New cupcake designs

Here are two of my most recent cupcake designs:

I made these Hello Kitty cupcakes for my friend Christey's birthday.  It was my first attempt at using fondant and it was a little difficult.  You can see that some of the faces are a little wrinkled (she needs a little Botox) and that's because I underestimated how quickly the fondant dries out.  But I thought they turned out pretty cute - better than trying to draw the faces by hand with icing like I did last time.

And these were the ones I made for Easter.  Pretty simple to do, but they took a lot of time.  I cut out egg shapes from graham crackers, then iced them with frosting and dipped them in the colored sugar.  Then I piped out the lines with colored frosting and added some decorative hearts, flowers, and other shaped confetti candies.  I loved the colors!

Look back soon for some pictures of cake pops I made.  I've made three so far - they are exactly what they sound like.  Cake balls stuck onto a lollipop!

Recent Audubon Visit

The Audubon Center for Birds of Prey is located in Maitland and it's basically a center that rehabilitates wild birds and sets them free back into the wild.  If they sustain an injury that would prevent them from surviving in the wild, the birds are kept in captivity at the center.  I love to go there, so if you love birds like I do then you should definitely make the visit.  What makes it even better is their annual baby owl shower that takes place in May.  You simply bring in an item from their wish list and you can get in for free.  And they have baby owls!  They are a little awkward looking, but still so cute.  Here are some shots I got of the baby owls and some of the other beautiful birds at the center.

Baby Owl #1 - So cute!

Baby Owl #2 was like a statue

American Bald Eagle

Sweet face

This captive hawk's one injured eye would prevent him from being able to hunt successfully for food in the wild.

A Weekend for the History Books

Now I hope that some bored souls read my blog, but I actually just like to write things so that I can look back and see what I was thinking about or doing on any particular day.  So, with that being said, I think it's important to reflect on a pretty eventful weekend for the world.

Let's start with the most watched wedding ever.  The ROYAL WEDDING!  Yes, I was one of those people, eagerly anticipating this big day where Prince William would wed a normal girl (a commoner!) Kate Middleton.  I'd constantly click on any link on People.com that alluded to possible wedding dress options.  Though I will say that I did not throw a royal viewing party, or prepare tea and scones.  I was fine with just curling up on the couch and hitting play on my DVR.  I personally think she looked beautiful.  And the scene in Westminister Abbey was made complete with my love of.......FASCINATORS!  One of the main reasons for the title of this blog (after attending my English friend's wedding).  Sigh...just seeing all of the bright colors, feathers, and netting planted at different angles on people's heads was an amazing sight.  And the hats!  I loved it all.  But I do think you can go a bit overboard and all I have to say is WHY did they seat Princess Eugenie and Beatrice right behind the Queen with that crazy hat??  It was awful!  The guards should have knocked that sucker down upon her entry.

I wish them all the best.  They seem like they are very much in love.  It is sad that Princess Diana was not there to see her eldest son get married, but she was there in spirit.  Kate having her ring, them kissing on the balcony just like her and Charles did, and riding in the same carriage as she did on her wedding day were all special touches to the event.

I remember when they announced that Princess Diana was killed in a car accident.  I was in middle school and I remember them replaying the scene over and over on television.  It was a shock.  That shock and disbelief came again, along with intense feelings of fear, horror, and anger, when September 11, 2001 happened.  That horrible scene of the twin towers falling kept playing over and over again on TV and I couldn't tear my eyes away.  I was a freshman in college and had a math lab that day.  I woke up and got ready for school, never turning on the TV to catch the local morning news.  I got in my car and listened to the CD that was currently playing.  When I parked at school, I switched on the radio and caught the DJ's talking.  I knew something was wrong, but I didn't yet know what.  I had just tuned in and wasn't able to put together all the pieces of everything that had happened.  I got out of the car and headed for class.  Something wasn't right...I tried to grab a newspaper but there was no news to shed any light on what happened.  Everyone came in and prepared for class.  All I remember is a kid sitting in the back saying, "The twin towers are gone."  I felt like I hadn't heard correctly, but had an awful feeling he was right.  The teacher came in with no news and we had class like it was a regular day.  Trying to head back to my apartment was awful.  The radio confirmed what my classmate had said in class.  Cellphones weren't working at the time and it was just fear and chaos.  Once I got back to my apartment, I just turned on the television and watched it all day long.  It was unbelievable.  I had just been at the top of the World Trade Center a few months before during a trip to New York City.  I remember the guy who took us up in the elevator, the simulator ride we rode at the top, the food court where the Sbarro lady served us up a salad, the violinists preparing for a concert on the concourse outside...everything...it was all gone.  But I still remember, and I still wonder, are they alive?  Were they there on that horrible day?

Nothing can ever replace the thousands of lives that were lost that specific day, or throughout the years of the war.  But if the families affected could get even a small piece of closure, it would have been to finally capture Osama Bin Laden.  And on Sunday night, the United States of America received the news straight from President Barack Obama that Osama had been killed in Pakistan by Navy SEALS in a military operation.  Ten long years overdue, but it happened.  I don't want to harp on the subject, especially since the terror alert is probably higher at the moment, but he is gone.  Finally.