V-Day Cupcakes.

Remember when I said I was going to try some new Valentine's Day treat recipes in this post? Well, since I had a day off yesterday, I decided to make one of those. I ended up making the cupcakes that are half strawberry cake and half brownie. YUM.

These were mine! The recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:

• 1 (19.5 oz) package brownie mix
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 (18.25 oz) package strawberry cake mix
• 2 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1 1/3 cups water
• 3 egg whites

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In one bowl, combine the brownie mix, 2 eggs, 1/2 cup canola oil, and 1/4 cup water. Set aside.

In another bowl, combine the strawberry cake mix, the 2 tablespoons canola oil, 1 1/3 cups water, and 3 egg whites.

Line cupcake pans with cupcake papers or spray with cooking spray. First spoon the brownie batter in so the cup is about 1/3 full (I didn't judge the amounts so well on the first batch so the chocolate taste covered up the taste of the strawberry cake a bit. I fixed it on my second batch).

Then, layer the strawberry batter on top so the cup will be about 2/3 full.

Bake approximately 20-25 minutes. Times may vary depending on your oven, so just keep an eye on them because the brownie mix seemed like it needed a little more time. If you stick a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean, then they've been cooked enough!

 Let them cool and then frost with whatever frosting you like! I used cream cheese frosting.

Options:

I had some extra white chocolate chips left over from another recipe I made a couple weeks ago so I decided to throw them into the strawberry cake batter. I highly recommend it!

Also, I used store bought cream cheese frosting because I was lazy (and Walmart was out of the cream cheese I wanted. Seriously, Walmart?), but you could use regular vanilla or even chocolate would be good. If I make them again, and let's face it, I probably will because they are delicious and Valentine's Day hasn't come yet :), I would definitely make homemade frosting because it's super easy and it tastes sooo much better than store-bought. Here's the recipe for that!

Cream cheese icing:

Combine 1 (8 oz) block of softened cream cheese with 1 stick of softened butter, 3-4 cups of powdered sugar, 1 tsp of vanilla extract, and as much half-and-half or milk as needed for the desired consistency. For regular buttercream icing, just don't put the cream cheese in!

Happy Baking!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

So I signed up on Blog Lovin' so I can keep up with blogs I like, but you can also keep up with mine on there, too! I'm still trying to figure it out but I'm getting the hang of everything. Go forth and read!

Red lips & adorable puppies.

Cardigan: B.P. Nordstrom/Shirt: Gap/Necklace: Gift (Murano glass from Italy)/Glasses: Kate Spade/Lip color: E.L.F. lip stain in Red Carpet

I love love LOVE this E.L.F. lip stain I got from Target last week. First of all, let me say how happy I am that Target has a section of E.L.P. makeup in general. The stuff is so so cheap and works really well! I've bought eyeshadows, liner, mascara, blush, and brushes and nothing is over $5 (unless it's a larger gift set for maybe $10 or $15). 

I first bought this lip stain in "Birthday Suit", which is a really pretty, bubblegum pink. I loved that it as only $3, because sometimes you spend more on a lip color or other makeup product and it doesn't end up working as promised. BUT, these lip stains definitely work. I snatched this red one up last week because I had never seen it before and it was the perfect red and, may I remind you, a steal. I wore this stain the entire next day when I was out running errands and applying for jobs, and I never had to reapply once. I also wore it to work Friday night for 5 hours and it looked just as bright when I left as it did when I applied it! You can wear it matte, like I did, or layer the gloss that's on the other end of the wand on top for a nice, shiny finish. Unfortunately the red color is out of stock online, but scour your local Target and they may have one hiding! Or choose from the 7 other gorgeous shades they offer.

"Birthday Suit"

Dontcha just love a good beauty product? I sure do. Y'know what else I love? That for people who don't really watch the NFL and thus don't really care much about the actual Super Bowl, like me, there is a wonderful thing on Animal Planet called the Puppy Bowl. Yup, that's right, a bunch of puppies running around "playing football". So mostly just running around being cute and wrestling with each other. And they are all up for adoption. I'm having trouble stopping myself from adopting this little guy:

His name is Aberdeen and he's a 10-week old Australian Shepherd mix. He has no tail and is so fluffy! WANT. Except I have no time for a puppy right now. Must. Resist..... :(

I hope you have a great Super Bowl Sunday!

I am only as strong...

....as the coffee I drink and the hairspray I use.

I'm feelin that today. The rain came last night and hasn't left. It's still not super cold out, but the weather change has made my room really dark. And it's gloomy. And making me feel sleepy. Although my sleepiness is probably due to the fact that I did not sleep well last night and kept waking up and tossing and turning and dreaming about terrible things like not being memorized on music when I needed to and other things like that. Yuck. I thought these dreams were supposed to stop when I was done with school? I know there were some other dreams that weren't fun but I can't remember them. I just know they gave me a not-good vibe. 

So, I'm drinking coffee, probably the first of 2 or 3 cups, and sitting in the fiancé's plushy robe that he left me (that was the deal - he moves to Texas, I at least get the robe). I probably won't move until I need to shower for work at 4:30. So much for my plans of working out today, even though I didn't yesterday because I worked all day. I'm still sore from my Pinterest workout Thursday night (Which, by the way, was great. And there are tons of other great ones on Pinterest - check out my board dedicated to Fitness)!

No, on this dreary Saturday morning (or afternoon, whatever) I am going to drink my coffee and not walk to the gym in the rain. I mean, work is going to be really busy tonight, and because of my lack of good sleep last night I deserve to save my energy for then, right? Yeah, that's what I thought too.

Five Things.

Heart-shaped measuring cups sent in a Valentine's Day care package from my Mama

 This week was kinda strange, seeing as how I didn't have a whole lot going on, but thankfully it brought me a job so I can finally start working! And all this time I've had on my hands has been both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because I got to sleep in, clean whenever I wanted, work out on my own time, and hang out, but also a curse because I felt like a loser/slacker when my roommates were going to class! But, today I start my job, and hopefully, after my interview yesterday, I will have yet another job opportunity to pick up more hours and to keep me busy. We'll see!

New dress, shirt, and pants from the Limited. The dress and shirt were on the final sale rack and I almost bought them last week but resisted. Yesterday everything (even sale stuff) was an extra 40% off. I got the dress for $10.99 and the shirt for $5.99! The pants were for work and on the sale rack for $29.99 plus 40% off that. It was a good day :)

New hanging rack for my closet in the dollar section of Target up front - got it for $2.50 and it works great! And now I don't have to hang everything on the front of my closet door.

New job! :)

I hadn't bought a magazine in awhile. So excited to read this!

Happy Friday!

Please excuse my terrible photobooth photos.

Skirt: The Limited/Blouse: J. Crew/Shoes: Steve Madden

So, when I left for my interview today, my roommates were in class. When I got back, all of my roommates were on their way out the door for sorority recruitment. Thus, me having to take pictures of my outfit by myself. I know, I'm really really cool. But because the weather was so nice AGAIN today, I actually got to wear something super cute and springy and I wanted to document it. Not pictured is my khaki trench coat from Banana Republic. Yeah, I said trench coat - as in light jacket. As in, not a huge pea coat over another sweater, which is usually what I would be wearing at this time in Illinois. Too bad it's supposed to get cold again this weekend :( Oh well, I'll savor this weather for as long as it's here! And, thankfully, Spring really is right around the corner!

Today was a pretty good day. Not only was the weather great, but I got to sleep in (yet again) and my interview went really well! Nothing is finalized yet, and I would only get a couple of shifts a week, but with my job at Pastabilities it would be perfect. I need all the work/money I can get! Plus, I would have so much fun working at this store :)

The rest of my evening will consist of relaxing and watching the "What If" episode of Grey's Anatomy. It's seriously tripping me out. I've watched this show from the beginning and act like the characters are real people, so seeing them in different relationships and different specialties is so weird. Yeah, I know, I'm obsessed.

Tomorrow is Friday, which means I finally get to start working! Woohoo! Wish me luck!

It's February!

FINALLY. Sorry, January, you aren't my favorite month. I shouldn't complain, at least I had a 2-week choir tour to keep me occupied for the majority of this normally ho-hum month, but after getting back last weekend and spending the last week-and-a-half doing nothing but job hunting, interviewing, and a whole lot of nothing else, I'm excited for a change. There's just something about flipping over the page in my calendar and seeing a new picture and a new month. Plus, I just have a feeling that February is going to be a good one!

First of all, I have an orientation for my job today! Hooray! I am going to be hostess (and eventually a server as well) at a local adorable Italian restaurant here in town. The owners and staff are so nice and friendly, and I feel like it's going to be a great place to work! Not only that, but I was called unexpectedly yesterday from somewhere else I applied in order to set up an interview for tomorrow! I won't give too many details because I don't want to jinx it, but this place is one of my favorite stores (and one of the few good stores actually IN Decatur) and they have really cute clothes :) I would love to have a few shifts a week there, too! Yay opportunity! And yay to finally being able to save some money! And shop of course.... y'know... responsibly ;)

Another great thing about February? Valentine's Day, of course! The fiancé and I don't usually do anything über special for V-day (and he won't be back from Texas yet anyway, unfortunately), but I just like the holiday. I always loved it as a kid - getting to decorate a box for your Valentine's, picking out fun Valentine's (mine usually had horses or puppies and kittens on them), and getting gobs and gobs of candy and chocolate. Score. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know we should show love everyday, but I also like to buy into the consumerism part of Valentine's Day, and I have so much fun doing it! Not to mention, it's an excuse (let's be real, I don't really need an excuse to bake) to bake adorable Valentine's treats! I'm dying to try these out from Pinterest:

Or these!!!

I just love Holiday treats. I mean, I love treats in general, but there's something much more special about them around the holidays, dontcha think?

 February will also (hopefully!) bring a weekend trip to the beautiful city of Chicago to see my lovely friend, Jordan's, senior recital! I love love LOVE the city (used to live there.... why did I move again???) and I love love LOVE Jordan. In fact, she is one of my bridesmaids! She was one of the people I really hit it off with when I went to school at CCPA, and thankfully we've been able to remain close and visit each other once in awhile!

The lovely Jordan and I after my senior recital in November. She's such a good friend for making the trip in general, but I give her extra points becuase she came to visit me in Decatur when she could just stay in Chicago. hahahaha. Seriously, though, there's no comparison between the two places. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out which one is better!

One of my favorite places. Isn't it beautiful? Seriously, why did I move again??? Can someone please tell me?

 

Gahh! Isn't she gorgeous? Her voice is, too. I really really hope I can go!

Last, but not least, my fiancé's birthday is in February, on the 26th. And he might even be back in time for it! FINGERS CROSSED. This long distance thing has been hard, and I haven't seen him since Thanksgiving! Ugh. Originally he was going to be in Texas til May and I was going to move down there and he was just going to come visit for his birthday, but his plans changed and he decided to move back up here! His first idea was March 10th, but he's planted the idea in my head that he might be back end of February. You would think that would make me feel better, which it does, but now I'm even more impatient for him to be here, if you can imagine. Regardless of when he gets here, the new month of February means he is that much closer to being back. Now it's down to 1 month instead of a month-and-a-half, or 2 months, or whatever else. I am so so so excited! :)

Yeah, this month is going to be great. I feel so lucky and blessed, even if this post-graduate life is a little awkward and weird at the moment. I'm ok with it, because I know I have people in my life who make it the best ever.

Happy February! <3