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| Koi fish! |
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| Marshmallow circus peanuts, M&M's, and Apple Jack cereal. |
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| Cherry Pies! |
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| I used Skittles, yummy. |
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Cupcake Challenge
I love this new book I recently bought called "What's New, Cupcake?" by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson. I am determined to make all of the cupcakes listed in the book. I know it is a dangerous mission...having cupcakes around constantly can't possibly be good. But maybe if I deliver and make them for enough people, I can become known as the 'Cupcake Fairy.' These are two I've made so far.
Check back often as I'll post new pictures. Happy baking!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Confessions of a Real Curly Q
By no means is this a hair blog, but the other day I just tried to search for some new products online and all of these zillion blogs and YouTube channels popped up! I guess I shouldn't be surprised since I was trying to find a video on how to best section my hair for straightening. Gasp! Yes, I'm a naturally curly-haired girl that sold out for a few days...but it all got me to thinking about some hair memories from the back in the day and not so back in the day.
Mullet Fiasco - Honestly, when I was little, I didn't even really have curly hair. I had thick, black, shiny wavy hair. As a baby, I had a mop of black hair on my head but unlike what most people think, I did not have curls spiraling out of my scalp at that time. It wasn't until I got to about pre-k that my hair's texture changed and it became what I like to call "POUFY." Of course when you're little and getting ready for school, your mom usually does your hair, but in my case, let's go ahead and include my father and...what the heck, my brother that is only three years older than me. Ah, what fond memories. Let's see, mom usually brushed all the curls out and gave me a high side ponytail. With hair down all the way to my butt, I just remember my head banging up and down and screaming "OWWW!!" like millions of other kids. But oh, my dad was the king of the braid. It never failed. If my dad had to do my hair, it was a braided ponytail on the side of my head. Or better yet, maybe two or three separate braids braided or twisted into one large braid!! But the best story is when I got my bangs cut. JUST FYI - getting bangs cut on someone with curly hair is a BAD IDEA. But let me continue - I didn't get your average bangs, I don't know what the stylist was thinking but she basically gave me a hispanic mullet. My hair was poufy on the top of my head and then my long hair was in the back. It was awful, AWFUL I tell you (and no, I am not going to post a picture of it!) So the only way to live through this travesty was to try and curl my already curly hair with a curling iron before school everyday. One lucky day my brother got to do it for me when no one else was home. I got burned about four different places on my head, ears, and face that day - just wonderful. Don't call DCF by the way...I mean really, that woman that cut my hair should have had to pay suffer some type of consequence.
Hair = What are You? - Ahh, yes, my experience with having curly hair is that most people like to use it as a way to ask you about your race and ethnicity. Not an issue with me at all, just that the automatic assumptions and responses I get make me laugh sometimes. Going to the beach is fun - no really, I'm a 'let my hair down and get in the water' type of girl. Problem is that when I get out of the water, my hair tends to resemble Diana Ross at its biggest. Being a little girl with big hair at the beach made me look somewhat off-balance, almost like I was a little witch or a troll (but hopefully a really cute one!). And for whatever reason, people would automatically just start guessing what I was, with Jamaican being a popular answer, mon.
Stop Crying! - Hands down one of the most superficially terrifying experiences I had in my life was when I accidentally used a regular brush (not a round one mind you) and rolled it up all the way to my scalp. And it wouldn't budge. It was freakin' stuck in that spot and I was about to call 911 to get some paramedics to come to my house and work some magic. My dad actually was able to work the brush out of my hair by some miracle, but never again will I do that. Never again. I really thought it was going to have to be cut out of my hair and I was going to have to go to school with a big bald spot on the right side of my head. Now if that had happened today I could just go to the mall and get an amazing wig or hairpiece from one of the little kiosks in the aisles, but alas, those were different days.
Rat Tail - In fourth grade, my teacher was Mrs. De'Esposito and she had this cute little short hair cut. I went home one day to my mom telling her that I just had to cut my hair short like hers. Didn't I understand that my hair was curly though? Did I really want to take such a big risk (remember the mullet?)? Yes, yes I wanted to do it. So she took me and I specificially described what I wanted, including the...rat tail. Now, I had (and still have) a habit of describing things incorrectly or using the wrong words. Of course it wasn't a long rat tail, but more just the little shaved point at the base of the neck. Thankfully, she knew what I was talking about. And that is how I fell in love with shorter hair. The correct term for it is the bob, which I currently have now, though not nearly so short that I would need a "rat tail." The term for back then was more of a "mushroom cut." But a cute bob now definitely makes the curls more bounc-AY!
Glamour Shots - Remember when you could wear red feathers in a red sparkly background, or a faux fur coat and feel like a real model? In the Danbury Mall, my mother and I did it together and the woman curled and basically fluffed up my hair as big it would go. This was Connecticut, not the South mind you, but whatever. Well, guess what? The pictures we ordered came in but the big, main picture we ordered was bent in the corner. So we reordered and the picture actually got put up on the wall in the store. It was one of the pictures in the fake film strip that lined the top of the wall in the entire store. We'd walk in the mall and there'd it be like we were some real models. It was up for over a year and although the thought makes me cringe a bit now, maybe my horrendous pouf actually inspired some misguided soul to do the same with her hair.
Gel...A Lot, yo - Once I got to middle school, I decided that I could do my own hair. All I needed was some gel and hair spray. Ugh, my typical hair style was either half-up/half-down or a ponytail, with....ONE lone long curl on the right side of my face. I just look back now and think how my hair probably felt like a helmet, and how that one curl in the front was really a major danger to me in Science class with all of the bunsen burners around...
Poodle Prom - If I could have a hair do-over for junior prom, I would gladly take it. My brother's girlfriend at the time was supposed to do my hair but she got sick and was unable to come over. The only place available for me to get my hair done was by Publix. This woman made my hair look like nothing less of a bird's nest, and I am not exaggerating. Too shocked to speak, we left the 'salon' and I rushed into the bathroom and quickly tried to fix the problem. I ended up washing my hair and just slicking it back as best I could. I tried to keep on a smiley face, but ugh, it was a terrible updo. I learned my lesson for senior prom and did a run-through of my hair on a previous appointment. Smooth sailing that year.
Over the years, my hair has also supplied me with an endless array of Halloween costume ideas. And it has never failed to entertain my friends or rise to the challenge of crazy dares (walk out in the streets of Denver with it as big as it can go? SURE! Let's go!)
I can only imagine the things I will have to say when I look back on the present. But love it or hate it, I think I'll stay curly. Too much time and hassle to straighten, plus this is me. Poufy hair and all. I love it even when it may not love me back that day.
Mullet Fiasco - Honestly, when I was little, I didn't even really have curly hair. I had thick, black, shiny wavy hair. As a baby, I had a mop of black hair on my head but unlike what most people think, I did not have curls spiraling out of my scalp at that time. It wasn't until I got to about pre-k that my hair's texture changed and it became what I like to call "POUFY." Of course when you're little and getting ready for school, your mom usually does your hair, but in my case, let's go ahead and include my father and...what the heck, my brother that is only three years older than me. Ah, what fond memories. Let's see, mom usually brushed all the curls out and gave me a high side ponytail. With hair down all the way to my butt, I just remember my head banging up and down and screaming "OWWW!!" like millions of other kids. But oh, my dad was the king of the braid. It never failed. If my dad had to do my hair, it was a braided ponytail on the side of my head. Or better yet, maybe two or three separate braids braided or twisted into one large braid!! But the best story is when I got my bangs cut. JUST FYI - getting bangs cut on someone with curly hair is a BAD IDEA. But let me continue - I didn't get your average bangs, I don't know what the stylist was thinking but she basically gave me a hispanic mullet. My hair was poufy on the top of my head and then my long hair was in the back. It was awful, AWFUL I tell you (and no, I am not going to post a picture of it!) So the only way to live through this travesty was to try and curl my already curly hair with a curling iron before school everyday. One lucky day my brother got to do it for me when no one else was home. I got burned about four different places on my head, ears, and face that day - just wonderful. Don't call DCF by the way...I mean really, that woman that cut my hair should have had to pay suffer some type of consequence.
Hair = What are You? - Ahh, yes, my experience with having curly hair is that most people like to use it as a way to ask you about your race and ethnicity. Not an issue with me at all, just that the automatic assumptions and responses I get make me laugh sometimes. Going to the beach is fun - no really, I'm a 'let my hair down and get in the water' type of girl. Problem is that when I get out of the water, my hair tends to resemble Diana Ross at its biggest. Being a little girl with big hair at the beach made me look somewhat off-balance, almost like I was a little witch or a troll (but hopefully a really cute one!). And for whatever reason, people would automatically just start guessing what I was, with Jamaican being a popular answer, mon.
Stop Crying! - Hands down one of the most superficially terrifying experiences I had in my life was when I accidentally used a regular brush (not a round one mind you) and rolled it up all the way to my scalp. And it wouldn't budge. It was freakin' stuck in that spot and I was about to call 911 to get some paramedics to come to my house and work some magic. My dad actually was able to work the brush out of my hair by some miracle, but never again will I do that. Never again. I really thought it was going to have to be cut out of my hair and I was going to have to go to school with a big bald spot on the right side of my head. Now if that had happened today I could just go to the mall and get an amazing wig or hairpiece from one of the little kiosks in the aisles, but alas, those were different days.
Rat Tail - In fourth grade, my teacher was Mrs. De'Esposito and she had this cute little short hair cut. I went home one day to my mom telling her that I just had to cut my hair short like hers. Didn't I understand that my hair was curly though? Did I really want to take such a big risk (remember the mullet?)? Yes, yes I wanted to do it. So she took me and I specificially described what I wanted, including the...rat tail. Now, I had (and still have) a habit of describing things incorrectly or using the wrong words. Of course it wasn't a long rat tail, but more just the little shaved point at the base of the neck. Thankfully, she knew what I was talking about. And that is how I fell in love with shorter hair. The correct term for it is the bob, which I currently have now, though not nearly so short that I would need a "rat tail." The term for back then was more of a "mushroom cut." But a cute bob now definitely makes the curls more bounc-AY!
Glamour Shots - Remember when you could wear red feathers in a red sparkly background, or a faux fur coat and feel like a real model? In the Danbury Mall, my mother and I did it together and the woman curled and basically fluffed up my hair as big it would go. This was Connecticut, not the South mind you, but whatever. Well, guess what? The pictures we ordered came in but the big, main picture we ordered was bent in the corner. So we reordered and the picture actually got put up on the wall in the store. It was one of the pictures in the fake film strip that lined the top of the wall in the entire store. We'd walk in the mall and there'd it be like we were some real models. It was up for over a year and although the thought makes me cringe a bit now, maybe my horrendous pouf actually inspired some misguided soul to do the same with her hair.
Gel...A Lot, yo - Once I got to middle school, I decided that I could do my own hair. All I needed was some gel and hair spray. Ugh, my typical hair style was either half-up/half-down or a ponytail, with....ONE lone long curl on the right side of my face. I just look back now and think how my hair probably felt like a helmet, and how that one curl in the front was really a major danger to me in Science class with all of the bunsen burners around...
Poodle Prom - If I could have a hair do-over for junior prom, I would gladly take it. My brother's girlfriend at the time was supposed to do my hair but she got sick and was unable to come over. The only place available for me to get my hair done was by Publix. This woman made my hair look like nothing less of a bird's nest, and I am not exaggerating. Too shocked to speak, we left the 'salon' and I rushed into the bathroom and quickly tried to fix the problem. I ended up washing my hair and just slicking it back as best I could. I tried to keep on a smiley face, but ugh, it was a terrible updo. I learned my lesson for senior prom and did a run-through of my hair on a previous appointment. Smooth sailing that year.
Over the years, my hair has also supplied me with an endless array of Halloween costume ideas. And it has never failed to entertain my friends or rise to the challenge of crazy dares (walk out in the streets of Denver with it as big as it can go? SURE! Let's go!)
I can only imagine the things I will have to say when I look back on the present. But love it or hate it, I think I'll stay curly. Too much time and hassle to straighten, plus this is me. Poufy hair and all. I love it even when it may not love me back that day.
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