I See Snowmen!!

Well, not real ones anyways, but they are still super sweet!  Check out my little snowmen face cupcakes.  I was supposed to use some sort of coarse decorating sugar to make the top look like snow, but I couldn't find any in the grocery store.  So I instead decided to add some tropical flavor and dip the cupcakes in coconut.  They were quite yummy if I do say so myself.  I used chocolate chips for the eyes and mouth and an orange slice for the nose.  The hat was just an oreo cookie I jammed into the cake. 

My Timeless Joy

Sigh...

I must confess that I am a major Hello Kitty fanatic.  To anyone that already knows me, this is not a secret by any means.  But...I just love her.  I don't know what it is about that cute simple face with no mouth, but I adore it on anything from a duffel bag to....whatever you can imagine!  Any possible product you can imagine, there is probably a Hello Kitty version of it.  Don't believe me?  Then check out this website - on SECOND THOUGHT, omg, I'll pass on posting it for now.  There was some Hello Kitty drug paraphanalia that came up first on the list!  No, no, no, I like my Hello Kitty harmless.  Excuse me while I laugh at myself.  I was just thinking to myself before I went to check the link, "I've seen military tanks, I've seen Hello Kitty rifles, I would hate to see some illegal Hello Kitty type products" and bam, there's a cocaine straw! 

Some argue that Hello Kitty actually is a bad role model because she has no mouth.  This is supposed to symbolize that girls should remain quiet and passive.  While I did find that interesting when I read it, I just don't know.  I don't think she would be as cute if she had a mouth.  If anything, I always liked the fact that Hello Kitty doesn't force her emotions on anyone.  For all I know, she could be happy, sad, pissed off.  Damn, if she only had eyebrows!  Now it is just a mystery forever...though I am assuming that when she's a ballerina, schoolgirl, rocker, or dolphin trainer that she's pretty happy.  One would think at least.  I don't know if she's happy when her hot face is toasted onto my bread, but I sure am!

So, to combine my love of cupcakes and Hello Kitty, I attempted to make these cupcakes.  They were a pain in the butt and not nearly like I wanted them to turn out, but I think they still came out cute.  And to throw in an extra one, I made an American flag with cupcakes to celebrate one of my coworkers becoming a U.S. citizen.  Yum!

Beauty and the Beast.....wait a minute!

Image via Wikipedia.  I love this scene! <3

So I was watching my favorite Disney movie "Beauty and the Beast" today, just relaxing and singing my songs.  A scene comes up with Cogsworth talking to the rest of his enchanted clan and I'm thinking, "Hmmm, I don't really remember this part, but maybe I just forgot."  It has been awhile, but yet I have seen this film a million times so it definitely threw me off.  But then they busted into a brand new song!!!  I'll have to look up the title of it but I want to say it was called "Human Again" or something.

Don't get me wrong, it was super cute and catchy.  Dear Disney, you tried to be sneaky but I caught that.  You can't fool me!  Don't you realize that I spent many days during elementary school remembering all of the songs, especially my favorite "Be Our Guest"!?!

It will take some time, but I will get past the shock and learn to accept this new addition to my favorite Disney film....who am I kidding?  I'll probably know all the words by tomorrow... 

Pink here, pink there, pink pink everywhere!

Today I participated in the Central Florida Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure event at the UCF Stadium.  There were soooo many people there, dressed in all shades of pink.  It was a 5k walk, which equals approximately three miles.  I'm not a runner at all so it's a bit misleading for me to say it's my first "race."  I'd classify it better as a leisurely stroll.  I was strollin'.....But it was incredibly awe-inspiring.  I feel honored to have participated in such a great event that raises so much money for cancer research, in addition to raising general awareness about the issue to the community. 

There were cheerleaders lined up all the way throughout the route, cheering us on.  Once we crossed the finish line, we were given these cute pink ribbons with a "Race for the Cure" pin attached to it.  I'm definitely excited to participate in more of these events in the future! 

I love October....and not just because it's my birthday month!  It's a great month for good fun and good causes!

Sunday comics!

The Sunday paper.  I feel like I have not seen this magnificent collection of sales ads and full color comics in such a long time.  This weekend I had access to one and completely forgot how happy I become reading the Sunday comics.  Here are my top ten Sunday comic strips of all time:

#10 - Cathy - Did she ever shut up??  It was always amusing to see her thought bubbles develop into these paragraph long rants.  I'm assuming this is where the phrase "Chatty Cathy" comes from?  For some weird reason, I associate this comic with visits to doctor's offices...I don't know why.

#9 - The Family Circus - What's popping into my head is a circle with the little blonde boy saying something cute to his mom.  I think this comic tried to instill a lot of family values, sometimes to the point of being kind of annoying.  But I liked it.

#8 - Peanuts - How could any list be complete without this classic?  Maybe some would argue that it deserves to be higher in my list, but HEY, this is MY list, okay??  Don't make me throw the football out from under your foot....because I will!

#7 - Hagar the Horrible - Silly Viking family.  Hagar and Helga - pretty funny stuff, though I can't remember too many specifics other than that he was pretty barbaric...

#6 -Garfield - My favorite fat orange cat!  I absolutely loved Odie, even though he looked nothing like a dog and more like a balloon giraffe animal.  And poor Jon, he could never win.  I think my favorite Garfield comics are the ones involving spiders or of him in the backyard by the fence during the night.

#5 - For Better or for Worse - Now this one is a bit of a tearjerker, because you are literally growing up with this family.  When I read the last issue, I was like, "That's Michael?!  But he's big now!"  As if this family is real....But I remember when they lost their family pet dog - that was a rough couple of comics, but very sweet.

#4 - Mutts - Ahhh, I love Mutts!  Not only is the comic cute, but the creator does so much to raise awareness about shelter dogs and cats.  Love love love!

#3 - Rose is Rose - I totally forgot that Rose changes from her housewife role to her bad-ass alter ego biker woman with huge wild hair!  I love how this comic is drawn.  And her son Pasquale and the family cat, Peekaboo, have been great entertainment over the years.  This comic has lots of imagination and they are always escaping into new worlds and fantasies.

#2 - Calvin and Hobbes -  Need I say more?  This could easily be number one for me too.  The idea is so simple.  Calvin has a toy tiger who comes to life (in his mind anyway) and they get into lots of crazy adventures together.  There's nothing like Calvin's facial expressions!

#1 - Mother Goose and Grimm - But alas, this is my absolute favorite!  Grimm the yellow dog, living with his goose of a mom and cat sibling Attila.  Mike Peters is an incredible cartoonist, and I love that he randomly throws in one of his political cartoons. 

What sweet memories!  Maybe I need to order the Sunday paper...

Paws for Peace

In addition to October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, it is also Domestic Violence Awareness Month (represented with the purple ribbon).  Dating and domestic violence is an important issue that affects many families.  It affects women, children, and men.  Did you know that 1 in 4 women will become a victim of abuse?  Check out more statistics from the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (http://www.ncadv.org/).  It's a scary statistic and in my line of work, I see these situations a lot. 

One area that is gaining more attention is the issue of animal abuse and domestic violence.  This is important for two specific reasons, the first being that abuse towards animals often leads to human violence.  This is a major red flag, and one of the reasons why animal cruelty needs to be dealt with appropriately.  It is not enough to give someone a slap on the wrist for these heinous crimes.  If it is not enough to simply want to stop animal abuse because it is cruel, then it is imperative that we recognize this as a precursor to human violence and abuse. 

The second reason animals play a role in domestic violence is that many women (and men!) may choose to stay in an abusive relationship for fear of leaving their pets behind because most shelters do not accept pets. An abusive partner may attempt to retaliate against the other by trying to harm or kill the pet.  Not wanting to place their beloved pets at risk, abused owners are willing to sacrifice their own well-being.

Harbor House, the Orange County domestic violence shelter, is trying to do their part to solve this problem.  They are currently in the process of building kennels on their shelter property.  This will allow those who are fleeing domestic violence situations the opportunity to bring their pets along with them during their escape.  This will be the first program of its kind in Florida, and I am so excited!!

To further raise awareness about the link and the new kennels, Harbor House and the American Humane Association hosted 'Paws for Peace' at Lake Eola.  It was an awesome event.  I brought my dog, Jerry, along and he had a blast.  There were dogs of every size, shape, and color.  It was so great to see dogs wearing purple doggie bandanas to show support for domestic violence awareness.  It was a sight to see. 

If you're interested in donating to help Harbor House build their kennels, visit http://www.harborhousefl.com/give-help/help-us-build-a-kennel/

Jerry sporting his DV awareness bandana.

Hey Bullwinkle, where's Rocky?

I made some moose cupcakes for my friend Christey's dad's birthday.  Here's some pictures.  They took awhile because I had to melt chocolate to make the antlers and have them set in the fridge.  Then I had to attach twinkies to the cupcakes and then dip them in melted chocolate frosting and let them set as well.  So I didn't get a chance to make a whole lot of them.  They were one of the more difficult cupcake designs in my book.  I'm thinking I could change them up at Christmas time and possibly make reindeer. 

Tootsie Rolls were used for the ears

I'll have to try a squirrel cupcake next in honor of Rocky the flying squirrel from one of my favorite shows as a kid, "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle."