Birthday Cake!

This post is really late, but I've been extremely busy with Christmas and engagement sessions.  Anyway, my little sister's birthday was on the 12th and I wanted to make her a cake because we weren't really doing anything else for her birthday.  She is really into the hunger games, so I wanted to do something along those lines.  So I made her a cake and I frosted it and then decorated it with the hunger games symbol.  I think it turned out pretty well and she was really surprised when she saw it.  So, I thought I would let y'all know how I made the Hunger Games symbol.  It was so easy and you could really use any picture.  So first of all, I printed out the symbol.  I then covered it with parchment paper and taped it down onto a cookie sheet.  Next, I put it in the freezer for about 15 minutes so that the sheet was chilled.  

While that was in the freezer, I took a bag of dark chocolate chips and melted them.  Make sure that you stir it often so that you don't burn the chocolate! 

 Next, I spooned the chocolate into a pipping bag.  You can but cheap disposable ones at the grocery store, which is probably a good idea, because it was a mess to clean up. 

After that, I pulled the sheet out of the freezer and started pipping over the picture.  You want to make sure that the chocolate is melted, but not overly runny. You don't want it to spread out everywhere when you start pipping it.  

After you've pipped it onto the picture, put it back into the freezer until you are ready to serve the cake. I kept it in there for a few hours just because I made it in the early afternoon and we didn't eat it until that night.  

When you are ready to place the design on top of the cake, just pull the sheet out of the freezer and use a spatula to remove it from the sheet and place onto the cake.  Because it was on parchment paper, it will come up really easily.  

And Viola!  The candles made it melt a little bit, but that was good because then it was formed a little bit more to the cake.  But its so easy and makes a plain cake really fun!  You could also use white chocolate and put food coloring in it! 

Christmas Packages

I finally bought and wrapped all of my Christmas presents.  When I say that it sounds like a ton, but it was really only four.  And since it was only four, I decided to get a little creative.  I used plain brown wrapping paper and then tore pages out of books and cut them up to use for the name labels.  Super easy, just a little time consuming(I'm not the fastest cutter).  I put the book pages through the printer and printed the letters on them, so that I would have a nice black line around the letters.  And there you have it!

A little quote by Jennifer Pharr-Davis

Being Open

I was looking back at my beginning posts and somewhere I lost sight of what this blog was created for. Yes, I love cooking and doing crafts and reviewing restaurants and books, but that's not what this is about.  This is about me being me. So, I wanted to share some things that I have figured out lately.

1. Not all people are made for college.
Now before you freak out and tell me I'm wrong, hear me out.   I think some people are made for high school, some people are made for college, and some people are made for adulthood.  There are kids that thrive in high school.  They're athletic, they're pretty, and they're invited to all of the parties.  Then there are those kids in college that are basically the same.  Those people thrive off of drama.  They love to be constantly doing things.  And they are obsessed with the here and now.  Then there are people that are made for adulthood.  They have never understood why people like drama. They love working, because it makes them feel like they're accomplishing great things.  And they are ready to settle down.  Now, I'm not saying this is exactly true.  I'm not a psychologist or anywhere close to being one.  But this is just how I feel like life is.

2. Sometimes, just sometimes, you need to listen to Taylor Swift to get through your day.

3. You need to be content and you need to move on.
This is a lesson that I have been learning all of my life, and I'm not sure if I'll ever completely get it.  But there are so many times when I see the people that I used to be friends with and get jealous.  I want to be part of their "group."  I want to laugh at their inside jokes.  I want to feel comfortable around them.  I want to watch movies with them.  I want to eat dinner with them.  But, people change.  And when that happens, so does heartbreak.  So, you need to be content with the friends you have.  I learned that this weekend.  I was sick with the flu and so many people checked in on me and brought me soup and gatorade.  Those are my friends now.  Those are the relationships that I need to focus on, not the ones in the past.  Sometimes we have to move on.

4. Introverted doesn't mean less.
I have struggled with this a lot recently.  I am an introvert.  It's who I am.  I can't change it.  So, if we're hanging out, and I want to go to my room and read or sleep or whatever, sorry, but it's who I am.  There isn't anything wrong with me and I'm not missing out on anything.  I'm simply, reenergizing and processing everything that happened throughout the day.  Introverts thrive off of alone time.  We need to be alone at times to be happy.  Now that doens't mean that I want to stay in my room 24/7 and I never want to do anything, it just means that I need SOME time alone.

5. Eat Ice Cream.

6. If you've tried and it's not working, and you've tried something else and that didn't work, then maybe you should stop trying.
Now, I'm not saying this is true for every situation, I'm just saying that sometimes, instead of putting yourself out there over and over again and getting trampled on and leaving in tears, you just need to leave it alone.  You can't fix every problem, mistake, break.  Everything happens for a reason, and if that means you screwed up and it can't be fixed, stop trying to fix it.

So there it is.  The 6 things that I've learned this semester.  Let me tell you, it has been a rough semester. There have been many mountains climbed, literally and figuratively.  And a lot of things realized.  It has definitely been a roller coaster and I'm striving to thank God for the lows as much as the highs.  Love y'all!