening up stockings!

My family including all 3 doggies

Alfie!!!  The sweetest boy ever that my parents adopted down in FL

Caught Bama sneaking into the presents... !

Monks Mound at Cahokia!  Had studied it in great detail,
 but is even more awesome seeing it in real life!

View of St Louis from top of Monks Mound

Baby elephant with Mommas at St Louis Zoo

haha, a camel, the mascot for my college, Connecticut College

World's Fair Building hosted in 1904

gorgeous cathedral completed in 1988

hand placed mosaics. beautiful!

The Arch!

Us with Beau's Momma and Grandma

And lastly, it wouldn't be a perfect Holiday if it weren't for the love of my life <3