pink and green

fun

pinwheel thank you cards by lily jane stationery

retro fabulous
go go girly stationery by Little Lady Company

adorable
bike stationery by Hello Cupcake

scrumptious
personalized cupcake note cards by MollieDogPaper

Don't forget:

Enter my Sweet Cupcake Giveaway by next Wednesday! The personalized cupcake note cards shown above are one of the items included!

Enter to win a souvenir from moi by guessing where I'm going on my upcoming vacation!

a new blog series and something sweet

...In My Kitchen...

I've been cooking and baking a lot lately so I thought I would start a new series on my blog, dedicated to sharing recipes and such. I'm not sure if I'll be very consistent or if it will even be a weekly thing, but I'll do my best!

This is my kitchen! Please excuse the ugly beer bottles on the top of the fridge and the all around clutter!

One of my very best friends at work celebrated her birthday earlier this week. I knew I had to make something special for her, so I went with sugar cookies! I used The Cookie Queen's [aka Pink Martinis and Pearls] sugar cookie and royal icing recipes. I also used one of my favorite cookie cutters...a cupcake, of course!

For this particular cookie, I also needed red food coloring, colored sprinkles, and red skittles, in addition to the recipe ingredients. After baking the cookies, I made a batch of royal icing and separated it into 4 containers - one for thick white icing to outline the "frosting" of the cupcake, one for thin white icing to fill the frosting, one for thick pink icing to outline the base of the cupcake, and one for the thin pink icing to fill the base. Once the pink portion dried, I added some vertical lines to symbolize the cupcake liner.

I would say that this time around, my experience was much better than the last time I made decorated sugar cookies.

I packaged the cookies up in these cute little treat boxes I found at Cost Plus World Market. The box was originally for cupcakes and came with an insert, but I just omitted that part. I can't find the boxes online, but it was such a good find. I recommend that if you bake a lot of treats to go check out your Cost Plus soon. They were 50% off so it was around $2.99 for 3 boxes!!


What do you think?

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And now to continue with the cupcake theme...a Giveaway!

personalized cupcake stationery from etsy seller, MollieDogPaper

cupcake cookie cutters

cupcake spatula

orange-swirl cupcake liners

If you'd like to enter, please leave a comment on this post. It can say anything. Leave it by next Wednesday :)

OC Fair Pictures!

As promised, here are some pictures from the OC Fair!

ZUCCHINI NACHOS

CHICKEN INSIDE OF A
KRISPY KREME JELLY DOUGHNUT

CUPCAKES

RED VELVET WITH CREAM CHEESE
FROSTING AND CRUMBLED OREO'S

JUST TAKING A RIDE ON THE SKYLIFT

DEEP FRIED CHOCOLATE
COVERED BACON

FRIED OREO

PEKING ACROBATS
so awesome!!

MARTINA!

Such a fun day!

PS - Don't forget to guess where my upcoming vacation will be and win a souvenir from me!

give me your best guess and win a gift!

Well, friends...the OC Fair was a blast! We had a great time and the Martina McBride concert was fabulous! I was so happy to find that she not only sang songs from her Shine album, but she also sang quite a few classics, too! Independence Day, A Broken Wing, Love's the Only House, This One's For the Girls, Wild Angels, etc., etc...it was great! And, I still have to upload the pictures, but I can't wait to show you some of the food we sampled! Everything from fried oreos [yum!] to deep fried chocolate covered bacon [double yum!]...needless to say, the diet started today. Ha!

Today marks the one month countdown until I leave for my vacation. I am so excited and can't wait to spend time with my parents as well as have 13 days of uninterrupted relaxation and fun! I want to do a little giveaway in honor of my vacation so leave a comment on this post with your best guess to where I'm going and I'll draw a winner to receive a little souvenir from me [I'll buy it while I'm on vacation so you'll receive it after I return]. And of course, no need to get the answer right to win! I can't wait to share with you my vacation details :)

Have a great Monday!

OC Fair, Here I Come!

Back in March, C surprised me with tickets to see Martina McBride! She has always been one of my favorite country artists! In 2006, I got to see Martina perform on her Timeless tour. My best friend took me for my birthday and it was such a great concert. I'm really looking forward to this one!

And to be honest, there's another reason I'm so excited. The concert will take place after a full day at the Orange County Fair!

Fair food + Martina McBride
=
Best Day of Summer...EVER!

[via]

Isn't she just lovely?

Have a great day, friends! I'll be back later with a full recap :)

check this out!!

If I were to ever have a twin, it would be A Classic Pearl. We are both adopted, Asian, Southern Belles, and have a love affair with all things preppy, pink, and green!! Not to mention, we both love to eat. She is celebrating her 100th post by hosting a fabulous giveaway and I think we all should enter! Please go visit my friend and show her some love! You won't regret it!

All of this could be yours - a green and white notebook, adorable pink and green coasters, super cute pocket tissues, and a paperweight that would look great on any desk!!

Enter here, and make a new friend while you're at it!

weekend recap

Hi everyone! I hope you are all well-rested from the weekend, and enjoying the work week! My weekend was fun and it involved ONE lovely lunch with some great friends, TWO movies on a hot afternoon, and LOTS and LOTS of cupcakes!

Last week, I decided to track down all of the cupcake boutiques near my house and the surrounding areas. [By the way, there are tons!] C and I came up with the idea to visit two at a time and do a taste-off between them! So far, we've tried 4 places which equates to 8 cupcakes! Don't worry...we just "sample" them! There's no way we could handle that much sugar at once. I will be posting the taste-offs, complete with pictures and commentary, very soon!

a preview of places we've tried so far...
still so many to try!

1, 2, 3, 4

Once again, this weekend was HOT! We decided to go to the movies to avoid the sun [it was 107 on Saturday] and ended up seeing Inception and Predators. The verdict? I very, very, very highly recommend Inception. It was amazing! The plot, the actors, the cinematography...all wonderful! Aaaaaand skip Predators.


On Sunday, I was able to meet up with Kate, Amanda, and Danielle for a yummy lunch at Toast! We had a great time catching up and it's always good to see them. Of course we didn't take a picture, but I will tell you that Danielle's hair looks great!

lots to discuss [extra long post ahead]

I hope I didn't scare any of you off with my spicy post! C mentioned to me that I didn't say if I enjoyed Jitlada or not, and needed to do so. Sorry, C! YES, I loved Jitlada! The food was amazing [albiet spicy] and I definitely want to go back!

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So my week has been consumed with a whole lot of Tour de France. I'm serious! I've been recording the stages and watching them when I get home from work! I feel so bad for Lance! It's one thing to be older and not win because of lack of ability to compete with the younger cyclists, but it's totally different when you are knocked out because of bad luck. And he sure did have a lot of it in Stage 8. I have high hopes for Andy Schleck to win and Levi Leipheimer to at least get on the podium.

Are any of you watching the tour?

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I made a homemade cake last weekend and it was delicious! I wanted to share the recipe because it is perfect for any chocolate lover. I don't enjoy many chocolate desserts, but this one really had me contemplating seconds [and maybe thirds, too]! I found the recipe on the back of a Hershey's cocoa powder container. It was super simple and you probably have most, if not all, of the ingredients in your house already.

The recipe makes a two-layer round cake, but I decided to cut each of my layers in half so I ended up with a four-layer cake. Unfortunately, the frosting recipe only makes enough for the original two-layer cake so if you are going to add the extra layers, I'd recommend making extra frosting as well.

You can click here for the cake and frosting recipe!

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Thank you to the lovely Ashley over at Sweet Southern Prep for giving me the "You're Going Places" Award! I need to share where I think I will be in 10 years and then pass the award on to ten bloggers.

I honestly have no idea where I will be in ten years. I hope to be in a different career, doing something I enjoy and have a passion for. It could be party planning or baking specialty cupcakes. I just know I don't want to be in an office for the rest of my life, being controlled by corporate policies. I hope to be married, possibly with children. Or at least a dog!

I don't know who has received this award already! Sorry if I award anyone twice...you're just extra loved :) Desperately Seeking Seersucker, A Daily Dose of Davis, Chic & Pink, Inner Workings of a Real-Life Barbie Doll, Handbag Obsessed, Ordinary Girl, Extraordinary Journey, Polish and Pearls, Nautical by Nature, Powderpuffs N Pearls {private blogger}, and Sweet Simplicity.

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And lastly, I'll share a few pictures with you from 4th of July in Las Vegas. I never did a vacation recap so I'll let these pictures speak for themselves!

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Sorry for this extra long post. I hope that at least some of you made it to the end!

date night :)

Last Friday, C and I ventured to Hollywood for a date night! First things first, we had to go to tiki-ti. This little hole in the wall is literally just that. Only about 15 people can fit inside at one time! But they make the best tropical drinks and they have over 86 different drink options.

For dinner, we decided to go to Jitlada, a popular Southern Thai restaurant. C used to live near the restaurant so he's been dozens of times, but it was the first time for me. All I knew is that Jitlada is home to some of the spiciest food in AMERICA! I'm serious. And stupid me decided it would be a good idea to try some of it...

Crying Tiger Beef
Seen on Food Network's The Best Thing I Ever Ate

Spicy Scallops
Deep fried scallops sauteed with fresh mint leaves, chili, and garlic sauce


Steamed Mussels
Fresh green-lip mussels steamed with lemon grass and mint leaves

The next two dishes are so hot that they aren't even on the regular menu. I don't even think I can begin to describe to you the level of spiciness in these dishes.

Jungle Curry

Fish Kidney Curry
Seen on Jonathon Gold's "99 Things to Eat in L.A. Before You Die" list

Tons of food bloggers [here, here and here just to name a few] have written about their adventures to Jitlada. I read all of them before I went, and I agree with the general consenus, IT'S SPICY!

And just to show you how hot it really was, I'm going to share the following pictures with you, against my better judgment.

this is the face of pain!

Scary, huh?



Tell me, readers...
what is the spiciest thing you've ever eaten?