Taylor's Drawings

I took this picture the other day when Taylor was drawing on her Magna Doodle - I couldn't believe she was drawing smiley faces! She's done it several times since then, so it wasn't a fluke - she knows that she's doing! I'm very impressed (and so was the pediatrician at her 2 year check-up!).

O' Christmas Tree

We put up our Christmas tree (a Frasier Fir) on Tuesday night and decorated it on Wednesday night, and I just had to share the pics of it! I think this year's tree is the prettiest one we've had so far; it smells amazing and just makes me so happy! I did most of the decorating myself and think I did a pretty good job if I do say so myself! :)

My Evening with Tyler Florence

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Macy's in Alpharetta and attended a cooking demo and book signing with Tyler Florence - it was so much fun! Tyler was a pleasure to watch, as always (especially since I was only 7 rows back from the stage where he was!). Over the course of an hour, he made several Thanksgiving dishes, including an herbed ham, some mashed sweet potatoes and roasted bananas, brussel sprouts sauteed with garlic, pancetta, and balsamic vinegar, cranberry chutney, and a fizzy cranberry cocktail. The book signing followed the demo; after over an hour in line, I finally got to see him, get a picture, and have my book signed! I mentioned the 2005 Southern Living Cook-Off where I interacted with him, and he seemed to remember (or faked really well, LOL). As he has been in the past times I've met him, he was outgoing and very nice (probably too nice - it's likely why the line moved so slowly!). Anyway, here's the pic his handler took of us; not too bad considering how utterly exhausted I was by the end of the evening! :)

Taylor's First Haircut

Taylor got her first haircut this past Friday by my hairdresser, Stacie. Stacie trimmed it while my highlights were processing. Tay sat on my lap (she didn't seem too keen on the booster chair) and was such a good girl! I had her facing in towards me so I could try to distract her while Stacie was cutting; between me and Leah, it worked! As you can tell in some of the pics, she looked like she was ready to cry, but with Blue and Magenta in hand, she did great! :) Mom took these pics with her cell phone - pretty good considering it's a cell!

Taylor Makes a Mess

I gave her that little milk container (which was less than 1/4 full!) and a straw and thought she'd be okay with it... about 5 minutes later, I saw this!! It was too adorable for me to get frustrated with. :)

Taylor Loves to Cook!

She enjoys making almost anything a pot and a spoon! :)

Taylor Loves Pizza and Starbucks

Taylor had some pizza a couple of weeks ago and, as you can tell, thoroughly enjoyed it (she wasn't crazy about getting messy though - she was ready to be cleaned up ASAP, hence her expression in the picture)! She also recently really wanted to have some of my Starbucks double shot over ice, so I let her - she loved it! :)

What Happens When You Order a Cake From Wal-Mart

I was browsing around a web site called Serious Eats and found this - oh my God, it's hilarious!! What Happens When You Order a Wal-Mart Cake. Honestly, if you're stupid enough to order a special occasion cake from Wal-Mart, you really deserve this!

Oh, and I found this link too: Cake Wrecks Check it out - it features pics of all kinds of horrid, suggestive, confusing, and disturbing bakery cakes. It's highly amusing - at least to a lil' baker like me... :)

Pictures of Jake

Here are some pictures I took of Jake last week - he's such a cutie pie! He now weighs 7 pounds more than Taylor - it's so funny to see the two of them next to each other! I have a feeling he'll be her protector when they get older; I really hope they'll get to spend more time together in the future and become close buddies. :)

Taylor Wears a Bowl

A week or so ago, Taylor grabbed one of my plastic mixing bowls and made a hat out of it. Thankfully, I was able to capture a few photos of her wearing it before she got tired of it and tossed it aside! I got quite a laugh out of these!

Taylor's Trip to Saint Simons Island, GA

Here are some adorable pics of Taylor this past holiday weekend in Saint Simons Island:


Taylor eating lunch at Brogen's

Taylor playing with my mother- and father-in-law's schnauzer, Dooley

Taylor on the beach at Sea Island

As you can tell, she wasn't really a fan of the beach and the ocean! She liked the pool a little bit better, but for the most part, it kinda freaked her out. She loved playing with Dooley, though, and seemed to have a good time overall during the trip. Mommy is so proud of her for doing so well! :)

Cute Pics of Taylor

Here are some recent pics I've taken of Taylor with my cell phone. In the top two, she's eating a Top Pot apple fritter from Starbucks; in the third one, she's sleeping in her car seat on the way to Mom and Dad's house; in the last one, she's sneaking a Hershey kiss from the pantry. Enjoy! :)

White Lily Article in Atlanta Journal-Constitution

I volunteered to be interviewed by the AJC about my thoughts on the relocation of White Lily from Knoxville, TN to the Midwest; the writer then asked if I would mind being photographed baking for the story, and I of corse said not at all! The story came out in today's Living section; here's the link:

Southern bakers wonder if biscuits will ever taste the same

Enjoy!! :)

Link Between Aggressive Drivers and Bumper Stickers?

Check this out - I love personalizing my car, so of course I found it interesting!

http://www.charlotte.com/171/story/673307.html

Hmmm... makes sense somewhat I guess!

Alton Brown's Favorite iTunes

I'm a huge Alton Brown fan, and as everyone knows a huge Eagles fan, so I was very pleased to read the following on Alton's web page tonight. He was asked by iTunes what the recent additions to his iTunes playlist have been, and this part of his response brought a big smile to my face:

8)
Track: Boys of Summer
Album: Building the Perfect Beast
Artist: Don Henley

I've always had a soft spot for ole Don. He was always my favorite Eagle and when he came out with his second solo project in '84 it became something of an anthem for me. That was the year I first tasted long lived loss and this song washed it down. "Don't look back, you can never look back".

Great taste Alton!! :)

Link to an Interesting Don Henley Interview

Continuing my obsession with anything Eagles related (as I listen to "Busy Being Fabulous"), here's a neat interview with Don Henley by a paper in New Jersey: Q&A: Don Henley & Co. take it to the limit five more times

Don's being his usual dry, slightly sardonic self - gotta love it! You know, he wouldn't be such a bad pick for president... *ducking the tomatoes that are being thrown at me!*

Link to Eagles Concert Story

I found this video clip on the web site of Atlanta's ABC television station and wanted to share - http://www.wsbtv.com/video/16269518/ The clip has some voice-over by the reporter but also has some good snippets from the first show that the Eagles did in Atlanta. Enjoy!

Some of My Favorite Songs at the Moment

I uploaded several of the songs that I'm really enjoying lately to this file-sharing web site in case y'all are interested in downloading some awesome music. Here they are - just click on the links and it'll take you to the page where you can download them:

Backstreet Boys - Inconsolable

Backstreet Boys - Love Will Keep You Up All Night

Backstreet Boys - Something I Already Knew

David Cook - Always Be My Baby

Brooke White - Every Breath You Take

Pink - U + UR Hand

Eric Carmen - Make Me Lose Control

Most are new releases except for the Eric Carmen one - that one is an oldie-but-goodie from my childhood. I'm also REALLY enjoying the Eagles' new album, Long Road Out of Eden. There are too many good tracks from that one to upload, so just trust me and buy it! In particular, Waiting in the Weeds, How Long, Busy Being Fabulous, I Don't Wanna Hear Any More, Guilty of the Crime, No More Cloudy Days, and the title track are incredible. I can't get enough! ;) Oh yeah, they are also on this month's cover of Rolling Stone magazine - AMAZING cover pic and very good interview with the guys. Worth the rather steep cover price in my opinion!

My Flickr Photos

I love taking pictures of food, be it my baked goods, cereal, candy, or assorted junk food. I've uploaded my favorite shots onto a web site called Flickr, which is a place where artsy folks upload their pics. Here's the link to my photos if you wanna check them out - Flickr Photos from PinkCupcake. There's an area beneath each picture where you can leave comments; feel free to leave some (I love feedback!). :)

Awesome Eagles Concert!

Mom and I had a GREAT time at the Eagles concert in Alpharetta on Friday night!! The guys looked great and sounded amazing! It was so great being able to hear the classic songs as well as the new material from Long Road Out of Eden (they performed my very faves from that album - about died and went to heaven during "Waiting in the Weeds"!). As many folks around me did, I took some pics with my cell phone - wasn't brazen enough to bring my own camera (some did, but I know that the Eagles frown on that, and I don't wanna piss them off - we were 17 rows back from the stage, so theoretically security could've seen it). I've posted some of the pics below; my cell camera is weird in that you can only use the zoom function when it is set on "panorama" (which is a series of 3 shots puts together). So, that's why the pics look the way they do - still looks pretty neat in my opinion! Most of the pics were of the video screen, but some are of the stage. Hope you all enjoy! :)

Fun Quizzes on Blogthings

I found one of these quizzes on a blog that I was browsing, and after I took the first, I looked at the list of all the quizzes available and went a little nuts! They're a lot of fun to take, and some of them can be rather insightful and really on-the-mark. Here are just a few of my results; take the quizzes yourself some time - they're a hoot!

You Are an Ice Cream Cake

Surprising, unique, and high maintenance. You're one of a kind, and you don't want anyone to forget it. You're fun in small doses, but it's easy for people to overdose on you!

What Kind of Cake Are You?

You Are A Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Girl

Creative. Expressive. Unique.

What Flavor Ice Cream Girl Are You?

You Are a Brownie

Decadent and intense, you aren't for the weakhearted. Those who can deal with your strong flavor find out how sweet you really are.

What Dessert Are You Most Like?

You Are an Espresso

At your best, you are: straight shooting, ambitious, and energetic At your worst, you are: anxious and high strung You drink coffee when: anytime you're not sleeping Your caffeine addiction level: high

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

Welcome to My Blog!

Hey everyone! I've finally joined the world of blogging, though to be honest, I don't really have a lot to blog about! This blog doesn't have an overall theme or topic around which it is organized - it, much like yours truly, will be eclectic, offbeat, and highly amusing (y'all do think I'm amusing, right? I assume that's why you laugh at me...). I figured I'd make it light and fun - post cool links and pictures, go on random tangents, discuss the latest antics of my 17 month-old daughter Taylor, that sort of thing. Should be fun - I do love to talk, so I can't imagine not being able to think of plenty of absolutely scintillating things to post! ;)

To get us started, I thought I'd post some recent pics of Taylor enjoying some applesauce. Girlfriend definitely loves fruit - there are few that she hasn't eaten! Even when she was an infant, she went nuts over everything from bananas and peaches to guava and mango. She's also really fond of the dried fruits that Gerber makes for toddlers - she eats them by the handful! Anyway, we gave her some applesauce recently and let her have at it - she preferred scooping it up with her hands and eating it as opposed to using her spoon (which is evident by the mess on her face, LOL). Anyway, hope you all enjoy these! :)